Season 1 - Episode 2

Episode 2

My name is Michael Weston.  I used to be a spy.  When you're burned you've got nothing; no cash, no credit, no job history.   You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.  You do whatever work comes your way.  You rely on anyone who's still talking to you: a trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, a friend who's informing on you to the Feds [later: who used to inform on you to the Feds], and family too (if you're desperate).  Bottom line: until you figure out who burned you, you're not going anywhere.

A surveillance photo can tell you a lot about the photographer.  Surveillance takes planning.  You need to scout the area, you need a place to sit and wait for the target for an hour or two and you need to take a leak now and then.  Lots of chances to get seen.  You can't choose your intelligence sources.

Might be a heroine smuggler, a dictator, or your mom.  My mother's understanding of my career changes with what she wants from me.  One day she can name everyone on the National Security Council, the next day she thinks I work for the Post Office.

Not all bugs are the same.  If it's got a battery it's disposable, short-term.  If it's wired into the house power, it's a longer term thing.  If it has a transmitter you can figure out how close the listerner is.

Once your suveillance knows you are on to them, the clock starts ticking.  They know you are coming, so the question for them is whether they can destroy their equipment and get out of there in time.  The question for is whether you can find them before every bit of useful information is turned into a burning pile of flak.

There's a reason why spies don't have a lot of parties.  Everbody's got a hsitory with everybody else.

Often, the best way to get intel is to provoke action, set people in motion.  Pros know better, but they usually have to work with a few amateurs, and they panic.  So, you beat the bushes a little and see what flies out.  Once your frightened amateur leads you to the pros, the work begins.  Con Artists and spies are both professional liars.  Cons do it for the money and spies do it for the flag, but it's mostly the same gig.  They run operations, they follow security procedures, they recruit support and staff and issues orders.

When you go after a spy, you send another spy.  The same goes for con artists.  To catch one you've got to beat him at his own game, be a better liar than he is.
No matter how good your cover identity is you've got to sell it, and that isn't always easy.  Sometimes you have to decide just how committed you are to pretending you are who you say you are.

I don't like running from cops, but it has its advantages.  It builds your credibility with a criminal when you flee a crime scene.

Eavesdropping and field work go hand in hand.  You want to know what your target is saying, what he's typing into his computer, but technology can't work miracles.  Bugs don't plant themselves.  Fact is even the fanciest technology needs the help of a good old fashioned crow bar.

It's always useful to disable a vehicle remotely.  A cell phone, a wire, you can ground the electrical circuit with a phone call.

A good cover identity keeps the target feeling in control.  You talk too much, drink too much, just to let him know he's got the edge.

Go after a group of people directly and they bond together; they get stronger.  Taking down a tight-knit group of people is about getting them to turn on each other.  Plant the seeds of distrust and watch them grow.  Of course, sewing seeds of distrust is harder when nobody trusts you.

Sometimes a good plan comes together just a little bit too early.

You've been in the business way too long when you recognise the sound of a .45 caliber over the phone.

That's what happens when you wire a cell phone to a blasting cap on the gas tank instead of the electrical system.

Whether you are in Moscow, Toran, or Miami, club girls are a good source of information.  Men say things to beautiful women; they give out phone numbers, hotel keys, they let down their guard.  Getting information from a club girl means buying drinks.  There's no problem with an operational slush fund, it's a big problem if you are using cash you scrounged from your mom's purse.

A hit man is like a plumber, a dentist or a mechanic: everybody's always looking for a good one.

I don't much like dealing with paranoids.  They get erratic and make rash decisions.  Of course, that can be a help when you need them to make a bad decision.

The truth is identity theft isn't hard.  All you need is a number and an ID to open a bank account and return a lot of money to some very surprised retirees.  But why stop there?  As long as you're stealing someone's identity, why not use it to contact some known terrorist organizations on unsecure phone lines.  Why not use it to threaten some federal judges and insult the local drug cartel.  Most fun I've had in Miami.