| Friendly Fire | |
| Season 3, Episode 11 | |
 | |
| Air date | January 28, 2010 |
| Written by | Alfredo Barrios Jr. |
| Directed by | Terry Miller |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous A Dark Road |
next Noble Causes |
Friendly Fire is the eleventh episode of the third season and the thirty-ninth episode overall.
Notes
- Clients: Mack
- Bad Guys: Rincon, Felipe Vega
Synopsis
Mack, Sam's old friend shows up and asks for help in a case against a child predator named Rincon.
Meanwhile, Michael meets Mason Gilroy, an associate of Tom Strickler's, who plans to become his new employer.
Spy Facts
In the intelligence community, an invitation to meet at a hotel pool is an olive branch. The person you're meeting is offering you multiple escape routes, a crowd to mix in with, and the virtual certainty that nobody is concealing a weapon in their bathing suit. But if you're meeting the kind of guy who arranges coups d'etat for a living it's still a good idea to bring backup.
Neighborhood Watch is just a nice idea in most suburbs. But where you really see it in action is the inner city. Only there, it doesn't protect against crime. It protects against cops. Just like cops have drug-detecting dogs, some neighborhoods have cop-detecting kids. Once the alarm goes out, Criminal activity shuts down like a picnic when it rains and any fugitives run like jackrabbits.
In an army, a chain of command gets activated by unusual events: tanks amassing on a border, a hacking attack on a central computer, assassinations of key personnel. A street gang's chain of command is no different. Showing up in a stolen car and making a splashy entrance will get a message sent up the ladder.
Because warehouses store bulk items and not people, they're usually built cheaply. Most of the time, the roofs are just plywood and asphalt tiles. Attach a hole saw bit to a silenced drill and you can bore through the roof without attracting attention. If you want to create a bigger opening, a few ounces of C-4 on the brackets holding the door in place will do the trick.
Dominance in the battlefield isn't always about the use of lethal force. Sometimes it's more effective to leave a few targets around to spread a word. Rubber composite bullets fired from a suppressed rifle won't kill your enemy. But it will make them think twice about staying in the fight.
Selling yourself to an adversary is a bit like getting drafted on a sports team. You may look good on paper, but eventually they'll want to see you on the field.
The best defense isn't always a show of force. Keep an adversary in the dark about what you're capable of and he has to assume the worst.
When you're extracting a heavily guarded target, it's important to choose the right entry point. Guards watch windows and doors. So if you come in through the common wall of a neighboring apartment, you've got surprise on your side, not to mention a shower of shattered concrete. Of course, surprise doesn't count for much if you're walking into a trap
Traditional repelling requires holding onto a rope with both hands, which is inconvenient if you're being shot at. That's why Special Forces are trained to repel in unconventional ways.
In this episode Michael Weston wears a black jacket with a red shirt and a red tie. He goes by the name of Louis wearing his red suit.
Camouflage is commonly associated with jungle warfare, but the truth is that it's just as important in urban settings. You're bound to draw attention setting up a bulletproof barricade on the sidewalk or toting a concussion charge down the street. But fruit stands reinforced with strips of steel-belted tires and ice cream carts packed with explosives blend right in. Of course, the ultimate Trojan horse is a shackled prisoner. A paranoid enemy might go as far as frisking a hostage who's wearing handcuffs but people tend not to check if one of the handcuff links is made of polystyrene or if there's a listening device in the pin lock.
Full Recap
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Cast
Main
- Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
- Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne
- Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
- Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen
Recurring
- Chris Vance as Mason Gilroy
Guest
- Rus Blackwell as Mack
- Jacob Vargas as Omar Hernandez
- Luis Antonio Ramos as Rincon
- Danny Trejo as Felipe Vega
Trivia
- Michael's cover ID is Louis.
- Louis is likely a pseudonym for Lucifer.
- Many Hispanic communities are stereotyped as religious, likely leading to Michael convincing the gangs he was a herald of the Devil himself.
Continuity Errors
| Episodes | Season 3 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends and Family • Question and Answer • End Run • Fearless Leader • Signals and Codes • The Hunter • Shot in the Dark • Friends Like These • Long Way Back • A Dark Road • Friendly Fire • Noble Causes • Enemies Closer • Partners in Crime • Good Intentions • Devil You Know | ||||||||||||