Episode 402: Fast Friends

Fast Friends
Season 4, Episode 2
Air date	June 10, 2010
Written by	Rashad Raisani
Directed by	Dennie Gordon
Episode Guide
previous Friends and Enemies	next Made Man

Fast Friends is the second episode of the fourth season and the forty-sixth episode overall.

Notes

• Clients: Jesse Porter
• Bad Guys: Khan

Synopsis

Michael meets Jesse, a recently burned counterintelligence agent looking for Michael's help. Michael agrees to help Jesse clear his name, but first must get him out of the cross-hairs of a ruthless drug trafficker seeking revenge.

Spy Facts

Housed in office utility rooms, a P.B.X. is the phone switchboard for a whole company. Using a router with upgraded firmware, pros can hack them to make untraceable calls from the comfort of their own homes; it's how spies get free long distance. Identifying the right line to bug on a P.B.X. is as simple as matching call times from your records to those in the computer. Of course, if you have to comb through thousands of phone calls, it's easier said than done.

Everyone knows spies are good with languages and firearms. But they need to be great storytellers too. If you can't keep a break-in secret, you have to get creative to cover your tracks. If a company's just laid off half it's staff, no one asks many questions when it looks like an ex-employee broke in to make a mess.

Wrap a metal chain around two power lines, and you complete a very powerful electrical circuit. It can get you arrested, but it's a good way to make a ruckus in a pinch.

Like engineers and wedding planners, spies obsess over details. If you always keep a lock with the logo facing in, and suddenly you find it turned out, you've got a problem. When you know someone's about to get the drop on you, you can play it safe and walk away. Or you can pretend nothing's wrong, go about your business and get the drop on them. 

Quick and excruciating, few holds are more effective than a simple thumb lock. A little pressure on the right spot and your target will be learning how to hold a fork with a new hand. 

Like pro athletes, spies know that no amount of practice or planning simulates the adrenaline rush of real action. That's why you always have to be ready to adjust tactics on the fly. If a teammate suddenly decides to shoot at you to convince the bad guys you're enemies, you go with the flow and shoot back.

Whether it's in the field or a show room, the most powerful move at the end of a sales pitch is to just walk away. It's an effective technique to close a deal. But it can also get you shot in the back.

When using a street vehicle to haul serious weapons, some modifications are in order. Heavy duty coil springs are used by dune buggies to race across the desert. Add them to your suspension system, and you can hit a few potholes without snapping an axle. A strut brace over your engine stabilizes your center of gravity. And nothing helps with a fast getaway like a nitrous oxide tank connected to your fuel injector.

Spies know the most distrusting people are often the easiest to manipulate. If you want someone to drive around with a trunk full of illegal weapons, just insist on doing it yourself.

If you find yourself in a high-speed pursuit while driving in a caravan, you don't always have to be faster than the cops. You just have to be faster than the guy next to you. Of course, it helps if you are faster than the cops. 

Few things are more dangerous than passing a message in plain view of hostiles. To do it, you need a reason to get close to someone. You don't get to be choosy about how.

Full Recap

Recap! This episode has no or an incomplete recap. Please help Burn Wiki by expanding it, adding pictures, and improving existing text.

Cast

Main

• Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
• Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
• Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne
• Coby Bell as Jesse Porter
• Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen

Recurring

• Robert Wisdom as Vaughn
• Paul Tei as Barry

Guest

• Byron Mann as Ming Khan
• Ron Yuan as Lee