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Michael's Relatives

    Madeline Westen 

Madeline Westen

Played by: Sharon Gless

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maddie_6.jpg
...family, too...

Michael's chain-smoking, meddlesome mother. She is the only thing that scares him.


  • Almighty Mom: Spy or not, Michael takes her seriously when she lays the rules down, and she's decent at helping him in some of his later adventures.
  • Domestic Abuse: Maddie was the victim of it from her husband, and had to watch her husband beat Michael and Nate.
    • "Bloodlines" throws this into sharp relief, as Michael takes on a persona identical to his father and Maddie must remain undercover while allowing Michael to slap her around.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Calmly smoking a cigarette before checking out with C4.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In the series finale, to protect Charlie and Jesse.
  • Hypochondria: A characterization that didn't really stick past the first episode. Her pills are still part of the set dressing, but it's not actually a part of the character any more. Though this may be because it was a call for Michael's attention. She doesn't need it anymore since he's back in Miami.
  • Lethal Chef: She gradually improves over time, but the low quality of her chocolate-chip cookies is a Running Gag. On the other hand, she does appear to have a good recipe for iced tea.
  • Mama Bear: Threats to her sons might get you slapped or threatened with serious violence.
  • Never Mess with Granny: As she becomes more accustomed to Michael's life, she steps into it and becomes more of a badass, to the point that she can break a man by acting like a kind grandmother while delivering death threats and a last cigarette.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Her part and parcel. She plays up the neurotic, chain smoking old lady angle to get people to underestimate her. As early as the second episode, where she leaves an agent alone in her house long enough to plant a bug, it's questionable whether she was playing him or not as she is immediately able to point out the house the listening crew is in when Michael asks.
  • One Last Smoke: Right before she blows herself up.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She finally quits smoking when she adopts Charlie.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: When her youngest son, Nate, dies.
  • Parental Substitute: To Jesse. He lost his mother young and she cares more for him than Michael does.
  • Shipper on Deck: For Michael/Fiona. She often encourages Michael to go on dates with Fiona and is saddened whenever there is friction between the couple.
  • Stepford Smiler: Her role in the family history. She gave everything she had trying to pretend her family had a happy, normal life and that her husband wasn't an abusive Jerkass.
  • Team Mom: Even though she can't cook.
  • Took a Level in Badass: The poster girl for the trope. We've lost count of the actual levels she's taken, but she starts out a nagging, hypochondriac chain-smoker in the pilot and over three seasons, has become virtually equivalent to a spy herself.
    • Best demonstrated in "The Hunter", where Sam and Fiona are interrogating a pilot to find out where Michael has been taken. Sam gives up the questioning when the pilot makes it clear he's not afraid of anything, and goes to think through new options with Fiona. Madeline calmly walks out to the garage where he's being kept, lights a cigarette, and comes back 4 minutes later with the coordinates, having not even had to TOUCH the pilot.
    • There's an excellent moment in the season 3.5 opener, "A Dark Road", when she outright blackmails a woman she's become friends with because the woman possesses information that Michael needs to save lives. She hates it, but she stonewalls the woman and gets the files.
    • She shows off her Mama Bear status in the season three finale when she stalls and misdirects a set of government agents who only very slowly come to realize that she's not an innocent old woman. She tips Michael off that the FBI is at the house, then sends the feds on a wild goose chase. This whole time she is interrogated in her own home, given photographs of bad stuff Michael has supposedly done and she doesn't even flinch, but she pretends to crack to keep the agents fooled. When they finally threaten to arrest her for aiding and abetting, she practically puts the handcuffs on herself, and oh, yes - slaps a federal agent.
    • To show her new badassery, when Michael tells Sam and Fiona that she's trying to hold them off, Sam says "She's good, but she's not that good." When a former Navy SEAL thinks you're tough, that's saying something.
      • Of course, this isn't the first time said Navy SEAL acknowledges her badassery - from "The Hunter":
        Madeline: Sam, let me remind you you're sleeping in my guestroom. You call me or God as my witness I will smother you in your sleep.
        Sam: Okay, we'll call!
    • Season Four has her delivering multiple What the Hell, Hero? moments to Michael, helping Sam blackmail a congressman, searching a suspect's house, distracting a cemetery guard for Fiona, and pulling a Stealth Hi/Bye on Michael and Jesse. Maddie has become a full-fledged badass.
    • Season Five's "Bloodlines" sets a whole new record for Maddie. Successful undercover operation, where she poses as a nurse to a Yakuza drug lord? Check. Keeping her cover while her son masquerades as his father and reenacts the abuse she used to suffer? Check. Pulling a faked escape with said drug lord and after he leads Team Westen to his hideout, triple-crossing him and holding him at gunpoint with a shotgun? CHECK.
      • Later in S5, she's searching a house for evidence and picking the locks in the process.
    • In the Season 6 Premiere Anson sics a paranoid-schizophrenic on her to lure Michael away, allowing him to escape. Jesse goes instead to rescue her. She ends up saving Jesse. With a double-barreled shotgun. Through the floor of the attic into the downstairs living room.
    Jesse: Why didn't you shoot sooner?
    Maddy: I had to listen to know where you both were to know where to shoot.

    Nate Westen 

Nate Westen

Played by: Seth Peterson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nate_1.jpg
"Jesus, bro, dad's dead, you're not in Afghanistan any more; when are you going to learn there are people you can trust?"

Michael's younger brother and Madeline's youngest son. He started out as a Con Man with a gambling problem, but now owns his own limo business, has a wife and kid, and sometimes is a support member in Michael's jobs.


  • Always Someone Better: It becomes increasingly apparent that his conman persona is an earnest but ultimately futile attempt to emulate his brother's superior criminal and espionage expertise. In the sixth season mid-summer finale, he dies trying to be as good as Michael and fit into his life as a spy.
  • The Atoner: Never treated as a bad guy in the show but is trying to put his past transgressions behind him.
  • Broken Pedestal: While he does love his brother, after getting roped into a few of Michael's missions, it soon dawns on him that his brother's supposedly glamorous life of intrigue is dirty, dangerous, and self-destructive, so much so that he moves out of Miami to stop getting roped into his antics and even tries to convince their mother to leave as well. Michael for one encourages this since it means he's less likely to get hurt.
  • Character Development: Starts off a petty, irresponsible criminal but later becomes more responsible.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: To a certain extent. Nate's more naive than stupid. He isn't a spy, criminal, or soldier like the main three, but he's got serious car-boosting skills and his improv at playing a cover has saved the day several times. More or less, he's Michael without the badass attitude or proper training.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: The same as Mike's: an abusive, alcoholic father who hit everyone in his family. However, where Mike became a broken human who could be a living weapon, Nate just broke and became an alcoholic, a drug addict, and a compulsive gambler.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Must be a Westen family trait.
  • Deliberately Bad Example: In the first 2 seasons or so, Nate tends to show what would happen if a normal person tried to do what Michael does. It tends to end with him getting death threats by bad guys, being beaten up, or winding up as a Distressed Dude a lot.
  • Distressed Dude: Whether or not it's his own doing, he's often ended up like this.
  • Five-Finger Discount: Even early on, he was able to do this to Michael- he was never totally useless. He's even better than Michael at stealing cars.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Zig-Zagged. At first glance Michael is the responsible one given Nate was an addicted gambler, but as the series goes on the latter becomes more responsible.
  • Kill the Cutie: Arguably the most loveable and innocent recurring character in the show, his death sets the stage for season 6 getting very, very dark.
  • Nice Guy: Gambling and criminal ways aside, he's the type of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and really does want to do right by his family.
  • Papa Wolf: He flies across the country to take a job finding stolen cars when he learns his wife is pregnant.
  • Parental Abandonment: Big brother abandonment. Michael took off and joined the army at 17, then became a spy. He disappeared for decades, leaving Nate and their mother to deal with Frank without him. Nate never got over it.
  • Professional Gambler: Nate spent a lot of time mixing this trope with The Gambling Addict. While he had the perpetual financial problems associated with the addict, he also had some of the skills associated with a pro gambler. Said skills were occasionally useful on one or two of Michael's jobs.
  • Reckless Sidekick: In some episodes Nate takes a direct role in helping Michael and is decently skilled in certain areas like stealing cars or doing improvised acting when Michael needs an extra person, he's also a little too impulsive and shortsighted for Michael's taste and has a problem when it comes to knowing when to give up. All of this gets a Lampshade Hanging in the season six mid-summer finale. Michael spends the episode chewing Nate out for doing the wrong thing in a spy op, then weeps over his body after Nate falls to a sniper.
  • Red Oni: To Michael when they work together.
  • Spanner in the Works: In "Enemies Closer".
  • Trailers Always Spoil: The teaser for "Shock Wave" all but went out of its way to foreshadow Nate's impending death, and then fully invoked this trope in the last 10 minutes of the episode when Michael relied on him to catch Anson. Also a rather egregious case of Dead Star Walking.
  • Tropaholics Anonymous: Begins going to Gambler's Anonymous after he couldn't make himself leave the card table even as his baby was being born.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Occasionally, particularly in "End Run".
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Even though they were just recently divorced, Nate's wife Ruth was nowhere to be seen at his funeral.
    • Season 7 offers slight handwaves for her absence; an offhand comment talks about Ruth having fallen Off the Wagon entirely, hinting that she had fallen prey to a substance addiction either in the wake of, or even before, Nate's death. Furthermore, the very next episode sees Madeline having to confront one of Nate's old bookies, because he couldn't find Ruth to shake down.

    Charlie Westen 

Charlie Westen

Played by: Wilson Pennel

Nate's adorable son, born during his short-lived marriage. Adopted by Madeline after Nate's death.


    Frank Westen 

Frank Westen

Played by: Tim Griffin

Madeline: You know, you missed your father's funeral by eight years.
Michael
: Well, last time I talked to him, he said "I'll see you in hell, boy," so I figured we had something on the books.

Though long dead by the beginning of the series, the (abusive, short-tempered) patriarch of the Westen family nevertheless remains something of a central mythical figure in the series due to the incredible influence he has over the Westen family, even after he died of a heart attack prior to the series. This influence only grows as of season 5 with The Reveal that Anson used Frank to gain information on Michael and arranged for his heart attack.

Michael is "visited" by a drug-induced hallucination of Frank in season 7 (played by Tim Griffin).


  • Abusive Parent/Domestic Abuse: Verbally and physically abused his family on a regular basis.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: He's the only reason Michael beats and survives James's interrogation. In fact, not just due to the terrifying confrontation with "ghost" Frank, but a "Eureka!" Moment provided by Mike's younger self:
    Adult Michael: What did you tell him?
    Young Michael: Nothing. I never tell him anything.
  • Doom It Yourself: By all rights a terrible mechanic, and not much better at being a father. Didn't fare much better as an electrician, if stealing wiring out of a neighbor's air conditioner counts.
    Michael: (voiceover) My dad's approach to machinery was the same as his approach to his family: If you don't like the way something works, keep banging on it till it does what you want. If something doesn't fit, force it. And above all, make sure it looks good on the outside.
  • The Ghost: Other than the occasional appearance of a family photo in Madeline's house, with a man in the picture that may be Frank, he remains unseen until Michael hallucinates Frank berating him in "Psychological Warfare".
  • Heel Realization: Shortly before his death, spending time with a therapist helped him realize how truly awful he'd been as a husband and father.
  • Heel–Face Door-Slam: Anson murdered him because he was thinking of going Face.
  • It May Help You on Your Quest: Bequeathed his Dodge Charger to Michael. Sort of. Actually, it was a ploy by Madeline to make Michael think his dad gave a crap.
    Madeline: I remember what fun you two had always working on cars in the garage.
    Michael: Fun? I remember him making me fake a seizure at Mr. Goodwrench so he could steal spark plugs.
  • Jerkass: A big part of Michael's upbringing and issues can be traced back to his less than ideal parenting.
  • Make It Look Like an Accident: Anson had him killed.
  • Posthumous Character: He's been dead for years before the series started.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Right around the time Frank realized just how horrible of a husband and parent he was, Anson decided to arrange a heart attack for him to prevent any pesky father-son reconciliation.
  • See You in Hell: The last thing he said to Michael's face. Michael makes an Ironic Echo of this to Anson at the end of season 5.

Government Figures and Employees

    Agent Harris & Agent Lane 

Agent Harris & Agent Lane

Played By: Marc Macaulay (Harris), Brandon Morris (Lane)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harris_&_lane.png
"Old Friends" at the FBI

Two FBI agents tasked with leaning on Sam in season 1 to conduct surveillance on Michael. Sam, in turn, acts as Michael's double agent to only feed them just enough info to keep Harris and Lane's superiors happy (and help get a real crook or two turned in). They eventually get reassigned once Michael stirs up enough trouble to be someone else's problem, but one or both of them turn up as allies of Michael in later seasons.


  • The Bus Came Back: Three times so far.
  • Defeat Equals Friendship: Not actually defeated, per se - somebody higher up the food chain, ominously, had them taken off the assignment. They're also not really his friends.
  • Put on a Bus: A couple episodes before season 1 ended.
  • Those Two Guys: Tow somewhat interchangeable, casually laidback federal agents.

    Jason Bly 

Jason Bly

Played by: Alex Carter
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bly_7.jpg
Government Agent
"Man, I have to say, Miami's treated me pretty well."

A CSS agent sent in ostensibly to investigate Michael in season 1 when Michael is freshly burned, but really to convince him to sit down and shut up about wanting his job back. Michael eventually puts together information to blackmail Bly into leaving him alone, although Bly attempts to return the favor in season 2, at which point the two call a truce. He reappears again in season 6.


  • Artistic License – Law Enforcement: The CSS is a real government agency, but what the hell would one of its people be doing pressuring Michael like that? It's a branch of the NSA dedicated to coordinating between intelligence agencies for the analysis of signal intelligence, not a domestic police force. There's a reason you've probably never heard of it.
  • The Bus Came Back: In the Season 6 premiere "Scorched Earth", interrogating Fi.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: After the events of "Bad Breaks", he actually helps Michael and they part amicably.
  • Foreshadowing: When Michael tries to tell him he didn't really deserve to be burned, Bly momentarily loses his cool and tells Michael he should be in jail. Later we find out what the government thinks Michael did. Bly was really understating the case.
  • Hero Antagonist: For all he's a Smug Snake, he really is on the side of angels and the dossier he has on Michael would make anyone think Michael was a monster.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Or at least of a somewhat reasonable person.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: He isn't one himself, but he really knows how to make use of them, seeking to inflict "a slow death, drowning in red tape" on Michael.
  • Out-Gambitted: A bunch of things he thought were going well for him turned out to be Michael setting him up to look corrupt. And to rub it in, after dumping The Reveal about this in Bly's lap, Michael drives off in the Mustang that Bly thought was his!
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Sure, he's obnoxious about it, but he's just doing his job.
  • Put on a Bus: Michael blackmails him into boarding one in S1, only to see him return with a grudge (which gets resolved) in "Bad Breaks". Disappeared afterward, until...
  • Sacrificial Lion: In the sixth season finale.
  • Smug Snake: When he has (or thinks he has) the upper hand on Michael. Cue MacGyvering or other such plot development to prove him wrong.

    Detective Michelle Paxson 

Detective Michelle Paxson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paxson_5.jpg
Michael's Worst Nightmare
Played by: Moon Bloodgood

Stuff's been blowing up pretty steadily since you arrived in Miami. So are you going to answer my questions, or am I going to pick my way through everything you own?

A Miami Detective who shows up investigating Michael at the start of season 3, almost immediately after he turned down Management's offer to help him stay off the radar. She makes the connection between Michael and some of the group's flashier pyrotechnics, and promptly starts hounding the team and staking out all the spots where they store their equipment. She keeps the pressure up for several episodes, causing a number of problems for Team Westen before Michael helps her catch a dangerous criminal she's been trying to bring down for years. She reluctantly backs off at that point, but notes that if Michael slips or she ever hears of him becoming a criminal for real, she'll arrest him.


  • By-the-Book Cop: As by the book and honest as you can possibly get.
  • Due to the Dead: She's seen attending the funeral of an Innocent Bystander murdered by the subject of another of her cases.
  • Enemy Mine: And to make charges stick on said enemy, she has to swear that he was using the explosives she was trying to tie to Michael and Fiona.
  • Fair Cop: Is played by a model.
  • Foe Romance Subtext: Michael and Fiona comment on this, although Michael denies it.
    Fiona: Was that flirting or does she hate you?
    Michael: I am not her type.
  • Put on a Bus: After Michael convinces her he's not a villain, she backs off and never shows up again.
  • Spanner in the Works: Deliberately shows up during one of Michael's jobs to throw it off (while not knowing exactly what it is) to put the heat on him in retaliation for Michael getting her partner fired (or suspended) by giving the two fake information implicating a political in criminal activity. This causes Michael to decide to engineerings an Enemy Mine situation with her to clear that up.
  • Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: She's a pain in the ass obstacle for the Team, but in real life if Team Westen was making all those explosions go off in your city, you'd want them arrested too.

    Diego Garza 

Diego Garza

Played by: Otto Sanchez
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diego_5.jpg
Michael's Point of Contact
I assume you're here because you want back in? Trying to reach out? I don't want this to hurt your feelings, but I'd like you to get the hell out of here.

A laid back CIA field agent who is quite happy with his position working undercover at the Miami Airport overseeing an import/export business instead of risking his life in the field. He reluctantly becomes Michael's official Agency contact during the first half of Season 3, and finds much more than he bargained for concerning a certain Tom Strickler...


  • He Knows Too Much: Gilroy certainly thought so.
  • Mauve Shirt: He gets a few episodes to showcase himself beyond simply being a one-off character and is then killed to really drive home how bad killing Strickler really was for Michael.
  • Never Suicide: His death is officially ruled as one, and given he's shown chugging some alcoholic beverage in a panic right before his offscreen demise, it's not completely implausible to a medical examiner...
  • Oh, Crap!: Once he realizes just how deep Strickler really was. And what it would mean for anyone digging in his business.
    What the hell were you doing working with Strickler? Do you know what sort of people he was in bed with?!
  • Retired Badass: He essentially considers his current job a paid retirement, and he is not rocking the boat.
    I have 20 years with the company. I've seen villages burned, kids orphaned. I've been shot. Twice. Then they transferred me here. Now, you know what the hardest part of this job is? That forklift over there turns funny. Now, if I report back that I made contact with a burned spy, do you know where they'll send me? Me neither.
  • Reassigned to Antarctica: Other agents would view his current position as this. Garza, who has had enough danger in his life, loves it.

    Congressman Bill Cowley 

Congressman Bill Cowley

Played by: John Doman
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cowley_7.png
Sam: Sir? I'm a war vet ok, this is about my disability. I'm one of your constituents.
Cowley: Yeah, but just one. *Rolls up window and drives away*

A blowhard congressman on the House Intelligence Committee with ambitions of reaching higher office. The team first encounters him midway through season 4, when they attempt to blackmail him into helping their client, a retired CIA Agent, get into Witness Protection. Cowley isn't interested in helping, but is forced to due to circumstances of the episode. In a last ditch effort to get the existence and identity list of the Burned Spies Organization into the open, Sam approaches him and tries to enlist him. Cowley is eventually convinced of the truth and brings a group of Marines to save the rest of Team Westen from certain death at Vaughn's hands.


  • The Cavalry: In the season 4 finale.
  • Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Done en masse to Vaughn and his mooks.
  • Corrupt Politician: Illegally sent troops into Columbia in '86, which turned out to be a disastrous bloodbath. He shrugs off both the deaths of the soldiers who took part in this and attempts to use the information against him, stating that he has someone ready to take the fall for him.
  • Jerkass: Just look at the way they established his character in the quote.
  • The Load: In both episodes, although it's somewhat alleviated when he brings The Cavalry to save Team Westen.
  • Photo Op with the Dog: Team Westen keeps approaching him at these...
  • Skeptic No Longer: In both episodes he offhandedly dismisses what Team Westen says, then his eyes get opened.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: And at least partially thanks to Team Westen, much to their chagrin.

    Marvin "Marv" Paterson 

Marvin "Marv" Paterson

Played by: Richard Kind
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marv_2.png
Jesse's Old Handler
I never believed what they said about Jesse, but I'm not about to do any favors for a couple of burned spies. I'm sorry.

A veteran counterintelligence agent at the DOD who has worked counter-intel for nearly 30 years. He was also Jesse's former handler, and although he believes Jesse was given a raw deal when he was burned, Marv doesn't dare speak up about it for fear of losing everything. Despite his reluctance to have anything to do with burned spies in general and Team Westen in particular, with a little arm twisting he helps them several times with information and resources. When Michael uncovers the full list of members of the Burned Spies Organization, he tries to convince Marv to help them bring it to the government. Unfortunately Brennan and Larry threaten Marv's family and force him to turn it over to them instead, and kill Marv along the way.


  • Friend on the Force: Essentially becomes a reluctant, Intelligence version for the team.
  • Sacrificial Lion: He's given significant screen time to show he's a decent, normal guy. An intelligence guy, but not a field guy like Michael and Jesse. He's goofy, he's warm, he's got a wife... and then he's shot to death by a guy we already hate.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Brennan's mooks kill Marv about five seconds after he hands them the thumb drive with the Burned Spies Organization roster.

    Gabriel Manaro and Matt Bailey 

Gabriel Manaro and Matt Bailey

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_1_2153.jpeg
A pair of CIA agents who ran afoul of Sam during his mission in Colombia in The Fall Of Sam Axe. All of their appearances involve them being far more of a hindrance than a help.
  • The Load: Whether it's manning a CIA outpost that basically sees no action, or running a field mission where they haven't actually made any real progress, they've a tendency to cause more problems than they solve, and complain about others who do try to get things done.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: In any given emergency, they have more reasons (read: excuses) for why they won't help than ways they actually will. They'll rattle off procedural obstacles, logistical problems, and whatever else they can pull out of their asses if it gets them out of doing their job.
  • Police Are Useless: In this case, CIA Agents Are Useless. These two are usually behind a desk, being of absolutely no help for the most part. Their fieldwork is actually even less of an asset. It's a miracle they've managed to keep their jobs for this long.
  • Those Two Guys: You can count the amount of times they show up on screen apart from each other on one finger.

    Max 

Max

Played by: Grant Show
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/max_8.jpg
CIA Operative

A capable and friendly CIA operative who becomes Michaels' partner in hunting down the members of the Burned Spies Organization early in season 5. After that he continues to be Michael's partner on some small scale CIA work while Michael is gradually worked back into the Agency. Is very suddenly murdered in an attempt to frame Michael.


  • Almost Dead Guy: And unlike the norm, he doesn't have anything cryptic to say as he's dying - just musings about his wife. It takes a bit before it's realized in-universe that Max was just an unwitting fall guy.
  • By-the-Book Cop: Although he does, with some convincing, give Michael some help with Michael's side jobs.

    Agent Dani Pearce 

Agent Dani Pearce

Played by: Lauren Stamile
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pearce_7.jpg
CIA Bloodhound

You guys were there when I needed it. I said I wouldn't forget and I haven't.

Initially assigned to look into the death of Max, Pearce eventually becomes Michael's de facto handler in the CIA and takes over the role of Sixth Ranger from Jesse. Because she's an agent in good standing unlike Jesse who quit due to his idealism and Michael due to his Cowboy Cop-like attitude, Pearce has both a lot more resources at her disposal but also a lot more responsibilities riding on her shoulders. Nevertheless, while her relationship with Team Westen has not always been smooth, by season 6, Pearce has come to owe them a lot. As a result, she has taken to helping them out - often without any CIA knowledge and usually by bending rules (helping the team out by helping out on other agency business in the same location). In this role, she serves in a similar capacity as Jesse when Jesse is unavailable or in the field himself - Mission Control and analytics. Eventually she breaks too many rules trying to help the team, and is Reassigned to Antarctica.


  • Action Girl: She's able to keep up with Michael in a fight.
  • Best Served Cold: She finds out that the man who killed her fiancée is now a protected CIA asset, convinces him that he's dying, arranges for him to unknowingly give up the information he's holding, and then reveals what she's done done complete with Cruel Mercy.
    I'm not killing you, Ahmed, but believe me, your life is over.
  • Brainy Brunette: A smart brunette who often is able to figure out what Michael is up to.
  • Cowboy Cop: Isn't called a "CIA Bloodhound" for nothing. It finally catches up with her in season 6.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Her fiancee was murdered years ago.
  • Determinator: She's like a pit bull when it comes to an investigation.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: A non-lethal version. She willingly takes the fall for Team Westen blackmailing a man at an intelligence conference, without even telling Michael before she's already done it. Her last order to him as his senior officer is for him to not reveal the truth.
  • Reassigned to Antarctica: Reassigned to Mumbai after breaking another rule for Westen. She mentions it could have been worse, as the CIA was looking to fill an ice station post in Reykjavik.
  • Revenge Before Reason: She was fully willing to destroy her career to get revenge.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Eventually comes more and more to this mindset after hanging around Team Westen long enough.

    Rebecca Lang 

Rebecca Lang

Played by: Kristanna Loken
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rebecca_8.jpg

A CIA field operative who is introduced as part of a team that Pearce assembles for Michael to command in his first major operation back in the CIA. Is secretly being blackmailed by Anson (who is threatening to turn over information about her brother's whereabouts to a criminal organization that wants to kill her brother) and is one of the agents he intends to use in rebuilding the Burned Spies Organization. She eventually winds up helping Michael and the CIA track down Anson, although she disappears anyway, claiming she doesn't trust the CIA to protect her brother and is going to make sure it gets done.


  • Blackmail: Is the victim of it, courtesy of Anson.
  • Dark Action Girl: She does a good job fighting both against and alongside Michael and the others, and while not necessarily a bad person by choice, is serving Anson in a decidedly villainous capacity for a lot of her screen time.
  • The Dragon: Essentially this to Anson in early season 6.
  • Heel–Face Turn: ... for a given value of face, anyway.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: And she has suspiciously bad timing about it, since she bolts right around the time that Anson and Nate are both killed. Michael tracks her down and puts a bullet in her shoulder before she convinces him that she had nothing to do with it.
  • Sympathy for the Hero: Shows some for Michael after Nate dies, even after he'd just shot her in the shoulder.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: She's done some terrible stuff for Anson and takes a bullet for it, but she gets to walk away.

    Tom Card 

Tom Card

Played by: John C. McGinley
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/card_5.jpg
The Man Who Trained Michael

"Imagine that you're onto holding two bottles. They drop on the floor, what happens? They both break. But it's how they break that's important. Because you see while one bottle crumples into a pile of glass, the other shatters into a jagged edged weapon. The same environment that forged older brother into a warrior... crushed baby brother. Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Westen, Michael is damaged. But he also happens to be a little boy who just wants to protect his mother and his baby brother. Which means that everyone that Michael ever helped actually has to thank... you."

"I'm proud of you, son."

Michael's training officer. As with Frank and Larry, Tom serves as something of a father figure to Michael. He acts as a middle ground between the two extremes of Frank and Larry. Like Frank, the relationship between Michael and Tom is at times antagonistic and based more around what the other can do for them. Like Larry, Tom taught Michael the skills he would need later in life. His contribution to Michael's life comes in transitioning Michael from petty criminal escaping his home life by entering the military to budding young spy with enough potential to attract Larry's mentorship and Anson's eye.


  • Ambiguous Situation: Since he's the only one available to supply information about it, we never really learn the truth about his relationship with Anson and the Organization. Was he a Dragon with an Agenda? Part of a triumverate along with Anson and Management? Just another cog, albeit one in a prominent position, like Vaughn or Carla? All we really know is he's desperate to save his career.
  • Arc Villain: First half of season 6.
  • Catchphrase: "I'm proud of you, son."
  • Consummate Liar: Card is constantly manipulating Michael and the others with falsehoods in a convincing manner.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: This is more or less Card's version of events about his partnership with Anson and the Burned Spies Organization. After trying to use the Organization to do the right thing while avoiding bureaucracy, he became another of Anson's blackmail targets/tools, and had to take Anson out (and Nate, incidentally/accidentally) to protect his career and keep serving his country... albeit illegally.
  • Expy: Of Dr. Cox. Tom has so many of the same mannerisms as Dr. Cox (the "attention whistle" and the way he rants) that you almost expect him to call Michael a girl's name or "newbie." It probably helps that they are played by the same actor. Subverted in the end however, as Cox is a Knight in Sour Armor crossed with Good Is Not Nice, while Card is ultimately a self serving manipulator only looking out for himself and his agenda.
  • Fair-Weather Mentor: He acts like a caring and devoted teacher to Michael but will throw him under the bus or hurt people close to him for self-preservation.
  • A Father to His Men: ... a distant, strict, demanding, jerkish father.
  • It's All About Me: In his first appearance, Michael deduces from Card's impatient attitude that he needs one of his ops to end sunny side up in order to save his slipping CIA career. Reinforced hard after The Reveal that he paid Nate's killer to lure Michael into a suicide mission, just out of fear that Michael might find out he was in cahoots with Anson.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. That's the mask he wears. In truth, he's a MASSIVE Jerk with a Heart of Jerk.
  • Knight Templar: His pre-mortem Breaking Speech is all about this.
  • The Man Behind the Man: In a sense. Card was one of Anson's "clients" on certain unspecified black ops, and most likely, was the one who supplied Anson with the encrypted communications device found in his apartment during season 5.
  • Motor Mouth: Quite the fast talker.
  • Pet the Dog: His speech to Maddy, even though it's subverted a few minutes later when he calmly orders Michael's assassination after lying to both of them. Also, in his first appearance he seemed genuinely disgusted by the Corrupt Agent and passionate about doing the job right.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!
  • The Uriah Gambit: Attempted this in the Season 6 mid season finale. Although he didn't intend to marry Fiona.
  • Walking Spoiler: Talking about him is difficult without revealing his role as an Arc Villain.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: One of several father figures that inspires Michael to be this. He's as bad as the rest of them. Michael has really shitty luck in this department.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claims that people like him and Michael have to 'make calls' and for all his treachery, he seemed like he legitimately wanted to advanced the goals of and protect the interests of the United States.

    Olivia Riley 

Olivia Riley

Played by: Sonja Sohn
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riley_9.jpg
CIA Heavy Hitter

Counter-Intel legend send in to capture Michael Westen after the murder of Tom Card. Judging from her actions, she seems to be another person manipulated by Card, as she took it quite personal upon learning of his death.


  • Anti-Hero: CIA operative and specialist of counter-intelligence who wants to bring down Michael badly. Even after telling their side of the story, including the bit about Card collaborating with Anson, she couldn't care less.
  • Arc Villain: Second half of season 6. Though she starts off relatively sympathetic, by the end she's plunged into outright villainy by betraying the CIA and the DEA to a cartel just to kill Team Westen without ruining her career.
  • Bad Boss: A mild version in that when a field agent comments that there are live explosives and they have no real protection against that (eg bomb defusal equipment), she remarks that she'll just find an actual field agent that will do it. That is she seemed more interested in catching Westen right then and there.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: With a heavy helping of Smug Snake about it. Sends one of her guys to beat up Jessie than blames it on said guy, claims she has the document on his mother's murder, when it was just a bunch of empty papers and never planned on helping; then loses what little sympathy she had left when enlists the help of a Drug Cartel just to have Westen killed, and later tortures Sam in the hospital just for kicks. Why did she do all of this? Was it because he killed a CIA agent despite knowing it was in self defence? Nope, it was because he was ruining her reputation.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Sam outright tells Riley this is what she did when she sent a Cartel Hit Squad after Michael's mother. Stating she no longer had to try to find Michael, as he was now coming after her.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Know the voiceovers we hear before utilizing them against the perp? Contextually, it's kind of similar here, except now Westen is on the receiving end of them. Olivia is able to utilize conventional and unconventional means of catching, trailing, and interrogating perps. She successfully catches Sam's lies and plans out defensive and offensive strategies against Team Westen.
  • Distaff Counterpart: To Michael.
  • Determinator: Pretty much her defining character trait as she claims she'd travel to the ends of the earth to catch Michael.
  • The Dreaded: Both Michael and Jessie exchange Oh, Crap! faces when they realize who they're up against. After they explain to Fi that she's literally wrote the book on counter-intelligence, it doesn't really make the situation any better.
  • Foil: To Michael, more so than any antagonist in the series to date. To an extent, she's also something of a foil to Jesse who had a similar history with Michael. This aspect of her character is particularly notable in the latter part of season six. It's been stated by Word of God that Michael tends to (or use to) value his own reputation and such over that of others. Olivia shares this with him... but will cross more lines than he will to preserve it, given that she lacks the family he does.
  • Hero Antagonist: When she has Michael cornered, she orders her team to take the shot no matter what... even when the field agents can clearly see that Michael is unarmed and surrendering.
  • Hyper-Awareness: Much like Michael, she is able to notice tiny features that can tell whether a perp is lying or not. This is evident when she catches Sam wince when she analyzes that Michael is bound to be at a weapons storage as opposed to where Michael is.
  • I Never Said When: Catches Sam in a lie when he tries to say the boat picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when the scar on the side of the boat was done six months ago.
  • Inspector Javert: Though at the end she even loses this aspect. Where a Javert will still follow and believe he is following the law, Riley goes as far as to hire a Drug Cartel hit squad and deliberately betraying the CIA and DIA to kill Westen and his team rather than bring them in. She even clearly makes reference to the fact she knows what she is doing is illegal.
  • Jerkass: More so with every episode.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Steadily becomes more of a jerkass throughout season 6, before outright torturing Jesse and Sam and betraying the CIA and DEA to a cartel. Even her own men clearly notice a more extreme aspect in her personality since she has been chasing them, starting to believe she would be capable of trying anything.
  • Knight of Cerebus: She's damn good at her job, and it shows in her debut episode. See also Cerebus Syndrome.
  • Shadow Archetype: Think of her as Michael if he were fully manipulated by Tom Card.
  • Perp Sweating: Several kinds, legal and illegal.
    • Maddie: arrests her and lets her stew (emphasis on "stew") in an interrogation room for some length of time, then smokes a cigarette when she finally does start asking questions, just to make Maddie (the chain smoker, mind) even more upset.
    • Jesse: when he acts like a smartass during his detainment, sends in a burly underling to beat the crap out of him until she feels he "understands the gravity of the situation".
      • Which in a way shows the differences between her and Westen. Where She would allow her guys to use torture, Westen and his team would only suggest using this to scare them and never actually hurt them.
    • Sam: subverted; she barely even tries to get answers out of him. Instead, since he's laid up in the hospital and can't resist, she switches his morphine for a "stimulant" that increases his sensitivity to pain... for no reason!
  • Smoking Is Cool
  • Tragic Villain: When she first appears, she is just an agent doing her job since she doesn't know all the facts. However, she continues to pursue Michael after he explains what Card was planning. Her obsession with catching Team Westen leads to her crossing major lines and becomes her downfall.
  • Two First Names: Her last name, "Riley", can be used as a first name.
  • We Will Meet Again: Tells Michael as such after their first encounter.

    Andrew Strong 

Andrew Strong

Played by: Jack Coleman

  • Bad Boss: Plays it painfully straight with Michael, but subverted with the rest of his team who don't seem to mind him. His boss, the Deputy Director of the CIA, proves to be even less charming and may explain Strong's more desperate acts.
  • Blackmail: It's his Establishing Character Moment, even.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He might not have been responsible for pulling Simon out of prison, but he sure did see nothing wrong with sending him to aid Michael, provided the job got done. Commence everything imaginable going wrong.
  • Inspector Javert: His years-long obsession with catching Randall Burke prompted his wife to take the kids and split. Then again, he isn't the most pleasant person on Earth as it is...
  • Jerkass
  • Karma Houdini: Doesn't really get any comeuppance for his Jerkass ways or questionable methods.
  • Knight Templar: Contrasted against James. Both are willing to throw law and due diligence to the winds for their goals, but Strong has more or less elevated it to the level of a personal vendetta.
  • Married to the Job: Strong was so focused on taking down The Family it ended his actual marriage.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: "Overkill" doesn't begin to describe what Simon does for Michael on Strong's paycheck. Rather than catching James, quite the opposite happens.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: To paraphrase: Go on this physically, psychologically and morally draining deep cover op to apprehend this extremely cautious terrorist for us; refuse and you, the most notorious/hated spy in the CIA, spend the rest of your days with your friends & family in a detention facility. A clean slate awaits everyone if you succeed but failure or death is unacceptable. No pressure.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Unpleasant looming presence though he is, Strong is a decently skilled field agent and is responsible for talking down James's former Special Forces squadmate from blowing up Jesse.
    • Gets a repeat performance in the series finale by getting Jesse and Sam released from custody despite a lot of people wanting them in jail. And plays hardball in order to get Michael a star on the CIA Memorial Wall.

Other Recurring Characters

    Raymond "Sugar" Mosley 

Raymond "Sugar" Mosley

Played By: Arturo Fernandez
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sugar_6.jpg
Michael's Old Neighbor

"I've got guns and duct tape."

The drug dealer who lived downstairs from Michael in the pilot, until Michael shoots him and convinces him to move. He shows up later asking for help, and after a turn as the client of the week he becomes friendly with Team Westen. Afterward he becomes a source of information and insight into Miami's drug world.


  • Defeat Means Friendship: After Michael shots out his leg, he grows to respect him, almost to fanboy-levels.
  • Heel Realization: Pre-series — He used to bully and neglect his mentally challenged cousin Dougie. When Dougie rescued him from some hostiles despite the mistreatment, Sugar realized what a Jerkass he had been towards him.
  • Hidden Depths: Sugar has a mentally challenged cousin named Dougie that Sugar would die to protect... at least in part because Sugar used to pick on Dougie, but Dougie saved Sugar anyway when Sugar needed it.
  • The Informant: After his turn as a Team Westen client, he gets called on several times to give the team info on targets in the drug world. Mostly this just adds up to telling them what bad news the latest Villain of the Week is.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: He spends the entire episode as a Client being a Leeroy.
  • The Load: He tends to get shot whenever he gets involved, and Team Westen usually has to drag him out of the line of fire.
  • Noodle Incident: Got released, and Team Westen helps make it up to him.
    • Put on a Bus to Hell: After the aforementioned season 6 cameo, Jason Bly tells Michael in the finale that Riley found out about the phone call anyway, arrested Sugar, and is doing god-knows-what to him in some unknown prison. This becomes even darker when it's later seen what she's willing to do to Jesse and Sam.
  • Stupid Crook: Initially. In one of the most iconic MacGyvering scenes of the series, Michael outwits him with duct tape.note  Gradually wises up with every appearance, though.

    Barry Burkowski 

Barry Burkowski

Played By: Paul Tei
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barry_20.jpg
The Launderer

"You want me to make two hundred grand just, *poof*, appear in your numbered account? Michael, I'm good, but I can't just will that kind of money into existence."

A metrosexual money launderer who nevertheless manages to look like a graying Guy Fieri with extra piercings. Team Westen goes to him for information and financial advice time and time again, and he has been the key to making a number of their plans work.


  • Big Fun: He's got a noticeable gut, and despite being a money launderer he never fails to be polite to Michael and the gang, even helping them with many jobs.
  • The Bus Came Back: Got released, and Team Westen helps make it up to him.
  • Put on a Bus to Hell: Got sent to prison for four months.
  • Camp Straight: He's fussy at times and often nicely dressed and groomed, but is into girls and not guys.
  • The Fixer: As a money launder, Barry is an endless source of connections to the Miami underworld. His financial expertise also comes in handy to Michael for many of his cases, often to make someone appear corrupt, or to give the appearance of wealth.
  • Knowledge Broker: He's a money launderer, so he needs to be this to stay in business and alive. He's Team Westen's go-to guy when Sam's and Fiona's contacts can't get them everything they need.
  • Spiky Hair: Almost never seen without it.

    Carmelo Dante 

Carmelo Dante

Played by: Todd Stashwick

"If I ever see your face again, I'll kill you"

The second largest heroin dealer in Miami, Carmelo is a dangerous underworld figure who has been forced into aiding Team Westen on two different occasions, both against his will. Although he's never been a direct enemy or a Villain of the Week, he is not happy about having been forced into such a situation and each time warns Michael that he’ll kill Michael should he ever see Michael again.


  • Ax-Crazy: Although he's capable of being surprisingly cordial when he wants to be (or is forced to be, as is the case with Michael's bomb), There should be no mistake that Carmelo is an unhinged, violent man, much more so than simply what is required to maintain his position in the criminal underworld. He relishes in beating and threatening Sam when Sam goes to Carmelo as one of Team Westen's schemes.
  • Death Glare: Carmelo has wide, bulging, angry eyes that communicate his desire to commit violence.
  • Enemy Mine: In his second appearance Michael manipulates him into such a position against a Serbian mob that had acquired military technology. (Namely, a predator drone and missiles for it.)
  • Mexican Standoff: Michael gets the better of Carmelo in both of their encounters by getting him into a situation where Carmelo could certainly kill Michael, but doing so would also destroy him, either literally or metaphorically. The first time it involved Michael planting a bomb in Carmelo's club and then waltzing in and making demands. Sure Carmelo could shoot Michael just for the disrespect, but if Michael dies the bomb will go off, killing Carmelo. The second time involves Michael finally revealing that he's been manipulating Carmelo just as the police are closing in, leaving Carmelo the choice of killing Michael and either getting shot by the sniper Michael has as backup (or, if he survives that, being busted next to a couple of dead CIA assets and stolen military tech), or working with Michael and getting immunity from prosecution by becoming an informant. In the second instance in particular Carmelo is clearly tempted to shoot Michael and take his chances, but he chooses discretion in both cases.
  • Unwitting Pawn: He has zero desire to either work with Team Westen or help the U.S government, but in his second appearance Michael essentially forced him to do both.
  • Villain Cred: Carmelo is very proud and very protective of his. Michael predicts Carmelo will never allow the truth about their second encounter to be known on the street because it would out Carmelo as having cooperated with the government, and that would utterly destroy his reputation.
  • We Will Meet Again: At the end of both encounters with Michael, Carmelo warns Michael that he'll kill him if he ever sees Michael again.

    Seymour 

Seymour

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/seymour_4.png

"You are such a badass. It's kind of awesome. You need my help? Okay. One condition.You got to teach me some of these moves."

A rather flighty gun runner that Michael encounters in the second season, he has useful connections in the world of gun runners and specialty guns. His aforementioned flighty and weird nature (and his tendency to draw Michael into his problems, including shootouts with other crooks) is somewhat less useful.


  • Bad Boss: He calls his bodyguard Jackass. Need more be said? To be fair, the man in question is not very bright.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's...odd, to say the least.
  • Genius Ditz: While he is an idiot most of the time he does seem skilled at modifying weapons somewhat as he makes water shells for Mike to shoot through a demo trap. He also manages to stay in business so he isn't quite as dumb as he looks. His "jackass" bodyguard on the other hand is a complete moron.
  • New-Age Retro Hippie: Conforms to the value of tai-chi.
  • Shipper on Deck: He makes matching custom daggers for Mike and Fi and tells them they should be together.
  • Stupid Crook: Not as bad as Sugar, but one wonders how the hell he's stayed alive and become so successful.

    Ann "Ayn" Rand 

Ann "Ayn" Rand

Played By: Zabryna Guevara
A fellow prisoner who befriends Fiona in jail.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Her nickname, Ayn stands for Anything You Need and references her scrounging skills.
  • Department of Child Disservices: She has a son she's worried about losing to social services.
  • Friend in the Black Market: Ayn is the prison smuggler, something Fiona uses to her advantage.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name is a reference to the author Ayn Rand, who was famously an alcolyte for the free market. It just so happens that she runs a small business in prison, getting people anything they need for a good enough price.
  • The Stool Pigeon: Subverted, Fiona has her sell out information that she wants found out to get Ayn a release.

Alternative Title(s): Burn Notice The Fall Of Sam Axe

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