Real Men of Action: Michael Westen
- Name: Michael Westen
- Occupation: CIA Spy (Fired)
- Family: Madeline Westen (Mother), Nate Westen (Brother)
- Allies: Fiona Glenanne, Sam Axe
- Enemies: Miami’s various lowlifes, pissed off people from the past
- Weapon(s) of Choice: SigSauer P228, Emerson Karmbit Knife
- Body Count: Unknown
- Catchphrase: “When you’re a spy…”
Michael Westen is a walking encyclopedia of weapons, tactics and general spy knowledge. Joining the military at age 17 he eventually started to work for the CIA conducting various kinds of missions in Europe and the Middle East. On a mission in Nigeria he gets “burned” during a business deal, the spy equivalent of being fired. He flees for his life and winds up on plane heading for Miami, where he is locked down by the government. Fortunately for Michael, he has his friend Sam Axe, a former Navy SEAL, and “confusing person of romantic interest” Fiona Glenanne, Irish arms dealer.
With his assets cut off, Michael starts to help people in Miami with various problems ranging from kidnappings, blackmailings and other nefarious activities. Although the problem might have to be solved with force Michael is also a master of deception and can usually trick the bad guys into fleeing or getting arrested. Michael also investigated his burn notice to try and get reinstated as a spy.
About a year after getting burned, Michael found out that the man who burned him was Phillip Cowen, an NSA operative who went rogue. After meeting with him, Cowen revealed that he was a small part of something bigger and was promptly killed by a sniper. It turns out that a mysterious organization burned Michael in order to recruit him. The organization’s liasion with Michael is a women named Carla, who forces Michael to do various jobs that he eventually learns are part of an assassination attempt. The assassination is foiled by a bombing and Michael learns that a man named Victor used to work for Carla but went rogue. Michael teams up with Victor to take down Carla but they are cornered on Victor’s houseboat. Fiona and Sam arrive and take down Carla and Victor, who gets injured, sacrifices himself so Michael can take credit for killing him with the organization.
Michael meets with “Management” of the organization in a helicopter who tell him he can either join him or lose their protection from everyone in his past who wants him dead. Michael says he’ll take his chances and jumps out of the chopper and makes a long swim back to Miami.
Without the organization’s protection, Michael is now being investigated by the Miami police, headed by a Detective Paxton. Michael continues to do jobs for people in need and eventually helps Paxton catch a meth dealer she was tracking for years so she will back off. Michael eventually meets a man named Tom Strickler, “Agent to the Spies”, who agrees to help Michael get back into the CIA. Michael starts doing jobs for Strickler along with the occasional job for people in need but Fiona doesn’t trust Strickler and decides to head back to Ireland. However, Thomas O’Neill, a brutal Irish terrorist, comes to Miami looking to first kill and then deciding to kidnap Fiona and sell her to the highest bidder. Michael attempts to hide Fiona at an empty house but Strickler finds the location and gives it to O’Neill, claiming he wanted Michael free of distractions so he can focus on getting his job back. Michael kills Strickler and with Sam’s help, frees Fiona and sets O’Neill up with bombs and plans for the State Department so he gets arrested.
With everything seemingly back to normal, Michael’s other CIA contact, Diego, calls in a panic about Michael working with Strickler and that the agency is sending people down to clean up the mess. Michael goes to meet with Diego but finds him dead outside his apartment building and Michael has absolutely no clue about who or what is going on.
See Michael in Action: