Quotes

Pilot [1.01]

Maybe this is the perfect time for us just to think about living the life we've been living but just really living it. Just being us.

Pilot [1.01]

Chris Amador: So, were you, like, burning crosses and shit with those guys? Or like, "Heil Hitler"? Stan Beeman: It was a little deeper than that.

Pilot [1.01]

The American people have elected a madman as their president. He is expanding their military forces on a massive scale. He is against nuclear arms-control agreements. He makes no secret of his desire to destroy us. Our war is not so cold anymore, Elizabeth. What happens behind enemy lines will determine the outcome of this struggle.

The Clock [1.02]

They can cut your balls off, stuff them in your mouth, tie you to a radiator in a basement, and then call it a lateral move.

The Clock [1.02]

People who believe in God always make the worst targets.

The Clock [1.02]

Elizabeth Jennings: Viola, listen to me. You still have one more chance to save his life. Viola Johnson: I don't believe anything you say. Elizabeth Jennings: You see your son. He is dying in front of you. You know that's the truth. He'll make it another 24 hours. If you didn't tell anyone, and I don't think that you did, you can still put that clock back tomorrow, and this will all end. Viola Johnson: I know the devil.

The Clock [1.02]

Viola Johnson: I listen to my lord. He protects me. He guides me. Philip Jennings: There's been a misunderstanding between you and your lord.

The Clock [1.02]

They shouldn't ask us to do impossible things.

Gregory [1.03]

Philip Jennings: You know, where I come from, you leave, you lose. Stan Beeman: If that's how you want to win. Philip Jennings: I'll win any way I can.

Gregory [1.03]

Gregory Thomas: You know, we met at the SCLC meeting. We was putting together a group to march with Dr. King in Chicago. We just clicked. It wasn't about race or Vietnam. It was about equality. When she told me who she really was, it was like I already knew. She was recruiting me for the KGB, America's number-one enemy. And I was right there with her. Me and her against the world. We were willing to sacrifice our lives, our families. You know, whatever it took. Philip Jennings: You don't have a family, do you, Gregory?

Gregory [1.03]

Frank Gaad: She just walked away, tight out from under surveillance. How big was the team? Stan Beeman: Six men. Frank Gaad: And she just disappeared into thin air? Is she Doug Henning? Stan Beeman: We debriefed the surveillance guys. They said it happened at a choke point, like she knew. Frank Gaad: Goddamn it! Stan Beeman: She slipped away from a full FBI surveillance detail. Sounds like a Directorate "S" Operative to me. Frank Gaad: I got to call upstairs. Chris Amador: Look, we all thought continuing surveillance was the best move. We all agree on that. Frank Gaad: You worried about me, Amador? You think I'm out on a limb and someone's gonna saw it off? Chris Amador: No, sir. Frank Gaad: That's sweet. Really, I'm touched. But if this woman thinks that slipping one surveillance team gets her home to Mother Russia, she's as soft as you are. Stan Beeman: We have her name and her face. Frank Gaad: And we have the resources of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She has to be quiet to

COMINT [1.05]

I ran an agent in West Germany. He was a loner—one of these oddballs who never really learned to make a friend. So, I became his friend. Many years later, I was leaving and we didn't really need him anymore. I explained it all to him. And he thanked me for the chance to work together. He killed himself shortly thereafter. We didn't need him anymore, but he needed us.

COMINT [1.05]

Frank Gaad: Beeman, Amador, what would you make of it if I said to you, "I feel like I'm standing at the edge of a diving board over a pool with no water in it"? Stan Beeman: You need a vacation?

Trust Me [1.06]

[to Claudia as she beats her] I'm gonna kill you, you stupid bitch! Tell whoever approved this that your face is a present from me to them! Show them your face! Show it to them!

Duty and Honor [1.07]

Philip Jennings: The boy—is he real? Irina: Only duty and honor are real, Mischa. Isn't that what we were told?

Duty and Honor [1.07]

You Americans think everything is white and black— For us, everything is gray.

Mutually Assured Destruction [1.08]

Claudia: Elizabeth. I know there's bad blood between us. But believe it or not, I feel a camaraderie with you. Elizabeth Jennings: A camaraderie? Claudia: Yes. Elizabeth Jennings: You have a funny way of showing that. Claudia: This isn't an easy life we've chosen. But there's no way to get through it without the truth. Elizabeth Jennings: What "truth" exactly are we talking about? Claudia: In New York, Philip was with the woman we assigned him to. Elizabeth Jennings: I can think of five different reasons you'd poison our life. Claudia: Ask Philip, then. Elizabeth Jennings: I did. Claudia: You believe him? If you start to think of your marriage as real, it doesn't work. The men don't think of them that way.

Mutually Assured Destruction [1.08]

Prostitute: So, what's your thing? Assassin: My thing? Prostitute: Oral? Anal? Ecclesiastical? Assassin: Oh. I am much kinkier than that.

Safe House [1.09]

Martha Hanson: Clark, I'm in love with you. I waited my whole life for you, and I would do anything for you. Anything. All you have to do is ask. Just please, just tell me one thing? Is this real? Philip Jennings: Yes.

Safe House [1.09]

Stan Beeman: A counterintelligence artiste? Chris Amador: Yeah, I'm like Picasso, only with a gun and not a brush. My work is my life, and my life is my art. I have no wife, no kids, no pets, no hobbies, no distractions—except for pussy. I got no attachments. I'm as unencumbered as bedbugs in a flophouse, and I like it. It works for me.

Safe House [1.09]

You're gonna lose this war. You know that, right? You can torture me and you can kill me but we're gonna kick your motherland's marbled ass, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Safe House [1.09]

Stan Beeman: When you shoot a bird—duck or pheasant, say—your dog, your retriever, picks it up in its mouth—its soft mouth. Soft mouth is key. Otherwise, the dog sinks his teeth into the bird's flesh. Anyway your dog brings it to you and lays it at your feet. But sometimes, when you shoot the bird, it's not dead. It's just wounded. Strange thing is, whether the bird is dead or just wounded, once the dog gets it in its mouth, the bird goes limp. Like a rag—doesn't move. It acts like it's dead. Doesn't struggle or scream. It just goes limp. Don't you think that's strange? You know what I think it is? Fear. The bird's scared out of its goddamn mind. Who wouldn't be? I know I would. Then again, maybe the bird is faking. You know what I'm saying? Maybe it wants you—talking about the bird now—to think it's dead so when the dog drops it out of its soft mouth at its master's feet, it can take off. It works sometimes. You wouldn't think it does, but it does. Not a lot. Once in a blue moon. Vlad

Safe House [1.09]

Stan Beeman: Vietnam turned you into a skirt chaser? Chris Amador: I was straight as an arrow when I signed up. I was an altar boy till I was 17. Stan Beeman: Really? Chris Amador: Yeah. Then 'Nam changed things. You know, there was crazy shit over there. You never knew when your number was gonna be called. I learned two things. One, tempus fugit—"time flies". One way or the other, you snatch it, or it's gonna snatch you. There's no pause button. And, two, there are worse things than dying. Stan Beeman: Like? Chris Amador: Shame. Shame's not an option for me.

The Colonel [1.13]

Claudia: I had to fill out an "officer in the field" special-request assessment form. It has 27 sections. Elizabeth Jennings: Well, I guess your job can be dangerous, too. Claudia: My point was, you've been in the field too long. You've lost touch with both your basic obligations and the central rules and regulations that make this organization function. It's happened before with officers in your position, and it can be remedied. Elizabeth Jennings: I'm sure they'll send someone else to remedy it. Claudia: Don't be sure. I've been serving faithfully much longer than you, my dear. I told them they're in danger of losing you. And whether you see it or not, I'm right. Elizabeth Jennings: I'm surprised they gave you this job, when you have no understanding of people at all. Claudia: I know you better than you know yourself. And you don't know me at all.

The Colonel [1.13]

[to Patterson] You won't be able to move for 20 minutes... which is 10 minutes longer than you have left. Viktor Zhukov was my friend. We met in Stalingrad in 1942. He was ragged, skin and bones, same as we all were. First time I saw him, He was standing over two dead Nazis. I was surprised, after the war, that he'd survived. We found ourselves working together in what was then called the NKGB.

The Colonel [1.13]

Arkady Zotov: Besides, if you're wrong, we'd be giving up the greatest intelligence success since we got the atom bomb. Claudia: That's what we always say. Right before our people die for nothing. The next thing we always say is "it was so obvious."