Looks like the survivor’s baddie is looking to blow up a dam… whoooo
So the agency has received a new threat.. release the stewed tomatoe 2 (ie the two people Gary and Gertrude) or they will use the vigilant in some evil way!
On to the golf course.. and the first shot is a ball landing on the green. The Baddie Gordon Standoffish and his wife Emma compliment ‘Brad’ (ie Lee) on his shot.. love that Amanda doesn’t join in! hehehee.. Well she did say Golf isn’t her game.. Amanda’s ball is back in the swamp! hehehee.. (if Amanda is trying to play golf with all that photographic equipment around her neck – she should get a few extra strokes!)
Emma: Amanda, that’s cheating. Do you want to cheat?
Amanda: Very much. (LOL!)
Lee is all serious trying to get into a political discussion with Gordon- he is about as subtle as a sledgehammer if you ask me… Love Amanda’s line about the comedian being funny with the plastic chicken. 
Lee just glares at her.. lighten up Lee..
Amanda pulls out her camera and decides to take some pics of the power couple- but she fumbles lots with the camera.. come on.. Shouldn’t she have practiced so she could at least look like she knows what she is doing? I was thinking- Lee don’t you dare be mad at her for that.. it isn’t her fault-I bet she was given no time to practice! Oh good.. Lee doesn’t get mad at her and seems to nod to her in encouragement I think.. just when I am about to get really mad at him, he does something good! 
Gordon: When did you first become a photo journalist?
Amanda: Oh, well, every job seems like the very first one. Here we go…
and..
Emma: Let’s hit that swamp, Amanda.
Amanda: I don’t want to hit the swamp.
Emma: You’ll see, you’ll feel so much better after.
(Amanda turns, unenthusiastically.)
Amanda: Yeah.
(Emma walks over and stops behind Lee, who is bent over, setting up his ball. Emma taps his shoulder. Lee stands up and Emma leans in to him. She whispers.)
Emma: She’s a nice girl, but she’s a very bad loser.
Lee and Amanda are walking back to the car, and Lee is all mad that the info he wanted didn’t come easily to him.. Amanda is convinced she has sunstroke.. Lee is off in his own little world complaining that Gordon didn’t just hand the info to him on a silver platter
Amanda: Mrs. Standish and I got along pretty well.
Lee: Lord knows how many more like him there are.
Amanda: She says he predicts the collapse of the whole country.
(Amanda fiddles with her compact and Lee gets in the car and slams his door- not paying any attention to what Amanda just said…)
Lee: I just couldn’t get him to admit that he’s a member of the Survivors.
Amanda: Oh, he is.
(Lee looks up, surprised.)
Lee: What? ( finally he decides to listen to her.. what did she say again?..)
Amanda: She told me. She invited me to a special retreat they’re having next weekend.
(She smiles at Lee. Lee stares at her.)
Lee: She invited you?
Amanda: You want to come? She said they’re sort of like the, uh, Rotary Club, they’re really harmless, only they, like, eat leaves or something, and she wanted us to meet their friends. (Amanda is preoccupied with hunting for an aspirin in her bag.. she doesn’t seem to notice Lee’s reaction to this news.. or she is not gloating..)
It turns out Amanda got the info Lee needed!! whooo hooo you go girl! Amanda just tells him very casually that she has been invited to join the survivors the next weekend (not ‘we’ notice?!!! hehehee) – so she asks if he wants to come.. Did you see him look her up and down?? and I mean look her up and down???
whooooo haaaaaa!!!!
That’s right Lee.. that is a surprising woman you have in front of you there!!! and you are lucky to have her!
Lee should have been checking with Amanda that she hadn’t gotten any info out of Mrs standoffish.. but nooooo Lee acts like he is a one man show.. well.. Amanda showed him! I Love that Lee is quite speechless- utterly speechless!
Amanda, ends the scene still fixated on getting some aspirin! 
On to baddie headquarters.. whooo the shrink from the Terminator! Shame on you buddy you should have believed Sarah Connor!!! Errr… focus!
Marshall Holt has his big reveal as the baddie..(thanks for the heads up subtitles people! haaa) 
This room the baddies are in is quite distracting and bizarre.. everywhere you look there are animal heads, trophies or tartan curtains.. yuck!!!! Oh and the weasel faced man grinding away at his claws with the nail file!!
Ahhhh the scene in the elevator.. Lee and Amanda are too cute when they are disagreeing with each other! and.. ahem.. they are in very close quarters in that elevator..
Lee: You’re not going. End of discussion.
Amanda: It’ll look funny if I don’t go. I’m the one Mrs. Standish invited….
Lee: Look. Survivor weekends are no picnic. It’s rough out there. Do you want to run around for two days and eat roots and wear nothing but a loincloth?
Lee doesn’t seem to be bothered by standing quite so close to Amanda…
Loincloth?? Did Lee just say Loincloth?? I errr whgtagagaouaga.. Hey! You are suppose to be trying to talk Amanda out of going!!! Not giving her reasons to go!!!!! There would be no talking me out of seeing that…
We see Francine and Billy are watching on- they exchange ‘ a look’ – What do you think they were thinking watching them hmmm?? whooo look forward to hearing ideas! My guess is Francine is looking at Billy to say – why do you subject us to this woman! and Billy is smiling affectionately loving the affect Amanda has on Lee! and.. if I were a thorough romantic.. I’d say he could see a spark between them here.. We see in the background of Billy that Lee is actually putting on Amanda’s guest pass for her! whoo haaa.. errr if I visit will you put mine on for me too Lee? Please??!!!!
I wonder if this putting on of the other’s pass was scripted?? anyone care to check it out? I won’t pursue that one.. (time constraints! )
These two just want to touch each other don’t they, even when disagreeing with each other…. but they have no idea.. notice how when Amanda has put on Lee’s badge she keeps her hands there for a second or two longer and presses it? awh… this is very well done…
Amanda: Now don’t you think he’s going to go out of his way to make us see how innocent everything is? Besides, —
Lee and Amanda together: I saw the weasel-faced man!
Lee: I am so tired of hearing about the weasel-faced man.
Love that Lee guesses what Amanda was about to say and says it at the same time as her (you see how he actually moves closer to her -if that was possible – when he says how sick he is of hearing about the weasel faced man! whoooo..)
Could they stand any closer and hot errr I mean not have a near miss kiss here???!!!! whoo haa.. (ahhh I can’t help analysing every little nuance of their interactions like this one.. they are too cute!)
Amanda: Are you trying to blow our case?
Lee: It’s not our case, it’s my case.
It’s not ‘our’ case? Lee!! Denial!! come on! Without Amanda you would have zip.. he seems to be in denial about a few things.. (Amanda is mad here.. see the face she pulls after he turns his back?!)
If I didn’t know better I’d say Lee was enjoying his little disagreement with Amanda..
Lee: Look. If you’re not going to be reasonable, we’ll just let Billy decide, huh?
Amanda: Fine. We’ll let Billy decide.
(he even laughs looking pretty relaxed as they walk down the hall.. Do you think he is maybe too happy?? Do you think here maybe this is Bruce trying not to laugh? )
Lee: ha ha!
Billy: she’s going.
Funny, I don’t remember Lee putting on Amanda’s badge that low down on her blouse!!! hehehee… (I am sure I would have noticed if Lee had gotten handsy! Amanda would have too!) It must be a magic badge..
Back to Amanda’s place that night and the boys are off to camp inside a friend’s house- cute!
Amanda’s scene explaining to Dotty where she is going is cute.. Amanda trying not to lie again.. and her smile is getting bigger! Dotty she is not about to run out and have an affair just because you asked her if she was.. she is not 10! poor Amanda.. you know I think she deals with living with her mother really well .. all things considered!
Lee and Amanda are on the retreat, and taking a break from the exercise… Amanda is too funny:
Amanda: I’ve never seen your legs before.
(Lee stands up and holds his arms out.)
Lee: So? What do you think? (such a show pony! he just has to ask!!!)
Amanda: Not bad.
(Lee grins at her, then he shakes his head and sits down next to her on the ground.)
Lee: Thanks. (He looks at Amanda.) Well, you must be in pretty good shape. You don’t seem tired.
(He flips his hair back.)
Amanda: I’m not tired. I work out.
Lee: Oh, me too. I see a guy who runs me through the Alps a few times a year, at home, I combine a program of karate, fencing, kickboxing, and I try to check my metabolism as often as I can.
(Hey! what is that couple up to behind Lee and Amanda when Lee is going over his exercise routine???!!!)
Amanda: Mmm. “Fitness with Dave.” Weekday mornings at eight, channel 12.
Lee: Uh-huh.
Lee has no idea what to do with her- she must be unlike anyone he has ever known! At the moment, he doesn’t seem to mind.. he seems in good spirits, smiling lots and ready to laugh (must be the endorphins!).. she seems to be the more serious one this time..
What is with Lee’s socks when he is exercising? weird!!!! It actually looks like two pairs of socks.. eh??? oh wait.. this is the ugly sock survivors convention.. you see that girl who weirdly runs into focus? she has black and white tartan long socks on.. very weird!
Their attention is called over to an instructor who is demonstrating their next task.. a ride on the flying fox ( ohh err what do Americans call those things again? sorry I forget!)this thing:
(that water feature looks really fake!) Love the expression Amanda gives in response to this..
Lee: shall we?
I love this scene. but I know for a fact Amanda had seen Lee’s legs before I pay attention to these things.. errr I pay attention to Lee’s legs.. She only saw them last week.. and you don’t forget such a thing!
Hmmm.. not bad.. although ok.. maybe she can only see one of them.. but haa you know what I mean!
Ahh we see Standoffish and Weasel-faced man are at the retreat.. as they talk we can see Amanda having her go on the wire thingy- she does not bad funny how in A class Act she has to do it again- but she is ridiculously bad at it..
What is Francine doing at that table? looks like a lot of activity but not really doing anything.. as usual.. waiting for Lee and Amanda to save the day.. But that table with all the possible targets on it looks ridiculous.. Apparently the computer is trying to track likely targets for the survivors to use the vigilant on..
Billy heads over to a random woman doing phone tracers.. whoa.. why isn’t Francine doing that too? I thought other people didn’t do anything on smk??!! They are doing voice comparisons with known terrorists.. hmm is that on the cassette tape? not sure.. I’m not really following what they are doing.. and err not really caring that much either
Holt and the Congressman show up.. Holt suggests negotiating with the survivors.. but they aren’t ready to go there..
What.. is.. francine.. wearing???
Billy seems to be on such high alert here.. he has his extra comfy cardy on to help him concentrate..
10 hours till the survivor’s deadline.. yawn…
That’s it for now.. I’ll finish up there with the clock ticking!! Thanks for reading- please do share any thoughts you would like to share.. I’ll be back with more soon!
"Just walk with me.." 
Three cheers for Billy, the OG matchmaker!! he knew Amanda was prefect for Lee
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I LOVE your handle by the way! That’s hilarious!
One of the best parts of this fandom is the creative ways people find to work the series into their user names. I love browsing the fanfic sites especially!
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I’m the same! I just love how Kate delivers that line, cracks me up everytime.
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I thought BB was making faces at KJ trying to get her to break character and crack up laughing (the British term is “corpse”)! How many takes were there … in those close quarters … attaching badges to each other … while bickering? Someone who’s attending the 35th Anniversary of S&MK in Los Angeles in late October ought to ask BB and report back!
Sitting in the car, after the game of golf, listening to Amanda ramble, Lee looked as though he needed some aspirin, too!
For a quirky episode, Lee and Amanda sure had some exceptionally hilarious scenes.
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What Billy and Francine think watching this? My meme’ing alter ego is on it!
SA
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Hi Scarecrows Angel. I’m super busy at the moment and I’ll try and get over to Neds to enjoy your memes as soon as I can!
Hiya everyone!!!
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I love the elevator scene, too. Sigh…
And Lee in the “virgin” shirt… uhhh… gutter, here I come! Move over, girls!
Oh, and I can’t help but ROFL at the typo on the fancy-schmancy light table thingie that they’re moving the war games pieces around on–Patomac River (instead of Potomac River). 😀
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The beauty of the elevator scene is that they’re so natural together. The nametags. . . . Sigh. It’s one of my favorite scenes in all of SMK. Lee and Amanda are (weirdly) very romantic when they argue.
I also LOVE the workout conversation. Lee goes on about his elaborate and complicated fitness routine and then she comes back with “Fitness with Dave”! It makes me laugh every time. Lee is trying too hard in this episode— the golf course, and now bragging about his over the top exercise plan. . . . And then Amanda comes along and accomplishes things without even trying very hard. She got the invite to the retreat, she got fit with Dave and didn’t need to run through the Alps . . . In these early episodes the writers seemed to work pretty hard to extend a theme through the entire 45 minutes. Love it.
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Julie I love to hear from you!!! Early smk is very special I agree!!
I think early smk hooked me in.. it was so good that even though the show changed over the years – I loved the characters so much I couldn’t stop loving the show anyway! but agreed! their so natural together – I bet this scene was their audition scene.. these two had something special!
Yes the very early eps when very over the top with Amanda being so successful! they certainly toned that down didn’t they! I guess they couldn’t sustain it! Loved fitness with Dave! I was missing references to him when I saw A class Act and Amanda was moaning over her five mile run.. the fiesty can do attitude had disappeared momentarily!
The writing did a great job with the themes – agreed! I think they are still there in later eps but not done as well, or they are a little more ummm escoteric? maybe? I’ve just looked at Spiderweb and am in the middle of A Relative Situation- which are both laden with themes but then Car wars?? aie!!! that was a strange one (in terms of themes).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the later eps too Julie if you get to them! 🙂
Julie have you shared when you thought Lee and Amanda fell in love? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that if you would like to share! 🙂 have you seen the ongoing discussion about it?
byeee Julie!
Iwsod
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I’m with everyone here as to Francine’s outfit-and she thinks she’s ALL THAT,& more-Pull-ease!! AS IF! As annoying as Amanda’s sweaters get to me, sometimes,she looked a lot better than Francine! And about Lee’s golf outfit? Me thinks he was trying to look the part-although I don’t think they wear that getup usually-LOL!!
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It seems that Lee is very “hands On” with Amanda from the beginning….Guiding her as they walk with his hand on her back….Grabbing her hand whey they are running..if there is an excuse to touch her he usually doesn’t miss the opportunity. He was attracted to her from the very beginning, he just didn’t know what to do with her…..
I am loving the walk throughs and the commentaries, I am noticing so much more now…. You all are wonderful~!
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“just when I am about to get really mad at him, he does something good!”
Iwsod, isn’t that what Lee says about Amanda later in season 3 (The Tail of The Dancing Weasel”)? LOL
Oh, the elevator scene, how I love it. Amanda and Lee so much act like a married couple, and I think that’s what Billy sees, too. He knows and is happy that Amanda has an affect on Lee, just like he suggested in “The First Time”. And he is highly amused to seeing Lee dealing with that.
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That’s right Petra! Sometimes I can’t help myself.. 😉 but I don’t always point out it is a quote – I let others find it – it’s half the fun! 🙂 Although I bet sometimes I quote smk and don’t realise it tee hee.. then it still works out to be fun! haa! Yes!! Billy watching his children get along just like he wanted is genius and it really makes the scene even better!
The elevator scene is smk gold isn’t it!!! Thanks for reminding me of some smk gold.. I am struggling with A Class Act.. it’s.. not! 😉
Thanks for stopping by Petra! Any new volunteers for operation sandstorm?
Byeeeeee!
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Sometimes I find myself quoting SMK and my hubby looks bewildered, because usually I quote (of course) in English, which is not my first language. LOL But there’s so much truth and wisdom in that show – sometimes it just fits perfectly into my day to day life.
I got a new transcript that needs to be uploaded at the weekend. Chezanne sent it to me a few days ago. So Operation Sandstorm is still working fine!
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I so agree, that elevator scene is wonderful! In fact, now as I reflect on various SMK’s elevator scenes, they all seem to be very well done. Guess it’s a great staging ground!
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I’m just dying laughing right now… Did you notice that when Lee is shown sitting on the ground his T-Shirt reads “Virgin” (because the i and a at the end is missing)??? (Could somebody say “Get your mind out of the gutter, would you?” in Lee’s voice, please?) X-D
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Get your mind out of the gutter. It’s getting too crowded here. 😛
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Whaaa haaaaaa!!!! Charley that is too funny! (especially given it says ‘ Phys ed’ underneath it also!!
This the pic you’re thinking of: You made me LOL!!! 🙂
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Cindy, I think I’m already stuck too deep in there to get out again…
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And now I’m in there, too! LOL!
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Good thing Lee had Amanda along to get invited to the camp thingy and cute that she invites Lee to come with her (I don’t think she would even consider going with out him, what do you think?). I like how SMK usually has Amanda unintentionally receive the invites and information that Lee is after (just to egg on his frustration of her IMO). Amanda and Dottys exchange is funny 🙂
I think Billy is happy to see that Amanda has an effect on Lee (to keep him on his toes and in line). I think that is why he says for her to go with him, but she is right it would look odd for not to go when she was the one invited!!!
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I love the writing of early season 1. I guess part of the reason the powers that be decided to dumb down Amanda later on is the public were getting very nervous that a housewife was much better at espionage than the highly trained, best-of-the-best agents.
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Oh, you’ve all given me such lovely fodder to comment on. First, let’s have fun with American-isms. The wire thingy, known elsewhere as a flying fox, is a “zip line.” John Paul Jones is famous for belligerently declaring, “I have not yet begun to fight!” Kind of over-the-top bluster Americans historically get a big kick out of. We all get tested on this sort of trivia in middle school.
Now, fashion. Francine’s fashion sense SO reminds me of my older sister during that time. Such a slave to the latest fad! I got some of her hand-me-downs, and there’s one particular red dress-suit with enormous shoulder pads that would totally jibe with Francine’s taste. Just accessorize with some big ol’ chunky earrings and a banana clip for the hair and you can go to town.
I have one word that comes to mind with I consider Francine’s thoughts observing L&A in the elevator: “Uh-oh.” Hard to miss their growing rapport, isn’t it? They bicker like an old married couple.
And lastly (because it’s late and I must stop!), that scene with Amanda and her mother. I like that outfit on her, high-waist jeans and all. She really has a lovely figure, doesn’t she?
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My daughters actually shriek when they see Francine’s ensembles. I then point out what goes around comes around and I am sure they will be wearing something similar soon. 🙂
Ahhhhh Banana clips. For some reason they always remind me of Geordi LaForge’s visor on Star Trek: Next Generation.
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Hi Cindy – so sorry to hear of your computer woes! but so glad you are still able to find a way to keep in touch!!! 🙂 You would make a good spy 😉
Ha!! Yeah I remember Banana Clips! I never could get those things to work!
What do your daughters think of the fluffy pink wool outfit francine wears in Fearless Dotty? Amazingly she wears it again a few episodes later in Waiting for Godorsky – I don’t know how she could have made the mistake of leaving the house in that outfit – twice! 🙂
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Hi again! 🙂
Since I started playing golf myself one year ago, I went and rewatched the golf-scene in „Magic Bus“ for closer analysis. I am surprised myself how many things I see now that totally went past me before!
Could you hear the sound from the swinging club before we see the ball coming down right on the green? That sonorous „thwack“ is music to my ears. You only hear it when you managed to hit ball with the so called „sweet spot“ of your club… Which usually results in a perfect shot. Or, in this case, a very good pitch. I think it is outrageous that the producers do not let us watch Lee’s swing. All we get to see is how the four of them walk up the hill to the green. Arrrrgh! How unfair!!!!
I can see now Lee wears the glove on his left hand… Which is where I wear it, too. But I am right handed, and Lee is not! He would need the glove on his right hand. Just a second later something extremely funny happens: Amanda needlessly walks right through the bunker! Nooooooooooooo! You are absolutely not supposed to do this on a golf course! Especially if you don’t even care to rake the bunker so that no footprints will remain. This might lead to a disadvantage for the players behind you. But Amanda is blissfully ignorant of that: And to top it all, she even wipes her feet when she steps out of the bunker. OH. My. Goodness! This little detail totally cracked me up!!!! ROFL
I wonder how Amanda wants to play golf with a camera hanging down from her shoulder. Where does she put it when it is her turn to play? You can’t always walk over to the cart and back again: that would slow down the game. Which is another thing you shouldn’t do on the course. And those cardigans don’t seem very practical either. God, watch how Amanda first uses the club as a walking stick and then drags it behind her! She really couldn’t make it more obvious she doesn’t know anything about this sport.
Whooo, so much talk on the green! I don’t think they concentrate on the game at all. Do you think it matters to any of them if they make good putts or not? LOL
Love love love Lee’s face when he realizes Amanda got the information he was after… and she even got invited to the special retreat of the „Survivors“. Whohooooo, look at him! He is speechless! Iwsod your screen caps show so well how he literally looks her up and down. Good job!!!
The room the baddies meet in is the club house of the golfers. You can see that from the trophies and from the board annoucing the annual tournament winner of the „Cedarside Country Club“. Kinda weird it looks like the home of a huntsman… I used to think a „good shot“ meant something else… Haaaaaaa!
Ohhhhh, the scene in the elevator! Yep, that’s really cute… And, may I say… They act so married! It seems so natural to them to help each other with the agency-passes. I love how Lee simultaneously says: „I saw the weasel-faced man…!“ It is too funny.
The knowing look between Francine and Billy? Well, I guess this is not the first quarrell between Lee and Amanda they witness… And here they overhear yet another one. Billy is highly amused, if you ask me. And Francine…? It’s hard to say. It is as if she wanted to say: „Here we go again… This housewife really is a pest. Poor Lee“. But these are only my ideas.
I love the dialogue between Amanda and her Mom. About the cigarette smoking and all. Ahhhhh, Dotty is on the right track again… „Will you take the car?“ „No, somebody will pick you up.“ „Who?“ „Nobody you know.“ Poor Dotty, isn’t she dying to know?
Theheee, isn’t it funny how Lee’s face falls when Billy tells him: „She’s going“? That’s really a blow to him, isn’t it?
On to the camp of the survivors… Ehm… I don’t know what to say to all the nice-legs-and-physical-workout-talk. I know it is supposed to be funny, but… yaaaawn… The funniest thing is that our IWSOD proves that Amanda actually did see Lee’s legs before. Kudos! :-))
Ah Iwsod, you found the table for the computer-generated target-search ridiculous? I used to find it pretty cool… and I still do, if I don’t look too closely at Francines outfit. And Billy wears his extra comfy cardigan, haha! Nice one, Iwsod.
That’s it for now. Looking forward to the last chapter of MB!
Karen
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Tee hee! Well done. And speaking of fashion victim, what is up with Lee thinking that an argyll sweater and plaid shirt could match? Maybe he lost a bet.
I didn’t catch how Amanda claimed she had never seen Lee’s legs before when she had seen them last episode, but I always felt Lester the duck was at least a little later in season (she seemed to know him awfully well after only worked with him twice before.)
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Hi Cindy I was having that thought too about the episode order! She does seem to know Lee to well.. I agree!! I was also thinking for a third episode they kind of screwed with Lee’s likability a bit.. I mean usually if you are going to make someone behave out of character and like a spoiled brat – the audience usually knows the character better as well so the story has more effect.. my theory is that it was for afer acm kid – as Amanda has a perm episode 4 and 5.. It felt strange..
I also thought they played up Lee’s messy tendencies to fit the plot – when otherwise the show doesn’t portray Lee as messy other than in saved by the bells.. ( maybe having Amanda kidnapped while cleaning his apartment helped him to ‘clean up his act’ 😉 )
hey I hadn’t noticed he had a plaid shirt- good catch! eek!!! arrest him Cindy! 🙂
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