So the secret pavlova breaks into the personnel files..accompanied by some very scary music! whooo and a fancy contraption to unlock the file cabinet.
The next day Lee, Amanda and Billy are in the office dealing with it – they dusted for prints, but got 
nothing.. The burglar got past the heat sensing alarm – so they deduce this isn’t child’s play.. but a sophisticated burglar on the inside posing as one of the recruits!
We see a few personnel files sitting on top of the cabinet – one of them being Amanda’s. It looks like they were left there by the burglar?? but.. why would Pavlova done that? I thought the whole point was to get in and out unnoticed??!!! Ahhh but then we wouldn’t have this ohh so edifying moment of Amanda’s ( UGH!!) that’s coming. Amanda reads her own personnel file.
Amanda: Sir!! I think I found something!!! ( Amanda looks like she could burst. IMHO I think she has lost something – her mind!! )
Billy: what is it Amanda?
Amanda: something odd, right here in my own folder. 
Lee: ahhh.. why are you reading those?
Amanda: well I’m just reading my own folder.
Billy: what’s wrong with it?
Amanda: well, it says here that I was brought up in California, but that’s not true sir I was brought up in Virginia. 
Ohhhhhhh Myyyyyyyyyy!!!!! How did this super dumb moment get past KJ!!!! It must have been the end of a very long day for her not to question this stupidity! Sorry but I can’t let this one pass. I get that they have to reveal Amanda’s personnel file has incorrect information, but why do it and make Amanda look like an imbecile?! There is nooo reason for her to be speaking so seriously about a typo in her file! Is part of the training on Station 1 sleep deprivation???? that must be it.. Aie!!
All they had to do was have Amanda glance at her file on the top, and say – ha! My file says I was raised in California! what a joke!! I’m a virginia girl through and through! so all the burglar did was read info that wasn’t even true! Case closed. Amanda’s dignity intact! but nooooooo..
Aie, considering how dumb she is, Lee and Billy’s condescending and accommodating responses seem almost too subdued to me. [Hey! isn’t it weird!! I’m finding it doesn’t sit right that Lee is being so nice.. when Amanda is being so dumb! 😉 ohhh the irony!!! ]
This scene reads a little better in the script. but.. oh well I’ve had my moan.. and now I’ll move on! [or at least.. try to!]
Lee: ah! Take it easy Amanda! It’s probably a computer error or something.
Billy: it happens once in a while (you sad, overly dramatic girl you!)
Oh no nooo stop there please! but no..
Amanda: Oh. oh well. I thought I should, point it out
( so serious.. yes seriously stupid- move on!!)
Billy walks over to Amanda and takes the file out of her hand, while Lee looks on at Amanda like she is crazy ( actually, here she is! ) 
Billy says: Thank you for your help Amanda, we’ll fix it later.
Billy asks Lee if he has any ideas on why anyone would be interested in these files..
Lee responds by shaking his head ‘no’ and says: but I suspect that Amanda and I might find something out on our 5 mile run.
Lee leaves the room.. and the quirky Amanda music kicks in.. 5 mile run?
Billy confirms it’s 5 miles! and Amanda tries to put on a brave face and ha haaa yes she doesn’t want to do the 5 mile run.. but.. she says she’s looking forward to it.
Aie! I want to see Billy do the five mile run!
Okay- I can forgive the SMK writers a lot of things- but character inconsistencies? especially when making Amanda look dumb?! No! In Magic Bus, when Lee 
and Amanda went away with the survivors- we saw Lee and Amanda jogging- Lee was puffed, but Amanda barely had a hair 
out of place.. he was impressed at how fit she was.. IMHO the whole point was – being a single mother of two means you learn lots of spy skills – like keeping fit.. Amanda even explained to Lee that she did: Fitness with Dave, week mornings at 8 on channel 12!! The writers have amnesia! How could they have forgotten this moment where Amanda told Lee his legs were ‘ not bad’ – they even use the ‘ not bad’ phrase in this episode referring back to it!!! .. grrrr.. So far in this episode, we have Amanda the inept bumbler, who is a bit dim, and in lousy shape..
I went and double checked Magic Bus- and that scene.. I can’t believe it! After the moment of Lee’s legs not being bad, and establishing that Amanda works out, the group is called up to each cross some water using a zip line!!! Yep a zip line!! and we cut to the baddies plotting in the foreground, but in the back ground we can see Amanda (dressed in white) actually cross the water using the zipline with no dramas, elegance and competence!
ROFL! what have they done to our Amanda in this episode??!! 
Amanda is having an identity crisis!! Seems that according to this episode the only thing Amanda has going for her is luck!
Okay, so we see the group off on their run, going under the flying fox area. Lee stops jogging and hangs back, calling to Amanda to stay back with him.
She is out of breath, he is normal..
Lee is searching…: this is the spot!
Amanda: right.
Amanda is continuing with her pretending to like the run.. but is fast to sit herself in the dirt to catch her breath. Without thinking about it ( because she is after all oxygen deprived from being sooooo out of shape! 
Me? spare the snark? nooo it’s just not in me! 
tee hee.. ) lucky Amanda reaches down and 
absentmindedly picks up a bolt in her hand to hold.. for no reason.. la laaaaa.. Lee searches around them for clues.. and Looky! what is that Amanda happens to be holding? Lee asks what it is.
Amanda: I don’t know a nail or something!
Aie!!! this Amanda doesn’t even know the difference between a bolt and a nail. Help??!! [Is it itty bitty Amanda?! ]
But.. What Luck! Amanda just happens to pick up the bolt from Peggy’s slide wheel.. cha! what are the odds?!! ( well this is smk land after all..) Lee takes a look at it
and can confirm immediately that it had acid put on the threads –Who needs CSI?! Lee just knows!! 
(how does BB say this so seriously and convincingly?!! Real Talent!!) It was a deliberate sabotage!!! duh duh duhhhhhhh!!!! Amanda starts in with her jumping to immediately suspect someone for no great reason…She thinks it’s Brad Jordan.. (this whole running gag falls flat big time for me!) Does anyone find it funny? I’m curious!
Amanda sure is Lucky.. this moment is almost replayed- exactly- in Utopia Now.. if you can’t logically have the good guys figure it out? well.. just get lucky Amanda to sit down randomly next to the evidence! 
Only in Utopia now, it was the safety cap off a surface to air missile-
just laying there on the ground, out in the open! ROFL!! Honest! tee heee!!
At least the scene ends with Lee grabbing Amanda’s hand to help her up again, and a 
bit of a hand hold as they start off running
Wha??? This is being timed? well.. do your own investigating Lee!! Amanda is being assessed here!!! and he is holding her back to help him with the investigation?!
Also, I’m not a huge fan of the idea that Amanda is complaining about the five mile run or telling others she isn’t crazy about heights. She wrote 10 requests to be at this training camp – I would have thought she would jump in with both feet and do whatever it takes without grumbling..(and not feigning enjoyment!) Ugh!
Next thing, we see Amanda poking her heard out of Cabin 6..
Amanda gets busted coming out of Lila’s cabin.
I like Lila’s response: Try to remember next time, your room is NOT number 6 – and slam!!
I thought Amanda couldn’t search through other people’s rooms?? [we were only reminded of this last week in Bromfield Hall when she didn’t want to search Pridemore and Douglas-Wood’s rooms..] This little characteristic of Amanda’s seems to have vanished along with her intellect! Aie!
Amanda’s ineptitude and uncharacteristic behaviour is well and truly bugging me- it’s so rampant!!
Lee finds Amanda to get her to her next class! [that makes up for reducing her time on the 5 mile run I guess! ] But first, more of Amanda jumping to conclusions and suspecting the wrong person – so funny! – NOT!
Amanda says she has a candidate for: The burning of the files, and the acid on the bolt.
Errr what Burning of the files????
Amanda is now suddenly sure the baddie is Lila!
Amanda: I was just in her room, and guess what I found?!
Lee: You were just in her room?!!!!!!!
Amanda: sh shhhhhhh!!!
(yes Lee I agree with you 
– just who is this woman? and what has she done with Amanda?? I am watching A class act right? I haven’t accidentally popped Odds on a dead pigeon into the player have I?! 😆 )
Lee whispers: what were you doing?!!
Amanda: I found a Russian dictionary, big as life!
Lee: well that’s probably because she speaks Russian….
..That’s why she was recruited Amanda.
Amanda smiles: Ohhh well I..
Lee: hmm! Let’s go to class hmm?? ( yes, she needs it!) At least Lee is not getting impatient with her here, and he still seems to be enjoying her company! Thank goodness!
Why was Amanda involved in the burglary in the first place? [Does she get extra credit for solving it? Haa!!] This is her chance to get training and qualify to move on to the next step of becoming an agent!
Ohhh nooo.. the next class? It’s the infamous hazing err I mean.. memory test! I better finish up here so I am not totally narky about everything to do with this next scene!! ( then again, there may be no preventing it! )
I do love this show!!! Honest!!! Ironic that an assassin is on Amanda’s trail.. when Amanda’s character seems to have already been assassinated!!!! 😆
Okay – come on!! you have no problem with this part of the episode? do tell!!! How do you do that??!!
You do have a problem (or many?!) ?? do tell!!
You got nothing? do tell! teee heee..
Love walkin with you guys!! Look forward to talkin and walkin with you! Iwsod
"Just walk with me.." 
The thing I love with SMK is that even if it’s something that would normally make me groan and say “Oh why did they have to go the silly route,” on any other series, there is something about this series that you just have to love no matter what. And somehow they make it believable — whether it’s how Bruce & Kate play it, or the way they don’t overdo Amanda’s ditziness so that it’s more quirky than unbelievable (I actually worked with someone who was sort of similar), or that they just make it too darned adorable to resist. I just LOVE this show.
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I just made a comment on the last post before reading this one. Probably would’ve been better suited here. Sorry. Though I’m pretty sure I’m doing this re-walk through (I’m flying through, actually) alone right now since I’m only like 6 years late…😂 I’m trying to go through the series again to get back to Nightcrawler before Iwsod gets to that episode!
What if Amanda is really pointing out the California thing in her file as a way of saying, “Look, I think whoever broke in here tampered with the files and is changing our information!”? 🤔 I am hopeful. 😁
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Yes, back then TV land was most certainly lawless without the continuity police around.
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snicker!
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It’s funny how you can see things through rose colored glasses. I loved this epsiode (and still do!) and just kind of blocked out all the inconsistency. I think it’s very telling that Lee spends so much time with Amanda when he was irritated about it at the beginning. He could have easily blown her off & said they had to stay apart since he had “ringer” stuff to do.
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In addition to sleep deprivation, could we also attribute the brainlessness to overexcitement at finally getting a chance to start real training? Like, “now I’m official, so I have to be serious and act like a real spy” sort of thing? And just overdoing it?
Well, we can pretend, right??
BTW, I do think this is the real training Amanda requested, because all potential agents have to start here.
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What? No fitness with Dave any more?!
You mean it wasn’t an Accident (Amanda in reference to the bolt). Um we’re you listening? lee just said someone poured acid on it.
The dumber Amanda acts the nice Lee is. Go figure.
I really CBA (can’t be arsed for those not familiar with the acronym ;)) to do these scenes any more justice. Wake me when we’re past the hazing….sorry Kim’s game…..
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Well, I have to admit, that this is not good. Even though I always loved the episode. I even remember, that back when I first saw it, Amanda taking the initiative and trying to find something out on her own made up for me. But I see now, that this is out of character.
Weird about the “not bad” thing, how could the writers forget about one aspect of a scene and use another.
I guess forgetting about this part is the only way.
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I seem to remember hearing that KJ fired most of the writers at the end of the first season…. seemed to feel there were too many car chases and helicopter stuff, too action-oriented I guess. I didn’t feel that way myself. But perhaps the new S2 writers didn’t do all their homework.
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According to IMDB, this was the only SMK writing credit for Shel Willens (THANK COD (sic) ). I am shocked the episode is rated so highly.
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Poor Shel Willens.. someone forgot to tell him or her what Scarecrow and Mrs King actually was and what Lee and Amanda were actually like! ( Yes I even find Lee to be too nice- when considering how Amanda keeps sticking her nose in stuff, it’s not normal for him to be so nice and accommodating! ) Man.. I never thought I would complain about Lee being nice! just what is wrong with me?? this episode has me in a kerfuffle! And there are some nice moments between Lee and Amanda too..but it’s getting weirder and weirder this episode!
I was thinking it was the producers who got the sack – was that now? I don’t know! If anyone can work it out that would be fab!!
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I found it interesting in the script Amanda exclaims she was raised in Alabama rather than Virginia. I think we can safely assumed our dear writer wasn’t familiar with the back story of SMK.
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Hi Cindy, yeah that Alabama reference was interesting! It was almost like he knew KJ was from the south ( was she from alabama? ) and so he just used that – probably with the plan of fixing the character detail later – lol – maybe that’s where alot went wrong.. it was suppose to be fixed later.. but never was!
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Yep, I’m pretty sure KJ is from Alabama. That’s one reason I don’t like that so many baddies have southern accents (MANY of the American baddies do!) She should have known better — unless it was on purpose. But I hope not!
We know Amanda and Dotty have lived in Arlington a long time, and that Amanda went to a Virginia school, but is there any mention of them living or not living elsewhere?
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I so completely agree with all your points, Iwsod. They really threw Amanda’s character to the wind at this point and replaced her with a brainless bimbette. I wonder why KJ didn’t put her foot down? No time to make changes? Script so bad that it would have required an entire overhaul rather than a few tweaks? The whole California thing is so forced, not just here with the file, but also in the a-ha moment in the mess hall (dining area, in case “mess hall” doesn’t translate) that we’ll get to later … very lame and cringeworthy.
I especially liked the point that an Amanda who has braved many experiences with Lee and has put in 10 requests for training is not going to approach it with a wimpy attitude. That hits the nail on the head.
But on the positive side, doesn’t Lee continue to look and act lovely?!? A charming Lee can redeem a lot of flaws. Too bad they didn’t stick him in a black jumpsuit … might have been just the ticket to propel this one into my top 10. Well, maybe not 🙂
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We just watched this a couple of weeks ago and I mentioned ‘Magic Bus’ to my husband that she seemed fit enough then! Yeah it always cracks me up that Amanda randomly finds the evidence or remembers some obscur fact that she learned in school or that she was helping the boys with!!
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Oh I might have a little bitty problem with this part of the episode. I think your hypothesis of sleep deprivation is a good one, it will keep me from banging my head against the table.
Another dumb Amanda moment — she was shocked she had to run 4 more laps around the camp to make up the 5 miles. I guess sleep deprivation makes one overestimate distances.
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You know, I had nicely blocked the finer points of this episode out of my memory until now. Ugh! Maybe this was the impetus that made KJ feisty about her character for the rest of the run of the series. She might have walked away from this thinking, “Never again. I’ll take out the writers first, then the producers…”
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I can’t tell you how thrilled I am right now to have heard from you guys! This last post was very frustrating! You know what? the upcoming memory test is what has really, really frustrated me.. but.. I’ll hold off on that – posting that one tomorrow! Brace yourselves!
Cindy, I agree with you about the banging the head against a table.. it might have made this more enjoyable! Yes!!! getting there!! Nearly done with this episode!! it’s such a shame it seems to spiral into this ridiculousness when the episode has some really lovely Lee and Amanda moments scattered throughout and a few very funny moments!!
Hi Melissa, yep! we all know Amanda is an energetic on the go woman. She can spring clean her house in one day ‘ top to bottom’ ! She shouldn’t be so out of shape!! LOL! yes.. that project she did on mushrooms came in handy in Filming Raul! She’s so lucky! 😉
Hiya Raffie, it is hard to watch – when we love Amanda.. and we want to love the episode.. and we want to enjoy finally seeing Amanda get some training! You make a great point! Why didn’t KJ put her foot down?!!! Yes!!!! The california thing was very forced! so true.. Amanda could have accidentally sat next to a note Peggy made itemising information about Amanda 😉 – first item on the list: Amanda was raised in California! LOL!!
Yes!! thank goodness Lee is being very patient.. if he wasn’t. I seriously don’t know if I could get through this episode.. If I had to deal with that too? I’d probably do a one post little recap! Lee in a black jumpsuit? Whooo Lee in swoony mode! I like it.. you know what they say about desperate times..
Paula you had me LOL’g! I love it!! “KJ thinking: Never again! I’ll take out the writers first, then the producers…” whahahaahaaaa!!! I love that gag!! Thank you for giving me a laugh about this ridiculous writing!!!
Love ya KJ!! Go get em!! 🙂
Byeee!
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Whaaahaa! I remember watching it the first time, I want to scream in my pillow ore throw it against the tv!
Some scene’s still make me feel ashamed for Amanda. Good thing there is no table around… 🙂 but still love SMK!
Lee is so patient here, that makes me feel better!
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