I just realised, this episode originally aired on 10 December, 1984. The next episode Three faces of Emily, aired on 31 December.. sooo it’s kind of appropriate that we are up to this episode at this time of year – don’t you think?
On to Lisson Lanes bowling alley – nice shout out to Mark Lisson, one of the episode’s producers..
( and thanks to Aiden who first pointed this out to me over on yuku!) IMDB lists 8 producers in total.. is this many normal? or is this a clue that production was going through a little turmoil? I don’t know!
Whooo Tuesday night is Ladies night? I wonder if today is tuesday! Wow.. Amanda parks her car very crooked in the car park there!
As Lee and Amanda head into the bowling alley, Lee finally explains what Operation possum is..
Lee: it’s an emergency situation that neutralizes the agency unit when there’s been a wide band security leak, like a snuffed mission or something major…
…..the office as we know it is shut down but the agency is still in operation somewhere. Now, this is where I’m to be briefed.
Amanda: Who’s gonna brief us?
Lee smiles: not us Amanda Me.
[ I guess because she is not 
officially an agent huh..]
Amanda: Just you?
Lee nods: Mmmhmm
Amanda: If I’m not gonna be briefed, why am I here?
Lee hasn’t actually said how she is suppose to help huh! LOL.. Love Lee’s response… like come on Amanda! It’s obvious!! 
Lee: well, It’ll look stupid me bowling alone!
Amanda nods: ahhhh.. riiight! And Amanda just begins heading into the bowling alley.. ha!
Don’t you just love this line? I think it is a nice throwback to Service Above and Beyond! When they meet at the reflecting pool at the beginning of the episode:
Amanda: Well, why didn’t you just go alone?
Lee: On a Friday night at a party?…
…Do you know how depressing that is?
(Yes I know.. a flimsy excuse to show a pic of Lee in a tux I’m shameless 
) It’s nice to think Amanda is asking the same question of Lee here in Season two, just when I am tempted to think Amanda has gone completely soft on Lee
We see a bowling game is underway.. Amanda gets a 
strike! wow.. well done KJ! I wonder how many takes that took! ha! Love how she gets into it and has a 
cheer! She may as well enjoy herself while helping Lee not look ridiculous
Lee however, is 
not bowling.. he is fidgeting, and obviously tense and distracted.. he doesn’t look like he’s bowling at all! Love how Amanda calls him on it!
Amanda walks back to Lee and takes the pencil from his hand ( remember when you had to score with pencil on paper score sheet??!!!way back when??!! haaa)
Amanda: Lee, you wanted me to come along so it wouldn’t look stupid but it doesn’t look natural if you sit here and don’t bowl.
[Look at Lee’s bottom lip! LOL he looks about 5 years old here! haaaa!!! it’s too cute!]
Lee absently looking around: I don’t bowl Amanda.
[LOL given this is Lee’s meeting point.. maybe he should learn! Or.. get another meeting point!]
Amanda: not at all?
Lee snaps his attention back to Amanda and just looks at her, I think he is a little embarrassed! [Something Lee Stetson can’t do??]
Amanda: it’s okay, come on I’ll show you.
Lee: oh [LOL.. Lee is not enthusiastic..but! he does go along with Amanda 
don’t worry Lee, everyone has to wear those really ugly shoes!!! ]
Amanda: come on come on. ( Amanda hops up and Lee follows her over to the bowling balls still constantly scanning the room) alright alright…. (she picks up a bowling ball) this is the bowling ball. You put your two fingers in here and your thumb in here. ( Lee looks at his watch and again scans the room, anxious and preoccupied)…
… What’s the matter?
Lee: I should have been contacted by now.
Amanda: Don’t you have a number you can call?
Lee: operation possum doesn’t quite work that way. Whoever’s in when it goes into effect stays in. Whoever’s out stays out until he’s cleared.
Amanda: right.
Lee: I don’t call them, they call me.
Amanda: Okay, well.. here ( handing him the bowling ball)
Better just go ahead and bowl in the meantime. Now put your little fingers in here. Come on. [Lee? Little fingers?? rofl!!!!]
Lee takes the ball: alright.
Amanda: now just go up to the line and knock all those pins.
Amanda slaps Lee on the back a couple of times sending him on his way to the lane.
[How cute is that!! they are really quite comfortable with each other now aren’t they?!]
Lee bends over- let me repeat.. Lee bends over.. 
ahem..
…and lines up his shot – a guy comes up to him and mumbles: pick up the phone in back of your booth. Lee continues his shot – bowls, and gets a strike first go.
Amanda cheers: strike!!…
It’s so great how Amanda is excited for Lee! Very sweet!! I like the idea of Amanda showing Lee how to bowl.. this follows on with the whole idea of Amanda normalising Lee and teaching him what normal people do! (something else along with the popping up at her window which we haven’t seen for a while!) ugh! He gets a strike first go? LOL how many takes did it take BB to do that?? haa!! maybe that explains why Amanda’s response is so enthusiastic! Noo just kidding- actually we don’t see him get the strike in one shot ( like we did with Amanda) – there’s a few cuts in there! 😉
You know, I would have loved to see how Lee dealt with it going straight into the gutter! ( Lee? gutter? no comment… !)
As Lee (in ugly bowling shoes? LOL!) walks towards Amanda, she gives him a big smile
and cheekily adds: I thought you said you didn’t bowl!
Lee doesn’t respond to this, instead he leans in close and whispers: hold on a minute.
Amanda nods – though IMHO she looks a bit disappointed that their bowling has been interrupted!! anyone else getting that vibe?? I’ve never noticed this before- I only noticed it because I was looking at frames to choose pictures.. cool!
Amanda quickly checks herself though and brushes her disappointment off..
Awh!!! Amanda was enjoying teaching Lee to bowl It’s amazing.. a scene of Lee and Amanda bowling is such interesting entertainment!! Actually, maybe this little glimmer here from Amanda is more telling than I first realised.. Here is Amanda and Lee anxiously awaiting news from the agency.. Operation possum is underway, they have no idea what’s going on.. and yet.. Amanda was fleetingly disappointed at their game being interrupted! 😉 she forgot the big picture there for a moment, just enjoying his company and introducing him to a gave she clearly enjoys.. Awh!! Maybe I am reading too much into it.. YMMV – but this little moment speaks volumes to me! 🙂 Happy thoughts!!
Alas, Lee is all about the job now. I agree with Amanda – it’s a shame they were interrupted at that moment!! Wouldn’t it have been fab to see them go bowling once they got together?
Lee heads over to the phone as he was instructed to.. and.. I shall finish up there for the moment!!
As always, I would love to hear from you!! byeee and thanks for just walking with me Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!!!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
“He gets a strike first go? LOL how many takes did it take BB to do that?”
Bruce Boxleitner grew up in the Chicago suburbs, where bowling is very popular … and competitive! He probably went bowling with his family as a kid and later with his friends when a teenager. Chicago summers are hot and humid; the winters are cold with bitter wind chills, which is a big reason for bowling’s popularity there. I figure Amanda’s strike ignited BB’s competitive nature, so Lee just had to match her … pin for pin. It would be funny if TPTB let these two go head to head for a while longer, so Amanda could frustrate Lee by setting the standard in each frame.
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LOL. I have friends in Chicago and can attest that Bowling is very serious business there.
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I grew up in that area. Me and BB were born a few miles apart from each other. Different times, obviously. My family and I bowled almost every weekend.
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lol… I meant the towns. I have no idea which hospital he was born in.
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oh cool! 😉
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First of all, love the look of Lee’s backside. Secondly, these spies always seem to be just a bit out of touch with reality. Who goes to a bowling alley in a dress shirt and tie? Lee and his contact are so obviously out of place.
Lee really seems to have an issue with that doing something alone situation. He can completely handle being a loner as a spy, but if it’s something more social or laid back he can’t seem to do it alone.
I wonder if there was more to this than him looking stupid bowling alone. Most bowling alleys (at least around here) have some sort of bar inside. Lee didn’t necessarily have to bowl. Right now, Amanda is Lee’s only real connection as far as the Agency is concerned and maybe he does feel alone, but not because of the bowling. Amanda could most likely be a source of comfort to him at this moment, but it’s not something that he is going to admit. The Agency is like his home and family and that’s gone. He mentions that whoever is out is that way until contacted and he’s worried as to how long this is taking. For as frustrated as he may be I think that being with Amanda is keeping him from going completely ballistic as he could tend to do at times.
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rofl Valerie!!
I saw this start of your comment:
and thought – what the heck have I just linked to as the random post???!!!! because I hadn’t looked at it I’d just randomly done it. haaaaaaa.. now I see what it was haaaa!!!
Lee has attachment issues to work through 😉
Maybe this is about when he starts visiting Birchwood?
[hey we can talk about it now! we’re past it in the walk 🙂 ]
Love it! yes Amanda was his connection to the spy biz.. and the one person he was able to find! Plus bonus.. she bowls! 🙂
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Ah Lee just when you take two steps forward you take about 10 back……look stupid if I am bowling alone 😦 A total throwback to S1 Lee. Can feel Amanda’s disappointment that she’s not really helping just window dressing. Patience Amanda, patience 😉
I always assumed Lee was lying through his back teeth about not knowing how to bowl. Just just doesn’t want to, he’s too distracted about Operation Possum. Nice rear view *drools*.
Am very disappointed Amanda didn’t give a more *ahem* “hands on” lesson in bowling. Opportunity missed there methinks 😉
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Ahh, yes — hands on learning CANNOT be overstated! For GAWD’s sake Woman! Go help him out with his form! (I always assumed Lee was lying through his teeth as well — maybe he thought Amanda would try to sign him up for a league or something)
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I’m glad you pointed out them needing a pencil to score the bowling! I love looking back at the 80’s 🙂
I thought Amanda jumping at the strike was cute and very authentic. As a bowler whose goal on any given game is to break 100, I cheer for all my strikes too! It did seem curious that Lee got a strike on his very first try. Perhaps you’re right, Charley. Maybe he really did know who to bowl but was trying to get Amanda to back off. If so, he should know better by now!
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I’m glad you brought this up again Raffie, I mean’t to reply to Charley! Yeah what an interesting idea Charley! could Lee have really known and just be trying put Amanda off?
I had a think about it.. and I wondered why isn’t that possible? why did I interpret it as the truth?
I think I interpreted the moment as Lee being truthful because Lee looks a bit bashful ( like admitting he doesn’t know how to do something isn’t easy) – but then how do you explain the strike? Hmm.. a toughie! It is a little annoying (in a drat! he’s good at that too??!! kind of way!) that he immediately gets a strike – but I think it could have been down to beginner’s luck! 🙂 Also, him getting a strike mean’t that Amanda could do her cute cheer for him!! which I loved and her cheeky ‘ you told me you didn’t bowl!’ – which I loved too!! [True, this line could mean you really can bowl and you were faking!!! ] but.. then after Lee’s phone call he came back and said to Amanda ‘ so do I get to throw again??’ it is a quick line and he is interrupted by Amanda pointing out Yuri – but it shows Lee is very much the novice after all – he doesn’t know when it is his turn.. and you don’t ‘throw’ in bowling! which is a little joke there.. so all in all.. after giving me food for thought Charley- I’m sticking with the: ‘Lee doesn’t know about bowling and he managed somehow to get a strike first go’ interpretation! 🙂
I actually did ten pin bowling as a school sport in high school.. lol! [It mean’t I got off school early! ] So it brings back lots of memories for me! Yes! I would always want a strike to Raffie!! 🙂
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I love the whole bowling scene so much… 🙂
It’s so cute how Amanda enjoys being with him there… I think she even forgot why they really came there! X-D
But when I first watched it I thought he wasn’t true when he said he doesn’t bowl. Felt like he’s tensed and just not in the mood for “playing” when he has more important things in his mind and waiting for the call! Cause after Amanda forces him to give it a try he just does everything right and even gets a strike? 😀
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Since I never saw this episode until many years after it ran, I still remember thinking initially that Yuri would be a bad guy. I also agree it would have been more endearing to see Lee’s first throw go to the gutter, or just barely knock over one of the end pins. Then we could have been treated to another little boy-style pout as he appraises his failure with disappointment before snapping back into agent mode. That’s how I would have written it, anyway. 🙂
P.S. I never mind a side trip back to SAAB. That might be my very favorite season 1 episode.
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Hi Everyone!
Melissa thanks for sharing with us the script insight.. that would have been good to see! I was assuming that Yuri follows Amanda to IFF and that he found her, to find Lee.. but it isn’t clear really if maybe he runs into her at IFF, recognises her and then starts to follow her.. and then later we find out the russian baddies are following them too – it’s gettin crowded behind Amanda on the roads! 😉
Ha! yes the boys are off playing football or washing their hands alot! reminds me of the Mad Magazine spoof – where we see the boys complain they only got 2 lines of dialogue the whole episode! have you seen it? Unfortunately I haven’t seen the dick van dyke show! but I’ve heard about it. and about the portrayal of Mary Tyler Moore’s character.. how times have changed etc. fascinating!!
LOL.. glad to see I’m not the only one who enjoyed Lee’s bend- err bowling! 😉
Julia! Hope you get season 2 soon! 🙂 in the meantime, if you can it would be lovely to hear your perspective on these episodes you don’t remember well – I wish I had a better memory for what I thought the first time I saw these eps! If you have any questions ask away! 🙂
Ha! Thanks for supporting my Tux addiction Claudia 🙂 haaaa.. yes Paula, Service Above and Beyond is a Watershed episode.. and not JUST because of the Tux! 🙂
Looking forward to Three faces of Emily – Lee in a tux!!! 🙂 haaa (there’s a reason to like it Cindy!! 🙂 )
Paula I like the way you wrote the bowling! yes more little boy pouting haaa.. can you think of anything Lee does that he isn’t good at? [ other than expressing his emotions honestly?? and having deep and meaningful conversation? and ‘being normal’ ? 😉 ]
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Lee in a tux!? Don’t feel ashamed to show us more pics we understand LOL 😉
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Lee bends over. SIGH!
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Ha ha! No crack to be seen. What a treat!
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What a lovely view… ^^
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I love, love, love Amanda teaching Lee how to bowl… so adorable! Can’t wait for the rest of the post, I hardly even remember this episode… I still don’t have Season 2 on DVD!! 😛
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