I see Spiderweb as being a bit of a sleeper episode- coming straight after momentous Ship of Spies, it sometimes gets overshadowed- but I believe it is full of significant moments!! 
I’m looking forward to revisiting it! [And seeing what Lee and Amanda are like after ship of spies! ] So.. on we go!!
The episode opens with a shot of Nedlinger’s, (isn’t it?) only it’s not Nedlinger’s –this week, it’s Chez Tayir! LOL..
The director’s name is Harry Harris? poor Harry.. I bet his parents thought that was harrilarious….
Billy enters the restaurant and finds his way to Lee and Francine’s table- Wha??? Are they on a date? What’s going on here?? Nooooo!!! Billy put a stop to that quickly!!! Yuck!!! hehehee.. no no. It’s ok.. it’s an operation. phew, should have known..
LOL.. it looks like Lee and Francine are undercover as a couple, enjoying their dinner – only with Billy stopping by their table every five minutes? that kind of defeats the purpose!
Billy’s nervous.. they are awaiting the delivery of something – code name: Spiderweb- and it is very important it goes 
off without a hitch. It’s the agency’s biggest operation in ten years. Billy wants to call in to check on how things are going – again.. [Could you guess which one of these three is the boss? rofl!!!]
Francine says if he calls one more time, ‘Hobson will hang up’ on him- don’t you love how they throw in there random names of other agents we never hear from again? I think we get a few names/agents sprinkled throughout this ep..
Hey! wait a minute!!! – Oh my!!! Fashion police moment- or is it an ambulance moment??? Has some weird alien creature attached itself to Francine’s ear 
lobe?? It’s sucking out her grey matter! argh!!!!!- surely those cannot be reeeeal earrings that someone would consciously choose to wear? in public?!!! Maybe it’s an agency issue weapon of some kind.. it does look like a knife!
Lee suggests they keep their eyes on the door ‘It’s 1045, Folescu should be walking in at any minute’ – wow.. late for dinner in the US! Great timing Lee.. looking at the door and- ta da!!!
Who should walk in at that very moment with a real date of her own? Amanda!! whooo hoooo!!!
Lee sits up in his seat the moment he sees Amanda!
I love the look of utter confusion that crosses Lee’s face at this moment as he sees her! haa haaa..
his eyes twitching everywhere.. LOL! That will show Lee. You go girl!
Lee: Amanda?
Of all the gin joints.. she walks into this one 
Billy: What’s she doing here? You tell her anything about spiderweb?
Lee: of course not, it’s gotta be a coincidence!
[Wow.. Amanda shakes the maître d’s hand a long time! LOL! ]
Lurve Lee’s question: Who’s the stiff?
Wish we saw Lee’s face when he asked this!
Francine: ha I would hardly call Bryce Topping a stiff!
Lee: who the Hell is Bryce Topping?!
Francine: you would know if you ever read the society pages he’s a regular….
…Old Money, Brilliant law career and obviously pretty kinky.
Love how Lee’s head snaps back to Francine when she says he is kinky!
Lee: Wha?
Francine: I mean come on, a suburban housewife?
[Why suburban? Lol… isn’t housewife enough?! I love that Amanda being a suburban housewife is no longer on Lee’s radar- I think had Francine said that second episode Lee would have known exactly what she mean’t – but not anymore! squeeee! ]
Ohhh I love this.. Francine listing the stiff’s credentials like he is a good catch??? –Pure poetry in motion!! You know, for one brief moment I liked Francine! err that is until the crack about housewives..
Amanda and Bryce walk past the agency table, as Amanda says: It’s wonderful that you can get a table without even a reservation! [ Yes.. Bryce is a catch! LOL.. although it is 1045pm.. so not so busy!]
She glances and sees Lee glare at her and motion to keep walking and she does.. Amanda smiles at Bryce and casually continues saying: ha! yes!
And they continue on to their table.. LOL! I like to think Lee’s glare was half: who is that guy you’ve showed up with??!! [We 
were only married last week! tee hee.. ok that one is not very likely! ] and half – go away we’re on a mission here!
I just noticed..as Amanda and Bryce pass them, Lee has his eyes lowered.. but the moment they are past?
Lee surreptitiously watches them make their way to their table haaaaa.. when he is suppose to be keeping his eyes on the door?!! He’s watching Amanda find her table- with Bryce
Amanda knows this is not a good idea.. and she should probably get out of there.. Is that the first time we’ve seen that white coat of Amanda’s? She does look lovely in white
Amanda and Bryce are seated and given a menu..
Amanda: ah Bryce, listen maybe coffee wasn’t such a good idea, it’s (glancing at her watch).. oh gosh it’s getting awfully late.
Bryce looks at his watch: It’s not that late.
Amanda’s anxious to get out of there before whatever is going to happen happens!
Bryce: We’ve got a lot to talk about [Lol then maybe you shouldn’t have gone to see a movie together! okay we don’t learn that till later.. I’m being cheeky..]
Amanda: well, we could talk in the car on the way home- would you mind?
Bryce sighs and 
gives Amanda a wry grin: Whatever you say. See how easy I am to get along with?
Oh yes and pointing that out is just sooo charming.. not!
Why does this guy remind me of Dean??!!!!!
Is it just me or is this guy a lousy over actor???!! Aha! I thought this guy wasn’t a real actor! Found a pic on google.. He’s a real life Olympic gold medallist in the Pole Vault! [and a sports illustrated cover guy
tee hee] Poor Bob Seagren.. he didn’t do so much acting after smk
Amanda smiles: yes. Thank you!
Amanda’s date seems ‘nice’ almost too nice! LOL.. but he does seem to really like her- so he has good taste I kinda wish we got to see him again! Not that I like him at all… but it would have been fun!
Amanda and Bryce get up to leave.. only – Uhhh Ohhh 
it is time for action.. Folescu arrives and gets shot by 
the waiter ( guess because he didn’t have a reservation?! Good thing Bryce knew the place! ) 
Ohhh dear.. Amanda ducks immediately.. but trying to get out of the way she blocks Francine from having a clear shot..and a frantic woman in blue falls over Lee blocking his shot too -not now woman, he’s working here!! (ok ok.. maybe she was placed there by the baddies to stop Lee from getting to the shooter) What’s Billy’s excuse? LOL!
Then enters the second, more friendly smk gunman.
They are so considerate with machine guns! – they only 
ever aim at walls up high and bars and tables where no one is standing – at all!! but shoot 
the flowers and glass to put on a good show for everybody! ha ha.. Whoo love how Bryce tries to protect Amanda
(and Francine no less) err I guess.. although he is crouched down behind them.. err rather than in front of them!
Oh and it is pretty funny how Billy decides to take a quick nap on the sofa while the shooting lasts – err Billy, why else would you jump on that couch like that- there is no protection there?
It looked pretty funny to me! (couldn’t he fit under?!!)
Lee runs outside chasing the second gunman, but he gets away
Folescu is 
dead.. and Amanda is dating Bryce Topping! (A real catch 😉 )
Ugh!!.. not a good night for our Lee!!!!!
I shall finish up there for now my wonderful fellow SMK fans! As always I’d love to hear your thoughts!! What do you think of Bryce? and.. were you as distracted by those earrings as I was?
I’d rather that any day than Lee’s pirate makeup! He’s lookin gorgeous again!!!! Guardians of Lee’s dignity (GOLDs) can rejoice
Back with more when I can
"Just walk with me.." 
Francine’s earnings here and her necklace growth in the next scene…
Bruce Boxleitner goes on to play a character who marries an alien and Francine’s jewellery makes her look like she’s about to turn into one!
I bet Martha Smith enjoyed her days off when she could dress like a normal person again!
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Love this scene so much. Lee’s confusion about Amanda showing up with a date…oh boy, he is such a goner and doesn’t even know it, LOL. Better even that Francine knows who Bryce is and thinks he is a great catch, Lee’s reactions are brilliant.
But my fave moment is Billy jumping onto the couch when the shooting starts. It looks so funny, and one does wonder why anyone would jump ONTO something to hide from gunshots. Guess it shows that Billy isn’t a field agent anymore, rofl. Though I do wonder why he had to dive at all, since the shooter aimed so high it seems Billy could have just kept standing 😉
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Billy is a gem…love the couch diving part – never noticed that before! Thank you for pointing it out! And yes, I totally wish we could have seen Lee’s face when he asked about “the stiff” but I have a pretty good idea of what it would look like – ha! I love that the writers have Amanda out with a man immediately after Ship of Spies…just goes to show Lee that she has moved on from their marriage even though he was so affected cuz he no longer immediately gets the kinky/suburban housewife joke from good ole Frannie! Those earrings! I never noticed those detail before, but those have got to be the most hideous earrings of the 80’s ever!
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Hiya Bjo – I agreee!! I too love that Amanda is dating.. she has a couple more coming up too! Take that Lee Stetson!
Though I suspect that originally spiderweb was a few episodes later.. I think maybe A relative situation was after Ship of spies.. but the next one is Spiderweb.. then the short haired episodes.. the principle is the same though – she’s not on hold for Lee.. she’s out there! 🙂
ROFL! How could you not notice those earrings???!!! 😉
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I think the ear rings add the usual touch of Francine’s appalling fashion sense to the episode. After all, her dress is downright tasteful and her hair is a restrained ‘set’ similar to what my grandmother adopted during the 80s and 90s.
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The Billy-diving-on-the-couch moment gets me laughing every time. It, and the Artful Dodger scene where Billy does a roll in the warehouse and holds onto his hat, always make me think of your point from the credits of The First Time where you imagine Mel sitting down watching the show with his family and ta-duh, his name is spelled wrong! Poor Mel! In the same way, I can picture his family sitting around him snickering at the couch scene and the hold-on-to-your-hat scene. But that’s what family is for, right? To keep you humble!!
Nice catch about the pole vaulter! I’ve certainly seen worse actors on SMK … makes we want to go back and research whether they were actually guest stand-ins. They liked to do that, didn’t they?
Spiderweb is one of the episodes that has grown on me. Looking forward to the review!
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Hi guys it’s wonderful to hear from you!
Pattybones– that’s interesting! That never occured to me as I already knew some of what this episode was about when I saw it – better that than thinking Lee and Francine are on a date – pha pha! I agree with you, Lee was trying to hide his reaction from everyone! Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts as we go through 🙂
Hi Claudia! Francine’s outfits and jewellery in this episode are epic!! 😉
I’d say if we had to choose between pirate Lee and short haired Amanda? I’d say give me short haired Amanda anyday!!!! What would you guys choose??
ROFL Raffie! I’m right there with you!! Billy doing anything remotely agile is hilarious! whaaa haaaa.. I need to go watch that roll again – good one!! There’s an interesting moment in life of the party coming up too… yeah I stumbled on the pole vaulter thing – only to find when writing my next post the guy had been credited as a ‘special cameo appearance’ – I’ve never seen that before!! We’ll have to all keep an eye out for anymore! 🙂
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I love that “not much makeup-version” better, now the makeup-team can put all their energy in Francines outfit 🙂
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Ok when I first saw this part of the episode I was wondering what they were all doing there without Amanda! Then Amanda walks in and I go briefly to myself, Oh she is bringing the person they needs to the place. However, when Lee says “What is she doing here?” And “Who is the stiff?” I knew she was not part of the team. However, when Lee gets an answer from Francine on who Amanda is with and what a great catch this guy is, well…
All I saw was Lee trying to hide his reaction not only from her, but his fellow co-workers as well. However, he could not help himself when she was seated and he was dying to know what was going on with her and her “date”. The mission that he was on became a secondary priority.
Ok just a few thoughts on this part of the episode. Will have more later as you get closer to all the investigate “Amanda” stuff.
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I agree with you PattyBones! Love the look on Amandas face when she sees Lee. Yes he really can’t help himself 🙂
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