We rejoin Lee and Amanda at the Armed Forces Club.. sitting at the bar waiting for the Colonel.
Lee: I don’t believe it, this is the first time that I have ever arrived before the Colonel….
ha.. He must have forgot to 
synchronise his watch or something. [interesting the script says Lee is displaying ‘cynical humour’ here. this 
ep is very close to the script]
Amanda: Oh come on Lee.. you sound like you were raised by a machine.
Lee: Amanda I was ‘raised’ by a career military officer…
It amounts to the same thing.
I suspect one of the things Lee likes least about his uncle is how his uncle gets to him so much – when with his uncle (or just talking on the phone!), Lee probably doesn’t like who he becomes: nervous, stressed, insecure, hesitant, hurt, angry, resentful.. it’s wonderful we have this episode to watch Lee deal with that, grow and mature: with Amanda supporting him.
This hostility of Lee’s could make sense of his very bad attitude in The Artless Dodger – Lee did not get along with the military types at all!!! 
We see the Colonel arriving outside, he is accompanied by two army men.. Sergeant Roy Ballard and his aide Lt Paul Mauntel (so the script says).
They want to wait for the Colonel but he doesn’t need them..
Colonel: that won’t be necessary, Sergeant Ballard. We’ve all had a long week and I want you and Lt Mauntel to take the rest of the night off.
They try and convince him they are needed- aie!!. he doesn’t need a babysitter.. red flag anyone??!! So.. our first scene with the Colonel- and he is not as gruff as Lee makes out.. he shows thoughtfulness to his men and their needs.. I think it’s a hint that he isn’t all bad..
The Colonel heads into the club..
Back in club, Amanda and Lee still sitting at the bar..
Amanda: well you know, sometimes your family’s harder on you than anybody else but it’s only because they love you…
and they expect so much of you. [Lee listens intently to what Amanda is saying here.]
…I’m sure he really cares about you…
[Lee reacts to this – Nooooooo Lee isn’t sure of that at all!]
…very much.
Lee: Ohhhh.. come on Amanda.. the man called me diaper duty till my sixteenth birthday.
[that’s a very personal thing Lee just shared huh!!! ]
Amanda laughs at this..(yep- that’s bad! ) and very naturally says: Well he must have done something right. [At this Lee turns back to Amanda.. eh??]
…I mean look at the way you’ve turned out….
… You’re successful….
…hardworking, honest….
… Any man would be proud to have you for a son.
Ahh Amanda is so good at doing that!! She gives Lee the sweetest compliment he could possibly hear in that moment.. and she’s right.. The colonel isn’t that bad- because Lee turned out good!
Hey Lee! this is the kind of woman you could fall in love with huh!! 
Lee has no verbal response for this..but I love the look on his face here the second it cuts back to him!
He gives Amanda a small smile-
and looks away with a bit of a bashful laugh – too cute! I wanted to hear his response.. but we don’t get one because before he gets a chance to respond- his uncle arrives.
Any thoughts you want to share about what you think is going on between these two?
I wonder if Amanda could have been so forthcoming with Lee if she was madly in love with him.. I compare this with how she is in We’re off to see the wizard- she is much more shy there (in the outdoor cafe)-and her words seem to mean much more to her there.. just speculating!!
I am struck by how easily Lee is telling Amanda about his uncle, about his childhood – He confessed he was called ‘diaper duty?!’ LOL! This is certainly a Lee who has changed!!! I can’t imagine the old Lee telling Amanda that when his parent’s died his uncle took him in – but didn’t really want him.. What was it Lee said in The Long Christmas Eve?
Amanda: Gee that’s sad… growing up without a father…
Lee: Some people manage to do very well without a father.
Amanda: oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get personal.
Lee: I wasn’t speaking personally.
Awhhhhh Leee!!! Comparing now to what he said back then- I don’t think he is now saying he hasn’t done very well, but he is at least no longer pretending it didn’t matter or didn’t bother him- he is much more honest!
Lee now knows he has a friend in Amanda, whom he can confide in and trust.. and that is a good thing indeed! [After Spiderweb this fits well IMHO] It’s touching to see how much Lee’s character has grown since the early days.. when he was a lone wolf, ‘didn’t think he needed anyone’- could have almost been trying to behave like ‘a machine’?? ahem.. sound like a description of anyone else??!! The Colonel!!! Just a thought..
You know, I am not surprised the Colonel bought that Amanda was Lee’s long time girlfriend.. when he came across them at the bar, there would have been a very personal vibe- and the positive, intimate connection between them in that moment could not have been missed – not even by a military type machine!
Finally..*drumroll* we get to see Lee and the Colonel together!! Lee is bashful at Amanda’s compliment.. and the moment is interrupted by a voice off camera stating: Hello Skip!
LOL both Lee and Amanda jump! The Colonel actually sounds enthusiastic to see err ‘skip’ again!
Lee immediately stands up and stands to attention.. staring straight ahead like a good soldier..
Lee realises what he’s doing and relaxes a little.. looks to the Colonel, gives him a nod
and says: Sir! Errr Colonel, (He turns to Amanda)….
… Ah Amanda, may I present Colonel Robert Clayton.
(whooo ouchy.. not my uncle or anything.. so formal! His uncle shows no sign of minding..)
Amanda reaches out her hand: How do you do Sir.
Lee looks down at their hands shaking!
Lee sees his uncle give Amanda a huge, genuine smile
Lee then turns back to Amanda..
To Lee’s uncle: Colonel, Amanda King.
WOW!!!! Going through which screen caps to use here, I’ve noticed something lovely for the first time.. it’s very fleeting.. but as Lee looks at Amanda and says her name here – Lee smiles at Amanda and looks very proud to be with her- that I’ve noticed!! However, while Lee is doing this- the Colonel is watching Lee smile at Amanda, and he seems to be thrilled that Lee has found someone he can introduce to his uncle and be proud of! [see the pic above] I thought it was a fleeting awhhh moment! which hints that inspite of their prickles, these two men do genuinely care about each other!
Ohhh my.. the way Lee says Amanda’s name here.. is very swoony – and if it’s an act I’m convinced: he says her name like she is special, precious to him!!
The Colonel motions to Amanda: Delighted!… 
Lee’s jaw is clenching here as he watches his uncle’s reaction.. Hmm interesting!!! I guess Lee is stressed..or relieved?? could there be a little ‘oh thank goodness he approves of Amanda!’ ??? thoughts?? do tell!!!
Col. Clayton continues: …Shall we take our table ?
[LOL at the Colonel being such a gentleman! I think Lee is watching him here thinking whoa! I didn’t know he had it in him! ]
Amanda to Lee: excuse me.
She moves past Lee to accompany the Colonel to the table.. my my.. could it be that Lee and Colonel have something else in common: a soft spot for Amanda?
The Colonel seems to be a real gentleman- he pushes in Amanda’s chair for her.
Meanwhile Lee is confused- err no window??!!!
Lee to the Maitre d’ : I thought I asked for a window table.
Maitre d’: Well the Colonel preferred this table sir.
Lee: Yes. of course. (grrrrr Lee’s ticked already) This is an armed forces club – they would listen to a Colonel wouldn’t they!!
They check out their menus…
Col. Clayton: Some wine Amanda?
Amanda: oh yes Sir, that would be very nice.
[Gah!! Sorry but not loving Amanda’s hair in this scene.. a bit Margaret Thatcher-esque!]
Col. Clayton (to the Maitre d’): A wine list please?
The Maitre d’ hands the wine list to the Colonel..
Lee doesn’t need one.. he speaks up: The Pommard is very nice. Especially the 81. [Lee is sounding pleasant, good on him for trying!]
Col. Clayton: Excellent idea. but I prefer the 82. [whooo the Col. did just pay Lee a compliment.. but it quickly gets cancelled out!]
Lee whispers: but the 81 was a vintage crop.
Col. Clayton to the Maitre d’: we’ll have the 82 vintage.
Has anyone had Pommard? I had to look it up it’s a Burgundy! LOL.. sounds like the 82 didn’t have a vintage crop!.. this website suggests both the 81 and the 82 were lousy! but Lee sounds so knowledgeable about wines!!! Sorry I digress!
Aie… The Col. just ignored what Lee said! Lee just stares at him- dangers!!! Some strong feelings are welling up in Lee already.. The Colonel meanwhile is unaffected. I think Amanda notices.. do you?
Amanda: Well.. I don’t know about anybody else but I’m really very hungry tonight.
Col. Clayton: I like a woman who speaks her mind. [Aie! what a cliche thing to say still I’m glad he likes Amanda – he can’t be all bad! but.. does he like a nephew who speaks his mind?? Hmm??]
Col. Clayton to Lee: your taste is improving skip.
The Col. looks down to read his menu, a big smile on his face..
[my goodness.. he is sounding very oldfashioned 😆 I’m surprised they don’t have the Colonel check Amanda’s teeth or something teee heee.]
Amanda to Lee: Skip?
Lee (grrrr): ha! –Later.
[Later means never! Right everyone???!!! 😉 ]
Amanda quietly: Ohhhhh..
Amanda and Lee go back to looking at their menus. You think Francine would have let that one go? no way!! BTW- I think Diaper duty is worse!
So… the Colonel overrides Lee’s choice of table and wine year, oh dear… and calls him…. skip!!??? in front of his girlfriend??!!!!!
Sorry to do this to you my fellow SMK fans! but.. this is a long enough already and I’m going to need to split up this dinner.. I may as well stop here- right before Lee kicks the hornet’s nest!! I look forward to hearing from you! byeeeeeeee!!
"Just walk with me.." 
So I never realized we had another Molly on here back in 2013. Oops. I’m assuming it’s okay that I keep using the username now since I haven’t seen much from this poster since? And I didn’t start till this year if that helps any confusion.
Just wanted to say how much I hate the trope of when a character has a jerk parental figure, another character has to try to say some variation of the “Well, they did love you.” That is the last thing someone in that position wants to hear in a situation like this. Unless you totally know the full nature of the family relationship, please don’t say things like that!
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whoops really?! I caan go through your comments so far and adjust your handle for you if you wish to give me a replacement handle (like SMKMolly or something?!) In order to keep the link between your comments and anyone who has replied to you and referred to you as Molly.. So I suggest keeping ‘Molly’ in the handle in someway or another – but ultimately it’s up to you.. just reply & let me know.
Hi All!!! New episode starts in a week!!!
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That might be a good idea. I’d appreciate it but wouldn’t that be a lot of work?
What about LeesMolly?
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No worries the sooner we switch over the less work for me 🙂 happy to do it!
LeesMolly? Nice one!!!
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Thanks — glad you liked it! And thanks for doing all that work too!
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#2019rewatch
One other really interesting thought I never really caught before…Iwsod said: This hostility of Lee’s could make sense of his very bad attitude in The Artless Dodger – Lee did not get along with the military types at all!!!
Fascinating to think about! I’m thinking of Lee’s interaction with the military in Stemwinder or It’s In the Water (season 4), and he seems overall much more calm and relaxed than we have seen in Artful Dodger and here in ARS as he introduces the Colonel. Perhaps fruit of his improved relationship with his uncle improve his work (and what a special role Amanda plays in this process, I think)?
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#2019 rewatch
Hmmm, but in both Dodger and this one, the military is trying to make him look bad – they blame him for a bad security design in Dodger and his uncle is, well, parental, whereas in the other eps mentioned, he’s working with them for a common cause.
I wouldn’t doubt though that growing up in a restrictive military life might mean Lee has little to no patience for the military my-way-or-the-highway attitude though, even though he has definitely adopted it for himself on more than a few occasions… 😉
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#2019rewatch
There are some fabulous original comments on this post below. Morley’s comments are so beautifully articulate and insightful. I particularly never thought about this:
I thought that the bit about the colonel being late was to highlight that people can break their patterns of behavior, they can change and there might be more to them than we knew or anticipated. Lee can learn this about his Uncle and maybe even himself.
I love, love, love this thought.
Clagjanet, I love your comment also, and additionally, I feel like this previous thought from Morley also ties in to our previous post comments. Morley wrote: I think they are really, really good friends, just not “just” really, really, good friends. I think that from the beginning Lee and Amanda would never be able to be “just” friends, even thought they both tried very hard. But it is important that they were those very, very good friends and remained that way as well. I think they were always moving towards that deeper relationship albeit ever so slowly.
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#2019 rewatch.
I wonder if Colonel Clayton had a good look at Amanda as he walked up behind Lee and saw the genuine lovely smile she was giving him after her genuinely lovely compliment – he seemed very predisposed to like her. He may even have heard her comment since he could have been standing there for a while and Amanda wouldn’t have recognized him yet.
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#2019rewatch
Being a mother to two sons, Amanda knew just how much Lee needed a morale booster before his uncle arrived. From the look on Lee’s face, she hit the mark perfectly!
When I saw that big, genuine smile for Amanda on Colonel Clayton’s face, it made me wonder …. did his uncle ever direct a smile like that toward Lee?
The knee-jerk manner in which he dismissed Lee’s knowledge of wine, just to be argumentative and rude … right in front of Amanda, makes me doubt Lee ever earned such a smile from his uncle.
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I’ve never noticed that proud look Lee give the Colonel when he introduces Amanda, makes my toes curl 🙂
It’s a lovely scene with them talking at the bar. Amanda in her usual manner effortlessly pours oil on troubled waters with her compliment to Lee. And the best part is she’s not paying lip service, it’s a heartfelt, sincere compliment. No wonder Lee looks bashful. Suspect he’s used to hearing compliments but from women who are more interested in getting him in the sack.
Why do they dress Amanda all in white? Whenever I see her dressed like that for a date I either think its bridal or virginal (is that a word or am I making my own language up here?!). I am going with the imagery of Amanda being pure if I had to pick one. No idea if that was intentional but that’s what it makes me think of.
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ROFL!! Amanda’s hair was like Margaret Thatcher’s here?! Great-I’ll laugh every time I watch that episode now! Love the names the Colonel gives Lee-Diaper Duty-well, sounds better than Rugrat! Now…Skip?! Hmm-the SMK writers only had that name once the entire series, & never explained the orgin of it-grr-that bugs me when they come up with funny names, & just gloss over it like the fans won’t even notice,or remember-HA!
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Hi Molly! haaa glad you liked the Maggie Thatcher description! 🙂 I couldn’t put my finger on why it bugged me till I realised that! 😉
yeah.. smk does love to throw things out there and then forget about them [lol like the fact that Lee even has an uncle!!! I’m thinking he never gets mentioned again! Can anyone think of a reference to him in later eps?]
Regarding Lee’s nickname ‘skip’ – I haven’t watched much ahead yet.. but I know that in the script to this episode Lee does actually give Amanda an explanation of where skip came from- whether it made it into the episode itself I am not sure.. I don’t remember! Anyone?? if it’s not.. I’ll be sure to add what the script says about it to my posts.. lovely to hear from you!
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Hey iwsod, Lee’s uncle gets a brief mention in the beginning Mission of Gold. It is when they are driving in the car right before Amanda gets shot. We just hear Lee and Amanda talking. Lee’s uncle gets mentioned twice. I think that is the only other time though.
Amanda’s hair in this scene bugs me too!
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Apologies for the double post, my first comment disappeared and WordPress wanted me to sign in with my accoun and then…. and then…. oh I don’t know what happened. technology happened and apologies for going over old ground. I liked the ideas presented. Its a shame there weren’t kore siblings in SMK , spies in families and all that, maybe would have been explored in further seasons, ah well.
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Welcome to the blog Jan! Hope you visit often!
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I love that Amanda (and we) get to see this personal side of Lee. And like Amanda thinks Lee handles himself beautifully, I think Amanda handles Lee beautifully.
And of course Lee’s uncle isn’t all bad as Lee makes him out to be. 😉 No one has the same view of your ‘parent’ as you do – no one else was raised by that ‘parent’ (except a sibling and they will have a slightly different view of the parent as you do – trust me, I have 4 sibs and we all see our parents differently. Anyone else out there agree?). And that parent will act differently when talking with or dealing with other people – they are not raising or are responsible for them. Plus I think once a parent always a parent – I think the colonel has a hard time treating Lee as a grown man even though he knows he is. Just like Lee’s behavior reverts to that of I’m a child in the presence of the person who raised me even though I know I’m my own man now. I think that behavior just comes out because the relationship was parent/child for a long time.
Diaper duty…too funny! Especially since you would suspect Lee was out of diapers by the time he came to live with Bob the Builder! Very personal thing to share and no, I’m sure he’s never mentioned that to Francine and never would. And that compliment of Amanda’s…I bet Lee has never heard those words said about himself before. Great screen cap, iwsod! And I’m noticing the dimple, so we’ll see this pic again in the future 😉 . I don’t see this as an ‘in love’ type of thing at all. I think Amanda was just doing what she does best – she listens and sees right to the heart of a situation and offers words of praise and encouragement. She is so good at doing that and making people feel at ease. Melissa R. called it a ‘calming effect’ in a comment on the last post.
I never noticed the look on Lee’s face before when introducing Amanda to BtB. It is amazing how much more you can see when you can freeze things in time! Lee does look proud to be introducing her to his uncle. I completely agree, iwsod – Lee knows he has a special and real friend in his life. Lee does seem to be pleased at his uncle’s initial reaction to Amanda. We know he’s met at least one other of Lee’s girlfriends (would have been a Randi type?) so just seeing what Amanda looks like and how she dresses would be enough for the colonel to see that Lee has found himself a different type of woman and Lee can see that the colonel’s initial reaction is different this time. Does that make sense?
Never heard of Pommard either! Thanks for looking it up! I like wine but am not very knowledgeable. I’m now intrigued!
Later definitely means never! ROFL!!!
Morely, like what you said about there being no pretending in this episode and that we all forget the made up girlfriend part by the end!
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OK not on the topic of Lee and Amanda.
I’ve always wondered how the Colonel and Lee are actually related. Lee’s mother was British and clearly the Colonel isn’t British, so that leaves me to think that he must be Lee’s father’s brother, then why isn’t he Colonel Stetson? Trivial I know but it gets me wondering….
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You might want to read the comments on the previous post 🙂
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I’ve always wondered how Lee and the Colonel are related. Lee’s mother was British and clearly the Colonel isn’t so that leaves me to assume that the Colonel is Lee’s father’s brother, so why isn’t his name Stetson? Any opinions?
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Actually we have been speculating about their last names on the previous post 🙂
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Hi Melissa R!- just to clarify- Jan is new to this blog so both her comments went to Moderation – and were not seen until I moderated them a few hours ago – Poor Jan! No one would have been able to see them until I approved them.
Hello Jan!!! Welcome to the blog!!! sorry you had to wait to get your comments approved – I was sleeping! 🙂 LOL! The next time you comment you should be able to join the conversation immediately- if you use the same email address and name for yourself as you did for either of the two comments you posted in response to this thread.
I’ll be back later in the day to respond to your comments everyone, but just wanted to quickly explain Jan’s comments – which seem a little strange out of context but knowing they were unviewable and in moderation hopefully explains it! they weren’t strange at all 🙂 tee hee!
Byeeeeee!!!! – And welcome Again Jan!!!! [Have we crossed paths in smk at all? I use to converse with a ‘Jan’ who was absolutely lovely!!!] byeeeee!
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Sorry you had no way of knowing that Melissa R! My fault.. I probably could have made a quick comment to let you guys know and save confusion – I’ll keep that in mind for future comments that go to moderation: but thanks for helping out Jan 🙂
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Sorry about my reply and welcome to the blog 🙂
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Hey Melissa R – thanks for sharing your thoughts on what’s going on between Lee and Amanda.. I agree with you – though I was thinking a few of us fans might see it differently: and view them as already being ‘in love’ ?? Does anyone see things differently? do tell!
Oh cool Melissa R, thanks for letting me know you agree on how Amanda was in WOTSTW- I thought that might be just me! 🙂
Hey Morley! Ahh good catch on the colonel being late for once – I like it!!! I skipped that little plot point 🙂 also loved your ideas on Lee and being not ‘just’ really really good friends! It is always there simmering below the surface.. or maybe growing slowly is a better way for me to describe it. Yes! ‘moving towards that deeper relationship’ is IMHO spot on!
Whoooo I do like your idea on them all forgetting about the cover (Amanda being Lee’s date) I haven’t watched the whole ep yet but I’ll keep this in mind and come back to this.. This fits into the overall theme of Lee using ‘avoidance’ as a coping mechanism! but.. IMHO this is part of his character’s journey in this ep- I’ll get back to that!
Morley, I think most of us can relate – regarding knowing someone who can turn us into someone we don’t like – it’s hard! I think this too is a part of Lee’s journey in this ep [he goes on a few doesn’t he!] – taking control of this reaction of his – I’ll be interested to see what you think as we continue on!
LOL how do I not go ahead?? well if I didn’t break it up I’d never get any work done!
I do vaguely have some concepts in mind as I approach an ep – as I am looking at the overall story and themes etc. – you are free to go ahead if you like – but I guess my mind is happiest when I see the ep(I mean the part of the ep in the post): then explore it.. I am basing it on what I just saw- rather than on what I think is coming – and this way I find I enjoy the show more, and notice more.. LOL maybe it’s a little ‘scientific’ of me..[LOL is that code for anal?!] I make observations and then I interpret them.. I come up with theories and then see if they fit.. but I can always find something later in the episode which cancels out something from earlier [or ‘disproves’ my theories] and I’m okay with that – I prefer that to looking at the ep as a whole, I can’t wait till I feel I understand the whole ep – I want to gain understanding with you all as we go through the ep 🙂 I find that lots of fun! sooo it isn’t self control at all – it’s not required because I prefer this way!!
Hiya Jan! again, sorry your comment went into moderation- hopefully by now you’ve seen other’s comments on this in post 3 of this episode – let us know what you think! 🙂 Oh and by the way – you may have noticed trivia is very welcome here! tee heee.. so you fit right in! 🙂
Hi Bjo! very true regarding being a ‘parent’ – I have a few thoughts bouncing around about this.. but I want to see what happens here before I say more 🙂
BTW- you are totally right about not seeing the world the same way (with your eg of your siblings) this is why identical twins are different in some ways too..
Yeah I don’t think Lee and his uncle have had much opportunity to practice doing their relationship as two adults- know what I mean???!!! This ep is their chance I guess 🙂
Thanks Bjo, those screen caps of the introduction were fascinating and very swoony! there are things I don’t notice until I slow it down and look through the caps- so I enjoy it 🙂 I had noticed Lee was proud, but had never noticed the colonel watching Lee.. that was new.. I think how I expressed that in the post was a tad confusing- sorry if I wasn’t clear.
Yeah! your idea of Amanda being a different sort of woman makes perfect sense!!!
whooo let us know if you try some Pommard! (especially the 81! who cares about the 82! 😉 )
Teeehee glad you liked ‘later means never’ that one had me in giggles too!
Melissa no need to apologise regarding your reply to Jan… you weren’t to know and it was lovely that you were being helpful to her! 🙂 thank you!!
bye all!!
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Looks like I won’t be trying the ’81 Pommard any time soon! Check out this webpage: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/de+cote+nuit+pommard+beaune+burgundy+france/1981/-/-/a?Xhide_nearest=N
It shows the ’81 Pommard being auctioned off for about $75 a bottle! I wouldn’t mind trying it, expensive wine really does taste better, but that’s quite a bit more than I typically spend on a bottle of wine! Not to mention shipping costs from France!
If you look around that website though, the price for the ’81 is the second most expensive price there. I can’t even find any info. on the ’82. So Lee must have been right! Hahahaha!
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Hi BJo.. ahhh thanks for clearing that up! LOL!!! maybe the Colonel didn’t want to spend that much money so went with the 82! but he just didn’t want to admit that 😉 tee heee! (it’s $77 Aussie dollars!! eek!!!) I tell you what.. if I win lotto I’ll buy a bottle and fly over for an smk party! 😉 tee heee.. Interesting.. the 2010 vintage costs $89 AUD!!
Thanks for the fun link Bjo!
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Sounds like a plan, iwsod! Get buying those lotto tickets!
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Looks like it’s now $141.61 per bottle now!!!
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Audra that is flippin hilarious!!!! I love that you looked that up and gave us an update!!!!
I really miss these early episodes – heck may be we should just republish the early eps from time to time, interspersed with continuing the walk right through to the end of season 4 [because I am NOT stopping I WILL finish the walk through!]
– this way we could keep the walk going in a sustainable way..
Hmm what do you think – should I publish a little blog post for everyone to discuss this?
Thoughts? ideas? suggestions?
I’m open to anything! 🙂
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“In Love”, I have these thoughts running around in my head, bear with me.
I am thinking prepositions… Love is this thing that started growing in Lee and Amanda early on, maybe even the first episode when Amanda was compelled to leave her protected life and go to that Cooking Lady and save his life or maybe even earlier, and Lee… well definitely by the time he carried her down the Quickie Chickie guy’s stairs. These were selfless decisions that they both made in favor of the other’s well being and that, in my book, is choosing “love.” Maybe not romantic love, but it is love. And they allowed this love to grow in repeated choices to choose their growing friendship over selfish preservation as the seasons went on. I think Amanda made a conscience decision to not allow Romantic love to carry her away from the growing friendship in season one during Weekend. Lee on the other hand has had trouble until recently even acknowledging that he has this “love” resident in him. And I think as Lee begins to acknowledge this “love,” Amanda fortifies herself in this “friendship love.” As far as them both being “in” love. I guess that would come when they both decide to dwell “in” the love that they both acknowledge they have for each other, instead of denying or categorizing love, instead of skipping “around” it, or any other preposition other than “in.” It comes when they let their relating come from it and let it run its course and I don’t think they come to that place together until late season 3. This is way ahead of where we are right now, but we keep asking about “being in love” and it seems strange to me because I don’t see them as “falling” or “tripping” in to love, like they got smacked up side the head and don’t know what hit them. I think they grew into it. Does that make sense?
[iwsod edited to add: this comment has been moved to the following thread: https://justwalkwithme.com/2012/07/18/discussion-of-lee-and-amandas-love-story-scarecrow-and-mrs-king/#comment-3842 Please respond to it over there – thank you!]
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Hi Morley!
This interesting difficulty in describing Lee and Amanda’s relationship has come up a few times – there are many who wrestle with these same questions/ concepts..
Head to this thread: https://justwalkwithme.com/2012/07/18/discussion-of-lee-and-amandas-love-story-scarecrow-and-mrs-king/
There is a discussion there about it..better to keep it there too I think.. or this is going to get lost!
Morley, do you think maybe you could copy these comments to that thread? It would be a shame for your comments on the overall concept to get lost in the shuffle.. And if people want to respond – they can respond on that thread..
I’m caught up with work today but I’ll try and respond to your comment over on that thread later, if you move your comment over there. [would you mind if I edited this comment to say go to the other thread to reply??]
The post ‘discussion of Lee and Amanda’s love story’ is a place to talk about overall themes – which are not related to a specific episode and thus won’t be easy to find if we go looking for it again! This thread can be found and added to at anytime by selecting the category ‘Lee and Amanda Relationship’ – It can be frustrating to know there is a great discussion about it and then never be able to find it again (there are now in excess of 3000 comments on this blog- soooo it is easy for great ideas to get lost! too easy!! 😦 )
If you don’t want to copy your comment over, let me know and I’ll do it later if you like – but unfortunately I can’t move your comment.. I can only edit it or delete it altogether! 🙂
I love this whole subject! drat.. should get back to my work here.. bye everyone!!
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It makes perfect sense to me, Morley! I skipped over iwsod’s question about Amanda talking to Lee like she was in love in WOTSTW because I find it very hard to pinpoint when Amanda was ‘all in’ to use a poker expression. In the beginning of the series, I think it seemed like Amanda was easy to figure out and Lee wasn’t. But as the series went on, in general Lee becomes more transparent and Amanda gets more complicated to me. Even in S4 some of her behavior and what she says makes me scratch my head – but we’ll get to that some day!
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Hi Morley, as you’ll see I’ve copied your fabulous comments over to the other thread – looks like I missed you when I responded so I’ve gone ahead and copied it myself – this way, others can feel free to respond to it over on the other thread if they wish.
Hope that’s okay – it’s such a great discussion I want to be able to keep track of it! I’ll get back to the new thread and respond to you soon..byeeee!
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Thanks for doing that, Iwsod. I totally forgot about that thread. I was trying to sort out the ” is Amanda in love here” comment with how I am responding to what is going on in this episode and what I think Amanda is feeling and the context of the story as a whole. Thanks for putting it there for me.
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I thought that the bit about the colonel being late was to highlight that people can break their patterns of behavior, they can change and there might be more to them than we knew or anticipated. Lee can learn this about his Uncle and maybe even himself.
I think they are really, really good friends, just not “just” really, really, good friends. I think that from the beginning Lee and Amanda would never be able to be “just” friends, even thought they both tried very hard. But it is important that they were those very, very good friends and remained that way as well. I think they were always moving towards that deeper relationship albeit ever so slowly.
The premise of this episode was that Amanda would be posing as Lee’s girlfriend.They had done this before, this relationship cover. But here they don’t put on any act. and I get the feeling that the Colonel knows that Lee may have made up a story, but that doesn’t make a difference either. I think the Colonel knows. There is no pretending in this episode and by the end I think we all forget that Lee made up the “girlfriend” part.
I have a family member in my life that I have a hard time being with. I can be very comfortable with who I am and the moment I am in this person’s presence I become insecure. I find her threatening and the funny thing is that when we talk about it she feels the same way around me and we both profess to admire the other very much. I think of that when I see Lee respond to his Uncle here in the restaurant. And I think that although he is uncomfortable and has some hurts in his relationship. I think the Uncle truly cares for Lee and admires him and knows him well. I think Amanda is right about everything she encourages Lee with in his relationship with Colonel Clayton. In light of this I think that the Colonel can see the true relationship between Lee and Amanda.
I bet I have gotten ahead of where we are…how do you break this up into tiny pieces and remain so patient? I admire that self-control.
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IMHO I think they are just really really good friends and Amanda is doing what she is good at as a friend complimenting and point out the good things about a person. She knows that Lee is tense and is trying to calm him by pointing out that his uncle is not bad because he turned out good. I agree that in WOTSTW she sounds like someone in love, but here a great friend.
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