On to suburban tranquility.. the birds are chirping.. the sun is shining.. Amanda’s home really is the picture of peace!
We find the Colonel has arrived at Amanda’s and is making himself useful loading up Amanda’s oven trays with cookie dough 
This is such a well written scene..I’m really looking forward to hearing what you all think of it!
[That includes you newbies reading: Feel free to share your thoughts you are very welcome!]
This scene is very much about subtext isn’t it.. beautifully done.. I find it sad.. that so much goes unsaid, but IMHO it is right for the Colonel’s character that this is the case..
Amanda compliments the colonel on his cookie dough distribution!
Col. responds: ha well actually I’m pretty handy in the kitchen!
The oven buzzer goes off.. and the Col offers to get the cookies out of the oven for Amanda..
[lol! I love to watch him struggle with the oven mit! He can’t get it off the hook! It’s like KJ notices he’s taking a while and looks up to see what he’s doing! but.. they stay in character and keep on going! Love it! it makes the scene feel natural!]
The Col. hands the fresh hot cookies to Amanda and he notices the boy’s artwork on the fridge- awh!!
Col: did your boys do that?
[I love how the pic has given Amanda blushing happy cheeks! I wonder who really drew it?!]
Amanda: Yeah Mother’s Day.
Col: It must be tough raising two boys on your own…
… You know, they ought to have a manual that gives you all the rules, instead of you making them up as you go along. [such a military thing to say!]
Amanda: Awh that would be much too easy and not nearly as much fun!
Col: somehow I never thought of raising children as fun. I guess you just do your best.
Amanda: well, sure! didn’t you?
Col: Awh, it wasn’t the same thing…
[he starts laughing to himself remembering..] you should have seen Lee when he first came to me.…
… Seven years old and the first thing out of his mouth was ‘Nooo!’ haaa..
Amanda: I can believe that!
[At this the Col gives big belly laugh!]
Col: boy, he was a tough kid. I remember he had a little girlfriend ahh.. Alice I think her name was…
[He remembers her name?? awh!!! he was probably paying more attention than Lee realised!] …and a few of the boys were giving her a hard time, and Lee took them all on…
… My God I was proud of him. Two black eyes and a bloody nose and he never shed a tear.
[he really does beam with pride here]
… course he knew better than to do that..
I think Amanda is biting her tongue here..
and feeling very sad for Lee that he went through that, and knew he couldn’t ask for any comfort from his uncle.. it’s really bittersweet isn’t it. Tells us a lot about why Lee is the way he is.. awh!!!
Amanda chooses her reply carefully.
Amanda: Ah yeah.. I ahhh guess he probably did.
Col: I’ll tell you, he fought me all the way. He still does. We can’t be in a room for five minutes without fighting.
I have never met anyone as stubborn as he is.
[if this weren’t so sad, I’d be laughing my head off at this! – Colonel.. look in the mirror!!
He’s not very self aware huh!!!
Amanda (again!)bites her tongue.. chosing her reply very carefully- She is very gracious!!
Amanda: well you know.. he’s umm.. He’s all grown up now…
…He’s his own man, he has his own way of doing things, I guess he….. just has his own way.
She’s very gentle with the Colonel here.. I would not have been so gentle! 
I love how she thinks of Lee and looks so proud of him- proud of him and his own way- not proud of him for not having two black eyes and not crying.. you know? It’s a lovely contrast showing what Amanda gives to Lee that he hasn’t gotten from his uncle.. that wonderful acceptance!
Col: and he is convinced that his way is better than mine… [Aie! it’s not a competition! Why does Lee 
growing up have to be a statement about what he thinks of his uncle’s ways..can’t the guy just grow 
up!] …Now look.. I don’t want to argue the fact that Lee’s grown up .. I.. I respect that.
[I guess it’s there, he just doesn’t know how to communicate it?]
Doesn’t Amanda look sooo happy to hear the Colonel say this about Lee?!! She knows it’s very important to Lee!! 
Understatement Alert!!!!-
Amanda: you know, I think he would very much like to hear you say that.
The Col gets a little nervous at this.. haaaa.. it’s kinda cute!
he mumbles that’s not so easy to do..
and heads over to the oven to put the cookie dough in the oven, but is so distracted he knocks the tray out of his hands..
Hey I think the Colonel makes a really good go of dropping those cookies as he put them in the oven! I bet that is not an easy thing to act out too! hehehe..
The goons come in and nab the colonel while Amanda is in her laundry cleaning his coat.. but Amanda just catches a glimpse of them.
Kj has the best facial expressions!!
She runs out the front of her house and weeell looky here.. Lee just happens to pull up as Amanda sees them drive off.. ( I hope Amanda turned off the oven before she left!!) 
This car chase is a bit of a yawn.. I don’t watch the cars.. I watch the scenery around the cars – it’s much more interesting and magical- why? because we have leaves! 
no leaves! leaves! changing colour leaves! leaves! No 
leaves!!! it constantly changes in all the shots! they must have filmed this over a long period of time.. Oh and did you find the magic RV they drive past twice???!!!
Of course.. for some reason the corvette suddenly hits some garbage.. but luckily it’s the smk kind- garbage bags full of paper or something! ..oops looks like the vette has another dent!!
The script has an interesting additional couple of lines/differences to the kitchen scene between Amanda and the col. In response to The Col saying Lee is convinced his way is better, Amanda responds to him in the script saying: No, just different. You see Sir, Lee is very good at what he does. The Best. And I think he’d really like you to respect him.
The Col responds: I do.
Amanda: But I don’t think he knows that. You see, you have a… uh.. you have a very strong… presence. Which is good. But Lee is your nephew, not one of your men…… Am I making any sense?
The oven timer rings.. and the col has no chance to answer
– what do you think? Are you glad they left it out?
I’m in two minds.. though I do think the indirect way is more in keeping with Amanda’s character…and maybe what the Colonel could cope with…. What do you all think?
Also- is it just me or is this conversation less of a conversation you have with your nephew’s girlfriend?? Now the uncle knows more about Amanda’s family situation.. there is no reference to Amanda being Lee’s girlfriend.. it’s a little confusing!
And why didn’t Lee drop the Colonel at Amanda’s like he said he would? who knows.. Mental Gymnastics anyone? oh well!
well I shall leave it there for now.. can’t wait to hear what you think! byeee!
"Just walk with me.." 
#2019 rewatch
Iwsod wrote: It’s a lovely contrast showing what Amanda gives to Lee that he hasn’t gotten from his uncle.. that wonderful acceptance!
I think one of the things Lee gets from Amanda is also that her compliments to him are always based on his capabilities and his values, and never about his physical attributes except for that comment about his beautiful eyes which she said to Magda because Amanda can also do the behind-the-back compliments! To his face she tells him he’s the best agent, that he’s honourable, he’s patriotic, so it is no wonder she defends him in much the same way to his uncle even as she realizes how he got that way.
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#2019rewatch
Iwsod wrote: I love how the pic has given Amanda blushing happy cheeks! I wonder who really drew it?!
Now I’m really curious about this. Did they have random artists draw this? Was it artwork from someone’s actual home refrigerator? Did the child actors spend some down time making realistic artwork for the house? Such a random question that has captured my thoughts! 😂
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#2019rewatch
Your theory now has me visualizing Dotty keeping the boys busy in-between takes.
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#2019rewatch
Hearing Colonel Clayton refer to Lee standing alone against a few boys giving Alice a hard time, makes me wonder. Was Lee’s act of bravery the catalyst for Alice to become his girlfriend? Or was Alice already Lee’s girlfriend and those boys were mighty upset that she turned them down in favor of the very handsome Lee Stetson?
Inquiring minds want to know when did Lee and Alice breakup and why?
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Since his uncle was also proud of him for not crying after the fight and he refers to Lee as a tough kid and Alice as little, I have always assumed Lee and Alice were both very small children at the time so not really boyfriend/girlfriend material.
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#2019rewatch
I guess I have a different perspective, Janet. From time spent with my many nieces and nephews, I don’t consider 7-year olds (a second grader in US schools) to be “very small children.” Since Lee was 7 years old when he came to live with his uncle, he was that age or older when this incident occurred and his uncle called him “a tough kid.” Every family is different yet my parents, aunts and uncles referred to their offspring as “kids” into our 20’s.
Lee’s uncle called Alice “a little girlfriend.” The word “little” can be an endearment (Alice was a sweet girl) as well as a reference to size or age. Alice could be age 12 and she’s little compared to an adult male. They must have been close in age; probably ten or so for his uncle to give them girlfriend-boyfriend status. Otherwise, Lee was simply rescuing “a damsel in distress” then parted ways. I assumed the reason his uncle shared this story with Amanda was because ALICE WAS LEE’s FIRST GIRLFRIEND!
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About Lee & his uncle-you’re right about the age discrepancies when Lee first went to live with his uncle-very conflicting answers-thanks scriptwriters of SMK for the plotholes as someone stated in another episode blog! On a side note, did anyone notice the SMK credits in the beginning of the series?! They show a clip of the house, with 3 dormers,not 2,& yet, during the whole series,they only have 2! Just a little something to keep you on your toes!
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haaa! thanks Cindy!
Hiya Molly! very true! I am no expert on the house.. but I was thinking the one in the credits is from the pilot episode.. only seen in the first episode.. [it doesn’t even have a white fence out front] then we see another house.. until mid season 2.. around A Class Act I think it was.. we start to see the house is next to a different house with a brick wall down the driveway.. it’s all very confusing and my brain does not compute these things very well!! are you cluey with these sorts of house set ups?? it would be wonderful to figure out where and how things change.. Then again, I will be reordering season 2 so that will maybe influence things too. but yes! Good point about the house Molly!
there are fans in smk fandom who have visited the actual house – anyone?? which house was it?? the first?? the second?? the third?? do tell!!
We can fill the plotholes with our imagination Molly.. that way they become potholes!! LOL!!! 😉
byeee!!
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Great catch about that creepy eagle. I wonder what was being filmed there. I love this scene between the Colonel and Amanda and don’t mind they altered the script. The actor (Arlen Snyder) has such a wonderful chemistry with KJ and BB. Really believable.
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It does seem sweet to see the Col. Helping in the kitchen and looking proficient at it too! Amanda is a very tactful lady.
In scenes like these I just assume we are just joining a conversation that’s in progress 🙂 It does seem confusing because later when they are tied up the Col. Seems surprised when Lee says that Amanda will come looking for him.
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Lee’s parents died when he was 5 yes? But he didn’t go to the colonel til he was 7 years? What the heck happened for 2 years?!! SMK if you’re gonna write back story at least stick to it LOL
My gut feeling is the colonel instigates the competition between him and Lee and Lee is just reacting. After all the colonel is used to being in charge and I kinda get the impression he’s a bit threatened about being usurped.
I personally wish they had left in that dialogue, the colonel seems a bit well dense when it comes to stuff like this and it would have been nice for Amanda to spell it out for him. I also feel Amanda is someone who tends to speak her mind and given the comfortable nature between them in the kitchen I feel she would have felt relaxed enough to point this out, Just my opinion at any rate 🙂
I’ve never noticed the magic leaves LOL I shall pay more attention to the scenery in future.
SMK garbage very funny!
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That’s probably why in some fanfics the writers have Lee living with his grandma (who dies) and then goes to live with his uncle. I was wondering where they got that…great catch Jenbo 🙂
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LOL yep.. smk garbage is probably accurate Julia!
It was a ridiculous mistake for them to make..
In acm kid Lee says: Oh? I lost my parents when I was four and got raised in a hundred different army bases by an uncle that didn’t even like me
Also note that in this ep the col says to Amanda: : Awh, it wasn’t the same thing…
you should have seen Lee when he first came to me… Seven years old and the first thing out of his mouth was ‘Nooo!’ haaa..
how about this jenbo..
From what the colonel and Lee says.. I could suggest that Lee’s parents died when he was four, nearly five- Lee turned five between his parents dying, and organising for him to go live permanently with his uncle..Soooo Lee was sent to live with his uncle when he was five- no wait.. Lee says his parents died when he was five.. (Lee says this in The eyes have it- and I checked the script, it’s not a BB boo boo.. it’s in the script!!)-this could account for his confusion maybe?? LOL!!!
Then.. for the next two years Lee was Mute!!! He didn’t say a word!!! Yep, it wasn’t until sometime after his 7th birthday that Lee finally uttered his first words to his uncle and they were: ‘No!’ 🙂 Ohhh dear!!! 😉 haaaaa. it’s a stretch and ridiculous I know.. but a little mental gymnastics is fun!! 🙂
I am guessing from that moment on the colonel wished Lee had stayed mute! 😉
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Or the colonel really sucks at math and didn’t realize little Lee was only 5 not 7. Maybe that is why he had such high expectations of him. I think I like your ‘mute for 2 years’ theory better.
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I found a poem that describes friendship and I think it is what Amanda is for Lee (and maybe even the Colonel here), describes the acceptance we are talking about.
Friendship
…the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts,
nor measure words-
but pouring them all right out-
just as they are-
chaff and grain together-
certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them-
keep what is worth keeping-
and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.
-Dina Maria Mulock Graik
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I notice the board over the door often, BJo, and always wonder what that is about. To hide and eagle? I wonder why?
I like the way they filmed the conversation as opposed to the script. It is a more indirect conversation, yes, in keeping with the characters at this point in the story, and with the fact that Amanda has just met the Colonel, she may have been more direct if the relationships had been older.
I think Acceptance is so very important. There is something freeing about realizing that another person’s actions are not a direct reflection on you, especially for a parent/child relationship. My children are their own person, created with their own unique personality and “calling” if you will. Very different from my own and to recognize that and encourage them in that is a very important aspect of raising them. They are not extensions of myself. Lee is not an extension of Colonel Clayton and vice versa. And I think to a degree Amanda and Lee grow in that same understanding with each other. And once we recognize our separateness we are free to truly love and be loved, and accept one another as the gift that we are to each other instead of looking for what we can get from the other. Maybe Lee and his uncle are looking for affirmation from one another and they are so needy of that they are not free to give it to one another, and so they are in this state of needing and unable to give. Amanda kind of unlocks that for them in this conversation with the Uncle and maybe her next one with Lee. And she does this gently by entering into their relationship in a respectful and caring way because of her genuine love for Lee and things connected to him.
I think the conversation with the Colonel was so genuine it didn’t matter if she was playing the role of girlfriend or not. She cares for Lee and appreciates him, she isn’t trying to get anything from him and I think his Uncle can sense that. I also don’t think there have been many other people that the Colonel has come into contact with that share those close feeling for Lee. I think he enjoys being able to talk like this. There is nothing “girlfriend” on “non-girlfriend” about the visit. It is just two people who love someone talking about that person. And it is genuine.
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Lovely, Morley. Just lovely!
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I like your insight here!
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Wonderfully discerning thoughts Morley! I love the poem too; Grazie!
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Great catch on the leaves, iwsod! I never noticed that before! That is weird that they would film it that way. Guess TV really is magic. Speaking of weird things going on…I noticed something different about Amanda’s house in this episode. Here’s a picture:
Anyone else notice this? I know they use more than one house for Amanda’s, but I’ve never seen the eagle over the door before. Next time I watch the eps before and after this I’ll have to see if it’s there. I just saw in the first picture of this post that there is a white board over the door! Maybe it’s there to cover up the eagle? Maybe when they went back to film the no-leave scenes they forgot to cover it up! I know I’ve seen the white board over her door before.
I really like this scene too. I think it really shows that the colonel does love Lee very much but he just has no idea how to show it or to say it. Again – normal in my experience. The no crying thing for a little boy is also pretty ‘normal’ to me too. Guess it’s just old-fashioned? I think it breaks Amanda’s heart for Lee a little bit to hear him say that, but I would expect nothing else from the colonel. Amanda is not raising her boys that way though is she?
I agree with the colonel – raising children is not fun! And mine aren’t even teenagers yet! Morely, how do you do it???
But it is a competition, iwsod! With these two men it is always a competition! It’s their nature, I think. Again, perhaps I can relate a little too well to this way of relating to other family members. I’m not sure where I stand on the altered script. I think I would have liked it to be included – at least the part about Lee being the best at what he does. I think the colonel has no idea (not sure if he’s cleared to know) but he would really beam with pride if he did and perhaps gain some respect for the ‘suits’. I think what we saw was in keeping with Amanda’s character for S2.
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Whoa!!! Bjo what a catch!!! that Eagle is seriously freaky!! It’s like someone put a hex on Amanda’s home or something.. gee the exterior shot didn’t have that. maybe the bad guys put a hex on the house before they nabbed the col. ? 😉 tee heee..
I did a quick search of my pics collection and I found these scenes out the front:
A Class Act:
Car Wars:
And Odds on a Dead Pigeon:
And this one in Spiderweb is from Lee and Francine staking out the house.. but could be stock footage from anytime.. but shows the difference..
They must have been filming something else at that house..too cool! it would be fun to find out what it is!!! Does it look kinda WW II like??? Does anyone know how we could find that out?
I’ve loved all your comments everyone.. Morley the poem brought tears to my eyes! 😦 Very relevant to me right now!!!
I’ll be back today or tomorrow to reply properly to all your comments!!
byeee for now!
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Oh my gosh! What the heck is up with that house? I never noticed that big white thing over the door either. It does make me wonder if you’re right about them filming something else there but I have no idea how to go about finding out. Weird!
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About the script, I am glad, they left it out, I mean it sounds like writen by someone who did not really get it, that there are families where a lot of things are not said or done ever.
SMK garbage, I will think of this, when I next time struggle with my bin 🙂
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