On to a new episode!! Before I get into it, just thought I’d point out the last episode we covered was episode 17- Odds on a Dead Pigeon. Next in the original airing order was Car wars.. and then this episode.. Looking at 
the airing dates, episode 17 and episode 19 were three weeks apart.. and I can see why they needed to put an episode between OOADP and this ep.. [but Amanda with long hair??!! Ohhh I get it: with everyone confused over the short hair long hair short hair- everyone was: delirious on arrival at this episode!!! 
] oh well we got what we got!
I’m excited to hear your thoughts on this episode everyone! The first time I saw it: I loathed it! I was so embarrassed for Amanda.. the last time saw it- I loved it!!! what changed?? and.. LOL what am I going to think of it this time? I guess we’ll see!! I’d love to hear your experiences of this episode too!
The episode opens with a night view of Washington DC love those shots of the sights..
Lee pulls up to meet someone in the dead of night..alone..(oopsie.. maybe I shouldn’t say it’s dead then!)
It always bugs me how Lee does this stuff alone! so ridiculous!!! He leaves his car, activates the alarm and wanders off..
ROFL. here’s a pic for all you who adore Lee’s hands! These hands seem to press plenty of buttons
Lee heads down into some kind of entrance.. even though the closed sign is up.. Ah this 
episode is directed by Winrich Kolbe- who directed Saved by the bells no?? A hilarious episode!!!
A mysterious man with a handy little black box in his hand magically opens Lee’s car door – he crouches down and looks to me to get out his manicure set..
la la laaaa.. may as well do your nails while your waiting for Lee…
Lee will take you more seriously if your lookin good.. Lee is now calling out in a parking station for someone.. someone who asked him to meet him there..
Oh Lee.. you are lookin mighty fine! ahem… errr the mystery guy puts away his scissor thingys, gets out of Lee’s car and hides just in time for Lee to come back. Uh oh.. what has he done to the vette? by using the little black box, the mystery guy remotely sets off Lee’s car alarm and like a good little boy Lee comes running back to his car.
I love how after Lee checks the car underneath for bombs he gives his baby a little pat pat absent mindedly.. rofl!
(You don’t love a car Lee?? cha right!) He finally gets in [LOL is it just me or does the music sound a bit like the jaws theme??!!] and finds a cassette tape message in the stereo for him..
lol.. this sounds like a snooty smk baddie! I bet he drinks tea! : Good evening Mr Stetson! It’s been a long time since our last encounter. I hope you and your agency don’t hold grudges because I am looking forward to doing business with you again. Soon. I’ll be giving you the details later. I’ll be in touch.
The scene ends there..
Wait a minute… so that’s all this was about??!! my goodness- how elaborate for someone to just say that! rofl… why not just leave him the tape under the windscreen wiper? funny..Or give a note to a blind homeless guy I guess he wanted to mess with Lee’s head eh! And breaking into his precious car would definitely do that! And what was with the ‘tools’ that he brought with him?? what did he do with those? did he need them to put the cassette in?? Hmm maybe there is something he did to the car we don’t know about yet..
On to the agency the next day… and Francine comes across Lee in the hallway, preoccupied and holding a cassette tape.. Francine: well, what have we here? A new year’s resolution to be here on time?
[eh? does Lee have a reputation for being late? this is news to me.. I didn’t know he had regular hours! oh and does this mean it’s January in smk universe? ] …Or are you still up late from last night?
Lee doesn’t want to play: save it huh. You won’t feel like joking after you’ve heard this.
rofl.. he kind of walked into this one.. Francine: ah let me guess, it’s the latest Bobby leaves for Hollywood ha ha!
[ rofl.. must be alluding to Frankie goes to Hollywood! is Francine telling Lee to ‘relax’? that song was 1984… Francine thinks she is hilarious.. meanwhile- I like her sweater!]
Lee lets out a grunt.. of sorts..
Francine: or maybe it’s an audio recording of last night’s soiree with err what’s her 
name that little girl you’re seeing now- 
……Randyyyyy.
Lee is sooo unimpressed! He snatches the tape off her and walks off. Lee: Ohh Francine.
I’ve got to say- that is actually a pretty gross suggestion of Francine’s… and rather racy for a PG rated show!!!! anyone else surprised at this joke of Francine’s? err I mean attempted joke! 😉
So, Francine teases Lee about his latest girlfriend Randy eh! – didn’t they break up a few episodes ago?? Hmm what to think of this huh??!! – I know Morley you were thinking this is maybe an indicator that the episode comes earlier- and someone agreed?? anyone?? thoughts anyone?
I did enjoy the use of ‘little girl’ haaaaa.. I think it’s a good reminder of Lee’s dating history.. and the ‘girls’ he dates.. or is that.. use to date?? Hmmm!!
I’m thinking it could also just mean- Francine doesn’t know everything that goes on in Lee’s life and if Lee is starting to change his ways and not chase ‘Nordic types’ he isn’t going to want Francine to know that is he?!
Francine follows behind him as he heads towards Billy’s office: my my my this must be 
serious.
Lee: Try Hans Retzig [Whoo Lee knew it was him just from his voice! The guy never said who he was on the tape]
Francine: oh. this is serious.
They arrive at chirpy Billy’s office door.. with Billy in a great mood!
Billy: good morning people.
Francine: not anymore it isn’t.
Lee wordlessly enters the office.. followed by 
Francine and suddenly not so happy Billy!
So.. hey this Retzig is bad news, did you notice that?! tee hee.. they are hammering that home loud and clear! Billy looks so cute with his big smile.. Francine goes and wipes if off in a flash!
The scene ends there.. and it’s on to Amanda’s!! but.. before we get there I should finish up. I’ll be back with more soon! Of course, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this if you’d like to share byeee for now!
"Just walk with me.." 
My two favorite scenes in this epidode are: (Spoiler Alert)
1. Amanda comes in the house and goes straight upstairs for the blow dryer. She asks her mother, “Why don’t we keep this thing loaded”? As she puts in the AA batteries (I personally have never seen a battery operated blow dryer, but it sure made this scene funny)….Dotty says, “Loaded”? She was so confused with Amanda’s question… Then she calls Billy at the agency and all during the conversation she is calling him Melrose and acting like John Wayne….I laugh hysterically when I watch it.
2. When she points the blow dryer at Retzig and calls him “Dog Meat” as she’s blowing flour in his face…rotfl
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Francine is looking very professional in her sweater dress with the silver medallion earrings and matchy-matchy hairclip. Haha!
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I love how over the top happy Billy is as he says good morning. It really sets Francine’s retort up nicely. And MS is really great playing that mood — I’m picturing a scene from Over the Limit that, like this one, always gets me giggling just because of MS’s delivery.
I think not only does Lee “love” his car, but he also appreciates it for all that it has taken him through. Lee loves loyalty, and his car is his true-blue friend.
I definitely remember how I felt about this episode initially — Cringeworthy with a capital C! Almost skippable, were it not for sweet and redeeming L&A moments. But I’ve found that now that I know what’s coming, I can appreciate the moments for the great acting and the crazy humor. This is another “let your hair down” type of SMK episode (gee, I wish they had more of these in later seasons!), similar to Fearless Dotty and Car Wars and Three Faces of Emily … an episode where the actors can cut loose and just have a rowdy good time with it. Well, BB has to play it straight, but KJ gets to have a blast. I like to think they both giggled their way through her performance.
This episode actually reminds me a bit of Remembrance of Things Past, another episode that I didn’t like when I first watched it. ROTP seemed dark and sinister and just plain weird. I didn’t like the cringy feeling I had all the way through it. But again now knowing what is coming has let me appreciate the quirky humor (and there is also some delightful satire in ROTP btw) and the over the top scenarios, just as we see in DOA.
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whoo hoooo!! Hiya Raffie!
Oh really? you didn’t like ROTP straight away? Thanks Raffie I can definitely relate with what you said – knowing what’s coming makes a huge difference.. I think something else made this much better for me to watch too – but.. I’’ll hold off for now in sharing what that is!!! well.. actually it’s two things! err if I forget to say: can someone remind me?? I’m a bit scatterbrained at the moment! [must be all those chicken sandwiches I am eating in the hopes of hallucinating about kissing Lee.. yes that must be it.. ]
A let down your hair episode? Raffie very true!!! I agree that is how Car Wars has to be watched.. or it just doesn’t make any sense! But at least with this episode the plot makes sense.. or at least it does more or less so far! Smile
raffie did you share your thoughts on OOADP? if Not.. no pressure or anything but I would LOVE to hear your take on that episode!!! I love how you get to the heart of Lee and Amanda – and there’s some good stuff in that episode!
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I reckon that’s a hand model that’s been used for the close up. You know how these celebs have body doubles in their contracts, BB does some of his own stunts but not the close up hand work LOL
I love how he pats his car. Can’t love a car? Beg to differ 😉 I have been seriously attached to one in my time 😀
Or some reason this banter from Francine really narks me. It’s not funny just plain annoying. I do love happy Billy though 😉
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Oh, I don’t know about that Jenbo! Maybe for some of the stuff there is a hand model, but I’ve seen some pretty good shots of his hands while they are definitely attached to his body…they are very nice. And if it is hand model for BB, well I just don’t want to know and want to continue to live on with my rose-colored glasses…:)
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I actually don’t dislike Francine as much as some do, but they way she is always making little comments about Lee’s love life is very unprofessional. Friends or not, and you can tell he doesn’t appreciate it. I remember her doing it in Utopia Now as well and he doesn’t appreciate it at that point either. Sometimes I get the feeling she is just trying to reassure herself that Lee is still a player and that his interests haven’t shifted to Amanda because Francine is kind of jealous and while she can handle Lee being in a string of meaningless reletionships she can’t handle him actually caring about someone that isn’t her. Maybe that is why Francine is bringing up someone Lee stopped seeing a month ago. It’s the last one Francine knew about and she wants to know Lee is still with a superfical bimbo like that. I guess it’s possible Lee sweet talked Randi back into his bed, he can be quite charming, but I think it’s more likely he just never told Francine he wasn’t seeing Randi anymore. I don’t think there is anyway Lee would have revealed to anyone that a woman walked out on him because he was always with Amanda.
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I like Francine too (she’s a good “frien-emy”). I like your explanation here Misty, I was just going to say that Francine is just a bit immature.
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This has always been one of my favorite eps. KJ is so hilarious here, and she shines at this stuff.
Lee never seems to take back up when he needs it. (No wonder Amanda never stays in the car.) Yes, he thinks he is big and bad, and I do enjoy the patting of the car.
Francine is really snarky here, and her “joke’ is in poor taste. I think Lee is sharing less and less with her while sharing more and more with Amanda. Amanda really cares and listens to Lee, while Francine cares but would rather have a little gossip to share.
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Hiya!!!
Valerie beloved car is so accurate! Oh I hear ya!!! Intense Lee = super studly (or is that studlee?!) !
Yeah! go figure.. I’m liking that look on Francine too.. even with the weird bouffant.. it works..
hooray.. Lee shutting down Francine more and more? music to my ears!
Haa.. Billy and his dashed hopes.. good one!
Maybe your initial thoughts will come back to you as we watch Valerie. I dont have specific memories either but do remember overall I was cringing through my first viewing.. I felt soooo embarrassed for Amanda! I think I still love this episode.. so it wasn’t a one off change for me.. and I think I know why too! I’ll get back to that! Big transitions Valerie? Oh yeaaa!! I agree!!!
Hi Melissa R! Lovely to hear from you – and vicariously from your husband 😉 I guess at least Lee didn’t give the car a kiss!
Hey Jule and KC! tee heee glad you enjoyed the close up on the hands! I knew a few fans found them particularly fascinating 😉 I knew those hands were pressing more buttons than that car alarm! 😉
Jule, your position on this episode is coming in loud and clear! 🙂 I’m really looking forward to enjoying this episode with you! You’re right. KJ is a comic genius- why didn’t she do more??
KC that is how I felt the first time I watched this episode.. and now it’s all just funny! goofiness is a great way to describe it. yeah what was with that break-in kit??!!! totally random!
Yes Lee and his car= transference!!
I hadn’t noticed just what Francine was saying with that racy comment at first.. I was surprised by it!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts BJo – hopefully the enjoyment us who love this episode get out of it will spread a bit your way!
Tee hee glad you enjoyed the manicure set 🙂
I think you could use the comment to justify either episode order.. hmm we’ll see! 🙂
Hey Cindy! Oh really? your daughter loves this episode? awh!! it must be wonderful to share your love of smk with your kids!
Morley I was hoping you’d return in time for DOA – it’s got so many Freudian moments _ I am busting to explore them and I know this is something you enjoy too! 🙂 haaaa I am guessing that is what you mean by looking forward to ‘Amanda’s hallucinations’! Yeah! KJ must have had so much fun.. it would have been really hard for the other actors to keep a straight face – ha! we’ll have to keep an eye out and see if anyone can be busted stifling their giggles 😉
Debilyn so true.. amazing Lee manages to stay alive- and good call-= no wonder Amanda doesn’t stay in the car! haaa! Lee sharing less and less with Francine is music to my ears! yeah. Francine enjoys the sordid details of lives.. whereas Amanda doesn’t thrive on that..and just wants to get on with living her own life and contributing.. Amanda’s not a gossiper.. would you say? she very much keeps her own counsel.
Okay bye guys!!
[BTW- I write these replies in one hit so that everytime I reply to someone I don’t show up on the sidebar – if I replied to everyone individually, you would just see comments from me on the sidebar and everyone else’s comments wouldn’t show!]
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The way Lee pats his car always makes me think of how caring he is. I know it is a car and you don’t love a car, but he sure is attached to it. But he pats other things he is attached to, like Amanda.
I do wish this episode could be placed right after ALSALS. I guess I think that if Francine is mentioning Randy then Lee must have dropped her name recently because a whole month went by. Did Lee keep the same woman in his life for that long. I guess I comfort myself with the idea that Randy’s was the last name Francine heard Lee mention, even though it must have been a month ago. Lee’s response to Francine is a comfort to me, he seems completely annoyed and reformed, he is thinking about grown up serious things, he has no time or interest in silly women anymore. Good Lee.
I am looking forward to our discussions about Amanda’s hallucinations. And I do love the slapstick. KJ must have had a blast with the acting both in this one and OOADP. Quite a range of characters nuance for her in those two.
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“He pats other things he’s attached to, like Amanda.” So true and lovely Morley! I was just rewatching this episode and remembered how in those days, (yep I am that old!) a truck would go by my apartment carport and set off all of the car alarms just by rumbling through. Used to make everyone crazy because it always happened at 4 or 5 in the morning on a workday. The early car alarms were set off if a cat jumped on your car or someone leaned against it. Poor Lee, he must feel violated when Retzig messes with his precious Corvette! (Nope, not gonna go the LOTR route;))
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I loved the episode when it first aired and it held up well when I got the DVDs. It is one of my daughter’s favourites as well and I sill laugh out loud at several lines that are coming up. KJ was brilliant — she must have had a blast doing this episode.
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I don’t remember my thoughts on this episode the first time I saw it. But when I watch it now, it is not one of my favorites. There are a few laughs, a few excellent “Lee caring” moments, but other than that it’s not one of my faves. Not even with the L&A lip action.
Jule – I’m with you! Love, love love the hands!!! I wonder if BB ever did any hand modeling. Hmmm, maybe I should add a Hands category to my stats posts?? Sort of fits right in with Dimples, Lee in Plaid and Tuxes, don’t ya think?
Manicure set? ROFL, iwsod!! He’ll never have hands and nails as good looking as Lee’s though! And the music does sound a bit like Jaws!
KC – I am liking Lee’s tie here! There’s something about that diagonal stripe that I like. I think this is the first time I’ve ever really noticed his ties…I’m now in training to notice because of your Tie Patrol! LOL. Oh, there’s another diagonal stripey one – in blue, my favorite color! But I like the first one much more.
I never gave much thought to Francine’s comment being racy…but I did notice that she thinks like Amanda here!!! Do you think she knows that both she and Amanda share the same opinion of the women Lee dates – kid/little girl???? Hahahaha! As far as it being a clue to episode order, I’m not sure. I always thought Lee’s response of, “Oh, Francine” combined with his completely disinterested look at her just meant that she had no idea of what was going on in Lee’s personal life and he could care less if she did or didn’t. Of course if you wanted to put this episode before ALSALS, then you could use it to justify that order.
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Ha ha, Jule! Ditto! (The hands[!]–though this wasn’t a great hands-shot, and that KJ is a riot and BB is sweet.)
There are some episodes where I literally cringe and sometimes even have to fast-forward ‘cos they’ve made Amanda’s character say or do something so alien/stupid/whatever… but in this episode, it’s just funny… and Amanda gets to show off some serious skills (evasion, etc) even though done in her Amanda way… and everyone knows she’s drugged so the goofiness is OK. 🙂
This episode ranks up there on the funny rating for me with SBTB and TCAM…
I love the hand-written “CLOSED” sign, and the hand-written number over the door. Yes, the music is reminiscent of Jaws! Tee hee hee… the car-burglar has a tape measure in his break-in kit. WTF?!?!?
All I could think about with the tape was expecting to hear that it would self-destruct in five seconds. :p Oh, and if Lee drove Kit (a la Knight Rider), it wouldn’t have been an issue… the baddie couldn’t have gotten in! Do you think that, even for a minute, when Lee turned on the ignition and the voice started he thought he was on “Pimp My Ride” and someone had “Kit-ed” his car? 😀
BTW–I love his pat of the Corvette… he does seem to love his car… Hmmm… he allows himself to love inanimate objects–which might still get “killed”, like his Porsche did–but not people… interesting, huh? (OK–maybe love is a bit too strong a word.)
Yeah–Francine’s comment was… racy… and, well, typical Francine. Snide and oversexed? Don’t know that oversexed is quite the word, but you know what I mean…
Awwwwww… poor Billy! The kids are screwing up his day again…
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OMG! the hands the hands the hands the hands the hands hands hands…..
*swoon thud* *swoon thud* *swoon thud* (ouch!)
Hey, did I hear someone say I am obsessed with Lee’s hand?!!? Who, me?!?!?
Okay, and to make my position clear, I always thought this was one of the best and funniest episodes of SMK. Ever. KJ is a comic genius here and BB, just is lovely with Amanda! Just my little ol’ opinion…..
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My husband and I thought that the opening scene was ridiculous too!! Lee patting the car…LOL 🙂
Francine, yeah what can you say about her…she’s inappropriate a lot of times!
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I thought the same thing about Lee wandering around some deserted area late at night without any backup. What kind of meet was this supposed to be I wondered. I love how he raced back to his beloved car when he heard the alarm. I also thought the little pat to his “baby” was funny. He does love his cars.
I always love it when he looks intense…that’s when I think he is smokin’!! Also love his hands. Francine looks pretty decent in this scene. Although I have never been a fan of big earrings. I do like the hair and the sweater. Francine’s jokes tend to be a little random and abstract so I wasn’t sure about the New Years’ resolution comment, but do think she was referring to Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I wonder why they couldn’t just say that, maybe a licensing issue? Lee is just so serious and he is less and less accepting of Francine’s snarky attitude. He is shutting her down more and more.
I think the comment about Randy was a little risque’. Maybe it was a leftover joke from ALSALS. I also think that with Lee becoming more focused on Amanda and less accepting of Francine’s attitude is showing that he shares less and less with her so maybe she just doesn’t know that Randy is history. Francine was a little out of the loop in OOADP when she didn’t know about Redding. Lee talked more about it to Amanda, or to whom he thought was Amanda.
I love how Billy’s hopes keep getting dashed in these last couple of episodes. He’s so happy on his way to get his coffee and then his day gets changed. I would have gotten the coffee anyway, It sounds as if he’s going to need it.
I’m not sure if I remember what I thought about this episode when I first saw it, but I do know that in seeing it again there are several aspects about it that I like. Several of these end of the season episodes show some big transitions and changes that sort of get one excited for the next season. But I will wait until the end of the episode to say why I liked it.
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