Yeee haaaa.. hold on to something!!! It’s time for Travis!!!! 
Amanda is sitting in the semi-trailer pulling dirt out of 
her pockets as she addresses the driver – LOL! She just dumps it on the floor of the cab!
Amanda: My name is, uh, Amanda King, and I gotta get to a phone. I have a friend who’s in trouble.
Trucker: Wayne. Travis Wayne. Nice to meet you, Mrs King.
[Interesting.. he is assuming she’s a Mrs. LOL Travis is so normal here.. he’s lulling Amanda into a false sense of security! ]
Amanda: Thank you, Travis. I’ve got to get to a phone. I’ve got a friend who’s in some real bad trouble.
Travis: Phone? I’ve been up and down these roads since the flood, sugar. There ain’t no phones til we get to the city.
Amanda sighs very audibly- and Travis can see sugar ain’t happy..
Travis: Now listen, don’t fret. If your buddy’s in real trouble, we can try to reach old Smokey on the CB.
[I love how Travis calls Amanda’s friend ‘buddy’ I don’t know why but it sounds funny to me! I don’t picture Lee as a ‘buddy’! ]
Amanda: Smokey? You mean the police. Look, can you get the CIA or the FBI on this thing?
[Ah!!! Okay.. sooo Lee is in trouble and Amanda wants the CIA or the FBI? Umm.. so what exactly is Lee? I guess Amanda couldn’t say: can you get the Agency on this thing?! Maybe Lee is with the CIAFBI! or is that the FBICIA?! Anyone?? ]
Travis: ha.. FBI? Your buddy must be in some kind of serious trouble.
Amanda: It could be a matter of national security.
National security Amanda? hmm it isn’t really.. but that will do.. maybe indirectly it is.. Those two words seem to activate something in Travis! LOL!!! It’s like he’s been trained by Lester the duck ‘National Security’ turns Travis into a raging maniac with a passion for classical music and dramatics! Also love how Amanda says ‘could be’ so Amanda! She’s not exactly lying..
Travis: Na- National security?
Amanda: That’s right.
Travis: You mean some pinko subversive has got their hands on your buddy?… 
LOL Travis’ Mania is beginning to rise!!!
… And they’re trying to undermine our country?
Amanda: That’s not quite it!! but it’s real close!!
Travis: The hell with the police.
(Travis puts the CB radio away..)
…We’re going to kick some butt and take some names.
Love the look on Amanda’s face- what have I done?? what have I unleashed?? argh!!! 
…Where’s all this going down?
Oh my gosh.. Travis’ dialogue is one big cliché and it is hilarious!!
Amanda turns to face straight ahead as she responds to Travis – like she can’t look at him.. she’s biting the bullet and telling Travis where to go- because she has no choice.. it’s this crazed patriot or nothing!!
Grab on to something Amanda!! The beast has been unleashed!
Amanda blurts quickly: I heard something about a reservoir on Mill Creek!!
Travis: Mill Creek? The only thing I know out that way’s old cider mill, and I’ve been up and down these roads since the flood…
…Fasten your seatbelt, little honey. Travis is fixin’ to take you for a ride…
KJ’s face here is toooooo funny!!!! Ohhh how did they film this and keep a straight face??!!! LOL.. actually I don’t think they did! 
Amanda desperately searches for that seatbelt she is suppose to tighten but she finds she doesn’t have one! eek!!
…We need some fightin music! haa haa haaaa haaaa!!!!
Travis switches on the music and laughs crazily!!
Thanks to Karen Rudolph [hiya Karen] I now know this classical piece is called ‘The Ride of the Valkyries”
Amanda in response cries: I can’t find my seatbelt! 
Such an Amanda thing to say!!!! I LOVE it!!!
Soooo funny!!!!! Actually when you slow this down, it looks to me like Amanda is only half terrified.. the other half is KJ just trying not to laugh!
Travis: Just grab on to anything!!!!
[I love how Travis’s voice has completely changed from the mild mannered trucker who said ‘nice to meet you Mrs King’! ]
Amanda: Ooohhh nooooo!
The Semi’s horn blasts as it zooms down the road toward Mill Creek Reservoir!
You know the last time I wrote about Travis I didn’t find him that funny – man.. what was wrong with me?? This scene with Travis and Amanda is flippin hilarious!!!! The Stereotypical patriot trucker is sooooo over the top it can’t possibly be taken seriously – it is pure farce and a brilliant way to inject some lightness and humour into what has been quite a dark episode up to this point!!!
Gooo Travis!!! I also love love love to watch KJ trying not to crack up laughing – I think Amanda’s terror here is so funny because it is such a ridiculous situation.. I can’t take it seriously, and so I’m free to just laugh away! The guy playing Travis (Ernie Lively) really goes for it and holds nothing back.. he really makes this Travis character hilarious! IMDB says he is Blake Lively’s dad.. haaa she must be soo proud hope she’s seen this episode! 
I’ll also add that Travis reminds me of something I saw on Horrible Histories: He’s a Beserker! Working himself up into a frenzy in preparation for battle..
Here is a clip of the Beserker I found on youtube..
The vid, a sports segment on ‘Viking Feuds’, explains perfectly what Beserkers did.. Is Travis a wolf or a bear?! [I guess bears are Russian- soooo he’d be a wolf! LOL!!]
Do watch the vid if you have a moment- it is funny and explains Berserkers – the special Viking warrior
[You stupid moose face! What?! ]
BTW- I did some checking- ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ is famously played in the Movie ‘Apocalypse Now’. During a helicopter strike on Vietnamese locals – they drop napalm gas and play Ride of the Valkyries over the helicopter loudspeakers!!!!
[Wagner would roll in his grave!]
Sooo SMK is doing a very non subtle spoof of Apocalypse Now here!!!
It’s been ages since I’ve seen the movie, I’ve seen the redux version. I think most people know it.. The movie is an iconic Vietnam war film – and I think this is the 
inspiration for the Travis character..
I think Travis is the smk version of Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore 
(played by Robert Duvall)
– A famous quote is coming up in the next post from Travis.
I do find it interesting that the main character in Apocalypse now is a soldier sent on a mission to assassinate a rogue general – this character, played by Martin Sheen and called ‘Willard’ is basically a Burn Out – he has 
PTSD. He’s very mixed up and burned out by the demands of his job – Think there is a message in that?? That they allude to the famous movie Apocalypse now?? Which is all about the cost of doing battle? The Horror.. the horror.. The human price? I find this interesting- and for me it underlines the message of the episode that if Lee isn’t careful he’s going to end up like Willard..who is ‘hollow at the core’- a theme of the film [Like Lee, he is a killer and the job demanded he become a killer].. A very powerful and dark film. This episode sent Lee to a very dark place also.
Anyone seen Apocalypse Now? Anyone see parallels between the film and this episode? Besides the hilarious spoof? [BTW- smk refers to this movie again with the episode ‘Utopia Now’ –we’ll get there eventually!] Sorry to digress, but I find this fascinating!
We cut to the armoured vehicle arriving at the Mill – hurry sugar! It’s nearly time for Lee to ‘meet his predecessors’
Quickly, back to Amanda and Beserker Travis..
Amanda yells over the music: Don’t you think we should notify the authorities first?
Travis: We’ll let them do the moppin up…
Whooo Travis comes from the same school of thought as Lee.. he likes to let his occasional back up (his boss Billy) do the mopping up too!
Travis holds his baseball hat out to make his point..
…Strike first, strike hard!…
… That was our motto in ‘Nam!
Amanda: Aaaaahh!
Rofl!!!! this has me in hysterics!!! Amanda’s sobs here are hysterically funny! KJ is trying soo hard not to laugh – that it just makes it all even funnier! I bet there are some brilliant outtakes of this scene somewhere!
I’ll stop here before they arrive at the reservoir for the final showdown..
Hey Readers!! My Fellow SMK Fans!!! Do share your thoughts! any questions? Insights? complaints? Anyone not find this funny?? or like me, didn’t get it at first but have grown to love it?? Or.. anyone love it and now hate it?! Do tell!!!! Okay bye for now!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets Paul Brandt’s “Convoy” stuck in my head when you see Amanda and Travis driving!
LikeLike
I’m old enough to have the original 1975 WC McCall version stuck in there ( and will now be humming it all day, thanks!) although my “neighbour” Paul did do a great cover of it!
LikeLike
LOL — It’s such a good one to have stuck. Neighbor, huh? I’m going to hazard a guess you’re from Alberta too?
LikeLike
Calgary – and Paul lives just about twenty minutes down the highway. 😉
LikeLike
Oh how cool! I’m from Alberta too, but a little further north:)
LikeLike
There were lots of posts to read and lots of great comments. This is a great comedic episode especially the part with Travis and Amanda in the semi….her facial expressions and hysterical laugh during that wild ride is classic Lucille Ball ….
I am so impressed that so many of you can remember so many specific details of the episodes when it originally aired in the 80’s. It’s funny, I remember that I loved this show, and wouldn’t miss it when it was on. I remembered that Lee was a spy with a fancy car and Amanda was a housewife turned spy…….I definitely remember the sexual tension… and of course there’s our gorgeous Bruce Boxleitner,(who wouldn’t remember that hunk) but I just can’t remember the details from the individual episodes like many of you say you did . At first it disturbed me that I couldn’t remember more specific details but have since decided that watching all the eps now is like seeing it for the first time, how exciting is that? And now I am enjoying the journey with all of you and I am loving seeing this show through so many diverse eyes and opinions…Thanks for the walk.
LikeLike
Wow so many blog posts and so little time!
I love Travis, he’s such a gentleman, a patriot and I love his enthusiasm. I don’t mind Travis as this sort of stereotype more so than a particular future stereotype which makes me cringe but I will spare you that until we get to that episode 😉
KJ makes some hilarious faces, must have been a real giggle shooting these scenes.
I have never seen Apocolypse Now. War films really aren’t my thing…..however I did already know the music 🙂
LikeLike
Yay! Travis! He is by far one of the funniest characters from all four seasons, and one of my all-time favorites. Just too funny for words. I’m one of those who found it funny from the beginning. He is definitely over-the-top, but not in a bad way.
“Apocalypse Now” was a difficult movie to watch the first time around. My hubby and I watched it together about 10 years ago. No desire to go back and watch it again. It took a long time for me to piece together what was happening. Three years ago in English class we read the novel that the movie was loosely based on – “The Heart of Darkness.” The relief I felt when we actually didn’t have to watch the movie was huge, though I understand it a bit better now. I can understand the connection you’re making IWSOD, I think. Lee had to do a lot as an agent that could have really done a number on him. (Especially when you consider his childhood.) Despite all that, and with Amanda’s help, he did occasionally manage to see the bright side and believed he was doing what he could for his country through the Agency.
Count me as another “TRON” fan. Most friends didn’t understand my fascination with the movie. They just didn’t get it at all.
LikeLike
I know the feeling. I haven’t watched that one, but I was supposed to watch Schindler’s List according to my homeschool curriculum and I knew it would be too heavy to watch. I ended up emailing my teacher and asked if The Hiding Place was okay instead, which I’d watched four years earlier. He accepted that, I kept quiet as to when I’d seen it, and thankfully that was it.
LikeLike
iwsod, I found it interesting that you equated PSTD with burn out, because Travis is obviously being played as a Vietnam vet with PSTD. I think this episode might be a pivotal one in the show, because there does seem a gradual shift to look more squarely at the reality of the personal toll the spy biz can take. Although being killed in the line of duty has always been a possibility in SMK, there are other risks, including psycological ones, danger to those you love, and the impossibility of living a normal life, and I think these all are addressed more and more directly as the show progresses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
After reading and thinking about these hints of the toll of the spy business that are being mentioned in the show and here I am beginning to think that maybe the goal of the writers was to have Lee and Amanda leave the Agency and pursue a “normal” life by the end of the series. They never got there so we will never know, but I wonder?
LikeLike
I do love Travis and the humor. I love it that TPTB knew how to mix the humor with the angst. But I am also intrigued by the comparison of the burn out theme and the “Ride of the Valkyries” with Apocalypse Now. I bet I could get some mileage out of that. Did Amanda save Lee from a life as a burned out agent? Sometime I think that was a bit of the hinted gist in The Long Christmas Eve. It makes the timing of this latest revelation of Lee’s about Amanda even more special. I know that this time burn out was just a cover, but maybe it was a little too close to the surface and the compartmentalization wall crumbling is a saving grace for Lee. Maybe that is what you have been referring to, huh? Iwsod?
LikeLike
Hi Morley! I am liking the Apocalypse Now connection too.. a very powerful movie.
Is it Amanda that saves Lee from Burn Out? hmm.. I prefer to see it as Lee avoiding Burn Out, by accepting what Amanda brings into his life – I don’t think Amanda could have done it for Lee – as the lightbulb joke goes – you have to want to change.. Lee could have sunk further into his cover, in response to his slapping Amanda. he could have wallowed in self recriminations about what he had become.. in apocalypse now it’s the ‘hollow core’ that you end up with when you’ve given up on life.. Lee doesn’t give up – he persists, he recovers, he actively seeks out Amanda and ensures he apologises. He accepts what she offers him in as open hearted way as he can at this stage – Yeah, Lee drops some of those walls, and heals a little, grows a little.. and is renewed and strengthened by all this.
Does what I say make sense? that I hesitate to say Amanda saved Lee? but.. maybe through Amanda – Lee saves himself? I think I’ve been hinting that Amanda is the KEY to Lee saving himself from Burn Out.
I actually think the opposite also.. that Lee wakes Amanda up to an extraordinary life!!
I hope my prattling on has made some kind of sense? 😉
LikeLike
It makes perfect sense. I don’t think I really meant that Amanda saves Lee. I think that is one of the beautiful things that neither of them goes about changing or saving the other on purpose, it just happens because they are present in each others lives. The change and are “saved” because the receive each other and who the other is and let themselves care and be cared for. That really is a rare and wonderful thing. I guess I was meaning Amanda’s entrance into Lee’s life and the growing relationship they embarked on at this stage in each other’s lives saved Lee from eventual burn out. And yes I do think that Lee changed Amanda’s life as well for sure! Good point.
LikeLike
Beautifully put!
LikeLike
Hi Everyone! This is not related to this post – but since it is the most current – thought I’d put this note here…
Over at Nedlindger’s there is a discussion going on about the episode order of the early season 3 episodes – I don’t want this discussion to take off here on JWWM, until we’ve covered these eps on the blog.. but I thought I’d mention the discussion is taking place – and it would be great to hear your arguments for the order.
http://nedlindgers.proboards.com/thread/57/episode-order?page=3&scrollTo=1427
I haven’t seen the episodes in a long time so only have vague recollections about the relationship progression – so I won’t be able to add anything else. But I do need to blog the episodes in some kind of order – and a few have suggested alternatives to Petra’s order. The airing order is definitely not right though – I think we are all agreed on that.
Anyway – head over to Nedlindger’s and have your say if you like.
After I’ve blogged the first five episodes of season 3. Regardless of whatever order we end up doing- I’ll stop and post about the episode order, and together we can revisit this and maybe refine our order if need be – or we can even agree to disagree on a few order ideas 🙂
Love to hear your input on this everyone! byeee for now. and see you over on Neds to discuss this further!
Iwsod
LikeLike
As you were all the so nice and welcoming when I posted a while back, I kind of think it would be only polite to try the occasional post myself so here goes: I only saw Scarecrow and mrs King once when it aired back in the 80s (no repeats, no dvr’s) and then again approx 2years ago when I got the dvds. I had only seen a few episodes of season 1, about half of season 2, most of season 3 and a few of the final season. I actually remember Burn Out from when it first aired. I can remember my father loving Travis and me being less than enthused. I should explain that my father was a sports and news man and if needed a lot of nagging to get him to watch scarecrow with us rather than switch to some boring football game.(we only had 1 tv). So I suppose that is why I remember his enjoyment of travis so well. (He also really loved Lee’s car). As for me back then, I was hoping against all apparent hope for a romance between the leads and this dramatic episode was the most shippery in a long time so I was annoyed by this heroic interloper who was ruining the tension. I wanted more high drama and romance from the leads, not anything so mundane as humour. Watching this part again, I actually found it really funny despite my strong memory of prejudice against Travis. Annd yes, I think it was a good idea to balance the humour against the angst .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Michele! LOL.. you don’t have to comment.. but feel free to it you like! It’s funny how many memories an old tv show can resurface huh! Ah! so it wasn’t just me who at first was not laughing at Travis eh.. thanks Michele! I don’t feel so weird now haaaa!
I think I was rolling my eyes at he stereotype rah rah.. but eventually I figured – the stereotype is so over the top it can’t possibly be taken seriously!
It’s true.. it does lighten the gravity of what had taken place between Lee and Amanda in this episode – Hmm let’s see if you feel the tag recalls the gravity.. 🙂
Only 1 tv.. the horror!!!! 😉
LikeLike
Oh dear, I remember when we got our first color tv and what a huge deal it was! One tv per family was the standard when I was little, back in the age of those fighting dinosaurs you see in SMKland. *really, am young at heart*
LikeLike
There with you, Jule. All my friends had a color TV before we could afford one. It was like Christmas when we were finally able to get one. When I got married in ’84, my parents still had only one TV.
LikeLike
Amanda doesn’t ask Travis to contact the agency because the agency does not exist. Though, it seems to common knowledge at least in D.C, but our Amanda would never give away the secret. Travis was trained by Lester the Duck ROFLMAO!! Had to tell my hubby about that one. He likes the show okay, but I generally don’t bother him about the blog. Just couldn’t resist that one, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay!!! Travis time!!! This is just so hysterical in so many ways! There are just so many good things about Travis that I have to count them. I don’t care if no one reads this – I’m going to be laughing the whole time I’m typing it!!! Hahaha! Did I say I just LOOOVE me some Travis?
1 – his use of the word Sugar.
2 – his accent.
3 – he’s a marine – Semper Fi.
4 – he’ll do anything for his country.
5 – he sounds so awesome when he says ‘pinko subversive’. And I don’t even know what pinko means. Is that a color?
6 – he’s willing to go get the bad guys himself. He can outdo the police, the FBI and the CIA.
7 – he uses the word fixin’ and I like it even though I’m not from Texas.
8 – in fact, I want to go on a ride with him 😉
9 – he has the coolest fightin’ music
10 – he gets so caught up in the idea of kickin’ butt and takin’ names that he doesn’t care about seatbelts!
11 – he says ‘mot-to’ as if it were a verb – yeah, that’s what’s happenin’! Schoolhouse Rock, anyone?
12- Strike first, strike hard – that’s my mot-to too! And I wasn’t even in ‘Nam.
Iwsod, I don’t know how you didn’t find Travis funny!! Maybe you’d had a really really bad day that day, huh?
Lee is with TA, which is a crappy acronym and just doesn’t sound right when you say it. Plus, no one is supposed to know it exists. Sooo, rather than explain it all to Travis, Amanda just goes with the well known FBI or CIA.
Oh dear, never saw Apocolypse Now. Martin Sheen looks sooo young! What you say is very interesting though! It seems SMK did this several times perhaps? They used Casablanca for that other episode, ugh, can’t even bring myself to name it cuz that scene is just not my cup of tea.
Awesome post, iwsod! Love how you captured Travis!! And KJ! She is FABulous in this scene, but Travis steals the show IMHO!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bjo, I am loving your list about Travis. I like how he says Sugar too! My dad was a marine, Semper Fi indeed! I think pinko’s referred to someone who was connected to communism. If someone was a communist they were referred to as being red, maybe pink is a watered down version. I used to get in trouble for saying I was fixin to do something. Both of my parents came from the South, I don’t know why they didn’t think we would pick up how they spoke. Loved Schoolhouse Rock! I have the DVD!! So loving the list. Weren’t we on the same page about the cuteness of Brackin as well? Or was that someone else? I need to go to sleep.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup, that was me! Guess you and I need our own Brackin t-shirts! And thank goodness for Schoolhouse Rock is all I can say. My kids were so impressed that I knew the preamble to the Constitution! Of course I can’t say it, I have to sing it… 🙂 Oh gosh, there are just too many of those songs going through my head now!
Ahh, I get the pinko thing now. I did think it was related to the ‘bad guys’ in Vietnam, but didn’t realize the communist connection.
Glad you liked the list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t get me started..I can’t hear the word conjunction without breaking into song.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Conjunction junction, what’s your function? LOL !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL! You really put into words. By the way Pinko is a communist. It refers to how red someone is.
LikeLike
Hi Misty – you and Valerie are on the same page with the pinko thing – thanks! By the way, am loving all your comments on the blog! It’s very late where I’m at so I need to get bed and so I can’t go reply to them right now – but just wanted to sneak that in here. So glad you joined us on the blog!
LikeLike
Haha your list is great, BJo ~ I didn’t know what pinko or surversive was but obviviously thought they were referring to the bad guys 🙂
These two are great together…it is like something in him snapped like ex-military people can at times!
LikeLike
“Pinko” and “Subversive” were popular insults for Communists or Communist sympathizers. The color red was a symbol of Communism, so people who sympathized with them were “Pink” (lighter shade of red). I remember that in one episode of MASH, Frank Burns accused someone of “sympathizing with Yellow Reds, and that’s pretty Pink!” (“Yellow Reds” being derogatory for Asian Communists. I just thought it was interesting that someone noticed all the color-coded insults floating around at the time.)
LikeLike
(I heard the term pinko commie on TV a lot before the wonderful Travis on SMK. Maybe Frank Burns said it on M*A*S*H? Anyway, I always understood it to be a communist sympathizer or a very left leaning socialist.)
OMG! Travis is just a bundle of patriotic goodness. He and Kate are so amazing in this scene — I always bust out laughing.
LikeLike
I love your list BJo!! Don’t y’all just feel like kicking butt and taking names sometimes too?!! And I remember when calling somebody a pinko (a list/communist supporter) were fighting words.
LikeLike
I agree! Travis is a hoot! It’s hard not to like someone who is determined to single-handedly save his country or at least is willing to put himself right out there to try. Of course, the fact that I don’t have to actually ride with him in his truck makes him more endearing than I might find him in real life. 😉
I can see why Amanda might not want to mention the Agency in front of Travis, too. It is supposed to be a secret, and I have the feeling that if she tried to explain it, it might cause more confusion. I picture it like a bad rendition of the “Who’s on first?” routine.
“I need to contact the Agency!”
“Which agency?”
“The Agency!”
“But which one?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
ROFL! Jestress, you be funny!
LikeLike
I love it every time someone starts talking about “the Agency” and no one ever questions which agency that is, like everyone just knows. lol!
LikeLike
Brilliant Jestress 🙂
LikeLike
rofl!!! love the list BJo!
LOL yes I know the agency is secret. It just all begs the question… just what is it?! yeah BJo ‘TA’ isn’t right.. TWA isn’t it?! whahahahaaaa.. you know.. the Agency’s official airline? 😉
Yeah I think smk does like to reference significant literature, cinema etc. It’s interesting! I think Apocalypse Now is very powerful. but it is very dark. and I know some people just scratch their head at it and go – whatevs.. I can’t be bothered working out why they are reciting that poetry.. LOL.. It’s not for everyone 😉 and that’s okay.
Awh. thanks for your kind words about my post BJo – you such an encouragement!
soooo no one seems to have watched the vid about Beserkers? 😦 Oh well.. at least it gave me a big laugh! Stupid moose face.. [ yes that is going to go over your head if you haven’t seen it! never mind! Just keep in mind when I write that- I’m referring to that Beserkers vid.. I think I mentioned stupid moose face in post 14.. ]
Byeeee
LikeLike
Loved the Beserkers video! It lead to quite a few more Horrible Histories which lead to SMK videos. I certainly know how to entertain myself when on vacation (from retirement LOL!).
LikeLike
I love your list- I too thought that Travis was pretty great! He was perfect to add some levity to a serious situation.
LikeLike
I remember first seeing Apocalypse Now a not long after I had seen this episode back in the 80’s and recognising the similarities with the music – Ride of the Valkyries and the charging helicopters / truck. I found the movie kind’ve bleak at the time but maybe I might appreciate it more now that I’ve got a few more (quite a few more) years behind me.
KJ is a great comic actress and really revels in this sort of scene. Interestingly she also does mad and bad exceptionally well too, e.g. Karen in Odds on a Dead Pigeon. In fact, Ms Karen is in the running to be on my list of top 5 “serious baddies” for Season 2.
My appreciation for KJ goes back to Charlies Angels days in the late 70’s – it was my and my sister’s favourite show (what can I say – we were kids, there was only 2 TV channels at the time in NZ, and we were easy to please). Anyway KJ was always my favourite of the 3 – even as a kid I liked the fact that she came across as intelligent and able to take care of herself. She was actually the main reason I tuned into SMK from day one in the 80’s, plus I had seen BB in Tron (yes, I actually saw Tron when it first came out) and thought he was pretty cool. The other two Angels just seemed like window dressing to me but my sister was a big Farrah fan so I kept my mouth shut. She had the big Farrah swimsuit poster on our bedroom wall. I insisted that if I had to put up with that we would also have the poster showing all 3 in that “prayer” pose. Anyway, I’ve strayed way off topic in this ramble down Amnesia Lane, sorry.
LikeLike
Hi Shona! *guilty grin* I liked Tron when it first came out, but then I am a scifi geek at heart! “Amnesia Lane,” is that like down the rabbit hole where we all meet for marshmellows and chocolate? So, you go through Billy’s office (DOA discussion 5/19), into the alternate dimension, stroll down Amnesia Lane to the bunny hole? Just want to make sure I have the directions right!
LikeLike
Put me in the loved TRON camp. I think mentioned it here before, but I had a major crush on Alan (computer programmer in glasses — total swoon), but hadn’t made the connection that the superhot superspy I was gaga over in SMK over was the same gorgeous, although slightly whiny nerd in TRON until I saw the movie again several years later on late night TV.
One thing you can say about Bruce Boxleitner — he creates distinct characters for every role he plays.
LikeLike
Hmmm, Amnesia Lane is usually the lane I go down to get to my “happy place”, i.e. on those days when the reality of here and now is not good, one needs a “happy place” to escape to. Anywhere that features marshmallows and chocolate* sounds like a “happy place” to me. So, yes, I guess Amnesia Lane is the way to the bunny hole.
*For me that would be premium quality dark, dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids (no dairy please, it’s not good for ya).
PS. Is red wine allowed in the bunny hole? I’m thinking a nice NZ Pinot Noir or perhaps a French Red would go nicely with the dark chocolate. And of course you can’t have marshmallows without Espresso Coffee…
LikeLike
Whatever you want in the Rabbit hole is allowed. I always bring Bailey’s and whipped cream to mix with the hot chocolate when I visit. 🙂 (or brandy and crème de cacao if I have.
LikeLike
Oooooh, I am right behind you two with the fuzzy blue robes and slippers. Bailey’s and hot chocolate, love that combo! And Shona, love dark chocolate the mostest! 🙂 I happened to have some chocolate fudge with walnuts. Want some?
LikeLike
First of all, love Travis. He is so off the rails!! He does start off as this seemingly normal guy and then he is off to the races. Love how KJ stays so much in her role. The pulling the dirt out of her pocket is so priceless. This whole scene is like a deep cleansing breath after all this drama.
“The Ride of The Valkyries” is like the go to song when guys are about to go at it full force. It has been used so many times in movies and TV shows. The whole Wagnerian theme of this song is based on Norse mythology I think and the goal of any Viking warrior was to die in battle and go to Valhalla, the Viking version of heaven. It was played in “The Blues Brothers” at point of climax when these guys went off to take care of the brothers and recently it was played on “The Big Bang Theory” when the guys went off to handle someone who had stolen some things. It’s a whole operatic thing with guys.
And that statement from Travis about striking first and striking hard came from the original Karate Kid movie which came out the year before this episode. I think it was strike first, strike hard, and show no mercy. But the Karate Kid got it from some admiral from WWII who said strike fast, strike hard, and strike often. Maybe Travis was napalmed at some point in ‘Nam. Kilgore in Apocalypse was off the rails a bit too. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the movie. Most of the Vietnam movies have been difficult to watch. If even a small amount of what is shown is accurate it is no wonder PTSD set in on some of the veterans. Wasn’t Lee in the war at some point?
LikeLike
ROFL, Valerie!! “Maybe Travis was napalmed at some point in ‘Nam.” That would be #13 on my list had I thought of it!
LikeLike
Yeah the quote is from WWII by Navy Adrimal William Halsey Jr. He served in the Pacific against Japan.
LikeLike
The Travis scenes… yahoo!!! 😀
Yeah–it always struck me as funny that Amanda digs out all the dirt and just dumps it on the floor of the cab… very un-Amanda-like. I guess she was flustered. Or maybe there’s junk all over the floor that we can’t see… but I don’t think she’d just drop stuff even then. Whatever.
But–you know what’s really funny about all the dirt/leaves all over her shoulders here? She didn’t have it all when walking along the road… it all materialises when she’s in the truck… 😀
“I guess Amanda couldn’t say: can you get the Agency on this thing?!”
Yeah–isn’t the Agency supposed to be super secret squirrel under the radar secret?
I think Travis’ national security trigger likely wasn’t Lester the Duck (LOL)… he’s wearing a Marine Corps hat… is possibly a Marines vet from ‘nam? (Or a wannabe. Either way…)
The other Karen mentioned Ride of the Valkyries in a meme, too… 😉
LikeLike