On to IFF, Lee’s got that spot out the front again?? Why doesn’t Francine ever get to park there? 
Uh oh… it looks like Francine has borrowed her grandad’s cardy! [Is it evil that this makes me feel better about all the huge cardy’s Amanda has been wearing lately? ] Didn’t we just see this cardy? I’m not going to go look but if anyone remembers it let us know! 
Francine’s been following Dr Mallory [ah so she’s been doing what Billy told her to! ]. She does love to moan about hard work at times our Francine.. she gives Lee the run down on what she’s been up to.
Francine: At twelve-fourteen she (Dr Mallory) had a tongue sandwich for lunch.
Lee: Ughhh!!!
Francine: At which point I followed her back to the lab, and here I am.
Lee: Ah-ha. Well, that sounds very exciting.
[I love how Lee says this. So deadpan!]
Francine: Um-hm.
Lee (or BB?!) seem distracted here.. flipping through his photos.. then he adds this next line:
Lee: She didn’t do anything suspicious at all, then?
[Love how Lee is checking up on Francine following Dr Mallory- and is he following Dr Fletcher? No! ]
Francine: Ah, does adding ketchup to a tongue sandwich count? [Does for me! ]
Lee: No.
Francine: Huh, guess not.
Lee: Well, she’s still our prime suspect.
Francine: With disgusting eating habits.
[I think Tongue sandwich is not refined enough to be an smk baddie!]Lee’s been chasing down weapons suppliers in the cx-12 league..
Lee: Herschel Demitrius, Robert Castille, Morgan Lapin. I’d say Castille’s our best bet. The Oregon job fits his M.O…
…He’s bold, daring, preys on women, smooth operator and very ruthless.
[This photo is hilarious- it’s so posed it’s funny!]
Francine: haa sounds like my date last night.
Lee: Oh.
Francine: Go on.
Lee: Well, whoever hit the Oregon lab had to have inside help, otherwise he couldn’t have penetrated the security. It’s probably the woman who was killed. Well, we know he’s gonna have to hit the Bethesda lab so the same thing applies. We just have to keep tabs on everyone who has access to the lab.
Soooo Lee just happens (ohhh he is soo clever!) to guess it is Robert Castille who is at work on this job.. Hmm! Shame Lee wasn’t doing what Billy told him to at the beginning of the episode – remember? ‘day and night blanket surveillance’ of Dr Fletcher??
If he had, he wouldn’t have to guess.. and he’d know Fletcher met with Castille in a dark car, with Castille waving around a large wad of cash and then handing it over.. nope.. nothing suspicious there! 😉 Wouldn’t they have found out about Fletcher’s gambling debts by now???? LOL! sorry Lee.. epic fail!
Lee heads off to another MSE meeting…
Amanda arrives outside the meeting to find Castille crouching next to a car wheel of a car not his..
[we learn this is Lee’s car, but this looks different to the car he pulled up in at the first meeting! This one doesn’t look like a Teldar car! oh and in this wideshot the car is dry.. but in the next close up it’s wet! :)]
Castille gets up, realises Amanda is suspicious of what 
he is up to and tells Amanda he was thinking of buying one of those: ‘a great car for a family’.
Amanda doesn’t look at all convinced! Castille walks back to his own car, pauses and sees Amanda is still watching him..
yep.. you may as well have written on your forehead- I just did something to that car really bad! I’m bad!! derrr…
Amanda heads into the meeting, and finds things are 
rowdy..and the women are upset! Mrs Courtney is still drumming up outrage! Amanda walks past Lee (who is in the background talking to other MSE members and doesn’t see her yet) and joins Jean Kearsley. 
Mrs Courtney: I’m telling you, picketing that factory today was a total waste of time! And they think they can disregard us! Who-who are we? -Little people! Well, we’ll show them what women can do.
{Hey call me crazy- but isn’t this the cardigan that Lee shot the two holes through in Burn Out???!!! when he was pretending to shoot Amanda?] Amanda stands behind Jean wanting to talk to her and we see Lee in the background look around – he realises that Amanda is now there – without making it too obvious. 
Amanda taps Jean’s shoulder to talk to her..
Amanda: Isn’t going very well, huh?
Jean: Oh, no, well what do you expect? The picketing today was pathetic! The company went about their business as usual!
I guess this gives us a clue that Jean is fed up with how things are going…
We cut outside for a second to see Castille drives away.
Back inside.. the crowd is getting more and more agitated.
The crowd chants loudly: No more poisons!
I’m still confused about what these ‘poisons’ are.. Hmm!
The lab is actually working to protect Americans from a Dangerous Nerve Gas by finding a way to neutralise it.. but this irony isn’t really addressed in the episode- Instead I guess we are left to think housewives are reactionary, naive and stupid?? sorry.. just lame! Amanda is the spokesperson of this group- doesn’t reflect well on her. Hmm I think we weren’t suppose to actually think about this! 😉
Lee walks up to Amanda and takes her arm indicating he wants her to come with him.
Outside Lee and Amanda head towards his car.
Amanda: Where’re we goin’?
Lee: I’ve got some photos in the car. I want you to look at them, all right?
Amanda: Okay.
Lee: But I don’t want to do it here. I don’t want anything to look suspicious.
BB seems to look directly into the camera here
Lee opens the car door for Amanda while he looks around to make sure they aren’t being observed..
He looks around so much – it looks totally ‘suspicious’! Lee gets in and off they drive.. next thing we see Lee and Amanda are in a much more rural setting – uh oh.. they’re not in the country are they? evil things happen in the country on smk!!
Lee: Here, Amanda, take a look at these photos. Now, those men are known couriers from weapons brokers. If you’ve seen any of them before it could be a lead.
Amanda: Mm-mm. No. No-oh, wait a minute.
Lee: What?
Amanda : I just saw this man.
Lee: You did?
Amanda: Just before I came in the meeting he was hanging around this car.
Oh Snap!!! Look!! when Amanda says ‘I saw this man’ and points to the picture?? Lee turns and looks at her, and he looks at her and talks for a good 7 seconds..without watching the road- yeah!!! This car drives itself!! yeee haaaa!! -A great car for a family;) Magic Car!!! Sooooo.. cue the suspenseful music.. I’m in suspense..
This car really is magical- one moment they are driving down a rural street, and in the next instant we see suburban streets behind Amanda! whooo!!
Lee: Amanda, get ready to get out, and get out fast.
Love how Lee waits for Amanda to run around to his side of the car so they can run together!! Very romantic and all but.. umm.. bit dangerous no??!!
Eeek!!
(and cue the stunt doubles..)
[haaa! the stunt lady’s skirt goes flying! or is that a stunt man too?! Manda?]
Ok, I don’t care if it was a magic car, and it was kinda lame.. Lee tackling Amanda and protecting her from the blast????? Priceless!!!!!! 
Lee and Amanda share a look..
Kiss me already?!
Oh my.. how long exactly does Lee lie there kinda on top of Amanda just errr taking in their burning vehicle?? ohhh about 6 seconds longer than he needed to.. I timed it.. [no I don’t have anything better to do and yes I managed to count to six with all this swoony goodness around! barely!! ]
Both subdued, they gaze in shock and concern at the burning remains of Lee’s car [phew! Glad it wasn’t the vette Lee- what luck!].. and then suddenly Amanda (KJ?) looks right at the camera (in the split second where they cut to commercial – go on take a look!!)
I think it’s KJ thinking – can he get off me now?? can we get up? SAY CUT!!! Whahahaaa!!
You can even see as it fades to commercial and the scene ends, she squints her eyes at the camera saying ‘enough’!! tee hee!!
Crazy KJ.. if you don’t like it.. here, let me take on that job!
Iwsod’s random comments
-Lee and Francine’s scene discussing the tongue sandwich is a bit repetitive. Seems to me like when BB looks down and sorts his photos he remembers he’s suppose to ask Francine if Dr Mallory did anything suspicious (setting up her eating tongue joke).
-Anyone else find Francine’s joke about her date last night to be annoying? I found it annoying. No one’s interested Francine! And then Lee isn’t allowed to comment on it anyway it seems. I know a lot of Francine’s jokes are in poor taste but this one bugs me and makes light of a man who kills women. Nothing remotely funny about it.
-How swoony is it to see Lee protecting Amanda from the blast huh??!!!!
Any thoughts you’d like to share on this part?
Back with more soon! byee for now!
"Just walk with me.." 
Oh–and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before… KJ’s face reminds me of one of the magnets on my fridge:
“It’s been lovely but I have to scream now.”
Wah hah hah!
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LOL.. I have the flip book with that pic in it.. I love that page!
I have posted it on this blog once myself actually.. haa!
I have a coffee one on my wall in the kitchen – Drink Coffee – do stupid things faster! and with more energy! do you know it? !!
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Seen it. 🙂 Don’t have it, but probably should. LOL.
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Ick. Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten a tongue sandwich. Does it taste like chicken? 😉 I don’t think I could ever do it, ketchup or no. And ketchup does make a lot of things more palatable. This seems like such an odd, random thing to have in an episode. What does it say about Dr. Mallory? I don’t know, but it doesn’t tell me anything good. Just another reason to not like how this show portrays women. Bad writers.
Poor Francine – she dates men who prey on women and are ruthless. She must have a low opinion of herself outside of work. I guess it was a joke, but given the way things are going here for the women on the show, I’m wondering if it’s not.
That is an epic fail on Lee’s part – he’s not been doing what he’s supposed to be doing. Too busy getting setting up shop in his rented suburban house? Maybe he was out shopping for curtains, lining the shelves and arranging fresh flowers since Amanda wasn’t part of his cover this time. 😆
A great car for a family??? Amanda had to know immediately that something was up – in the 80’s the great family car was the station wagon – not a boat-like 4 door sedan. But then again, this is a man saying this, so maybe she just dismisses it.
Ahh, yes, iwsod. Just one of the things on the list of why this episode is not a favorite:
It is totally lame! And it doesn’t reflect well on Amanda.
Hoo haaa! You timed it! Very nice! This counts as 6 second towards the three minutes worth watching in this episode.
Love the screen caps and funny commentary – this episode may be at the bottom of my list, but I’m enjoying the walk-through!
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Am thinking I may need to explain my tongue sandwich comment a bit more – don’t want to offend anyone out there. I’m just reacting to the fact that tongue was and is not a common food item here in the U.S. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on a restaurant menu or in a grocery store. I’m sure you could get it at a true butcher shop (mu husbands family were butchers 3+ generations ago). So I just don’t know why they had to talk about the smart, pretty woman scientist in charge eating such a non-mainstream food item. Ugh. Why couldn’t they just make her non-idiosyncratic in all areas?
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I remember seeing tongue in grocery stores quite commonly when I was a kid, but I grew up in a state that’s primary industry is farming so all of the animal was used. Though even then I thought it was gross. I haven’t lived in that state for years, I wonder if it still common place there.
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Did they have tongue on the restaurant menus there too? Down south where I live they sell something called “Fresh Picnic”. I’m pretty sure it’s pork, but I’m not exactly sure what part of the pig it is. I don’t want to know. And I’d never seen tripe in a store until I lived in Florida. That literally made me feel sick to my stomach. I’m not adventurous at all when it comes to my stomach. No skabonky for me!
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No, not in the restaurants. For some reason that escapes me tongue must’ve been considered a pretty fancy food as it was pretty expensive, and there were not a lot of fancy restaurants in the small town I grew up in.
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I wonder if it was so pricey just because it is such a small part of an animal. Kind of like a filet mignon cut from a cow. Yes, it’s tender but there’s a lot less of it per cow than hamburger.
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Rofl! You just never know what will be discussed here at JWWM! 😉 tee hee!
I tasted tongue once in high school during home ec class. [and no this is not a double entendre 😉 ]
To me it tasted really yum. Like a creamy version of corned beef. Does that help?!
But the thought of cooking it, and peeling it?? no thanks. But give it to me spread on a sandwich and I could probably do it.
I think the tongue sandwich was included so Francine could have a joke, but also – I was thinking it is quite an ‘unrefined’ thing to be eating.. and maybe a clue that Dr Mallory is not an SMK baddie haaaa 😉
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I have seen it in the deli case at the restaurant. Just a tongue sitting there ready to be sliced, taste buds and all. Gross!
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yeah that’s the bit that throws me!! once it has been peeled.. and there is no recognisable taste buds it’s easier to get my head around maybe eating it! LOL! Is that next to the succotash you showed us way back when Morley?!
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So glad you clarified about that double entendre thing 😆
You have to peel it after you cook it? Ok – sorry, but I don’t even want to go there!
I think her glasses were a giveaway that she wasn’t a baddie. There are no women baddies with glasses are there? Oh wait, forgot about Mrs. Welch. Scratch that.
We need another baddie post. Oh, Cindy??? 😀
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haa yes.. I didn’t want to encourage you guys haaaa.. 😉
yeah you gotta peel it! double ick
Oh what about Margaret in Spiderweb? she wore glasses too..
haaa yeah!!! Now is a great time for people to think about if they’d like to do a post of some kind looking back at season 1 or season 2 or both..
a recap of all the kisses.. hugs..
Francine’s outfits..
and cindy’s top baddies?? [ no pressure Cindy – but it was lots of fun to read your last list!]
Anyone have something they’d like to do to say farewell to seasons 1 and 2? feel free to go for it..
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I have an idea for a potential post, iwsod. In addition to working on ROTP stats, I’m watching S1 and 2 episodes and making notes on Amanda’s professional growth. This facet of Amanda is just as important as the other stuff in her relationship with Lee – IMHO. I’m doing the research in anticipation of a comment I want to make at the end of VM, but I need to do my homework first!
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whoooo this is one of my fave parts of her journey BJo!! I would love to read that!!!! 🙂
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Hooray!!!!
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I’m hoping to have the post re Amanda’s house finished by the end of this month, which kind’ve covers S1 and 2. Work has chewing up a lot of my spare time the last few weeks but hoping to make some progress with it this weekend.
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Oh, yay! Love posts like this! You go, kiwismh!
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working on it!
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Awesome!! Can’t wait to read it!
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Ugghh, makes me even more glad I don’t eat meat. 😯
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Huh, tongue is not the worst thing I use to see in grocery stores when I was growing up. When I said they used every part of the animal I meant every part. It was common place to see intestine and even bull testicle or as we called them Rocky Mountain Oysters.
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I’m pretty sure that picnic is a shoulder or butt roast — nothing too scary. 🙂
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Thanks, LASinLA – good to know. Why don’t they just call it that then? I took a picture of it once and emailed it to a friend who lives up north to show her. I’d never seen it before when I lived up north and just had to show her to see if they did sell it there now.
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My dad eats pigs brains with scrambled eggs. But, I doubt that would be in a picnic basket 🙂
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Are you serious? Where does he buy them?
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From helping my uncle butcher his hogs. They smell terrible when they are cooked…he offered me some to try…No thank you…couldn’t get past the smell!
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Does he butcher? My parents just finished butchering a hog (or two?) in the garage of their nice house in the suburbs. Little did the neighbors know! “Nothing bad ever happens in the suburbs.” Right?
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OMG! This discussion on the slaughter of innocent animals is just heinous. 😯 I know I’m a fan of more gritty reality in SMK but all this talk of murdering and eating animals turns my tummy. I’m seriously in the minority here I know, especially being a New Zealander where our whole economy relies on the enslavement and murder of animals. I stopped eating meat almost 20 years ago to resolve a digestive problem I had but after a few years I realised that not only was I a whole lot healthier but the notion of enslaving and eating animals gradually became quite repugnant to me. Yes, I know it happens in nature – the lions will always eat the gazelles – but that is because they are carnivores and its how they survive and the gazelles live a free and natural life, unlike farmed animals. Humans don’t actually need meat to survive. I know that people who farm animals rely on it for their livelihood, but I am hoping that as time goes on humans will become more “humane”. In NZ it’s big business and big money, and although we have strict rules around animal welfare, at the end of the day the animals are still used and destroyed. And of course, there is still a lot of not so pleasant stuff that goes on behind the scenes.
Don’t mind me, I didn’t mean to get on a rant. It’s just I hope one day people will look back on the way the treat our fellow creatures now the same way we look back on human slavery and think how cruel and inhumane that was.
In the meantime people like me just have to accept that this is the way it is. And, yeah, I know Lee and Amanda are totally carnivores too 🙂
Sorry Iwsod, totally off topic. It’s my last word on the subject I promise.
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Hey Kiwismh – Breathe kiwismh! fair enough! you’re entitled to your point of view.. as are others who eat meat.
Gosh how did you cope with the end of Life of the party? that must have been difficult for you to watch.
Feel free to start a thread at Neds about it.. I’m happy to discuss my views but you’re right – this isn’t the best place for it.
I do hope your health is all better – that must have been a huge change to make!! 🙂 Kudos! I have huge respect for people who make major changes (whatever they may be) to improve their health- it’s not easy!
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Breathing deep Dr Iwsod. 😉 Yeah, the backdrop to the end of LOTP was gruesome but totally in context and of course taking place in a fictional world. I’m used to seeing cattle and sheep trucks everyday, which I find more disturbing because that’s very real.
My health is excellent, I am fitter and stronger than most my age (and many people younger than me for that matter). I’m a stranger to my doctor. It has only been the passage of years that has made me realise what a blessing in disguise my change of diet was.
Anyway, enough about that. Looking forward to the next instalment of VM. Maybe MSE spurred me into protest mode. 😀
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I can understand cutting out things for digestive reasons…I had to cut out gluten from my diet 3 years ago and what a difference that has made 🙂
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Yep, gluten’s no good for me either. I pretty much follow a vegan diet that also excludes gluten. Feeling healthy and strong definitely makes it worthwhile. People look at me oddly and ask me what I do eat. I tell them there’s a whole world of food out there that’s nutritious and tasty. We’ve just forgotten about it in our fast food world. But, hey, not everyone’s the same. I just know what works for me.
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Hey, I grew up in a farm state. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but the majority of my family did including my mom so I never thought twice about eating meat growing up. But once I learned how animals were slaughtered it turned my stomach too. Then I lived in florida for awhile with my uncle when I was in my early 20s and he raised animals for food and after falling in love with a baby cow I took care of I pretty much became a vegetarian. I don’t have a moral problem with people who eat meat and I still do at family get togethers, but don’t do it a whole lot on my own just because the above things really do bug me so I understand.
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Haha sounds like something my family would do!!
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I always wonder why Amanda, whose own car had been recently tampered with in ALSALScandal “to devastating effect”, totally forgot that Castille (who at that point was just someone suspicious to her had been hanging around Lee’s substitute car when she got in it with Lee. Perhaps she was so distracted by the thought of getting in the car and getting out of there quickly before anyone noticed, that she forgot.
Thank goodness she did forget — otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten that lovely exposion scene. (LOL about the flying skirt, iwsod, nice catch!!)
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This episode had a lot of scenarios that are repeated from previous episodes. I don’t think the writers were being lazy. Rather it is to compare how Lee and Amanda have changed since the last time they have been in similar situation. So we have Lee diving on Amanda in TLCE and again now. They are both a whole lot more comfortable with each other here. Then we have Lee moving to the suburbs. Now it is actually his suggestion and he doesn’t appear repulsed by it like in TGTN. We also have a man trying to romance a woman to get what he wants. Previously it was Artful Dodger with Amanda getting her to wear that awful ring. Now Castille is doing this with 2 different women. We will see this again in season 3. I can think of one more thing coming up, but there may be more that pop up as we continue through this episode. I think some of these things may have been included on purpose because this was the season 2 finale. Bring on season 3!
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I so agree with you LAAL about these scenarios so that we can see how far Lee and Amanda have come. That is also one of the reasons I think this comes after MBF. I do agree with others that it is a somewhat weak finale, but there is actually some subtleness to what else is going on. It helps to take a look back to see where they have been and what has transpired in order to see all the changes that have occurred. I really like what you say. Can’t wait to hear your other thoughts.
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I like this idea LAAL. I have noticed it a couple of times in different episodes as well. I think the writers didn’t want to end the season with a cliff hanger or a highly emotionally charged episode. I like that about the show. The relationship has it’s tense and climactic moments but for the most part it progresses naturally over the course of their life (I was going to say daily life during regular life moments, but these two never have normal everyday moments do they?) This episode is like a gauge showing us actually how much has changed between them. I kind of like that.
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LAAL I love this idea!!! 🙂 the more I hear from you guys the better I feel about this being the season ender! 🙂
Funny, In the very next post I have done exactly what you mentioned here – compared to an early episode.. and I’ve even mentioned how great it is to look back and see how far the characters have come – have you been sneaking a peek at what I wrote LAAL? !! teee hee because you totally read my mind!!
Though I didn’t make the connection to it being the end of season finale – that’s genius!!
Charity begins at home had lots of earlier moments they were referring to also so this rings true to me.
I love to hear if anyone notices an earlier moment in the show that relates to the characters, so feel free to speak up as you find them. Now we have what 43 episodes to look back on? there’s lots there and I can’t remember it all that’s for sure! LOL!!!
I also really like it because my natural inclination is to look forward and compare where the characters are now to where they will be – I’m trying not to do that now with this blog – and when we look forward so much, we tend to overlook how far they’ve come.. Sooo I am really enjoying this focus on what’s happening now and what has happened previously, slowly building a picture of how far the characters have come..
I’ll look forward to discussing the specific moment I was comparing in when the next post is published tomorrow 🙂
Thanks LAAL! 🙂
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Nope! Not a mind reader. Don’t even have a crystal ball!
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“Uh oh… it looks like Francine has borrowed her grandad’s cardy!… Didn’t we just see this cardy?”
Yep–Francine wore it in Spiderweb. Different blouse and earrings, though.
Re: BB and the photos… maybe BB was freaked out by Francine’s grandad’s cardy, or he–and everybody else–was just ready for summer hiatus!?!
“Tongue sandwich”? That sounds like Castille with his women… gross
Uh, yeah. Lee’s car did change colour (baby blue –> teal), but it appears to still be the same model. Darned paint leprechauns…
“* oh and in this wideshot the car is dry.. but in the next close up it’s wet!*”
And Castille’s car and the road around it is dry, when everything else is wet… gotta love those crazy LA (uh, sorry–DC) rain showers that just hit one spot… :p
“I don’t want anything to look suspicious.”
Yeah… so not suspicious that Lee stares at Amanda in the meeting for so long, then he and Amanda duck out and take off in his car–everyone’s gonna be phoning Dotty about that!!!
“evil things happen in the country on smk!!”
Yeah–especially in that one park!!!
I love magical streets! They’re almost as good as magical number plates and magical paint. And as for Lee not looking at the road, he’s got a lot going on in his brain… Amanda beside me. Castille messing with car. Amanda beside me. Castille… Amanda sitting… oh, cr*p, bomb!
Yes, Lee does take his time shielding Amanda… swoon (Hold on, Lee–you’re not at Season 3 yet…)
Shona said:
“80’s cars look so weird now – why didn’t they in the 80’s I wonder?? The design of the front of Castille’s car and placement of the licence plate make it look buck toothed. Not a cool ride at all.”
Vehicle Patrol says: LOL! Yes, they do (look weird–at least, a lot of them do). I did some research on that car, and I believe it’s an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, 4th gen (1978-1988). (The grille and angled front bumper are reminiscent of that of a Buick Regal–not surprising, since they’re both built on the GM G platform… and the “major facelift in 1981 gave the Regal a much more aerodynamic profile, helping make it possible for the car to compete on the NASCAR racing circuit. The sloping hood and nose of the car made it the favorite of several NASCAR teams.” [wikipedia]) So, I guess some people thought they were cool. Left turn, anyone? :p
Geeky enough?
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Thanks for your research on the vehicle KC. I have just looked it up on Wikipedia. Ugly, ugly car but probably a collectors item now.
“Tongue sandwich”? That sounds like Castille with his women… gross
LOL! 😀 Thanks for that brief but hilarious dive into the gutter KC. Big round of applause from me and the rest of the gutter dwellers. Imagine a whole bunch of Smileys here clapping
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Tongue sandwich……haaaaaa! Very apt for Castille and his women but my first thought was “who actually eats tongue outside of an Enid Blyton novel”!!!! Do we need to order in lashings of ginger beer 😉
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taking a bow
Glad to be able to amuse my fellow gutter dwellers… 😀
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Thanks for the comments about noting Lee/BB’s distraction in that scene. I thought it was just me!
What I’m wondering is, did he accidentally forget a line, or did he have a cheat sheat hidden in his file that somehow got lost? I know from the NCIS commentaries that actors often hide what they call “Sides” or script excerpts in places as a prompt when they need to. In fact if a character is going through a file or some kind of paperwork, it’s often a way of covering up that they have a cheat sheat hidden! One NCIS actor was a genius at putting his lines on post-it notes on his computer! And we can see KJ using a cheat sheet on her menu on Dead Men Leave No Trails. I think this was a bit of a blooper given the way Lee/Bruce keeps looking through the file. There is also a couple of points where he glances offscreen, like he’s wondering if the director is going to call cut, and also Francine/Martha’s expression looks a bit like she’s thinking he’s forgetting, but I could be totally off base too and it was simply written this way.
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Since everyone has already brought up the good stuff, such as protective Lee willing to take the brunt of the explosion and keep Amanda safe from harm. Very swoon worthy indeed. I know that scenes get filmed out of order. There must have been some off and on rain during the filming of Castille by the car. In the one scene where he’s crouching by the car you can see the difference in the pavement that’s underneath the car. It’s not wet, but the rest of the pavement is. The ground also looks wet where Amanda is standing by the door to the church. That would account for the car being wet one minute and not the next. Continuity, as always…
I’m trying to remember when it became an issue about cancer clusters and the locations of chemical plants, factories, and power lines. There was an issue about waste from plants and factories ending up in water systems and the locations of some facilities being too close to residential areas. In some ways SMK may have actually been ahead of the environmental issues with this episode. However, I could be stretching it in defense of my show.
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I agree with the others, being whisked away and getting into a car with a rather gorgeous man won’t arouse suspicions at all facepalm
What on earth is the point of them all chanting no more poisons in the meeting room……erm aren’t they all preaching to the choir?! I think it was already well established they were all against poisons another facepalm
Manda sure is flashing a bit of leg. Funnily enough stunt Lee doesn’t seem to find it necessary to lay atop of stunt Manda the way BB did with KJ 😉
Poor Lee he just needed those extra seconds to contemplate what might have been……the Corvette could have been toast! cue dramatic music
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Forgot to mention the ear buttons. Jeez they are like guitar picks!!!! Enormous bits of plastic……
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Guitar pics???!!! ROFLMBO!!! Jenbo that is Genius!! whwhahahaaaaa!!!
please Amanda.. twang no more!
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hiya!
Yeah.. I figured everyone was already in the building so no one saw Amanda shocking leave with Mr Sampson 😉
But you guys are absolutely right – as usual! 🙂
Ah! Chanting no more poison at the MSE meeting Jenbo? I actually think there is a good explanation for that coming up.. it did serve a purpose.. but I’ll hold off discussing that until we get there – this is all revealed in the next part of the episode covered in post 6 🙂
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It really does bother me how the women in the MSE group are portrayed like they are just off on some heated tangent and don’t really know what they are talking about. I would just write them off as a bunch of bored housewives with nothing better to do if Amanda wasn’t involved. I really noticed, though, that they don’t seem to have a clue when I rewatched this episode last week in the scene where they are out there screaming at the plant no more polution. Earlier in the episodes it seems indicate that there is a problem working with those chemicals because exposure can be dangerous but it never says those chemicals are causing any polution. I don’t know maybe Amanda just got involved because they pressured her into it and she has trouble saying no sometimes, but that doesn’t explain why she’d be boasting about it at the agency. I cannot reconcile any of this. It is bad writing.
I kind of enjoyed the bit about the tongue sandwich and Francine’s little jokes don’t really bother me, though they are kind of out of line for the work place, but I always saw her sharing them with Lee as little inside remarks between friends. Lee doesn’t really seemed bothered by them but I do think he gets less and less interested in that kind of interaction with Francine as he does start to look at her as just a friend, and not someone he might possible end up in bed with again at some point. Later on he does seem to even get a little uncomfortable with her comments, but more so her comments about him than herself.
The car explosion scene is the one truly swoon worthy moment in this episode. I think Lee waited for Amanda to get to him before he started running with the intention of throwing his body over hers upon the explosion. Dangerous for him or not, I can totally see him doing just that. When Amanda is with him I think he always thinks of her safety first and his second. I can think of lots of times Lee waited to make sure Amanda was coming rather just charging out of danger, even taking her by the hand when he could probably move faster if he didn’t. It just show how protective of her he really is. He doesn’t even think about it, protecting her is instinct. Okay his job makes it his nature to be protective of everyone, but I think it is more true of Amanda than anyone and it shows. I don’t know that he would take everyone by the hand to lead them out of danger, rather than just making sure they knew to run. Lee waiting for Amanda to throw his body over hers is so swoon worthy I could faint right here just writing about it. I never really noticed that KJ wanted the director to call cut so she could get up, but if it were me I’d be happy to lie there all day.
And yes I am so sick of those cardigans. Enough now please!
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I agree with all of what you say here, Misty, about Lee being very protective of Amanda. So much so, that it is noticeable when he is less protective or not protective at all with other women. Remember when he was pushing women out of the way instead of helping them in ALSALS? 😆 That cracks me up. And in this episode a little later on he acts unprotective, almost uncaring, toward a woman and it bugs me. I find my reaction toward it interesting, and am looking forward to what others have to say about it when we get there.
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AH!! I’ve said something about how Lee treats other women in a later post. so I’ll bide my time before adding to these comments.. torture! 🙂
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Hi Misty! I really enjoyed your comments here! I was excited to see a comment about the MSE group! 🙂
This bugs me too! though it doesn’t diminish the enjoyment of the episode for me.
I think all they needed was one line at the start of the meeting from Amanda saying something like ‘the Alabam Laboratory toxic waste spill has alerted us to problems in the system.. and as a community we want to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Dr Fletcher is here to discuss his Lab, the good the lab does, and how it ensures the protection of our community.’ – this would have explained why the fear of chemicals!! because they were (naturally ) suspicious of the safety measures in place.. I think I’ve made up this explanation in my mind so I can explain why Amanda chose to get involved and give it a back story. LOL!
Why Amanda was made spokeswoman? I have my own little theory about that – see the next post. There’s a whole lot of manipulating going on in this episode!
I agree, Amanda in charge of this lot doesn’t make her look good. I put that down to bad writing!!! The issue is so poorly described the story doesn’t make sense.. I guess Smk was trying to cut down on back story -and make time for tongue jokes (ugh!) – I’d rather have a story that makes sense thanks. doesn’t need to be super complicated. Anyway.. I found this episode improved after the next part of this episode and what we learn about MSE.
The screaming at the plant is explained a bit in the next post so I’ll comment then 🙂
soooo there with ya Misty! And to top it all off, it’s Lee in the great outdoors.. his hair all shiny in the sunshine.. me like! The only problem with the picture is the darn guitar pics Amanda is wearing for earbuttons (Jenbo I love that you called them this! 😉 )
I know.. KJ wants to get up?? what is she nuts??!!! 😉 tee heee.. well KJ is a strong woman! 🙂
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Ha! Boxleitner was SO trying to remember his lines there. Maybe he had crib notes written on the photos!
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ha haaa!!! He is so busted! 🙂 Hiya kgmohror!
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I just rewatched it and I think you’re right! At one point he looks up with a “Oh crap!” expression, and then shortly after looks off to the side like he’s really hoping the director is going to call “Cut”. And you also see Martha/Francine look at him with a bit of a grin just before she prompts him with her line.
I bet he did have a cheat sheet in that file that fell out. I don’t know how many series do this, but on the NCIS DVD commentaries, Michael Weatherly and Pauley Perrette talk about hiding what they call “sides” — little sections of dialogue in whatever they can get away with on set and that if there are any times where a character is supposedly looking at a file or notes or something, they probably have sides hidden in there. Michael used to have tons of sticky notes on the computer (he apparently was the worst for it!) at his character’s desk — you can never make them out, but you can sure see them when you rewatch episodes, especially before Season 5. We actually got to see some of them when they held a set tour on Fanfest — it was so much fun.
I just think it’s adorable that they left this in, rather than calling cut and starting the scene over. It’s so fun to rewatch.
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Hmmm, Amanda driving off with the new eligible bachelor hunk that just moved into the neighborhood —- way less suspicious than Lee showing her a few pictures in the corner.
And it would be worth my car blowing up (magic or not) if a certain superspy had to tackle me and hold me close……
The shot of Castille putting the moves on a second woman while the first watches — OMH — makes me laugh everytime.
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Ha ha! Thought the same thing. Sure Amanda, get in a car with somebody who supposedly you don’t know and drive off with him. The neighbors would have the info back to Dottie in two minutes flat. And Dotty would probably be ready with a dress and cake all picked out by the time Amanda got home.
Iwosd, you timed the tackle? Good woman! Oh and I just watched the whole episode and upgraded my rating from “loathe” to “meh” 😉
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Yeah, I had never thought about that. But it would look more suspicious for Amanda to get in the car with the handsome new neighbor, who she’s already been see arm and arm with than him just casually showing her some pictures. I don’t think Lee thinks along these lines, but you think Amanda would being from suburbia, but maybe that is just one indication that she is thinking more as a spy now than a housewife.
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I think I’ll go with the theory that Lee Sampson moved to the neighborhood because he already knew Amanda King from work. She mentioned a house for rent in her neighborhood, etc. Therefore, it wouldn’t be strange to the neighbors that they spend time together, or even drive off together. On the other hand, Amanda doesn’t tell Dotty now that he’s a co-worker, does she? So Dotty couldn’t fill everyone in when they called her. Hmmm, back to the drawing board . . .
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Plus, Amanda stumbled over his last name when she was introducing him. In all fairness, I assume I would stumble over my last name if I had Mr. “Sampson” next to me. 😛
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Shucks, I was hoping that stumbling over the names of people you know well when introducing them to others was perfectly normal behaviour. It would have made me feel better, anyway.
A couple we know uses the following ingenious system when they’re together at social functions for his work: Normally, he will say “(Wife’s name), this is (other person’s name).” If he can’t remember the name of the other person, he introduces his wife by just saying “This is my wife.” She will then say “Hello, I’m (name).” At which the other person will hopefully say their name, too. Very spy-like IMO!!
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LASinLA, another benefit from JWWM, That is a brilliant plan. I must institute in my life! I never remember names, even when someone just told me. Awful, I know. I would never make it through station one training, I am most definitely not spy material.
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I’m great with faces, but can’t remember names to save my life… 😦
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Yep, same here. Life was so much easier when we lived in an international community and no one expected you to remember their foreign name anyway.
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Glad to help! 🙂
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Absolutely.. Lee has that effect on errr.. umm.. oh yeah- Me!
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I love it LASinLA! A for effort! 🙂
Try not to look at Lee when you do heavy duty thinking like this.. I find that tends to at least make it possible 😉
I am thinking at this point that Dotty has never even heard the name ‘Lee’ can you guys confirm this??
All Dotty knows is Amanda has a friend at work who is a man. I think..
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“The shot of Castille putting the moves on a second woman while the first watches — OMH — makes me laugh everytime.”
Me, too! He doesn’t even look much like a charmer, does he? I don’t see the attraction. Although I suppose those girls have their reasons . . . >.>
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Cardigan Patrol : Looks like Francine is teetering on the edge of frump in her fair isle vest cardigan. I tried to knit a fair isle cardigan in the 80’s but gave up because it was taking too long and was doing my head in. My mother resurrected it from the back of a wardrobe in the old family home about a year ago and decided I might want to finish it. Needless to say I took the evil thing straight to the Salvation Army store for someone else to appreciate. I like to call them “feral” cardigans. 😉
And, yes, that cardigan of Amanda’s looks exactly the same as her bullet holed Burn Out cardigan, except this one is a much lighter shade. Her Burn Out cardigan was a pinker shade than this one.
Lee has obviously seconded the job of “blanket surveillance” of Fletcher – I’d say Fred Fielder and Bob Abernathy are probably covering it… ‘nuff said.
I told you those parachute skirts were no good for the rough and tumble of agency work! “Manda” is showing a bit of leg there, which Lee would probably appreciate if they were trying to avoid being blown up.
80’s cars look so weird now – why didn’t they in the 80’s I wonder?? The design of the front of Castille’s car and placement of the licence plate make it look buck toothed. Not a cool ride at all.
What was going on with the camera that day that Lee and Amanda both looked directly at it? I agree with you Iwsod that I think KJ just wanted the Director to yell “Cut!”. Must be hard to sustain a pose and a look for several seconds. Looks like she might have had a few choice words to say when the camera stopped. 😉
Lots of good interaction between Lee and Amanda here. They seem to be really in-sync now, which lends weight to the general consensus now that this episode did come after MBF.
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Re 80’s cars looking weird – this of course does not and could never include the Corvette, which like it’s owner always looks uber-cool 😉
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“Feral” cardigans. Wah hah hah!!! 😀
““Manda” is showing a bit of leg there, which Lee would probably appreciate if they were trying to avoid being blown up.“
LOL! Amanda probably appreciates that he was distracted…
BTW I made a Vehicle Patrol comment about Castille’s “buck-toothed” (LOL) car in my main comment… 🙂
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I knew I had been watching too much SMK a while back with the 80’s vehicles no longer looked weird to me!
Can’t say the same thing for tube sock.!
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OMG–I’m watching a cr*p TV show right now… The Goldbergs… but it’s set in the ’80s and there’s ’80s cars everywhere. I just saw a Jeep Wagoneer (Amanda’s season 4 ride) and there’s a bunch of Caddys and… Oh my.
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I guess Lee was too busy moving into his suburban post to watch his object of surveillance.
The sweater that Lee shot a hole in was pink, this one appears to be the off white version, at least it does in the outdoor scenes.
And it is very lovely how he holds her there. Makes me wonder what his pre conscious is whispering to his conscious. 😉
I don’t think Lee gets into Francine’s comments as much as he used to now. I wonder if that makes Francine want to say even more shocking things just to try to get the old Scarecrow to react. I watched The First Time last night with a new SMK recruit ( she ended up taking my season 1 discs home with her), I noticed in the scene where the man with the red hat is brought back dead and Francine defends Lee, he says ” I owe you a drink” she responds by saying, “you owe me a dinner.” It hit me that here we have the beginning of the going out to dinner theme. I wonder what we could make of it?
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You lent someone your SMK discs? Brave, very brave. I wouldn’t let mine out of my sight :O Me? overprotective? Not in the slightest 😉
The fact that I have no one to lend them to is just a happy accident…..
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Hear Hear! I own two copies of each season because I’m scared something will happen to them! I only had to wait 30 years for them!
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Hello!
Thanks for clearing up Amanda’s cardigan. I was suspecting it was the same but I didn’t check and wasn’t sure..so I just threw it out there.. Bad iwsod- I should probably make that extra clear so it’s not confusing for readers. in future I’ll be sure to say I’m not sure and I haven’t checked 🙂 [not that you were complaining, but this has just brought it to my attention that I’m being confusing to people! so I’ll stop that! 🙂 ]
Glad you checked it out and cleared that one up Morley.. LOL this was quite the post for Cardy’s wasn’t it!!
ohhh wow!!! What a great find!!! Lee owes Francine dinner huh.. I was just saying the other day in a comment how I wanted to go back and read from the first time now we are heading into season 3 – just to refresh my memory before things get err.. complicated 🙂
Yes Morley.. this going out to dinner thing seems to have been a motif from the start.. going out to dinner is a level of closeness… Love that Lee suggested a drink, Francine had to suggest dinner whahahaaaa 😉
the fireplace? that’s for sexy times whahahaaaa!
Do not want to think about Lee, Francine and any sexy times!!! grrrr…
[So glad any hint of that is looooong gone!]
Come on Morley! I bet you can make something of the dinner thing! go for it! 🙂
tee heee! I could take this in a very naughty direction.. but I’ll resist!
It is lovely – like he knows she’s precious and he wants to look after here.. plus he doesn’t scramble to get up and pretend like he doesn’t care so much.. he seems much more comfortable with expression his care for Amanda 🙂
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But that is the thing, I don’t think Lee would go to a naughty place with Amanda at this point. Precious is the word. I keep thinking of the letter that Capt Wentworth rights to Ann in Persuasion (Jane Austin). He says something about such precious fellings. I can’t find the book to quote it right now (maybe I lent it to someone ;( ) I bet one of you knows exactly what I am trying to say… help.
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Oh I so agree Morley.. it is sometimes best to focus on the goodness, the tenderness and the sincerity.. I sooo get what you mean!
Hey is this the quote? :
“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion
I nearly swoon at this point in the story everytime!! Love persuasion – maybe even more than Pride and Prejudice.. Hmm have we discussed persuasion over at Ned’s?? I might head over there and check when I can..
but what Lee and Amanda have between them is so much more than some ‘heat’ if you know what I mean.. very precious feelings – for Lee and Amanda these feelings come hard earned – and are a great reward 🙂
Must go or I’ll prattle on forever.. bye now!
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Yes!!! You found it. I like Persuasion best too. And I think what was a heat early on has been allowed to deepen and become something very precious. I can’t wait to watch them let themselves feel the heat again. That is coming soon, but it is all the better because of the preciousness. Does that make sense?
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Yes! It makes complete sense.
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Hear hear! Love what you said and I adore Persusion!
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The dinner thing, do you think it might have been a rather manipulative system of rewards early on… I know that sounds strange, but “you owe me a dinner, (for saving your but).” Francine’s tone of voice is not suggesting a enjoyable friendly time, it is quite suggestive. Lee offers to take Amanda out for a drink in TGTN, he takes her to dinner in the end of Dodger to (sort of) apologize. But for Amanda it is a way to get too know a person, just because you like that person and would like to know them better, not with any ulterior motive, kind of like she mentioned to Dotty in Spiderweb. It takes Lee a bit to transition from his way of going to dinner to Amanda’s. And we can take the conversation up later in season 3, because I do think it plays a big part of that season.
Actually I think this idea could also fit into the conversation between Lee and Francine here and her mention of her dinner date. I wonder if she brought it up because she did hear what Lee and Amanda said to each other (I know you all hate that idea) and she is trying to gauge what Lee did with it?
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Well, I’ve got my hearing aids turned all the way up and I can’t hear anything. 😆 Actually, with Lee, I’m wondering if while in this protective position, there are other parts of him that are starting to scream in his ear drowning out any any whispers from his pre conscious 😉
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Yup, there are saying, “Man, you need a girl friend. How long has it been since you have had a date?” His conscious would nod in agreement. His preconscious would say, “Wait, hold on a minute (or 6 seconds). I am trying to figure something out.” His sub- conscious is yelling, “Just don’t let go of this woman, you already have her!” or something like that…
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I like this, Morley, but, um, I wasn’t thinking about the thinking parts of him – more like the automatic, non-thinking male parts of him. :blush:
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I know 😉
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Just goes to show what we all know already…Lee is an exceptional man!
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Yeah, well I think while a man’s body can get ahead of his heart, a man’s body is never far behind his heart so without thinking Lee’s body is probably starting to respond when he is in close proximity to Amanda, but I still don’t think he is really conscious yet of what is in heart. But his heart probably is telling him not to let go. Lee is exceptional man, but too bad it still takes a little while for him to reconcile in his mind what the rest of him already knows.
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Hate to say it ladies but in real life a man’s body often has nothing whatsoever to do with his heart. 😦
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While I might look at Lee and Amanda here and think hooo haaaa!!!
I am thinking there is none of that going on for the characters here. they just ran for their lives and nearly got blown up in the car.
Trying to stick with the narrative here – [and forget KJ’s look at the director 😉 ] I think both Lee and Amanda have had a big scare, a big shock and it takes them a moment to come back down to reality. All they know here is instinct – and.. that instinct is that they want to be close to each other 🙂 they want comfort and to give comfort.
It’s as good as a hug after an explosion to me – ala A Class Act!
[ah! Lee didn’t cover Amanda for that one did he? I don’t remember.. and I’m not gonna check Lol! ]
Anyway, I don’t see the characters experiencing any heat between them here.
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And again, I think that is what makes their relationship so special. Here in a moment of instinct they want to stay in a comforting close embrace. Heat or no heat that is unique for Lee. Lee is no stranger to heated moments with women, but comforting embraces after shock? That only happens with Amanda. And this time he isn’t trying to awkwardly deny it as true.
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Exactly!!!! Exactly!!!! This alone shows progress with Lee 🙂
Very swoony!!
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Like this Morley. In SMK-land where our hero is beginning to act like we wish men in real life would act 😉 Lee’s awareness of Amanda has always gone much deeper than just the physical.
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Yeah, you guys are probably right about Lee not getting heated up here. I was just wondering. He seems like he’s a high testosterone kind of guy and that sometimes makes it easier for the automatic pilot to take over.
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Oh, I know a man’s body often has nothing to do with his heart. Heck this day in age a woman’s body often has nothing do with her heart. We all know Lee had plenty of affairs that had nothing to do with his heart. I personally was just talking about situations when a man has feelings for a woman.
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whahahaaaaaa.. Good one Morley! such psych humour! I consciously love it! tee heee.. 😉
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