Picking up right where we left off, Amanda has gone around the other side to distract Castille on Lee’s instructions (whoo hoo!) Now, Lee rises to his feet with his gun pointed at Castille. 
Lee: Game’s over, Castille!
Interesting choice of words… it has all been one big game to Castille!
Lee: Jean, move away from him.
Jean: I can’t! [Castille has her tied to a rope he’s holding]
![2.23 VIGILANTE MOTHERS.avi_002554788_thumb[1]](https://justwalkwithme.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/2-23-vigilante-mothers-avi_002554788_thumb1.jpg "2.23 VIGILANTE MOTHERS.avi_002554788_thumb[1]")
Castille: You have to know how to handle women. This isn’t exactly Rio. It seems to me we had a similar discussion in Brazil.
[Ah! sooo the show kept the fact they knew each other, but altered Bolivia to Brazil.. whatev! It would have been helpful to know they had met earlier. Just one line is all it would have taken! ahem.. ]
Lee: That discussion cost three lives! [Bet they were ‘top’ agents!]
Castille: Yeah…I was sorry the way it turned out. I had intended to kill you. Funny how things come around.
[Yeah.. hilarious! not!!! but.. also true- when you kill people Castille- things come around!]
Lee: Let her go, now!
Love how Lee just barks out orders like they should be followed by the baddie!
Jean looks so sad here watching Castille show his true colours. What an awful thing to experience. I guess when Lee popped up Castille was going to put Jean in one of those big vats to die or something??
Castille: And then we can be friends? I think not. Did you see Amanda? She had a pressing engagement.
Castille enjoys the idea of having killed Amanda.. sicko![This pun of Castille’s is interesting.. as usually it is Lee who delivers the pun.. Hmm.. I’ll comment on this below!]
Castille presses a button causing a lot of steam to suddenly appear between them and Lee. Castille uses this cover to shoot at Lee.. he misses- of course 
haaaa.. Lee shoots and misses too.. the steam clears and nothing’s come of it all.. 
except a few cool pics of Lee lookin gorgeous in the steam with his gun 
sooo a worthwhile moment in my book! LOL!!!!
Jean’s pretty freaked out by the shooting..
Jean: Don’t shoot, don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!
Jean and Castille come out from behind the cover. What’s with this harp strumming we keep hearing?? nothing magical going on here! It doesn’t scream menacing to me!
Castille: Get rid of the gun! In the tub.
[Why didn’t he say that before?? he was already holding Jean hostage?? rofl!! it really doesn’t make sense!? Hey wait a minute.. Lee? tub?? qhgboqbyh]
Amanda!! Castille has very kindly moved into position for ya!! You can come out now!!!! Time to play!!!
We see Amanda peek out from behind Robert and Jean. 
[Amanda wants to play peek-a-boo!]
having seen Amanda is ready- Lee tosses his gun…
Amanda sees Lee toss his gun. Sooo now is a good time for the Boo part Amanda!
Robert releases his hostage now Lee has tossed his gun and she hides behind the machines.. Finally, it’s play time!
Amanda moves out and grabs a sheet 
and quickly throws it over Castille’s head.
[okay this pic is screaming for a meme anyone want to have a go??!!]
I think she should have aimed to cover the gun too.. and pull Castille’s arm down so the arm was no longer aiming at Lee!! I mean he couldn’t see but in desperation he could have still shot Lee standing right in front of him! eek!!!
Lee rushes forward and Amanda takes cover with Jean. So begins another yawny yawny action finale.. guess what.. Lee wins.. 
While they fight Amanda unties Jean. [good for you Amanda, always doing what you can!]
For a moment Castille is winning.. uh oh.. Hey! Not the face Pal!!!! You are gonna pay for threatening the face!!!
but not yet.. ahem.. looks like Lee actually sticks his chin out for Castille to ‘punch’ it haaaa..
I’m sure it’s all part of Lee’s cunning plan to lull Castille into a false sense of security!
Finally, Lee lands a good punch.. and sends Castille head first into a vat of suds. Okay.. come on everyone.. what puns can you come up with 
for this?? I think we can do better than Lee’s!
Lee pulls him out. Amanda and Jean come out of their hiding place seeing that Lee has subdued Castille..
I love to see Amanda reassuring Jean..
Lee: Thanks…partner.
Amanda gives one of her head tosses to acknowledge this
Lee: …. This should clean up his act, huh?
[Oh Lee.. what will we do with you?!- what is this?? A duel of the lousy one liners? (better that than a lousy one nighter! 😉 ] well.. Lee beats Castille hands down with that pun.. Amateur!
Lee orders Castille: Come on!
[Lee roughly drags Castille away.. Hey.. where’s Billy? I thought he said he was ‘on his way’?? rofl!!! There were plenty of suds here for Billy to ‘mop up’ !!! haaaa.. Oh I do love a pun! ]
Hey umm.. what about the crystals?? where are the crystals?? seems like they nabbed the bad guy but the crystals have been forgotten! Hope they didn’t get wet in Castille’s top pocket or something!
It’s tag time!!! and on to the suburbs, now safe once more from the evil manipulations and machinations of Castille!!
Whoa.. but wait! what’s going on here??!! Not all is peaceful in the suburbs!! Looks like there’s been…. An eruption!!!
Amanda: Now you understand how wrong this was?
Ohh my goodness!!! check out the walls!!! Vesuvius is everywhere!!!
Phillip and Jamie: Yes, mom.
Amanda: And do you know how upset I am?
Phillip and Jamie: Yes, mom.
Amanda: Now why in the world did you do this?
Phillip: We thought an eruption would be gnarly.
Dotty: “Gnarly”?
[whahahaaaa!!!]
Amanda: Well, you understand now that it wasn’t?
Phillip and Jamie: Yes, mom.
Amanda: What?
Phillip and Jamie [louder]: Yes, mom.
Amanda: I want you to go upstairs, I want you to wash your hands, wash your face, change your clothes. You’re gonna come back down here and clean up every inch of this kitchen! [Amanda- you Rock!!!]
Phillip and Jamie: Yes, mom. [the boys lines in this tag were super easy that day huh! ]
Amanda: Move it!
the boys head upstairs- as ordered! The script had Dotty and Amanda cleaning the boy’s mess- that would have been soooo wrong! this way is much better!!!
Dotty: Oh. It just goes to show you that playing around with chemicals can be dangerous. [rofl.. not so subtle link to the plot huh!]
Amanda: Well, I guess after they clean up the kitchen they’ll have learned a pretty good lesson.
Dotty: Huh! You never know what’s gonna pop up around here.
whooo now there is a cue for Lee! Sure enough.. Lee pops up in the 
window!! when was the last time we saw this, OOADPigeon? Phew!! Dotty nearly sees him! Love Amanda’s face here haaaa!!!
Amanda steers Dotty so her back is to the window, and comes up with an idea to get her mother upstairs.. Amanda: Uh! Mother, uh…why don’t you go upstairs and check on them and I’ll just…
Dotty: Ah, good idea. I think I’ll go upstairs and be sure they don’t do something gnarly to the bathroom.
Amanda heads out side.. taking Vesuvius with her..Love how we see Lee pop his head up once again to see she’s on her way out to the backyard!
Lee: Hi. [Dimples! I see dimples!!]
Amanda: Hello.
Lee: I just wanted to return these and thank you for letting me borrow them.
Right.. uh huh.. so he popped up in the window and caused that hassle for that??!!! He could have left them on the table and thanked her later Oh Lee.. you are sooo making the flimsiest of excuses to stop by Amanda’s haaaa..
[okay okay I know it’s tag time, they’ve gotta end the episode together! ]
The script says they are BBQ tongs that Lee had borrowed them at some point off screen I think (I don’t think the scene where he borrows them is in the script – is it?!)
Amanda: Ah, you’re welcome.
Lee: Mm.
…Whoa!… Does the Mothers for a Safe Environment know about this?
[Lee making conversation here huh!!! ]
Amanda: No, and don’t you tell them, either.
[I like the idea of Lee and Amanda sharing a few secrets tee heee.. ] Lee laughs.
Amanda: We did get a municipal hearing on the toxic waste issue, though…
…We’re pretty proud of that, it’s a start.
Lee: Good, good. The news gets better. Our lab technicians finally found a way to neutralize those crystals.
[yes don’t bother to name them. flippin confusing!
I guess Fletcher did say they were close to figuring this out when he told Castille they had to act fast. oh and hooray.. they are not ‘lab boys’ they are lab technicans! I guess with Dr Mallory as boss they couldn’t be! ]
Amanda: Oh! That is good news.
Dotty [off-screen]: Amanda! I’ll be right down!
Weird.. ummm.. ok! whatever!! it’s umm your house you err don’t need her permission!! or to announce your arrival!!!
Amanda: Okay, mother!..
( To Lee) Well, look, I better get inside and neutralize my kitchen, heh. 
[yeah Lee she hasn’t got time to chat with you! Ask her out if you want a chat it can be just dinner! ahem.. ]
Lee: Ah.
Amanda: Wanna toss this for me, please?..
… Aw, come on, take it, it’s just a volcano.
haa! the super tough spy doesn’t want to touch the icky Volcano? haaa.. Well.. the episode ends here.. with Amanda being cheeky with Lee haaa love it!
Iwsod’s comments:
–Castille: You have to know how to handle women. This isn’t exactly Rio. It seems to me we had a similar discussion in Brazil.
this is interesting!!! you silly silly man! you have no idea who you are talking to here!! Come on.. get your black books out.. line them up.. bet Lee’s got more! Okay okay.. seriously though.. looks like Lee has tried to stop Castille’s mistreatment of women in a previous meeting years ago. I’m very happy to see Lee protecting women and standing up for them (and to me that does not equal diminishing or discounting them).
– Did you see Amanda? She had a pressing engagement.
I find it interesting that Castille delivers a pun here like this- as that’s usually Lee’s forte no? I wonder if Castille is meant to be an anti-Lee.. kind of like the equal opposite – where Lee is on the side of good and Castille is all evil. Okay okay. Maybe it’s just a good excuse for a pun.. I can hear BJo saying this now haaa.. and you’d probably be right BJo! tee heee.
– Lee: Thanks…partner.
Soooo what do you all make of this???!!!! Hmm.. so what is this the third time he has called her partner? I think so.. but interesting he said it in front of Jean no?? Umm.. I guess Jean now knows Amanda is agency.. oh well.. I like to think that after all this Jean was recruited into agency, relocated and given a job as a part- time secretary.. she wears a guest pass, but really she saves her neck of the woods from all sorts of disasters while teaming up to save some gorgeous hunk’s butt more times than reasonable. haaaa.. don’t mind me..
Anyway. An interesting first line from Lee in response to everything no?? I think he’s saying thanks partner because she really was his equal partner here – she always has been i suppose, but this time he actually counted on her to uphold her part of the plan – whereas previously Lee hadn’t counted on Amanda to distract baddies – she just did it anyway, while he grumbled that she didn’t stay in the car or something!
Hmm maybe Lee is also acknowledging that the only reason they knew where the crystals had gone was because of Amanda.. Lee was too busy being distracted by oompa loompas and his A in Chemistry
-Amanda and Jean
I love to see how Amanda treats Jean. She looks out for her, and immediately lets Lee know it was not her fault. She’s protective of her. And when the action is over, she’s reassuring and supportive – there is zero judgement here from Amanda towards Jean. Some may have been less than kind to Jean having been taken in ( lol like Lee in Artless Dodger when Amanda was taken in!) but not Amanda.
Amanda’s goodness, which Castille would loathe- is on full display here!
-Amanda is very firm with the boys in the tag- I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her do that before?? Do you think her growth in her professional life, her gaining of assertiveness and confidence has translated into firmer more confident parenting?? this would explain the change in the script from Amanda and Dotty banishing the boys and then cleaning up their mess for them – to this: where the boys have to clean it all up!! Me like!
-Wasn’t the volcano for Jamie’s school project? I hope it’s already been graded because Lee is going to throw it out!
-BBQ tongs
The returning of the tongs seems a bit random.. and is confusing.. but I like it- because it means at some point Lee did a little BBQ’ing.. he got into his living in the suburbs.. I can picture him having a go at this BBQ experience and finding it quite pleasant.. Hmm maybe this suburbs thing isn’t all bad!
–Amanda: We did get a municipal hearing on the toxic waste issue, though. We’re pretty proud of that, it’s a start.
I still don’t understand the issue lol.. but hey! it’s great to see that something came of it all. Things may not have worked out the way Jean had planned, but maybe her actions inadvertently still prompted an investigation into how safe the environment was. I’m relieved to see something positive and constructive came of the MSE group, and that the women were able to join together and bring about some action. Hooray! I love that Amanda says they are proud of that- so you should be!! I think Lee looks proud of it too. The underestimated perseverance of the women has gotten a result.. and he can see that is indeed something to be proud of it. Me like! Women should not be underestimated or expected to be home baking cakes- they can be contributing to the world in other ways too!! I think it is no different to Lee’s work – he does what he does to make the world a better place, and accomplish something and he is proud to see results – proud to see the crystals have now been neutralised.. so Lee in a way is a part of the Mothers for a safe environment after all??
No mention of what came of Jean though.. Hmm.. yeah I think I’m right- she’s moved on and joined the agency 🙂
So what have you all thought of this episode overall?
What do you think about the episode order??
What do you take away from this episode?? What do you make of Lee’s experience of living in the suburbs again?
What were they saying about women in this episode?
Looking forward to hearing from you!!! Next up.. is BJo’s Stats posts (2 of them) on Remembrance of things past.. and then her post recapping Amanda’s professional progress up to the end of Season Two- [if you get this done in time BJo, but if not no pressure.. it can be published after the next episode]
Then.. Finally!!! Season Three and Welcome to America Mr Brand [Regarding Season 3 blogging order see HERE] Wow.. Season 2 is done!!!! bye bye Season 2 oh!!! and bye bye hair don’t!!! whoo hoo!!
byeeee for now!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Amanda scolding the boys- Can I start by saying that I love Amanda so much! She reminded me of my own mother when I used to watch this show as a kid, and now that I am grown, her relationship with HER mother reminds me of mine now that I am around the age she was when this show was on.
“Thanks, partner!” I always thought the partner thing was kind for a slip up on Lee’s part. Like he was so … I guess excited about her idea on distracting the baddie.
The tongs- lol I loved this tag! it’s soooo classic “boy has a likes girl so he makes up excuses to see her / talk to her” thing. Kind of like when he first got the vette and he said that he had just “ended up” over at her house while out driving it. I don’t think at this point he understands why he is always “ending up” over at her house, I think he does it without realizing it and before he knows it, he’s up to his knees in love 🙂
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I was just over at Ned’s reading Jestress’ awards thread (hadn’t been to that one before — it’s great!). In the first episode Amanda was awarded a “Story-telling Patch” for telling Dotty that she was at her club to “save the clams” –another environmental action group! Now it’s interesting to think about when Amanda joined MSE and whether she joined in order to cover up all of her work with the Agency (maybe feeling less guilty about lying to Dotty if there really was a club). Then perhaps she became really interested in the objectives of the group and got appointed chairperson. Maybe?!?
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Could be. Amanda does go out of her way to not lie to Dotty whenever possible. Maybe she made up the story because she’d already started getting interested in the environment, even though she hadn’t joined any clubs yet, so when she got the chance to join one, she decided to go for it. One of the nice things about Amanda is her willingness to volunteer and go all out for a cause she believes in.
Glad you liked the awards, too! Thanks! 😀
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I don’t have much to say about this ep…as previously stated, it is one of my least favorites……I’m just ready to walk through Season 3…it is full of swoony good stuff and “good hair”……woo hoo.
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I kind of wished that Lee had mentioned the village at the base of the volcano when he saw it, just to continue the running gag. My science fair projects were never that interesting when I was a kid. I think the last one I did was about pendulums. I wasn’t really into the sciences.
It’s kind of cute that Lee borrowed Amanda’s barbecue tongs. Remember that Dotty’s requirements in a future son-in-law are that he can barbecue and have his “ownhair.” If she knew that “Mr. Sampson” could barbecue, she probably would have rushed right over and asked him to come to dinner herself. lol!
If you’d like to read my awards list for this episode, come visit the forum at Nedlinger’s: http://nedlindgers.proboards.com/thread/45/character-awards?page=5
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Put me in the “you go, Mom” camp too, for the way that Amanda handled the explosive situation with the boys. It does send a nice message about Amanda being able to be firm as well as gentle.
As for the volcano erupting, well, as a mother of two red-blooded, uninhibited, action-seeking boys, I can tell you that that volcano was history from the moment that vulnerable little village was placed at the bottom. I bet the project just came home from school that afternoon, and the boys wasted no time putting a plan that they had been sitting on for weeks into .action! So the eruption was inevitable in light of such an attractive nuisance. The part where the boys blew it was by not taking the thing into the back yard first!
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Hello!!! If you’ve voted for Vmothers before MBFriends I would love to hear your reasons why – I’m curious!!! I think it’s great that a few of you have gone against the grain! 🙂
I wouldn’t try and talk you out of seeing it how you do either – I can see good reasons for either order!
Though at the same time, I now see less reasons for MBF as the finale and more reasons for VM as the finale thanks to what some of you have shared here! LOL!!! 😎
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I don’t have any great insights as to why I picked MBF as the final. It is probably more of a shallow reason as I just think VM is BLAH and HOHUM. I think MBF kinda of set up a is Amanda going to leave the Agency for good and is she going to have a new love interest; even though you know that the answers are no! I just like that she called Lee to help her even though they didn’t work together anymore; it showed that they are good friends.
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Funny recap, iwsod!!! You’re on fire with this one!
I am soo glad they changed the script to have the boys clean up the kitchen. And I love that Amanda is so firm with them –I think this is the only time she is really like this with the boys. It’s about time!
I actually like Lee’s brown leather jacket here – more so than his others. And I think it’s nice how Lee is taking notice of something the boys did – even if it was to blow something up. Maybe that’s why he’s noticing! He’s admiring their work, just not saying that to Amanda in so many words. Is this the first time he’s not made a crack about the kids? He’s practically a suburbanite!
LOL, iwsod – it is a good excuse for a pun! And I like Castille’s pun much better than Lee’s. Castille’s was a bit more creative.
Ugh – I’m so glad this episode is over – all 3-5 minutes worth of watching. But those 3-5 minutes are very good minutes! And I appreciate all the funnies you put into each recap, iwsod – thanks for the laugh. It definitely made it much more of an interesting walk through this episode!
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Seems like I hear Lee’s voice calling Amanda “partner” before this. [Lee is the voice in my head. 🙂 ] Was it DOA, when Amanda was still drugged and he was humoring her? And maybe trying out the partner idea?
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Yes, that was it, the whole John Wayne thing with the hair dryer.
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I can recall three “partner” lines — this ep, DOA, and of course, the make you melt and cheer and squeal ending of Brunettes Are In.
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“The voice in your head.” laughs hysterically So hearing voices is a good thing?? Thank goodness! 😉
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Maybe Castille’s name was a pun, too. You know, castile soap, like Dr. Bronner’s? Lots of suds and good for the environment!
I’m curious about the discussion Lee and Castille had about women in Brazil, or Bolivia, or wherever it was. Could that have been an important point for Lee and his views on women? I can see him using women (in a less violent way) for his own purposes, then seeing Castille doing basically the same thing and realizing that that wasn’t a road he wanted to continue going down. If that first meeting was a step away from one type of manipulation, then meeting Castille at this time in his journey could signify another, even more decisive turning point, towards a positive relationship with one particular woman. I like iwsod’s idea of the opposite equal. Maybe Lee was using women for good ends. But now he is ending the whole “using women” scenario completely.
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I was thinking the same thing with “Castille.” It is soap. It was also the ruling family name in Spain. Not sure if that would signify anything though.
I like what you say about “using.” As I read what you wrote it occurred to me that Lee did use Amanda here, as a partner. For the first time he willingly engaged her as a partner and used her. Reaching again, but it just popped in there.
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That’s an interesting point. It highlights the difference between Castille and Lee that one uses while despising and hating, and the other uses while honoring and respecting.
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Re Amanda chastising the boys for exploding the volcano, it’s good to see her get a bit serious with the kids sometimes. It’s more realistic. We did see her get serious at one point with Alexi in the ACM Kid, and also with Magda in Dead Ringer. I like these instances when Amanda shows that she can be tough when the situation calls for it.
Maybe the volcano is a metaphor for feelings/emotions that are getting closer to the surface and about to erupt. Amanda handing Lee the volcano and saying “Aw, come on, take it, it’s just a volcano” does fit with where I see these two at the moment. Amanda is not afraid of her feelings but knows how to stop them overflowing until she knows that Lee is ready to return those feelings. Lee is beginning to feel the intensity of the bubbling feelings just under the surface but is still shying away from them. At this point he knows he wants Amanda as his friend, not just his partner, but he is not ready to admit he wants to take their relationship further – deep down is he already afraid the volcano might explode and irrevocably damage their friendship?
KC, before you say it, get your mind out of the gutter. That’s not what I meant! 😉 Actually, maybe it is partly what I meant. Thinking about it, Lee would be afraid not only of the emotions he is feeling but also of his increasing awareness of his physical/male reaction to Amanda. “Relationships” to him have mostly been about the physical and he has always seen Amanda has someone who deserves to be completely loved and respected in every sense, not just physically satisfied. He still can’t see himself being that man.
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Reading everyone’s comments is what has made this episode much more interesting than it was when I first watched it, especially the tag. I think it was the tag that set the tone for not really appreciating the episode. And I like what you say, Kiwismh, when you compare the volcano to Amanda and Lee’s emotions. Sometimes the good stuff in these episodes sneak up on you or get buried in the plot holes, but we get to dig deep and find the good stuff.
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Hi Valerie and everyone!
Oh I agree, the more I explore and discuss an episode.. the more I enjoy it.. there are moments when the plot craters seem to dominate but those moments don’t last – because we love this show and find the characters so enjoyable to watch and cheer for! you know?
plot issues can lead people to believe the writers were dim wits- but I think they’d be wrong to think that- they are capable of great work simultaneously 😉 LOL! So true Valerie we ‘get buried in plot holes, but we dig deep and find the good stuff’ – I think it’s worth wading through the plot holes, because sometimes we can make sense of them.. or just have a laugh.. 😉
And as was said a few days ago (sorry to whomever said it) – KJ and BB have done such a wonderful job with these characters!!!
Glad to hear you have enjoyed Vigilante Mothers a little more this time Jenbo – I have too! I hope it works this way with Mr Brand for you too- because I really like that episode!
Volcano a metaphor?? absolutely!!! I think it’s interesting that earlier the volcano sitting in view between Dotty and Amanda had not erupted.. but here between Lee and Amanda – it’s fully exploded 😉
Oh dear.. a volcano is very hot umm.. is there any connection between this and creepy Castille’s love of heat? 😉
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Hmmm, not sure now what Castille was planning to do with Jean. I thought he was going to use her as a hostage if he couldn’t make a clean get-away, but what’s the deal with sticking round to check out the suds? Was he going to put her I that container? Why not just shoot her? Contemplating all this may sound gruesome but I like there to be some method in the madness. 😉 Castille loses a few “serious baddie” points towards the end of this episode for not playing hard and tough for the full 46 minutes.
Iwsod, where the crystals went is a mystery but I assume Castille had stashed them somewhere and the Agency interrogated the location out of him afterwards. Hey, maybe the crystals were stashed in the container – was that why he was opening it up at the beginning of this sequence. A bit of a wet and steamy hidey-hole for crystals, so maybe not.
The questions keep coming, like why did Lee not just hold onto his gun for a couple of extra seconds to give Amanda enough time to distract Castille? I guess he didn’t want to risk Jean getting hurt and he didn’t anticipate Castille letting Jean go, which is exactly what Castille did as soon as Lee threw away has gun. Again, why did Castille not hold onto Jean and just shoot Lee? Sorry guys for the mental image of Lee being shot but it’s just not making any sense to me. Never mind, at least the Lee and Amanda stuff makes sense… most of the time. 😉
“This should clean up his act.” BB gets some pretty cheesy lines – I hope he got paid extra for having to say of this stuff with a straight face! I remember one episode he had a line about him sticking to someone like a10 week tan. I vividly recall the first time I saw that episode back in the 80’s, I was watching with my younger brother – BB delivered that line, my brother and I looked at each other then fell about in fits of laughter it was such a cheesy line of dialog for a tough super-spy to say. There was another line in an episode about information being squeezed out of someone like a tube of toothpaste that had us in fits of giggles too. 😀
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I know what you mean, Kiwismh, about those cheesy lines. Some of them are pretty bad. It’s like the bad jokes my students try to tell. Sometimes they are just groaners.
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Yes, kiwismh, it is cheesy lines that this that prompted the start of the GOLD club (Guardians of Lee’s Dignity). Lee had more of his share of them!
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I like what has been said so far. I find it interesting that Lee pauses before he says thank you to Amanda. It’s like he wants to emphasize that he means what he is about to say. He put his trust in her to distract Castille and that trust was well-founded as it has been all this time. He is not only recognizing it, he is acknowledging it.
As time goes on I think Lee sometimes is so focused on Amanda that he forgets others are around and just says (and does) some things without regard to who is around. Back in Billy’s office he had an idea about moving into Amanda’s neighborhood and didn’t think how his knowledge of Amanda’s neighborhood might look in front of Billy or Francine. I really don’t think he considered what Jean was thinking at all. Just like he was so focused on getting to Amanda it didn’t matter if Castille heard him yelling her name or not. Castille must not have heard him since he thinks Amanda kept her “pressing engagement, however:.
Love how Amanda deals with the boys. When I first saw it I was like “Wow, Amanda means business this time and the boys sure know it. No back talk or trying to weasel out of anything.”
The BBQ tongs used to throw me off as it was not something that was included in the episode and left up to us to try to figure out how they came into his possession. I have recently been reading some of the fan fictions and I think there was one that dealt with how Lee ended up with the tongs.
I have come to appreciate this episode as time has gone by and as we have walked through it. It does show a lot about how much things have changed between Lee and Amanda and how they react and respond to one another. There has been a lot of growth for the both of them in the last two seasons. Lee has grown so much emotionally and is much more open and accepting of Amanda as well as appreciating her more and seeing her as more than what he ever expected or anticipated. Amanda has grown as a mother (her dealing with the boys) and how she is dealing with life at the Agency. She knows how to deal with being a hostage and what the life of an agent is all about. She knows more fully what she has gotten into and is not shying away from it in the least. She is ready to take that step and move forward into that life. She is also getting to see the growth that Lee is making as well.
I need to stop writing so much. Sometimes I think I’m starting to ramble.
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Keep rambling Valerie. I like what you say here. 😀
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Ditto! Good thoughts all around here which definitely gave me more of an appreciation for the good moments in this episode. I can see why this comes after BO and MBF, even though I think it’s a pretty weak plot in all. It does highlight the growth between Lee and Amanda.
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I so agree that the line of you have to know how to handle your women only works now after this episode. Lee is finally realizing that Amanda is free spirit and can’t be tied down. She’s going to do whatever she can to help. He is realizing how useful she is. I think the difference with Lee and Castille in regards to how they treat their women is that Castille is drawing women in to fall for him so they can do the “dirty work” for him, but I think they women in Lee’s black books knew that there were no stings. They were just going to be getting together for a “good time” with no long term expectations. I agree with a post in an earlier section that Lee has manipulated Amanda a times to get him to do what he wants, but again, it has been for national security. Times are a changing. First episode he doesn’t work with partners, now he is freely admitting that Amanda is his partner. Everything coming full circle. Jean probably won’t completely get away with what she has done. She will have some punishment and will have to testify against Castille. She may have to go into the witness protection program. I never thought about the volcano erupting being symbolic of Lee and Amanda at this point (ready to erupt). It makes the tag much more likeable thinking about it that way.
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In my mind, I saw Lee acknowledging Amanda as his partner, and Jean seeing it as the fact that Amanda helped get her away from Castille. I don’t know that she saw anything beyond that. I also see the Agency basically telling her she couldn’t talk about what happened for her own safety. Lee would have reminded Billy that she could compromise Amanda if known as Agency, so Amanda would have been treated as if she was just a “helpful bystander” in front of Jean.
I do enjoy the tag! Lovely little moment where Lee and Amanda can connect as friends, not just co-workers. Neighbors borrow things, Lee’s done a very suburban thing here. The BBQ was probably an impromptu thing to “stay with the image.” Maybe even for the MSE group? I like to think that Lee hung around for a while in the suburbs before he “had to move due to his work.” Which goes with this being the last episode.
I do see it as the final episode for many of the same reasons as others. It’s a nice bookend to how much Lee has changed toward Amanda and accepting all of her, not just the agency co-worker part. He’s learning that he could be comfortable in all areas of her life, as she has become in his. He can handle life in the suburbs; she can take a more active role in the agency. Lovely stuff here. Can’t wait for S3, but looking forward to more goodness from BJo, too.
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I agree Debilyn, with your view of how Jean would read the “partner’ exchange. We know better, but she would just see it as Lee acknowledging that he and the housewife acted as a team in getting the bad guy.
I also like the idea of a little time having gone by between the arrest of Castille and the tag. It gives time for the volcano project to be graded, for crystals to be neutralized, for the MSE’s efforts to be recognized. And of course it’s lovely to think that Lee did not rush out of the house once the job was done! In fact, maybe he had Amanda over for a secret BBQ celebration — after all, she told him they could have dinner.
And bringing the tongs back also takes us back a year to an episode at the end of S1 where he returns the toothbrush. Nice to ponder what a difference a year has made!
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Season 2 Rank the Baddies is almost done (just putting on some finishing touches!).
While I LOVE that Lee called Amanda partner, I found it odd it was in front of Jean (unless he figured she would keep this quiet to not draw attention to her role in this mess.).
Love Amanda dealing with the boys — it was very believable and I am thrilled she is no longer a door mat when her boys are concerned. I must admit my walls and ceiling look like this most of the time because I have an extremely resourceful, extremely sensory seeking not-so-little-boy (Right now I am dealing with soy sauce spatter pattern in the bathroom and no super hunky spy to help ;-()
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Subtleties. Who pointed that out in the last post? The actors do an amazing job with subtleties all the time that is why it is such a great show. But here it is the writers as well (they don’t always do a good job with plots, but they do when it comes to Lee and Amanda). I always notice Castille’s line about knowing how to treat women. If this line was part of an earlier season 2 script it wouldn’t work like it does here at this point of Lee’s story. Didn’t we see Lee just a few scenes ago hesitating with how to proceed with a personal non work related friendship? I love this line after the events of ALSALS and right before we see Lee attempting to change the way he has always operated. I love hearing this line as Lee gives Amanda her first chance to operate as an equal partner. It works. One line from a skeevy baddie and it underscores the change in Lee Stetson over a whole season.
“Thanks, partner”! Wow! “Partner”? That is not like the partner with the handshake in BAI. That one was special and nice, and it was sort of an invitation and an apology. But this one was like a recognition of a reality. And it was accompanied by “thank you”! A thank you from Lee, in front of people! Wow!
The volcano! Love that it erupted! Oh, there is a metaphor there for so many things, the partnership, their personal relationship. Maybe even Amanda’s growth and Lee’s growth. Stuff that was bottled up for so long becoming unstopped. Can’t wait to discuss all that comes to the surface in season 3. One of the first season 2 episodes is “Times Are a Changin’ ” yup, change has erupted all over the place, gnarly! 😉
And Amanda hands the messy volcano to Lee. He he, getting his hands dirty in the suburbs with the mischievous acts of two little boys. What an domestic exchange, here are your BBQ tongs, oh hey can you through out this volcano? What a way to end season 2. Remember Lee’s face in TFT in the tag when Amanda is going on about the dentist and the vegetable man? I bet he never would thought he would be in this place in this tag at he end of season 2.
I wrote a story that includes a little bit after this scene. It is called Cutting the Grass and the second part has the bit about Lee in the suburbs if any one wants to read it, it is here. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9590116/1/Cutting-the-Grass
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I have enjoyed this walk through far more than when. I first saw the episode. I am really hoping it works same way for Mr Brand 😉
Lee is positively gushing in his praise here. Partner?! Denial is no longer a river in Egypt it seems 😉 Now if he can just acknowledge she’s his partner in front of Francine and Billy and Christmas will have come early.
This scene in the laundry reminds me of a rather gruesome one in Spooks! Thankfully this one had a nicer ending phew
I am useless at puns…..nearly a lame as Castlille’s plunge into the suds. If he has the strength to grip the side of the tub am sure he can haul himself out of the water 😉
It’s nice to see Amanda putting her foot down about the boys although brown lava is rather disappointing. What no red?! Now if you want truly volcanic eruptions try Mentos mints in a bottle of coke. Now that is gnarly. My kids enjoyed doing it but thankfully out in the garden rather than the kitchen.
The BBQ tongs…..weird. Surely Lee has been a bit too busy to BBQ?! He didn’t even seem to be in the Cooperman house for that long. Let’s face it Lee you’re scraping the barrel for excuses to visit 😉
Am very excited we have reached season 3 woo hoo!
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I’ve tried the Mentos thing. Even more impressive is dry ice mixed with water. I have access to dry ice where I work, and it makes a funny, heavier-than-air eruption. Or, you put it in a bottle with water and cap it really quick and run away. We’ve used the resulting explosion to shoot baseballs out of launch tubes, and blow buckets into the air. I wonder what the boys used in their volcano? Nothing I know of would splatter everything so bad without completely shattering the volcano as well.
I am looking forward to season 3, and especially seeing everyone’s discussion about episode order. I’m not real familiar with those first several, but I did notice there was some discontinuities. I can’t offer a resolved order of my own yet, but am hoping to get it sorted out with the help of everyone’s brilliant comments. Looking forward to BJo’s posts, too, and Cindy’s Rank the Baddies!
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Happy Camper, I am so glad my sons don’t read this blog! I would be in so much trouble if the read what you wrote, maybe they would be in so much trouble? My whole house and yard would definitely be gnarly!
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I laugh every time I watch this ep and hear that line. I had a cousin who would be about two years younger than Jamie if I’m remembering birth years correctly and he used gnarly all the time when we were growing up.
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Whatever it was, it sounds like chemicals were involved. Wonder if they let Greg Morton and Paul Stout participate in the volcano explosion . . .
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