Billy and Francine leave Lee, Amanda and Brand..
Amanda: Ohhh thanks a lot Lee! [He did owe Amanda one! 
]
James: much obliged to you old chap.
Lee: You heard Billy. You’re just watching right?!
Amanda: that’s right.
James just smiles silently..
Lee: Okay, now that’s all we can do until the medical examiner comes up with a report on what killed Munson.
Amanda: right.
Lee lets out a big sigh: Uhhh I’ve got to go see Dr Pain.
Amanda: oh no. Well you be careful.
Lee: I will.
[How naturally does Lee deal with Amanda’s concern these days? Early Lee would have grumbled that of course he’ll be fine!! ]
James: I tell you what, you know. I’ve had a bit of experience with the martial arts..
James offers to show Lee a trick or two.. [man.. he really is delusional! did you believe James when you first saw this?? ]
Lee and Amanda share a look- Amanda smiles silently and shrugs.. Love how Lee and Amanda have a silent conversation here!! 
Lee responds to the offer for help: I appreciate it Brand, but ah…
(at this Amanda screws up her nose to Lee- encouraging Lee not to crush James IMHO!)
… I told you before. I can handle myself.
I love how Amanda watches Lee throughout this moment-one of the best moments in the episode IMHO! I think Lee is very restrained!!!!
See my comments below- IMHO Lee is extremely patient with James here. Wow! Well done Lee!
James shows Lee the Cobra Death grip –on himself..
oh boy.. Lee and Amanda exchange another look – like: Is this guy for real??!!!!
James cracks his own neck
and slumps to the ground. It is utterly ridiculous.. sooo I’ll just go with it I agree with Lee and Amanda.. the guy is seriously kooky! Needs to see Dr Pfaff! It’s pretty funny though how Lee and Amanda react to him! haaaaaa..
Amanda doesn’t even try to break his fall, she just watches him astonished at how he could have done that to himself! does anyone find this funny? Amanda is funny here!
Lee and Amanda’s lack of concern for James is pretty funny!
The scene ends there..
On to Amanda’s! whooo we see a new shot here of the 
house!!
Dotty is sitting outside on the patio working hard on the family tree.. and is finding her roots to be extremely tangled!
Amanda: still climbing the family tree mother?
Dotty: we seem to be related to the fourth earl of Chipstead. Silly Sot! Left his wife for a publican’s 
daughter. Who was pregnant by the earl’s own brother-in-law Louis, the King’s viceroy to France.
Amanda: what happened?! Dotty: A duel naturally, I mean they killed each other. That little tart ran off with Louis’ second- can you believe it.
At this they are cut off by frantic Jamie running up to them. [followed by Phillip]
Jamie: Mom! Look what he did.
Amanda bends down to look at Jamie’s top… worried it could be something harmful to Jamie.
Amanda: Oh my!!! [I dont’ hear ‘gosh’!]
Phillip: I told him to keep his hands out of my stuff.
Amanda: oh Phillip what is this some kind of a chemical? [eek!! evil chemicals!! notify Mothers for a safe environment!!]
Phillip: It’s just disappearing ink.
Jamie: He said it would make me disappear!
Amanda to Jamie: Okay sweetheart.
Someone at the same time says: you owe me a new shirt! [guess it’s Jamie, but to me it sounds like Phillip. whatever!]
Amanda: okay fellas!
[Aha!!! see Amanda’s necklace everyone???!!! If I am not mistaken.. this our first heart necklace sighting!!]
to Phillip (Amanda picks up a basket of washing and hands it to him): …look Phillip do me a favour and you disappear upstairs and do your homework. Go on.
[of course Phillip grumbles about this! ]
Amanda motions to Jamie to go upstairs: you too young man, and change that shirt!
At this a car horn toots..
Dotty: Ah that must be your Englishman.
Amanda: ha. Yes. Well..
Dotty: is he tall, dark and handsome? [I’d say he’s one of those ]
Amanda pauses a moment to search for an answer: Ohhh.. he’s……
…nice
Dotty makes affirming sounds Amanda kisses her goodbye.. and Dotty says goodbye and goes back to working on her scandalous relatives..
Dotty! stop her!!! she is going to leave the house in her pyjamas!!! I can’t tell her to go home and change!!! she is already home.. noooo!!!! Oh well.. with the pants outfit.. this is a sure sign Amanda will be seeing some kind of action soon!
Amanda exits out her front door and finds James opening the front gate for her. [I hear lots of sparrows KC! ] I can just make out he mumbles: ‘oh how lovely you look’ to Amanda awh!
Amanda: hello James, oh you look very handsome.
James: Oh thank you so very much.
At this… Amanda exclaims over how beautiful James’ car is.. To me she says this like it’s the first time she’s seen it.. only she saw it earlier when they went to Munson’s. I guess she didn’t have time then to tell him. and.. she could be making conversation.
James explains the car is an Aston Martin DB5 – yes the same car James Bond drove!! James does spend a lot of money in his quest to be like JB! James opens the car door for Amanda.. he has impeccable manners 
[the light in this scene looks like the sun is setting.. it’s out of place with the later, sunny garden party.. but oh well.. ]
I love that there is no hint of romance at all between Amanda and James.. it could have been tempting to add a bit of adoration from James. but it would have ruined everything! what do you think?
Watch the right front of James’ car as he gets in.. you can actually see the sound person’s reflection as they step away! tee hee!
James shows off all the gadgets he has in his car.. we’ll need to take note for later.. we can tell because they spend soo much flippin time showing us aaaaaaall the buttons!!!!
This one releases oil onto the road..
this one is a lever to pull and – smoke bomb!
Amanda is listening very carefully.. haa oh Amanda! bless her!
push this down and it releases 2 50mm cannons..
and pressing something else we don’t see: ‘an ejection seat’.. (I vaguely remember thinking at mention of the ejection seat that aha.. sooo he is putting Amanda on here! that last one tipped it over the edge for me given the roof is solid metal)
If I were Amanda.. err I would let James deal with the air conditioning and stereo controls on this trip.. wouldn’t want to press the wrong button!! [Reminds me of the fight scene in top secret! where the truck is moving, and Nick Rivers reaches in to fiddle with the bad guy’s stereo just to land a blow! ouch!! that’s gotta hurt! ]
Amanda: James, what are all these things for?!
[I love how she says this.. like umm.. ohh it’s nothing ..but umm why do you have a cannon?!]
James: Emergencies!
He starts the engine.. and nothing blows up.. off they go to the garden party The scene ends here.. so I shall too!
Iwsod’s comments:
-Cobra death grip
I’ve always been so distracted by silly James here.. that I’ve failed to pick up on the second thing happening in this scene – Lee and Amanda So glad I finally saw this!
Lee is very kind to James here. He doesn’t get mad with him. When James offers Lee fighting tips, Lee thanks him for the offer and is very gracious – James would have deserved to be put in his place here.. but in contrast to how Billy dealt with James, Lee doesn’t put him down. I think Amanda watches Lee interact with James here and feels great pride in Lee..(and IMHO this is pretty darn sexy) – how swoony is it??!! I think it is one of the most swoony things I’ve seen Lee do so far!
One good thing about James being annoying at times is, we get to see how the characters deal with this, and see moments like this- where Lee is gracious..
– the family tree.
Especially after Vigilante Mothers, it’s funny to see Dotty’s working on the family tree has turned into a gossip session.. it’s really a search for gossip tee hee..
Is it just me or is it a bit strange to hear Dotty complain to Amanda about a man who left his wife???!!! It’s like it is completely forgotten that Joe left Amanda (Joe who? ) Then again- do we know at this stage Joe left? I’m thinking we’ve only been told they were divorced. ? Maybe they hadn’t decided on a backstory for Amanda and Joe at this stage?? anyone??
Soooo what were the writers aiming for with this whole family tree subplot?? or.. maybe we need to keep watching to find out.. 😉
I love how Amanda doesn’t criticise James to her mother.. I can’t think of a time when Amanda criticises another person to a third person. Unless she’s talking about a baddie!!! can you?? I think this is a wonderful quality!
– The Aston Martin.
I think Amanda has judged James to be a good guy, so she wants to see him in a positive light.. and therefore doesn’t really question whether he is for real with all these gadgets.. she thinks it’s strange for sure.. but from what she does later she at least thinks they could be real I guess.. I don’t know!
James is very shrewd in some ways..but also-very deluded!.. but……. Nice! tee heeee..
I’ll go with Amanda .. He’s nice!
In previous watchings I’ve lampooned James Brand as Mr Bean – and had a good old time teeehee…. heck, feel free to if you like.. but I now find his and Amanda’s story so poignant that I don’t want to be making fun of him throughout.. maybe like Amanda I want to see him in a positive light too!
Can’t wait to hear from you !! Hope you are coping okay with my actually not being bothered by James! He’s growing on me!!! But feel free to say what you think byeee for now!
"Just walk with me.." 
Family tree “gossip” – my uncle researched our family tree but wouldn’t share more than the basic “who-begat-who” with the rest of us because he said we wouldn’t like most of what he found out. Several of us told him that’s the fun of looking into family history – the skeletons are as much fun as the rest. LOL!
This is the one scene with James that really goes too far, I agree. Poor James, trying a little too hard to make people like him and believe what he has to share. Unfortunately, I know a few folks just like this – they try too hard and end up becoming almost a laughingstock. One became a good friend, eventually, but it took patience and acceptance (and time). Maybe that’s why I accept James so easily. (shrug)
Oh, the outfit – my aunt had a green one just like it. I remember seeing quite a few ladies with similar outfits back-in-the-day. It was a short-lived fashion trend. 🙂
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LOL – love how Lee immediately pulls back on the reins with the “you’re just watching” while also pointing his finger at them. Having an immediate moment of doubt here, Lee?
Love your description of this Cobra death grip scene, iwsod! Too funny. I think Amanda’s lack of concern for James here really shows us something. I’m not exactly sure what though. Obviously she doesn’t care for him as a friend and so you could say she is being professional. Maybe she is just taken by surprise and doesn’t know what to do so does nothing? I’d like to think that she is acting like Lee would have acted – in the post before LAAL pointed out that Amanda was being Lee. I also think Amanda is perhaps showing unity with Lee. Maybe unity isn’t the right word. I think this is her way of saying to Lee that even though she likes James, she does realize he is quite a ding dong and even she has her professional limits?
Oh! The boys look so much older here! Love their new haircuts!
Oh gag! That pink quilted parachute pajama outfit is quite possibly Amanda’s worst outfit of the series!!! Give me the hair don’t in a gorgeous outfit over gorgeous hair in this outfit any day!
Good point, iwsod! James as a womanizer is about the ONLY James Bond reference SMK doesn’t make in this episode. It must have been tempting to add in, but they obviously consciously decided to keep it out. I wonder why.
I have no idea on the family tree subplot other than to say Dotty wanted to impress James or have Amanda impress James with some of her lineage perhaps.
Hmmm, Amanda criticizing another person to a third person, other than a baddie…I don’t think she has. I think she might a time or two in the future, but I’m not even 100% positive of it. It is a lovely quality – one that I sadly do not possess.
I am not bothered by James in this episode so much, but I do think there is just a wee bit of overkill.
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So I was thinking… If the theme of this episode is that appearances can be deceiving I think there is a twist on this going on between Lee and Amanda. They have gotten to know each other very well, but I think the inclusion of James here gives them the ability to see each other in a slightly different light. Lee gets to watch Amanda apply what she has learned from him as she leads another and Amanda gets to watch Lee use the people skills that he has learned with Amanda with another. The fact that what they have hoped the other has learned through their own personal relationship being used with a third person testifies to the fact that these changes are becoming a true part of who the person is. I think both of them saw the changes and perhaps there were glimmers of change, but they have each others attention now. So instead of appearances being deceiving, these are revealing.
I also like what you said in another comment, Iwsod, about Lee relating to Amanda in a professional way and that being why he isn’t touching her. Maybe before he would treat her as the little housewife he needed to shepherd around, but here she is his partner and he is learning how to work with Amanda in a professional manner. That makes sense to me here.
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Like this a lot, Morley!!
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Guess this is why we call you Dr. Pfaff? This is a very insightful comment, Morley.
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I like the thought of the role exchange between Lee and Amanda, and the chance for each to observe the other practicing what they have learned. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who dislikes the pink outfit. I had one like that, only mine actually was pajamas!
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So glad to be able to catch up reading and be able comment. Am loving all the comments and it is making me appreciate this episode so much more. There is so much going on just beneath the surface for Lee and Amanda. Love the calmer, gentler Lee.
Amanda’s outfit is just inexplicable. The outfit doesn’t seem to be appropriate for the party and it is just too awful. It most certainly does look like pajamas. I’m going to have to think long and hard about why they would choose to dress her in this. Definitely a fashion tragedy.
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I can’t help but notice that heart necklace. So glad you pointed it out Iwsod. There has got to be a story behind her necklaces. I like to insert the one called “An Open Heart”.
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I’m with you, iwsod, on the Cobra Death scene. James is ridiculous, but the interplay between Lee and Amanda is lovely! Lee truly on his best behavior here, and we all know why 🙂 I have a thought on the significance of this scene that I will share for later when it is more relevant.
I don’t think there is too much significance to Dotty’s ancestral exposee except to complement the English theme. Whenever a royal event occurs in England, Americans are charmed by it. (I do love how watching SMK brings back memories of news events and fashion trends, etc from the 80’s.) When Americans think of the English, one thing that comes quickly to mind is English history. We don’t know the family lines like English school kids are taught, but we do know that it is delightfully sordid and inbred. Therefore, I like how you have termed it, iwsod, that Dotty’s research has turned into a gossip session.
I try to be tolerant of Amanda’s and even Francine’s fashions, having been a young adult in the 80’s myself. However, this outfit of Amanda’s REALLY does not work for me. I read someone once saying it looked like she had pulled a fancy quilted bedspread off the bed and worn it. I always get a giggle when I see Amanda in this outfit because it always makes me think of that wonderful Carol Burnett Show scene where CB is playing “Gone with the WInd”s Scarlet O’Hara, who makes a dress from her curtains when the plantation runs out of money during the CIvil War. (CB plays Scarlet as very proud, which she was (someone who would NEVER admit to wearing a dress made of old curtains), but the scene shows Scarlet in her lovely new dress with a curtain rod going across the shoulders. Don’t have time to look for a link, but I’m sure there’s a clip of it out there somewhere!)
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Yep, Calling the Fashion Police!! Hated the pukey pink outfit when I first saw it, hate it now. Ha ha Jenbo, I have visions of Amanda getting mini-shocks every time she moves by the static cling jammies. 😉 (I am so shallow, I spend the whole time yelling at Amanda to go back and change clothes before she’s arrested and have to go back and listen to the conversation again.) No dukes in my family, just a bunch of serfs and peasants wandering around Eastern Europe and catching a slow boat to NYC’s lower east side in the 1880s.
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Amanda/KJ probably had dryer sheets stuffed in the pockets and pinned to the inside pretty much everywhere in order for it not to be doing the static cling thing…
Oh, wait–this was the ’80s. I guess there weren’t dryer sheets back then? In that case, the wardrobe people should have been forced to wear that outfit themselves. For a month. Or more. During October. (The height of the Santa Ana season here in SoCal. [Humidity often in the single digits.] Muah hah hah! They’d’ve been generating their own electricity… no Van de Graaff machine needed!!!)
😀
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LOL I am now picturing Amanda strutting along with her hair stood out on end, no Van de Graaff indeed
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I had blue pjs just like that back then. That is all I can think of when I see this outfit.
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Rofl! Does anyone actually like Amanda’s pink pyjamas?? !!! Too funny Cindy, Jule and KC! I agree.. she’d be sparking left right and centre.. on a hot day she’d get a heat rash!
I think Amanda needs to be very careful to stay away from gas ovens.. you never know – one spark is all it would take! Kaboom! 😉
Yeah Cindy I too struggle to dislike Francine’s upcoming comment – I ended up being much more interested in another aspect of that scene anyway.. you’ll see it’s in the next post!
I figured they were trying to dress her up but keep it possible for her to do the upcoming action moment.. a bit like she did in Times they are a changin – that outfit looked a bit pyjama like too.. but then she had to be able to ride a motorbike in it!
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Yes Iwsod, I think we catch Amanda again admiring Lee as he goes easy on James. She’s once again seeing a man who very much impresses and interests her, someone who she is beginning to realise does have all the qualities she’s looking for and needs. It’s getter harder for Amanda to keep a lid on those pesky thoughts that maybe they could be more than friends one day.
Love how Lee and Amanda are so comfortable with each other now, the communication flows so effortlessly without words. But still they’re both holding back from really contemplating where their friendship could take them. Lee more-so than Amanda at this point – not because he has less feeling for her but because to love and be loved in a “normal” relationship is so much more foreign to him than it is to Amanda.
For so many years he’s hidden his heart away and built up some fairly robust defence mechanisms around it. Amanda has long since found her way to his heart but right now he’s still not ready to acknowledge that – but soon he will. 🙂
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Hi Kiwismh! yeah.. it’s lovely to watch Amanda noticing Lee being a good man 🙂
I wonder if Lee is beginning to notice too? 😉 All your thoughts here on Lee sound good to me!
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Hi Everyone,
I have been so, so busy and so, so missing this blog and you all. Last week we had a special school celebration with all these activities and this afternoon we had an open house. But SMK was never far away. Our main theme for the week was Science and the older students had to do Science Projects (no volcanoes). But the underlying theme was the environment and we even visited a recycling center, however, we didn’t have any mothers protesting (other than the cold).
To prepare for the open house I had my students rearrange their desks and form tables. They picked names for themselves and one table chose Cobra as a name and I asked if it was related to the “cobra death grip”. They looked at me funny and I just had to explain. I even took in my DVDs and showed them what I was talking about. They liked what they saw. And the kid who came up with the cobra name is also a Bond fan. I may have some future SMK fans. I am in the process of trying to catch up and hope to comment again soon. Just wanted to stop in and say hey!!
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Ninja sneak attack! Love it — I have introduced my students to finer things before (mainly Monty Python), but not with SMK. 🙂
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Hi Valerie! Great to hear from you! I was wondering where you had gotten to!
Off spreading some smk goodness from the sounds of things – well done!!! I think smk is a great show for showing that men need to treat women well if they are really going to fall for them.. a lovely relationship ( okay except for the odd really wrong moment which LOL)
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Agghhh, that pink outfit! It’s such a heinous fashion felony I can’t even process it. 😯 Like the hair-don’t of S2, my mind is supplying a different image. I also have to ignore Francine’s quip about it shortly. Amanda has so many nice outfits she could have worn. In fact, her wardrobe is amazing given her limited budget but I also imagine she sews a lot… when she gets time… okay, she’s an expert seamstress and can whip up an outfit in an hour! 😉 That’s enough SMK mental gymnastics for one day – I’m exhausted!
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Yep, that pink thing is not the most flattering on Amanda for sure, which is why I don’t even mind Francine’s comment coming up.
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I am guessing Lee and Amanda just watched the cobra death grip as they probably thought James was just clowning around. If only his clowning was actually funny……
It’s a shame as I think they ruined James with this type of stupid antics. By all means make him overly enthusiastic but this is just downright daft.
James is having his Secret Life of Walter Mitty with his DB5 and it’s imaginary gadgets. James could have been an interesting character but the writers stuck to slapstick and delusional fantasies. Which is a shame because when he isn’t making a fool of himself I am kinda warming to him.
How on earth does Amanda get away with wearing that PJ outfit without suffering chronic static and clinging issues?! I shan’t mention the obvious need for FASHION POLICE! And the quilted lapels?! Urgh…..
I think way back many family tree’s contain much gossip (although how Dotty would glean that type of gossip from genealogy books and not having UK records to hand I don’t know……..yeah yeah as my husband tells me don’t spoil the magic by poking holes in the silly sub plots LOL). My own family are allegedly related to the Scottish Dukes of Buccleuch but shhhhhhhh it was “wrong side of the blanket” as my grandmother terms it ;). Another relative ended up in a lunatic asylum and died relatively young 😦
Sorry bit of a Amandaramble there 😉
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