Although season 2 starts off a little slowly in terms of Amanda’s professional growth IMHO, it ends up being an extremely formative year for her and full of growth by the end. Her world is expanded to Europe, where she is equally successful at applying her intuitive and every day, “normal” smarts. And despite suffering some setbacks in OMIT and ACA, she continues to watch and learn from Lee and never totally gives up her desire to work for the Agency and to maybe become a full-fledged agent someday. Her bravery never falters, and she always manages to help Lee in some crucial way in every case.
Thanks again to iwsod for granting me permission to use her lovely screen caps!! 
I am following the JWWM revised season 2 order, not the original airing order. (See Nedlindger’s for this discussion.. JWWM has discussed the season 2 order throughout the walk, but will eventually publish a post on it and bring it all together! 🙂 )
In the first four episodes of season 2, we see Amanda in some very different assignments than she’s had before. She even gets to travel to Europe for 3 of them! By now both Lee and Billy are aware that Amanda does bring value to the Agency and to Lee, and they have begun to have some level of trust in her. Although she is still part-time, she has definitely become an accepted part of the Agency.
In Mongoose, Billy sends Amanda to Europe on her own to identify an 
old high school classmate of hers. And although Connie Barnhill’s crush on Amanda helps loosen his tongue, she shows she knows just the right way to get him to talk when Lee’s good buy/bad guy technique fails. Even Inspector Keaton thinks she’s pretty good! And
in the end, I think Amanda even earns a bit more of Lee’s respect for her intuition when he admits that she was right about Connie.
Remember that trust capital I talked about in the last post? Well Amanda gets to spend some of it in the next two episodes. In TTTAAC, Amanda gets to go back to Europe to be a messenger. 
Although the Agency does trust her to deliver the messages, she is not trusted enough to be told that up front. She is not happy about that, but according to Lee, it is for her own safety. Amanda is successful 
at delivering her messages. Billy rewards her by letting her go to the Baron’s soiree and even makes Francine lend her an outfit. Lee even gives her a little job at the Baron’s party when he asks her to “get rid of the woman” so they can talk to the Good Will Ambassador. Amanda doesn’t look very comfortable with this, but Lee knows she can do it.
And in the end, Amanda’s every day smarts and bravery are on display as she is the one to figure out the Baron’s target and insists on 
going with Lee to the Glockenspiel where the attempted assassination will be because her family is there. Job well done, Amanda! And right in front of Billy and Francine, too!
In Double Agent, we are back in D.C. where Amanda shines again. Although the premise of the episode is that the
Agency is using unqualified, civilian employees to do the work of agents, resulting in near catastrophe, it is our favorite unqualified, civilian employee who ends up saving the Agency and Lee. It is Amanda’s knowledge of Harriman’s books that clues Lee in immediately to the fact that he has the wrong manuscript at first. 
And it is Amanda who saves herself and Lee in the burning warehouse when Lee has no plan of his own. Once again we see how Amanda’s everyday smarts play a big role in a case.
I also think this episode shows that Billy especially sees Amanda’s abilities and her bravery, and so he lets her decide for herself to do the baddies’ bidding instead of using Francine.
In TLODG, we have a new twist. Amanda is brought onto an assignment by Emily Farnsworth – not Lee or Billy. 
Amanda’s keen memory and awareness of boys’ magazine puzzles help point Lee in the right direction. She doesn’t falter when having to jump in the lake at the Castle on 
the Lake and she looks pretty 
fierce with Dr. Hanover, preventing him from even trying to escape.
Amanda also is reminded of just how serious the spy business really is when Marianna breathes her last breath while Amanda is holding her 
head. She learns from Lee that she can’t take to heart what happened to Marianna or blame herself in any way for it.
I know ACA is not high on anyone’s favorite episodes list, but it does reveal two very important things to everyone with regard to Amanda’s career: 1) she is nowhere near ready to be considered for agent training with such things as guns, zip lines, and car chases, and
2) her most valuable assets to Lee and the Agency are in her intuition, memory, ability to make connections that none of the agents see because she is “normal”, and in her bravery, as we see exhibited once again when she goes back to Dodge City to tell Lee about Peggy despite the danger.
Not withstanding the training fiasco in ACA, Amanda is given two more European jobs. The first is a big solo opportunity to be a courier in OMIT, and the second is as part of Lee’s cover in AABH. Although OMIT is arguably one of the best Lee eye-candy episodes, it is another learning opportunity for Amanda.
Disappointingly, she ends up in jail for counterfeiting and Lee is very unhappily sent to bail her out. We do get to see her use her proven skills though, with her intuition telling her that a milkman just doesn’t 
seem like the right person to be running a counterfeiting ring, her noticing the “weird boat” on the lake, and getting Old Gunther to talk. Bromfield Hall is much the same, where we see more of Amanda’s luck and knack for being in the right place at the right time benefiting Lee and the case. It is a good thing Lee gave in to Amanda’s insistence to 
stay on this case instead of getting sent home, otherwise he might never have survived or caught the bad guys.
Do you remember this scene in TACMK?
This is when Lee tells Amanda that he learned you can’t look back in the spy business. I think Amanda must have taken that to heart, because despite all the setbacks and Lee continually trying to keep her out of harm’s way or send her back home to her children, she never gives up believing in herself and fighting to be allowed to stay involved in her and Lee’s cases. I love iwsod’s screen cap below from AABH, which clearly illustrates that she just can’t help but believe she offers something valuable to Lee. 
I think this is also one of her best qualities even though it takes Lee and Billy a while to realize it. It also helps her impress both Lee and Emily in the next episode.
In TTFOE, Amanda gets involved because the Agency’s safe house burns 
down. Her dining room is turned into the Soviet Embassy, and despite not knowing what to think initially, Amanda acts like a pro and goes with it – no whining, no complaining, and no looking back. We witness her bravery again in meeting the two baddies for a second time, and she even helps Emily with her accurate arm. It never really comes up again (at least I don’t think it does – and I’m sure someone will point it out if I’m mistaken), but I think Emily must somehow inspire Amanda, 
especially after she learns Emily got involved in the spy business similarly to the way she did.
BAI is a huge episode for Amanda professionally. I think Billy rewards 
her for a job well done in TTFOE with another solo courier assignment. Although it is not her fault the microdot gets stolen, she and Lee have a huge fight and she decides to resign from the Agency. 
We see her intentionally take out a baddie (a first?), unlike accidental times in the past (think Peggy in ACA or Inga in TTTAAC), and it even impresses Lee enough to brag to Francine about it. In the end, Amanda decides that she is proud of her job and wants to stay with the Agency. 
She even earns the title of “partner” from Lee. Amanda’s proven her loyalty and dedication to him as well as saved his life by watching his back and helped to solve his cases. Despite her status as a part-time, untrained civilian, even Lee can no longer deny her usefulness. Or that he likes working with her 
This is all I can manage to say about CW.
At least Lee lets Amanda know he sees that she saved him once again. She’s earned that. I’m sorry CW fans, but other than that one lovely scene at the phone booth and Billy’s face when he tells Scarecrow to “break” Mario, I think this episode is in the running to be #88 out of 88 on my list.
I’m going to end this post here. There is no way to do justice to the second half of this season and keep this post to a readable length.
I suppose I could have skipped the first part of season 2, but it think it’s important because it shows off Amanda’s persistence and ability to fight through the hard times but still learn and grow from those experiences at the same time.
Well, what do you think about Amanda’s growth so far in season 2??? Am I being too hard on her? Not hard enough? Was Billy wrong to send Amanda to Station 1? Was it just payback to Lee for his attitude about going? What most impressed you most in season 2 so far? What do you think are Amanda’s best qualities as it relates to the job? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! I’m definitely biased! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed some Amanda focus! Stay tuned for part 2 of season 2!
"Just walk with me.." 
I’m hoping that I don’t repeat something someone else has already said. I’m sort of scrolling and scanning. It’s interesting to see how Amanda’s professional growth is so closely tied to the growth of the personal relationship between her and Lee. One of her greatest strengths and skills I think is her ability to never give up. She doesn’t quit on her assignments, she doesn’t quit on Lee, and she didn’t quit when her life changed with the divorce. She’s got that stick-to-itiveness about her. I think that trait is one of the things that makes Lee shake his head the most. She hasn’t had training, she’s had limited experience, she’s seen things or had things happen to her that would make most people say that’s it, I’m done, but she keeps going.
LikeLike
whoo hooo I’m back to finish reading BJo’s fabulous post! Lookin forward to that final half of season 2.. huge!!!
[just quickly- relating to a previous discussion in my last comment: True BJo, Lee bailing Amanda out second time is more personal..than professional.. but I quite enjoyed the contrast and how it related to Amanda professionally and how Lee sees her professionally. It resonated 🙂 ]
Anyway.. BAI! whoo hoo!! what an epic episode.. a huge turning point in their story! both on a personal and professional level.. but sticking with the professional – had Lee seen Amanda take out a bad guy before?
I may be misremembering here.. but I think Amanda had done so before.. but Lee had not noticed or admired it. He had brushed it off (Amanda knocked out that guard in Charity to save Lee the popsicle no?) – I am thinking that’s part of the story – that Lee’s eyes are opened a bit wider to this aspect of Amanda.. professionally – she has it in her to be kick arse – and Lee for the first time seems to notice it, admire it.. and brag about her to Francine – oh boy!
For Amanda – I saw BAI as the big one where she really stopped and decided consciously for herself that this is the path she wants to take. That she has something valuable to contribute and she deserves to be acknowledged. Go Amanda! this is why it’s one of my favourites!
I found Amanda in ACA saying she wanted to do well at dodge city ‘because Billy had faith in her’ interesting – what about the faith she has in herself?
It didn’t quite seem to solidify for her until BAI.. she isn’t going to put up with Lee diminishing her or taking his temper out on her anymore. and.. I think she chooses to stay with the agency regardless of whatever happens with Lee in this ep – I find that Huge!
It’s like here is where she decides to cut the apron strings (if you could hooo haa imagine Lee wearing an apron ahem..) – Hmm what am I saying? it’s like when a baby is growing up – at first they see their identity as one with their mother. As they grow, they realise they are in fact two people, not one.
Here – Amanda at first saw her professional identity as being fused with Lee (maybe for as long as he’ll have her?) , and in BAI- Amanda grows up and realises they are in fact two people.. and she can own her choices and make decisions for herself professionally aside from anything to do with Lee.
This of course completely removes the romance that is underlying things.. but I think it works.. so long as you can get your head around Lee being the mamma spy and Amanda being the baby spy haa!
you don’t like car wars? You know BJo, I am not surprised by that. My memory of walking through that ep was that it did not improve on closer inspection- it got worse!
Car wars has a few fabulous big moments.. and I recommend it be viewed on a superficial basis only- ha!
Too many plot craters by half. Happily, most of the time smk improves on a more detailed walk through ( as did Mr Brand) or lol this blog could be in trouble huh!!! but oopsie.. gettin off topic bad iwsod!!
Thanks for sharing you didn’t like Car wars BJo and being candid – I really appreciate that! you rock!!
Word count? 614 😉
LikeLike
I think in season one we get to watch Amanda get swept up into Agency business and we see how far the wave carries her along. In season 2 we watch her as she figures out how she is going to swim. That analogy isn’t great, but it is what popped into my mind. I guess to me,season 2 is Amanda learning how she can do this Agency work, what is important to her and where her skill set lies. She tries to do it like others, but she just can’t help being Amanda. Maybe in Class Act she is becoming aware that she is just going to be “good ole Amanda” and maybe that makes her feel kind of uncomfortable and that is why her character may seem out of whack (at least that is what I tell myself). In 3 Faces of Emily, I think she does begin to catch a vision of what she could look like as an agent. and that may help her to be work through BAI and decide to be proud of the work she does.
I have always interpreted the hair don’t as a slight identity crisis as well, so I guess I view season 2 as a period of real growth for Amanda and before each real spurt of growth is a moment of tension and off behavior (ACA and the Hair Don’t). Again, the most remarkable thing about Amanda King is the way she sticks to it, no matter what. I think Lee, Billy and Francine are beginning to notice this too.
LikeLike
“the most remarkable thing about Amanda King is the way she sticks to it”
Yeah. 🙂 I said her doggedness at sticking with solving puzzles, but… really… her doggedness in general. Amanda King is not a quitter!
LikeLike
Beautifully put Morley!! We crossed over!! 🙂
LikeLike
Am I being too hard on her? Not hard enough?
I think you were fair.
Was Billy wrong to send Amanda to Station 1?
No. Amanda had been asking for training, and–while this wasn’t purely training–it was a step forward. It essentially opened a door for Amanda… although she failed out of Station One that time, she and Lee still took down the baddies and I think it showed others at the Agency that she didn’t just see herself as someone stray puppy that Scarecrow had to constantly watch out for. It also enforced to Amanda that she really did need the training she’d been asking for, and that Lee might not always be able to help/save her.
Was it just payback to Lee for his attitude about going?
No. Despite slipping sometimes (like Lee) I think that Billy genuinely cared about Amanda and Amanda’s welfare. Not to mention, Billy isn’t the type to waste Agency resources on payback to Lee… he would have found another way to get Lee that would have been more direct and mostly only affecting Lee. (Does that make any sense?) Billy’s not stupid or vindictive or out to bait/get Lee… but he would “punish” Lee if he felt it was warranted.
What most impressed you most in season 2 so far?
Amanda’s people skills and intuitiveness.
Amanda’s best qualities as it relates to the job?
Her doggedness at sticking at solving puzzles, her intelligence/intuition, her people skills, her patience, her bravery, and her ability to work seamlessly with Lee to make their partnership successful. 🙂
Bottom line: Amanda rocks! (Yes, I’m an ardent Amanda fan.)
LikeLike
… and I think it showed others at the Agency that she didn’t just see herself as someone stray puppy that Scarecrow had to constantly watch out for.
–> … and I think it showed others at the Agency that she didn’t just see herself as some stray puppy that Scarecrow had to constantly watch out for–that she had aspirations.
LikeLike
I think one of the biggest barriers that Amanda was trying to overcome in seasons one and two was how people at the Agency perceived her – her sheer “niceness” meant that Lee and Francine struggled to take her desire to develop professionally seriously. And this is a barrier that a lot of women struggle against (did and still do) – being a pushy and maybe a bit nasty (eg Francine) means that men take your career aspirations seriously.
LikeLike
very true learjet That niceness means Amanda is underestimated a lot.
I love that Amanda builds her career and maintains her femininity 🙂
LikeLike
And her humility and humanity.
LikeLike
Indeedy KC! 🙂
LikeLike
I particularly like S2 because of Amanda’s professional growth and the respect that Lee gains for her. Even in the first half of the Season (forget Class Act – it didn’t happen in my SMK world, or would be fundamentally rewritten to make it fit the character progression better) we see her learning quickly from Lee and her experiences to augment her natural talent and instincts.
Even though this post is not about Lee, I like the fact that Lee Stetson as opposed to Scarecrow gets to be revealed more. He is not now so guarded with his feelings and his fundamental personal qualities (which he might have previously seen as weaknesses if they were outwardly shown), e.g. the obvious empathy he shows to Amanda re the danger her family might be in, in TTTAAC.
On the personal front, Lee and Amanda have the opportunity to spend a lot more time in each other’s company on the European and British trips than they would normally spend together back in DC. I think this is where they both really begin to learn about and appreciate each other on much a more personal level.
LikeLike
hey BJo!
Ohhh reading your post has been my reward I have been trying to motivate myself with all day..
one more week to go and the big assignments are done for semester 1 phew..
I’m with kiwismh! Happy to put A Class Act down to the imagination.. Umm that headband being a tad too tight and Amanda dreaming the whole thing up!! I mean look at all the Freudian dream imagery in it? the straw filled scarecrow? tee hee.. Lee and Amanda nearly blowing up? Amanda’s I love Lucy impression? oh dear.. I’ve digressed all ready!
sorry!
I think season 2 is full of huge contrasts.. it’s the season with the most dramatic changes for Amanda.
Psychology background that I have.. I can’t help but try and define what ‘professional’ consists of 😉 forgive me!
Amanda’s professional journey to me includes: [do add to the list!]
How she does the job, her skills to do the job.
Her confidence in doing the job.
Her confidence in being out in the world in a way removed from her role of housewife and mother.
Her commitment to doing the job.
And her understanding of what is really required to do the job.
It also, because he is her work partner, encompasses how Lee views Amanda’s work IMHO.
And.. how her Boss views her and her role at the agency.
and maybe how her colleagues other than Lee view her too (Francine? Mrs Marsden?)
Have I missed anything?
I think the interrogation scene (other than one of the funniest scenes in smk when Lee offers him a pillow!) tells us more than Amanda knowing what to say to Conny.
This is very true BJo, she asserted herself because she knew Conny well. And she was right. But the situation also showed me that Amanda knows nothing about how to interrogate- Good cop/Bad cop is completely foreign to her and she can’t grasp the concept. She’s waaaay out of her league – in fact I’m shocked Lee gave her the chance of having a go at it! 😉 Lee overestimated Amanda there maybe. but he quickly realised his mistake…. she is still very much a beginner at the start of season 2.
You know, now knowing what Conny is like – I think Blind Freddy could have guessed he wasn’t the mongoose.. 😉
BJo, Love that pic you chose of Determined Amanda on the steps of Bromfield Hall, internally struggling with not following Lee!!
Oh wait.. Lee in that tux, 3 faces of Emily?? that is too swoony for words!!!
BJo, Your comment on how ‘Emily must have somehow inspired Amanda’ was spot on IMHO- I heard a saying once about women in the workplace – I won’t get into it by saying where- but it said “that you can’t be what you can’t see.” – before Emily no one at the agency was like Amanda! All a bunch of weirdos! They’re not normal! 😉 tee hee.. but with Emily, Amanda sees someone that she could be. Emily is normal and gives Amanda a picture of being an agent that Amanda can see herself as one day.. a truly precious thing!!
Oh boy.. if I start on BAI I won’t stop! I’ll save that for someone else.. and instead I’ll mention a few contrasts which came to mind as I started reading your post BJo [There is sooo much in season 2, I think we could discuss it for a week!!!]
A few Season 2 contrasts for Amanda:
How Amanda conducts herself at parties full of important people…
1) times they are a changing – Lee shocks her by asking her to get rid of the woman. Amanda seems nervous at making small talk with others and mixing. She is also not happy to be left alone by Lee.. I loved that little job Lee gave Amanda – I am sure I mentioned in that post how Lee sometimes throws these things at Amanda challenging her, pushing her out of her comfort zone, and that he is great like that!
2) in 3 faces of Emily, Amanda is comfortable with being left alone by Lee to do his job, and proudly tells the reporter she’s a housewife. She makes a friend and gives him advice to quit smoking haaaaa! But to me she is becoming more socially confident mixing with Washington’s high society.
3) By the time we get to Life of the Party Amanda is an absolute pro – she’s wearing lots of bling – and it’s hers.. not borrowed!! she deals with unruly Betsy Jordan, happily jokes with Lee to jolly him out of his mood and with great confidence leaves Lee alone to conduct his business.[and I think Lee admires this about her in this moment!]
Then.. to top it all off she accidentally witnesses a break in the case 😉 always has her eyes open our Amanda!
Another big contrast: The Need to Know…
1) Yeah!!! Amanda gets given a proper assignment in Munich.. only.. she isn’t told about it!!!!! I found springing it on her like Lee does to be pretty darn awful – he took away her dream that she was special!! He is still playing the controlling game of telling her as little as possible.. [I don’t think it was for her safety. what difference would it have made to say go like normal and I’ll be in touch when I get there? meh..]
Then again, I love that this comes back to bite him (and Francine) because Amanda has to borrow one of her gowns to go to the party, not having packed one because she didn’t know it was work – haa haaa take that!! you should have told her!!
2) In burn out – nobody knows what’s going on except Amanda.. and Lee completely trusts her with it. And he feels good about it! No more keeping Amanda in the dark for Lee!! No more power struggles or controlling games!!!
Another: Bailing Amanda out of jail…
1) In OMIT – Lee is a total pig in the way he treats Amanda in jail!!!! It’s all about how he has been inconvenienced and he tries not to show any concern for her [nope, don’t try and make excuses for him.. he was awful!!! good thing he makes it up to her later in the episode]
2) in MBF- once again Lee bails Amanda out of jail – and this time.. he demonstrates his concern for Amanda, he is feeling grateful to be in her life again, to be able to help her and is all about helping her.. not the inconvenience to himself at all!!! Way to go Lee!!!!
One more: Wanting Amanda there!
1) In the first episode, Mongoose – Lee is seriously put out that Amanda is in London (one place he thought he wouldn’t have to deal with her!), and she knows Conny! He doesn’t want her there.. and wants to send her home asap. She doesn’t belong in sophisticated europe!
2) the series ends with Vigilante Mothers – where Lee actually seeks out Amanda to join him on the case – He wants her there! and this time it is Lee who is out of his element!!! In the suburbs!!! but Amanda (in contrast to Lee) helps him to fit in and encourages him. I think Lee is starting to learn more of Amanda’s world and that there could be a place in it for someone like him 😉
I better finish for now.. there are soooo many more contrasts between early season 2 and end season 2 – huge changes professionally!!
I’ll come back and reply more to your post soon BJo – I’ve gotten halfway through and need to go but I’ll be back! byee and thanks for the rollicking good fun!!! 🙂 [I only got up to BAI!! I’ll have to pace myself like I do with Morley’s vignettes!! ]
Byee for now.. and hope everyone is well!
LikeLike
Holy cow, iwsod! Your comment is +1300 words! That’s almost as long as the post! LOL 😆 !! I’m not complaining in the least, but as I was reading and reading and reading I wondered about it, so I checked! You’re gonna make me work to reply! Hahahaha!!! Well, like they say, it’s nice work if you can get it!
One more week – hang in there, you can do it!! I’ve got one more week until I’m back in school.
Oh yes, season 2 does dramatically change Amanda. From Mongoose to Vigilante Mothers she transforms from a “candy striper” who isn’t going to go much higher to an honest-to-goodness trainee candidate, IMHO. I won’t say more because post 3 hasn’t come up yet, but what we see Amanda do after BAI is quite impressive.
I think I agree with all the aspects of Amanda’s professional journey that you list out. I especially agree with the one about how Lee (I also see Lee as her boss, and Billy is the big boss) views her. That aspect for me comes into play in a much bigger and positive way in the latter half of S2. I won’t say more, but I think you’ll see it in there. We can talk about that more after that post goes live. I will say that up until this point, Lee’s negative view of Amanda as a suburban housewife has held her back. I think it’s been appropriate, after all she is untrained in the traditional sense. But we’ll see what happens next after BAI to VM!
I think the only aspect of the job that I would add, but I did not cover at all in my posts, is how the job affects Amanda and her family personally. She has to lie an awful lot and sneaks around. We don’t really see how this affects her family until S4, so I’ve not brought it up yet for obvious reasons. Up until this point it’s all speculation except for the lying part.
Good point about Amanda not knowing how to interrogate, but I blame that on Lee. He could have explained I muuuuch better to her. But like he always does, he expects her to act like a pro without really giving her any information up front and then gets frustrated when she doesn’t do what he expects. Duh!
Awww, like what you say about the Emily stuff! So true!
And we could discuss season 2 for a week – and we haven’t even gotten to the good stuff! That’s in post 3. My approach to this was to watch each episode and objectively write down all of what Amanda did. A lot of times, it’s luck or guessing on her part. Or that she just happens to be there with Lee. It’s really not until BAI and later that Amanda starts to make more meaningful contributions on her own that are her own ideas.
Your contrast with Amanda’s conduct at the parties is a good one. I do think there may also be a bit of insecurity in Times because she is in Europe with royalty and not at home in the U.S. In Faces, I do think she has come further, but I also think it helps that she is on her own home turf. If something were to go wrong, she’s in her own country where everyone speaks English and she knows how and where to get help. Plus her mom and kids are safe in their own home. I totally agree with your assessment in LOTP – you’ll see what I wrote about that episode in the next post! We’re not there yet with these posts!
Ugh, and I agree with the whole need to know thing too. It really bugs me that all along Lee has always expected so much of Amanda without ever really filling her in on anything. Ever! It’s a wonder she’s able to do all that she does for him. I do think his not telling her prior to Munich did have to do with her safety and her family’s safety. He tells her that “there would be no suspicious moves on your part” or something to that effect. She really does genuinely look and act the part of the tourist. I still think it stinks, but knowing Amanda at that point in her professional development, I don’t blame Lee or Billy for making that call. If Amanda had known it was for business, would she have agreed to bring her mother and boys along? She’d sure look funny as a solo tourist if anyone happened to be watching. Your point about the gown is a good one though – and I think may be partly why Billy makes Francine lend a dress to Amanda. Amanda had a very valid point. And in Burnout, I think what you say about Lee is true, but I’ll leave it at that for now because I discuss that episode in the next post.
As far as bailing Amanda out of jail, I agree there is quite a contrast, but I think that shows growth on Lee’s part, and is not necessarily tied to Amanda’s professional growth – at least not directly.
And wanting Amanda there on Lee’s part is a big change for him too. That I do see as being tied directly to Amanda’s growth, and I do touch on that in my last post. Guess you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer to read it!! 😉
And in case you’re wondering, this comment is only 928 words! 😉
LikeLike
rofl! I didn’t check my word count. I was too scared 😉
My fingers just went off.. sorry if I’ve created too much to reply to – don’t feel obliged to if I ever do that btw!
Just a couple of quick thoughts (i’ll try to stick to below 1000 words)
Yes bailing Amanda out of jail is about Lee’s growth – but how Lee sees Amanda does say something about her professional growth – I saw it as showing how Lee respects her work more In OMIT she is doing a job and gets arrest and Lee immediately assumes Amanda is stupid and can’t do her job- when it was nothing to do with it. In MBF – Lee doesn’t jump to any conclusions.. about why she is in jail.. personal? sure! but I see it as professional also 😉 sometimes they are intermingled.
Yah the need to know thing bugs the daylights out of me too 😉 I think Amanda would have brought the family. it was the same as what she does at home – most of the time you’ll be with your family, we just need you to do this one little thing one afternoon.. no biggie.. I think keeping Amanda in the dark about things just puts her in more danger. but what do I know! 🙂
ohhh sorry! I’ll look forward to reading post 3! lol.. if anyone needed confirmation that I don’t read your posts before they are published.. there’s confirmation! Whoo burn out! burn out! can’t wait!
Rofl at the last line BJo – you read my mind! I was totally wondering how many words! haaaa!!
LikeLike
Iwsod you need to channel those words into your assignment (and I need to work not look at this blog!)
LikeLike
me busted 😮
LikeLike
LOL – I figured you might be wondering about the word count!!
And it’s not too much to reply to!! That’s what makes this so fun – it’s very interactive!
I absolutely agree – how Lee views Amanda does say something about her growth. And by MBF, there has been a lot of personal growth and professional growth, and they are intermingled as you say. So I do agree with you. I think the approach I took was to view each action in each episode on its own as a first level view of Amanda’s growth. After that view, I then took a step back and looked at the season as a whole. Even when looking at the season as a whole, I still used the context of each single act to define her growth. And in MBF, I see Lee’s bailing her out had more to do with their personal relationship, she was a friend in need and he wanted to help her. The fact that she is a friend that he wants to help has everything to do with her ties to him professionally, so I do meet you in the middle on this one.
Oh wow, you think she would still have brought the family? I guess if Lee had convinced her it would be safe and all that, I maybe could see it. I’m not sure thought. She seems to want to keep them out of it. But maybe a free trip to Europe for the kids might sway her to bring them along. And I’m not sure if I think keeping her in the dark puts her in more danger than if she wasn’t in the dark. I see what Lee says about her not making suspicious moves because she has no idea that she’s going to Europe for an assignment. If she knew, would she be more nervous or uptight? At the bar meeting Haddie, she was very nervous and uptight. Regardless of whether she knows or not, she is in danger – the difference is whether or not she knows about it. I like in Gift Horse how Lee says something about how the enemy could torture her for hours and not get any information from her. She’s still in danger, but just not any use to the baddies because she has no info. But her comeback point about staying alive is valid too 🙂 I’m pretty adept at seeing both sides sometimes. Just ask Morley 😉
LikeLike
Yup, it’s like tennis… 🙂 Bjo plays both sides of the court… only I get what she is saying and I don’t get tennis.
LikeLike
“Happy to put A Class Act down to the imagination.”
Yep–I’m with you, Iwsod and kiwismh… mostly! It never happened… at least, the un-Amanda-like parts never happened–you know, the bits where you gnash your teeth and grumble “that’s not Amanda” or “that’s not how Amanda would act/react”. 🙂 I think Station One was a step forward, and an acknowledgement of how far she’d come already, but the details/writing were a poor testament to the character. :p
LikeLike
I don’t mind ACA so much, I think it is just fine to have an episode that grossly exaggerates the fact that Amanda is not your typical agent candidate. Do I wish they’d been kinder to her character? Yes. For me, the episode I like to pretend didn’t happen is Car Wars. There’s only about 2 minutes of that one I think are worth watching.
I think you’re right about them spend more time together as a result of the Europe assignments. I wonder how many of them they flew together for. I would like to think that they would sit next to each other on the plane. I’m sure Amanda would want to anyway.
LikeLike
I’ve thought about them sitting together a lot and tried to figure it out. We know Amanda flew there and back with her family for Times They Are A Changing, so that rules that out. It’s also mentioned they flew over separately on Das Geisterschloss, To Catch A Mongoose, and Our Man In Tegernsee.
For flying home, it sounds as though Amanda flies home separately on both Tegernsee and Mongoose unfortunately, but I definitely could see them flying home together for Das Geisterschloss. (I did write a ff implying that they flew home for Tegernsee together as well since Lee’s work would have been done with Hollingsworth taken into custody. I know the ep implies otherwise, but I’d like to think that Lee surprised her with changing his flight as well.) But I definitely think they flew home together from Austria. And for Bromfield Hall, they were undercover together, so I think both flights were together as well.
I wonder what they fly like. Do they prefer to sleep on the plane, talk, or read? Does Lee prefer one and Amanda something else?
LikeLike