On to Amanda’s – whoooo!!! we see the Pitt family run past Amanda’s! It’s been a while!!! Very bizarre given this Amanda house looks different to the other times we’ve seen it in Season three!
I am sure kiwismh will have fun with this when she does her post on Amanda’s home for season 3! [err that is if we are lucky and kiwismh chooses to do it 
]
We find Amanda outside listening to her Russian language cassette tapes! ahh haaaa! I’d forgotten about this!
Oh boy – kudos to kiwismh for transcribing all this Russian!! Thankski kiwismh!
Tape: You enter the smoky bar, a man offers you a light, you shake your head, repeat your recognition phrase – “Beremennaya svinomatka poteryala svoi porosyat”
[oh cool!!! Amanda’s listening to agency training tapes again! Err anyone here actually speak Russian?!]
Amanda: Beremennaya svinomatka…
…..oooooooiiiii!!!
[Love the noise Amanda makes here.. this is hard!!!
Hey is it just me or does the voice on the cassette tape sound like the alien Greedo who finds Han Solo in the cantina in Star Wars?! [where’s Pattybones..I’m sure she’d love this! 
hiya Pattybones!]
[He sounds like Greedo when he speaks Russian! Honestly.. I’m sure he’s telling Amanda that Jabba has a huge price on Han Solo’s head!! No wonder he tapes his classes and doesn’t conduct them in person 😉 ] lol it’s probably just me!
We see Dotty peek around the door, curious at what Amanda is up to –she hears the tape of the guy speaking Russian and silently looks at Amanda stunned at what she is hearing!
(Dotty? silent? whahaha!!)
When Amanda sees Dotty she quickly turns the tape off.
Amanda: Hello mother. Oh, language tape. Russian. Always wanted to learn a second language.
Dotty: Well, that’s wonderful.
Amanda: Yeah.
Dotty flatly: Why Russian?
Amanda: Ohhh, caviiiiaaaar…
Dotty: What did you, er, just say?
Amanda: The pregnant sow has lost her piglets.
[oh boy.. smk loves those stereotypes! does this mean Amanda’s recognition code is ‘the pregnant sow has lost her piglets’?!!]
Dotty: Oh, well that’s very interesting! (flatly) ….Where are you going to use that?
BG’s delivery here is awesome!!! I’ve missed Dotty!! Didn’t we only briefly see Dotty once in Weasel?
Amanda: On a farm!!!
[Dotty looks at her like she’s nuts!]
….. on a Russian farm. [or a caviar farm? haa!]
Dotty: Farming.
Yes Dotty, Amanda has lost the plot! Dotty doesn’t know what to make of it!
Is it just me or is Dotty rather snappily dressed for the suburbs? [maybe she split her time that day between smk and Remington Steele ]
Did you guys notice the Russian flavour to the music as Dotty questions Amanda?! so clever!! No wonder the music won an Emmy!!
Moving on to the airport..
We see a dude with a moustache, a hat and a cigarette exiting the terminal..
he approaches Lee who is facing the other direction and asks: (in German) Zigarette mein Herr? [kiwismh wasn’t 100% certain of this one.. if you are German speaking and can correct it feel free] 
Lee: No, thank you, they’re not good for your health.
This is just like on Amanda’s tape- remember it was: ‘You enter the smoky bar, a man offers you a light, you shake your head, repeat your recognition phrase’ – Only this time.. he offers a smoke.. and they don’t repeat the recognition phrase or maybe Lee’s recognition phrase is ‘No, thank you, they’re not good for your health.’
Paul: I lost my health, years ago.
Lee: Could I give you a ride?
Paul: Ja. (Yes)
Lee picks up his suitcase and puts it in the back of his car.
Lee: Your German’s improved. [purlease.. he said one line in German, another line in English and a Ja! lol!!]
Paul: I’m working on it.
Lee: Why the old codes? Is that really necessary?
(Lee and Paul get in Lee’s car)
Paul: I didn’t want to catch the Soviet Welcome Wagon.
(Paul removes his left fake bushy eyebrow)
Lee: What, Boris and Dimitri? Don’t worry about them. They’re always here. Standard watch duty.
Here we could see them when Paul first left the terminal:
[If only it had been Ivan and Dimitri! .. It would have been awesome if they were the Brothers Karamazov from The Long Christmas Eve! ]
Paul: Well maybe….
…But I can’t afford to be careless.
[At this, the camera angle switches and we once again see Paul remove his left bushy eyebrow.. now that is being careless!! tee hee.. kudos to whoever it was that pointed this out on yuku years ago! sorry I’m not gonna look or I’ll read the posts – and I want to be free of other’s thinking as I share my own ]
…Things are not are not well in Oz, Scarecrow. We’ve stirred up a few hornets in Serdeych’s nest.
Lee: Yeah. We lost another agent Paul. Pamela Densmore.
[Paul’s head snaps around to look at Lee.. ]
Paul: When? I just left her.
Lee: Last night, London.
[Lee says ‘another agent’ does Paul know about all the other agents murdered? I guess..]
Paul: She knew the risk.
[Lee looks angry when Paul says this.. cold hearted pig! Though I suspect Paul is upset at Pamela’s death and brushes it off, I still find him cold hearted.
She may have known the risk, but that doesn’t mean you should just brush her off and move on. Anyone who knows the risk and dies for their cause deserves better than that in my book! what about you? what do you make of Paul here?]
…They all did.
Cue the creepy time travel chimes! Lee stares off intensely into the distance.. lost in his memories.. 
…of a time in the 70s..
in the 70s? yeah! with those sideburns it’s gotta be the 70s!
We see a shoot out at an airport..(Interesting Lee is at an airport having a flashback to another airport moment.. makes sense!)
In the flashback, side burned, longer haired Lee is being shot at.. but they miss.. and a plane flies through the air though shooting at a female soldier. Lee yells: Dorothy!!!!!!
And she’s shot. Dead.
So far that’s two mentions of the name ‘Dorothy’. Last time, Billy said it was her codename. If Dorothy was a love of Lee’s, would he have been crying out her codename as she got shot??dead?
What do you make of this everyone?
I’m not convinced she was a love of Lee’s.. a partner sure.. but more? not sure.. I’ll keep watching! but I could still be convinced.. maybe?? anyone want to try? 🙂
Back to Lee’s car..
Are you all okay? got your swoon helmets on??!!!!
Paul puts his hand on Lee’s shoulder to ring the creepy chimes and get his attention!
Paul: You alright?
Lee: What? Yeah…haa.. yeah I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Let’s get outta here, huh?
Lee revs the vette.. and they leave.. the scene ends..
Is it just me or does Lee not seem to really trust Paul?
Lee’s expression when Paul says they knew the risk.. pretending he is fine.. when he’s not.. I get the impression Paul is not an old ‘friend’ (but lol I bet he helped train Lee! who didn’t?! ). If I didn’t know better I’d say Paul watches Lee very closely too – he so far strikes me as a man who doesn’t really trust anyone or let anyone get close. Hmm.. I don’t really remember the details of this ep very well – other than swoony Lee ( which probably explains the lack of memory )
On to IFF,…
Is this the first time we’ve seen this elevator? the ‘Georgetown portal; I dunno..gosh.. that swoony close up has left my concentration in tatters!
snap out of it iwsod! You all with me??!!
We find Lee and Paul exiting the elevator.
Hmm I guess if you have a back problem you don’t use the Georgetown portal?
Lee: Paul, you said you stirred up a few hornets in Serdeych’s nest, right? Could he have committed those murders?
Paul: You think “Heartless” is living up to his nickname?
Lee: Yeah.
Paul: It’s entered my mind. But why are you so interested?…
[LOL he reminds me of Lee last week- why the sudden interest in Harry V. Thornton?! maybe it’s an occupational hazard, but again, we see Paul might not 100% trust Lee]
…Those were my agents. My network, my family. Serdeych is my problem…
[my my my.. what an idiot.. why is he so interested? he knew these people! Cold-hearted Paul is an idiot! I must say- I take great delight in seeing the mighty wizard-wearing a guest pass 😉 ]
Looks to me like Lee doesn’t appreciate Paul’s attitude!
[next time get a taxi from the airport dirtbag! and carry your own bag! ]
(At this, we see Francine and Amanda enter the hallway, and take in Lee and Paul’s heated conversation.)
Lee: No, he’s everyone’s problem, Paul. Those agents were friends.
[interesting that Lee points to himself only when he says they were friends- it’s like Lee is saying they were my friends, I know they weren’t yours you cold-hearted dirtbag!]
Paul: Aren’t they all.
[against my will- that is funny!!! Whahahahaa!! because it’s so true!! they always are friends of Lee’s haaaa!! and if they die they were almost a top agent!! ]
Lee: Dorothy was special. We know Serdeych killed her.
[Dorothy was special?? what does that mean?? what do you all think? Is she special because they know Serdeych killed her? what do you make of this? ]
Lee’s angry.. and no longer pretending everything is okay! Whereas Paul is cool as a cucumber.
[All these people dying? Doesn’t bother Paul! And he calls Serdeych ‘heartless’..ironic..( lol yes I remember the significance of the nickname but am choosing to ignore it for now!) ….What will it take to wake this cold-hearted man up eh?!]
Paul: That was 10 years ago, Scarecrow. Leave it alone.
(I wondered if Paul was maybe someone Lee would risk emulating.. with both of them so far being portrayed as players – but I suspect that’s where the similarity ends.. Paul’s way more cold hearted than Lee would ever be- even on his worst day – Lee’s heart was frozen when he met Amanda.. but really, it was only frozen on the surface- Lee tried to put on the cold hearted persona as protection-but thankfully it was only ever a ‘persona’ – with Paul? I’m thinking his heart really is cold to it’s core!! But.. I guess I should see how this pans out – maybe Paul will get a little redemption through this whole plot – which ugh.. doesn’t endear him to me given how many women have to die for him to get it!
(We cut to Francine and Amanda riveted.. and maybe a little disgusted at cold-hearted Paul?!)
…I’ll handle this. I’m working on a solution.
(Paul gives Lee a rub on the arm and starts to walk off past Francine and Amanda. Lee you are dismissed! )
….The Wizard has not lost all of his magic.
[Paul turns my stomach.. it’s not all about you- cold-hearted wizard! Man.. I really wish Lee had a wizard whopper!!! I don’t like this dude.. how about you? ]
As Paul walks past Francine and Amanda, we see Amanda give Paul a warm smile to 
greet him… though IMHO the smile doesn’t reach her eyes not a Duchenne smile to me..
Lee starts to walk off.. so Amanda and Francine catch up to him.
Amanda: Lee! (Lee turns to wait for them)
Francine: Let’s go to your office.
Whoa.. Francine and Amanda seemed to be dressed quite similarly here no?
[I’m a bit confused about why they didn’t get straight on to contacting people earlier.. maybe Francine had prior commitments?! or was it because Lee had to meet Paul? ohhh whatev!]
Anyway! I’ll pause here before they get to the Q bureau! Can’t wait to hear from ya!!! All ideas very welcome!! byeeee
"Just walk with me.." 
Amanda learning Russian from these tapes is hilarious! The phrases they are teaching are totally useless, and her pronunciation is totally ridiculous. KJ is so funny in these scenes! She’s so sincere, but it’s clear she’s in over her head. LOL
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I can’t possibly add anything of any value….. too many good comments. The only thing I do want to say is, “I don’t like Paul, he reminds me of a smarmy office Romeo who thinks he is God’s gift to females”! Yuk!
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I realized after I wrote this comment that this ep is accusing Lee of the very same thing I just said about Paul….but I just never thought of Lee as “smarmy”….Yes he was has been accused of being the office lover boy….but it doesn’t seem the same as what Paul portrays ….thought I better clear that up.
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cool insight there gruvy granny! funny how we don’t perceive Lee the same way we see Paul.. but the behaviour has at times been the same..
I didn’t like Paul at first – but he’s growing on me!
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Well Lee certainly isn’t smarmy by this point but maybe he was at first. To be terribly, terribly shallow, Lee always had much better hair than Paul and this made him appear a bit classier. Paul’s hair is just kind of greasy looking and that, combined with his playboy persona, makes for a bad combination and a big turn-off for me
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Wow, a week without cell reception and internet – and I come back to all this goodness. May take me a while to catch up. Wheew!
Somehow I do remember watching this episode “back then.” At this point, I assumed that Dorothy was a special friend to Lee – maybe a first love, maybe not.
I didn’t assume Paul was cold, but I did see him as jaded and consumed with Serdeych and his capture. Perhaps to the point, he didn’t see what was happening around him. I remember thinking they were both dealing with their own issues about this case (Lee’s friends/co-workers v. Paul’s network) and not really listening to each other.
Francine had mentioned clearing her calendar so she could help make the calls. I assumed she had to take some time to do that, so Amanda ran back home to do some errands and took a moment for her lessons while she waited on the specified time to meet back with Francine.
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“The Wizard has not lost all of his magic.” But the wizard never had any magic, he just appeared to have power. What does this say about Paul?
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I like this comment. That line always makes me pause and wonder if it shows us anything about how Paul views himself, or how Lee views him and what it might say about this crisis. And, yes, that is an interesting point about the Wizard of Oz story in itself, because the characters do go to him because of his magic and it turns out it is all smoke and mirrors and the things that the characters are hoping he will magically create for them, they are reminded already exist within them.
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But because the people believed in his magic, he felt obligated to be what they wanted. Paul’s “smoke and mirrors” served its purpose, and he couldn’t let this go – he had people expecting things of him even now.
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Hmm, that is true. To meet other people’s expectations. This feeds into that theme. What happens though, when we can’t deliver what they want, or someone finds out we aren’t what they think we are…? I am thinking of post 7…
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Yes Debilyn – and the agency is now attacking him because the magic is not on full display.. seems Paul still needs the magic..or the agency thinks he is a wash out (so I kinda can’t blame him!) but.. with Serdeych upping the tactics against him, turning people against him, he can’t keep up the wizardry!
Paul is a bit trapped in a persona of his own making maybe.. in some ways it gave him an advantage.. but in other ways.. it means others expectations are too high – and he doesn’t receive offers of assistance..
As Paul walks to the elevator, you can see his hand is still in a fist.. he seems at this point to be on high alert – with everyone around him. He can’t trust Lee, the agency.. anyone -he’s like a wild animal that is ready to strike he is so on edge. Or at least.. that is the impression we are given here IMHO.. but I tend to think the writers are messing with us a little and will use this to misdirect us 😉
I’m really looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds!
Welcome back to JWWM debilyn 😉
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I get the sense of frisson of trouble between Paul and Lee. I do wonder if Paul objected to Lee feeling Dorothy was special. Did he disapprove of agents getting close to one another? Pure speculation but that’s half the fun 😉 someone (can’t remember if it was IWSOD or someone else sorry) that maybe Paul was obsessed with Serdych and that drove a wedge between mentor and apprentice? After the death of Dorothy maybe Lee decided to take a different path to Paul and friction ensued. I do find the airport pick up ridiculous. If Lee knows the agents they will know him so the fact that he’s given a lift to a stranger is going to ring alarm bells? Not to mention sitting in the parking lot peeling of your disguise rollseyes
I am loving Amanda’s fake smile, she definitely has doubts about Paul and I can’t blame her. He seems a bit to cocky to me.
Not loving the last sweater Amanda is wearing. Not one of her best….
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I don’t dislike Paul either. I agree that he is jaded (good word, Cyd!) and disillusioned. He has armor plating a foot thicki. Already by this point in the episode, there are signs that he is under severe strain, but he feels like he has to hide it and keep up a persona. After all, he’s the “Wizard”, right? He’s trying to be seen as great and powerful — doesn’t need help, doesn’t feel pain the way others do, has the situation under control, a trick up his sleeve, he’ll handle it, etc. etc. He does react in shock for a second when he hears about Pamela’s death. His response as he gets himself under control, “She knew the risk” sounds like a way to push the unwelcome fact away from him. He does have some feeling or concern for others — twice, he reaches out to Lee with what could be seen as an “I care” gesture.
I think LASinLA is on to something about Lee and Paul having known each other well, but not clicking. You do sometimes get to know people when you work with them, maybe even better than their family or friends, but that doesn’t mean you always have something to talk about outside of the work when that common denominator is missing. It shows how special Lee and Amanda’s relationship is.
It seems to me that Lee’s statement that Dorothy was special is a counter to Paul’s apparent heartlessness. After the exchange in the car, Lee probably doesn’t think Paul is taking these deaths seriously enough. Rather than argue a generality — that every one of those lives matters — Lee zeros in on a specific case, something he thinks is a chink in Paul’s armor. Even at this point, we can suppose that Dorothy was someone who worked closely with both Lee and Paul. Paul is apparently the head of the “Oz network”, but the Wizard, Dorothy, and Scarecrow are some of the most key players in the Wizard of Oz book. It makes sense that they would have worked together. And Dorothy died. And Lee was affected by her death in a special way, and he thinks — or knows — that Paul was too. So he uses it as a probe, trying to get at some sign of humanity under all that armor. Dorothy’s death still bothers Lee after 10 years, and he seems to be saying that it should still bother Paul, as well. Even from this exchange we can see that they are using their knowledge of each other to attack.
And of course, since we don’t know yet which side Paul is on, we wonder why he dosen’t want anyone else going after Serdeych — is he keeping the hounds off the scent? There’s no clue at this point in the episode, but I find myself pulling for Paul to turn out to be a good guy.
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I like this happycamper. You put that together so well, thank you.
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LOL – I tried to learn Russian many, many years ago. I had a big crush on this guy at work who was Russian and so I was trying to impress him and learn about his language and country, etc. It never went anywhere, and I didn’t learn much beyond the alphabet which I have since forgot, but he was a looker!!
Greedo? Hahaha – too funny! Love Star Wars and hottie Han!
Agreed – love Dotty here! Wish we got to see more of her. She was soo good in this show!
Is it just me or does anyone else out there not are for Amanda’s sweater? Guess it’s just good ole 80’s fashion. I never noticed the Russian style music in the background. Thanks for pointing it out!
I guess the stereotype of middle-aged German men in the 80’s was bushy eyebrows?
Gad! It’s Harvey’s father – now every time I see Paul, I’m looking for Harvey. I think I see some similarities. Maybe the mouth and the eyes – but not the nose…okay, I’ll stop now!
I’m finding it difficult to think about Paul with what we only know of him so far. I don’t remember what I first thougth when I watched it, but I can say that now, so far I don’t have any issues with him. His behavior with Pamela seemed to be par for the course for a spy (007, Scarecrow), and he seems concerned with Lee here and I do see some wheels cranking in his head when Lee tells him about Pamela. He doesn’t come across as cold-hearted to me here. More like resigned, maybe? Or tired of trying to figure it out? He obviously knows about the other murders based on what Lee says to him. He seems tired in Lee’s car. Maybe it’s the jet lag? He does look a bit older than Lee and he has some connection to him – Oz, Scarecrow, Dorothy, etc. Even I can figure that one out and I’ve not seen the whole movie.
This whole airport scene is ridiculous to me. How is Dorothy the only one killed? Diving to the ground offers no cover – am I the only one?
And I swear I’m not in a cranky mood…but I don’t even find those super serious daydreaming-Lee pics to be swoony.
And I don’t see Paul as in idiot. I think if Lee were in Paul’s shoes, he’d be acting the same way. I’m getting the feeling that Paul was a boss or higher level perhaps than Lee and Paul’s being territorial here. He’s tired, not happy and probably stressed from all these murders of women. Another reason why I think Paul is a boss is that the murdered agent women were Lee’s friends – typically co-workers at the same level are friends with each other – much more so than with the boss.
As far as Dorothy being special, I don’t know yet – I can’t say anything without getting ahead of where we are.
And I really don’t see Paul being all that cold-hearted. I think Paul’s known about the murders much longer than Lee and has already been working to solve them. Lee just found out about it this morning and so he’s still pretty emotional about it. I think Paul’s had time to proess it all and now can think about it more logically and try to keep the emotions at bay. I think he thinks he’s the one in charge and seems to resent Lee here trying to but in and make it his problem. In his mind it’s his network, his agents, and Lee’s not in it anymore.
I don’t see disgust in Amanda and Francine’s faces either. I see great interest in what’s happening and just watching in a little amazement perhaps. Does Amanda know who that other guy even is at this point?
I don’t mind Paul at all here – he doesn’t bug me – never has. I’ve always liked how he walks off and says his line about the Wizard hasn’t lost all his magic yet. I don’t want him to get whopped. I want to learn more. And I like his hair.
I do agree that Amanda’s smile doesn’t reach her eyes – she’s not happy to see Lee in such distress and Paul’s adding to it. I think she’s just not happy because she’s bra-less. Ugh, did I say I don’t like this sweater? And Amanda’s Minnie Mouse white shoes? Not a fan of those either.
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Amanda’s sweater – apart from the blocky colour scheme I actually think this one is quite nice. Being a knitter I am also appreciating the technical aspects of the garment, fit and drape, and degree of difficulty to make. It really is perfect for Amanda’s figure.
I’m tempted to start an SMK Knitters Group on Ravelry.com to celebrate all the wonderful and not so wonderful SMK knitwear we see throughout the series. I’m so busy now keeping up with JWWM and Neds I don’t think I’d have time to do it justice though.
I agree with your comments about Paul.
The airport scene I was going to leave commenting on until later when we see it in more detail – but agree with your comments here. It’s kind’ve ridiculous the way it was filmed.
That Greedo scene is the best scene in Star Wars – a shame the rest of that movie and the other SW movies weren’t as gritty as that scene.
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The way she tucks the sweater into her skirt seems strange to me now, although I remember that people used to do that. My SIL had this pretty white angora sweater that she always tucked in and she wore a belt around her waist as well. I remember envying that…
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Yah BJo, that’s the way I see Paul. And as a guy who’s been in the field a long time, he obviously tries to separate his emotions from his work.
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I just watched the episode. Wow! It really is a good one so full of so much. This is going to be a fun walk!!!
But here in this scene I did notice that when Paul says that all the agents killed were Lee’s “friends” it really sounds as if Lee is making a very clear distinction between “special” Dorothy and all the others. I do think that is an interesting use of words, especially after he used the same word to describe Amanda to Leslie. There is something unique about these two women to Lee. And he is letting Paul know that. Not sure yet why he needs to let him know it, but I like it.
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Oh my gosh.. I am tickled pink to hear you have watched Morley!!!
The ‘special’ description? very interesting that he describes Amanda with the same word in over the limit. who first raised that? Found it! It was originally LAAL! thanks for pointing that out LAAL!
I’m not sure what to make of it all.. I’m still thinking (or trying to 😉 ) I hesitate to conclude it is intentional and meaningful, because I am not 100% sure of the order.. and I have a thing for putting wizard before over the limit – but I’ll bring that up toward the end of the episode- I’m sure we are more interested with the content of this episode at the moment rather than episode order 🙂
But! I do also agree that Dorothy was unique for Lee.. and especially meaningful. If that makes her a friend, a girlfriend.. or something else (?) not sure I’ve decided.. the use of the code name seems really weird to me.. and what are the odds Oz would recruit someone called Dorothy in RL to be codenamed Dorothy? Hmm.. I don’t know.. but she is special to Lee – this much I can see so far for sure! 🙂
If she is more special than a friend.. but not his girlfriend.. what could she be?
Maybe she was his partner? Maybe he thought of her as his little sister? Or.. maybe he had a crush on her and never got to give a relationship a go? Hmm.. well I guess we’ll see – I’ll keep watching! 🙂
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I can’t tell if Dorothy is special because of romance or not either. But I do think she may be special because she was the last person that Lee had opened up to or cared about as he cares for Amanda. It seems like some change began to happen to Lee after the moment of his flash backs…. Why they are special may not be clear to him… yet?
And since you brought up episode order… I love this episode here. I am interested in why you would put it before OTL, and I can wait. But when I watched it last night it worked so well. Lee is in just the right place to experience all he does here and then move on to what comes next. It seemed so natural for that progression, instead of that confusing up and down back and forth stuff. All of his expressions and eye talk makes sense here and has so much more meaning (to me 😉 ).
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Yeah, iwsod, I think I always figured Dorothy was a code name and not her real name. It’s possible it could have been both, but not likely. I do agree that Lee puts Dorothy in the special category, but I don’t think we have nearly enough clues yet as to why. If Dorothy was an agent, I tend to doubt that she’d be special to Lee in the same way Amanda is special to Lee. Maybe special is another generic term that Lee uses, when someone gets beyond the rank of friend, or even very, very good friend.
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One clue we do get is that he calls her Dorothy. If it’s her code name and not her real name, then I take that “special” as leaning toward the professional category. If it’s her real name and code name, then it could be both or just in the personal category.
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Oopsie – just read Valerie’s comment. Forgot we already knew that she was the first he’d seen die that way. With that additional piece of data, I’m leaning toward her being special in a professional, non love-interest kind of way. This was a long time ago – ahem, sideburns – and it really impacted Lee.
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It could be both a code name and real name. Maybe Paul was already known as the Wizard, and when Dorothy was recruited the whole idea of the Oz network and naming everyone from the book took hold. 😉
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This episode is just filled with oh so much stuff going on internally, externally, on the surface, below the surface, personally, professionally…it’s just all over the place, but in a good way and we get to try to make sense out of all of it.
There is an undercurrent of something between Lee and Paul. Lee did have a reaction earlier to Paul’s imminent arrival. There is a hint of friendliness borne out of being mannerable and a past connection seemingly. But there is something simmering there.
Dorothy may or may not have been a code name but there are several, not Amanda, who go back and forth with calling Lee either Lee or Scarecrow. Code name or not it seems to be interchangeable. Maybe it was the same with Dorothy. Still not sure what I think about whether or not there was more than friendship between Scarecrow and Dorothy. Lee mentioned earlier that it was the first time that he had seen anyone die “that way”. He doesn’t mention what “that way” was and we can only assume that it had quite an impact on him. We do get to see in this scene just how horrible a death it was and being a witness to it has left an indelible imprint on Lee. Over time Lee may have let that become larger and allow it to color his feelings and emotions, especially if Paul the Wizard responded then about her death the way he is reacting to these recent deaths.
I also wondered about the timing of some of these scenes. Francine and Amanda could have had the “black books” conversation with Lee in the Q Bureau, but there had to be that “Lee sees someone” bit. So why have it by a hot dog cart that gives the impression of it being lunch time? I chalk it all up to SMK time. Amanda is part-time so she came in especially for the meeting in the conference room, chatted with Francine and Lee, went home to keep up appearances with Dotty and have lunch and is back for the afternoon shift of making phone calls. That’s how it works in my mind, at least. I am a little surprised that Paul wouldn’t know about Pamela.
I don’t dislike the Paul character. He just seems a bit tired to me, physically and emotionally. He mentions that things are not well in Oz and he seems to have the lone wolf thing that Lee has. He mentions that they were his agents, his network, his family, his problem and he’ll handle it. It’s kind of like how Lee feels so responsible for Amanda since he got her involved in the Agency in the first place.
I have seen a few little parallels here and there while reading “The Wizard of Oz”. I’ll hold off until the end because a few characters have not been mentioned yet in this episode.
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I second your thoughts about Paul and his attitude Valerie. I have never disliked him either. He’s been in the business longer than Lee, and like many veteran soldiers, has become jaded. It’s not that he doesn’t care, because he clearly does; he hasn’t quit his relentless pursuit of Serdeych. I think it’s anger and frustration talking here, and it’s also hard not to suffer burnout when a murderer has been on the loose for so long.
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hiya.. I say I dislike Paul in this post – but so far we know very little about him.. and I’m not looking ahead soooo it’s quite possible that by the end of the episode I’ll agree with you all.. but. I think at this point they were wanting us to not be sure of Paul. There’s nothing certain here at this point in the episode.. maybe Paul killed Pamela.. we don’t know.. sooo while I don’t expect others to follow the story the same way I do – just do keep in mind my view of things isn’t coloured by what’s ahead in the episode (or at least I try not to let it!)
Hope that makes sense..
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Okay, I just went and re-watched the DVD up to this point in the episode and I probably need to do that more often. Billy does mention that Dorothy is a code name and Francine says she’s going to go clean off her desk so they can get to calling in the afternoon so therefore Amanda would have time to go home and come back. Plus Lee said he would walk her to her car.
Also, the way Lee says special when referring to Dorothy makes her stand out more from the friends, close friends comments. I hadn’t watched the ep in a while and it was interesting seeing Lee with all this angst about these women and him being the common denominator. He is filled with a good amount of remorse and recrimination. Also I may need to find a helmet when I delve further into it because I was beginning to swoon a bit there while watching him.
I did notice one thing about the flashback to the shoot out at the airport. There are boxes lined up on the runway from a nursery called Verdi’s. I wonder if it’s foreshadowing.
I may have to have an SMK DVD review project during my summer break.
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Wow!!! you watched up to this point Valerie?? that is soooo cool!!!! 🙂 Great to know you really are alongside me for the ride! and.. I’m impressed that you stopped where you did!! 🙂
I’ll be curious to hear if this changes your experience of walking through the episode as we go.. if you’d like to share!
Indeed Valerie.. Lee seems to be unravelling no? very angsty 😦
foreshadowing? Hmm.. I’m guessing that is referring to something ahead. and I honestly have no idea what you could be referring to! I’m kinda glad it has been so long since I watched season 3 and 4 – it makes it much easier to focus on the story now! Just hope I’m not being too annoying for you all -lol!
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I do the same thing when I comment on a post too, iwsod. I skim the post to see where it stops, then I watch that part only of the episode. Then I come back and read your post and comment as I’m reading. That’s probably why my initial comments read the way they do. I haven’t seen the rest of this episode in while either – it might be almost a year by now, but I’m not sure.
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I’m going to endeavor to do that as well from now on. I got all of the DVDs at once and went on this marathon watching binge. Now it’s nice to just take the stroll through them again.
Besides I was starting to feel like one of my students who hadn’t read the assignment for class but was still trying to participate in the discussion. You know where they end up saying something wrong or that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand and the rest of the class (and teacher) gives them that “what in world are you talking about?” look. Not that anyone here made me feel like that. It’s just I think I hadn’t remembered enough to comment adequately and I didn’t want to say something that was either nonsensical or completely wrong.
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I see Paul the same way, Valerie.
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Not loving the OTT sideburns on Lee. We get it! It’s the 70’s, no need to go overboard with the facial hair. I suppose we should just be thankful they didn’t just go the whole way and put Lee in a sequined Elvis combat-jumpsuit! 😀
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This is definitely Lee’s most unflattering hairdo, including the mullet/bird-do of season 4
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ROFL!!
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This is one of the rare occasions where we see Lee driving the Corvette with the “top popped”. Must be Summer? Are Paul and Lee the Boys of Summer? 😀 Love that song and, yes, I know it refers to baseball players. Just seein’ the Corvette with the “top popped” reminds me of that time and that song – not sure why. Oh, those were the days – and Don Henley was a hottie too! Whew, is it warm in here or is it just me? 😉
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that song is my dad’s ring tone!!! he just loves the guitar.. I didn’t know it was about baseball players! I just assumed it was surfies!
I confess the song rocks!! [even if it is my dad’s ring tone.. which does ruin it ever so slightly.. not cool to like your dad’s ring tone 😉 ]
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Either you’re very young or I’m getting old – I think it might be the latter. My dad was born in 1922 (deceased in 2006) and never even knew how to use a cell phone, let alone have a funky ring tone.
Still a good song though, bleak or not.)
I think the “boys of summer” refers to baseball players – that was always what I understood it to mean. Not that the song is about baseball players but that is a metaphor for how his love for the object of his affections would remain strong beyond the warm, sunny days of youth. (Although thinking more on the lyrics I think the song is written from the perspective of looking back on younger days, and maybe the object of his affections didn’t stay true to him, then his whole generation sold out, and – well – it all ends up pretty bleak really.
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Unless you’ve got a cool dad! (Mine’s not, LOL 🙂 )
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My dad’s ring tone is Emerson Lake and Palmer Hoedown. It’s fab. The joys of prog rock LOL
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Love ELP 🙂 hmmmm, showing my age huh?
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Iwsod, of course there will be a S3 post on 4247 Maplewood Drive and its zany neighbourhood. 😀
Like others I’m not sure why Amanda dashed home to practice her Russian. Maybe she had a long lunch and decided to go home to lunch and study her language tapes in peace and quiet – although the flaw in that plan is that there is seldom peace and quiet at 4247 Maplewood Drive. 😉
Love Dotty’s tone of voice and facial expressions during this conversation. She’s not buying Amanda’s stories anymore. I commented on this in S2. I think Dotty is well aware that Amanda isn’t working for a film company, and has probably guessed she is involved in some sort of security, investigation or intelligence work. I don’t think she will have guessed how involved Amanda is – Dotty is probably thinking more along the lines of Amanda doing admin/secretarial/assistant work for whatever organisation she is involved with.
In my SMK world Paul and Lee have a longer conversation in German. I agree Iwsod, in the basis of 4 words in German, it is hard to see how Lee could tell Paul’s German had improved. But like someone else said, maybe Paul was never any good at German so if he gets a few words and accent right, maybe that’s noteworthy.
I think Paul is more hardened than Lee to the loss of fellow agents/friends, although it clearly does affect him deeply otherwise he wouldn’t be so obsessed with getting Serdeych. But he’s learned not to take on board the emotional impact of the loss, just treat it as more motivation to get the bad guy. There’s a lot of jobs where to dwell on losses or failures isn’t helpful – you learn from the losses and failures but you don’t wallow in them. The trick is finding that middle ground between being too affected (and consequently becoming ineffective in your job) and not being affected enough (you get the job done but you lose a lot of relationships and respect in the process).
I feel sorry for Paul – he has given this job his all but he has probably lost the best part of himself in the process.
Iwsod, like your observation that Amanda’s smile of acknowledgment to Paul doesn’t show in her eyes – she doesn’t know what to make of Paul yet but having witnessed him crossing swords with Lee, I think she would be concerned about whether this is someone she might want to keep her distance from.
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It seems to me that Lee and Dorothy were at the beginning of a falling-in-love relationship, which was ended by her death. Lee assumes that Paul was referring to Dorothy with his “Aren’t they all?” comment, or at least he jumps right to talking about her when she hasn’t been mentioned yet. This conversation looks like two men who know each other extremely well, but have been somewhat out-of-touch. Both have changed a lot and they are having trouble clicking / connecting like they once could (not to mention the stress Paul is under).
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Yes, that’s how I see it. Well put LASinLA! Lee and Paul’s conversation have that awkward kind of feel when you’re connecting with somebody that you used to know well.
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Like this. Your analysis of Paul and Lee’s out-of-touchness with each other is good. Paul is consumed at the moment by his obsession to get Serdeych so he’s probably not really noticing right now just how significantly Lee has changed. That would be a good basis for a post Wizard fanfic – when all the dust has settled (if Paul gets out of Wizard alive – which we don’t know yet, eh, Iwsod 😉 ). Anyway, after Wizard Paul reflecting on how Lee has changed would be interesting. Jestress – hinty, hinty, hint… 😉
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Yes . . . interesting . . . 😉
Jestress is currently sneezing her head off because she’s recovering from a cold, but that’s actually not a bad state for considering fanfic options. Getting up to do other things would require energy. 😛
It’s been a really strange week. Right now, I could use a cup of tea, a box of tissues, and some time to relax with my laptop. I already have a rough draft for the filler for Over the Limit I was talking about. Still needs something, though. 🙂
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So your filler needs some filler 😉 Haha sorry don’t mind me it’s late and I’m just cracking myself up!!
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lol, It’s okay. Corny jokes are allowed, and Jestress’s brain is in the right condition to receive them.
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bummer! Jestress hope you feel better!!!
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Thanks! (Jestress sneezes about seven times in a row and sniffles.)
Have you ever heard the myth about people having heart attacks if they sneeze 12 times in a row? Not true. I know.
At least I got to spend today at home having tea and chocolate. 🙂
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LOL no I haven’t heard that one.. but don’t go giving it a try – you hear?!!!
whooo tea, chocolate and smk? that will boost your immune system nicely 🙂
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And rewatching SMK of course! 😀
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Oh, poor Jestress. Do get well soon.
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Yes I agree LASinLA and Kiwismh, I don’t sense a closeness between the two of them – neither of them really know who the other is for sure anymore.. it’s been a while..
Indeed. Paul does seem to have tunnel vision about Serdeych.. to his peril I say!
I think it is realistic that Lee would have worked with someone at the agency that he didn’t particularly enjoy or consider a friend .. not everyone at the agency is going to be a great person.. even if they are not evil per se!
so I kinda like to see Paul and Lee slightly at odds and not acting like they are best friends or something (a bit like how Harry is Lee’s father figure but we’ve never hear of him. meh!)
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I get the feeling that Lee and Paul’s relationship is complicated by the fact that they share a difficult experience that both of them have either dealt with in different ways or not at all. Being together could put pressure on that unsettled place. And if that isn’t enough it seems that this case is compounding that for them as well.
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Maybe Dorothy’s real name was Dorothy – this would be very convenient, saves having to remember which name to use. 😉
I mentioned in the first post that I thought Paul was representative of what Lee might become in 10-15 years without an Amanda Intervention, and I think this is reinforced here.
I’m 100% certain the Zigarette mein Herr is right, it’s just the translation Cigarette my Sir sounds quaint.
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I’ll second the correctness of the translation. Maybe Paul didn’t know ANY German, so his one-liner really is a big improvement. 🙂 But probably Lee is referring to his accent having improved, which could be noticed in a single sentence.
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I think Paul stands for what Lee could have become without Amanda in his life to save his heart and keep him out of trouble. It is growth that Lee detests Paul’s behavior. He may not have had a relationship with Dorothy, but it was probably a possibility in Lee’s mind. He just made the comment that Dorothy was special. In OTL he told Leslie that Amanda is special. So I don’t think that Dorothy is just in the friend category, she’s in the whatever category Amanda is in.
I wonder what Dotty is thinking here. Does she think she knows something, but is not going to say anything? What do people think that Dotty thinks is going on with Amanda at this point?
As far as the scene order goes, I think that the meeting was first thing in the morning, but they were going to get together in the afternoon to work on contacting the women. Lee had to pick Paul up at the airport and maybe Francine had something else to work on. Being that Amanda is part time, there may have not been anything else for her to work on, so she went home for a bit. I love that she is getting more training and getting so much more involved.
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I am so glad you brought up the comment about Dorothy being special. What you wrote was exactly what I thought. Special is special in Lee language, even if the meaning of the word “friend” is a bit hazy.
And your description on the timeline for this day in their lives makes sense. Traffic in DC is crazy though> I wonder how far Amanda has to drive to get to the Agency?
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Arlington to Georgetown isn’t too far, but could take a while depending on the time of day.
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I think the writers missed an opportunity with Dotty overall in the series. They use her to hint at how Amanda’s excuses are unbelievable and that Dotty’s doesn’t buy them, but this doesn’t seem to develop too much from season one. As a Dotty fan, I feel this is a lost opportunity to develop her character further, and increase the tension further.
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So true Learjet! She’s a wonderful character and definitely underutilized.
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DITTO!
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I read BG’s biography recently (Ok I read the first 3 chapters and then skipped to the SMK chapter) and she complains a lot about how she thought the character was underdeveloped and not v consistent (eg she though Dotty wouldn’t like camping and apparently she and KJ had a big row about this). Reading between the lines, BG had a bit of an “artistic temperament”….
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Thanks for sharing, learjet5. I’ve been curious about her book, but haven’t bought it. I can see BG and KJ having strong opinions that would conflict. I think Dotty was an experienced actress and had strong opinions about her own character and wanted to influence the development of it.
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Fortunately my library had it. It wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be, so I wouldn’t buy it. BG, like KJ, evidently had high standards and strong opinions on how things should be done (inevitably leading to some disagreement). BG seemed to have a lot of respect for KJ’s professionalism and hard work but wanted more input (but with KJ having a production role, she had a lot of say). Oops, I think I am straying out of JWWM territory again…
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Double ditto!
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I don’t understand the first scene. Wasn’t Amanda just at the Agency, in that conference room and then out on the street offering to help Lee with all those contacts. The she went home to study Russian? And now she is back at the Agency? Maybe she went home for lunch? In my life that is bad time management and a lot of fuel consumption. Oh well.
But, wow! There is so much in this episode. I don’t know if the writers did this on purpose, and I have a funny feeling that you are picking your words on purpose, Iwsod. I think I see the whole forest now but I don’t want to jump ahead and put all of those trees that you are labeling together yet (well, I do so badly, but that wouldn’t be fair to you, Iwsod). So….
Paul lost his health years ago, huh? Well, that is interesting. I wonder how Lee’s health is (I think it may be taking a turn for the better)
I also find it interesting that Paul is kind of locked in the past. Old codes, still working on a 10 year old case. And Lee is having flash backs. The way we respond to a traumatic event in our pasts can affect the present and the future. Sometime it locks us in and keeps us in the same emotional state that we were back then, sometimes we can even regress. Sometimes a person can’t begin to move forward again until they revisit that place, allow themselves to get in touch with the pain and be honest about it. Then they can really heal.
Paul says, She knew the risk… they all did” That sounds like a mantra that agents will tell themselves so that they can move on and keep getting the job done. I suppose at some point they will have to reckon with it as human beings with real emotions and psyches so that they can continue to live and love in a healthy way.
“Cold- hearted Paul” interesting moniker you chose… Kind of goes with the language that the writers are using, huh?
And there is another reference to Lee’s “Friends.”
As for Dorothy. I don’t know if it actually really makes a difference if she was a love or not. She was a “really good friend” and maybe that was the last time Lee used that term honestly… until now. Maybe that was when he lost his grid….??
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Yeah, I think I agree with your statement about Dorothy. It’s fun and interesting to consider, but the type of relationship Lee had with her may really not matter in the end.
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