We re-join Amanda and Alan having a lovely cappuccino, just one! Amanda has determined Alan is not married and why.. LOL.. Alan was reminded of a job he had to do in DC.. so he switches the focus of conversation back onto Amanda.
Alan changes the subject: … I’m curious about you. You’re a tourist from…
Amanda: Evanston, Illinois
[I think Amanda looks really pretty with that blue water behind her.. yes.. a random swimming pool next to a cafe lol] Chamberlain: and what do you do in Evanston, Illinois?
Amanda: I’m a dental hygienist. It’s really pretty boring stuff.
(Yes no skiing in Gstaad this time to get in trouble over! haaa)
[good for Amanda.. she doesn’t use the cover of ‘Astronaut’ or ‘model’ 
she picks something boring like a good spy should! 
]
Chamberlain: Not really, not at all.
Amanda: Well, I know you have lots to do. I really should probably better be getting going.
Chamberlain: No!!! (Alan’s reaction here is a tad over eager-panicky almost! He checks 
himself here and brings it down a notch to not freak out Amanda..) No. what-…actually see I’ m not working – um – 
until tomorrow, and I was wondering maybe we could have, uh, dinner together. You 
know – two lonely tourists.
Amanda: Well you know in Europe you like to eat late and I’m sort of an early eater myself.
Chamberlain: Oh anytime you like.
Amanda: and besides, my aunt has something planned for almost every night, and I’m sure tonight would be no exception. I really wouldn’t want to disappoint her.
(Amanda gets up to leave and Alan rises also- he takes both her hands in his as he responds..)
Chamberlain: I understand…
(Amanda notes this action of his..)
[I like to think that she likes it, but doesn’t really explore it- if she did.. she might realise that her reaction is not the same as when a certain spy takes both her hands in his tbc..! ]
…But if your aunt should leave you with nothing to do, please call me. I’m at the Sherman. Promise?
[Love how Alan doesn’t offer for Amanda to bring her aunt along. I mean.. if he was really interested in Amanda- he would be happy to see her with her aunt rather than not at all no?! Kind of hints to me that Alan is looking for a dinner where the Aunt would get in the way of things ahem!]
Amanda: I really don’t think that’s going to happen but thank you
Chamberlain: You never know.
Amanda: It was nice to meet you.
Chamberlain: It was nice meeting you, Amanda.
Amanda: Goodbye
Chamberlain: Bye
Amanda leaves and Alan watches her walk away.. Hmm so how does this work? So no one from the agency is watching Alan now?? it’s just between office hours?
Soooo okay I’m in the headspace to think about Alan a bit more now.. forgive me if I repeat what has already been said- I remember what Jestress and Jenbo said about Alan (in post 4 comments)- that Alan is being really irresponsible here. He knows these terrorists are watching him – and he goes out on the hunt for a date for that night?? Maybe he is new at this cloak and dagger stuff sure.. but IMHO this is completely selfish behaviour on his part.
Based on what I’ve covered so far I think we can see Alan is a practiced charmer, who is far too smooth.. A dental hygienist is interesting? lol.. no one will buy that [sorry dental hygienists!]. Alan wanting to change the subject is a clue- he doesn’t want to think about what’s ahead- so he distracts himself with something else.. right now? it’s charming Amanda.. and getting a dinner date with her..
Seems to me Alan is looking for a woman to kill time with (oh dear! what a pun!).. and distract himself – and Amanda just happened to be there.. He probably would have asked out the salesgirl if Amanda hadn’t interrupted them..(maybe if Alan hadn’t been flirting and quoting poetry to the salesgirl, I would buy he is particularly interested in Amanda and thus why he pursues her) When Amanda says she has to go – Alan sounds quite desperate that she not leave – too desperate. I’m thinking that while he may find Amanda attractive, I think this is more about Alan and not wanting to be alone – or.. maybe getting a bit of action.. if you know what I mean I don’t see Alan as especially interested in Amanda or that he sees her as special. Maybe because he is so desperate so quickly too- Meh!!
That the baddies are watching and have noted Amanda and Alan’s cappuccino makes it that much worse. Bad Alan!!! I realise he is under immense pressure here.. and in a terrible situation but.. knowing his sister is in danger and exposing another woman to danger, just because you wanted some company is not my idea of a charming man at all.. not attractive – and you know what – I don’t think Lee would have knowingly done that. I don’t loathe Alan.. but.. he’s not charming me at all!
Back to IFF and Amanda’s car pulls in to the car park. We find Lee a bit weary, sitting in the bullpen still working on his accounts with Congresswoman Faber. Sooo why are they doing this in the bullpen?? Why not in the Q bureau?? That would make much more sense..
Amanda arrives as Faber talks to Lee: Details, Mr Stetson, not vague generalities…
[Faber wants AAaaalll the details.. a little too interested me thinks ]
Lee: I’m trying to remember.
Amanda: I just dropped the film off.
(Amanda smiles at Faber)
Lee: Oh. Thanks, Amanda. Any problems?
[Lee seems to ask this confident that everything went well, he is quite distracted by Faber’s inquisition IMHO and dealing with his past.. yet again!]
Amanda: NO, everything’s just fine.
[Lee doesn’t pick up on Amanda’s hints that there’s a problem but she doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Faber! ]
Lee: Terrific, terrific. We’re just cross-checking my petty cash vouchers against Billy’s payouts. We’re up to 1979.
[Lee is not at all concerned here when he sees Amanda again- he is confident all went fine with Amanda following Alan to take photos- this IMHO says a lot.. and leads me to conclude that so far- Lee hasn’t felt jealous about Amanda finding Alan attractive. I bet Lee is wishing Amanda had been able to help with Faber!! ]
Amanda really needs to talk to Lee.. she pushes Faber’s chair around so she can’t see Amanda signal and distracts her by saying: Oh would you look at that
.
(pointing to an imaginary something on the computer screen!) While Faber is turned away, Amanda frantically signals to Lee she needs to talk now!
Lee: Ohhh!!!!…
…Uh. Uh, Congresswoman, I really do have to take this agent’s report so if you could spare me for a minute…
[Squeeeeee!!! did you guys catch that?? This is the first time Lee has ever called Amanda an ‘Agent’ !!!!!!!!]
Amanda: Yes.
Amanda looks at Congresswoman Faber with a smile- like of course you won’t say no to such a tiny request!!! Amanda knows how to deal with her Faber motions her permission..
Amanda: um, thank you very much. Very kind of you.
Lee and Amanda head into Billy’s office –is this why they are not in the Q bureau? because they would not have had another room to go to? lol!! but yeah.. let’s just chat in the bosses office while he isn’t around! weird..
Anyway! I need to stop here for the moment.. before we get into Lee and Amanda’s conversation here! I hope your enjoying this episode!!! what do you make of Alan everyone?? and anymore insights into what’s going on with Amanda here?? or Lee?? so far?? Okay byeee for now!
"Just walk with me.." 
Late to the party again, but I’d like to mention Alan’s interest in Amanda’s job as a dental hygienist. He cleans and preserves works of art, so I think he notices that her “job” is very similar — cleaning and preserving teeth. I think his interest in her is for real.
Also, isn’t BB from Evanston??
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I think BB is from Elgin, which is west of Evanston.
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Boy, Alan sure has it bad for Amanda! I think she is a good distraction for him. He has certainly taken his mind off his and his sister’s predicament.
I’m not troubled by him not inviting the aunt to come along. If he likes her as much as he appears to, he probably just wants to spend time with her and getting to know her, not the aunt. I do love that he takes no for an answer, but also gives her an ‘in’ if she changes her mind. I’m thinking he’s thinking that Amanda’s either not interested or not sure about seeing him again because of his lifestyle, etc. meeting a stranger for dinner and such. Maybe this is the type of ‘fast circle’ Francine was referring to earlier?
Okay, iwsod, you’re taking a bit of the shine of Alan’s apple for me here…but I still like him. I never thought if his behavior as selfish, but I after reading the post, I can see why you wrote what you did. I think I prefer your line about him not being familiar with the cloak and dagger stuff and not realizing that he’s possibley putting Amanda in danger. I think Alan thinks Amanda is a beautiful woman, much as James Delano thought Amanda was the most beautiful woman at the party in SAAB, and a man with his job, must like to be around beautiful things. And we all know Amanda is beautiful inside and out. Maybe he’s realizing this with every passing moment they spend together?
I don’t get why Amanda had to be so secretive about talking to Lee. Why can’t Faber know that? And Lee’s calling Amanda an agent, makes it sound like he has something important to do, rather than meet with a friend or a part-time civilian doing light surveillance.
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“Sooo why are they doing this in the bullpen?? Why not in the Q bureau??”
Maybe Lee’s worried that Faber might not be able to contain her, uhh… enthusiam…???… 😉 😀
“(pointing to an imaginary something on the computer screen!)”
I love that move of Amanda’s–the chair swing and talky-hands!
“Squeeeeee!!! … This is the first time Lee has ever called Amanda an ‘Agent’ !!!!!!!!”
Yeah, call me a buzzkill, but I think there was motive on Lee’s part. He wanted to make sure that Faber thought that it was important enough for him to excuse himself… so he said “agent” where normally he would have said something else, e.g., “my assistant”, or “aide” or …???… It’s nice, but I don’t think he would have said it if it weren’t for the fact that he wanted to get away from Faber. (No offence to Lee intended…)
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I’m afraid I agree with KC about the use of “agent” here (,much as I’d like it to be an endorsement of Amanda’s progress by Lee).
I really love how Amanda “handles” Faber here (much better than how Lee does!)
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Hiya KC and Learjet – I actually agree with you both! the thought had crossed my mind- that using the term ‘agent’ made the interruption more serious and a priority – but (there’s always a but) I chose to enjoy it anyway 😉 and I think given his treatment of Amanda in Billy’s office- that he is starting to see her as an agent – so I figured I’d accept it anyway 🙂
I agree Amanda ‘handles’ Faber perfectly!
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See my reply to learjet KC- you’re not a buzzkill! 🙂 I figured the same thing – but lol didn’t let that stop me from enjoying it and still seeing it as a first significant step 🙂 tee hee..
yeah.. Faber is.. enthused!! 😉
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I agree with you on the “agent” reference to Amanda. Calling her a part-time civilian who runs errands or does light surveillance doesn’t sound important at all.
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When I transcribed this episode, I printed out the script on SMK-Land to help me (what a great resource for the transcriber and blogger!). There are a few big changes. The way the cappuccino scene played out is one of them. E.g., it describes Alan as being a lot less relaxed and forgetful of Sophia’s kidnapping “Chamberlain had allowed himself to look off as a dark thought caught him. He recovers, making a brave show of smiling”…” That look of sadness still haunts Amanda”. I wonder these hints of underlying sadness appeal to Amanda? It makes sense with her personality.
Next surprise – Amanda actually accepts the dinner invitation then and there, after a brief refusal! I’ll post why this is such a shock in the next post…!
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Hey yeah those descriptions sometimes really add to our understanding! thanks Learjet for sharing that with us – I think you are right.. Alan’s underlying sadness does appeal to Amanda? she’s a bit of a nurturing rescuer! And it’s how she came to bond with Lee in The first time – you know?? she can help Alan as much as she likes.. but she can’t go falling for him! nooooo!!! 😉 I’ll say no more than that for now! haaa!!
time to head off and get the next post written – been wonderful to hear from you all!!! Hope you are all well!!
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Ok–so I just watched this episode over from the beginning. When Lee stops by Amanda’s to help with his expense reports, he says that this is an annual review, so why does Faver have to go back 10 years. I’ve never thought much about her before, but I think she is both repulsed and intrigued by Lee/Scarecrow. It is kind of like Amanda at the beginning. She would make comments about how rude he was and would roll her eyes at his women, but she was still attracted to Lee and the agency life.
Also, Alan is almost written like Byron Jordan (from MBF), someone who comes on fast and strong to Amanda. Even though Lee may be the same kind of guy (or at least was), he knows Amanda to know that she is a long term relationship type person. It’s funny that neither of these guys bothered me when I was younger and watching (only in the regards that they were not Lee), but now in being older and really looking at things, it’s like too much too soon. Alan and Leslie have a lot in common with having security clearance and all of their travels. And Lee has grown, both by trusting Amanda to handle her assignment (he is not worried about her) and calling her an agent.
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oh cool! glad you could see the episode LAAL! yeah I was wondering if Alan was similar to Byron – like you say- written to be attractive and an option for Amanda – but coming across to some as a bit too hot and heavy too fast – and not genuine.. It may be like that..
Agreed! Faber going back 10 years is ridiculous!!! and good catch on the Annual Review! I think if you did Lee’s whole history every year, by the time you finished reviewing it, it would be time for the next annual review 😉
Yeah Alan and Leslie do have some interesting things in common!! 🙂
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it’s interesting… when I’ve watched this episode in the past I’ve always thought of Alan as Amanda’s last guy just as Leslie was Lee’s. Leslie was smart, attractive, successful and a good person but it still wasn’t enough for Lee because she wasn’t Amanda. I’ve thought of Alan the same way. But this time for some reason I am seeing Alan as more of a sleaze. It bothers me that he’s coming on to Amanda while his sister is being held by terrorists. His tone when he asks her what she does in Evanston, Illinois is more condescending than interested. I really think the writers intend for us to see Alan as a really good guy who likes Amanda because she’s a really good woman but for some reason it’s not working for me this time. I can’t figure it out. I’ve seen this episode lots of times but he’s just making my skin crawl this time.
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Hiya Allofakind!
I sooooo know what you mean! It’s amazing how we can have such a different reaction on another viewing! 🙂
Yes I find Alan less attractive this time too!! Condescending? I sooo agree!!! As if that is interesting!!! haaa!!
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Alan does seem to be moving a little fast, here. I get that he’s probably got a lot on his mind and a feminine distraction may be helpful. However, I do think his discussion with Amanda has given him time to decide that she is a very nice person to get to know. Perhaps he wants to set up a base for something developing after he gets his sister out of trouble. Perhaps, also, he is acting “normally” just in case he is being watched. Just a few thoughts….
I think Lee has Faber out in the open here because he’s a bit afraid to have her upstairs alone in the Q bureau. He senses she’s a bit of a barracuda and doesn’t want to be bitten. 🙂
And, yes, I do like the way he calls Amanda an agent in front of Faber. (mini squeee here)
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Faber – barracuda — Love it! She probably would have tried to get him to re-enact some of his more colorful exploits so she could understand his expense reports better. All for the benefit of the American taxpayer, of course. 😉
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I’m still not too sure of what to think about Alan. He comes across as being pretty smooth and he is well traveled and supposedly famous. Maybe because of that he is used to women fawning over him whereas Amanda seems hesitant and is only giving limited information about herself and drawing him out instead. I would assume that for that reason he seems intrigued by Amanda. In this way you might see some similarities with Lee. He too has been known to be pretty smooth with the ladies, also well traveled and equally used to women fawning over him. The fact that Alan takes Amanda’s hands in much the same way Lee does has got to be confusing to her. The biggest difference right now for Amanda has got to be that Alan is showing interest in her and not someone whose name ends in ‘i’.
I can’t imagine that having to go through ten years worth of information while perched on the edge of a desk is very comfortable for Lee. One would think he would at least grab a chair. But then we wouldn’t have that nice desk pose of Lee’s. This Faber is something else. She wants all the details of petty cash vouchers from the 1970s? Seriously? Let’s just see if we can drag out as much time as we can with the great Scarecrow. She pretends to be appalled but continues to be intrigued by him. And she certainly did make sure she had his undivided attention. She mentioned before how his name had come to her attention quite a bit. I wonder if she made a point to have that information sent to her on purpose. Creepy.
I do like how Lee refers to Amanda as an agent. Very nice. I still think that he has filed Amanda’s earlier reactions away for the moment. At this point there hasn’t been anything to make him pull the file out and mull over it. If Amanda had gotten into any trouble there would have been some sort of phone call or alert about it and Lee would have went dashing off to handle it. The fact that she showed up unharmed and all in one piece hasn’t set off any alarm bells for him.
Just one other point. The cafe being next to a pool is not that random. I know of several places here, especially hotels, where you can dine by the pool. We even have a couple of hotels near me where the top floor is a restaurant and during the evening hours it actually rotates so you get 360 degree view.
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I forgot to add one other thing. Maybe the writers intended for Lee to be distracted by Leslie who was similar to Amanda and then for Amanda to be distracted by someone similar to Lee so that they would both eventually realize that a substitute would just not do.
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Yeah Valerie you might be on to something.. they certainly seem to be heading in that direction. I think it is slightly different as Amanda might start something with Alan – and Lee had already begun something with Leslie.. but as you say – maybe the realisation is going to be the same.
I love that Amanda isn’t waiting at home pining away for Lee!! 🙂 and as much as I am not a huge fan of Alan’s- I like that Amanda gets her own ‘lovely little affair’ 😉
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If we take it that Faber is intrigued by Lee, we have a very interesting role reversal in this episode — Lee pursued by a woman and NOT interested, and Amanda finding herself interested in a guy.
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I like that idea, that is interesting.
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I like that too, happycamper! Interesting!
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Maybe Alan was looking for a little distraction from his problems and took the first willing person he could find for coffee (not cappuccino for sure, or a latte because there is no milk in that glass, you are right ) but maybe as he talks to Amanda he starts to notice that the woman he picked is a really nice, personable one, worth spending some real time getting to know (dental hygienist from IL?)
I think Amanda realizes she has created a situation here, both for herself and the Agency. I do think she notices the hand hold. I think she notices the way it doesn’t make her feel and probably wishes she didn’t because IMHO she is trying to banish that line of thinking when it comes to anything pertaining to Lee and how he makes her feel at this moment.
As for Lee, his reaction to her here doesn’t stop me from thinking he was feeling some jealousy earlier. Amanda is back, in his presence and he is reluctantly engrossed in all of his vouchers and trying to avoid Faber’s tentacles (I love the way he is sitting on the desk as far out of Faber’s space as possible) and I think he may only be aware of relief that she is done with her assignment, all those weird, funky reactions he had to Alan Chamberlain have left his brain now that she is standing in the bull pen. I think it can leave his mind because, as you said IWSOD, Alan is no threat and Lee and Amanda do have a real relationship (albeit a friendship only at this point) that Lee can interact with – does that make any sense?
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A short thought – surely that blacker than black coffee that Amanda is drinking is not a cappuccino?? And as I post this, I see kiwismk has the same problem with this
I find it deeply disturbing how visually similar the Wizard cafe scene and this cafe scene are (in my defence of Lee as the only man for Amanda). And in both cases, Amanda is listening to the confidences of men. Even the hand-holding is similar. I do think Amanda is the kind of friendly and empathetic person that people do confide in so I’m not too bothered by that. But having these scenes in adjacent episodes (regardless if we go by airing order, or Morley order) call attention to these similarities. I’ll mull this over.
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Mulling? excellent idea! gotta run.. just wanted to say hiya! and I’ll write more tomorrow.
oh and I wrote ‘cappuccino’ because that’s what Amanda suggested to Alan – just one cappuccino – but you’re right.. that’s not a cappuccino! 🙂 looks like a long black or a black tea?!
Okay gotta run! byeeee
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Isn’t that a latte glass? (ok there’ s a point where you can get too detailed, and I’ve just crossed it ROFL)
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I wonder if Amanda is using the word cappuccino and coffee interchangeably, and she is just drinking coffee. This is the 80’s, pre-Starbucks when nobody unsophisticated knew the difference between a cappuccino, latte, or americano. Not that I know now either, I’m a tea drinker and don’t go to Sbux much. Maybe this is to reinforce that everyday, normal, housewife image. Sort of like how she substitutes ciao for bye after the near miss with the skateboard.
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I tend to think that Alan is in some way genuinely interested in Amanda. The bit with the saleswoman at the outdoor bookstore was a bit odd but he’s been under constant stress about his kidnapped sister so maybe he was just trying to relieve the stress by talking about something he enjoys (poetry) with someone he knew would be interested.
I see this in his interaction with Amanda too that sense of wanting some moments of normalcy to relieve a bit of the lonely stress he is enduring. As far as Alan is concerned he knows about his sister being kidnapped and what he has to do to secure her release, in a sense he holds his sister’s life in his hands, and only he can do what needs to be done to save her. Who would want to carry that burden for any length of time? But I also think that he is genuinely attracted to Amanda.
I don’t see him as being lecherous or insincere, or even too pushy. Interesting thoughts on the aunt situation Iwsod but I would have thought he was pushy and creepy if he had suggested to Amanda that she bring her aunt along.
Is that a cappuccino Amanda is drinking? Looks different than the cappuccinos I see served here, which are more of a milky/frothy coffee drink.
When Alan takes Amanda’s hands I think she does notice this isn’t the same as when someone else touches her. It may be a fleeting thought or even just a feeling, but I think she notices the difference. It also reminds her she needs to extract herself from this interaction before she completely sabotages her own assignment.
I wonder how much Faber’s salary is? Probably enough to pay the annual salaries of 3 or 4 full-time agents (including “Agent” Amanda 😉 ). Seems to me Faber’s not really conducting a thorough or even proper analysis of Agency spending by concentrating on the activities of only one agent – although maybe that’s what her side-kicks Huey and Louie (those names just same right for those two stuffed shirts) are checking out (although I’m picking they’re checking out Francine more than Agency staff and processes).
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hey kiwismh! I think in post 4 we all kind of ended up seeing Faber quite similarly- from your first comment I thought you were thinking she had come to pick up Lee.. lol but I could understand from your second comment what you were saying was actually the same as what I was thinking. (just thought I”d clarify!)
Sooo here we disagree though! haaaa.. I think there would be no harm in Alan suggesting- well your Aunt is more than welcome to join us – as a courtesy.. but fair enough. right now I’m seeing Alan as pretty hot and heavy for Amanda way too fast- so he doesn’t strike me as sincere.. desperate more like! 🙂
I haven’t written the next post yet- so maybe I’ll see Alan in a more genuine light as we progress 🙂 I haven’t come to an overall conclusion about the guy – I just share what I’m thinking of him at this point in the episode- I hope that makes sense!
yeah Faber’s whole reason for being there and checking Lee’s accounts -in detail- is just ridiculous!!!
Why did the writer’s do this?? hmm.. this will be interesting to ponder as we continue..
At this point, I see Amanda as feeling a bit hot/cold for Alan- but more hot than cold at the moment 😉 tee hee.. I figure Amanda is entitled to a bit of confusion about how she feels about men.. about a certain spy.. and about where her romantic life is headed.. sooo I’m really just going with the flow for Amanda and looking forward to exploring this as we continue!
Though I do suspect she has indulged in a bit of fantasising about Alan, and is playing with fire a little here.. just little!
Okay must go! byeeee!!
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