One moment Amanda is talking to the little fellow Junior Trailblazer, and the next- we see the Jeep is on the road again…(Blazing a trail of it’s own!)
Lee: It’s too bad she couldn’t tell us anything about New Utopia.
We cut to the inside of the car.. Amanda isn’t making eye contact with Lee.. she’s opening up her junior trailblazers map.
Amanda: It’s all-right… [or as Iwsod likes to spell it ‘alright’ –there you go Kiwismh, I didn’t adjust your spelling!!!!!]
Amanda pauses a second before explaining.. fiddling with the map- Lee gives her a quiet, indulgent little smile – IMHO he thinks she’s just trying to be encouraging haa!
…. I ran into a Junior Trailblazer.
[with the jeep?!!! sorry.. couldn’t resist 
]
Lee: What?
[rofl!!! Love the look Lee gives Amanda here!! thank goodness she didn’t tell Lee about all the random little kiddies roaming the countryside with a bow and arrows- or he’d have driven off the road! ]
It’s like Lee is thinking- you mean not only are the trailblazer maps better at finding the way around.. trailblazers are even better??!!!
We cut to Amanda to find she is trying to smother a big smile.. she’s getting a kick out of it.. but.. well she can see Lee isn’t in the mood to celebrate this.. tee hee..
Amanda: I ran into a Junior— (Amanda cuts herself off here.. it’s too bad Lee can’t join in on your private joke hey Amanda..oh well! Amanda’s on the case!) … Look,…
…just go on straight down this road and when we get to the bend. 
[This reminds me of Magic Bus.. remember the golf game?? and Amanda getting the invite to the retreat? The housewife? getting the invite and he didn’t??!!!
Lee: She invited you!!!!
Amanda: You want to come?!
whahahaaha!!
(just got to include how Lee responds giving a once over.. who is this woman?!)
Man I love season 1- can’t wait to go back and rewalk through it in more detail!]
okay! back to Utopia Nooooow!
Lee looks at Amanda in response to her (and trailblazers) giving him road directions..
Lee is looking incredulous!!
[Ah Lee you still underestimating Amanda??!! when are you gonna learn?! tee hee.. hmm maybe in this episode?! tee hee..]
(we cut back to Amanda)
… we’ll kind’ve veer to the right.
(Amanda busies herself looking at the map again!)
Lee chuckles to himself: I don’t believe this.
Amanda eventually hazards a little sideways ‘yep 
trailblazers rock’ look at Lee – haaaaaa!
Love the little head shake from Lee as he grins – one minute he’s annoyed by the trailblazers and the next – he’s gotta hand it to her – it’s good work! 
Ahh and the comb twanging music kicks in again! lol! what’s that music called? a comb twang?! I’ll call it that! haaaa!
I realise this is a way to keep the plot moving- but I find it funny that Amanda got the info off arrow toting little Buddy, then got in the car with Lee and let him drive off without telling him she knew where they needed to go! Also, I love how in the previous scene it was the adults who were throwing things and fighting, but it’s the kid who comes along that actually has the needed information! Amanda’s telling Lee where to go.. Everything is upside down!!!
Lee, Amanda and the jeep pull up at a driveway.. A redneck chewin gum and packing heat approaches them. (can we call him Travis?! nah.. I guess Travis was against subversives.. this guy is guarding them!)
[oh boy.. is this ep full of stereotypes or what?!]
Lee: Hello.
Guard: Can’t you read the sign, pal?
[rofl! I love how he calls Lee ‘pal’ – that’s usually Lee’s line!]
Lee: Yeah but we’re not trespassing. We’re here to see Peter Sacker.
Guard: Mr Sacker doesn’t see visitors.
[What a dummy! He actually confirms that Peter Sacker is there! haaa!!]
Lee: Ah. Well, um, we’re making a documentary film on him… (it’s titled: ‘nuttier than a fruitcake!’) …and—
Yeeehaaa the Guard interrupts: Mr Sacker doesn’t see visitors…! (he cocks his gun- hey that’s Lee’s move too!!) …, got it?
Lee: Yah, yeah I got it.
(Love Lee’s nervous smile.. Not even super agent Lee likes a loaded gun being pointed at him.. though lol I guess if he is playing documentary maker he should be maybe peeing his pants here?! tee hee..)
Lee backs up the jeep..
Amanda: Now what?
Lee: Now we find out why Mr Sacker is so shy.
LOL at the last glance we get of the redneck on high alert – chewing away on his tobacca or gum or whatev! yee haaa!
Back to suburbia and we see Jamie run into the 
kitchen, open the fridge and get the milk out. He puts it on the bench.. then goes back to the 
fridge for grapes (fruit? good boy!)
He plonks the fruit bowl down on the bench and knocks over the milk.. don’t cry! it’s spilt!
[Nicely done btw – looks real to me! I wonder how many takes that took? I’m guessing a lot as Phillip doesn’t come in till Jamie gets it right ]
Nice close up on Jamie using Amanda’s note to mop up the spilt milk –
It has magically transformed the bowl the grapes are in-maybe? not sure.. but the real grapes are looking really fake with fake leaves! haaa!]
We cut to Phillip stressing, whining and bossing his brother around.. Meh!
(I spell him Phillip.. is it Philip? help?!)
Philip: C’mon, we’re gonna be late!
Jamie: I’m coming, I’m coming.
LOL.. Jamie gets the paper towel and continues to mop up- bless him for being a thorough cleaner! haaaa..
Love how Phillip here gets a glass, pours himself some milk.. and then in the end.. no one eats or drinks anything!
Philip: Hey, didn’t Mom leave a message?
Jamie: I didn’t see one. You’d better bring that 
chalk back from school.
[so they are on their way to school now? the IFF meeting and getting out to the country has all happened before school starts?!]
Philip: Let’s go.
They rush out.. Amanda’s note is history! Okay.. now you can cry!!
oh and.. there’s still milk all over the bench.. and LOL.. they left the milk out!!!! naughty!!!
We see Lee and Amanda pull up somewhere else in the jeep, they get out and start moving on foot. Amanda has her backpack and a bright red 
jacket? Amanda! You are on a agency work! don’t wear a bright red jacket! Working for the government means lying and sneaking! that’s so hard when you are wearing bright red!
Lee and Amanda walk for a bit and then take cover behind a tree. Amanda points to a collection of buildings.
Amanda: You know what that is?
Lee: What? [guess that’s a no! ]
Amanda: That’s an abandoned town where the men who built the Potomac Canal lived. It’s an historical landmark.
[oh my.. these two sure look gorgeous.. hey.. Lee in the great outdoors! KC, does this qualify as ‘Lee in the shrubbery’?]
Lee: Yeah, well, right now it’s Peter Sacker’s version of Walden Pond…
[help me out here.. I won’t look it up – what’s Walden pond?!]
….Let’s go down and see if we can get a history lesson, huh?
Amanda: Yeah.
More comb twanging!!! dooooiiinggg!! Hey wait a minute.. they leave the cover of the tree to sneak down and take a look – just check it out – Lee is holding Amanda’s hand!!!! You know.. this is not only fabulous.. but interesting given we just saw Amanda err ‘teach Lee a lesson’ by retorting that she should stay at the car while he gets pelted with things by Wanda – it’s like she was saying – you can’t send me in there when you are always telling me to stay by the car! Which is it? am I your partner or not??
and Here??
Lee suggests ‘they’ go check it out.. and brings Amanda along with him – they are much more equal again I think I see Amanda is a little surprised when Lee says lets go take a look – but she goes with it quickly and happily.. (I only noticed her react when I was looking at the pictures-see the two above for her reaction to Lee’s suggestion..)
Off they go! More sneaking and comb twanging.. ahem.. sneaking and still holding hands!!!
We see Lee and Amanda sneak from behind a building..
Rofl Lee seems to slow down suddenly and Amanda crashes into his side.. he gives her a look.. lol!
Lee recovers,
Lee continues forward with the sneaking around..
they pick up the speed now..
Yep, still holding Amanda’s hand!
Did Lee just catch his foot as he arrived next to that building?
Lee pulls Amanda up next to the wall for cover..(in that red jacket? she needs it!!)
I might stop here for the moment.. don’t want to rush the next very funny moment!
Sooo what are you making of Lee and Amanda now everyone? do tell!
Okay back with more very soon! byeeee!
"Just walk with me.." 
Just watched this episode tonight with my son, who is awesomely obsessed with SMK now…
As a mom of four, I cringe EVERY TIME Jamie spills the milk, and they leave that mess and the milk out. It’s like a trigger for moms…I have to look away and find a happy place.
Also, funny you referenced Magic Bus in this post, Iwsod. I could’ve sworn that the Vigilant makes an appearance or two in the background at Sacker’s camp!!! Anyone else ever notice it? I may try to see in an upcoming post if you got a clear screenshot, Iswod.
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#2019 rewatch
To verify Amanda’s statement, here are excerpts from the U.S. National Park Service: “Few ventures were dearer to George Washington than his plan to make the Potomac River navigable as far as the Ohio River Valley. … The Patowmack Canal was a budding nation’s first grand experiment using technology to harness nature in order to expand transportation, trade, and ultimately facilitate the economic growth of this new nation. … An entire town grew up around the construction site to serve as headquarters for the Patowmack Company and home for the workers. The town was named Matildaville by its founder, the Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse” Harry Lee. Harry Lee, the father of [Civil War Southern General] Robert E. Lee, named the town for his first wife, Matilda Lee. Matildaville, at its height, boasted the company superintendent’s house, a market, gristmill, sawmill, foundry, inn, ice house, workers’ barracks, boarding houses, and a sprinkling of small homes. … George Washington did not live to see the completion of the navigation project that had been his obsession since youth. But he did take pride in visiting the canal during the construction to inspect its progress. … The Patowmack Canal and Matildaville ruins are protected by the Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.”
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I feel like I just had a lesson on literary greats! LOVE quotes from Thoreau….the twang music reminds me of the music in the 70’s movie, “Deliverance”….set in the deep woods of the country, with a cast of good ole’ boys sitting on a porch playing banjoes and guitars.
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“….I ran into a Junior Trailblazer. [with the jeep?!!!]
Bwahahahahaha!!! Love it!
Thanks for the laugh, iwsod!
For the life of me I don’t know why Lee can no longer “believe this” when it comes to Amanda. Boy, is he slow on the uptake! What happened to the “I shouldda known” he utters in ALSALS? That’s much better.
“it’s titled: ‘nuttier than a fruitcake!’” – OMG – stop! My sides hurt!
I love Lee’s line about finding out why Mr. Sacker is so shy. Very clever. I guess he only loses his brain with regard to kids and Amanda.
Ugh – this scene with Jamie and Phillip – how many ways is this done wrong! If I were Dotty I’d have a fit!
I think the handholding is cute. And unnecessary. I think Lee just wants to hold her hand. He is still dumbfounded about her sweating the info. out of the JT arrow boy. Oh deary me….guess I’m feeling’ a bit sarcastic tonight!
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I was thinking about the Walden Pond comment from Lee and the use of Utopia in the title of this episode. There was also the comment from the man at Cobb’s Corner about us all look for Utopia, in response to Lee. I’m wondering if there will be more utopian references and if this is in some way connected to what Lee is going through right now with his emotions. Something is wandering through my brain, but I need to let it gel a bit more. Maybe by the time we get to the tag I will either have something to say or realize I was mistaken.
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Iwsod, I am so liking this post. It is just so jam-packed with goodness. That flashback to Magic Bus had me chuckling during study hall and had my students wondering about my sanity. Lee’s shock at Amanda’s capabilities has certainly transformed into appreciation and acceptance. Lee has to constantly be amazed at the wonder that is Amanda.
That little throwaway scene with Philip and Jamie is something else. Responsible enough to wipe up the mess, but not enough to put the milk away.
The outdoors definitely suits Lee and Amanda. They look so awesome, especially together. Love the hand-holding. And here’s another one of those little comedic bits when Amanda runs into Lee. They also do well with the physical comedy. Love this show!!
That red coat is so obvious. I’m wondering if there was anything behind that choice. So much for blending in. But, again, this assignment was supposed to be a walk in the park with no danger, so why worry about hiding or camouflage? Others have already covered the Walden Pond discussion so I don’t need to add my two cents.
One little aside as we have been seeing these changes in Lee and Amanda. BB recently posted on Facebook about how two of the former writers of SMK, David Brown and Lee Maddux both recently passed away within days of each other. He spoke of how they, along with some other writers, gave Lee and Amanda their stories and voices. It was nice to see that recognition.
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Awh thanks Valerie! glad to hear you enjoyed this post! I agree there is lots of good stuff here!
Glad you mentioned the milk spilling scene.. and the destroying of Amanda’s note – I don’t have an answer to this (yet) but I am wondering why the show added in this little subplot of Amanda going away on Agency business, writing a note and then having it accidentally get destroyed… leaving her whereabouts unknown… I’m going to keep an eye on this as we progress.. but at the moment I haven’t figured out what it adds to the story. There must be something!! and if not.. well I’m sure we can all think of something haaaaa!
Valerie thanks for sharing that little aside. so true that the writers, producers etc added much to the show and helped make it what it is.
Here’s their credit on this ep.. right over the top of Amanda saying Lee’s right she’ll stay with the car 😉
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Just thought I’d add: regarding the note Amanda leaves..
In the scene where she wrote the note, the script mentions that Amanda goes to write her message on the chalk board but there is no chalk – so then she writes the note on paper.. this explains the random line in the kitchen scene here when Jamie tells Phillip to be sure to bring the chalk back again – I wondered what that was all about!!
I’m hoping reading the script will help me make some sense of this subplot with Dotty too!
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The chalk line still seems a bit weird. Why take chalk to school when there is a ton of it already there, especially during this time before the advent of White Boards and Smart Board technology? I haven’t used a chalkboard in years and we still have chalk just laying around. We do use it for some art projects, but I don’t know one teacher who wouldn’t let the kids use some of the chalk. We even have colored chalk so the kids can draw on the pavement at recess time.
It’s convenient that it must have been the last of the chalk. Okay, I’ll stop ranting about the chalk. It’s just that this bit seems a bit of a stretch. Oh well, moving on…
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About the coat — Amanda may have been raised with the same rule that our family had: woods + hunting season = orange or red clothes, the brighter the better. She never would have been let out the door with that turtleneck (white was absolutely not allowed), but the shirt and coat are a good idea. The idea was to avoid being shot at by hunters (including family members) who could mistake you for a white-tailed deer. Not so great for spy work, maybe, but the red coat is much better than Lee’s outfit for a walk in the woods.
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Reminds me of “A Long Christmas Eve”. Didn’t the hunters wear red hats. (And red is a significant colour in SMK, along with blue 🙂 )
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Oh yeahh!! that’s probably it! maybe a reversible one could be good.. one for when hiding from baddies and one for when not hiding so hunters can see you? – Spies’r’us should stock them!!
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Here ya go! http://www.basspro.com/RedHead-Reversible-Fleece-Brushed-Tricot-Hunting-Jacket/product/13040607214714/?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&om_mmc=shopping_googleproductextensions&kpid=13040607214714&kpid=13040607214714_Realtree-Xtra/Blaze-Orange_XL
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I don’t have time to put together coherent thoughts right now. But I love looking at the pictures you have here. Amanda just keeps surprising Lee, but now it just draws him in closer to her. I love the tussle between them; whose map is better, who should be talking to the cranky wife, who has a better source of info, how to sneak around while holding hands. And this tussle doesn’t make them frustrated with one another, they are working out how to do this thing (whatever that is, work + ?) together.
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I love digging into this Walden reference, I think it could highlight more of what is going on here with Lee and Amanda. Henry David Thoreau went and lived in the woods in an isolated cottage on Walden pond to embrace soiltude and as he says “suck the marrow out of life.” He also wrote a book called Civil Disobediance. His writings have shaped American thought…”Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) exerted a profound, enduring influence on American thought and letters. His famous experiment in living close to nature, and his equally famous night in jail to protest an inhuman institution and an unjust war, are distilled in his best known works, Walden and “Civil Disobedience.”
I went in search of some of his quotes and I wonder if some of these don’t shed some light on where Lee and Amanda are in their journey through life and towards each other (I know… maybe I am reaching again, but it surer is a fun thing to do this morning)
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
Doesn’t that just scream “Amanda”?
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
― Henry David Thoreau
“be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.”
― Henry David Thoreau
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”
― Henry David Thoreau
“There is no remedy for love, but to love more.”
― Henry David Thoreau
“Not till we are completely lost or turned around… do we begin to find ourselves.”
― Henry David Thoreau
These last two make me think of Lee.
Oh well, time to go back to real life. Maybe I will do a lesson on Thoreau with my kids today, it fits with our curriculum this year…:)
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Lovely quotes Morley and very apt! Makes me want to go and read some Thoreau now.
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Like this, Morley. And love the quotes. I haven’t read any Thoreau since college. I actually had a Lit class called “Puritanism and the Early Republic”. I need to reread some things.
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Beautiful… I can just hear Robin Williams reciting ‘suck the marrow out of life’ in Dead Poets Society. I haven’t read Walden and Civil Disobedience for a few years when I did it with my oldest when she was in 11th grade. Next one will be in 11th next year so I guess I’m due again. But the 10th grader is reading Everyman right now so she’s following SMK’s literary references as well 🙂
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Yes thanks for the background on Walden pond.. I too could only hear Dead poet’s society in my head!
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I feel like taking a moment of silence…
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Oh, the places we go on this walk. 🙂
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Thanks, Morley. This is my first time “reading” Thoreau! LOL – who’d a thunk it? Thoreau on an SMK blog. I think I like this quote best:
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
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Love the quotes Morley! Thanks for doing the work to share them with us.
When I read this quote — “be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” — I immediately thought of Amanda. She has grown soooo much since her initial encounter with a certain super-spy! 🙂 Go Amanda!
Love this episode!! And, everyone’s comments. Can’t wait to continue walking through it.
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Walden Pond is a literary reference. Henry David Thoreau wrote a book called Walden about living in a cabin in the wood (by a pond) for a year. It’s primarily about finding oneself and living simply. The famous quote “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” comes from his book. It’s basically a symbol of a place for solitude and self-discovery.
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I had to look Walden Pond up on Wikipedia when I was transcribing this episode. The only thing I can figure at this stage is that Lee now thinks Sacker is using this place of some sort of retreat away from the frenzy and corruption of society – Walden Pond being some sort of peaceful natural sanctuary… as far as I can gather. Our US friends might be able to enlighten the rest of us.
So Lee is now taking Sacker a bit more seriously but still not thinking he is really dangerous. This is I think one of the reasons he is not particularly wary of taking Amanda with him, although I also think he is more respectful and mindful of her natural abilities and growing skills as a “trainee” agent these days.
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All sounds good to me.. very true kiwismh.. Lee doesn’t know it’s dangerous.. or at least.. not terribly dangerous. I mean they did just get a gun pointed at them by the redneck who called him pal – these people are armed.. but still yes – you are right! 🙂 Great to hear from you!
Thanks for the info on Walden pond! sanctuary huh.. lol! Yes – anyone else able to shed some light on this?
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