Back in Suburbia.. Dotty arrives home.. guess it’s after school.. man the time is off in this ep.. whatev!
Dotty calls out: Amanda!
Philip: She’s not here Grandma.
Dotty realises Phillip is into the lollies and cookies..
Dotty : What are you doing? No. No, no, no!
Dotty removes the junk- but Phillip manages to grab one more cookie as they get taken away.
… Oh, gee. What’s her car doing in the driveway?
Philip: I don’t know. I haven’t seen Mom since we got back from school.
Dotty: Where’s Jamie?
Philip: Oh, Buck’s helping him fix the stereo.
Dotty: Oh. Here, you can have all you want.
Dotty gets a bowl of fruit out of the fridge and puts it on the bench for Phillip to eat.. [You know, it’s all fruit’s fault they don’t know where Amanda is!!! That bowl of grapes is to blame!! 
Love how Dotty snatches the cookies from Phillip in the end 
ahhh finally.. the kid gets some disssshhhhipline!!!! ]
…Stereo? I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the stereo.
We see Jamie and Buck on the floor with the speaker in pieces.. uh ohhhh..
Buck: Er, no problem, no problem…
…I’ll just get my soldering iron and a little speaker glue and it’ll be as good as new… [something tells me Buck is one of those people who pulls things apart but never manages to get them back together again.. but thinks they are good at this stuff!]
…Be back with that glue.
Buck gets up to leave and get that glue.. Dotty stops him to enquire after Amanda..
Dotty: Buck, have you seen Amanda?
Buck: Ah, no, I saw her car at home – I just figured she was out for a walk.
Buck leaves..
Dotty: Jamie, did she leave a note?
Jamie: I didn’t see one.
Dotty: Oh, that girl, I swear!
Dotty is cranky with Amanda.. and starting to worry.. Hmm just what is all this subplot about with the note going missing and all? what does it add to the story?
I guess we see the family now so we are reminded that Amanda has family at home who are worried about her ( lol well Dotty is, the boys are just enjoying free reign of the cookie jar! ) – but I still don’t see what the missing note adds.. because Amanda doesn’t know the message has gone missing! and if she hadn’t returned by evening Dotty would have been worried anyway! Hmm.. I’ll hold this thought for the next scene..
We cut to Lee now unashamedly focusing on the junior trailblazers map!
Lee: It’s a definite plan. The best way for an insurgent terrorist group to isolate Washington DC—
The scene opens with a close up on the map, and Lee focused on the case, as the camera pans out.. 
we see Amanda is not paying any attention to the case or the map right now!
Amanda is rocking where she sits.. a telling self-soothing giveaway..
[I think Lee’s focus on the map is his own give away.]
Amanda checks her watch.
Amanda cuts off Lee’s mumbles about the baddie’s plans: You know, mother’s going to be awfully worried if I’m not home tonight.
[See! Dotty is worried already, but Amanda isn’t to know that.. if she didn’t return home that night any family would worry- so what does the missing note add to the story??]
Amanda doesn’t look at Lee. she lowers her head and picks something up off the ground (a rocket cap?! ) Lee immediately stops what he is doing and focuses ALL his attention on Amanda. (swoony swoon swoon!!) The map? forgotten!!
They are silent a moment.. Amanda looks up into the distance and begins her rocking again. Lee? He silently looks at Amanda..
Lee very gently: Hey,… (he reaches out to take Amanda’s hand in his.)
[That voice is sooo gorgeous here!! so full of tenderness!! ]
Amanda turns to look at Lee, Lee smiles and moves away from the map, towards Amanda.
…that your way of telling me that you’re scared?
Amanda without hesitation: Yes.
Lee: I don’t blame you.
(Lee’s thumb pats and strokes Amanda’s hand comfortingly.. like it has a mind of it’s own.. and just has to!)
Lee softly chuckles to himself and looks down: I’m a little worried myself.
(man.. Lee’ thumb goes crazy tap tap tap! he’s just gotta touch Amanda..I think it’s part comforting Amanda.. and part comforting himself- awh!!)
Okay, this moment reminds me of two previous moments..
This moment in Saved by the Bells.. where they are both captured, and Lee reaches out to touch and comfort Amanda:
Lee actually pats his own hand at first, and then reaches out to pat Amanda’s arm.
Awh!!
And.. there’s two moments in Filming Raul:
wordlessly comforting Amanda here:
And.. Here when Lee admits that he is scared too:
Lee: Hey!!!! come on!!!! I’m scared too!!
Amanda: ha, that isn’t very reassuring!
[LOL Lee’s comforting is just way off the mark! lol.. He’s much better at it now.. plus I guess there was some real awkwardness between them back then – that just isn’t there in this scene huh? They’ve come so far!!]
Plus, there’s the thumb taping moment in Das Geisterschloss no??
(which some view more as a thumb caress- I couldn’t see it myself but that doesn’t mean it’s not there! )
Which again is tinged with awkward sexual tension!!! but here in this Utopia Now moment – there is noooo awkwardness at all..
Do share if you are reminded of any other moments yourselves please! I have vague recollections of Lee doing this thumb taping with inanimate objects also but don’t remember when exactly.. if you can think of any do share please!
Lee gets up off the ground and walks over to the wire to look out..
…I just don’t think we can trust Hollis for anything. (After all he is a leprechaun!)
[thus why Lee is focusing on the map… and the job- he knows how much trouble they are in now!]
Amanda takes her cue from Lee.. she picks up the map – learning that she needs to channel her concern into focusing on getting out the this tough situation.
Amanda: Well, I mean if we’re going to get out of this we’ve got to do it ourselves.
Lee: You got it…
(Lee reaches out and fiddles with the padlock)
…You know, Amanda, I think we could pick this lock if we could just get to that knife.
Amanda gets up and joins Lee at the door.. both focused on getting to that knife..
Now they have a focus..
I like this, Lee is teaching Amanda here how to deal with the fear that this job sometimes raises, how to deal with the problem and she gets on board with him to solve it.
[Hmm maybe Amanda can help Lee with some off the job fears of his own?! ]
The scene ends with them looking at each other – now focused as a team on getting to that knife, and getting to freedom.. 
Back to IFF..
Things are getting serious! Francine has taken off one of her earrings and answered the phone!
Francine: International Federal Film.
Sacker: Hello, I’d like to speak to a Lee Steadman, please.
We can see Sacker and Rogan are looking at Lee and Amanda’s ID’s.. lol I guess they are IFF cover ID’s.. Hmm Rogan holds one up and turns it over.. Lets see if we can see what it looks like:
Curiosity gets the better of me! Looks like it is Amanda’s ID.. and I can just make out ‘international federal film’ up the top.. but can’t really see Amanda’s photo..
If anyone else has better editing software and wants to have a go at getting closer on this ID here is the original image:
Francine waves at the guy next to her –
he nods.. I guess he knows what that means LOL I guess she is wanting a trace?
[rofl! just how did Francine know to answer that call, Francine just does everything doesn’t she! haaa!]
Francine: Ah, I’m sorry, Mr Steadman isn’t in right now. Um, he’s out on location today. Can one of our other directors help you?
I love that Lee’s cover is that he is a film director.. Just love it!
We see Billy walk up and pick up a phone on the wall to listen in- whoooo so that’s what the black phone there does.. hmm.. is the red phone the fashion police?!
Sacker: Ah, yes, what about Amanda Keane?
Francine: Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Keane is on location too. Perhaps you’d like to speak to one of our producers?
[a missed opportunity! could have added: Paul Waigner is currently availab
le!!]
Sacker: No, no thank you.
Sacker hangs up. covers checked..
Francine looks to the guy next to her and he shakes his head.. no trace. (do we ever see this guy again?!)
Francine addresses Billy: Lee missed his 4.30 check in.
Billy: And someone’s checking their covers…
…It’s trouble. Activate a back-up team. If Lee misses his 6.30, send them.
[really.. why wait any longer?? Ok Billy..]
Francine: Okay.
Francine rushes off to activate the backup team leaving Billy to check out the map.. and wonder out loud: What the hell is going on out there?
Uh oh.. things are not looking good. Not only is Billy talking to himself – but he is looking at the agency map – Billy that map is rubbish!! you will never find Lee and Amanda with that!!
I don’t know why the agency doesn’t have something in place here to inform Amanda’s family that she has been delayed on location somewhere – so the family doesn’t worry, and so that while she is busy doing her job, Amanda doesn’t have to worry about that!
Surely other agents have family too?!
Here is the Lovesmk banner which corresponds to this part of the episode… enjoy! (I’ll add it to the header tonight, and give the current header one more day in the spotlight!)
Well I better finish up here for the moment. Such a sweet moment between Lee and Amanda here no?
"Just walk with me.." 
We see Billy walk up and pick up a phone on the wall to listen in- whoooo so that’s what the black phone there does.. hmm.. is the red phone the fashion police?!
Iwsod, I almost choked on a piece of ice I was laughing so hard at that comment! I’m still chuckling…..aaaaahhh, JWWM, how I’ve missed thee!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
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#2019 rewatch
Lee missed his 4:30 pm check-in and his cover’s just been verified, yet Billy wants to wait for the next check-in due at 6:30 pm! Isn’t the backup team capable of maneuvering in rush hour traffic? Or does that incur overtime?
It’s a long and winding road into the mountains; plus, the sun’s already set in early November so it’s getting cold. Speaking about cold, where is Amanda’s red coat? I don’t see it in their cell.
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#2019 Yeah, that never made sense to me either.
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O.k. all of you super readers and blooper catchers, am i the only one that finds this statement odd????? ” I’ll just get my soldering iron and a little speaker glue??”’ Was that suppose to be “super” glue or is there some kind of special glue just for speakers???? I mean why didn’t he just say, “I’ll get some glue”. I don’t like Buck, he is way too comfortable at Amanda’s home and with her kids…he isn’t family, just a “nosy” neighbor.
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lol I thought it was just a gag.. but because I find Buck rather annoying I didn’t find it terribly funny!
I’m with you Gruvy Granny!
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Gosh! Why is Dotty such a food nazi? She makes Amanda put back all the “good” stuff in SOS and here she doesn’t even want poor Phillip to have a cookie or two. He’s a growing boy…surely a cookie or two every once in a while can’t hurt.
Oh gosh, as cute as Jamie is in that pic with the torn apart speaker, I want to clock him for the dumb spilled milk/note scene! I thought he was the smart one!?!?
Aww, love this scene on the floor of the ‘jail cell’. What SMK fan doesn’t! Lee is really showing genuine concern for Amanda here and doesn’t brush it off or make light of it. They both look so good here! I know they’re not in the outdoors or in shrubbery, but Lee in blue and Amanda in red really looks good with the lovely fake stone wall in the background!
I agree, iwsod…no awkward sexual tension here. They have both made it to the next level. They both have realized and acknowledged to themselves that they genuinely care for the other person and aren’t afraid to let them know.
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Finally have some time to make a few comments. In looking at Lee’s reactions to Amanda’s distress in this episode, along with those we’re reminded of in SBTB, FR, and LODG. He seems to have learned early on when Amanda is stressed out, even while she is attempting to deflect it or being self-deprecating, and immediately works to alleviate that stress in some way. In FR he anticipated her concern for her family and had already made a call to set the wheels in motion to protect her family. He is very attuned to her.
I agree that early on his way of calming Amanda seemed awkward and a bit tense and that that tenseness and awkwardness is now gone. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I think Lee shows some of his emotions in his hands. That tapping that he does with his thumb is part of it. The tone of his voice and the look he gives, the smile…it’s all just so wonderful. I was in pause and swoon mode when I first went through this post. There was also a lot of deep sighing…
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I’m with you Valerie, I love love love this little Lee and Amanda scene! It never fails to remind me how sweet these SMK moments are. back to swooning
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I was thinking about the level of comfort Lee and Amanda have with each other in this episode, compared to several episodes back and compared to last season. They’ve come such a long way, but it has happened so gradually you don’t really get the full force of it until you jump over several episodes and see what the differences are. Although their relationship and general closeness made leaps and bound of progress in the second half of season 2, I don’t think it had attained to the easy comfort level we see here. No more denial. No more cranky Lee. Not even earlier, when he does show some “cranky” symptoms; he just doesn’t mean the same thing he did before. And he is amused at Amanda, instead of exasperated, when she twits him about the map. Yes, I think that “comfortable” is the word for it. They went through some pretty game-changing experiences in the end of season 2, but those experiences had to settle into their consciousnesses a while in order to arrive at a new perspective. You know, when things are changing, how you just feel unsettled — you don’t fit in the old grove anymore, but you haven’t yet carved out a new one. The events of early season 3, no matter what order the episodes are in, have been emotionally wrenching rather than physically harrowing — no doubles or mystery drugs, no brushes with death in exotic ways at meat packing plants and dry cleaners. Still plenty of close escapes, but mostly of an everyday (ha!) sort, like people shooting at you or trying to blow you up. Instead, they have had to grapple with personal vulnerabilites and insecurities, things in the past, things they thought they wanted. Being there for each other every step of the way has helped them carve out this new groove they’re in now. I wonder whether future episodes will show that they remain in this grove and just go on deepening it, or if they will get shook out of this one and into yet another one? At any rate, it is all so gradual and woven into the story, that there isn’t one big “aha!” moment, but a series of small ones.
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“Yes, I think that ‘comfortable’ is the word for it.” … I totally agree with you happycamper and couldn’t of said it better myself! They are definitely more comfortable with each other at this stage of their relationship and I think that’s because as Lee began to trust her (realize that she always had his best interest at heart), he allowed himself to become more vulnerable with her and that allowed them to grow closer and ultimately reach this wonderful level of familiarity with each other. It’s almost like they found “home” in each other. Aaawwwwhhhh!!
Remember what he told Harry … he would follow her blind through a blizzard at midnight. That is a deep trust and a level of intimacy that I think we all long for in a relationship. So, I guess that is why I love this show so much … and what makes their relationship so special to me … and why this show so relatable for me … as a young girl watching it 30 years ago! 🙂
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Happycamper and Iheartsmk, love your thoughts here! very true that the show is so clever at gradually moving these two closer together – you are right, the contrast with earlier episodes is not a bit of a shock! whoa!!!
KJ said in an interview I recently saw on youtube that in season 3 (the hour magazine interview 1985 November), Amanda King is much less silly and that they really allow the characters to develop – interesting that here in utopia now, we can see huge development which has happened very slowly.. I wonder if early season 3 was the point at which KJ mentioned things really stepping up a notch in the development scale.. hmm.. Nov 1985 was around the time Flight to freedom was being written (if that gives you an idea of how far along in the season she was when she said that)
Hi Everyone!
LOL!! You guys are so all funny!! I hope to get back here and reply this weekend.. but I need to write more Utopia Now posts first – or I’m not going to have anything to publish next week 😉 I really don’t want to make you guys wait longer than you need to for upcoming events!!!
Soooo just wanted to add that I am enjoying all your comments but I may not get back to respond for a bit. (or much!)
bye!
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Love it!
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Ok, this is brief and under developed, but…
The maps, so many maps. So many people trying to figure out a plan, or find something based on a map. And which map, whose map, is all the information on the map?
And then there is finding out that a situation is more serious and far reaching than anyone thought.
And I can’t help but apply all of that to Lee and Amanda and where they are in their journey together in their relationship.
And in the middle of all of this scramble and danger and lostness are two people who are really great and working together to solve the case and even comfort one another.
Even Dotty is confused…
I’ll have to chew on that as I go about my day…hmmm?
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LOL – maybe you need your own map? 🙂
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I’m not as profound as Morley, but a few thoughts about maps and the message that got used to mop up the milk: maybe the theme is searching or looking for something or someone:
1) Dotty looking for Amanda – the message (or set of instructions/map) from Amanda got lost, so Dotty couldn’t find her/lost her
2) Lee and Amanda looking for Hollis (with the maps and Cobb’s Corner enquiries)
3) Sacker and co. searching for Lee and Amanda
4) Lee and Amanda “searching for” each other; each are looking for a soul mate and love (Lee has been lost before meeting Amanda…)
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It’s very interesting how Francine just picks up the phone and answers with “IFF” without any other indication (like an operator). Do only certain phones have direct access? That part makes no sense.
I love how touchy feely Lee is in this episode. Think he’d have been touching Francine so much if she was his partner? Not a chance. All the hand holding and touching with Amanda makes my little fangirl heart sing.
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Maybe Amanda’s note is for us the viewer to know that Amanda does try to let her family know where she’s at. That is thoughtful and doesn’t want them to worry.
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It is beyond be, why Lee does not have anything to pick a lock on him hidden in clothes or shoes.
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Yeah, you would think he would always have some lock picks hidden since he could be caught at any time,; beings that he is a top spy and all 🙂
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Yup, these were the kinds of plot devices that sometimes made me go meh under my breath when it comes to the writers. I guess Lee only keeps lock picks in his dress shirts.
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I guess it just goes to reinforce that he really just thought this was a low risk/no risk assignment and didn’t bother with his normal precautions. Or maybe he just didn’t have time to stitch one into the collar of his oh so nice chambray shirt. 🙂
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Good Call Julia!!
LOL so true!!! Usually we see Lee carrying his manicure kit 😉
I guess any future moments where we see a hidden lock pick can be put down to the lesson he learned in this episode huh?!!!
[he left the woods and went straight to spies’r’us?!
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Oh, if only Lee had kept his Das Geisterschloss hair style. He was smokin’ hot in those European episodes! 😉
Still, wonderful, warm, compassionate, kind and caring Lee in jeans and chambray shirt is pretty easy on the eye (and the heart… are you taking note of this Amanda??). 😉
Well…. I did warn that you wouldn’t get much sense out of kiwismh during the walk through this episode. 😯
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Not to take away from the spectacularness that is going on with Lee and Amanda at this moment, but for some reason I focused on Buck here and him being in the house without Dotty or Amanda present. In Sour Grapes there was a question about him just walking in the house and getting some coffee without asking. Here, he is already present with neither Dotty nor Amanda there and Dotty does not seem distressed about his presence. Philip and Jamie seem to have no problem with him either. I’m wondering if this says anything about episode order or not. I thought Buck coming and getting coffee was a sign that this is something that he had done before and that the ladies seemed okay with it. He also seems to have no problem figuring out all the doors that lead into and out of the kitchen and den area. Still pondering this and waiting for more info…
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Yep, I would definitely have changed the locks soon after he moved into the neighborhood. 🙂
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Does anyone like Buck? Eeeew. I guess he’s comic relief but I just find him icky.
Anyone else think Dotty looks a bit like a nurse in this outfit?
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Nope. I find him annoying.. and I don’t like that he was home alone with the two boys.. if you get my meaning..
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Nope. Not even I like Buck. And I am fairly open to liking most characters on this show…even the baddies.
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LOL! I just looked at Dotty again – she does look like a nurse!! I think it’s a combination of the hair, that white collar, and the blue blouse looks a bit uniform-y with the wide thing in the middle of it. What is that part of the shirt called? The part where the buttons are? I think it might be the placket?
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Word of the day for me…
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agreeeeeeeeeee!!! not okay he was at home alone with the boys.. and no one knew.. aie!
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