The baddies blow up some power lines..
An explosion: SMK Style!!!
rofl!! That wide shot of the explosion looks so fake! Totally looked like a miniature model! haaaa…
(Hollis said they were going to do that the day after tomorrow.. and it’s that night… so did Sacker move the plans forward?? )
Back at IFF, lol we see a night time exterior.. and in the left hand corner – you can juuuust make out Lee’s corvette is parked out the front! 
Did he leave there while on this chicken feed assignment? lol.. I thought he parked it in his special garage now..
Inside, it seems Billy is pulling an all nighter.. awhhh probably worried about Lee and Amanda.. oh yeah.. err and the president!
Billy: Another power line is down. I think you should wake the President.
Aaron Pressor: And I can trust your judgment Melrose? Yeah, I think I can.
[well if you can’t, then what are you doing there huh??!! Now that is lame dialogue.. and quite pointless.. It seems to me they thought the audience was dumb.. and needed to be reminded that Billy is advising this guy to wake the president and if he gets woken for nothing then there’s going to be some Presidential stingers aimed at Billy! Yawn!]
Billy seems to breath a sigh of relief as Pressor makes the call.. guess Billy wasn’t sure they’d act.
Hey maybe they figured everyone would be shell-shocked from the near miss kiss and would need reminding? I think about now when this ep aired many smk fans were up on their feet collecting the stuff they had just thrown over the tv in rage!
The next day, and we see some presidential looking helicopters taking off near the reflecting pool (lol why?!) -and why wasn’t the president flown off at night? why wait till morning?? I thought they had to ‘wake’ him?!
We cut to Francine who is now no longer lonely in the evil countryside.. hey she’s wearing what she wore last night- has she been searching all night?! Why didn’t she hear all that shooting?!
Some soldiers in the foreground peruse a map.
Billy on the radio: The President is being evacuated.
Francine: There’s still no sign of Lee and Amanda. [Oh phew.. that’s a relief.. so she is actually looking for Amanda! 
]
Whooo looks like Agent Duffy is out searching too..Plus- check out Francine’s ear buttons!!! And a banana clip in her hair?!!! [what did you call those in your neck of the woods?]
Billy: Francine, check everything you can.
Francine: Billy, we’ve already checked everything twice. [rofl. she sounds about 3 years old here!]
Billy: Then triple check it!
Francine sighs and gets back in the jeep.. she tells Duffy: One more sweep.
This is almost a replay of her moaning about how many square miles it is.. enough already! Yes the audience knows they are looking for Lee and Amanda.. whoooo
[Oh dear.. has the near miss kiss left me all narky?! This is the part where I yawn and my attention wanes.. I just keep thinking back to that moment.. just another couple of millimetres and.. argh!! ]
Back to the bad guys..
Sacker: I had to do some rescheduling. By now PREDEC 2 is in effect. I want those two. Aside from Hollis they’re the only ones who can tie us into this.
[Ahhh Sacker explains he did some rescheduling and now predec 2 should be in effect.. thanks for clearing that one up- for a psycho baddie you are very helpful! tee hee..]
Rogan loads his machine gun (whooo): They’re a memory…
[but is his toothpick loaded?! That’s what I want to know!]
Rogan yells to his men: Spread out!
Eerrr sorry but what about all those other men walking around with guns? All those paid mercenaries could tie you into all this.. if they’re paid better than Sacker pays!
We see the men start to enter the swamp, heading towards Lee and Amanda.
We cut to Lee and Amanda fiddling with some wire or something.. (or is that the twine Amanda had? Hmm strong twine!)
Amanda: Okay.
They stretch it across the path like a trip wire.
Lee: Maybe this’ll slow ‘em down.
Amanda: Got it?
Lee: Yeah.
Rofl. I love how Lee kinda squashes it into the earth there.. looks to me like it would have done nothing!! 
In the wide shot, we see Lee helps Amanda up off the ground and they keep moving. awh! 
We see Francine pull up at Cobbs corner with Duffy..
They approach Arvil. [Drat I really wanted to see Francine deal with Wanda!]
Francine: This place was closed before. Come on, it’s worth a try….
Can anyone make out what is painted on the side of that wall??
I’ve tried to adjust the picture quality.. can’t make out the first world.. anyone? Last word is repairs, guessing second word is car.?
(to Arvil) … Excuse me. I’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind. Okay?
[Interesting.. Francine shows Arvil her ID.. why didn’t Lee do that?? or is it only allowed now the president is in Predec 2?]
We see Buddy is hovering around too.. [lol has he been roaming the countryside all night? teee heee.. guess he’s staying with Wanda and Arvil?! or in a tent by himself haaa..]
…Now, have you seen these people before?..
(Francine holds up Hollis’ photo – errr is it just me or does it look like him a decade ago?!)
… Have you seen that gentleman?
Arvil Jenkins: Uh uh.
Francine: How ‘bout him?
(Francine shows a photo of Sacker with a better haircut)
[Yeah! he’s no gentleman!]
Arvil Jenkins: No.
Francine: This lady?
(Francine shows a glamour shot of Amanda.. rofl!!! the agency is very generous with their photograph budget!)
Arvil Jenkins: She looks familiar.
Buddy: Over there!.. she went that way.
Francine and poor wordless Duffy run for the jeep..
‘Over there! she went that way’?!!! roflmbo! that is so helpful! Don’t tell me with those instructions they’ll find them! why didn’t Buddy tell them about the gates that he directed Amanda to in the first place. Ah wait.. she didn’t know the junior trailblazers secret handshake – that’s why he just waves his hand and says over there!
Why didn’t they show a photo of Lee?? I would have liked to have seen a gorgeous Lee pic..
Plus Lee is pretty memorable to look at for anyone!!
We cut to Rogan and his baddies running through the woods.. Everyone is on the move!
We cut again to Lee and Amanda running as well.. Lee stops by a tree.
Looks like they’ve been running hard (probably desperate for the loo and trying to forget about it!) Both of them are out of breath.
Lee: Wait.
Amanda: I don’t know if we can make it much further. [Amanda has a stitch from running so much]
Lee: I know. I know. It’s only a matter of time before they catch up.
Lee notices something [it’s amazing what these two find when they stand in one place and have a break! Let’s stop. Whooo what’s that? a rocket cap?! an all important fence?!]
… Wait a minute. What’s that?…
… Come on!!…
(the move closer to the fence)
…My God. I knew it was out here but I didn’t think it was this close….
…Amanda, somewhere on the other side of this fence is the President’s underground White House… [Sounds like Sacker is wanting Tax Reform?! ]
…Now it’s all starting to make sense to me. This is what Sacker was really after. It’s like Hollis 
said – the bombs, that map – they were just a diversion…
.. Yeah, if enough communication lines are knocked down a condition called PREDEC 2 goes into effect…
(Amanda shakes her head like- what does all this mean?! and yes us the dumb audience need it explained.. yet again!) … The President is automatically evacuated to 
the underground White House by helicopter.
[Call me crazy but the bombs weren’t a diversion – they were a means to an end..weird]
Amanda: That’s what the anti-aircraft missiles are for??!!!
[Ah smk.. two weeks in a row, we have the president’s life in danger- and it’s up to Lee and Amanda top stop it!]
Lee: Yeah. We’ve only got one choice Amanda… 
(Lee is in action mode!! yeee haaaa!! He snatches a bit of wire from the warning sign and begins to work on 
his cuffs) …We’ve got to double back and just hope we can slip by them.
…Yeah, this should just work. Come on.
Lee and Amanda run off while Lee still works on his cuffs with the wire..
Whahahahaaa!!! Love that the sign says Absolutely no entry.. why doesn’t no entry just mean no entry?!
Well I should leave it here for now.. don’t want this post to get too long.. Okay everyone- got anything to share about this part of the episode?? Lee and Amanda seem totally focused on the job at hand huh? The campfire events completely out of their minds.. for the moment!
"Just walk with me.." 
#2019 rewatch
Amanda lost her daypack and her red coat before they fled the compound. I went back and looked at that twine. It was wrapped around a balsa wood shim. She must have scooped it up as they left the cell and slid it into the pocket of her jeans.
They better remember where they set the tripwire!
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Am I the only one who keeps expecting a dinosaur (or dinosaurs) to wander into the frame with the exploding power pylons?
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You are not alone in that!!!! 🙂
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a plastic dinosaur…
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But it had better not be purple!!!
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“Sharing is caring” 🙂
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There have been many distractions from this plot. This whole scenario about getting the President to the underground White House is pretty bizarre, especially since any underground bunker for the evacuation of the President is actually directly under the White House itself. But in SMK land we just go with it.
Still not a fashion fan of Francine’s, but what’s amazing is how she still looks pretty fresh for having driven around all night.
Lee and Amanda have quite a bit of experience with moving past a situation that may have the potential of being uncomfortable for either one of them, especially when they are on a case. Spider Web just popped into my head when Amanda was able to move past her feelings of being hurt to focus on the case at hand. Of course, it also happened in Ship of Spies. They had barely finished the ceremony when their focus was right back on the case. Yes, they are both very good at compartmentalizing. Let it go for now, deal with it later.
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The banana clip. I must confess, I loved the banana clip, it was great for the bad hair day. Ok back to the plot. This part did get a little boring. IWSOD – too funny with Buddy “Over there! She went that way.” If only Francine knew the Jr. Trailblazers secret handshake, this plot could have been wrapped up so much sooner.
Kiwismh – I agree with you, I always wondered why Lee and Amanda did not just climb the fence. That would have been so much easier and quicker. Until the next section..
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Whenever I get to this part of this episode I realize how lucky the writers are that they put in the ‘almost kiss’ or this we might have noticed how utterly lame this plot is. I could ramble on about the insanity but I think I’ll go back and watch the last scene again.
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I think that is the twine Amanda had brought. So far everything she had in her backpack has come in handy. In the past Amanda was only supposed to use certain parts of her character and the rest of the time just be “window dressing” or the like. On this mission everything Amanda has brought, every bit of knowledge, and every part of her person is being accepted into their partnership (both professional and personal).
I like the way they appear to have no trouble clicking into their partnership as operatives. They don’t need to dissect what happened last night, there appears to be no awkwardness, confusion or sudden increase of perceived intimacy that can often occur between two people who shared a “moment” hours earlier while cuddled in the dark sharing their hearts. To me, that would speak loudly to Lee. That here is a woman who could integrate a personal relationship and the demands of their line of work. It would allow him to move between being emotionally available and shutting that part off to get a job done. Kind of like the more compartmentalized Amanda has learned to be the less compartmentalized Lee is free to be.
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I so agree. This demonstrates that they can have a personal, more intimate relationship outside of work, but when it is time to get down to business, they can put their personal feelings aside and do what needs to be done to solve the case. And I think that is so important, because they would both want to still work together, so they need to know that they don’t lose their connection on the work front, just because things are getting more personal. Amanda would not want to give up her work at the agency just to date Lee, nor would Lee want Amanda to have to give the agency work to be together.
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Like this Morley.
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Banana clip = cascade comb, at least back in the 80’s. I’m pretty sure “banana clip” translates well here in the US these days (probably better than “cascade comb”). More fond 80’s memories 🙂
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I think this post for L&A is all about co-operation, how their professional and personal relationship is now at a level where they can work together seamlessly as partners, complementing each other perfectly.
I’m not sure why the plan to double back and try to get in behind Sacker & Co. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go over the “Violators will get severely dealt to” fence, get caught, and alert the Agency et al as to what is going on? I guess the plot requires us to see L&A’s partnership saving the day.
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I keep seeing the word “RyanAir” on the old worn off sign. RyanAir? Well, they are cheap! (BTW, hilarious song about Ryanair on YouTube by Fascinating Aida – will post on Neds).
PS. “desperate for the loo” Iwsod? I should think by now L&A are more intimately acquainted with other than either of them ever imagined! 😉
Okay, I’ve got the frivolous stuff out of the way – I’ll try to come back later with something a little more profound.
In the meantime, I’m still thinking about how long I could go first thing in the a.m. before a “pit stop” became imperative. 😯
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Me too! I don’t think I’d last very long before the mandatory pit stop.
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…and that’s ‘desperate for the bathroom’, Iwsod. Amanda should have read the book I suggested. Then she’d have had not trouble, even chained to Lee.
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or maybe “desperate for the outhouse”? We’re in the country, after all. 🙂
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Yes well, this reminds me of what I last posted about not bothering to keep up with the plot. I suppose I have focused so much on the real plot when watching the episode previously that I hadn’t noticed the plot holes (or maybe ‘craters’ might be more accurate). I’m thinking the cues from Billy and Pressor were a directed at those viewers who fell into a swoon at the end of the last scene – they are suffering from confusion and memory loss after regaining consciousness, and need some help with the spy plot.
I’m wondered what the “severe penalty” would be if you violated the “absolutely no entry” instruction….An extremely long jail sentence? An excessive number of hours of hard labour? A massively large fine? Or something else? Or some other form of hyperbole? 😉
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Re the security fence: There’s a Diagnosis Murder episode (Season 6, Alienated if anyone’s looking) where a character enters a restricted area like this looking for a friend who’s gone missing. He gets surrounded by guards and dogs and taken to a building and grilled for ages by these really intimidating federal agents. Eventually they let him go, but they pretty much threaten him if he ever comes back. I’m guessing you would get thrown in jail and face huge charges because nobody is supposed to know what happens in these places.
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