On to IFF, and Francine is heard to be talking as we see the cupcake (Agnes) enter the meeting.
She works for IFF? shocking! we saw someone who works at IFF getting some nookie?! 
Ha!
Oh dear.. I see she has a proper name badge too.. not a guest pass!
Francine (partly off camera): Well, according to my sources… … these leaks have progressed from the nuisance stage to priority one status.
(Francine is heard continuing to talk to an agent as Agnes enters- have we seen him before?)
… I, uh…… wouldn’t count on any long weekends.
[LOL I think they added Francine’s lines here post production. right when she says I wouldn’t count on any long weekends to the guy she is talking to? He smiles and nods- whahahahaa.. he likes missing out on long weekends?! ]
This agent is in the running for employee of the year!
Agnes takes a seat at the table.
The camera pans down to the end of the table where Amanda and Lee are sitting..
Amanda: OK, now look… (Whooo love how she touches his arm touch alert! ) …In case you need it,…
…I’ve cross-indexed the past five days’ clippings by title, author, and newspaper, okay?
Lee: Ah-huh.
[I think Lee senses she is fussing over him.. being very supportive… but.. to me he doesn’t seem to mind – what do you think?!]
She pats his arm a few times here, it’s like she is reassuring him. (but why?? why would he need reassuring here?? I guess we are about to find out!)
awh!! Lee did the same thing to Amanda in Filming Raul – remember when Amanda found out the baddies had her registration! 
It’s funny.. I can remember Lee doing it.. but Amanda comforting Lee with a pat so far doesn’t come to mind.. anyone?
Amanda: There’s a bibliography, vertical file, and a distribution analysis,…
(Lee gives Amanda a quiet little look here as she continues)
…so anything you might need…
…is probably right in here, okay?
[My goodness.. It sounds like Amanda has done an amazing job in supporting Lee with what’s next!]
Lee: Okay.
Amanda: Okay.
Lee: I think I’ve got it all.
[and then some!]
I think Lee copes well with Amanda’s support here.. In walks Billy..
Amanda (quietly): I think you’ll do very well.
Billy: All right, settle, people.
The agents all take a seat – ready for the meeting.. [and Lee puts his dimples away!]
[Lee seems a little nervous – like this is a big deal]
Billy: The new chief of our Q-Bureau has special assignments for everybody.
Wha???? Ohhh kaaaay.. He is only the ‘new’ chief if this episode is earlier.. so that’s why Amanda was fussing and Lee seemed to be a little nervous, preparing himself for a new role there – this has the vibe of being way too far into season 3 for this to make sense.
I had forgotten all about this.. yes I know it’s the first time we see Lee heading a meeting in this role but still, there was a meeting in Wizard where he was said to be new.. this just seems strange to me!
Lee gets up to address the room.
Lee: Uh, thank you, Billy. Um… We all know where most security leaks come from. Ah, a typical one would be…
Lee operates a remote control to show the room a fighter jet. Time for the dirty tricks 
movie… [LOL.. why bother?! Is this a reference to a real life politician who spilled secrets on fighter jets? anyone?]
… a politician with an axe to grind. But in the 
last week… … there have been some leaks that aren’t so typical.
(we see a photo of more frisky behaviour..)
Francine: Senator Connors…
…You know, from what I’ve heard that is very typical. [Let me guess.. Senator Connors is the blonde with the towel? there seems to be an assumption here the old guy is the senator.. but.. they never actually say it’s him!]
[ooooh Francine. Is it just me or is her gossiping really unprofessional?! In a way, to say this is ‘typical’ is a form of leaking in itself isn’t it?? Francine is leaking information that this happens often!]
Lee: Yeah…
(Lee seems unimpressed and Billy looks at the floor)
[I suspect Francine is not making things easy for Lee with this being such an important meeting for him]
…And this is the…
(Lee pauses and works the remote. The video screen shows the black and white picture of the yacht from the morning paper.)
… latest one from this morning’s paper.
(We see the photo of the boat with the naked sailors, then we see Agnes gasp, and Amanda reacts to look away.)
This reaction from Agnes hints she may recognise it.. but… I have issues with this – which I’ll come back to when we know more! Hold that thought!
Francine: Well, well, well… Anchors aweigh!
[I knew you would have checked to make sure that is spelled correctly KC- I never knew it was spelt like that! I thought it was ‘away’! SMK is edumacating me!]
I’m completely unimpressed by Francine here. Soooo unprofessional. Plus, not a way to treat a friend (I mean her friend Lee) This is not someone you would want to leave in charge if Billy were to go rogue for a day or two!!
Seems Billy has had enough too.
Billy: Get serious, Francine.
Billy addresses the room: Leaks about missiles make people edgy…
…Leaks about their sex lives makes them crazy.
[What a great line!!!! Still.. hush up Billy let Lee run the show! ]
Lee: That’s right. And in the wrong hands, this kind of dirt can cause political disaster. (Lee turns off the dirty tricks movie!)
….The whole town is buzzing as it is. Amanda?
Amanda: Yeah.
(On Lee’s cue, Amanda grabs some folders and turns to Agnes to give her one then get her to pass the pile on to the others.)
Lee: Ah, all I can tell you is that there is some sort of a strange pattern here, because these leaks are 10 to 20 years old. Now, Francine, you head out to Annapolis…
(Lee gives Francine a folder)
[Lee is bossing Francine? Fabulous!!! No wonder she is not being cooperative in this meeting!]
… see if anyone remembers these naked sailors of ours. All right?
Francine: Okay.
Lee: Now, you all know Agnes Snow…
(Lee motions to Agnes, who looks up and smiles at everyone)
…our librarian?…
[who is dressed as a stereotypical librarian! so you know she’s a librarian!]
…If you should find a lead, she can help you trace it in the old files… ours, CIA, FBI, and so on.
[OLD files eh.. gee are they 10-20 years old???!!! Stop and think.. Agnes has access to OLD files!!!I can’t believe Lee actually says this!!! It’s almost too obvious at this stage to say that – because who would have access to 20 year old secrets? err the librarian Lee just said had access.. oh dear.. ]
Whooo we cut to Amanda giving Lee a fleeting little proud smile.. awhhhh
Lee continues: I’ve ordered photo surveillance for our backup…[photo surveillance of what? who?]
…and, uh, progress summaries to me, every other day. All right?
Billy: People don’t leak things that aren’t current…so let’s find out why.
[Sure they do.. because the consequences of the leak can be very current. even if the event leaked is not]
We cut to Francine and a nameless agent paying attention to Billy.. Agent Nameless begins 
to leave, as Francine stays to check out the information in her file.
We cut to Amanda rising to join Lee.
Amanda: That was very good.
Lee (quietly): Thank you.
Oh my!!! the looks going on between these two!!! Lee seems to totally forget there is anyone else in the room. He’s so thrilled Amanda thinks he did a good job.
This reminds me of Amanda and Lee in Over the Limit– Amanda being completely direct with Lee and her admiration for something he has done – and Lee loving her admiration, while accepting it shyly.. it’s really very cute! Do you remember that moment in Over the Limit?? it’s when Amanda thanks Lee for getting Elizabeth released from jail swoony!!
I like to think this is a step up from that, as this time, the moment lasts a little longer, and it’s in front of others!!!!!
You can actually see Lee seems to remember himself, and get back to being a professional here!
Lee looks toward Billy: Uh, Billy? I called in an 
old favour at the paper. Now, the editor described a source for me, and I think I got a quick look at him earlier. It could be…(Lee pauses)
Ohh something just clicked.. I always wondered why Lee did this whole ‘Oh it could be..’’ but no I won’t say yet.’ He never does that!!! but.. his character has to here because he can’t say ‘Nick Cross’ in front of Agnes or it would ruin the plot! lol!
Billy: Who?
Lee: It’s just a hunch, and, uh… I’ll let you know if I get anything stronger, okay,…
… because Amanda and I are gonna troll his old hunting grounds… the gin mills on M Street.
(Agnes is seen to react to this mention of ‘his old hunting ground the gin mills on M street’- but why we don’t know.. yet)
Amanda: The gin mills?
Lee: Yeah. I’ll explain it to you later.
[Lee smiles at Amanda.. By the way, is it just me or has Lee been dabbling with the guy liner again in this scene??
I think he’s looking forward to explaining the gin mills to Amanda! I guess they are playing up the Amanda doesn’t know that area of DC because she’s not mixed with that crowd kinda thing..]
Amanda smiles back and laughs: I hope so.
[I think Amanda’s happy that Lee has so readily included her in his work..even if she doesn’t yet know what it is She likes getting ‘lessons’ from Lee.. and Lee likes being the teacher hooo haaaaa! I think this fits after UNow or RFTSky or SGrapes, yes sorry still thinking ep order.. don’t mind me!]
I’m going to pause here for the moment.. before Francine pipes up! I don’t want posts getting too long.. As always I can’t wait to hear from ya!!!!! Any thoughts? questions?? ideas?? byee!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I absolutely love this briefing scene. Lee comes across like a teacher in the front of a classroom — and he makes a great one! I think this would have made a better post-field career for him than a management position, helping to teach the next generation of agents. (And someone needs to hire BB to play a teacher in a movie, because we need to see more of this!)
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He plays a high school teacher/prinicpal in “Double Jeopardy” but that movie is quite a leap up from the G rated flirtation we see in SMK, lol.
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Oh boy! LOL
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I never saw this movie, so I just Googled it. Bruce Boxleitner is in a movie with Rachel Ward?! I must rent it immediately! I loved her in The Thorn Birds.
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JEG mentioning the “new Q Bureau chief” – maybe this is the “reopening” of the Q, since it surely handles more than just the puzzlers now. Otherwise Lee and Amanda would probably spend more time sorting through files than out in the field. They need to be out in the field or the spy-biz is going to get boring – no more super-Lee, no more car chases …
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Well, when Billy gave him the Q Bureau, Lee did say it just meant more work. So I got the impression that the files were never supposed to take all of his time in the first place. This was something extra on top of what he was already doing. Based on standard corporate practices, I imagine The Agency would probably cut his regular workload back just a bit to accommodate the X number of hours the Q is supposed to take. Except that the new project will always take at least twice the amount of time projected. No wonder Lee was upset! (Obviously he didn’t fully appreciate what perks it would bring just yet! 😉 Those of us “in the know” were positively giddy when the Q finally made its appearance!)
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What did you guys know about The Q Bureau ahead of time? I’m confused.
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I saw All the World’s a Stage when it first aired back in the 80s 😉
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Oh, I get it now! Shippy potential! LOL
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Iwsod, I think we have seen that guy before, but it is not Jack! Perhaps in one of the S1 episodes. Or maybe it was the chicken salad episode.
Lee and Amanda are very close here physically and are also paying close attention to one another. It’s not a pat necessarily, but Amanda does take Lee’s hand to reassure him in TLODG. Am I the tenth person to state that? 🙂
This area of file organization, etc. is Amanda’s bailiwick, not Lee’s. No wonder she is on top of things and makes it so easy for him. I think he appreciates it very much! And his thank you for her compliment lets them admire each other’s work.
Is it just me or is Lee’s jacket in this scene hideous? And his hair looks weird. Amanda looks like a linebacker!
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I like this scene. It seems to me like it is the first time that Lee and Amanda are working together in the capacity of their partnership and role in the Q before the rest of the Agents. It appears that lee has taken on a new role as a department head and Amanda is operating not just as a trainee but as an employee in her own right and in a capacity that she is trained in. She is also Lee’s right hand, maybe in the same way that Francine is Billy’s?
But unlike Billy and Francine, there is that added dimension to the relationship between Lee and Amanda. It looks like they have become so comfortable with one another that they are not even aware of how it is translating in public. The smile and the touching. They are just genuinely happy to be with one another, to be working together and they are so supportive of each other and receptive to each other.
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Well said, Morley! Sums it up perfectly!
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Lee puts his dimples away?!?! Iwsod, that is awesome! I laughed quite a while on that one. Of course, he pulls them right back out when talking to Amanda. The little conversations between those two were very swoon-worthy indeed. Lee has come so far in his response to Amanda when she’s in mothering mode.
According to Lee’s earlier description of the Q Bureau he said it was for the real puzzler cases. Maybe the cases haven’t been that tricky lately where they needed to focus on the Q Bureau. Who knows? This seems like another one of those timing, script issues. They’ve introduced it and then put it on the back burner.
Francine really confuses me sometimes. Of all people she should be the last one to comment on leaks and gossiping about what’s going on. She definitely should not be saying much considering how she handled things in RFTS. She can certainly move on from her own mistakes but is quick to point out others.
I don’t remember Amanda ever patting Lee either. She has taken his hand like in LODG and she was very comforting in TLCE. Maybe it’s because Lee hasn’t been as receptive of this type of comfort until recently and therefore Amanda now feels comfortable in giving it.
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Yes, the Q Bureau time warp is definitely confusing. I’m not much good on the episode order debate but could this mean that this episode was supposed to be earlier in the season? Or maybe the previous episodes that mentioned the Q Bureau were meant to be later? Or maybe the writers were just Reaching for the Sky quite a bit during season three? 😉
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“I knew you would have checked to make sure that is spelled correctly KC- I never knew it was spelt like that!”
I just wish I could remember other, “normal”, things as well as I can remember silly stuff like spelling this phrase correctly, or the origin of random phrases… ugh.
Glad, though, that I could do my little bit to help “edumacate” you… 😉
And yes–Lee’s response to Amanda’s prep work is great. Old Lee would’ve been impatient with/frustrated by what he would have thought of as too much hovering–but new, improved (awakened?) Lee appreciates her help/input. squee
As Cindy remarked though–not subtle. 😀 (But great for the viewing public.)
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Yes, I think Lee does appreciate Amanda’s input. Even though she goes a bit over the top here, he is more than willing to indulge her as he knows from past experience that attention to detail has saved the day on more than one occasion. So I think he is genuinely impressed with her preparedness and professionalism. I also think he takes a few moments to just be genuinely impressed with Amanda. 🙂
BTW, the script totally screws up this whole scene by having Lee not appreciate Amanda’s preparation but instead letting her go through everything she has done to prepare and then he pulls out a crumpled up piece of paper with his rough notes that he uses instead, disappointing Amanda. That is old Lee, not current Lee. Thank goodness someone came to their senses and had the scene changed!
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I suspect we have KJ’s involvement in the production of SMK to thank for this and other reworks of the scripts. And I’m really grateful that she stuck her oar in…
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Gah!!!!! No!!!!! Sooooo glad we didn’t get that.. phew sounds like some of these scripts were written before there was a season 3 rethink.. you know where they decided to finally let the characters grow and Amanda was no longer so silly – like KJ mentioned in interviews..
Indeed Learjet I agree – I see this as KJ’s intervention.. whether it’s direct or also the hiring of new writers and the producer changes.. didn’t George Geiger come on board at the start of season 3??? and was dennis (?) duckwall leading more as the show went on?
anyway.. ramble ramble..
thanks for sharing that kiwismh! I agree- at this point, Lee doing that would have been about 10 steps backwards.
I agree that Amanda was overdoing the support.. maybe once again being a little over enthusiastic -but this time in her support of Lee!! but.. Lee deals with it in a very mature way.. which is from the sounds of it, in complete contrast to how the character and the script were initially intended to be in this episode.. hooray for script changes! 😉
Maybe this is one reason why we see this episode later in the season rather than earlier – all these rewrites and rethinks for how the season progressed would have left them needing to rewrite this episode (and from the sounds of it they did!) but.. a few of the original elements to the script (which made more sense at the start of the season) were kept in the script when they now no longer work maybe- like this meeting being a big deal for the new Q bureau chief.. this makes some sense of the timing/plot issues in Reach for the sky too..
If we got this lovely Lee instead of insensitive Lee snubbing Amanda’s hard work in preference for his own paper scraps? It makes me mind the timing issues in reach for the sky less and less!! 🙂
Hope you are all well!!!
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Speaking of librarians…I am psyched for a new series here in America. Here’s a promo: http://youtu.be/yBXQVOOGGc0
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I am too, Melissa!
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KC is of course correct on the Anchors Aweigh spelling (being the mistress of details: it refers to a 1940s movie about sailors on leave in Hollywood. SMK does seem to love its 1940s and 1950s movie references.
I find Amanda’s very maternal and nurturing attitude toward Lee hear a bit too much. And Lee’s acceptance of it without complaint surprising. Helping is one thing, but this feels like smothering. The looks between the two of them are very sweet though.
I’m not a fan of Lee’s stripy shirt and tie\mottled jacket non-semble. Nor of the unfortunate reappearance of the guyliner. Thank goodness we get so many smiles to make up for it 😉
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Anchors Aweigh is also the fight song of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The cold midshipmen in the photo would have been cadets there at the time of their…um…exposure.
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I think there is more to Amanda’s behavior than trying to do her agency work thoroughly. If I think waaaay back to beforeld I was married, when I wanted a guy to notice me and like me, I would ramp up the perk quotient and throw myself into whatever interests he had. I see Amanda doing a little perky performing for Lee. I think adults don’t do this as much as teens, but it’s still there, and i don’t think Amanda is immune to it. I remember visiting my grandmother in the nursing home and being very impressed and amused by the flirting, and yes; competition 🙂 that would go on there.
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Billy: People don’t leak things that aren’t current…so let’s find out why.
I think Billy was meaning that people don’t leak something that isn’t going to have a current impact on someone or something, even if the event itself is old news. We see plenty of examples in our current news of past activities or associations or behaviours coming to light and having major negative consequences for the individual, or even an organisation.
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Hey kiwismh, yeah that’s true.
I found Billy’s comment ambiguous..
but what you say makes things clearer.. you needed to be at that meeting 😉
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Lee shure does look right purty with that eyeliner he’s wearing. WINK
And don’t get me wrong, I am loving all the mushy looks and moments between Lee and Amanda, but they are in front of their co-workers, who are intelligence operatives and supposedly good at observation. They are NOT EXACTLY BEING SUBTLE, ARE THEY?
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whahahaa.. so you suspect he had a bit of guyliner on at certain moments too?
yeah I agree.. strange no one seems to notice!
what did you make of the nervous at Lee running his first meeting as the new Q bureau chief?!
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