On to IFF and we see a shot of Billy entering the IFF car park – have we seen that shot before? I thought only Lee used that entrance!
Billy exits the elevator looking all depressed!
Walking down the hall, Francine finds him..
Billy: What is it Francine?
Francine: I’m just trying to name that scowl. My guess is it’s the bureaucratic blues or a hangover.
Billy: You were right the first time, it’s another efficiency study. I mean, look at this stuff. Flowcharts, a stopwatch, coloured pens.
Francine: You’re lucky they didn’t send dance steps for the floor…
[Love the ‘that’s not funny’ look Billy gives Francine here!]
…Hey come on Billy, it’s just another manpower review, that’s all. The world gets crazier every day they want us to do more work with less people.
Billy’s such a drama queen!.. ahem.. Mind you if I were Francine I wouldn’t be so chirpy about it.. Billy is likely to give the job to her to do! [wish he did!]
Then again, surely the section chief has something better to do that flow charts and timing people’s work behaviours.. wouldn’t that type of work go to a consultant of some kind?!! Maybe even Dr Pfaff! but Billy? no way!
Oh boy.. so far this episode is just full of filler!!! Come on already… give me some scintillating dialogue.. or heck.. just some Lee and Amanda cuteness will do! I’m dozing off here! Already!
But wait! What is Francine wearing?! Francine raided her grandma’s cupboard and 
found a floral skirt!! lol.. Uh ohhhhh it seems Francine has caught the – let’s put a hankie in our pocket disease Amanda had in Vigilante mothers.. Gah!! [Actually, the look isn’t that bad-except the handkerchief, that’s bad! but.. I would say this is not an outfit for work.]
Billy and Francine enter the bullpen and everyone is suddenly wanting Billy’s attention.
Lee included..
Billy: Whoa, whoa people take a number.
Lee: Aw Billy, you got a moment?
Billy: You’re first Stetson, providing it just can’t wait. I have a fistful of emergencies this morning.
[flow charts?!]
Of course our Lee gets first dibs… so he should.. because after all, it’s Lee and Amanda who do all the actual work at the agency!! [Okay Francine backs them up 
]
Lee sees Billy is holding coloured pencils.. lol..
Lee: Ah, another time and motion study, huh. I don’t know how you doing Billy. Crisis after crisis.
[Lee seems a little wry in his delivery of this line.. Do you think Lee is thinking Billy is being a drama queen? I had to look up what a time and motion study was. and now I know, I think it’s ridiculous that Billy is conducting it!]
We find Amanda is sitting in the bullpen at a desk and on the phone (it’s been a while since she did 
any work in the bullpen!)
Amanda on the phone: Just a moment please. Amanda calls to Lee in a whisper: Lee!..
Lee turns to look at Amanda.
[Yes Lee is blurry.. this ep is giving me troubles.. why I don’t know but I’ll do my best – but I wanted to include Francine’s little look with Billy here.. it seems to me that Francine gives a little snigger that Amanda is calling out to Lee and interrupting them. Like- ‘she can’t let the grown ups talk here’?! I think this is really interesting.. especially given what’s about to happen – a reminder that Amanda is still not 100% accepted by everyone.. and maybe Lee needs to be careful in how he relates to Amanda in front of others?? – hold that thought.. ]
…it’s a Miss Connelly.
Lee: Ah, look, tell her I’m dealing with it right now okay?
Billy: How is she? Is she going to get her sight back?
Lee: Ah, they think so…
…She’s out of the hospital. Her paper’s paying for her stay at the convalescent home.
Billy: Well indulge her, she’s had a rough time of it.
Billy heads into his office followed by Lee and Francine. Make that Francine and Lee.. there looks to be a little competition over who gets to directly follow Billy! lol..
Lee: Billy I have been but I don’t think indulging her’s the right thing now. There’s been something new…
(Amanda waves a piece of paper at the window and Billy motions to her to enter. Amanda hands Lee a slip of paper)
…Oh, ah thanks.
(Amanda goes to leave)
…Oh, ah Amanda could you stay for a minute. [what’s going on here?!]
Amanda: Sure.
Lee: She thinks Bart is still alive.
[So the ‘something new’ is that she now thinks Bart is still alive?]
Francine: That’s impossible. He was killed two weeks ago in Santarilla.
[Well der Francine. Colleen already has heard that!]
Amanda: Who are we talking about?
[Aren’t Lee and Amanda looking all matchy matchy together in grey?! this is a matchy matchy I can get on board with 
]
Lee: Colleen Donnelly and Bart Stoler, a couple of war correspondents. I’ve run into Colleen all over the world. Well Bart is her, was, her fiancé.
Francine: They help us out from time to 
time… [ohh so they kinda part time work for the agency huh.. soooo is this why Lee is ‘indulging’ Colleen? and.. why Billy is so involved?!]
…and they got caught in a fire fight down in Santarilla. It’s a miracle she got back alive.
Billy: She’s already accepted his death, so what’s this? An emotional relapse?
[I am amazed at Billy’s ability to run a whole section and stay on top of how a journalist who sometimes works at the agency is going emotionally! this whole section just seems weird to me! Maybe if Billy had had a special connection with her, like Sylvia in You Only Die Twice, I might have bought it]
Lee: My guess. Well, you know her. She’s 
so insistent…
…She wants to go charging off, following every lead. I guess Billy I’m asking for your advice.
[‘Emotional relapse’ is a lovely way to just disregard what someone is saying.. ugh!!Wha? why ask Billy for advice? is it just me or is this whole conversation just weird?!
I notice the whole ‘she wants to go charging off, following every lead’ is very like Amanda!
So Colleen now has reason to hope Bart is still alive.. she has a new lead and wants to follow it- well that sounds like a positively dumb thing to do huh?!! If there was a chance you learned something new and that your fiancé could still be alive – you wouldn’t like umm you know.. want to investigate it would you? Especially when your umm like just a dumb err like reporter!!!! This whole set up is lame.. just lame..
Focus on Lee’s hair iwsod.. it’s lookin so good!]
Billy: Well, a loss like that is always hard to face, but she’s got to do it…
…Let her down easy. [Billy doesn’t even know what the lead is! Bad Billy! Bad Lee!!!]
Lee: Ah,…
…I’m not very good at that kind of thing.
Lee looks over at Francine.
She smiles slightly and shakes her head.
No love there buddy.. why did you even bother to ask Francine? what’s this all about?!
As Lee checks with Francine, we see Amanda squeezing her eyes shut..
she just knows what’s coming! And she won’t be able to say no!
Lee looks at Amanda, and Amanda doesn’t make him ask.. lol!!
Lee: Ahh Amanda- [edited to add.. I missed this line]
Amanda: Yes, I’d be happy to help you.
Lee: Oh, thanks.
and Amanda shrugs.. Lee is very thankful for Amanda’s help here.. which is good to see.. But.. what exactly is going on here?
This is interesting, especially compared with Lee’s reaction to Amanda coming to help him talk to Agnes – Lee didn’t go seeking her help.. but here he does..
And Amanda went to leave earlier and Lee asked her to stay – Like he knew he was going to need her help! Soooo then why did he ask Francine?
I think Amanda is Lee’s first choice – and he always knew she would be the one to help him! Ahhh wait.. maybe that’s what’s going on. Lee wanted Amanda to come help him, but he didn’t want to seem to obvious and eager.. [which plays into the look Billy and Francine shared a moment ago when Amanda called for Lee!] so he made it seem like she was his second option, knowing the whole time Francine wouldn’t want to be involved and that Amanda would help him He is accepting her help and welcoming it, but maybe he doesn’t want to be so overt about it – especially in front of Billy and Francine??
What do you think?? do tell!!!!
Off Lee and Amanda go to visit Colleen and give her the bad news..when really they should be going to hear what Colleen has to say.. gah!! Hope Colleen sticks it to Lee tee hee.. He owes it to both Colleen and Bart to chase every lead there is! Take that!
Anyway.. best I leave it here for the moment! Hope everyone is well! Can’t wait to hear what you think! byeee!
"Just walk with me.." 
I’ve watched this episode several times and never got the impression Lee was going to ask Francine for help. I always thought he just kind of glared at her because he knew would never be diplomatic, uh kind enough to deal with something so delicate. I think Lee has really started to appreciate more what Amanda has to offer. I think in the past Lee often didn’t see Amanda as agent material because she is so soft and kind and warm, rather than hard and cold which I am sure a lot of agents are. Low and behold kindness and caring have there place everywhere.
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Lee seems to be a bit more sensitive as to what Colleen is going through than he was with what Agnes was going through, that is until Amanda indicated that he needed to be patient. Maybe he has learned since then. I know the situations aren’t the same, but patience is still needed. Interesting that he actually asks for some advice, in some ways admitting that this is beyond the scope of what he is capable of dealing with.
Of all the times I’ve watched this I never thought that Lee was looking to Francine to ask her. I’m not exactly sure what his look meant, but I thought Francine’s look was that she knew that Lee was about to ask Amanda and she was giving a “good luck with using Amanda” kind of look. But in reading everyone’s comments along with yours, Iwsod I can see it differently now. I really didn’t get as much of a chance to watch SMK over break, but my schedule is changing so maybe I’ll have more time for other things this year. Need really re-watch S3.
I agree that Amanda is bracing herself for what needs to be done. This is a whole other emotional issue that’s much harder to deal with and needs to be handled carefully. Not sure about Lee trying to be covert here or not. He fussed about having to do the Utopia Now assignment, but not the Sour Grapes one. It’s pretty much obvious now that they work on things together so I’m not sure why he would try to deflect. I do get that he wouldn’t want anyone to see any emotional involvement behind his actions, so maybe he’s trying to be subtle about it.
I do remember that it was pants Francine was wearing. I remember having a lot of floral print in the 80s. I had a few blouses and dresses with floral print. They’ve since met their maker. I also had a sweater similar to Amanda’s that was black and white. It took me longer to let that go because it was so warm and comfortable.
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It is easy to see what Lee is doing here, I guess. But I wonder why Amanda is screwing her face up here in anticipation? Does she not want to spend time with Lee, does she not like being the people person in their partnership? After their blackmail “date” at Spencer’s, why does she act like this. Does she think she needs to act reluctant in front of others too?
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I think Amanda realises this is going to be an emotionally difficult situation with Colleen and she is the one who is going to have to manage the scenario. I can totally appreciate her lack of anticipation of what is to come – it’s like when you know you have a difficult meeting with a client coming up and you’re task is to tactfully and empathetically get them to face reality. When someone is heavily emotionally invested in wanting to believe something is true (or isn’t true as the case may be), getting them to a place where they can begin to face reality can be really mentally exhausting. You have to know what move to make, what words to say and how you are saying those words, what emotion to convey, when to exert some pressure and when to back off as you slowly but surely lead the person along to where you want them to be, or perhaps more correctly where they need to be in order to move forward.
By the time the meeting with Colleen is over I’m sure Amanda will need a cup of tea and a lie down. Make the tea, Lee! (That last bit is a line from my new song, “50 Ways to Woo your Lover”. 😉 )
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It’s also being that person at work who handles certain situations ‘well’. When there’s a presentation coming up at work, I mentally scrunge up my face because I just know someone’s going to say “Why doesn’t Learjet do the presentation – she’s good at presentations” (apparently…). But they’re still hard work and draining to do. And back to our Neds Introvert discussion – I think we’re agreed that although Amanda is a people person, she’s also an introvert. So those type of encounters are especially draining for her. Especially after she’s spent her early morning under the sink, with her family watching her attempts at home maintenence. She probably wanted a nice quiet morning transcripting some tapes of the KGB agents chatting about their weekends 😉
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I agree, Learjet. I think Amanda knows she is that person for Lee here. After all, she isn’t the hardened pro, she’s just a suburban mother with a heart and cares about people.
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And the wonderful thing is that Lee knows hat, acknowledges that and allows himself to be dependent on that.
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Iwsod, I take the Bart/Colleen story to work something like this: Bart and Colleen don’t work for the Agency, but as reporters they occasionally help the Agency by being eyes and ears and passing along information they come across. All usual sources indicate that Bart is dead, but Colleen is not convinced. Now she wants the Agency’s help in digging deeper. It’s not really an Agency matter so, although sympathetic, Billy is reluctant to commit resources to what he believes is probably only a hopeful fantasy of Colleen’s. He’s willing to let Lee (and Amanda) go to listen to her, but he’s cautioning them that they may ultimately have to tell her that there’s nothing more to be done.
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Hi 2 Goldens.. yes that was my way of following the plot – it helps me to pay attention to it.. Everything you say here sounds good to me.. yes by part time I was meaning more umm casual work.. but not actually employed by the agency, employed by Transworld.. think I’m getting it.. lol I haven’t watched the whole episode yet. heck I need to get onto that!
I was looking at the script last night and in the script Billy does not completely disregard what Colleen (Maggie in the script!) has to say like he does here in the final version. Billy notes there wasn’t conclusive proof that Bart was dead (but then in the script there was no stray mortar that hit them lol.. ) but in the script Billy responds to Lee saying: “Something’s got her going. Maybe it’s just hope. but you should check it out. If there’s the shred of a possibility she’s right, it’s too vital to pass up.”
-now that is something I can get on board with!
As you’ve explained it, it’s all making sense plot wise, but I just find it very lame that everyone would be so quick to disregard what a grieving reporter has to say – someone who has many contacts around the world and whose information the agency has relied on from time to time no doubt – as you explained so well 🙂 I liked the script version much better.. and the opening of the episode has Lee in Santarilla! Very different.. and made much more sense! oh well.. I gotta let it go 🙂 and go with what we got! 🙂
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Not a lot to work with here. I like your theory about Lee really wanting Amanda’s help on this one, Iwsod. Good for Lee to admit there’s some things he’s not very good at, but clearly willing and happy to learn from Amanda. He’s learned that while he can teach her a great deal about being an agent, she can teach him just as much about how to be a “normal person”. So I think here Lee is not only grateful for Amanda’s help in what is obviously going to be a difficult personal situation (with Colleen), he is also cognisant that this is another opportunity to improve his “people” skills with Amanda’s help.
He just wants an excuse to spend more time with her as well… of course. 😉
A couple of frivolous comments on fashion – Francine looking very frumpy (S1 Francine would have scoffed at Amanda in such an outfit), Lee’s chunky tie is a fail and so is the stripey shirt really (jacket is nice), and what was Amanda thinking going out in public in that unflattering bulky cardigan? (Aunty Lillian has been knitting again. Someone confiscate that woman’s knitting needles!)
Things are pretty bad if one is forced to admit that Billy is the best dressed person in the scene.
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Yep — I am not digging the lightning bolt cardigan either. It is something that Electro’s secret alter ego would wear.
Don’t even get me started on Francine’s “I stole my Baba’s Bedspread” skirt. Billy is definitely the best dressed of this lot. I guess that is why he is in charge and gets paid the big bucks. 😉
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ROFL!!!! lightning Bolt cardy! I didn’t notice that until I started writing the next post last night.. hilarious!!!!!
rofl Cindy.. love your ‘I stole my Baba’s bedspread’ that’s genius!
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I remember the big, floral skirts of the ‘80s so I honestly wasn’t too horrified by Francine’s skirt. That is until I realized that it’s not a skirt at all…it’s pants! (You can see this as she’s walking through the door into Billy’s office.) Ugh!! They look like pajama bottoms. 😦
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Yes, I thought they looked like pants too – which has got to be better than a big floral parachute skirt but still – what was she thinking when she bought them? ! I had similar styled pants back in the day but mine were all solid colour pastels. Even then I wouldn’t have considered wearing pants with that sort of pattern on them. Very nana-ish and definitely not cool even in 1985. 😎
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I never realized that Francine was wearing pants and not a skirt. Wow. As for Amanda’s cardigan, that reminds me of the sweaters from Benetton in the 80’s. And to think I had some of those sweaters.
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Yep! I hear ya!!! I had a big cardy that was knitted into the pattern of a cottage in the countryside or something. just hideous!!!
Soooo while I may mock Francine and Amanda.. I should confess – I would have probably been wearing what they were wearing back in the 80s too..(though never ever did I wear the hankie monstrosity!!)
heck.. it’s so funny laughing at the fashions I’ve just gotta! 🙂
Great to hear from you Jo!
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Pants??whahahahahaahahaha!!! ohhhh my sides hurt!!! that makes them even more awful.. which I didn’t think was possible!!!!!!!!
Great Catch 2Goldens!!
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Oh My Heck — Pants!?! I really have to watch this episode again. I guess she is wearing what I would have called coulottes (heck if I know how to spell that word) or do you think those floral things are floor length?
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Definitely pants. They go down to her ankles.
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Thanks Kiwismh, I was scratching my head a little bit at first trying to figure it out..
Whooo love your take on Lee’ wanting Amanda to come along – it adds to it beautifully.. that Lee is learning from Amanda and wanting to learn from her people skills..
And.. Yep best of all he just wants to be with her 🙂 awhhh good point!
This had me LOL’g!!!! Good call Kiwismh! hilarious!!
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Forgot to add.. there’s none of this Lee setting up Amanda to come with him in the script – in the script Billy just says take Amanda! lol!
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Kiwismh, I love your last paragraph!!! LOL.
And I completely agree that Lee now knows and accepts that Amanda is the other side of his coin, she has the people skills. He isn’t in competition with it like he appeared to be in JEG, he knows it and even likes the fact, I think. I agree as well that he just wants to be with her. Maybe he wants her to know and care abut the people he knows and cares abut too?
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