So we left Lee and Amanda heading toward Colleen’s convalescent home for a visit, to ‘let her down easy’ that her fiancé really is dead…
We see the Corvette driving through the streets of Washington DC.
We hear Lee tell Amanda (while watching the vette drive): You’ll like Colleen. Nothing gets her down for long; I mean until now. It’s a miracle she made it out alive. They’d given her up for dead, both of them. [Gee this is the SECOND time someone has said it was a miracle she survived.. did you catch that everyone – it’s a Miracle!!!! enough already!]
The vette pulls up at the Two Rivers Convalescent Home. Lee and Amanda get out of the car.. well Lee struggles quite a bit to get out of the vette actually. LOL! Haaa.. It kind of cancels out the sex appeal effect of the car when he grunts and struggles to get out whaahahaa..
Ah! Look behind Lee! See the gazebo? That’s the Warner Bros Lot they are on (Gilmore Girls was filmed there) and we saw the side of the street opposite here in Fearless Dotty when Amanda used the hose to blind the baddie making his getaway.
Together, Lee and Amanda walk to the convalescent home entrance.
Lee: Yep, Colleen is a real pistol… [I’ve never liked that phrase!] …Why I remember one time in a cantina down in San Salvador…
[Amanda listens with great interest.. oh wait.. that cardigan is hideous!!!! Now I can see it clearly.. gah!! what’s with the sleeves?! ]
… where a bunch of drunk reporters bet her that she couldn’t….
(Lee pauses, looks at Amanda, Amanda smiles curious..)
…Well…
…let me just say she goes a long way before she’ll admit that she’s wrong. Just like you. (Lee deliberately clears his throat)
Amanda quickly turns to look at Lee: Ohhhhh.
Lee teasingly repeats Amanda response: Ohhh.
A very cute little moment! I don’t think this was in the shooting draft of the script.. I wonder if it was an ad lib? I wish we could see their faces as they share this little exchange!
The script was very different with this walk to the entrance.. they are discussing completing the time and motion study – seems they are suppose to be recording where they are and how long things take – and Lee suggests they fudge the numbers, but Amanda is adamant she won’t lie.. A very interesting little exchange here that never made it into the show.. if anyone wants to transcribe it feel free – but plays well into how Amanda now seems reconciled with lying to her mother..
Anyway back to the episode we got..
So I’m seeing a few things here.. firstly, Lee and Amanda chatting comfortably and Lee enjoying recounting his story.. till he gets to the non family friendly bit I guess! lol.. because they involve drinking?? maybe? Way to go writers, that way you don’t have to actually think of a story.. and the audience can fill in the blanks!
So why doesn’t Lee tell Amanda about the bet?
Also, I think it’s so cute how Lee is totally teasing Amanda here about her stubbornness! Glad he says that playfully or I would want to slap him and say it sounds like you!! Ahhh that’s when you can see someone is in love huh.. when they find your at times annoying qualities endearing 
and they love everything about them!
Another thought based on this little exchange is how Lee sees Amanda as being similar to Colleen – maybe fixing her own clogged kitchen pipes was to underscore this point?
Also, this hints that Lee and Amanda have lots in common with Bart and Colleen – other than the engaged part tee hee.. the couples do seem to be living parallel lives in a way.. though Lee and Amanda as a romantic couple are in the very early stages – [dating but not calling it dating IMHO].. It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds.. but Bart and Colleen also worked together on a dangerous job.. hmmm! very interesting!!
We see Lee and Amanda enter the convalescent home, being watched by two 
men sitting in a car on the Warner Bros lot! lol.. I’ve got to visit that in person one day! who wants to meet me there?! 
First man (the script says his name is Heck! lol.. first name ‘what the?’ nah.. the script says his first name is Dominic..) : The big guy we saw yesterday, he’s back…
[Big guy? whahahaa.. love it!]
…I’m glad we checked him out…
[Oh I know!!! I’m always glad to have ‘checked out’ the big guy!!! It never fails to please me ]
….You owe me 10. He had that look,..
[yes.. he has that look.. he’s very good-looking!]
… I knew he’d be back.
[I’d be hanging out and hopefully he would return too! ]
Second man (named Victor Lanz in the script): That’s 10 dollars well spent, our first good break.
[$10 to check out Lee? I’d say that’s $10 very well spent! and a very good break indeed.. oh dear.. I am completely distracted by checking out Lee.. focus iwsod!!]
One baddie shows the other baddie a photo..
First: This was taken in Angola with Stoler last year at the US embassy. Research pays off.
(So, last year Lee took a trip to Angola huh.. anyone noting this stuff? And how did they find this photo? on facebook? )
LOL.. Lee must have done a double take when he met the Burling Brothers (in Life of the Party) and found Vic Burling was the spitting image of his mate Bart Stoller! [Man another weird switcheroo with the guest stars.. at least they attempted with the glasses to give him a different look!]
Second: Should I stick with pretty boy or Colleen? [whooo I see he agrees with me.. he’s a pretty boy indeed!! whahahaaha.. he really was checking him out! whahahaaha probably jealous!]
First: Follow the big guy. Find out who he is and what he’s up to.
We cut back to Colleen sitting on the porch fiddling with her sunglasses.. (they look like Terminator glasses! don’t mess with her dudes!)
Colleen: I just graduated to these. I can’t take the light yet. Gah! it’s so damn frustrating not to be out there looking for Bart myself.
[Check out the body language.. Lee is very guarded here.. and Amanda is very supportive of Colleen.. before they’ve even started talking about things!]
Lee: Colleen, you saw Bart take a mortar round full on.
[Umm way to let her down gently there Lee! Pow!! straight into it! lol!! Umm wasn’t Amanda suppose to break it to Colleen? I find this whole scene plays out like the scene with Billy was like in the script – not like in the actual episode.. but.. whatev..
I think Colleen was being hit with a mortar round full on at the time herself.. and was evidently blinded by it.. sooo I don’t know how she could have really seen anything! but.. maybe it’s just me.. Oh I much prefer how the shooting script played this out.. but.. I’ll try not to be a bore here and I’ll go with it! ]
Colleen: Lee, the last thing Bart saw was me being hit and I’m alive. What does that tell you!?
Amanda to Lee: She’s got a point.
[Whooo hooooo!!! Hooray for Amanda! I like that Amanda is not disregarding Colleen here.. I like to think Amanda learned a lesson in J. Edgar’s ghost – when I felt Amanda was disregarding Agnes’ point of view.. here she is disregarding no more!!]
Lee: Colleen please…
…I’ve checked. I’ve got good sources- [umm Lee Colleen was one of your ‘good sources’ for years… so why don’t you listen and check it out?!]
Colleen: (Yelling over Lee) –Don’t ‘Colleen please’ me!!
[lol that shuts him up!]
…My stringer in Santarilla said the word down there is La Gaviotta got him out. It makes sense. He’s here in Washington right now.
[Whooo hooo!!! Go Colleen! I love that she is a fighter and will not let Lee talk down to her. You tell him Colleen! If there’s a chance the man she loves is alive, she’s going to fight for him! ]
Amanda: What’s La Gaviotta?
[lol what’s a stringer? anyone?? guess it’s someone who knows stuff and is in touch with Colleen!]
Lee: La Gaviotta’s an underground railroad for refugees…
…Actually it’s an over the water railroad started by some yachtsmen. They’re patriotic but terribly misguided.
Ohhh my..that’s Shakespeare! ‘they’re patriotic but terribly misguided’????!!!! Who talks like that?!! whahahaa.. Why does Lee always get the cringe worthy dialogue?! why didn’t BB put his foot down?!!! lol…
Colleen: They fly this so the refugees know which boats to swim too…
(Colleen hands Amanda a flag which she opens. It is yellow and blue.)
…My stringer made contact!
Lee: Assuming that La Gaviotta did get 
Bart out, why the hell hasn’t he called you?
Colleen: He thinks I’m dead! I think they’re hiding him so he can be a surprise witness at the Senate hearings this week…
…It’s for his safety. You know Harcourt will do anything to keep him away.
[Lee’s body language is now looking more open no?]
Amanda: Who’s Harcourt?
Lee: The US ambassador to Santarilla.
Colleen: Bart can prove that Harcourt has taken millions under the table in Santarilla. He has videos of him getting kickbacks for construction contracts.
Lee: Yeah, there is a Senate subcommittee probe. I think they’ve come up dry.
[Umm Lee you are talking to a reporter who was in Santarilla, I think she might know better if there was any evidence.. and may know something you don’t! Poor Lee.. IMHO the writing here makes him sound cheesy.. and pretty ignorant.. but I think we all know that is not Lee at all!]
Colleen: Bart can prove it! I’ve got to get 
to the hearings Lee. He’s alive and you know it too. And you know that if Harcourt finds him first he’ll kill him…
…Stop being practical Lee! This is Bart! I’ve 
seen you chase plenty of geese with less to go on.
[too right! Love this!! ]
Now this makes Lee stop and think!
He quickly glances at Amanda..
I think Amanda silently looks at Lee here 
encouraging him here to give Bart and Colleen a chance.. Lee is silent a moment.. And then.. he makes his decision.
Lee: (Sighs) Alright, alright,.. …I’ll check on La Gaviotta…
[Good man!!!!]
…Amanda take her to those hearings, keep her out of trouble.
[LOL the last time he asked Amanda to keep someone out of trouble, Mr Brand, they got 
into all sorts of trouble ]
Amanda nods silently that she will.
Colleen quietly: Thanks Lee.
I think Colleen is hugely relieved to have gotten this concession from Lee and isn’t too pleased with the keeping her out of trouble phrase.. lol.. but not wanting to push her luck she bites her tongue..
You know what, I’m really glad that there is zero hint that there was ever anything romantic between Lee and Colleen.. and they have known each other a long time.. hooray!
Well I better finish here for the moment.. It seems the whole let’s take Amanda with Lee so she can let Colleen down easy has basically been forgotten.. lol right from the start Amanda is not wanting to let her down easy, rather she is open to listening to Colleen’s information. Go Amanda! Lee slowly comes around to it.. A little too slow for my liking.. he had shades of Reach for the sky – when he was trying to tell Billy that Cyclops is just a myth! and he needs to forget about his friend who died or whatever.. ah well I guess we have to see a bit of opposition to keep the story interesting, but still.. poor Lee! lol!! What do you all make of this scene? Do tell! Byeee for now!!
"Just walk with me.." 
My grandmother had those same sunglasses when she had cataract surgery and I teased her by calling her “Robo-granny” instead of Robocop. However now I’ve adopted them sinve I have issues with flourescent lighting and I have to say that what they lack in looks they make up for in preventing headaches!
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Ooh, ooh! I do! I do!
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I was wondering if part of Lee’s issue here with being practical (as well as in Reach for the sky) is the fact that he has had to swallow of few deaths of loved ones himself. Has he steeled himself so that it has become something you just have to accept and move on from? And how is that way of dealing with things affected now that he is allowing himself to care about someone else again? I wonder if Amanda picks up on this and that is part of why her looks seem so intense towards Lee and how he is dealing with this?
But I do love the way he teases Amanda as they approach the building. It is a jab, but at the same time a compliment and an acknowledgement that he does know her well and is enjoying knowing her.
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Yes that could be part of it Morley – ‘practical’ was an interesting choice of words huh..
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Actually it is funny. I used the word “practical” a lot in my season two stories which added more meaning to it here for me.
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Eagerly waiting, Morley 🙂
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cool! where are you up to with your stories Morley? At one stage you were posting links here to your stories.. you still can if you want ( just direct people to neds to discuss the stories) or if I can help at all let me know. I’ve gotten busy and have lost track of where you are up to!
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Almost ready to start publishing all of season two.., well one episode a week 😉 I stopped adding links because I couldn’t figure out how to do it in the comments on the blog. Technology and I still can’t find a way to coexist;) But I think it would be fun to have a link to each story in the comments at the end of each episode walk through. I am starting to write the stories for Welcome to America Mr. Brand. Can’t wait to dive into season 3… but it looks like real life may not be done throwing curve balls at my family yet, so the progress may remain slow. Sigh.
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Another fun factoid you might not want to know…
The blue and yellow pennant that Colleen hands Amanda (the La Gaviotta signal flag) is actually one of the international maritime flags – the “First Substitute” or “First Repeater”.
“Substitute for the first flag in this hoist. (International)”
“Also “repeats” the first flag or series of flags in this hoist”
http://www.marinewaypoints.com/learn/flags/flags.shtml
(Or also see Wikipedia — LOL.)
I find it quite apropos that a reporter has the First Repeater flag… or that an underground railroad might be flying it… 😀 (But, on the realistic side, a pennant without valid international significance might’ve been a smarter choice. 😀 Less chance of someone else flying it for some other valid reason. Plot pinpoint hole, schmot pinpoint hole…)
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LOL thanks Kiwismh, Learjet, Valerie and KC for the factoids and fact checking and explanations! I knew you guys would know about it!
I figured stringer was well known in US culture because they don’t explain what it is in the episode itself (and smk does love to treat the audience like it’s a bit dim at times 😉 )
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Yes, a stringer can be either a journalist or a photographer, but they work on a sort of at-will basis. They get paid for whatever picture or information is used, but are not necessarily a full time employee. Also, a quick comment about Colleen’s shades. I once had to have my pupils dilated for some tests. They actually had to do it twice. For about 2-3 days even normal light was too much for my eyes. The doctor had me wear similar shades over my glasses so that the light would not be as bothersome. They seemed big and bulky at first, but I was glad to have them, especially because the sides were covered and it helped a lot when I was outside.
Love the big guy comment. Reminds me of Amanda calling Lee “big fella” in WTAMB. I don’t mind Colleen being called a pistol so much, because it indicates that she is feisty which is certainly shown by how she is not allowing Lee to mollify her. Of course, he could have just called her feisty. Interesting that he that he compares Colleen to Amanda. Like the teasing and mini bantering back and forth with Lee and Amanda.
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yeah big guy is kinda cute haaaa.. Though personally, I prefer ‘pretty boy’ 🙂 I think the baddie has issues with good looking men – maybe he was teased by jocks in high school or something.. 😉
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An exhaustive 30 second search on Wikipedia reveals that one of the meanings of “Stringer” is a type of freelance journalism.
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A more concise 10 second search of the Online Slang Dictionary confirms this. But it can also mean a flirt who strings people along…
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Merriam-Webster dictionary online confirms meaning one…
Basically, “stringer” = “correspondent” (i.e., Our correspondent in blah-blah-blah confirms…)
But learjet’s slang meaning is also interesting for SMK… 😀
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I’ve read the script to this point – the dialog and general story line is much, much better (and more comprehensive) in the script. Too much to reproduce here but worth reading. I think there is a copy at Petra’s site?
Corvette’s are fairly low to the ground making it not an easy manoeuvre for a 6’2″ big fella to exit in an entirely cool manner. 😎 BB does pretty well most of the time but maybe he had a few aches and pains when they filmed this scene. Might have been doing his own stunt-work and picked up a few bumps and bruises in interesting places… 😉
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My brother had a Vette of that vintage back in the ’80s (prior to wife and kidlings). I always found them to look sexier than they were in RL. Even harder to get into and out of them gracefully in a skirt although KJ seems to do a pretty good job of it. A slim skirt would be murder, though.
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Yeah good point. harder in a skirt – and heels!!!
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Good thing Lee is looking mighty fine here so I can distract myself from the cheesy dialogue he has to spout.
I am going to rewatch this episode tonight after all the kidlets have gone to bed – it has been awhile and I am fuzzy on the details. Hope you are staying warm (but not too warm for those of you in the southern hemisphere). It’s supposed to dip down to -33 C (-27 F) tonight. GACK!
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It hit nearly +36 C here today, and we’re set for +41 C tomorrow. Yes, it’s officially too warm.
Tried to rewatch this whole episode on my own but the Minijets insisted on joining me and kept asking me questions about the plot (I told them it didn’t make sense), commenting on how Francine had sunburn (reflection the red shirt?) and how Colleen looks very much like Francine. Which is actually true.
Is this the only time we see Lee with sunglasses (albeit tucked in his shirt in a photo) – it’s a good look on him. And he does look good…
I’m a big fan of Colleen. Once you get past those bizarre sunnies, she’s a feisty character and gives Lee a hard time. I like it! It’s good to have a female guest character who can hold her own. She’s like the Elizabeth Bennet of SMK – able to out-argue Lee/Mr D.
Just a useless bit of trivia: La Gaviotta is a boutique in Lebanon “La Gaviotta Boutique, the address of elegance, style, sophistication and grace. Our boutique offers a wide range of ready to wear dresses and accessories for all occasions, visit our store to experience luxury and personalized services.”
and a clothing brand in Belgium.
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I seem to remember Lee (or his stand-in) wearing a pair of dark aviator sunglasses in some stock footage of him in S1 driving the Porsche.
Colleen’s weirdo dark glasses remind me of the ones that creep in Brunettes wore. (Remember him? Pretending to be blind, but not really…Ick!)
Learjet, I don’t even know how you can get anything done when the temperature is 36C. That would be exhausting.
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25C here today (which I think is around 77F). Just perfect.
I can’t even imagine what -33C would be like.
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