It’s weird to say goodbye after walking through The Wrong Way Home for so long!!! I guess as Amanda was saying.. we want to go forward – ‘It’s going to be a great future’ 🙂
Special thanks to KC, the transcriber extraordinaire! We salute you KC! 😆 
😎
KC has transcribed this whole episode, with descriptions and everything (for Operation Sandstorm) It’s available over at smk-land.com – you need a password to view the transcripts but it’s a super easy place to access.. and thanks also goes to Petra – who has created a place for smk fans to house all these resources for us to share – Petra we salute you too! 😎
Soooo it’s night time.. Love the night shots of Washington.. I think the Jefferson Memorial is my fave.. what’s yours?
Uh oh.. things are getting weirder.. a guy we don’t know walking down a dark street alone.. why we don’t know..
uh oh.. now there’s a boring car following a guy we don’t 
know.. Scary music..
The car has no number plate – vehicle patrol!!! Arrest this car!
The guy starts running..
Then, the guy starts climbing fences and walls to get away.. but boring car finds him,
and squashes guy we don’t know against a wall we don’t know 😉 ..
(So obedient of him to stop running and climbing walls and just let the car squash him!) 😆
I gotta say.. I was too busy laughing at the unrealistic violence to be bothered.. ahhh smk I love how it doesn’t really go for the super real violence!
Next thing.. we are at the Foxrun Motel.. and the corvette is parked out front..
Have we seen this hotel exterior before? I have no time to look sadly.. but I’m wondering if it was used in Double Agent.. or A relative situation- anyone want to take this up? feel free to go for it..
We find Lee inside standing at a door and gets out a lock pick..
he starts working on the lock. Lee opens the door part way, but sees something that makes him pause (in that super swoony way that he does 😉 ) …
He gets out his gun.. his super spy senses on high alert.. and my super swoony swoon swoons threaten to kick in! awh yeah!
Man.. he looks good!
We cut to a view from inside the room as Lee opens the door wider calling out: Eddie?
What a mess! Lee walks in looking concerned..
and puts his gun away?! lol Umm Lee.. you didn’t check the bathroom! He just walks on in there with his gun put away haaaaa..
Lee takes the top off the toilet tank thingy.. (lol that camera view is interesting.. is there no wall behind the toilet?! Hey maybe this shot is looking in a mirror?)
Lee pulls on a string..
and out comes a plastic bag with something in it..what I don’t know..
LOL why do I have visions of Lee finding a goldfish in there? KC- you’ve got a lot to answer for with those memes of yours! 
tee hee.. The scene ends here.
We move on to IFF..
Billy : We developed the negatives Eddie left for you in the tank…
[Ohhhh negatives.. okay!]
…and came up with pictures of a chemist’s lab.
Billy: What’s it mean?
Wider, we find Lee and Francine are in Billy’s office.
Francine: Ah, what’s the ‘colossus’?
[Didn’t someone order a Colossus from Rhodes or something in Lost and Found?]
Lee: That’s what I’m trying to figure out.
[That and.. what is Francine wearing??!!!! gah!!! ]
Francine: Well, Eddie Le Grande was never easy to figure out.
Lee: Mmm.
Billy: He was a flake, pure and simple, that’s why we retired him.
Francine: Well, apparently, he was a better hamburger salesman than he was an agent. [go figure.. they don’t have the same skills?!]
[Distracted!!! – Whoa!!!! those earrings!!! That weaving on her jumper!!! Is it a hidden weapon? back up restraints?!]
…It says here when he left DC he bought a Marvin’s stand in Boise…
[At hearing this.. Lee gives a super intense look. rofl.. too funny! like that’s super suspicious?! who or what is Marvin? Oh wait.. Francine said it was hamburgers.. it’s coming back.. a little bit! Honestly, I barely remember this one!]
…He was named franchisee of the year, twice, and promoted to regional sales manager. That is a pretty big cheeseburger.
Billy: Oh, please.
[Love Billy’s look at Francine.. enough with the super cheesy wise cracks Francine – 
okay.. couldn’t resist a pun of my own!]
Lee: About a month ago—out of the blue—Eddie started calling me, asking for a meeting. Well, I had a hundred things to do, so I put him on the bottom of the pile.
[I imagine one of them being helping Amanda’s ex and her family!]
Lee: Well, yesterday afternoon, he left this message on my machine at home. (Lee plays the tape)
Eddie (on tape): Scarecrow, it’s Eddie. It’s about six pm and I’m tired of leaving messages at work. Listen carefully… Red 
Robin’s on the wing, ol’ buddy, and he’s a real Colossus, this one…
…Got a big trip ahead of him—thousands of miles maybe—and it could be bad for his health…
(Lee’s jaw is grinding away.. Scarecrow’s worried!)
…Fatal, maybe. I think someone should clip his wings. Call me: the Foxrun Motel, Reston. (Lee stops the tape.)
Billy: What’s he talking about?
Lee: It’s a code we had worked out between us… [rofl a code just between Lee and Eddie? How many codes does Lee make up between contacts?! too funny! And.. maybe Lee should have told Billy and Francine about the code before they listened to the tape ]
…Red Robin translates as red alert and thousands of miles means thousands of people. [so who’s the bird?!]
Francine: And what about Colossus?
Lee: I don’t know. Whoever, or whatever, it is, could kill thousands of people and Eddie’s lying in a hospital—in a coma—because of it. [Ohhh? he’s not dead?]
Man.. I’ve solved this one already! It’s fast food that’s gonna 
kill thousands of people.. and put Eddie in hospital- no?
Billy: The police report says it was an accident.
[the police are sttooooopid]
Lee: They trashed his hotel room, Billy,…
(They all move about the room..)
…and tried to shove a radiator down his throat…
(the police did that?! lol.. okay.. probably the baddie who ran Eddie over..but it could have been an interesting story if it was the police! 😉 )
[Okay.. with those baggy trousers and the pleated waist.. I think this is a seriously tragic look on Francine!!]
…Now, he was on to something, and someone was on to him.
Billy: Yeah, Scarecrow, but who? What? Why?
[Umm call me crazy Billy but usually it’s because you don’t know those things that you actually Ahhh umm you know.. like umm investigate!]
Lee (sighs): All right.
(Lee presses play on the tape to repeat part of the message)
Eddie (on tape): Thousands of miles, maybe, and it could be bad for his health. Fatal, maybe.
(Lee stops the tape.)
Lee: He was in DC on a weekend seminar for prospective Marvin’s buyers. I wanna know what’s going on… From the inside.
[Yeah!! Do they use filler?! What is filler? and.. do we want to know what is filler? 😉
whooo for me this reminds me of Connie Beth cosmetics!]
Billy: Okay, but you’ll need backup.
Francine reacts..
..At hearing this, Francine walks up and joins them.. fully expecting that back up to be her. (LOL look at her hands in the pic below.. she seems to be praying )
Lee: I’ve got just the person.
Love how Billy smiles here!!! He knows what’s coming I think! While Francine looks expectantly at Lee. (Oh gosh.. it’s funny, but I feel sorry for Francine here.. come on! Let her get out in the field a bit Billy! doesn’t need to be with Lee..)
Lee puts his hand on Francine’s arm
Lee: Excuse me.
(Lee walks behind her out of the room)
Billy smiles… a lot!
Francine stands with her mouth open, then looks at Billy.
Billy notices Francine is looking at him..
He breaks off his smile, clears his throat, and walks back to behind his desk.
No words are spoken.. I love it.. even Francine knows that Lee is off to get Amanda to work with him on this case once she knows he isn’t wanting her!! The scene ends here..
Do you think Billy knew straight away Lee wasn’t thinking of Francine? lol.. Poor Francine.. anyone else feel sorry for her? lol..
She’s yet to accept the new reality – Amanda is well and truly Lee’s partner!!! squeeee! and all this while wearing that hideous outfit!! she’s having a baaaad day!
Can’t wait to see Lee and Amanda together again and see what they are like after Wrong Way Home!! And that tag!!! Anyone else not seen this ep in ages?? Anyone not watching ahead? If just me- oh well. just keep in mind as I ramble that I don’t remember what’s ahead and I’m probably a bit behind! lol!! I can’t wait to hear from you guys! Anyone loving Francine’s outfit?!
Okay.. on the plus side.. I will say – I like Francine’s hair here! Byeeee!
"Just walk with me.." 
Honestly, this episode is do dang dumb….all that hoopla over a hamburger???? I can barely watch this one it causes me intense embarrassment for the entire cast!
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I totally agree that a hamburger being central to national security is beyond ridiculous. But this episode has redeeming aspects – maybe the cast just focused on those?? 😉
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gruvy granny I have to agree- my overall opinion of the ep was that the storyline kinda stank. But there were some fabulous L&A moments that made up for it 😉
Thanks so much for bringing this up.. you’ve stimulated my thinking here..
The whole hamburger thing didn’t bug me – but the episode did seem to me to lack some of the charm of earlier eps. Maybe your comments have helped me to see why.
LOL yes it is pretty embarrassing 😉 but in a way – this mixing of espionage and the ordinary reminded me of season 1.. season 2 also..
I think the difference here is that, in season 3 the show is takes itself more seriously.. earlier smk didn’t – and played up the ridiculousness as part of the joke – it was funny! we went with it! Like that moment where Lee finds himself jousting with a flamingo – it’s that moment where the spy goes: What the heck?! Or.. the gorillas unpacking hairdryers in the jungle- ordinary? what the heck?!!! It was funny!!
But in FFFT there is no what the heck moment. we are just expected to buy it – it’s domestic terrorism in a way… and the fact that it’s a hamburger (that I might add: Amanda’s family eats) seems to be just a second thought.
IMHO early season 1 would have made more of Amanda’s kids eating those hamburgers.. lots of kids eating these hamburgers! Hamburgers? Is nothing sacred??!!! and a gag or two would have come from that (other than narky remarks about patti slappers).
Is what I’m saying making sense? Thoughts?
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Hey y’all {said in really bad mock southern accent}
It’s been FAR too long since I watched any SMK, kinda got out of the habit and other stuff in life got in the way.
Anyway I’ve missed a few episodes so thought I would catch up on the current one.
Poor Eddie, not enough to be run over but your ex colleagues are bad mouthing you saying you’re a flake and putting your calls to bottom of the list. Tough day for Eddie poor soul. I did snigger at Lee’s pensive face pulling….maybe he’s secretly considering getting out of the spy biz and setting up a franchise like Eddie LOL
I am guessing Francine is a wee bit bored of being aide to Billy and is jumping at the chance to get out and about. Maybe she wants to show off her home made knits! Billy totally knew who Lee had in mind 😉
I agree about Francines hair, definitely a good “do”. Just a pity it’s not enough to detract from that jumper….,,,
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Hey Jenbo! So good to see you on the blog for a binge! 🙂 I’ve missed your sense of humor and straightforward approach! Hope you’re doing well!!
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If you want low brow juvenile humour I’m your gal BJo 😉 I leave the heavy analysis to the bigger thinkers than me LOL
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That’s the best kind! Your comments always hit my funny bone, Jenbo. 😉
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Same here! I’ve miss ya Jenbo!
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Oh boy! Let’s go to Marvin’s! I want to bite into a smile!
My favorite DC monument is the Lincoln Memorial.
What is with those light blue spaghettio earrings of Francine’s? They go with her rock candy earrings from Spiderweb. Dinner and dessert….
Gah! Just say no to filler! Maybe we should skip Marvin’s and go straight to Mighty Meaty!
Love how Lee completely goes straight to Amanda for his partner on this one!! He values her skills! He knows she’ll do a good job! Woo hoo!
And I don’t really feel sorry for Francine! Not at all! And I’m still not watching ahead, iwsod, but I know you’re already up to post 7 on this episode as I’m typing this commnet, so that sort of makes it weird.
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You’re still not watching ahead? oh wow!!!!! go BJo!!!
I was about half way through blogging this ep when I decided to just watch the end. I needed to have a rough idea of the general way things played out for me to blog about it – so I kinda had it on while doing other stuff and I listened to it and caught glimpses of it in the background.
This way, I still have plenty to discover as I blog – but don’t feel like I’m completely in the dark and being too confusing.
I like not knowing the eps well when I blog them – and definitely don’t want to spoil that!
But I’ve concluded the format of blogging and me writing the blog posts means I need to have a vague idea of how things play out (and with this ep I truly had zero).
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As a compulsive yarn hoarder myself, I can appreciate the need to use up left over yarn in more, shall we say, imaginative projects. The colours are nice on Francine’s sweater but the design is a wee bit helter skelter.
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… that was supposed to be a follow on from Jestress’ comment below.
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When they were giving us safety lessons in school, they told us that if we ever felt like a strange car was following us, we should immediately change directions and run the other way because a person on foot has a much better turn radius than a car and the car will lose time trying to turn around. Why do people on tv never do this? They always keep running in the same direction, as if they could actually outrun the car somehow. 😛
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You think they’d teach that at Station 1. 😉
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I am thinking that I am not sure if this episode goes immediately after Wrong Way Home, so I am going to keep that in mind as we walk through it. I am also wondering why Francine thinks she will ever be Lee’s back up. That hasn’t happened in a long time, why does it seem like she keeps expecting it? And I love how you figured this case out already, Iwsod. You are right that fast food will kill us all.
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I thought Francine’s reaction was odd, too. In the first season or so, it was understandable that she was surprised that Lee would be working with Amanda instead, but you’d think she’d be used to it by now.
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What I find even more surprising is that Francine would want to be involved in something to do with fast food. Seriously – Francine???? I’d expect her to run a mile from such unsophisticated fare.
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True!!! Maybe she does realize it’s been a while since she’s been Lee’s partner and wants to get back in the game? She’s grasping at straws 😉
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Maybe she is noticing the connection between Lee and Amanda and realizing she would like to have something like that. I don’t think she sees the romance, just the connection. When was the last time we have seen her with them?
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I don’t think I’m so bothered by Francine’s reaction to not being chosen. And I think this is a pretty big step for Lee in that he does this in front of Francine. He even has a little smile (and dimple) when Billy talks about needing back up. And I love the “perfect person” comment. Much of the grousing Lee used to do about having to work with Amanda was done in front of Francine. And there were times when Francine made derogatory comments about Amanda that Lee either let slide, chuckled about, or put up and sided with in some way. His comment about the stamina of the American housewife in TGTN was not in defense of Amanda, but a dig at Francine. So in all of this Francine has figured that she and Lee were on the same page in regards to Amanda and her capabilities. We have seen the change in Lee and how over time he has participated less and less with Francine or told her to ‘can it’ or ‘knock it off’. His reactions to her barbs have been a bit subtle and understated so it may not be on Francine’s radar yet.
Also, Billy has mainly been the one to assign Amanda to Lee as a partner. I’m thinking this may be the first time that Lee has flat out chosen Amanda in this way. He groused in Utopia Now, more about the assignment than working with Amanda, but Francine may not have seen the difference. When Francine put up a fuss in Sour Grapes it was with Billy’s assigning of Amanda and Lee just sort of smiled at her and let her rant on. Francine hasn’t held back in her assessments of either Lee’s or Amanda’s dating life and so I don’t think she sees a connection there. However, I do think she senses a closeness between them, but as partners and not much more. I’m not even sure she sees how deep their friendship is. I think it’s mostly how Francine sees how things are at the Agency. She wouldn’t see herself in this situation so she is not going to assume that Lee and Amanda are like this. She possibly just doesn’t get it. I think she feels she is still more aligned and in tune with Lee and the agent that he is, than Amanda would be.
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This comment to me is genius! 🙂 Loved it Valerie..
I know that eventually we all may put these episodes in a slightly different order, but working with the airing order, I agree this is a significant moment for Lee!!!
And.. we and Francine see that there is a new reality now. And Lee is owning it – Amanda is his partner!
I have no idea how this plays out in future episodes with Francine but it will be interesting to see. I wonder if this is one of the stories of this episode ahead of us – how Francine views Lee and Amanda’s partnership.. or just Amanda in general.. I don’t really remember this ep and haven’t watched it yet – not beyond what I’ve written..
I do think Francine tends to deny reality if she isn’t happy with it – especially when it comes to Amanda 🙂 If Lee has only now just started to accept Amanda openly as his partner, I can see that it would or should take Francine much longer to accept this too! errr if ever! 🙂 tee hee..
yes great call about Sour Grapes.. and in Flight for Freedom Billy had to suggest Amanda.. in this area, it suggests FTF comes before FFFT.. hmm.. interesting!
Ready for the next post of FFFT??!!
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I am curious to hear why you think this might not come right after Wrong Way Home, but we can discuss this later. 🙂
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I guess I think it works nicely for my purposes if I put this episode after One Bear Dances. I am sure they would work in either order. I watched them last night to see if I still thought that way, I think I do. But I don’t feel as strongly about it as I do for the order of the first 5 of season 3. I will be interested in what everyone else thinks, but we will have to finish walking through this one and the next one before we can really talk about it. I can relax and enjoy this walk and wait. Truly, I can 🙂
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I’m really looking forward to exploring this too!
I won’t disagree with you thinking this ep is maybe later Morley – I’m open to anything at the moment.. but yes it’s been so long for me since seeing these I really need to keep that thought in mind and wait to bring them all together.
But you guys don’t need to wait if you want to discuss it go for it at Neds!
I am still pondering the idea that flight to freedom is earlier than it could have been.. we’ll see!!
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Perhaps Francine has realised that her professional relationship and comradery with Lee has weakened in the last couple of years, and she is anxious to remain relevant. Lee is, after all, the best agent there and Francine is no slouch either, so she probably has always seen their teamwork as being critical to a successful outcome. She might have to reassess her assumptions now – the status quo isn’t what it used to be for Francine.
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No time for any deep thoughts right now, but…
I like Francine’s trousers, but then I used to wear trousers like that back in the 1980’s and I still think they are cool. The earrings are reasonably restrained given some of Francine’s previous misdemeanours in this regard. The hair style is nice.
That jersey though looks like a “stash buster”, i.e. someone had lots of part skeins of yarn they needed to use up. The end result is a fashion fail. Book her Officer! 😎
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“Stash buster!” I like that term. 🙂
I have a whole bunch of leftover yarn and could probably do something like that. Don’t worry, though, I won’t. 😉 I like the browns and blue on Francine’s Stash Buster Special, but the parts that look like static on a tv screen just don’t work with them, and combining cable knitting with what looks like a partial basket weave is kind of strange, too.
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All I can says is you’ve got neat hips if you’re fond of those pleated trousers, kiwismh. When I wore that style back in the day, it shouted “she’s a pear“. Not a good look…
While I don’t like the bizarre top, for me the real clanger is the turquoise ear-rings. Not bad in themselves (in a bright 80s kind of way) but why highlight the thin blue ribbon in the top by chosing those ear-rings. Also, the thin silver strips in the brown top looks like she ‘decorated’ her top with bits of tin foil….
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I thought Francine’s top looked like it was shot through with reflector tape. Maybe a reaction to random pedestrians getting run over at night? The new season’s fashion line: Designer safety wear. Construction couture. Business pedestrian.
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Happycamper, you come up with the best names. I think Francine would hate to be Business pedestrian (she would never consider herself to be pedestrian in either senses of the word 😀 ). I like ‘Construction couture’
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Oh, but that was so 80’s to accent a minor color in the outfit with the accessories! Socks were often used for this purpose. It took me a long time to realize the sock fashion statement was hopelessly out of date, and even longer to break the habit!
Francine’s sweater/jumper reminds me a little of one I had in the 80’s. Lots of miscellaneous yarn in a course pattern. People kept telling me my sweater was on inside out, so eventually I took the hint and retired it 🙂
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Oh gosh, I’ll admit to making that 80s fashion sin….I used to layer two pairs of crew socks – one usually white and one an accent color in whatever top I was wearing. buries face in shame…
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There, there, BJo. My cousin’s children have shown me that apparently it’s a thing among kids today to wear garish non-matching socks. And they’re too young to realize just how embarrassing this kind of fad can be in another decade or so.
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BJo, we forgive you.
[rofl. because frankly we probably all have our own fashion sins to confess!!! 🙂 ]
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