Huge thanks to KC for transcribing this episode!!! 🙂
So, back in Lee’s hotel room, Lee is pacing and fiddling with his Marvin’s badge.. Lee’s excited! lol Amanda meanwhile is flicking through a magazine.. Hmm.. why isn’t she excited? I guess it’s good she’s relaxed being alone with Lee in his room!
Lee: This is a perfect chance to work Metz…
[I guess Amanda just told Lee about her breakfast date meeting with Marvin]
(Amanda glances up at Lee’s back…. but quickly goes back to her magazine)
…Get inside his head—see what makes him tick.
Lee turns around to look at Amanda.
There’s a knock at the door.. Amanda looks up..
Lee starts walking toward the door.
Lee: Hold on.
Hmm they both seem surprised.. guess they weren’t expecting anyone.. They may have been thinking they’d have a relaxed evening together – with no dramas about who sleeps where to deal with 
Lee opens the door a crack..
When Amanda sees who it is, she looks back at her magazine pretty quickly..
Lee: Oh. Come on in. [Hmm Lee wasn’t expecting Francine huh.. how did she know what room Lee is in?! hmm she has her ways!]
I think Amanda gives a little (Mc) grimace when she realises its Francine.. I suspect she would have been fine with anyone – but Francine!
And doesn’t Francine look sooo smug and happy!
Oh I can’t wait to hear what you all make of this scene!
Francine: Hi.
(Francine looks around the room and walks toward the table as Lee shuts the door.)
Francine: Ohhhhh!.. Well, isn’t this a cozy little place you two have here?
Hmm interesting assumption! Or.. is she testing?!
Francine laughs and walks around the table.
Amanda (not bothering to look up from her magazine): My room’s down the hall, Francine.
My goodness.. Lee must be happy at this moment he went with separate rooms no?
Lee: Hah.
Francine: Ah, weeeell,…
…how times have changed, Scarecroooow.
Lee looks to be wanting to shut this train of thought down promptly.
Lee attempts to divert this topic of conversation as Amanda looks up at Francine then Lee wordlessly.. just taking in this little exchange (as I’m sure Lee is well aware!)
Lee (abruptly): What have you got on Bendix?
Francine: Oh, gobs…
(Francine takes a seat and Amanda goes back to her magazine. I think she knows Francine won’t want to include her in this little update.. )
…Seems he developed the prototype for that secret sauce that made Marvin’s burgers famous.
Lee: Mm-hmm.
Francine: But, according to him, Marvellous Marvin stiffed him—no glory, no money, zip. So, now, he’s muttering something about revenge.
[do you think Marvin really did? ]
Amanda: What kind of revenge? [Amanda risks it and joins in!]
Francine: Oh, I don’t know; he fell asleep at the piano bar, singing “Moon River”, off key. I’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow. [Hmm lots of singing going on in this episode.. ‘Let’s go to Marvin’s’.. and earlier Francine said Bendix was singing ‘my day will come’. lol!]
Lee: Good work.
Francine: That is what they pay me for.
(Both Lee and Amanda seem to give a little smile at this response.. so Francine.)
(Francine gets up from the table and walks toward the door.)
Lee: Hmm.
Francine: I have to go hassle somebody about my room. Seems they lost my reservation.
Francine heads for the door.. but turns back to look at Lee – she seems to be making some kind of accusation here no?
In response, we see a close up on Lee..
trying not to smirk.. 
But.. he can’t help himself.. you’ve been busted Lee.. and we get to see his dimples in response
He doesn’t even try to explain it.. good call Lee! I sense that would have only encouraged Francine
Francine (continues super sweetly/too sweetly!): Well, now, you two sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.
ROFL the shots of Francine here are hilarious! so exaggerated!! (Finally she opens the door to go!)
Amanda: Goodnight, Francine.
(whahahaha.. gee I don’t think Amanda means that.. come to think of it, I think most of what’s interesting in this scene is what’s not being said (verbally!)! Maybe we could do with one of those Raffie subtext translations here.. Raffie? or anyone else like to have a go? Go for it! )
Back to Francine for one last bit of narky super sweet politeness.
Francine: Goodnight, Amanda.
Whoa.. I’m worried.. I think Francine might need a chiropractor!
(Francine walks out and closes the door.)
It didn’t seem like Francine had any real new information to impart, that couldn’t have waited until morning.. Me thinks there was a separate little purpose to this visit.. can’t wait to hear what you guys think!
I think Francine came to find out the gossip.. were they sharing a room? and have a little dig at Lee because they weren’t and a little dig at Amanda for whatever. Had they been sharing a room, Francine would have had a dig at that too no doubt!
But I think this is Francine again trying to stake some kind of a claim on Lee over Amanda.. and assert her authority here. In psych terms this would be Francine trying to tell Amanda she’s in the outgroup and not an agent.. but I think really, Francine is in the outgroup because of Lee and Amanda’s partnership now!
That opening scene where Lee walks past her to get Amanda for this case?? Is probably at the root of this behaviour here IMHO. A reminder to Lee that Amanda is not in the ingroup? like: I’m the professional here. I do good work and that’s what they pay me for. I know Lee better than you do Amanda.. and don’t either of you try and forget it!
I see this as a desperate bid – because Francine is starting to sense she has been usurped. It happened some time ago mind you – but she is only now beginning to see it at least this is my current theory for this scene.
Soooo what’s with Francine’s reservation everyone??? She seems to blame Lee for this – was it his job to get her room too?! Lee did say earlier the hotel was pretty much booked out. So what would Francine make of that? Lee wanted Francine out of the way so he could have some space with Amanda? hmm not sure if I can see her thinking that.. but. then again maybe she could question it for just a moment and then reassure herself?
Her dig at Lee about how things have changed was rather telling.. once again we are reminded of that subtext we’ve heard before about how spies shared rooms and it was a ‘perk’ of the job.. and they probably got up to a bit of backgammon while they were at it (where did we hear about this?? Ohhh Lee said something about how in weekend if Francine had come it would not have been a problem sharing a room?) Ohhh and I’m reminded of that unshot script that raised this issue (was it ‘pillow patter’? eww.. glad they didn’t go there!)
–I guess raising it explicitly was avoided and instead smk went for subtle references..
First time I saw this, I wondered if Francine stopped by to test if Lee was interested in her ‘staying’ for some backgammon you know??? !!!! She didn’t have a room.. ahem.. ahem.. Lee could have sent Amanda on her way with some kind of excuse.. ahem.. but.. maybe it is a sign how very little Francine really knows Lee now? (though she does note a change so maybe she’s starting to wonder.. maybe this really was a test?!!!) eeek.. I don’t want to think that.. soooo I’m hoping you guys will make sense of it for me!
Okay well I better finish up here for the moment.. can’t wait to hear what you make of this and the upcoming scenes – I suspect this sequence is one of the only reasons to watch this rather meh plot! bye for now!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I agree with all the comments made here. I personally think Francine took Lee’s preference to work with Amanda as a snub and she has turned up to do a bit of stirring as that tends to be her preferred method of revenge. A bit of passive aggressive digs at how couple-y they look. It’s interesting that Francine doesn’t just want to get back (for want of a better word) at Lee but she drags Amanda into her sights too. It’s hardly Amanda’s fault that Lee chose her over Francine. It’s clear that Lee can see how much progress Amanda has made and wants to work with that but Francine just reacts in a territorial manner, she can’t see the improvement Amanda has made in her career as a positive thing. Francine strikes me as someone who has to be top dog and Amanda is definitely threatening to topple her position.
She’s going to end up with a bad neck with her exaggerated moves like that!!
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Yeah, I think Francine just dropped by to be nosy and brag about her little bar talk with Cecil Bendix. I think she also wanted to get in a few digs. If I were Amanda, I would have been very annoyed with her and my guts would have been in a knot at her times have changed line about Lee. I agree with your assessment of Francine’s motives here, iwsod. This is not Francine at her best – maybe her snarky best, but not her true best, if you know what I mean. I do think Amanda does realize that on a non-work, personal level Lee has a closer relationship with her than with Francine, but with his continued lack of partial work information disclosure, Amanda also knows that professionally she is not in the loop fully. Lee did choose Amanda for the case and not Francine, but I think that was because of the personal stuff and Lee’s awareness that Amanda would be much more genuine in her knowledge of anything Marvelous Marvin’s than Francine. Plus he’d rather spend the time with Amanda than Francine these days.
It never occurred to me to think that Francine’s lost reservation had to do with anything funny on Lee’s part. I just always figured it was a busy hotel weekend and with her last minute reservation, something really did get lost.
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Great comments so far, I never made the connection that Lee might have messed up Francine’s room reservation to get one for Amanda. I guess the Foxrun is not that reputable of a hotel if the night clerk can be talked into finding a room for someone whose doing the ‘happy hooker’ (their words, not mine) routine.
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I meant to comment on this last night and forgot – so glad you raised this again Cindy.. I hadn’t really connected Lee giving Francine’s room to Amanda either! But I like it.
I was thinking maybe Lee didn’t book a room for Francine because he wanted her to miss out and be at another hotel. It’s not really explained at least.. not so far I guess!
Yes true re foxrun hotel not being reputable.. maybe the hound dogs like to hang out there to catch the foxes?! 😉 tee hee..
oh dear.. but if that’s the way it is.. why does Marvin seem to like it? ahem..
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I’m up early at camp just waiting for coffee to finish brewing so I can rouse the campers and thought I would check in here. It seems that no matter where I go SMK and this blog seems to follow me. When we had our first meal here one of the counselors made a bit of a deal in pointing out the colors of the trays which are bright red, yellow, and orange. Of course Marvelous Marvin was running through my head. And yes, we did stop at a McDonald’s on our journey to camp. We’ve sung several songs, some cheesy, but no “let’s go to Marvin’s”. Thank goodness for that.
Yesterday one of the parent chaperones and their son were somehow talking about one of our classes, Survival, and got into a whole discussion about defusing a bomb and pulling the blue wire to keep it from detonating and that it’s always the blue wire. They couldn’t figure out why I was so bemused at their discussion and just kept repeating, “it’s always the blue wire” while shaking my head. Today we have the Challenge Course and I’m wondering if I’ll see or hear any Class Act/Station One references. If they only knew.
I enjoyed reading everyone’s takes on this scene. It is a bit strange to see Lee and Amanda so subdued with one another, especially with how they were in Flight to Freedom, but in that instance it was just the two of them and they could be more relaxed. They knew they would not be interrupted. They both seem to know that Francine is afoot and are just maintaining some decorum. There’s always the possibility she’s going to just show up.
I do agree that Lee is more ready to move forward at this point and that he is taking it slow and trying to be a gentleman. This is all still new territory for him and he is well aware of his past and knows that Amanda is well aware of it as well. He doesn’t want to do the wrong thing or behave in such a way as to push her away or make her think that this is some of his old behaviors coming to the surface. He has to be different than he has been.
I think I mentioned in the first post how I thought that this was the first time that Lee consciously chose Amanda as a partner and not where it was being assigned by Billy. That he made this choice in front of Francine had to give her much pause as to what was going on and where things stood as far as she was concerned. She had to wonder just how strong the partnership was between Lee and Amanda. I wonder if Francine ever thought that she might be the one that Lee would eventually partner with should he decide to have a partner again. I think she sees this as a fact finding mission of her own. And somewhere deep down she has to be having those feelings again that here Amanda has made these leaps and bounds in a short amount of time whereas Francine may still be paying her dues. She is an actual agent, while Francine still sees Amanda as “passing through”.
Okay, it’s time to get the kids up and time for my coffee. I’ll check in again when I return. By the way, the first day we had 80 degree weather. Yesterday the temperature dropped almost 50 degrees and we actually had some snow. There is frost on the ground this morning. It’s May in Michigan.
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Ah Valerie.. I could picture you in the quiet start of the day enjoying a bit of smk.. love it!
Who knew you would be on an SMK camp?! teehee..
Loved your comment reminding us of how Lee chose Amanda way back – maybe this is part of the title huh.. it’s given Francine food for thought?!
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My theory is that Francine can’t figure what’s going on with Lee these days, and how this has affected their professional and personal friendship. She knows his behaviour has changed but she can’t get a handle on why. I don’t think she would contemplate that Lee would seriously consider a relationship with Amanda.
To me, Francine seems to be trying to tease out more from Lee or Amanda so she can have some sort of frame of reference or fact to start from. Right now she is flailing in a vacuum, wanting for any piece of info that could help her figure out what’s going on and where she stands with Lee now.
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I do think that Francine’s missing room went to Amanda. I just don’t think Francine can figure out why. What has gotten into Lee? She knows that they enjoy each other, they are friends (which is enough for her to swallow). But Lee isn’t acting like the Lee she knows. Why? He couldn’t be falling head over heals for that suburban, average woman, so much so that he would treat her with such honor and not try to pull his old moves and take advantage of a situation. Yeah, I think she is sussing the situation by dropping by, and I think Lee knows it, hence his cutting her ff and getting straight to business and the exchange of looks between them as she leaves the hotel room.
I am not sure what to make of Amanda here. She is just sitting there flipping through a magazine, looking rather bored. Is she still perturbed that they are brother and sister? Maybe she doesn’t understand why Lee is still being so business like and talking about the case. Maybe she is ticked that Francine was there too. Maybe she still doesn’t know what to expect from the relationship with Lee. She perks up when Francine starts to talk about revenge. Maybe Amanda is just in work mode. She seems to be holding back for some reason.
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I agree with you about Amanda, Morley. Amanda seems very self-contained; almost as if she as if she is protecting herself (from her body language). And she’s very ready to defend herself against Francine’s narkiness.
Lee, on the other hand, is looking relaxed and happy. Maybe it’s just such a relief and joy to have Amanda to himself after all that Joe-time?
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Yes, I think Lee knows what he is about with Amanda… almost ;), but Amanda doesn’t know yet because Lee hasn’t declared himself. Is that too old fashioned? I kind of think that is how Lee is approaching this a bit, in an old fashioned, honorable way. Maybe his pendulum has swung too far in the other direction?
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If that’s old fashioned, then I’m old fashioned.
It definitely feels look there’s been a shift from the Lee at the start of the Wrong Way Home and this Lee. Lots of material for your post TWWH story….
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I am working on Flight to Freedom now and I think TWWH may be a novella… 😉
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Heck! I need to catch up on your fan fics Morley.. before you get to your TWWH novella!
I’m going to put that on my list for some time off I have coming up. yes.. I actually keep a list (or I have time off and think- what was I wanting to do again? can’t think of anything! lol!)
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Such a wonderful feeling to know my stories made your list, Iwsod! 🙂 I hope they make for a refreshing escape during your time off.
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Oh, boy….LOL!
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Count me in the I must be old fashioned club too!
A man treating a woman respectfully is bringin the sexy back!!!
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Part of my theory is that Amanda is hanging back and just observing. Lee has held some stuff back from her, and now Francine’s there, apparently trying to stir something up. She might have just decided to wait and see where this was all leading. Besides, she doesn’t have to deal with Francine’s snark herself because right now it seems to be mainly directed at Lee, and he’s handling it. Amanda can just sit back and watch, except when they start talking about something that seems directly related to the job.
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Agreeing with you again Jestress!
Yep!
Combining this with Morley’s comment where she said:
It has entered my head that Amanda is watching and taking note..
at the same time, Lee through the way he has treated Amanda with the rooms, his old fashioned respectful and new way of behaving etc. is actually slowly and surely declaring himself and his feelings for Amanda!! 🙂 and I love this thought! SQUEEEEEEEEEE
The idea that Amanda is testing and taking note I think is yet to be fully explore though.. so I’ll say no more on this for the moment 🙂 squeee!!
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Love that thought too, iwsod!! And Amanda is definitely paying attention. I think she is not very interested in that magazine, but rather is making herself look busy as she is taking in every word of that exchange between Lee and Francine.
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Great observations, Jestress! I like what you say here.
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I wondered about Amanda here too. She seems to not be really engaging with Lee who is applying some serious thought to the case. Amanda looks as if she is just passing the time or waiting for something/someone. But neither of them, especially Amanda, seemed to be expecting anyone to arrive.
Even while Lee is talking to Francine, Amanda still keeps reading the magazine. Must be a really interesting article in there!
I figure they went back to Lee’s room to relax (“hang out” I think someone mentioned). Lee might have got engaged in thinking about the case again, and perhaps Amanda thinks the together-time in the privacy of Lee’s room is not quite working out as she had thought it might. Not that I think she was anticipating anything romantic, but perhaps she thought they would have a nightcap and spend some time “getting to know” each other some more.
Seems to me that continuing to think about the case directly may not be productive at this time anyway. I know when I have a difficult or complex problem to solve, it’s often more productive to divert my attention somewhere else or spend some time relaxing after I’ve already put some serious time into it. (Which L&A have today). When you relax, a solution or at least some clarity often results. Maybe Amanda appreciates this better than Lee.
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What I keep wondering was how did Amanda land up in Lee’s room in the first place? There is no coffee or stronger beverage visible so she wasn’t asked back for a nightcap. Amanda is reading a magazine. It’s all very domestic – the opposite of Lee’s old version of a good night out.
Lee’s smirking is very cute. I think he ‘made a plan’ to avoid having Francine around.
I wouldn’t turn up at a male work colleague’s hotel room, but then I haven’t played backgammon with any of my work colleagues…. Francine is definitely spying – and not just on Cecil. I think she’s feeling on the outside and is trying to assert herself. But failing.
MS’s OTT facial expressions crack me up. Her acting talents are underused most of the time in SMK. I think the strange neck positions are an attempt to stretch out those painful and difficult-to-reach muscles – pain brought on by those oversized ear-rings.
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It looks to me like Lee and Amanda are just so comfortable together, it’s natural to spend the time together until they’re ready to turn in. I’m guessing they came to Lee’s room to discuss the case in safe privacy first, but after going over everything that can be gone over, they’re just kind of hanging out.
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I wonder if Amanda is a wee bit nervous, or wondering if Lee will try to kiss her. They’ve almost kissed twice by now, and while they are not sharing a room here, they are alone in a hotel room so have the opportunity. tee hee. Knowing Lee’s background, but not knowing all of what is happening on the inside of Lee, Amanda has got to be giving their personal relationship status some thought.
I think that even though Amanda is not the type to play backgammon with Lee at this point, she was irritated at the brother/sister cover. But I also think she had a conflicting emotion of relief maybe and appreciation that they did have separate rooms if she was being totally honest with herself?
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Frivolous fashion comments :
Actually, I do rather like Francine’s dress – in another colour other than siren red of course. 😉
That puffy blouse/vest combo and parachute skirt that Amanda has going on is so frumpy. Reminds me of some of her outfits from S1 and 2 while she was still trying to find her niche at the Agency and build her confidence. I’m going with the theory that it’s her I’m just an innocent sister, wannabe patty-slapper costume for the episode.
And Lee’s boring brown suit is his “I may look like I should be on the cover of GQ but believe it or not my big ambition in life is to be a patty-slapper”.
Sheesh, now I’m stretching…
I may contribute more profound comment in the morning after a good nights sleep. ZZZzzzzzzzz
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Loved your half asleep comments kiwismh.. what I want to know is – did you end up dreaming about wannabe patty slappers?
Love your explanation of Amanda’s frumpy cardy, and Lee’s chunky jacket.. it works for me!
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Yep, this is the post I was waiting for. So far:
Lee says that the hotel is completely full, and he was lucky to be able to get rooms for both himself and Amanda and that one of them didn’t have to stay somewhere else.
Francine shows up (unexpectedly? At least, Amanda didn’t seem to expect her).
Francine says that her room reservation was “lost” and gives Lee a funny kind of knowing look. Lee responds by remaining silent and just kind of smirking.
So far, Amanda hasn’t said anything about any of this, but I suspect that she’s probably putting the pieces together in her own mind like we are. If anyone’s acting like a pair of siblings here, it’s Lee and Francine. I think there’s kind of a silent battle going on here and that each of them has been quietly trying to get the better of each other from the beginning of the episode.
I think Francine has been resentful that Lee has taken Amanda as his partner instead of her and that somehow she managed to convince Billy to let her help out with this mission as backup or something, partly so that she won’t be completely left out and partly because she can verify her suspicions about what Lee and Amanda do when they’re alone together. Of course, Lee would guess that Francine is planning to spy on him and Amanda as well as the actual suspects, so when he found out that she was coming, rather than tell Amanda about it, he just made some rearrangements in the arrangements and gave her room to Amanda. That way, he could not only get points for being a gentleman by making sure that Amanda had her own room but also keep Francine from staying at the hotel and shadowing them. I’m not sure whether the hotel was actually full or whether Lee just tried to persuade (possibly bribe?) the desk clerk to tell Francine that it was. But, Francine is an experienced spy, too, and she’s seen through Lee’s machinations and taken steps of her own. Now, she’s rubbing it in because she thinks she’s gotten the upper hand here. I’m not sure whether Francine still harbors any romantic interest in Lee, but they seem to have this kind of rivalry/one-upmanship going on.
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whooo hooo! yep I think we’ve all been waiting for this! great to hear your thoughts!
Yeah I’ve shared my thinking about Francine as we go but I think it’s not for another post or two that I actually came to some kind of conclusion about her.. It’s like with Marvin.. I found myself asking the question – is she????? Hmmmm.. nah.. but.. interesting to be asking the question!
I think Francine is complicated, and she has a history of backgammon with Lee.. I didn’t see her as having a romantic interest in Lee at this point, but that didn’t stop me from asking the question. lol.. I think there could be other motivations here for Francine than romantic interest.
she is the antithesis of Amanda and IMHO she’s shown that she is not hesitant about using what she’s got to get what she wants. What does she want from Lee? Hmm.. I love that Francine is complicated.. gives us lots to ponder and speculate about!
I like this Jestress.. I think you are on to something! she’s on high alert- watching and taking note of everything.. maybe the magazine is a cover for her here.. so she can pretend like she’s not paying attention – when all her attention is actually focused on Lee and what’s going on in that room during this scene! 🙂
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You know, I think as far as Francine is concerned, for her it’s a case of “Right, I might not be interested in him in THAT way anymore – but that doesn’t mean YOU can have him! He’s still MINE!” Actually, this episode is a great episode for understanding how Francine “works”. It sure helped me a lot (also when it comes to explaining her attitude towards Amanda). I’ll come to that in more detail later, though. 🙂
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Yep! I’m thinking along those same lines Knell 🙂
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I like your scenario, Jestress. I can also see Lee actually calling Billy/Francine to request Francine get in on the case. As much as he knew Amanda would be an asset because of her Marvin’s knowledge and ability to talk to everyday people (e.g. patty slappers), I think he realized that Francine would be the one to work the bar and play the ‘happy hooker’ routine. After Amanda’s reaction to the bar scene in JEG, I don’t think Lee would have ever asked Amanda to do that again, much less suggest she do what Francine did – even if she did it in her own Amanda way. I’m not sure that I can see Amanda being able to work Cecil Bendix like Francine did, and I also can’t see Francine getting a breakfast invite from Marvin.
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I think you bring up something interesting here BJo. I agree that Lee knows the difference between Amanda and Francine’s various assets on a case. I also agree that Amanda would not want to, be comfortable with, or aptly play the ‘happy hooker’ routine. What’s funny is that I think Lee would be even more uncomfortable with Amanda in that role. His overprotectiveness and jealousy would be in overdrive and he would definitely lose focus. And that brother/sister cover would be shredded even further.
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LOL – true! I can imagine Lee not being able to keep his eyes of watching Amanda “work” and as a result not being able to get his work done. Plus if Carla had witnessed Lee watching Amanda, you’re totally right – all doubts in Carla’s mind that these two are brother and sister would have been gone!
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