Lee, Amanda and Francine meet with Marvin back at Marvin’s office. Hope they did a sweep for bugs!!! and flowers! lol..
Marvin: That ransom note was delivered this morning.
Lee: It’s five million dollars or they poison all the sauce on the Colossus. [how ironic.. it’s already poison! It’s just very slow acting – takes 5 or 6 decades to finally kill us! I know.. I know.. I can’t resist!]
Marvin: Which we are introducing all over the country tomorrow.
Francine: It says here that twenty outlets are going to be hit.
Marvin: Look… we all know that Carla and Barry are behind this. I mean, she handles all the food processing and he’s in charge of distribution. Let’s arrest them. Make them talk.
[Is it just me or is it waaaay too easy for Marvin to see that Carla and his son Barry are in on this?! He so easily 
believes his son is capable of this? This script just isn’t selling it for me.. sorry! Oh and maybe they could be arrested if someone had overheard them talking with now dead Bendix about their evil plan.. ahem.. Like Mr Pyjamas did!]
Lee: We can’t do that, Marvin. All we’ve got is circumstantial evidence. I’m sorry, but we’re gonna have to pull the plug on the Colossus campaign.
[Circumstantial? Lee eye witnessed the baddies arguing about the plot.. and who killed Bendix? how was he killed? Who tried to shove the radiator down Eddie’s throat?! This all reminds me of Flight to Freedom. We know who it is but have ‘no evidence’! Oh dear.. what will we do?! ]
Marvin (waves a hand): Of course. I don’t wanna 
jeopardize even one of my customers. When the press gets a hold of this… and it will… it’s gonna be the end of Marvin’s.
[he doesn’t want to jeopardize one of his customers? stop selling fast food crap! lol.. I couldn’t resist.. ahem.. no no okay hearing Marvin actually stop feeling sorry for himself and care about his customers makes me like him just a little bit more]
Lee: No. Look, what’s the latest we can stop the campaign?
Marvin: Nine. Tonight.
Lee: All right—the drop’s at four… and the location is 
set. We call in a team… we cover that area. Carla and Barry show up, we grab ‘em right there…
…How ‘bout that?
[Lee’s a big softie.. trying to help Marvin here.. Lee makes it 
all sound so easy! ‘the location is set’? singular, that has to be referring to the location of the drop rather than the locations of the poisoning no? Hmm.. hold this thought.. ]
Amanda: Then we pinpoint the twenty locations.
Francine: Wait, wait, wait. That is if we can sell the plan to Billy.
Lee: Oh yeah, Billy. 
[Whahahaahahaa!!!! I think that’s one of my favourite lines of the episode – genius! Oh yeah. Billy! that little dude I sometimes have to try to listen to! ![rofl smiley[6]](https://justwalkwithme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/rofl-smiley6.gif "rofl smiley[6]"){kind=small}
]
Francine: Mmm.
Lee: He’s calling a meeting for one o’clock. We’d better go.
(Lee and Francine start to leave)
[LOL this really is like flight to freedom again.. Lee has to leave Amanda to go have a meeting with Billy about the case and it’s urgent.. I guess Billy called the meeting.. and lol.. the plot requires splitting up Lee and Amanda..]
Lee: Amanda…
Amanda: Yeah.
Lee: You stay with Marvin.
Amanda: Right.
Amanda gives Lee a smile..
and Lee and Francine leave. Hmm interesting how Francine gives a cursive smile here in response.. as Lee keeps his eyes on Amanda as they leave.. Hmmm.. very interesting! Francine thinking of some strange idea that fleetingly entered her head the night before?! and lol.. I wonder if she really did knock on their doors at day break?! tee hee..
Back to IFF, hey that’s some interesting new music we hear as we see the establishing shot of IFF. I think that’s new.. and quite high tech 80s! What do you think?
Billy, Lee and Francine enter the bullpen and head for Billy’s office.
Billy: Well, it looks good on paper, but it’s too risky on the downside. [actually I think it looks lousy on paper! The baddies are targeting 20 stores? And Marvin’s has ‘eighteen hundred locations in fifty states’?!]
Lee: We can be ready to move the second the phone call comes in. [okay I know I’m being super narky here.. but.. why do they need to wait for the phone call? Lee just said a moment ago they knew the drop was at four and the ‘location was set’ which sounded to me like they knew where the drop would be?? anyone?? ]
Francine: He’s right, Billy. All I need is a little bit of time; I can start putting a team together right now.
(Billy enters his office, LOL there’s something behind his door so it won’t open fully! He’s followed by Francine and Lee.)
Francine: All we need to know is the location, that’s it.
[Whahahahahaaaaa!! Okay something fishy has gone on with the writing here! I tell ya.. script/writing team were on holiday this week! Soooo the location is set – but they just don’t know what it is yet? rofl. did the ransom note say: ‘We know where we want you to hand over the money- we are clever baddies’?! Or is Billy referring to the location of the poisonings? and if so.. why isn’t it plural? Aie.. my head hurts..]
Billy: And what if the phone call is late? What if, by waiting, we miss one location that’s been targeted? Just one?
I know Billy plays the role of resident worry wart.. but I kinda agree with Billy. This plan seems too risky. Put off releasing the Colossus one day. big deal.. they’d get over it! What do you think?
(Francine and Lee look disappointed at Billy’s response..) Billy’s a big softie too haaaa..
Billy finds it hard to say no to the kids!
Billy: All right. We’ll give it an hour. If we’re not moving by then, we’re gonna shut the company down…
…You get your teams organized…
…and get back over to company headquarters and get Amanda out of there. If the bullets start to fly, I don’t want her in the way.
[Awh.. in all this Billy thinks of Amanda?! He’s such a sweetie! Funny how Billy puts it though, wouldn’t he mention a bomb going off? It’s like he doesn’t know about it.. ahem.. Yeah I think that was added in later!]
(Francine nods and turns toward the door.)
Billy (points to Lee): You hang next to the phone.
Lee: You got it. [Yes, Lee couldn’t possibly do that at Marvin’s HQ]
(Lee and Francine leave Billy’s office – Billy calls out to them as they are about to leave the bullpen)
Billy: And remember…
Billy : Just one hour… No exceptions.
Francine and Lee look happy and determined to be given this chance.. and they walk off.. [rofl why the need to remind them of this Billy? it’s almost like he doesn’t think they’ll listen to him! haaaa!]
I think it’s a bad idea to try and intercept things with this plan, but what do I know? lol.. plus, maybe this is a hint that Lee, Billy and the agency are caring a little more for the little people as a result of Amanda’s influence? Hmm.. but the idea of all those people eating poisoned Marvin’s burgers undemines this thought.. I don’t know.. what do you think?
The Scene ends here. I shall too! okay everyone.. as always I’d love to hear your thoughts! bye for now!
"Just walk with me.." 
Why is the deadline so late? 9pm? They have Marvin’s in 50 states. They’ve not mentioned a partial roll-out. Are they flying the batch of poisoned stuff out tonight? This is confusing. And expensive for Marvin’s. I’m a fan of UPS, but this is cutting it close. It’s not like the sauce that’s going to go bad overnight or a month – the stuff is a chemical concoction, so surely it’ll stay stable and yummy…and deadly. Maybe Scion only lasts for 24 hours. Who knows.
And Lee is really getting comfortable with and confident in Amanda’s abilities as an agent. Even after FTF he is leaving her again to go off with Francine to “Oh yea, Billy” hahahahaha! (Love that too, iwsod!) I love that Lee continues to show confidence in Amanda and is recognizing that she is capable even if she does manage to get into trouble somehow.
Oh okay – so 20 stores? So it is a VERY partial rollout. Well that doesn’t make any sense. Why on earth would they do that???
Billy is a big softy! Just look at that belly hahaha…bet he’s a Marvin’s fan!
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BJo wrote: “Billy is a big softy! Just look at that belly hahaha…bet he’s a Marvin’s fan!”
this had me howling with laughter! Billy is a big softie around his middle 😉 and definitely a Marvin’s fan! 🙂
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I am no lawyer (although I can do their accounts LOL) but I reckon they have way more than circumstantial evidence. I find this line a bit stupid…..much like a fair portion of this episode!!
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I went back and had a look see at a couple of scenes. Billy’s tone regarding Amanda and her being in the way has a bit of urgency to it, but still doesn’t sound as if he’s trying to keep her from being harmed. It almost sounds as if he does feel that she would be in the way. The episode is at that point where we are starting to get to the climax and so everything gets a bit crazed. It could be that he’s at that time where he has to make those tough decisions at the last moment and things are not running smoothly. I also find it odd that Billy sends Francine to get Amanda and tells Lee to stick by the phone to which everyone readily agrees.
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School ended today. Between the picnic, graduation, cleaning lockers and desks and doing report cards it’s been a bit crazy. Nice to be able to respond to some comments.
It’s funny how Billy is an afterthought here when they are deciding what to do with this case. I need to rewatch this episode to hear just how Billy says what he does about Amanda. I’m not sure I like his choice of words regarding Amanda and the bullets flying. I would have preferred him to say something like wanting her out of harm’s way or not wanting her to get hurt. It almost reads as if he thinks she’ll be in the way, which I know isn’t the case, but it just reads odd to me. I’ll be re-watching eps anyway so that’s on the list.
I’m trying to focus on other aspects of these scenes as this plot seems to be a colossus mess. It’s a little all over the place.
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Hooray! Valerie is free!!! congrats on getting through the school year! 🙂
Interesting about Billy – I had thought Billy was showing care for Amanda by saying he didn’t want her around bullets that are flying.. for her safety, not because he thought she’d get in the way. but maybe I gave billy too much credit?
What does everyone think?
Ugh this section doesn’t really inspire us does it. I might post the next post early and get it over with… lol..
‘Colossus Mess’ is a very apt description of this plot! I think the Producer’s or director’s son wrote it.
This episode aired originally on 16 December. Maybe they were hoping everyone would tune in for the Lee and Amanda moments in the hallway ( I can see the adverts now – will they finally give in to their feelings??!!) and everyone would be too busy with Christmas preparations to bother thinking about the rest? lol..
The writer of this ep also wrote welcome to America Mr Brand.. interesting.. Oh my gosh!!! And only some of the best remembered season 4 eps – stemwinders, bad timing and do you take this spy!
hmm his writing for this show got better I guess.. kudos to him (Rob Gilmer).
maybe this episode was a draft he had written and was going to work on more when he had time.. only they desperately needed an ep for right before Christmas at the last minute and so they pulled this one out.. threw in a few fabulous Lee and Amanda moments and thought that will do?
Oh well.. at the end of it all, we have gotten fabulous Lee and Amanda moments so far – so I still think this ep is not in the bottom 5! sorry.. rambling here!
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Francine’s wearing a knitted cardigan! 😀 Maybe Amanda is starting to influence her fashion choices. I do like Francine’s outfit in this scene.
Hey, it’s more interesting than colossus burgers, crappy chemical sauce , and this crazy storyline.
And, oh yeah, that guy called Billy who’s s’posed to be in charge. ROFL 😀
“When the bullets starts flying”?? The bombs have already been exploding! What’s a bullet or two matter? Sheesh… next!
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Is this the first time Lee, Amanda, and Francine have been together since the previous night in the hallway? I like looking at the expressions on their faces. I wonder what Amanda thinks of having to stay with Marvin while Lee and Francine go off together. Lee and Francine are standing rather close to each other, kind of like she and Lee usually do. I get the impression that Francine is pretty happy with the set up, she probably thinks she is the one who should be matched up with Lee on assignments, or at least she seems to have been thinking like that for this case, and now she is. She looks rather satisfied as she and Lee head out the door. Lee, on the other hand, seems to still be making a connection with Amanda and I think Amanda sense it as well.
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I think maybe Lee chose to leave Amanda with Marvin because she’s so good at building rapport with people (which she has with Marvin – eg the breakfast invitation) and so is a better person to leave with a skittish Marvin than Francine who could not be said by her greatest admirers to be sympathetic towards someone like Marvin.
But agree with kiwismh that Francine is looking good – like her in non-Star trek red outfits. The fluffy cardigan is a bit unexpected but the colour saves it…
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Hey everyone!
Hope you are all well!
I agree with Learjet, I thought Lee asking Amanda to stay with Marvin was a compliment to what she brings to the table.. especially after he had not that long ago been so focused on her picking up her mitt and getting out of there.. now he needs her to stay with Marvin!
I took Amanda’s smile at Lee as her being pleased with this.
Whooo so interesting what you’ve said here about Francine Learjet – I’ve said something similar coming up in the next post!
I agree Francine looks great in that purple colour l- maroon? it’s like the great colour she wore in DOA – remember when Amanda clocked her in the back of the head with one of Lee’s pots or something?
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Makes me think of a baseball expression (which I know probably doesn’t translate well internationally): Being a team doesn’t mean that everyone runs to left field when the ball is hit there. Everyone brings different talents to their job and here we see both Lee and Amanda at peace with this understanding. No wonder they have become such an awesome team!
This makes me think back to the “Call me a cab” discussion (I hope that’s looking back and not forward! Stupid memory.) where Amanda was less receptive to Lee’s suggestion.
That said, I do think Lee had an ulterior motive then and now of keeping Amanda out of harm’s way, which is totally understandable since she is not a fully trained agent.
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I agree. I don’t think that Amanda is jealous. I think she is aware of the connection that she and Lee has. It is Francine who is a bit unaware of it.I like the looks Amanda and Lee give each other. But I think Francine may be hoping that she got things sorted between them. She and Lee will be the professionals and Amanda can stay and chat with the funny old man.
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I think Francine’s just happy to finally get out of the office and back in action again. Been some time, hasn’t it? When was the last time we actually saw her spend that much time in the field? “Life of the Party”? And – bonus! – she doesn’t have to put up with someone like Fred Fielder, she gets to work with Lee (and Amanda but Amanda’s a lot nicer to work with than Fielder and besides, Francine knows that if she has to, she CAN work together with Amanda and that Amanda’s probably willing to take a risk for her as she did for Lee and Billy in “Life of the Party”). (Now, be honest, who of you would NOT be happy working on a case with Lee? 😉 )
Agree on the outfit – the color works great for Francine, the outfit itself is not abominable either, the accessories (earrings) do NOT resemble some kind of secret weapon and the hair’s okay, too. Definitely one of my favourite Francine outfits.
I LOVE how Francine looks at Lee in the “Oh yeah, Billy”-pic. Kinda like “Yes, dumbo, the man who can actually fire us, remember?” XD
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Francine was around in WTAMB. In fact, Billy told her to be Lee’s backup at that garden party and then Lee had to ask for Amanda and James to be present as well. At one point Lee and Amanda are chatting and Francine comes over and to get Lee and makes that comment about Amanda’s outfit. As Lee leaves Amanda makes a sarcastic comment about having a nice time with Francine. So much progress since then for Lee and Amanda.
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“Oh yeah. Billy! that little dude I sometimes have to try to listen to!”
(When he’s not acting as my assistant.)
Bwah hah hah hah hah!!!!!
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OH MY HECK — that was spit-take funny!
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haha! I do agree …. that was such a funny addition to the commentary! “Oh yeah. Billy! that little dude I sometimes have to try to listen to!” teeheehee…
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whoooo nice addition there KC!
I couldn’t believe Lee said that -oh yeah… Billy..
Do you think SMK knew how Billy was portrayed and played it up? or do you think they didn’t realise how funny such a line would be?
I have no idea!
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This is what I love about this blog. You all can take an episode full of plot holes and make it fun to watch. I have been enjoying reading the plot summary and comments for this episode. I have had a lot of good laughs.
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Hello Jo! what a lovely treat to see you stop by and say hello and share your love of the show with us 🙂
Glad you are still stopping by and following the walk 🙂
lol.. yes phew.. so glad filling in the plot craters makes for laughs because.. there are plenty of them! Lol!!
Ah well we all speak of such things with love.. love for this little show we all find special 🙂
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