24/24 Season Three, Episode 12: Fast Food For Thought- Scarecrow and Mrs King

20 responses to “24/24 Season Three, Episode 12: Fast Food For Thought- Scarecrow and Mrs King”

1. bitsybeans | June 29, 2015 at 8:00 am | Reply

   I confess when Lee said he had a cure I immediately thought he was going to suggest sharing body heat 😉 Keep it PG Jenbo, keep it PG lol

   I know Francine can be a real snarky moo but I have to say Amanda’s behaviour with the chocolates seems uncharacteristically mean IMO. Probably in the minority with this train of thought but Amanda always acts the bigger person so for me this tag doesn’t work for me, despite the emerging closeness between her and Lee.

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   • iwsod | June 29, 2015 at 8:13 am | Reply

     Hiya bitsybeans/fabulous jenbo! 🙂
     I am sooooo glad you raised this! I had this same thought fleetingly but didn’t get back to it and plain forgot it! It’s not typical Amanda up to this point. I soooo agree….I just wrote in the latest post (for OBDOBD) that Amanda doesn’t respond to Francine and her nastiness on Francine’s level! And this tag again popped into my head! We haven’t finished covering the OBDOBD scene yet so this will probably come up again.
     I’ve gotta go out now.. will come back to this later today! What does everyone else think?
     Just wanted to quickly say so glad you raised this! lol and thanks for the pg Jenbo 😉 tee hee.. I had the thought of Lee putting his arms around Amanda.. ahem.. that’s pg enough 🙂

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     • iwsod | June 29, 2015 at 1:39 pm | Reply

       Okay! I’m back! So.. where was I?!
       Oh yes.. I agree the thought did come to mind that it was rather nasty/mean of Amanda to buy Francine chocolates with the hopes that she will contribute to Francine’s clothes size!
       I remembering first watching this tag and thinking my my! not so eternally good after all Amanda!

       but I do also still believe that Amanda doesn’t sink down to Francine’s level – and typically she is merciful toward Francine.. She doesn’t usually give Francine what she deserves.. and is actually more generous, and polite toward Francine that she deserves.. mercy and grace is usually IMHO how Amanda responds to Francine.
       I’m thinking this tag is one time where Amanda takes some gleeful steps toward some justice – even if Francine doesn’t know about it.. but Amanda does.. and Lee does.. and Amanda feels the better for it! lol.. I do think it is typical Amanda to not confront Francine and to instead obliquely deal with it.. and I’m also glad Amanda is not 100% perfect 100% of the time.. that would be boring and flippin irritating! 🙂

       I was also toying with the idea that couching it as a bit of revenge was a way for Amanda to avoid admitting that she is trying to become Francine’s friend for real.. this can be a way for Amanda to hide her true intentions and protect herself a little?
       Afterall, I think deep down Amanda knows it won’t be instance progress with Francine.. so why not have a bit of fun with it while she persists with trying to make inroads with Francine?

       This might play into the scene in OBDOBD we are just looking at now.. maybe that episode does come before FFFT and this Tag may be a good reason why.. Hmm I’ll have to keep this in mind as we continue! 🙂

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   • BJo | June 29, 2015 at 1:41 pm | Reply

     Hi Jenbo! So Amanda isn’t perfect after all, eh? 🙂 I guess I didn’t think much of it because it seemed less witchy than her comment to Francine about the gin mills in JEGhost or what she said to her in the freezer in this episode.

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2. valeriejw | June 23, 2015 at 1:37 pm | Reply

   I’m wondering if (at the elevator) Lee is thinking back to his ‘field experience’ line with Amanda and therefore is waiting to see how Amanda is responding to his suggestions before he smiles or pushes further with his suggestion.

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3. Julia | June 20, 2015 at 3:36 am | Reply

   I also must say, that the chocolate incident is something I remembered quite clearly. And I was a big Francine fan back then!

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   • iwsod | June 22, 2015 at 9:36 pm | Reply

     Hi Julia!!!! Soooo great to see you stop by!!! 🙂

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4. LAAL | June 20, 2015 at 1:41 am | Reply

   OK, so this episode would not be in my top 5 for season 3, but it would not be in my bottom 5 either. Sometimes as we walk through the episodes it just shines a light on the plot holes that many of us might overlook just watching an episode. I find that there are episodes I like better after the “walk” and some that I like less. But, there are some great Lee and Amanda moments and great Lee and Francine moments. I think the episode comes full circle starting with Billy and Francine’s reaction in his office when Lee picks Amanda to take on the case. At the end we have Billy and Lee laughing at Francine about the chocolates and someone liking her. Lee and Amanda’s moment reminds me of the end of Playing Possum when Francine is trying to fix the lamp and Lee and Amanda joke about the blue wire. I also agree with the assessment of them “dating”. Neither one has asked out the other one seriously yet. We have: 1) The steak and potato, no shop talk; 2) Lee showing off his “technique” asking Amanda to the Verdi festival; 3) Amanda “blackmailing” Lee with the picture for a dinner out; 4) and we could possibly count Amanda helping Lee sail the boat back to the dock. So this asking Amanda out kind of falls in line with all of these. They are certainly teasing us how slow their relationship is moving forward!

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   • iwsod | June 22, 2015 at 9:36 pm | Reply

     Hey LAAL, I just saw your comment on OBDOBD come through on my email and thought – eek! I didn’t get back to that comment of LAAL”s I wanted to respond to! and that was days ago!!! sorry! lol.. sooo I’ll respond to this comment and then.. I’ll try and get back in the next few days to respond to others – hope you are all well!
     I have a visitor staying at the moment and not much time for writing blog posts 😦 soooo may be a day or two delay on the next post.. but you never know and I’ll see how I go!

     LAAL I enjoyed your comments here – it’s been a while – great to see you around again!
     Ohhhhhh I sooooo agree with what you are saying! The walk sometimes shines a light on things in smk that we tend to gloss over when watching normally – err for good reason! – I agree!! I do hope that doesn’t detract from our overall enjoyment of the show…

     I can skip things.. but then it’s always in the back of my mind that my fellow fans will make things better 🙂 By filling in plot craters, by finding little gems amongst the lame bits or by just having a laugh at this kooky and charming show we love from the 80s together!
     I figure we all love the show for Lee and Amanda – the top notch plots were never it’s strong suit.. maybe I’m a bit naughty – but I’ll take aim at the show (especially the writers!) and have a laugh at it/with it – I don’t mind people here knocking things about the show – because I know we all love it to bits.
     If someone in RL criticised the show when I was watching it with them like we do here? It would probably bug the daylights out of me! lol!!!

     Does my narky take at times bug people? quite possibly.. but I figure people can skip my nark if they like – of course I hope people don’t though.. lol!
     This whole conundrum has often come up for me (focusing on the good bits alone or mentioning plot holes?!) and I haven’t really explored it.. So I’m really glad you made these comments LAAL! I’d be interested to hear how others have found their experience of the show has been impacted by the walk. If you’d like to share- no pressure everyone!
     Yeah the FFFT plot got worse on closer inspection.. but other parts of the episode for me were much improved.. that hallway scene grew in my estimation! and I found Lee to be quite gracious toward Marvin here toward the end when IMHO Marvin deserved a whack. Not so Marvellous Marvin!

     I agree, some episodes I like less after the walk.. but in those instances I try to just linger on Lee and Amanda.. that usually does the trick!

     For me, there have been episodes that have greatly improved thanks to the walk through. The episode Welcome to America Mr Brand comes to mind – and for me Wrong way home also benefitted from the extra time and attention.. I hadn’t deeply explored it all that much because Joe bugged me!
     Hey LAAL, and anyone, have there been any episodes that have improved for you after the walk through?

     Actually now I think about it, a lot of the second half of season 2, with the hair and earbuttons, was hugely improved by this walk – I had not fully appreciated the leaps Lee and Amanda made in their growing closeness around then.. I was too distracted by Ship of Spies and A lovely Little Affair to pay much attention to the eps in between them! lol!!! Plus the eps being out of order made it a bit weird with car wars and a relative situation having been so obviously moved.. err maybe that’s just me eek! tee hee.. Oh well.. I take the good with the err not so good..
     it is interesting for me to explore why changes may have been made or why we have a scene with bombs exploding when Lee and Amanda for no reason go back to his hotel room 😉 lol

     Loved your comment here about things coming full circle LAAL – I love that! and it explains the slightly random joke about being forever on the hips thing.. I don’t mind it but I can see why Learjet said she didn’t really gel with that – it was a bit random..
     Oh yeah!!! the lamp! Good call! I’d forgotten that!!!

     Hey great summary of dates so far LAAL!!! (that err aren’t dates 😉 )
     Agreed- they are teasing us with how slow the relationship is moving – but I kinda love it.. I love the chance to have so much to pull apart and analyse and have fun with!!! I love to discover the little gems embedded in the eps that I don’t see unless I slow down and engage my brain and heart a bit more – the walk helps me to do this..
     Well, it’s late here.. I guess I should head off.. I’ll be out all day tomorrow so you guys might not hear from me tomorrow – but I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you all and enjoying my fave show with you all! 🙂 byeee!

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     • Cindy Davis | June 23, 2015 at 12:54 am | Reply

       Nark away! This blog is a rare gem in that we all love the show and can laugh at it and ourselves. I’ve left other forums – an SMK one because of the heated ‘discussion’ that ensued when I stated I could hear Lee murmur “Don’t Move!” during the kissing scene in ‘Sudden Death’ Oh My Heck! The nasty names thrown on both sides because some of us could hear it, others could not. Absolutely ridiculous. And blogs for other shows weren’t much better. Here, we gleefully point out plot holes and when the writing was clunky and it’s OK. We still love the show and aren’t any less of fans for it. Actually, I think that makes us less fanatical and more grounded in reality – as much as a group of people dissecting a 30 year old show can be. Now pass me some chocolate some wine and a swoon helmet!

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     • valeriejw | June 23, 2015 at 1:32 pm | Reply

       I agree with LAAL about how I perceive some episodes after walking through them on this blog. I loved the show when it first aired, but this blog has increased my appreciation of it. It’s great to be able to actually discuss this show which I wasn’t able to do much when it originally aired. I was in the minority amongst my friends as to who was a fan of the show.

       Even when it was rerun a few times I never paid much attention to episode order. But this blog and our episode discussions has helped clear up some anomalies here and there. And I’ve come to appreciate the slow progression of the relationship as it makes everything much more satisfying and also makes the romance seem a bit timeless. Relationships that were rushed in other shows either petered out quickly or caused the show to go downhill. It’s nice to be able to find all the subtle nuances and changes that you wouldn’t necessarily see without taking these strolls through each episode.

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     • BJo | June 25, 2015 at 12:43 am | Reply

       Hiya iwsod. This blog has completely changed how I view just about everything SMK! Some eps I like more and some I like less, but overall this blog has made me a bigger fan of the show because I can appreciate it at a deeper level. I love reading everyone’s opinions and thoughts on the characters and the scenes. There is so much that is said that I could never conceive of on my own. The latter part of S2 used to be my least favorite. Now it has jumped up to being my favorite after S4. I wonder how my opinion of S4 will change after we walk through that? I’m liking S3 less, but only because I’m having less patience with it. I want more and faster Lee/Amanda relationship progression and less knuckleheaded baddies! And I love all the humor and snarkiness! It adds a new way to enjoy the show!

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   • morley | June 25, 2015 at 9:44 pm | Reply

     I like the way you brought things full circle too, LAAL Something shifted during this episode. Maybe it had already shifted in Lee and Amanda’s mind, maybe even in Billy’s. But now Francine sees it too and somehow when everyone around you sees something it makes it more real.

     I kind of look at this dinner invitation as the first real date. I think that after TWWH Lee is very aware of how he feels about Amanda and where he wants their relationship to go. I think before that he was becoming aware of his feelings, but he wasn’t too sure what to do with them or what he wanted. But after Joe came back and after Lee saw the whole family together in the gym, I think Lee got a good glimpse of the full picture of who Amanda is and what loving her would entail, and I think he chose to pursue her. In the hotel room we got to see him trying to pursue but using the wrong tactic. Got to give it to the man, he is a quick learner. Here we see him using a more appropriate tactic, time, dinner, wine. Amanda is completely open to those.
     I like the way you caught the fact that he doesn’t smile until she does. This invite isn’t about finesse. It is about their friendship and them showing that they value the other. Yes, they are taking it very slowly, but this seems like a larger step to me. This one feels like a real date, with the intention a little more declared than the previous “non-date” dates.

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     • kiwismh | June 26, 2015 at 4:42 am | Reply

       Maybe the comment about “time” was Lee’s acknowledgement of Amanda’s observation in the JEHF episode – “when you’re talking about love, you have to be patient.”

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       • morley | June 26, 2015 at 5:37 am | Reply

         Ooooo…. I really like that!!

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       • iwsod | June 26, 2015 at 11:05 am | Reply

         Yes any mention of time now sends my mind straight to that very special scene.. which IMHO makes JEG worth watching for that reason alone!!!!

         Beautiful point Kiwismh! 🙂

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5. learjet1 | June 19, 2015 at 5:39 pm | Reply

   Am going to be a bit controversial here – much as I love the evidence of the closer relationship between Lee and Amanda here, the natural dinner invitation etc, I find Lee smarmy and practised here. We’re seeing the “outer Lee” – he can flirt with Amanda but he hasn’t shown his true self to Amanda yet (in a romantic context – although he has in a “friend” context, eg the moment in Wizard where he discusses Dorothy with her at the cafe). Bring on the “inner Lee”!

   I also find the “Once on the hips, forever on the hips” doesn’t quite work as a final line. They must be really in love to find this hilariously funny…

   On the whole, though, I enjoy this episode. If you ignore the irritating baddies (Carla and Barry, I’m looking at you!), the appalling music and colour “scheme” and plot holes (craters more like it), it’s got some cute L and A moments, and some amazing Francine/Amanda scenes. It’s all worth it for the corridor scene and the chocolate-in-the-freezer scene.

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6. kiwismh | June 19, 2015 at 4:49 pm | Reply

   Agree totally with your comments, Iwsod. I totally forgot about SMK for 20 years too, between 1990 and 2010. Out of the blue it popped into my consciousness again during a particularly difficult time in my life, and I was amazed at how the essence of the story/relationship had endured (surprisingly) so much better that many other shows I used to watch back in the 1980’s.
   I’m not a big fan of this episode in terms of the storyline but love the relationship progression.

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   • LeesMolly | April 2, 2021 at 7:13 am | Reply

     Interesting you’d say that. I got readdicted this past January (actually it’s awesome because I lost a favorite author, plus my grandmother and stepgrandmother on the same day in different years and now I have a new association with the date!) and it’s been so what I needed because of some crap that was going on in two other fandoms I’ve been part of for years. And SMK is such a feel-good show and WAY more of an addiction than I’ve ever had before.

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7. Cindy Davis | June 19, 2015 at 4:36 pm | Reply

   I can imagine what a shock it would be to remember that Damned Duck episode, and then come across this tag. I often forget how far they’ve come in their relationship.

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