Hooray!!! The walk continues!!!
Hey everyone: will you ‘just walk with me’??? 
Ohhh it’s so good to be back! I’ve missed the walk! I’ve missed SMK! I’ve missed hearing from you all!!!
So looks like we are starting back with Playing for Keeps.. I really don’t remember this episode at all!!! Except that is an Amanda lite episode.. and generally not a favourite..
Does anyone really like this episode? If you do- I really look forward to hearing what you like about it!!!
[but please don’t share this with us till we get there 🙂 sorry to tempt you to jump ahead 🙂 ]
I’m approaching this episode hopeful that together we will find some new smk goodies that make the episode well worth walking through.. There has to be!
Huge thanks to Kiwismh for transcribing this episode’s dialogue for JWWM, and for transcribing the episode for all Operation Sandstorm. Kiwismh you are a legend!!!!
Thanks also goes out to Learjet who has helped ease my time demands by prepping the dialogue formatting in advance of me writing the blog posts – this is a huge help!!! and has reduced the time it takes me to write them even more. Together: we are turning this into a fine art!!!
Thanks to everyone who has helped out with transcribing dialogue! Without you? We’d still be back at Mr Brand!!! 🙂
On with the show!
The episode opens with an aerial view of the White House.
This title immediately has me wondering: whoooo is this about Lee and Amanda – playing for keeps??!!!
Uh oh.. the camera zooms in on a location in the evil countryside!
Where X marks the spot!
What an intro! We see someone flying an ultra-light, the pilot flies towards the X and uh oh.. we see a scorpion tattoo on the pilot’s forearm- well that’s SMK code for: Baddie Alert!!
Umm not a very masculine forearm there.. no hair…not many veins.. umm.. but is this significant?? could I have seen this if I hadn’t taken this image? Not sure I would have..I guess we’ll see! Anyway.. Sure enough, it flies over the X and drops some missiles/bombs on it.. double uh oh!
I saw 2 missiles get fire.. but there seemed to be 3? whatev!
Back to IFF, in the Q bureau, we see a close up of Lee’s desk (lol at the new mini zebras that have joined the big one.. Lee has a zebra family now!).
We also see a picture of a man as Billy introduces us to the plot of the week!
Billy: Parker Thomerson, aged 63, on the board of 8 international corporations and CEO of Thomerson Industries.
Francine: A real big-wig in international business. Right now he’s in Malawi conducting top secret trade negotiations that would open up that country to the West for the first time.
Lee: Sounds like a good way for those people to get their economy going.
Billy: Well the local communists have a different idea about that – they’ve already threatened Thomerson.
Lee: Oh.
[Travis would be on to this!! Pinko subversives!! He’d kick some butt and take some names! Yeeehaaaa!!]
Francine: And the White House has asked for a big thick security blanket to be thrown over Thomerson and his family.
Lee: The White House?
Billy: Yeah, well, the President and Thomerson go back 30 years. They played football together in College. [Why is Billy smiling so much here.. something’s going on!]
Lee: Wait a second. Malawi is – what – 8000 miles from here. What’s the connection?
Billy: Thomerson’s daughter, Tina,… [Tina Thomerson? lol.. what a name!] … is competing in a tennis tournament at the Shenandoah Country Club…
[Tina also appears to have a part time modelling job on the side! I mean.. this looks like a glamour shot.. wind in her hair and everything lol!]
…And because of the threats to her Dad, we have to keep an eye on her for the duration of his conference…
[Lee is not looking happy!! Billy and Francine seem to be needling him and enjoying it.. ]
…Francine already has the list of the guests that we’ve already cleared—
Lee: You hold it. Hold it. Hold it right there, Billy Melrose… [Whooo ‘Billy Melrose’! he’s in trouble!!]
…I know all about Tina Thomerson…
…She is an 18 karat spoiled brat…
…and she damn near ruined the careers of the last five agents assigned to her.
[I hear 18 karat/carrot/carat.. and I’m immediately transported back to this scene.. Love SOS!!! and… Yes! .. any excuse to think of it!! ]
okay okay.. back to PFK! Focus iwsod!
Francine: Oh that’s right. I think the most recent one was Agent Potter—
Lee: Potter!
Francine: At the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Tina had him picked up on a phoney morals charge and then they found him two days later on a gypsy caravan in the middle of the Zaragoza Desert.
[rofl!!!! this is so ridiculous it’s hilarious!! and Billy and Francine seem to be enjoying that Lee is being given this assignment..]
Lee (quietly): Billy, you can’t do this to me…
(Billy wordlessly raises his chin..) [he is unmoved ]
…Yes you can…
…All right, all right, but I’m going to need help on this one. 
Francine: Absolutely right. Help is what he needs,.. (Billy starts walking off while Francine is still talking.. ouch!) …and you know what, I just happen to be, ah, shall we say, au courant on the tennis scene.
Billy: If you were any more “au courant” they’d put your name on a tennis racket. No, no, no the cover we need here has to be of a lower profile.
[eh??? what does this mean? Is there a reference here I’m missing?? why is Francine soooo au courant that she could have her name put on a tennis racket? Is she semi-professional?! Anything in the script on this? anyone? do we even have a script for this ep?]
Francine: Don’t tell me.
Billy: Scarecrow, see if you can get Amanda to help you with this…
[This is interesting!!! so this ep starts out with Amanda being assigned to help Lee with the case huh.. cool!! and.. Francine straight away knows that’s what’s coming.. grrrr!!! she’s really not happy with this!! I think Billy has just ‘Aced’ Francine!! ]
..Now, the trick is to work Tina separately so that if she burns one of you, we’re still in the game.
[the tennis game! Bring on the tennis puns y’all!]
Lee: Well she’s not going to “burn” me.
Francine: Exactly what Potter said.
Francine’s enjoying this.. It’s almost like she kinda hopes she’s around to see Lee get burned.
Lee gives Francine a look in response..
He gives her a fake laugh.. he’s not finding it funny!
But Francine’s gleeful and doesn’t really care!
I like how it seems to be possible Lee will end up like Agent Potter (First name Harry?) – but it doesn’t seem to occur to Francine she could end up like Potter too!!
Or lol maybe her glee is the thought that if Amanda is on this case too she may be able to lose Amanda to a gypsy caravan too!!
Well this is all a very interesting set up in terms of these characters.. good to focus a little more on Lee, Billy and Francine – It’s instructive.. because Lee has changed so much over the last season.
I am looking forward to seeing how Lee deals with Tina – Will all the things Amanda has taught him, which ‘you don’t learn at the agency’ help him to manage this spoilt brat? It sounds like his career may depend on it 
Moving on to suburbia.. lol no chirping birds today.. we have canned dog barking! weird..
Dotty is running down the stairs and into the family room and she leans over sleeping Amanda on the sofa..
Jamie whispers to Phillip: Tell Grandma to wake up Mom, her breakfast is ready.
Phillip (Quietly): Grandma, could you wake up Mom?
Dotty walks over to join them. Err.. does she have on pink leg warmers??!!!
Dotty: What in the world have you got here?
Jamie: We fixed her breakfast.
Dotty: Breakfast? Oh sweetheart that’s very nice but she has a bad cold. (As Dotty says this we see the ‘breakfast’)
… When you don’t feel well it’s better to have something bland like tea – toast.
Phillip: Ew, that’s what you think.
[Is it just me or is Phillip looking suddenly very grown up?! I guess in OBDOBD we only saw him from a distance]
Jamie: Yeah, when we have a cold this is what we want, so we’re going to give it to Mom.
Phillip: It’s the only reason we even get sick!
Jamie: That and a lot of TV.
Dotty: Well, um, we’ll ask her when she wakes up, all right?
Phillip and Jamie: Okay.
The phone rings.. and I’ll pause here for the moment!
Back with more soon!!!
So what do you make of this episode so far everyone? Anyone remember watching this ep for the first time?
Do we have a script of this episode? I remember hearing somewhere that this ep was originally written for Lee and Amanda to be on the case.. but KJ’s dad in real life passed away- so she needed to have a few days off work.. so instead Francine was written in to replace Amanda on the case. Anyone know about this?
Okay bye for now! Soooo glad to be back: Anyone still with me on this walk??? bye!
"Just walk with me.." 
I like the tennis scenes — especially seeing Tracy Austin after reading her book — and the Lee & Amanda phonecalls. But otherwise, it’s not one of my favorites. Too little Amanda and not enough Francine. I understand why it had to be this way though.
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Hiya iwsod! Time for some SMK! So glad you’re happy to be back on the walk 😀
The Pope just finished addressing Congress, so time to move to Lee and Amanda – lol.
Yeah, I’d say this episode is not a favorite – especially not at this point in the series, with all of what’s been going on with Lee and Amanda – just not enough screen time of these two together.
Awww…Lee has a zebra family! Never noticed that before – a bit of foreshadowing perhaps? Ahhh, love that first Lee close-up. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend time on JWWM – Lee you are a sight for sore eyes! Look at that perfect and smooth skin!
TRAVIS!!! Love the Travis mention – hahaha…just need some fightin’ music!
Is it just me or is Francine’s hair looking rather pretty in that close-up? Maybe it’s because I’m not distracted by some awful print shirt or garish earing weapons (I’m ignoring the toy airplane propeller she’s using for jewelry….). I think her au courant bit maybe just means that she hob knobs with the rich people who in the 80s were the ones who played tennis tournaments at country clubs.
OMG! WHAT is Dotty wearing??? Those are pink leg warmers and lavender head to toe – even her eye shadow is lavender! Gah! hahaha – yes, Phillips shirt makes him look muscular and more grown up – like he should have some whiskers or something.
Very interesting about why Amanda is not in this episode. I can’t wait to see if there are answers to your questions in the comments!
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Hi Everyone, I checked back and noticed it’s been about a month since I posted any comments. Several things happened all at once as it does in real life. I have a little time to play some catch up, but may still only be in and out for the next couple of months as I’m in the process of downsizing from a house to an apartment.
It’s so nice to see so many new “walkers” and welcome to you all. I have missed being able to chat with you all about SMK. Just a couple of comments as there have been quite a few already.
I do love the look on Lee’s face as Francine is lobbying to be his help on this case. His mind was already somewhere else and I’m sure that he appreciates Billy stepping in. Lee and Francine probably started out as great field agents and obviously worked together from time to time, but their career paths are seeming to diverge a bit. Lee is primarily a field agent and his future trajectory seems a bit unsure at the moment. He definitely does not like paperwork or doing reports. Francine looks as if she’s being groomed for an administrative or management position. But for the past few episodes she seems to be champing at the bit to get out into the field specifically with Lee. I’m wondering if some of it is due not so much as seeing something between Lee and Amanda, but just seeing Amanda continue to grow and flourish by leaps and bounds. Maybe her first season issues with Amanda are coming back full force.
Was wondering about the title of this episode, Playing For Keeps. The phrase is an idiom that was supposedly originally used in playing marbles. If you were playing for keeps you got to keep the marbles you knocked out of the ring. But it also means to take serious or permanent actions; to be serious in one’s actions. I think in going through this episode this may have a double meaning.
Also, not to jump ahead, but I did know about KJ’s absence being based on her father’s death and thought I remembered seeing a tribute somewhere. It comes in the next episode (which she directed) during the credits where it says “In Loving Memory of Hogan Jackson”.
Okay, on to the next post and we’ll see how far I can get before bedtime.
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Glad you could stop in, Valerie! I know how hard it is to catch up between intervals of RL 🙂 I hope your downsizing goes smoothly.
I like the point that you’ve made here. There is definitely a spirit of competition between Francine and Amanda, admittedly mostly instigated by Francine. It’s human nature to fight for one’s turf, especially when one perceives that the competition is not up to caliber. Francine must be wrestling with all this as she inserts herself into this assignment. (By “turf”, I mean Francine’s professional turf, not Lee.) Therefore, she indeed has something to prove to Lee, that she is far better than Amanda. She’s trying her hardest to get him to see this, but the S1 patterns of professional rivalry and “playful” one-upsmanship don’t work with the more mature S3 Lee.
A few years ago at work I traded a Francine-style competitive relationship for an Amanda-style supportive relationship with a colleague with whom I had a friendly professional rivalry. It changed the whole dynamic from one where we good-naturedly teased each other about shortcomings (but ultimately created a negative or at least adversarial energy) to one where we truly respect the other’s talents. It’s so much better, and I like to think SMK had something to do with this! … The point being, I think Amanda’s got the right idea and Francine hasn’t a clue!
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Sure – it’s online on the bullpen website. There are a couple of really cute almost couple scenes. Are we allowed to pull the text from that site? It’s a linked script.
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Hi Gail, oh it’s good of you to be careful 🙂
Is the bullpen site smk-land.com? [If so, I think it’s fine for us to source snippets of the script from there – we’d just ensure we give credit to where we sourced it. I know this because I know the site’s administrator]
Or is it another site you are thinking of?
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I would love to see the original script for this episode. I was looking in the bullpen link on the smk-land.com website and I do not see it. Can anyone help me out here? 🙂
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Hello and welcome Hollywoodi!
Yes go to http://www.smk-land.com
log in, (you’ll need to sign up to access scripts but it is very simple to do)
then click on ‘steno pool’
you’ll find the scripts there – Hope that helps.
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Thank you iwsod 🙂 I will do that now. And thanks for the welcome 🙂
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You’re very welcome Hollywoodi – happy reading 🙂
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I think Francine’s eager to get the job here for two reasons:
1) Well, probably the prospect of working alone with Lee. We do know there’s been some backgammon going on between those two at some point. (Lee mentioned it in an early episode, season 1, I think but I don’t remember the title.) Maybe also an attempt on her side to bring back the “good old days” where there was no Amanda. Just her and Lee, on an assignment, as it used to be. (Well, maybe, I’m guessing here – but I can see their backgammon-playing start out as them working together at some point.)
2) I think it’s mostly the prospect of getting out of the office. By this point, we’ve heard multiple times what a highly-trained professional Francine is. Yet, we don’t really see her in action all that often. She’s posing as Magda, she’s undercover with Amanda in “Life of the Party” and she’s – I dunno, some kind of backup for Lee and Amanda? – in “Fast Food for Thought”. Other than that, most of the time, she seems to be either in the office or when she gets out it’s together with Billy, in his car, driving somewhere. I guess since she’s Billy’s assistant, she’s a lot more involved with the administrative side of Agency work than Lee (who, as we know, is quite good at having someone else do his paperwork for him). I bet she’s just dying to get out there on a real field assignment.
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Khell, I like these two points.. I am so glad that you can focus so much on Francine’s character because it adds such depth to the story. Too true about point #1. It will be interesting to watch the characters in light of that one.
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Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your ideas Knell!
I am keeping this whole Francine/Lee/Work story arc in mind for sure. and pondering how this fits with OBDOBD and especially how it fits with FFFT – I’m suspecting there may be a different order here.. but.. there’s nothing to suspect this so far so I’ll hold that thought. for now 🙂
Seems operation normal to me so far – Francine is trying to edge her way into working with Lee in the field,, and she’s so far being frustrated in these efforts.
I always had in the back of my mind that Francine was out in the field – we just didn’t get to see her.. you know.. between episodes lol.. but not with Lee.. probably off running her own operations is my guess.. but it’s not all the time -if it were we’d never see her when Lee and Amanda need her to chase up some information ha!
Remember the terrorist drill in the beginning of Murder Between Friends? It seemed Lee and Francine were the two most senior agents there.. the seniority is Lee then Francine – but if Francine was in the office all the time this would maybe not be the case.??
While Francine and Billy are wonderful, they are not the main characters, and they are there first and foremost IMHO, to support the telling of Lee and Amanda’s story. So if Francine is around a lot to help them, I don’t necessarily read anything into it. We don’t see everything that happens at the agency.. this is how I’m making sense of it at least!
The first few seasons we heard about operations Lee went on without Amanda.. but we never saw them.. they were kind of between episodes lol.. so I figure it’s a bit of this for Francine too.
I have a theory for why Francine has the attitude she does.. but..I’ll hold off and see if the happenings in this ep shed some more light on things!
Maybe at the end of PFK we can gather our thoughts on this story arc and explore the order of these episodes.. okay bye!
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Good points! I’m guessing Lee and Francine worked together a while back and it may or may not have worked out? Lee opted to work alone for a while until Amanda came along. In early season 1, Billy says, “Scarecrow, I think we finally found you a partner.” I also suspect Francine has her own field assignments which we don’t see, but Lee’s take priority and that’s when she jumps in as back-up. She’s obviously got field experience, so I doubt Billy’s just chosen to keep her on desk. It’s never said, but that’s my thought. I think Francine wants to work with Lee again, because his assignments are interesting, and also looks like she has a thing for him. Plenty of evidence of that from season 1.
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Yes, I too had heard that KJ missed this episode due to the death of her father. It had to be an incredible disappointment to her, as she was extremely in to tennis. In fact I’ve always wondered if it was her love of tennis that motivated this episode in the first place.
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Oh, yeah. Where was it that I read that she played tennis with a broken wrist…???…
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Oh noooooo Raffie and KC, that’s soooo sad!!! Now I really feel sad for KJ!!!
this must be the suckiest smk episode for KJ to think back on 😦
Yes I remember reading an article where KJ said that KC. You have a great memory!!! I had completely forgotten about that..
but where I read it? well… who knows!
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Trying to remember this one and I know I need to watch it again. Anyway, what I sorta remember was Francine a little more giddy than usual from getting to work alone with Lee. Not even sure when her little ‘crush’ stopped being obvious. Maybe season 4. I love their (L & A) calls in this one. Oh yes, Tina was a brat! Wondered what bothered Lee more… Tina or no Amanda?
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Do you think so far that Francine has been giddy to work with Lee alone?
I hope you’ll share your thoughts with us Sara as we progress – I’m pretty blind nowadays when walking through eps so I ask that we don’t include spoilers in comments.
I’m trying to experience the show as you may have watching it during it’s first run – not sure what’s ahead.. and experiencing the story as it unfolds.
Do you remember what you thought of this ep so far when you first saw it?
I think it would so far seem like your normal episode.. that is.. until Dotty answers the phone and that hand shoots up.. uh oh.. there’s a spanner in the works! This is not your typical smk formula! 🙂
Really thrilled you’ve joined us Sara!! Hope we will hear your thoughts often 🙂
I edited out my reference to the next post – sorry guys I got confused about where I’d cut that scene- my bad!!
Bye all!!
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Oh wait.. that’s right.. so far Francine doesn’t know she’s working alone with Lee..
lol..me confused!! Hold that thought! 🙂 byeeeee!
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Oh no!!!! I’m so sorry!!!! Stupid newbie mistake! No spoilers from now on, I apologize! Yes, I will share. But I think I need to get the hang of this a little more. Thanks for the welcome! 🙂
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Hey Sara – a perfectly natural newbie thing to do – it’s all good.. yes we all need to get the hang of it. Being oblivious to what’s ahead now helps lol..
Welcome welcome!
byeeeeee
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No worries, Sara, I still don’t have the hang of it. I don’t suppose I ever will, but it never stops me 😉
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LOL, same here! Luckily Iwsod is infinitely patient and forgiving 🙂
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Thanks Raffie5, morley and Iwsod… Guess I’m Season 1 Amanda. 😉
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Lol – Sara! We’ve ALL done it at one point, I think! I can’t remember if I have welcomed you to the blog yet or not – but welcome! My SMK time comes and goes in waves – but welcome and hope you like it here 🙂
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Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I really like it here. I’ve seen your posts in other episodes and I’ve enjoyed reading them! Hope those SMK waves come more frequently. 🙂
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Thank you, sara 🙂 My SMK waves coincide with my RL waves. I started going back to school about a year ago and that put a major cramp in my SMK time! And I’ve still got about a year left.
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Not sure about the hand shooting up or Francine knowing that she is working alone. But over the last few episodes there has been that tension between Lee and Francine concerning Amanda and who gets to work closely with Lee. Francine is watching and she is noticing significant changes in both Lee and Amanda and the two of them together. This one should be interesting to watch.
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oh nooo! Morley you should have said- Iwsod we hadn’t seen the hand shooting up yet! eek!!
Sorry guys I got completely confused by where I had cut that scene – that will teach me. If I cut a scene I need to make sure I check where the post published goes up to.. Sorry.. and feel free to tell me I’m ahead of myself! 🙂
lol I’ve got to get back in the swing of how to do this walk thingy whatsie.. See Sara– we all do it 🙂 and we help each other not to 🙂
For sure Morley – I agree, this will be interesting to watch – I’m thinking this ep will maybe help us make sense of the Francine story arc.. should be fun 🙂 byee for now!
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I transcribed this? Oh yeah, I did. It seems a long time ago. I’ve been so busy with my work this year I haven’t had much time for SMK really.
Script I have is written with Amanda in the action, not Francine. I didn’t know about KJ’s dad dying at this time.
I do like this episode, maybe all the more because Amanda wasn’t “present” throughout. It’s counter-intuitive but it actually concentrates more focus on the relationship when one is absent from the other. More about that later as I don’t want to jump ahead.
I believe those are apricot leg warmers Dotty is wearing… which is worse than pink really, especially when teamed up with the purple lilac sweat suit. Put me through to the Fashion Police. I want to report a felony. 😎
Lee looks like he’s put in a long day at the office already – loose tie, attractively ruffled hair… BUT, it seems it’s first thing in the morning since it’s breakfast time at the King household. Has Lee been working all night? Has he suddenly started getting to work really, really early.
Anyway, the boys are ready to serve Amanda up a plate full of junk food they found in the cupboards – notice the chair in the kitchen. I presume that meant to indicate the Philip and Jamie put it there to climb up to reach the junk food cupboard. (Is that where the marshmallows are hidden?)
I always assumed Billy’s comments about Francine being “au courant” on the tennis scene meant that Francine’s spread herself about a bit (so to speak… keeping it PG Iwsod 😉 ) with a few of the men likely to be present at such a high profile event. 😯
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Can I add another charge to Dotty’s charge sheet? The matching lilac lace-up shoes 😯 !!!
And Francine’s skirt would look better on a chair than around her trim waist and legs….
Is tennis the new backgammon? That seems to me the implication by Billy. And names on tennis rackets make me think on notches on bedposts…
I’m hoping that next time I’m sick 1) I can stay in bed, not lie on the couch downstairs where the kids make a noise and 2) Someone will bring me a nice glass of freshly squeezed orange juice rather than a plate of snack food. I’d only touch the rather expensive looking chocolates on the right of the plate. When my fever was down 😉
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Yes. The contrast of one being absent from the other.
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I like how you put it into words — far better than I could think of doing. 🙂
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I’m really looking forward to exploring this contrast with you guys!!
Makes the Amanda liteness worthwhile 🙂
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Yes, I agree. I do like this episode for that very reason, having them separate really highlights the realities of their relationship; for us and for them… but more on that later.
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FYI to ‘Kaitlyn’ – if you are a real person and not spam I’ll happily approve your comment 🙂
Please write another comment which directly mentions the topic of this blog and I’ll know you are real and I’ll approve you 🙂
[‘I love this blog’ is a favourite comment spammers love to send- boooo to spammers!! ]
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Hi – I was a big SMK fan back when I was 14. I recently rewatched all of the episodes and now I’m watching again with my 9 year old daughter. We are up to season 2 together! I was so excited to find this blog and I’ve been reading lots of the fun fanfics online. I’m late to the game but I’d love to join the walk with you all.
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Hiya Gail! Welcome to the walk with us all!!! 🙂
whoo I’d love to hear what your 9 year old and you make of things! Does she have a crush on Lee Stetson?
When I was 9.. I did 🙂
There’s a fan fic thread over at Nedlindger’s you may want to check out Gail.
HERE is the link 🙂
Nedlindger’s is a forum where we all go to talk smk that isn’t directly related to the walk – or is just chatter about anything and everything 🙂
Welcome!!! So glad you’ve joined us!
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My 9 year old thinks Lee is very handsome – just like I did (do!). 🙂
She does cover her eyes on the few occasions that they have had a cover kiss or a hug.
Having not watched the show until the last few months since the ’80’s, I’m amazed by the clothes – some are flattering but good grief with the shoulder pads and boxy outfits – and the hair spray. Yikes.
I also started watching during season 3 so I had seen very few of the S1&2 episodes. They are a real treat and the feel is very different from S3 and S4 – which also have a different feeling from each other. I know that you only discuss the episodes as you walk through them, so I will keep this too myself for now.
Until I read this blog, I didn’t realize that the episode was altered due to KJ’s dad’s death. I do love how this episode shows how much Lee misses Amanda when she’s not there. It does advance their relationship. Once I read this, I went back and read some of the dialogue for the episode as it was originally written. Oh – I wish we could have seen that. It’s amazing how much real life affects canon.
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Whoa!!! Now you’ve really got me curious about what is in that script!! and what this episode contains!!
Gail I don’t have time to look at the script- when we get to the part of the episode where those bits that would have affected canon would have been (if KJ had been there) – can you maybe share some of it with us?? I’d love to discuss what we got and compare with you all .. if you or anyone are interested of course – no obligation 🙂 byeee!
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A huge welcome, Gail! I have many fond memories/swoonies of SMK when it first aired and was very excited when it finally came out on DVD – I have watched all the epsiodes except season 4 (I am saving that for when this blog gets there) and many of them with my daughters who alternate from being charmed or rolling their eyes at the plots 🙂
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Cindy!!!! You are saving season 4 for our walk through??? awhhhhh that is sooo wonderful!!!!
I’ll be walking very blind also since it’s now been years since I’ve seen the episode we are looking at from now till the end.. hooray!! It’s going to be so much fun!!!
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Wow, Cindy…you have great restraint! Impressive!
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Welcome Gail. I love it when new comers join our walk together.
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Hi Gail! I’m a newbie too! I was 12 when this one aired. A big fan from the beginning. First post on here myself. I’m absolutely thrilled to see people loving this show so many years later. I feel old at times, but this one was one of my first obsessions (if not just Lee and Amanda). And yes BIG crush on Mr. Stetson. 😉
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Hi Sara – welcome to JWWM!!! Really happy you’ve said hi!
Sorry your comment was in moderation for a little bit because this was your first time commenting – but from now on there should be no further delays to people reading your comments.
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Thanks again for the welcome! I’m looking forward to the journey. 🙂
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Welcome, Sara! And to Gail and ScienceMitch 🙂 . It’s great to see some new SMK devotees joining in and contributing.
And Sara, we all have something of a soft spot for Mr Stetson. There are a couple of guest posts coming up, focusing on his magnificence 😉
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Thanks so much, learjet! What’s not to love about Lee, right? I love the looks he gives in that first scene with Francine and Billy. He never hides what he’s thinking. So much expression in those eyes.
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And yet another Newbie!!! I love it! Welcome Gail!
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Hi, Sara, welcome to the walk 🙂
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Welcome, Gail! isn’t it great how SMK is timeless enough to span generations!?! I hope you enjoy our walk 🙂
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Hi, Gail, welcome to JWWM 🙂
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Welcome, Gail! I know I’m late to the welcome party, but that’s ok – looking forward to discussing Lee’s dimples with you!
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I didn’t know that about KJ’s dad. 😦
If I remember right (smack me if I’m wrong Kiwismh), this ep played in NZ when the news of KJ’s S4 illness was in the news with the talk of the Amanda-lite eps in S4… so it was kind of ironic that we in NZ experienced an Amanda-lite ep at the same time — just from S3. (I managed to get confused and it wasn’t until later that I figured out that it was S4 the articles were referring to. I wasn’t the brightest bulb…)
Oh — and I just have to say… it’s 18 karat (with a k) — karat refers to purity (of alloys), carat refers to weight of gemstones –> 18 carat would be a big “rock”! steps off soapbox
I actually like this episode… but mainly because of the tag scene. 🙂 slaps a hand over her mouth to prevent bean spilling
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lol I should know about Karat and Carat from Amanda.. my excuse is that we learned that information very close to the swoony moment where Lee and Amanda Kiss 🙂 I’ll fix it- ta!
Oh wow. what coincidence! No wonder you were confused KC!
ha haaaa.. yes keep that hand over your mouth haaaaa.. don’t worry you won’t have too many posts to wait – I won’t be skipping bits, but I think I won’t be lingering on many parts of this episode.. which we can discuss when we get there 🙂
What do you guys make of the zebra family?? Interesting addition..
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If I were to get all shrinky about it, maybe the growing zebra family is an outward expression of Lee’s growing feelings for Amanda… though it’s too soon yet for him to be thinking of himself as a part of Amanda’s family… shrug. (Silly kindle “keyboard” doesn’t have an asterisk…)
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Or (and more prosaically) maybe NotShamba is sending him a zebra curio a month to thank him (at last!) for carrying all that zebra-striped luggage in TWWH?
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Wah hah hah!
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LOL
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ROFLMHO! that is brilliant Learjet!!!! 🙂
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That’s hysterical!!!
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Maybe they were a gift from Not Shamba?
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I love these posts, this website is my life 😊
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Welcome Kaitlyn! Glad to have you walking with us and looking forward to your input!
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So glad you’re walking with us, Kaitlyn — welcome!
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Welcome Kaitlyn! 🙂 Glad you could join us!
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(mine too, just don’t tell my family 😉 ). And Welcome!
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Welcome, Kaitlyn!
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Hi! I haven’t commented in awhile. I do like this one because of smitten! Lee. Not gonna say anymore bc it might be spoilery.
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hiya Sab – great to hear from you! I was enjoying your SOS comments the other day 🙂
ah sorry if my asking if you remember this ep was too much of a prompt to spoil! I’m off to work..
bye guys gotta run!
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I feel the same way. I like this episode for the few Lee and Amanda conversations we get
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Welcome ScienceMitch! So glad you found us and jumped into the fun here 🙂
Yeah I don’t remember the Lee/Amanda conversations.. sooo I’ll look forward to discovering them and chatting about them when getting to them 🙂
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Welcome ScienceMitch! This is going to be fun with all of these new commenters voicing their like for this episode. Hee hee
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Welcome from upstate NY, USA, ScienceMitch!
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Welcome to the walk 🙂
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Welcome to JWWM, Gail, Sara, and ScienceMitch! You’ll like it here, I promise!
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such a lovely welcome.. I love how welcoming you guys are!
Kaitlyn has just joined us as well 🙂
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Thanks so much! I’m really happy to be here. I never thought I’d come across a group of devoted SMK fans who still love this show and you all are awesome! These walks are so much fun! I wish I hadn’t joined this late, but I’m anxious to look back at the past discussions. 🙂
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Welcome, Sara – it’s never too late to join in the fun! Glad you found JWWM!
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Welcome, ScienceMitch!
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Hellooooo! What I remember about this ep? The phonecalls 🙂 And Amanda still looking good with a bad cold. Maybe I do need that breakfast from the boys….
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Hi Claudia!!!
Did you eat that food when you were sick? I didn’t.. Does Amanda let the boys eat that rubbish when they are sick??!!
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I took it as the junk food is their wish for when they are sick, so they are going to give it to her. Sure didn’t look like breakfast stuff. For myself I want veggie soup when I have a cold 🙂
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veggie soup is good.. for me .. chicken and vege soup is better 🙂
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None of us really want the junk food when sick, but we do let them have ginger ale if it is a stomach bug. That and more TV than usual. All that chocolate would have me running though.
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Ha! You can’t get rid of us that easily 🙂 I know I had seen this episode before but really didn’t remember much about it. I do believe Lee is looking pretty fine here.
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Yes, he really is looking fine here. I like his look for Francine meeeeh
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