Thanks Learjet for the fun stroll through Amanda’s fashions! I’ve been missing seeing Amanda in playing for keeps – so it was nice to focus on her for a bit!
Anyway.. Back to Playing for Keeps!
So we left Lee checking on his massive computer in his car. LOL.. the name of two hotel guests has been flagged by the agency…
We find Lee joining Francine down by courtside of Tina and Mary’s tennis match… Looks like Mary is getting sicker.
Yes there’s nothing suspicious about how Francine specifically walks over and sits in front of Lee.. lol.. I guess most people are watching the tennis.. and if the body guard can’t noticed Tina’s water being switched right in front of her.. maybe she won’t notice this!
Francine: Come up with anything?
Lee: Looks like I’m not the only one who’s interested in the guest list. I found this bug in Tina’s room…
…It was hanging in the curtain….
[Ummm lol at Francine’s view!]
…And I ran the list of newly registered guests through the Agency, Two very interesting names popped up – Dieter Gerhardt and Tony Maskell…
…Now look all the way to your right. See the two guys down by the end of the bleachers? The one standing is Gerhardt,… [the one posing more like! Fabio!!]
… the other’s Maskell…
…Now Gerhardt is still on the tour and has an interesting habit of competing in cities just before some political turmoil. Maskell has an axe to grind with Tina’s father – seems the old man accused him of being a court hustler and a womaniser…
[With that haircut?! never!!! 😉 ]
…Then he about lost all of his sponsors.
[Get out of here.. these days that might gain you a few sponsors!]
Finally – We see Mary collapse.. everyone rushes to help her.. Well not scorpion dude, he’s having a drink. lol
Whooo cue evil close up on Baddie!!! muahahahaah.
Next thing we see Francine down by the ambulance and Lee joins her there.
Lee: She’s comatose and running a high fever. There’s no diagnosis yet.
Francine: It couldn’t have been the tennis, Lee. It’s not hot, she’s in good shape and she wasn’t playing that hard.
Lee: Well, while they were drawing Mary’s blood for pathology, I lifted this off the nurse’s tray….
…They won’t miss a little but I want the Agency boys to take a look at it okay?
[Wait a minute.. did Lee just say what I think he just said???!!! whahahahahaaa!! He stole a sample of Mary’s blood??!!! this is too funny!!! They won’t miss a little?? whahahaa!!!]
(Lee gives the vial to Francine)
[– for the lab boys.. grr still no women working in the agency lab huh! I don’t know how BB said this line about the nurse not missing it with a straight face – BB we salute you! 
oh and how did MS hear it without sniggering??!!! MS we salute you too!]
Lee and Francine start walking and talking..err what happened to you not knowing each other? oh whatev.
Francine: I know exactly what you’re thinking – if there was any foul play involved it could have been meant for Tina not Mary.
[Yeah.. you know what he’s thinking because it’s bleeding obvious!]
Lee: Speaking of Tina, why don’t you go back to the pool and keep an eye on her. I’ll get back to you as soon as I check in with Billy.
Francine: All right.
(Francine does what she’s told and leaves)
Hmm.. seems Lee is in charge of this operation! At least the whole competitive thing has eased off now things have gotten serious…I guess..
Lee sees Donna Clayton approaching..and fixes his polyester jacket.. is this Lee finding Donna attractive? are we suppose to wonder?
Donna sees Lee..
Donna Clayton: Hey, could I have a word with you?
Lee: Yeah, of course. Oh, what happened? Did Tina change her mind about talking to me?
Donna: Cut the garbage. I’ve been Tina’s bodyguard for long enough to know that if she suspects someone of being a government guardian, she’s usually right.
Lee: Government guardian? C’mon, I manage athletes, that’s all.
[Whooo hooo! Lee has on his stunt tie!]
Donna: Oh, come on cowboy,… [lol is that an in joke aimed at BB?? or just an smk insult? I guess we’ll have to see what KC makes of it in her post! ]
…I don’t have much time. There’s a Tony Maskell’s been sneaking around our suite. Following us wherever we go. I don’t like the looks of it. I think we should work together.
Lee: You and me work together, huh?
Donna: That’s right.
Lee: Okay, I’ll tell you what. You get her to sign with me and I will make sure you win the washer/dryer combo at the big press raffle… [That I’d like to see! ]
…What do you think about that, huh?
Donna doesn’t dignify it with a response.. she just glares at Lee and walks away wordlessly..
phew.. glad to see there was no attempt to buy Donna a drink or charm her.. There’s a part of me that is wanting to see that the old Lee is long gone you know? and very happy to see evidence old Lee is gone!
Lee calls after her: It’s a sure thing, huh?
I do believe Lee is getting back into the swing of playing his cover!
Moving on we see Francine walking somewhere.. she walks past Tracy Austin..
Tracy Austin: Francine Dutton! How are you?…
…It’s Tracy Austin… [Hey! In case you missed it first time – this is Tracy Austin!!!! 
]
…This feels like old home week. I just saw Lee Gorvandeljec down at the court.
Francine: Lee Gorvandeljec? Do I know him?
[lol.. no hello Tracy huh..]
Tracy Austin: Sure, you remember. Budapest. You got your dress caught in the door…
[I’m so impressed by Tracy Austin.. she does a great job! No wonder they gave her two cameos!]
… You had to run until they got rid of that guy.
[So Lee and Francine were both in Hungary the same time? Francine was running from a man?! do tell!]
Francine: That’s right. What was that all about?
Tracy Austin: Lee just told me. He’s married!
[Ah so we are talking about the same incident with the Italian ambassador and the smoke huh..]
Francine (totally over the top): He is?!…
…Why that sneak, I’ve gotta tell Chrissy.
Without another word, Francine turns and walks away.. lol.. no hello Tracy or goodbye Tracy.. Poor Tracy!
She watches on confused at these weird people she remembers from a weird experience in Budapest!
LOL the guy she was talking with just laughs at Tracy!
I guess ‘Chrissy’ is Chris Evert huh.. lol..
Vidders could have a ton of fun with this line of Francine’s responding to Lee being married That’s all I’ll say for now!!!!! –Iwsod zips mouth!- dooo dee dooo doo…
And.. I shall pause here for now.. I’ll look forward to you guys sharing your thoughts – does anyone remember when this first aired? Was there a big fuss about Tracy Austin’s cameo? Did you have a tiny question in the back of your mind about how Lee would deal with Donna?? Would you have if this episode had aired before Fast Food for Thought and One Bear Dances..? okay.. bye all!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Tracy has both Francine and Lee scrambling to remember their old cover stories! I LOVE it!
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Still loving all the comments and also love seeing new people posting. While I do miss Amanda being in this episode, it has been good to see Lee without Amanda and how he handles his job, without his partner. For so long he was resistant to Amanda’s presence. We now get to see just how much her presence has affected him both overtly and subtly. And we get to see those changes even more.
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Oh my gosh! Is that a little pink bow I’m seeing in Francine’s hair? How old are we? I do not remember that being in fashion in the 80s. Not that that means anything.
I don’t remember there being a big fuss with Tracy Austin being in this episode, and the only tennis I remember much from the 80s was Martina and Boris. I had a wee bit of a crush on him too. Lee and Boris. “Chrissy” was old news by the time this aired, I think.
As far as Lee and Donna goes, I don’t think I ever really could have pictured those two together. Yeah, she’s pretty, but she’s very uninterested in Lee and very brutish. She seems to be more like Daisy (from RFTS) than a Francine type who would use their “womanly wiles” to beat a man. I don’t think the Donnas and the Daisys of this world are Lee’s type. Even in his younger days. I just don’t see him interested in a woman who was trying to act like a man too hard. I think he likes and wants more femininity in his women. Maybe its independence? I’m not sure.
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Oh, um… I wors bows in my hair in the late 80’s… now I will go hide
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Well, if you tell me your hiding place I’ll join you in my hideous jeans from Learjet’s casual Amanda outfits post 😉 We can bring our pictures and laugh at how silly we look in our 80s fashion atrocities!
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Maybe we should start a thread at Ned’s where we can post such pictures???
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Umm…No thank you 😉
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hehe that’s what I thought
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Oh I’m pretty sure I destroyed any evidence. Although now the BCR is getting back together, I may have to make a new set.
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Who is BCR Janet?
Oh yes.. I’ve got no evidence of my prior fashion felonies.. I did the whole let’s look like Madonna in desperately seeking susan 😉 without the head trauma and amnesia! I’m so ashamed 😉 tee hee..
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BCR = Bay City Rollers.
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lol I vaguely remember them!
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Thank goodness that all those old negatives got destroyed conveniently so the horrors of my teen years are lost forever. No, I won’t be digitalising my old photos, thank you 😉
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Can I join you all? I’ll be the one with the neon-colored bow. In fact, I think it makes the Amanda-band look good.
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bwahahaha! Of course you can join us! I have a feeling we have all committed a fashion atrocity or two or three at some point!
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My mother apparently did too. Qe were commenting on one Francine wears in another ep and she admitted to it.
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Oh I’m really going to date myself here but I can top all of your little pink bows with the Bay City Roller plaid pants that I ACTUALLY WORE TO SCHOOL! WITH PRIDE! Hangs head in shame.
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Well, I have heard that confession is good for the soul! Is it true? 😉
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“There’s a part of me that is wanting to see that the old Lee is long gone you know? and very happy to see evidence old Lee is gone!”
You aren’t the only one, Iwsod. I think Lee has known he is changed but, I think Amanda is wanting to know that too, and even if she isn’t there, this is what is so significant about this episode. Even Francine is getting an earful and an eyeful of a new Lee. I see that in her conversation with Tracy Austin in this post. I love the incredulous response that Francine has to Tracy’s comment that Lee is married. I think part of the reason that Francine leaves so soon is that she doesn’t know how to respond to the idea that Lee used that line as a cover. She would know how to react to some line about circus ladies, but a wife? Lee has changed the game, Lee has changed.
And actually that is why I like this one after OBD and FFFT. I think you can watch Francine become more and more aware of the actual changes in Lee as those three progress in that order, among other things.
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Speaking of Lee changes, remember in FFFT when Lee and Francine were on the pay phone how Francine’s conversation was all business-like, but Lee was supposedly speaking to a loved one. His conversation was more personal. More signs of the old Lee disappearing?
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This dodge back into cover for Lee has reminded me of something I meant to comment a few days ago. Has anyone else noticed that BB is a really great actor and Lee Stetson is a really terrible one? He’s supposed to be this super spy and every time he gets a cover it’s always this completely over the top character with outrageous accents or crazy backstory? Meanwhile BB is doing more acting with a sidelong glance than even Iwsod can capture in twenty screen grabs. 🙂
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Hi Janet! Great to see you have jumped into the episode discussions with your second comment- rofl so true!
I guess BB is acting as Lee acting.. which is a really tough thing to do I’m sure!
I agree Lee acting is so over the top it’s funny – I think half the time his mark doesn’t realise he is acting though – maybe because they don’t know what Lee is usually like??
But agree- a Lee Stetson glance can convey so much 🙂
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It actually says a lot about BB’s acting because it had to be a conscious choice to play it that way. I like to think of it as the Lee Stetson School of Acting for the Hearing Impaired – if you really speak loudly and overemphasize all your emotions, you can bluster your way through anything. Oh, and I just realized that’s such a nice throwback to the Prime Minister of Estoccia – lol.
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Hi Janet H. Calgary!!!!!! Hoooray! Another Canadian!!! And another Albertan!!! Almost had the 3 for 3, but I live in Edmonton. I love your comment that BB is a great actor and Lee Stetson is not. His covers are pretty over-the-top, aren’t they?
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Yay us!
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haha – true Janet H! And welcome to the blog!
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Anyone else notice Francine’s cute pink bow 😀 😀 ? Did the wardrobe people think they were dressing Amanda??? Although Francine’s responses to Tracy Austin are all Francine in her overacting (those facial expression crack me up!) Tracy Austin seems to wearing the most tasteful outfit of them all; even her hair and ear-rings look discreet and sporty-elegant. She is something of a high point….
I have to give Lee full marks for persisting with his oh-so-flimsy cover…
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rofl thanks for pointing that out learjet – you’ve trained your eye to notice these things now 😉 tee hee..
I think we see pink ribbons later in this ep – which explains Francine’s but for now I’ll need to sit with you in noticing them.. and seeing how unfrancine they are!
lol so true.. Tracy Austin is great!
I wondered if his washer dryer line was not really him playing his cover. I think that gig is well and truly blown. What it really was is Lee saying – I’m admitting nothing.. even though it’s obvious he isn’t who he says he is!
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Having finally rewatched this episode again last night, I think I agree with you Iwsod that Lee knows she knows that he’s not a sports manager, but he’s not going to reveal anything…
I enjoy BB ‘overplaying’ Lee’s covers (as per Janet’s comment about Lee being a bad ‘actor’) – it adds a bit of humour into S3 🙂
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To be fair, if KJ has to leave abruptly the wardrobe department probably was dressing Amanda, but wouldn’t it have been great to have worked something about that into the script? Francine wearing Amanda’s hand-me-downs?
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Maybe she was getting Francine back for the Milka (chocolate) cow outfit that Francine loaned her in Munich 😀 ?
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Hm, I’d say they at least adjusted that outfit Francine’s wearing here, color-wise, because I definitely can NOT see that colour on Amanda and her looking good in it. Maybe it’s just me, though.
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Yes! I noticed it. What is up with that? That is how 5 year old girls are dressed. At least that is how many American mothers dress their 5 year old girls.
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Clearly I’m not American 😀
I actually saw quite a lot of mothers in this part of the world wearing bows themselves earlier this year. The trend has died (mercifully).
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haha – well, I should point out that I am completely biased against bows on my clothes and in my hair. I don’t remember even putting them in my daughter’s hair that often when she was little. I’m not quite sure why I have such an dislike for bows – so sorry if I’ve offended anyone!! I do love a pretty bow on a present though 🙂
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It took me a long time to find a grad dress without a huge bow on the but.
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Ok, what do Francine Desmond and Lee Stetson have in common with Black Widow and Hawkeye (the ones from the Marvel Cinematic Universe)? Nope, it’s not that they’re all spies. Both pairs make me wonder: So – what DID happen in Budapest?
(The lines from the Avengers movie are something like:
Black Widow: Just like Budapest.
Hawkeye: You and I remember Budapest very differently …
and those two lines have sparked about a gazillion fanfics.)
So, yes looks like if you wanna have interesting stuff happen to you – go to Budapest. 😉
Other than that – yah, Francine and Lee shouldn’t talk to each other quite so obviously when they’re not supposed to know each other. And Billy could have checked more thoroughly who was there that knew any of them or both before he sent them.
(I now can picture a short phone conversation that basically goes like this:
Lee: Billy, you really should have given me a warning. Tracy Austin’s here.
Billy: Tracy Austin? thinks for a moment Aw, dang – Budapest …) XD
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LOL Budapest seems to be the city of high drama and mystery! whooooo! 🙂
haa so true about Billy – maybe when they both worked in Budapest Billy didn’t know them. Do we know how long Lee and Francine have known him?
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Well, from some episode that I don’t remember now I concluded that Francine couldn’t have started working for the Agency before 1978. Something happened “seven years ago” and it was before her time. The year was 1985 in that episode. So that means that in 1978 she was either not in Field Section yet or not working for the Agency at all (maybe in training – trainee agents usually don’t know anything about the big operations, do they?)
Lee was with the Agency for a little longer. My SMK expert for encyclopedial knowledge says Harry Thornton hired him in 1973. Not sure if we know when Billy joined. (She also said the relevant info regarding Francine was given in “Odds on a Dead Pigeon” – did we walk through that, yet?)
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We did walk through OOADP – we’ve made it through all the hair-don’t episodes, thank goodness. What happened before Francine was the dust-up with Lee and Gordon Redding, where Lee ended up killing Gordon’s brother. I believe that is why Gordon went through the whole “Karen” thing and killed Cradle and Treloggen too. At least I think that is right.
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There is an episode that we haven’t covered yet when Lee says something about one of the early times he worked with Billy. It’s in the early 4th season, which is one of the reasons I want to wait on the Billy post. But, from what Lee said, Billy should know about Budapest. (In the words of all the characters so far: What was that about?)
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Patience. I’m working on what happened there … 😉 – Ok, just kidding, not right now but maybe at some point in the future.
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Hmmm, I just realised Baddie has the most fashion-forward hairstyle of them all! That carelessly tousled over the forehead look is very “in”.
I don’t think Lee is trying to impress or attract Donna. The fact that he determinedly stays in character despite her trying to get him to drop what she thinks is a façade tells me that Lee maybe doesn’t trust Donna.
Agree Iwsod, lame that Lee and Francine risk being seen talking. They aren’t supposed to know each other.
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This had me LOL’g! Kiwismh you’ve been on a roll lately and had me giggling away like crazy 🙂 I love your fashion nark! 🙂 and.. I think you are right! Scorpion dude has most current hair-do of the lot! 🙂
I agree – I don’t think Lee is trying to impress Donna. But.. I found it interesting that I was asking myself the question – if that makes sense.. I’m enjoying seeing Lee interact with a beautiful women without Amanda around, and seeing him not go for the flirty connection.. hoo raaaaay!
Yes! exactly!! Lee keeps the façade up because he doesn’t trust her. Good man!
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I think Lee was prepared to flirt with Donna if he thought it would work. Looks like he was neatening himself in front of her to look the part. Obviously, Donna sees right through him, but he’s not changing his story. I think Lee’s toning down what he used to do (i.e., moving away from the old Lee). It might have been toned down more if Amanda were present.
About FFFT and OBDOBD and the order of episodes… There are definitely some pivotal moments in those episodes that show the relationship is just so close. Lee knows (from OBDOBD) that Dottie was talking about Amanda having someone at work. (Amanda was so busted in that scene!). There was the hallway scene in (FFFT) where they were interrupted. That was obviously going somewhere if Francine hadn’t shown up. It’s on his mind, because he misses her. I can’t decide if it’s those moments that changed him or Amanda’s presence/absence in this case. I think he was just playing his cover, but I’m curious to see what others say.
Francine’s ‘view’… lol. Notice the sun glare makes it difficult for her to look at what he’s showing her.
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Um, no, I hadn’t noticed any sun glare….
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I gotta get on with my work day here so will be back later to respond properly.. but.. Raffie you nearly made me spray my tea!!!!! whahahahaahahahaaha!!!
byee!
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Neither did Francine, apparently.
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Blinded by the light… or something else? 😉
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teee heeee.. I love how all our jokes are in the subtext 😉 totally classy 🙂
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Yep sounds good to me. Lee is professional. He can flirt if he needs to.. but isn’t it fascinating that he doesn’t just resort to it.. I think it’s an easy way for him to get what he wants in the past.. or at least this is how I imagine it.. He certainly went that route when he was trying to get Amana to co-operate in the first time and give him back the package haaaaa..
Yeah I like it – he’s toning things down.. good way to put it Sara!
Your right Sara, there are some piovotal moments in FFFT and OBDOBD. it’s going to be interesting to work this out.
I do think that PFK and FFFT go together.. and then OBDOBD (as they share the same location and were filmed at the same time) – and they seem more advanced in OBDOBD.. in terms of their working relationship.. hmm..
For me the big question mark is: PFK > FFFT > OBDOBD? or FFFT > PFK > OBDOBD?
I can see lots of things to base this on too – I wouldn’t base it on just one thing unless it was a real deal breaker for me.. but right now there’s a number of ideas I’m tossing around and they are yet to land in some kind of order (if that makes sense). I think I’ll like to watch PFK and FFFT in both orders and see how it feels.. anyone else interested in doing that?
I haven’t finished writing up PFK yet so haven’t seen the end yet so I’ll need to wait till I’ve finished writing about it. Maybe I should head to neds and share if I end up getting to do this.. okay.. I’m officially rambling!
‘see what he’s showing her’ ?!!! whahahaaa.. what a double entendre! lol!!!
bye!
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I know I keep getting ahead of myself too, since there’s very little Lee/Amanda in this episode to judge whether PFK > or < OBDOBD. But as you mentioned, there are later scenes which may shed some light on this order too. So I’ll wait to decide. I really like what Morley just posted about this episode being Lee’s transition and showing the viewers more of the “new side of Lee…” (Haha…oops….I just now laughed as I remembered the scene in the stands… My “sun glare” comment and your remark about the double entendre. Not exactly the “new side of Lee” I had in mind, but I’m not disappointed that we got such a screen capture. 😉 Sorry, got a little sidetracked by that thought.)
Anyway, like Morley wrote, I think that the writers probably want us to see more of this transition in him (old Lee versus new Lee). I’m curious about the little details going forward in this episode. Someone here posted earlier about the significance of the episode title having a lot of meanings. I Googled the expression “playing for keeps” just to see what comes up. One said, “It’s about what matters most to you.” Another said, “This is typically used when someone is no longer playing around, but is about to get serious.” Hmm… interesting.
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I think I posted earlier about the title and what it might mean.
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You did! 🙂 I like what you posted. I’m not sure I caught it before I wrote this and I know I tend to ramble as things catch my interest instead of reading (which I should do instead).
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Yep, send Francine and Lee in to protect Tina especially since it seems they are both well know (no innuendo intended) on the tennis circuit. What could possibly go wrong. face palm
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Haha… Exactly! They really needed Amanda for this.
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