Greetings, JWWM followers! This is just a quick update to let you know that Iwsod is very busy in RL this week, so we won’t be starting to walk through The Pharaoh’s Engineer, which I love because of the director 
, until next week. In the meanwhile, I suggest you practise spelling “Pharaoh” 
until you don’t have to think about it. (Is it just me that struggles to spell this?)
But seriously, please enjoy commenting on Playing For Keeps and on older episodes in the walk, and Iwsod will be back in a few days time. BJo and I are still around, so please contact us (see sidebar) if you have any queries!
While we wait for the start of the Eygptian episode to begin, here is a gratuitous shot of Lee, one of my personal favourites…
…and here are a couple of polls for your entertainment. We’d love to hear the reasons behind your comments! Firstly: your favourite season 3 episode in the walk so far (no going ahead please!)
Season three is much loved by the SMK community (i.e. us) because of the relationship development between Lee and Amanda (as well as Amanda’s growing confidence and development as an intelligence agent). It is not necessarily known for the coherence of its plots or tasteful wardrobes…
So what was the turning point in Lee and Amanda’s relationship for Amanda?
Let us know what you think! When was the moment for Amanda? Maybe you think it hasn’t arrived yet?
Have a good week and enjoy revisiting the old episodes! 
"Just walk with me.." 
I miss you guys!!!!
This is a great idea for a post- thanks Learjet and BJo!
Lovin reading your comments everyone..
I’ll have to go back and see what order I settled on for the first 5 eps of season 3 – but I’m pretty sure I was in agreement that ALLA was fifth episode too.
As for when Amanda realises her feelings for Lee have changed? whooo that’s a really tricky one!!!
I think she fights it for a long time.. or should I say – she manages it. I don’t see her as having a sudden realisation, I think Amanda grapples with her feelings for Lee from the start.. how to keep healthy and be in his life, and accept him for who he was, and not expect or wish for any more?? It’s been a challenging road for Amanda…
I agree with Morley that meeting Leslie was a huge slap for Amanda..(but I don’t see it as Amanda realising her feelings have changed – it’s a moment where she realises Lee has changed) Amanda had managed her feelings for Lee by telling herself he couldn’t do normal, so this relationship wasn’t possible- then, she sees he’s doing normal??!!! gah!!!!
oh dear.. you know I could go on and on.. I better stop here.. except I’ll add that I’m not seeing a big pow moment for her realisation that her feelings toward Lee have changed… the closest I can think of right now is the end of TWWH. Where Amanda says no to Joe, and yes to moving forward – and smiles at Lee like that.. I think she’s hopeful that what she thinks may be happening in Lee really is happening.. (and Lee telling Amanda okay isn’t good enough for her IMHO totally melted her heart and defences when she had a chance to think about it! lol.. I’m going to guess now that Morley puts something like this in her story for TWWH!!! )
lol.. we should place bets!!! could be fun!!!
Oh and.. I’ll bet money Morley can insert ‘potpourri’ into one of her stories for PFK!!!
byee guys.. I’m so tired.. and wish I had more time to stay here and enjoy – for now I’ll have to accept what I can squeeze in.. hope you are all well Byeeee!!
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Hello, Iwsod!! So lovely to hear from. Despite exhaustion, you are still coming up with some great thoughts. I’d forgotten about Lee’s swoonworthy “OK isn’t good enough for you” line. Sigh…..
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Awh thanks Learjet- you are too kind! such a swoony line huh!! 🙂
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I think my favorite episode so far is TWWH. But it was a hard choice – Wizard was my runner up episode. I think I love the episodes that really show how moved Lee is by Amanda, especially when you can see it in his soul through his eyes and facial expressions. BB really did that well.
As far as Amanda’s moment? I don’t think it’s happened yet. I’m not sure she really has a “moment”. I think we see lots of moments for Lee when there is a “click”. They are so obvious at times, I think we can actually hear it. Amanda is a much tougher customer!
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I would actually flip that poll question a bit to ask when did Amanda realize Lee’s feelings have changed. She’s a pretty open person about feelings – she would always know she cared about him a lot, and would probably have gone on loving him whether he ever felt the same way because that’s what she does – she loves people. Their friendship has gone from strength to strength throughout season 3 but at some point it must have started to become clear to her that the flirting and joking they usually do had taken a turn somewhere along the line. So if that was the case, I would say Utopia Now because from that episode on, it really seems like some boundary gets crossed about adding physical closeness, both in humourous ways like the long lean-in at the end of J. Edgar’s Ghost but also that wraparound hug when he finds her unharmed in Over the Limit. All of which makes meeting Leslie so much worse.
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Now that is an interesting flip to that question, Janet! I have a feeling that Amanda began to get suspicious around the time of ALLAffair. Between the “electric shock” during their bedroom scene and their date to the Verdi festival, I think Amanda’s wheel’s were starting to turn. I think after Lee chose her over Leslie and that embassy party plus the almost kiss in the SGrapes tag were big clues for Amanda that Lee was thinking about her in a different light. I think between the near-miss kiss in UNow and the JEGhost tag, there is no doubt in her mind that Lee’s feelings have changed, and she is playing along with it, probably somewhat curious. Cuz, I mean, c’mon, who could resist THAT? So all that to say, yeah, I think I agree with you!
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Oh gosh, I guess I should qualify that by saying in my mind I am not going by the airing episode order with ALLA first. I’m not sure which order I’m going with, I know there was a lot of discussion about it on the blog, but it is one where ALLA is not the first episode of the season.
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Oh I’m totally Team Morley on the episode order. ALLA is Episode 5 at a minimum 🙂
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Why oh why do the networks mess with the airing order? It really made our favourite hawt superspy seem emotionally unstable.
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You should have come up with the poll as that’s a much more interesting question, Janet. I’d actually argue that it was in the corridor in FFFT that Amanda is truly sure that Lee’s feelings have changed – I think there are hints of it in earlier S3 episodes (eg in ALLA and in the swamp) but then there was the physical chemistry eg the car scene in S1 in Filming Raul, the kiss from Sandy in SD. FFTT was the moment were Lee blatantly flirts with Amanda and I think it must have been clear to her that he was keen on her…
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Interesting learjet! I think Amanda can see this earlier – Lee’s flirty role play invite to the kennedy.. and he goes in to kiss Amanda in the tag of sour grapes. I’m thinking Amanda had already seen Lee was interested, but what she hadn’t seen yet was Lee showing enough signs he was ready for a real relationship – I think in the hallway he is trying to show her this, but he fumbles.. and for me, he shows her this (that he’s ready for a real relationship) in the tag of OBDOBD – with the very sweet words, genuine concern and the kiss on the cheek. too whimpy for Lee? I tend to think it required great courage of Lee to be like that in OBDOBD tag.
Lee is fine with being the flirty superspy, but showing Amanda she is special and letting go of that flirty façade and being himself? IMHO this is new territory for Lee, and just another tick in Amanda’s mental checklist that yep.. this guy is the one for me and I can let him 100% into my heart, my family, my life..
and that’s about as deep as iwsod gets first thing in the morning. Where’s my coffee??!!
bye guys! I’m looking forward to starting back with the walk tomorrow – yes depending on your time zone it’s the day after! 🙂
We’ll be walking slowly.. because I’m too busy to do anything else.. but it’s better to keep the walk going at whatever pace IMHO – hope you guys are okay with it.. bye for now!
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Never feel bad about the speed you conduct this walk. As much as I look forward to the updates, the one thing I’ve noticed about this crowd in the short time I’ve been here is that we are able to entertain ourselves with pure silliness as a time filler. You have a fun gang here.
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Awh thanks Janet.. and you are a part of this gang that makes it so fun 🙂 WE have a great gang here 🙂
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I meant “you” in the sense that you created this awesome playhouse. 🙂 I love being in this gang.
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fab! so long as you know you are part of this gang! 🙂
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Whatever you’re pitching, I’m catching. And I promise that is the last sports metaphor I will use. 🙂
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Also if we’re not going to learn how to spell Pharaoh and go with PE for this episode, let me be the first to say how much this will be the first time in my life I truly enjoyed PE. 😉
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Preach it, Sistah!
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Ditto!! I think I’d rather write Pharaoh 150 times than do PE
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Not going to answer the favorite episode yet. I need to watch TWWH again. Leaning toward Utopia Now, but we’ll see.
When did Amanda realize her feelings for Lee? I think it was “A Lovely Little Affair” when she realized she could no longer deny them to herself. There was so much intimacy in that bedroom scene. The jealousy in OTL added to that. I think she’s looking for signs of Lee’s returned feelings in the later episodes. That Utopia Now near-kiss.. I think the feelings were already there, otherwise she wouldn’t feel as comfortable in the moment (as Khell says). Her “not exactly” response also sounds like she knows.
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Favourite episode: Fast Food for Thought – for obvious reasons. 😉
The moment Amanda realized her feelings were changing: the swamp in Utopia Now. She almost did kiss Lee and she just doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would do that unless she’s really emotionally invested in a relationship. Also, the way she acts later, in the tag, when Lee’s trying to backtrack and explain it away. She knows she’s there – but he isn’t, not yet. So she just throws him something to think about and decides to wait until Lee’s caught up with her.
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You are making me choose!?! You are a cruel person indeed. 😉 My favourite episodes so far is a toss up between Wrong Way Home and Utopia now. And I think Amanda’s realization her feelings have changed for Lee in little bits and pieces, but being smacked in the face with her jealousy in Over the Limit was certainly a wake up call.
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Cindy, you just completely wrote my post for me.
These two episodes were my toss ups as well. I love not only the relationship but also the humour in Utopia (that butt grab on the ladder, anyone?), but as someone old enough to remember Sam Melville and Kate Jackson in the Rookies (in reruns! I’m not THAT old!), WWH episode has a special place in my heart.
And meeting Leslie was certainly the horrifying moment of realizing this was someone she couldn’t just dismiss as “one of those children you date”.
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