I enjoyed PFK, but I’m thrilled to move on to an episode where Lee and Amanda are working together again!
I’m guessing I’m not alone in that 
Huge thanks to Happy Camper who has transcribed the dialogue of this episode to help JWWM keep on keeping on – Happy Camper- We salute You!! 
Also- thanks Learjet for formatting this dialogue for me and helping to reduce my computer time. My eyes thank you too!!
Okay.. ready to get on with the show?? Here goes!
Why OOOOOhhhh why is Pharaoh spelled incorrectly??? Is this intentional or a boo boo??
And is the person who named American Pharoah an SMK fan? Enquiring minds want to know 😉
Well anyway.. the episode opens with this hi-tech music and a bunch of serious looking men in black looking like they mean business.
Except for the dude on the end with the Medieval hair don’t 
Wow.. right away this non smk music is screaming that this episode is going to be something different!!
Anyway, we see someone drill a big hole in a wall, While the moustache army watches on..
And whose name did I see as Director?
Whoooo Hooo!!! go KJ!!! Ahhh Learjet, now I see why you love the direction of this episode! 🙂
One of them puts explosives in the hole and then blow a massive hole for all these people we don’t know to go through.. Well.. the music tells us their being sneaky! Very sneaky.
Suddenly.. the music stops, and we see a hand turn on a spotlight. Seems someone is up high supervising them. He calls out: You will only get 15 seconds, gentlemen. The air conditioning automatically seals…
…You’ve got to get the gas into the ducts. Miss by one second and we all end up dead! I’m paying you to kill them, not get killed yourself – let’s do it again….
[Yeah way to go with the motivation there head baddie! I’m not paying you to die!! so therefore you shouldn’t want to die! Heck, If I wasn’t paying you – you would want to die!!! whahahaaha]
…Now remember, gentlemen, our objective is Level F, the main A/C plant. Regardless of where we break in, you will have ONLY 15 seconds. Questions? Let’s do it!
We see a massive door being slid open and a van is driven into this big warehouse as a voice in the background booms: Alright, you heard Mr. Durran. Let’s reload…. gas, everything. System one, 15 minutes. Alright, let’s move! Yeah. Break it down.
We see this Mr DuranDuran (who’s hungry like the wolf!) come down to ground level and approach a high tech alter of some kind Or.. is that a Pyramid? whooooo…
Durran orders a baddie around: Alright, get ‘em reloaded.
And puts the map he was looking at into a cylinder and into the back of that van..
Then we get a super fast close up on DuranDuran’s face.. whoooo he’s nasty! [Bet he’s a ‘wild boy’ – how many Duran Duran references can we give this dude? 🙂 ]
So okay everyone.. who do you think of.. Laura Palmer’s father?? or the Lawyer from The Closer?? or another role? Ray Wise has had a long and varied career huh.. Kudos to him! But I’m sure that SMK was the pinnacle.. and it was all downhill from there 😉 whahahaa.. well.. moving on!
On to IFF.. The scene opens with a close up on a wrecked van..
[Is this the van we just saw?]
Billy: The driver tried to outrun the DC police after being stopped for a minor traffic violation. [Me thinks this baddie driver sounds dumb!] He was DOA at the George Washington University hospital.
Francine hands the photo to Lee..
Ohhh My Gosh!!!! what is she wearing??!!!! The Pharaoh’s are rolling over in their raided Pyramids! gah!!!
Quick Kiwismh! Make an arrest!!! Hey we got any other fashion deputies patrolling? [it’s exhausting work – so we need help!]
Francine: Chemical warfare agents — G-S gas, to be exact.
Lee: Whew, nasty stuff. [G-S Gas? oh dear… Billy can’t spell.. it’s GAS Gas whahahahahh this has got to be a little in joke no?]
Francine: Yeah, also plastiques and blueprints, and that’s a pretty interesting cargo.
Lee: You know, it sounds like someone’s getting ready for a break-in.
Francine: So what do you do with a vanload of G-S gas?
Lee: Almost anything you want. Question is, where?
Billy: I think the lab people are gonna be able to help us on that. Here’s a piece of blueprint that was in the back of the van.
[Ohhh cool. okay it was that van.. phew..seems the baddies have accidentally showed their hand. and rofl yeah a map might help identify a location!]
Lee: What’s a Seaforth 900?
[Does this look like a blueprint? looks like a receipt of some kind to me. Not a blue print like Billy said it was?]
Billy: Security system made exclusively for our government offices.
Francine: Look, I’ll run a check on it and find out who’s got one.
Billy: Lee, see what you can dig up on the street. Be careful, be quick. Blueprints, chemical weapons, mercenaries — whatever it all means, we’ve got to stop it.
I’ll apologise now – this episode seems to be giving me loads of trouble getting non blurry images. I’ve ripped the dvd twice to try and improve it but no luck – I’ll just have to go with what we’ve got. Reach for the sky gave me similar problems.. booo.. oh well at least we can’t see Francine’s out fit too clearly
Anyone like the outfit? Okay.. I like the colours on her, but that’s about as far as I want to go! How embarrassing that Francine forgot to remove her bib after breakfast that day and so matchy matchy Okay guys.. gotta run – can’t wait to hear from ya!!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Iwsod, I just saw your comment about your eyes and wanted to offer a small tip. Set your computer’s screen resolutiont to 1280×720. Your computer will tell you that’s not the optimal setting, but just ignore that. (It works with most stuff — you sometimes have to temporarily use the old setting for a few things but not very often).
I was getting headaches all the time from using my computer when I’d barely been on for an hour after I got my new laptop in 2013 and sometimes they’d stretch into full on migraines that would last three days. I finally googled to see if there was something different with computers since that had never happened before and they started changing the screen resolution around then. People have reported all kinds of problems, including headaches. Since I switched I can be on as long as I want with no problem.
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Y’all, this made me laugh so hard.
Tonight my 12 year old son and I watched this episode (and oh, maybe 3 more…😏).. He usually asks questions about bad guys, Philip and Jamie, and if Lee and Amanda get together. But tonight, as soon as Francine came on the screen, he said, “Whoa, what is Francine wearing? That sure is…. interesting. Seriously, what is that?”
Bwahahahahahaha🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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The 80s were cringy times indeed
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The hair was even worse. My mom and I were on a train at Knott’s Berry Farm where they stage a fake robbery. The robber comes in and says “Hands up” but then he turns to my mom and says “I said hands up, not hair ma’am.” No joke.
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Hi everyone, I am still new to commenting on the walk, but have been a fan of this blog for over a year. So I kinda feel like old buddies with you, even though you have no clue who this crazy person is who’s going through all these old posts writing random comments on the obscure episodes…ahhh…it’s me! 🤗
The only thing I have to say about this first post of this episode is the G-S gas comment, Iwsod, about got me giggling so hard I couldn’t contain myself. Especially since Francine with the most serious look right afterwards says, “So what do you do with a vanload of G-S gas?” (I am laughing while typing this comment just re-resding her line!) 😂 Of course, not sure how anyone can focus on anything she is saying with that outfit…eek!
Iwsod, are HILARIOUS in your posts!!!! I’m still lauging….G-S gas!!! Bwahahaha
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I welcome the comments, it gives me a chance to timewarp.
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let’s do the time warp again!
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Yep, I’m laughing too! Forgot about this ep for a long time!
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hiya Amandarambler!
I literally squeeeeee when someone revisits an old episode and then shares their thoughts or comments on the posts or comments – so please keep them coming!
I also love that I can never guess what people are reading and will comment on – I never would have guessed playing for keeps would randomly get a little love – and I’m happily surprised. My memories of walking through this episode are that it was a whole lot of fun!!
haaa! so glad my posts gave you a laugh – that makes my day! Thanks for the kind words!!
Hi everyone! Hope life’s treating you well!
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I know, PFK is not really one of my all time favorites. Not really sure how I ended up checking it out again…I had a thought about DMLNT (because it IS one of my absolute favorites and I think about it often), and went through the posts on it…and then I started thinking about which eps are usually considered to be favorites vs not favorites, so I started reading posts through Mr. Brand, then randomly went through FFFT (which despite major plot holes holds a special place to me) and just kept going into OBD, PFK, and now I’ve started on TPE. Totally all random, I guess! Most of the comments already posted cover pretty much anything I think or feel about an episode, but occasionally I have just felt inspired to comment on a couple of things. I love that each episode, no matter how “memorable” or how many plot holes or how many L & A moments, holds value in Lee & Amanda’s individual growth, and of course, growth as a couple. Well, and the character development of everyone, really, is fascinating to watch. ( Iwsod, like you, I love to hate Francine. But I’m curious to think how maybe we each have a tiny bit of Francine in all of us!) Sorry to ramble!
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Yep, there is something really special, that THIS show, this 35 year old 80s era show with plot holes and all, has still captured so many hearts.
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Francine and Lee seem to be back to business here…
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This is an up and down episode for me. There are parts of it I like and parts that I don’t, but it falls somewhere near the low end for me. As a teacher, it’s hard to seen something spelled wrong and just ignore it. And every time I see Pharaoh misspelled it bugs me. I did look up American Pharoah and the horse was named in a contest. The name was submitted online and was spelled wrong. Every submission after that contained the misspelling and it was never corrected.
The music in this did seem a bit odd and I wasn’t really a fan of it, sometimes it reminded me of some of the music in the V movie/series. It was very 80s. Ray Wise looks a bit on the creepy side.
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Yep Pharoah is bugging me too.. I really really want to change the spelling in the blog title – but.. it is how they actually spelled it so I need go with it!!
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I actually did like this episode, much better than some of them. I don’t mind having something a little more serious every once in a while, and I didn’t think it was too cheesy.
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oh cool! will great to hear what people who like the episode think!
Me? I have no idea if I’m going to like it.. cheesy? something is cheesy? lol maybe I’ll know what that means when we get to it..
if not, please let me know! 🙂
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These really are the most incompetent baddies. If they’re so pressed for time, why is only one guy running a drill through the wall while 20 guys watch? Why do they wait until they’ve dug all the holes to put the explosives together? You have fifteen seconds – maybe get your gas masks on ahead of time so you don’t lose five seconds wrestling them on later?
Not that the gas masks will help – it’s the welder’s helmets they should be wearing to keep themselves from being blinded by Francine’s shirt.
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rofl true very true! that’s too funny.. well these guys watching didn’t want to mess up their moustaches and medieval hair don’ts!
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I don’t think the baddies are pressed for time at all while they are preparing the wall. Beeing pressed for time just starts after they blew up the wall. From that moment on they only have 15 seconds until the aircondition automatically seals. So they have to get the gas into the ducts in less than 15 seconds or they’ll die.
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Ohh yeah.. thanks for clearing that up L&A! they’ve got to be dumb baddies though no? this is smk! 🙂 whoooo
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Yeah, of course they are dumb baddies. Who else would try to break into The Agency and challenge Lee and Amanda? 😉
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haaa good point! 🙂 Nothing can stop good from triumphing on smk!!! 🙂
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😀 😀 😀
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Okay, new episode! But it’s just TPE :(Guess you can tell it’s not one of my favorites. Although I want to qualify and add that it’s been well over a year since I’ve watched it, so I don’t remember all the details. Morley hasn’t reached it in her stories yet, so I’m still not ahead of the blog in terms of episode watching.
The only thing I can remember from when it originally aired is confusion. I knew I was watching SMK because I had just heard the theme song. And all the credits and such were in the right font/color, but the music and tone felt wrong. Felt more hardcore and gritty after having just heard the light and cheery theme song. What was going on? I felt as if we were in trouble…these baddies are the really seriously bad baddies. Gulp! I know I did not even catch that it was directed by KJ. What? Lights on – gotcha! It’s just a drill. Is that Shepherd Smith I see on my screen? Lol
Ahh, so it is SMK! It’s Lee! And Billy! And some blond with a hideous outfit on and matching eyeshadow. Her hair looks pretty though – relatively speaking.
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Hey BJo- great to hear from ya! another person saying TPE isn’t a favourite! Man, now I really want to know what’s in it!
It’s been a year BJo? lol.. I haven’t watched it in I’m guessing over 5 years at least..
It’s going to be interesting to see how you find it when you approach it as someone who hasn’t seen it in a while, and when you haven’t been reading Morley’s stories about it!
Yes I’m not keen on smk being gritty and hardcore.. but.. hey.. maybe we’ll get some interesting Lee and Amanda moments in this ep because of the changed direction- we all watch it for them don’t we? 😉
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To be honest I have been behind the blog in all of my stories so far, I think….? I just can’t seem to get through the episodes quickly at this stage of life. I am one story behind you right now…
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Oh okay! I thought you’d mapped out very clearly for yourself where the characters were headed.. whether ahead of here or no.. either way – I hope your creative ideas are inspired!
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Well, I do have things a bit mapped out, and yet, I uncover new things every time. But BJo doesn’t know everything I am thinking until she sees a story. Got to keep it fresh, right?
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I could have sworn that Sara had commented on this post – and now it’s nowhere?? Has someone deleted it??
Sara are you okay? is something strange going on with your comments? I’d like to respond to you honest! lol.. but it’s vanished!! Whooooooo…
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I did. I had BJo delete it. I think I can do better than my usual ‘Sara-rambles.’ 😉
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Hey Sara – Ohhh!!
I won’t tell you what to think – it’s up to you what you are comfortable with..
but I can speak for myself when I say: I enjoyed your comment and was looking forward to getting back here to tell you that you’d given me a good giggle..
Was your comment a ‘reflex’ ? 😉
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Not a big fan of this episode either, but its better than PFK, in my opinion. I really dislike the opening music. I saw this episode for the first time when I got the season three dvd’s a year or so ago and I remember that the music really jarred on me as it seemed so different from the usual. I presumed it was ‘cutting edge’ for the time and was a bit worried that SMK was going to become more ‘modern’. 🙂 I do find SMK much less dated than most 80’s shows (ie its a classic) probably because (with the exception of Francine’s wardrobe), they didn’t try to be ‘modern’. (up to the present time anyway). Although I must admit I don’t think this particular outfit is Francine’s worst! I appreciate that the competition for the worst outfit is intense.
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I’m not a big fan either, Michele, starting with the music. I know some might find it dramatic and avant garde but to me it always reminded me of something I did not want SMK to be or turn into. I have always liked that it keeps things light and enjoys laughing at itself rather than taking itself too seriously. On the other hand, I do appreciate an attempt to try something outside the box … even if it didn’t work for me personally.
I’m really looking forward to the walk through this (if only I can keep up
) because JWWM always makes me see the nuggets and gems in episodes that I have a hard time appreciating!
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Thanks raffie5, dramatic and avant garde are exactly what I meant when I said ‘modern’. My vocabulary does let me down at times:-) I totally agree with you that SMK works best when it keeps things light and enjoys laughing at itself.
I also agree that JWWM digs up the nuggets and gems that I, for one, have completely overlooked in multiple viewings. Initially we have ISWOD doing an entertaining mini thesis on a part of an episode that I might describe in perhaps one word ( ie lame, or good or brilliant), then the posters come on board and dig and delve and discover symmetry and connections and developments that I would never in million years think of. Its really fun to follow this blog
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Oh yes please let’s all try and find the nuggets together 🙂 When all else fails we can mock the fashions! 🙂
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Hey Michele and Raffie,
As always great to hear your thinking. here’s hoping the walk through can improve your view of the episode!
I have no idea what to make of it – I’m barely into it.. and don’t really remember it. I figure because I don’t remember it though, it probably isn’t a golden top 10 episode.. but hey.. who knows what goodies we will find!
Raffie you summed up my view of the different music perfectly. I appreciate KJ having a go and doing something different.. but.. errr the music did nothing for me.. and smk music is ‘orchestral’ NOT ‘Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark’!
At least the music sets the scene and says this ep is not Operation Normal – I look forward to discovering it again with you all!
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What can I say? I like Francine’s hair in the last pic. I try to ignore everything below her chin. I don’t even like the colours. Nope.
Other than that, I really like this episode. Ray Wise. And because later … well, you’ll see. 😀
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“Whoooo Hooo!!! go KJ!!! Ahhh Learjet, now I see why you love the direction of this episode!”
Me too!!! (Love the direction of this episode; it’s one of the reasons why I like this episode… 🙂 )
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I like that this episode is different from others. Even in the first scene, I enjoy the different camera angles and slightly different use of light.
Am also loving all those pyramid allusions from Iwsod 😀
What do you think Francine had for breakfast? I don’t think we’ll ever know as it’s got lost in the mess of colour that is her “bib” 🙂 At less MS can get away with these colours; would not have worked on Amanda…
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haaaaaa! thanks Learjet 😉
I look forward to discovering this ep and all the ways its different hope you’ll share with us all what you like! 🙂
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I’m interested in the walk through this one as it has always been my least favourite S3 episode (although PFK has been a surprise late addition to my short-list of unfavourite episodes – saved only by the L&A relationship progression).
At least we now have “Lab people” not “Lab boys” – that’s a good start for you, eh, Iwsod?
Ms Desmond, come with me please. You’re under arrest. No Miranda rights this time – you’ve had plenty of warnings. This felony has earned you a compulsory overnight stay in the slammer to contemplate your fashion sins. Move along people, nothing to see here. 😎
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Good catch kiwismh – I missed the lab people!!! 🙂 progress!!! gooo smk! 🙂
rofl.. loved your arrest! Hope she shared a cell with Wilma!!! 🙂
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Love the arrest, kiwismh! She so deserved it, especially after all the warnings she’s received. This ep is not a favorite if mine either.
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Dear God, I may have owned a shirt in something very like the material of Francine’s dress back in the day. The 80s truly were the nadir of my fashion sense; possibly because I learned it all from Francine because I had no social life and stayed home on Friday nights with Lee and Amanda. (pause, remember, swoon – ok I’m back).
The blueprint doesn’t look like a blueprint but it does look exactly like the bottom right hand corner of every engineering drawing that goes by my desk at work, so either the writers may have just been dumbing it down for a regular audience or the props department was too smart for the writers.
Ray Wise played an awesome Satan on a show called Reaper a few years back. Didn’t last but it was really funny. Strange thing about Ray, 30 years on, I’ve still never seen him play a good guy. 🙂
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“Does this look like a blueprint? looks like a receipt of some kind to me. Not a blue print like Billy said it was?”
Yeah — I was going to say that (what Janet said about it being an engineering drawing or similar — what we see is the right-hand portion of the title block)…
Technically, if it was a real blueprint, it should be in reverse colour — that is, the text should be white and the background black/dark grey (since it’s a photocopy — the background would actually be blue in the original for a true blueprint)…
Of course, if they’re just using blueprint generically, to mean plan (e.g., the “blueprint” for the attack/operation) — then they nailed it. 😀
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Oh cool more useful information I didn’t know! the origin of ‘blueprint’ oh and rolf.. Francine seems to be wearing a ‘blue print’ 😉
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I thought he looked familiar but didn’t realise it was Ray Wise. He actually played a good guy (a priest as it happens) in a few episodes of Psych. (If you don’t know it, its a really funny series )
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I’ve seen a few psych eps and I agree it’s funny.. I just haven’t had time to get into it. I’ll probably do a walk through of it in 30 years time and laugh at the fashions.. you know how it is 😉
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Oh please do. I would enjoy that. I can wait 30 years but would prefer something a bit shorter:-) I do think Psych would benefit from your skills.
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LOL glad you recovered from your fade out there Janet, we’ve got to be very careful when thinking long and hard about Lee and Amanda 🙂
oh cool thanks for clearing up the blueprint Janet!
Ray Wise was satan? Oh dear.. I’ve never gotten him out of my mind from twin peaks.. the stuff of nightmares!!
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Not at all nightmarish; he was actually a very funny Satan. He was trying to be a good dad to the kid who was being groomed to take over for him. Filmed in Vancouver, so always fun to watch for familiar settings.
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I meant he would have given me nightmares because I was so freaked out by twin peaks – whatever kind of satan he was playing!!
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I think your software has too much self respect to give us clear images of Francine’s outfit. 🙂
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Haaa love it! yes.. that must be it!
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And, crash! There go the cymbals – it’s the Queen of Zing! Thank you for another morning belly laugh, Cindy! Like the Reader’s Disgest says, it’s the best medicine!
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🙂 Oh My Heck! I just realized what Francine’s outfit reminds me off. Have you seen the blue LED Christmas lights? You know, the ones your vision can’t quite resolve so they seem blurry and actually hurt to look at? I think Francine is wearing technology that is about 25 years ahead of its time.
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I know exactly the lights you are talking about. They do hurt your eyes to look at and they are dead on to the colors in Francine’s awful outfit. Not very Christmas-y. Avant guard music and avant guard fashion…who knew SMK was setting a trend here – ha!
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Haaaaaa love it! you both give me the ‘best medicine’ 😉
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