Back at Amanda’s that night and we find Amanda alone in the kitchen. Hmm looks and sounds like she’s doing her budgeting and working on a calculator.
Hey! the flowers are not yellow! They’re purple! what does it mean?! 😉 What – no Dotty? No boys? Booo.. I like to see glimpses of them 
I wonder if we’ll get to see them at all this ep.. would have been very interesting to have KJ direct them!
Anyway.. The phone rings.
Amanda: Hello.
Rupert: Amanda, it’s Rupert.
Amanda: Hi, Rupert.
Rupert: You’ve gotta get out here right away!
Amanda: Ah, Rupert — slow down a little bit, please.
[Rupert doesn’t seem to be speaking fast.. I guess she means don’t jump ahead? funny that this is something Lee often says to Amanda! ]
Rupert (whispers): I can’t slow down. The night pirates are here.
Amanda: Rupert, what are you talking about?
Rupert: What do you mean, what am I talking about? You were here this afternoon. What did Lee say?
[Poor Rupert.. I feel for the guy.. brushed off as old and probably speaking nonsense. will Amanda brush him off too? ]
Amanda: Well, um — Lee told me a story about a plumber from East Jersey.
Rupert: He didn’t believe me.
[Umm sounds like Lee didn’t immediately brush off Rupert about his neighbour Jimmy Hoffa… but eventually you cry wolf enough Rupert, people are going to run out of patience. I think with his spy background he could have maybe at least taken some photos of these night pirates!! but.. I guess if he’d done that we wouldn’t have an episode.. ahem.. ]
Amanda: Well, it’s not that he didn’t believe you, it’s just that — well, I think he thinks you have kind of an active imagination, that’s all.
[ahhh bless her! In other words, yes]
Rupert: You think this old man is imagining what I’m lookin’ at right now!
[I gotta say, I’d probably be thinking it after Lee’s experiences..how about you?]
Amanda: No, I’m sure you’re not.
Rupert: You don’t have to humour me.
Amanda: I wouldn’t do that.
Rupert: Then prove me a liar and get out here right now!
Amanda: I’m on my way.
Rupert: Good.
Awh.. well Amanda does need to humour him, he has a long history of telling stories, and then he tells Amanda something and offers no proof?! Poor guy.. I guess he is hoping to get her out there to give her the proof.
Do you think Amanda believes him?
Why do you think she goes?
Well next thing we see – Amanda and Rupert are sneaking around the Birchwood gardens in the dark.. Amanda seems to be struggling to keep up with Rupert (figuratively and literally )
Amanda: Rupert!
Rupert: Shh.
Amanda: I sure could go for a cup of hot tea right now.
[LOL.. I figure Amanda came to chat with Rupert.. You know.. Keep calm and put the kettle on! ]
Rupert: You still don’t believe me, huh?
Amanda: well-
They are interrupted by a door closing and look up.. We see an empty trolley (It looks empty to me but I can’t be sure) being pulled out of the house and toward the van.
Rupert: This ain’t your normal night crew. They’re using the same modus operandi as the last time. This time, they got Lois Mendelssohn.
[Oh noooo!! Not Lois!]
Amanda pulls Rupert back down behind the bushes.
Amanda: Maybe it’s some kind of standard procedure.
Rupert: Nothing standard about any of this. Lois likes her sack time, believe me… (In the distance we hear the van drive away, and Amanda lets out a big breath. she’s beginning to see she can’t brush this off) …People are being duped/doped (?) with these sleeping pills they’re handing out,…
(Rupert hands Amanda one of the sleeping pills)
…and then hustled off in the middle of the night to God knows where. And you’re a witness!
[Guess this is Rupert’s pill? and if it’s dodgy they’ll finally have some evidence I guess.. Why didn’t they take photos?! Even Mr Brand thought to try and do that ]
Amanda: I think it’s time to call Lee.
[Hooray!! Anytime is a great time to call Lee ]
Rupert: Now you’re talking!
We see the corvette pulling up at Birchwood and find Rupert and Amanda talking to a night guard.
Night guard: Mr Simpson, I’m sorry, I just can’t do that.
Rupert: Howard, I pay your meal ticket. Now stop screwing around and open up that bungalow!
[Where was Howard during all these abductions?! wouldn’t it be better to assume he’s in on it?]
Howard: Mr. Simpson, you already got me in enough trouble this month already. Please, go to bed.
Amanda: Howard, I’ll take full responsibility.
Howard: Ma’am, you’re not even supposed to be here!
[These night scenes are extra tricky to get a shot of. very irritating!! Mind you this isn’t the most riveting scene anyway!]
Amanda: Look, here comes Mr. Stetson, I’m sure he can straighten this whole thing out and I know he’ll be anxious to… 
…Hello Lee, thanks so much for coming.
[Whooo okay, now it’s riveting ]
Lee: Amanda it is after midnight… (Lee makes a show of looking at his watch) …Now what is going on here? 
[oi! enough of the attitude.. as Amanda said in Over the Limit, Lee really is grumpy when he doesn’t get his sleep! ]
Rupert: They’re hauling people out of here in vans.
Amanda: They took Lois Mendelssohn.
Lee: Lois?
[booooo I’m so sad I can’t get a clear image here.. this stinks! Or lol ummm is this an issue with the lenses used?! Seems if Amanda is in focus Rupert isn’t.. grrrr]
Amanda: Yes.
Lee: Where?
Howard: Nowhere. I’ve been here all night… (Love the little once over Look Lee gives this guard- just who are you?!)
…If a van would have went by, I would have seen it.
[Is Howard dirty? or just really incompetent?! and… isn’t this where Amanda is suppose to say she saw it????!!!!!!]
Rupert: You were probably sound asleep. Now give me the keys and open up the bungalow! 
Lee lets out a breath… like this is really testing his patience..
Amanda: Please.
Lee (growls and gets out his ID badge to show Howard): Look, uh, Howard — I know this is very unusual,…
…but… will you humour us, please?…
…Let us see the bungalow?
[Awh.. Amanda says please.. and Lee can’t say no 
]
Howard pauses a moment..
Howard: Alright.
Amanda gives Lee a last look.. they’re eyes meet for just a moment as they turn to head toward the bungalow.
lol at Lee tapping his ID like, I can’t believe we are doing this! (The things I do for a good banana bread!) Wish I’d been able to get a clear shot of this.. grrr..
Amanda: Oh, good. Thank you so much. This is really the right thing to do.
[Love how Amanda is so upbeat and takes Howard by the arm as they walk toward Lois’ bungalow ha!]
On to Lois’ bungalow.. and we see Lee peek into her bedroom.
Oh my.. it’s that dream I’ve had! lol!
Everyone enters the room… but lol even without stepping closer you can see there’s someone in the bed!
Lee walks closer and turns on the bedside lamp – checking if it’s the big bad wolf dressed up as grandma Lee? After all it sounds like Rupert has been crying wolf for years!!!
But no.. Lois is apparently tucked up in bed asleep.. 
Is it just me or does she turn and give Lee a smile?!
lol this looks like the sister I thought was Glynis- no way was the the little sister a volleyball champ! haaaaa..
Lee looks up and gives them a look – A big ‘cheeky Lee’ look! 
What have you gotten me into ??!!! Yet again??!!!!
oh dear.. is this look directed at Rupert? Amanda? or… both?
Poor Rupert he seems confused and distressed.
The scene ends here..
What do you think everyone? looking forward to finding out what’s really going on here, I guess the suspense is working. At this point, the audience is confused too! Okay – gotta run, looking foward to hearing from you!!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Oh gosh – the flowers are not yellow – that’s weird! Maybe some other show took them out of the prop room? Lol.
I think Amanda goes because she told him she wouldn’t humor him – which I think she was. She didn’t want to make an empty promise to him. I do think she is expecting it to be nothing, but I do think she believes him when he says he is looking at something.
Ugh, I hate that line about having a cup of tea by Amanda. More humoring….this strikes me as ACA Amanda language.
So if the trolley is empty, does that mean they are returning her? Good question about Howard. We saw the van – it was there – how did he not see it? And don’t Amanda and Rupert say that???
Awww, Lee showing some trust in his partner….too bad it’s blown to smithereens. I think Lee’s “cheeky look” is directed at both Amanda and Rupert – but more at Amanda. Like – see? You fell for it too. I told you, Rupert makes up stories!
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I don’t let the plot bother me… not too much. I just try to focus on the gist of it and overlook any of the holes.
But this attitude of Lee’s bothered me too, at first. Why would they do that, did the writers and actors forget all of the lovely progress between these two. I used to think so, but I can’t imagine BB and KJ allowing that and maybe I have more respect for the characters than they do, but I just close my eyes and sing a little song and pretend that everyone knew what they were doing so there must be meaning in this little exchange that irritates us all so much.
Here is what I am thinking. Those big books on hos desk show us just how serious Lee Stetson is about his life’s work. He isn’t just any old spy. He is a highly trained, top notched spy. He has lived a compartmentalized, life and up until just recently he has not let anyone in and he has tried not to be affected by anyone as well. Except now he has let some of his guard down. He has allowed this woman with a sense of the value of normal in, and I think because of this he has also opened himself up to these people at Birchwood. In the earlier seasons he had encounters some of Amanda’s dreamy naivete, but even that he has now embraced and found a great intuition underneath it all and I think he has grown to trust it. But here I wonder if he is second guessing himself. Billy is adamant about getting on these threats and Lee has taken time out to visit the Birchwood folks and introduce them to Amanda. But I am wondering if in this moment he is thinking he has gone a bit too far in the relational warm fuzzies. Can Amanda be discerning about what is a lark and what is real? Is he kicking himself for giving her that lee way with his own self? Plus he is tired and he supposed to be super focused on this case. I just think his annoyance is more that broken sleep. I think there is still a little war going on inside of him. Maybe its only a skirmish, but he isn’t totally settled inside of himself yet about the new directions he has taken. I wonder how long he will be grumpy about this one before his true feelings for Amanda kick him in the pants?
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This makes a lot of sense to me, Morley. Lee has opened a door for Amanda, but I think this event with Rupert reminds him of Amanda’s beginnings and her gullibility perhaps? Maybe he’s also feeling a little regretful that he took Amanda to Birchwood? Almost like he should have known this would happen? I got that sense earlier in the episode when he shoved all the food on her lap before he closed the car door for her.
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Yes, and maybe he is disappointed that he is thinking those thoughts and that Amanda’s actions are legitimizing them as well.
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Take comfort — Rupert does tell Amanda that the “night pirates” bring people back, when he’s first talking to her. So at least that plot hole is sewn up. I don’t think Lee would have been any more impressed if Amanda said she had seen the van; he’s just convinced that there’s nothing to it — it was probably the plumber. I don’t mind that he gives Amanda that look, actually; it’s a pretty grim look, but I get the idea that he’s really keeping his self-control here, because he’d like to really say something, and he doesn’t. I think someone commented on an earlier post that Rupert’s earlier tales made it kind of like “crying wolf”. Lee isn’t just being dense here, he’s paid attention to Rupert’s stories before, and there was nothing in it. He’d be a poor agent if he didn’t learn from experience, and it’s not his fault that SMK coincidence makes Rupert’s story true the first time Amanda hears one. Lee got dragged out in the middle of the night and made to look like an idiot over something he’s already tried and found unreliable.
I don’t like Lee getting annoyed at Amanda, but it’s the way real relationships work. The closer you get to someone, the more chance you have to get annoyed — or hurt, for that matter. When someone starts to really matter, that’s when you’re more vulnerable to getting bothered by them, and it’s the person you spend the most time with who is going to have the most opportunity to get on your nerves. I think Lee’s reaction is a bit deeper than S1 or S2; he’s learned to trust Amanda’s instincts and he feels like they have let him down (what he hasn’t learned yet, is that if his eyes tell him something different than Amanda does, he should just go with what Amanda says). To me, he’s acting like a normal guy who’s been dragged out of bed shortly after getting into it, and it’s a bit endearing that he keeps his annoyance so tightly under control. Plus, I think he’s really good looking in that picture.
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Thank you happycamper. This is an explanation that works for me. 😀
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I’m comforted!!! 🙂 thanks Happycamper for clearing it up.. Rupert says: “Somebody’s taking people away in the middle of the night! Then they bring ’em back. Now, I talked to some of the people who got taken away. They can’t remember a thing.”
Knowing this, this scene of finding Lois in bed makes zero sense.. why didn’t Amanda or Rupert tell Lee that they get put back?!!!
I am guessing the writers decided to delay sharing that information, because they wanted to have this moment where Rupert is ‘proved wrong’ so to speak.. or.. lol yes where he cries wolf again.. (or so Lee thinks).. but – the earlier dialogue makes this way of playing things out nonsensical for me (Thanks Valerie and Happy camper for raising this)..
Honestly, this plot is doing my head in. I Hope I haven’t done any reader’s heads in while I’m at it 😉
There’s more to say about code pyramid. but I’ll leave it till another post.
LOL crying wolf was me.. in the post 😉 haaaaa..
Yes I agree re Lee – I can go with all this happy camper..
love how you finished with the most important part – he looked really good in that picture 🙂 haaaaa.
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It works for me too, happycamper. It’s perfect. 😀
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I like what you say here too, happycamper. I also think that Lee is reminded that as far as Amanda has come, she is not a trained spy – she is still a part-time civilian with a guest pass. I do love the fact that he came out here for Amanda. I don’t think he would have come if it was just Rupert who called him.
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This is where this episode and I start to part company. It bothers me because I see Lee maybe including Amanda in that look. It’s like a small glimpse of S1 and 2 Lee returning. Like, “Amanda, how could you be so easily sucked in, and why on earth did you call me out at midnight for this nonsense? I told you Rupert imagines things!”
I am looking forward to being disabused of my impression of this episode by those who are better at the SMK mental contortions required to make it right.
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count me in Kiwismh – someone please help me to like this ep some more!!!! I couldn’t put it better than Kiwismh did 🙂
Ahhhh now Lee’s look? Kiwismh, I think we get a pay off for it in a little bit… soooo I’m willing to go with this.. I can’t yet say more though sorry!
I wonder too if part of Lee’s annoyance is that he is now unable to say no to Amanda 😉 maybe this is a little scary for our Scarecrow?
lol.. Yes .. I’m in suspense at how ‘The Make it Right Brigade’ (err please take this as a badge of honour- I love this!!) will creatively and ingeniously fix a few major clangers in this ep… It’s more entertaining than the ep itself 😉 ahem..
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I’m going with the thought that Amanda was trying to assess the situation and be respectful of Rupert at the same time. If there’s nothing out there, she could have talked Rupert down without involving Lee. I’m labeling Lee’s reaction as a middle of the night slip-up (he’s tired and cranky). Perhaps when he ponders the situation a bit more he’ll realize what Amanda was doing. Honestly, her actions make sense. And I’ll agree that Lee can’t say no to Amanda and that bothers him. Looking forward to that ‘pay off’ that you mentioned, Iwsod. 🙂
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I agree with you about the middle of the night, Sara. I can be pretty unpleasant to those I love the most when woken from a pleasant sleep, and I can’t blame Lee for being the same…
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And we know from OTLimit that both Billy and Amanda (and I) think Amanda can be gullible at times. Combine that wth Lee having already warned Amanda that Rupert has quite the imagination, and I can imagine he would be irritated by middle of the night wake up call.
I do remain confused as to why Rupert would be surprised to see Lois in bed, as I would have thought that he had seen her being taken and so would realize that now she is being brought back. Amanda shouldn’t necessarily know this, but Rupert should. But as with most things SMK, I am happy to just go with it!
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I’m guessing (I do try so hard to do these writers’ work for them and fix the holes) that Rupert didn’t see who was being taken before he called Amanda, and when he saw them come out of Lois’s house he assumed that they were just taking her then, not bringing her back.
On a side note, if every retiree in Birchwood has their own little house (apparently not even sisters live together, or how would they know it was Lois and not Glynnis?) it must be a pretty posh retirement community.
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Ah, thanks Happycamper, that makes perfect sense to me! (I like to fix the holes too — although usually I don’t even notice them.)
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Hi all!
Hey Happycamper, this is a valiant effort.. Yes I thought this too – he hadn’t seen Lois Leave, he only saw her return and assumed he had seen her being taken.
Which doesn’t really make much sense when he knows from the others he spoke to that they get returned. okay, maybe the adrenaline was going.. and so he jumped to the wrong conclusion. But once Lois was found safe and tucked up in bed – do you think it was time for Rupert to point out they all got returned to their beds?
I actually think this could have worked – because Lee would not have believed it anyway..
but then.. why would Amanda not say she saw the trolley thingy and two men in white also? Hmm.. nope still not working.
But I will say that I wrote these posts about a week or two ago – and since then I can see that the plot holes are not as massive as I first thought. Thanks to you guys explaining this plot to me 😉
However, it still doesn’t fit together for me, the timing is off and the reactions are just not sitting right for me.. so while the plot holes are not as massive as I thought, I still think they are there.. and although I don’t watch smk for the plots, I can’t help myself…. I like a good little story…
I think I would have liked it better had TP not mentioned the word pyramid and had Billy not said go with code pyramid (randomly IMHO) and the story had developed organically through Amanda’s (shock!) actual detective work.. it kinda stole Amanda’s thunder! 😉
But.. focusing on Lee and Amanda’s story that’s being told here – I can find there’s a wonderful story underneath all this still being told 🙂
rah rah.. ramble on iwsod.. So sorry I’ve been absent – I know I’ve said it before, but truly RL is stressful and very busy right now.
hearing from you guys makes my day.. discussing smk makes my day.. but I have very little time for it right now..
I’ll try my best to keep the posts coming and we’ll see how we go.
LOL anyone want to have a go writing up the last 15 minutes of this episode?? I am serious! Anyone feel like having fun with it?
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Hi raffie! Great to see you stop by!!!
How did we learn in OTL that both Billy and Amanda are gullible? I’m drawing a blank here.. can you join the dots for me?
For me, I don’t see Amanda as gullible in general .. and I don’t see her as gullible with Rupert. I think she did not believe Rupert, but out of concern for him she went to investigate and probably talk with him and have a cup of tea and make sure he’s okay.
When she got there she saw the night pirates herself.. so this is what led to her calling Lee (funny that she failed to mention that once Lee showed up 😉 ).
This confused me too.. (see my reply to happycamper) I had missed that earlier Rupert told Amanda that the people who were abducted actually get returned – so Amanda could have guessed this at this point also.. I’ve concluded that they tried to up the tension here with this misdirect that didn’t make sense – and it gives us a pay off with the Lee/Amanda story that’s taking place..(in post 9/ the Q bureau) so whatev I’ll go with it 🙂
Good plan if you can do it.. sometimes I can’t go with it, but here – yep I’ve come up with a way to go with it – it makes for good Lee/Amanda exchanges and informs their journey.. so I’ll go with it 🙂
I don’t mind grumpy Lee so much either – at least he is doing grumpy in a more mature and respectful way haaa..
I was thinking about Lee’s reaction to it all.. I think Lee is unhappy with Amanda because he had told her that Rupert tells stories – and yet she had still listened to Rupert. I think this is maybe what bugs Lee so much.
Lee himself had listened to Rupert in the past, and not disregarded what he had said – and it had blown up in Lee’s face.. So Lee learned his lesson… he passed on this information to Amanda but she didn’t listen.. or.. she didn’t believe him.
This whole idea ‘you don’t believe me’ is massive here in the middle of this episode – and I find that really interesting!!!
Rupert is unhappy Lee doesn’t believe him, he accuses Amanda of not believing him, and once she’s at Birchwood he accuses her still of not believing him..
he even adds – ‘Lois likes her sack time, believe me…’
When Amanda says it’s time to call Lee – she’s saying she believes Rupert..
Howard doesn’t believe them.
Lee doesn’t believe Rupert but does it anyway (shows his badge and checks out Lois’ room) ..because he believes Amanda.
When Lois is found in bed, Lee thinks in that moment that he is proven to be correct in not believing Rupert, but (he thinks) incorrect in believing Amanda..
Then, in post 9 – Amanda voices that Lee doesn’t believe her.. and so she provides the evidence needed for him to… and… then Lee believes her, and he believes Rupert 🙂
Also, by approaching Lee with the evidence, I think Amanda showed that she believed in Lee – in spite of the grumpiness, embarrassment and sleep deprivation, he listened to her – and proved Amanda correct.. she can still believe in Lee 🙂
And Lee’s belief in Amanda was also proven eventually to be correct 🙂 phew!
Sooooo what are we to make of all this believing/not believing???
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HI Iwsod — hmm,looks like my previous post got a little scrambled, but what I meant was that Billy and Lee think Amanda can be gullible, or at least naive. That is (ostensibly) why Billy sent Lee with her to deal with the “crackpots”. Now several episodes later, here Amanda is, falling victim to another crackpot, or so Lee must be thinking. That OTLimit scene is one of my favorites, by the way, because Lee’s look when considering Amanda among the crackpots is such a lovely combination of agitated (because he really doesn’t want to go!) and affectionate!
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oh okay, now I see what you were referring to – sounds good to me!
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Oddly enough, I think what bothers me most is the fact that these bungalows don’t seem to have private phones. Why does Rupert have to go to a pay phone to call Amanda? I’m going to pass it off to him doing surveillance on these night pirates and not wanting to go back to his place to call.
Is it possible that the stretcher was empty because they were returning Lois? This might be another one of those timing issues. Rupert had to have called when they were taking Lois and Amanda got there when they were returning with her. It would take Amanda some time to get there and it wouldn’t take them that long to get Lois in or out of the bungalow.
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I really struggled here to be honest Valerie.. had to stop and look over what had been said so far at this point by Rupert- I concluded that the scripting hadn’t yet mentioned that any of these kidnapping victims actually get returned.. Which is utterly ridiculous – why would Rupert not have mentioned that fact?! Especially when they are checking Lois’ bed?!!!
Maybe I’m mistaken here.. that’s quite possible! I’m finding this plot to be a total dog’s breakfast. I thought PFK was bad.. but this ep is taking the cake errr.. banana bread!…
I think this fact is left out at this point to up the tension and mystery.. lol.. it certainly ups the confusion… how this plays out – I’ve discussed just a little bit further along so I’ll hold off commenting more on the returning angle – unless it’s already been revealed and I missed it?! Aie.. this ep is confusing..
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whooo hold that thought about the phone Valerie.. we’ll see what the rest of the ep has to tell us 🙂
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Ok, thank you for the ‘cheeky Lee’ shot. 🙂 Makes up for the plot holes. Yes, why didn’t Amanda say she saw the van as well?
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you’re welcome 😉
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