After the baddies catch up we head back to the agency to find Lee working at his desk. Okay, this is a big post.. but there’s no way I’m splitting this scene.. and maybe it can tide us all over to next week… 
get comfy..
There’s a rather upbeat knock on the door..
So upbeat I think Lee knows it’s Amanda.. well that and you can kinda see through the door there..
He has a fleeting look on his face before he answers:
What do you make of it people?!
Lee: (responds to knock on door) Yeah. 
Lee doesn’t look up once he says come in.. and directs his eyes back to his work. Uh oh.. He ain’t happy.
Amanda quickly walks in and plants herself in the chair in front of Lee.
Lee still isn’t looking up from his work. Uh oh..
I love that Amanda doesn’t let if faze her. It kinda reminds me of There goes the neighbourhood, maybe that’s a bit random.. but it reminds me of the moment where Lee fobs her off but Amanda doesn’t let it stop her – and she goes on to do what she came to do- ask if he needs her to do any work.
Amanda has always had a determination when it comes to Lee and doing this job.. but now, I think she also is much more confident and secure in their relationship so that kind of helps too no?
okay Iwsod enough rambling..
Lee still isn’t meeting Amanda’s eye as she waits a moment for him to look up. 
Amanda: OK, look, I’ll start,…
…I’m sorry about what happened at Birchwood last night. But I really think that maybe Rupert’s —
Lee: Amanda, stop right there please…
…Now, I am up to my ears here — I’ve got a top priority scramble, let’s discuss Rupert’s delusions later, OK?
[I had forgotten that these two have their little fights. I kind of like it! when it’s too harmonious it’s not as interesting or nuanced- and if there’s one thing SMK can do with nuance it’s this relationship
What do you make of Lee here? do tell!!!
I understand he has top priority stuff.. but there’s more going on here no? why so moody Lee?! ]
Amanda is unfazed by the continued attitude..
Amanda: Neither one of us are having delusions, we both saw the van. [Oh hooray finally she mentions she saw it too!]
Lee: OK, OK, you both saw the van.
I think this ticks off Amanda just a little..but she stays focused.. what do you think?!
Amanda: You don’t believe me. But look…
(Amanda gets up and walks around to where Lee was sitting and plants herself on the corner of his desk again.)
….- I took the names of all the people Rupert said had been abducted,…
…and I ran them through the computer,…
(Lee buries his head in his hand and lets out a massive sigh.)
[Or lol maybe he’s covering for checking out her legs haaaa. no I doubt it.. he’s too emotional here.. what’s going on with him?!
Anyway, he isn’t telling Amanda to get lost haaa
go Amanda!]
…and you know what?
Lee: Hmm. What?
Amanda: They all worked for the Agency.
Lee: Now, first of all, no one was abducted at Birchwood…
…And a lot of people at the home worked at the Agency…
[lots of pointing and waving going on here.. but a good sign that Lee stays seated.]
… So I –
Amanda: Yes, that’s true, but every single one of them was working on the same project at the same time in the early sixties, including Rupert.
Lee: On the same project?
Oh hooray.. a close up on Lee that is not blurry!!!
KJ is the best director ever!!!!
Amanda: Something called, um, Code Pyramid…
[rofl! well.. Lee has heard of that! right Lee?! Just a moment ago.. with Billy.. when he randomly sprouted this for no reason?? !!!! whahahaahahahaah.. me thinks these scenes are in the wrong order!!!! Oopsie people! what a boo boo!]
…Now do you know what the odds are of all those people that were working on that project that many years ago, being in the same retirement home now?
Lee: About a million to one.
Amanda: The computer said three million to one…
[Love how Lee seems to give her a surprised look when she says this haaa..]
[Can I just say – I love this scene?! Okay okay.. I’ll finish and then explain why 
]
…Now, Rupert gave me some of the sleeping pills that they’re giving to some of the people out at Birchwood,..
…so I took them to the lab to have them analysed —
Lee: Under whose authorization?
Amanda: Yours. I initialled the forms for you, you were so busy,..
Amanda quickly continues lol!: but look!
(Lee turns away..)
[Lee’s a bit- of course she did that!! I should have known!
I also think the reference to ‘you were busy’ was a way of saying to Lee – you were in a huff because of what happened last night, and too busy to talk to me because you wanted to avoid me- so I couldn’t talk to you about this, and if I had.. you probably would have been in too big a huff to run the test..
so overall IMHO she’s gotten Lee good! but doesn’t linger.. ]
-…the results are pretty interesting.
(Lee reads the results) Lee: B-Z. In the sleeping pills?
Amanda: What is B-Z?
[Ummm Amanda.. have you been taking B-Z?! You asked what was B-Z in OBDOBD.. pretty memorable too… remember?? Ohhh a huck finn!!! err no a mickey finn!! I knew that!! Turns out.. she still doesn’t 😉 ]
Lee: The stuff could bring an elephant to its knees…
[Or a Russian Immigrant named Zernoff 😉 ]
(Lee gets up from his chair and takes Amanda by the arm)
[meeting her eyes only briefly- gottta focus- he’s got: A clue!!!]
…This is good work, Amanda,..
…really good work….
(Amanda gives a little fleeting smile)
…The question is — what the heck is Code Pyramid?
ROFL! Lee has completely forgotten Billy’s order to focus on Code Pyramid tee heee.. yep.. me thinks the order of these scenes has been flipped around and ruined things. dumb. Just.. dumb. The scene ends here.
Dumb nonsensical plot/clue reveal? Nothing can ruin this scene for me!!!! I had completely forgotten it! And for me it is a real hidden gem. I’ve already mentioned how I enjoy it when things are not perfect and harmonious between Lee and Amanda..
For Lee, this scene starts with him being immature and moody.. not his best moment IMHO!
But.. Lee finishes the scene at his best – he’s listened to Amanda, he’s seen she’s right, and he’s immediately let go of any moodiness or attitude over what happened the night before. He just gets on with it – plus, he acknowledges that Amanda has done great work He reeeeeally acknowledges she’s done great work squeeeeee!
I also love that in this scene, as I previously mentioned- Amanda takes moody Lee in her stride. She may not enjoy it, but she overlooks it, and doesn’t let it swerve her from her purpose (much how I view her typical treatment of Francine), she apologises to Lee for the situation last night, which would have embarrassed him.. Isn’t it interesting that she chooses to apologise for that – even though she knows at this point that she and Rupert were actually on the money. She could have said there’s nothing to ask for forgiveness for.. but instead she IMHO acknowledges Lee’s embarrassment and feeling of being let down the night before.. IMHO she looks after Lee by doing this.
Then! Well, I love that Amanda has done exactly what I was thinking Rupert should have – she doesn’t just call Lee and say believe me even though it’s ridiculous! She goes out and actually collects evidence, and prepares an argument here to put across her point of view. She even looks up on the computer what are the odds of having all those agents who worked on Code Pyramid all in the same place!
This shows such maturity in Amanda, professional/as an agent that it really resonates with me – I love this part of her journey. Amanda figured she’d need to be prepared and make a case. I love that she didn’t just assume, because they are partners, Lee will just believe her – she doesn’t expect it, and I think it’s really healthy that she doesn’t expect it. If they are to work together –she cannot take it personally if Lee does not automatically agree with her. This is all a very good sign for things ahead for these two IMHO You may think Lee should have believed her – Feel free to disagree!!! But for me, I don’t mind that he didn’t, he did give them a chance…and I’m thinking it is too idealistic for a partner to never question their partner. For an agent, this sort of thing could be dangerous..
Lastly, I think Amanda must be feeling pretty confident of her relationship with Lee -by disagreeing here and asserting herself, she could be seen to be risking a rupture in their burgeoning relationship.. I think it says a lot for how she sees her and Lee now (which I confess is sometimes not an easy thing to see!). What do you think?
The scene ends with all hurt feelings done with.. no permanent ruptures are on the horizon for these two – whatever comes up they’ll work through it.. and they’ll each of them forgive. In this scene, from each of the character’s points of view, they forgive each other.. and they move on.. This is super important and IMHO extremely swoony.. How to win a woman’s heart? Forgive her if she hurts your feelings… admit when she knows something and you don’t.. and praise her good work. (and let her use your authorisation.. because after all how else is she suppose to get information with that flippin guest pass?!)
Yep. Lee is incredibly swoony here.. no wonder Amanda looks at him with that secret smile of hers here Amanda too shows yet again that Lee’s heart is safe with her – she looks past his sook and moves on.
As for the Code Pyramid dog’s breakfast? With Lee and Amanda in this scene, I don’t care… this is what SMK does so well. not plots though the mind boggles how no one could have noticed this! Does the script have these scenes in a different order? No time to look.. so if anyone would like to and then share with us that would be fab (though no obligation).
Aie!!! I also think it would have been useful to tell Lee the night before that when these residents get kidnapped they do actually get put back again too. LOL. Maybe I really did see an empty trolley coming out of Lois’ place – they’d just put her back!
Soooo I can’t wait to hear what you all make of this scene!!! Anyone else particularly struck by it? Let the fabulous discussions and idea sharing begin!
"Just walk with me.." 
Just some random thoughts I had about the plot while I re-watched this ep during my vacation. Whoever hands out the sleeping pills had to be somehow involved in the plan to know who needs to get the ones with the B-Z and at which night. And second why would all these people even take sleeping pills? Just because they are old? My father became 86 and never took sleeping pills. Maybe because he lived at home at not at a place like Birchwood.
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I love this scene! I think I have learned more from SMK about how to disagree respectfully with the person you love and move forward than all the pre-marital counseling in the world!
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Awww, best scene of the episode so far. Love that Amanda gets Lee with her authorizing the lab tests on the sleeping pills. This is S3 Amanda – not the I could sure go for a cup of tea, Rupert, Amanda. She takes the initiative to prove her case – she knows that is the only way she is going to get through to Lee – to get his attention back to her and Rupert. And it works. And I think Lee is grudgingly impressed. This is something he would do himself, had he been in her shoes.
Iwsod, I love how you point out that grump Lee doesn’t seem to faze Amanda here. She doesn’t seem to dwell on it, but rather moves on. I admire that ability of her to do that.
I agree with all of what you say about not minding that Lee disagreed with her. I don’t that he did either. He is the trained agent, he knows Rupert, and he knows Rupert’s stories. In his shoes I wouldn’t believe Amanda either. This is not a personal thing, it is a professional thing. Lee still has to maintain his professional responsibilities, and training Amanda on the job is part of it. I do think his behavior at the beginning of the scene may be where he lets his objectivity slip a little bit.
I’m not sure that I tie Amanda’s behavior to her personal relationship with Lee though. I think I see it more as Amanda acting in a professional way despite their personal relationship. Or maybe for the sake of it. I think Amanda wants Lee to think highly of her in her professional role. I also don’t know that I see Lee’s feelings being hurt here. I think he was annoyed from a work point of view.
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Yey, yep, yep, a thousand times yes! I totally agree with you here. IMHO, for Amanda to be taken seriously as an agent and for the sake of whatever might be percolating between her and Lee personally, she has to be professional.
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Also, this whole conversation is a fantastic replay – word-for-word in some parts- from the conversation she had with Lee in “Welcome to America, Mr. Brand”, except that Lee’s grumpier this time. Youda thunk he’d learned by now. 🙂
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Ok, over my swooning enough to chime in. I love this scene because it is very married-couple-y. The expression on Lee’s face through most of it makes me think they’ve reached that point in the relationship where, even when you’re ticked at the other person, you bottle in the impulse to actually fight with them about it because there’s stuff you fight over and stuff you let go. And Amanda comes in knowing that she can’t just burst in waving her file and saying “Look I’m right” because she knows him well enough to know he’s properly ticked but that if she approaches him logically, he’ll listen to her because of his innate sense of fairness. Or maybe that’s just my marriage? 🙂 Either way, swoony all round.
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Not just your marriage, Janet! I recognize that couple right down to the “you were busy [i.e. ignoring me] so I did it myself with your credentials [see, your bad attitude can’t keep me down!]” dig. Never under-estimate the power of a stubborn woman!.
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I love this scene. I love how Lee knows the conversation is going to resume, and tries not to look at Amanda. Just like a little kid: “maybe if I don’t look at her she’ll think I’m not here”. Love how Amanda keeps soldiering on until she gets his attention, and how she went ahead and did all the research using his authorization. In this case, “you were busy” probably means “you wouldn’t have done it if I asked.” Love Lee’s half exasperated, half amused reaction to her using his authorization. He knew the answer before he asked the question.
I had often wondered why Lee didn’t react when Amanda said “Pyramid”. I like the idea that the scenes got switched. Or maybe, I will just mentally delete Billy’s mention of it entirely, if it seems to work better that way. Lee showed more interest in the fact that all the abducted people had worked on the same project, which didn’t really seem all that wonderful to me. B-Z drugs, G-S gas, how much more of the alphabet will the episode come up with?
Now that you mention it, iwsod, you must be right about the empty — trolley, did you call it? — that Amanda and Rupert see at Birchwood. Rupert saw them come, then went off to telephone, so he didn’t see who they took. By the time Amanda got there, they were back (quick work, but I won’t worry about that) and had put her back into bed. That’ serially the only way it could be, because if they had come and gone twice while Amanda was there, she and Rupert would have known about it.
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I have so much I want to say and it is ricocheting around in my head while I am running around today doing all that is in my day. I can’t wait to have a moment to write it all down in a comment. But I love this scene too! So much happening here and I think it is pretty important (of course I do. I make mountains out of molehills where these two are concerned). But the mountains will have to wait a bit longer.
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So my long comment for post 7, sets the stage for how I view this scene. I think there is a tug of war going on inside of Lee. To me there is a juxtaposition being illustrated in this episode between the professional, highly trained agent and the man that has just begun to be awakened, the one that is learning to appreciate connectedness with other people. And it seems as if Amanda’s apparently easy fall for Rupert’s delusions causes Lee a bit of consternation. Can these two different sides of Lee coexist? He called her partner and yet she fell for the delusions of an old man. He has learned to care for these retirees and even receive some nurture from their relationships, but now his partner has fallen for Rupert’s craziness and she had interrupted his serious work with it. Billy has made such a point of the priority of this case, and yet he took the time out to introduce Amanda to the folks at Birchwood, doesn’t she know better than to call him out in the middle of the night. Its like egg on his face and yet I bet he hates the fact that he is feeling that way, because he has let himself fall for her.
But as Amanda perseveres in what she knows is important and in sharing he research that she has so professionally pursued, I think Lee sees that he has made the right choice in letting himself care for her. She is both a worthy partner and a wonderful woman, just as he had always known.
And, yes, I do think Amanda is secure in her relationship with Lee. I think she gained that security in earnest during that last phone call in PFK. She can say sorry first because she knows whats eating at him. And she does have good instincts. She knows she had something to research and some facts. Lee is learning to listen to her. They are learning to work together in a whole new way as they go forward in this new relationship. I think we see it in an even deeper dimension in this scene.
I don’t know if I explained this well at all. I tried to find a quiet place to put my thoughts together, bu people seem to follow me everywhere and talk to me even if I tell them to give me a moment to finish typing. Oh well. There it is, garbled or not.
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Great scene, excellent analysis of it and wonderful, wonderful pictures:-). Really glad to see Amanda getting her smarts back. Her behaviour with Rupert the night before was one of the only times I ever thought she acted really dumb (and I’m including Class Act here). She produced no evidence or support and went running to Lee instead of investigating – she was never like that, even in The First Time. And certainly not in Welcome to America (which had some parallels) or in any previous season 3 episodes. I could only put it down to the strain that KJ felt in both acting and directing. Anyway, I love this scene. I liken the fact that Lee could be annoyed at being dragged out of bed on a wild goose chase (as he thought it) but that he went anyway and that he listened with an open mind the next day. I thought that their inter change was realistic and mature.
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I’m with you on this, Michele. Love to see Amanda thinking again and prodding Lee into listening to her. Reminds me so much of Amanda in some of the early S1 episodes. And nice to see a touch of grouchy Lee again – the guy hasn’t become perfect, he’s not a morning person and he’s had a disturbed night. All of this makes sense with what we know of our Lee. (And as I’ve said before, I’d also be grumpy if dragged out of big in the middle of the night and had to stagger in to work the next morning feeling grim – don’t blame him at all)
Oh, and I like the shirt on Lee, esp the slightly rolled cuffs….
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The beauty of this scene is that both Amanda and Lee are so true to character in it. And yet behind them playing their own personalities, you see each acutely aware of each others personalities as well. I like seeing the grumpy Lee again, although personally I think it is with good cause, i.e. I would act the same way :-). Not only was there a middle of the night wake-up call for no apparent reason, but he is under a lot of stress from this latest assignment that seems to be going nowhere fast. Hurray for Amanda for recognizing all this and playing it just right! And hurray for Lee for his forced patience with Amanda — it was rewarded with great new insights on her agenting ability and initiative, plus he got a huge break in his stress-inducing assignment.
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In the script they talk about “Pyramid” not “Code Pyramid”. I just figured they didn’t actually know what “Pyramid” is or what is refers to. They know it’s a key word but don’t know what it relates to. Now Amanda has come up with a coincidence involving a project called “Pyramid”. Perhaps “Code Pyramid” simply means they know Pyramid is a code word for something significant to cracking this case. Lee maybe has an inkling that Amanda has stumbled across a link to his current case in the most unlikely of places. He must be wondering, is this a coincidence or is what Amanda has figured out related to what I’m working on?
I’m feeling better about the relationship aspect of this scene now that I have the Iwsod translation. 😉
Like those pics of Lee sitting at his desk getting down to some serious research, all by himself without Amanda prompting him. He used to be so antsy to be taking action, now he has matured enough to settle down to some serious research.
A couple of those pics look like he didn’t shave to close that morning (maybe it was filmed late in the day?) Anyway, me like! 😉
And no distracting fashion felonies either. Even Amanda’s cardigan passes muster on this occasion. I’m warming up to this episode now.
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kiwismh, that is how I have always perceived the code pyramid lines. Maybe Lee told Billy what TP had said about Pyramid and Billy grabbed a hold of it and knew it was a key word, something to latch onto. And then Amanda gave him even more. I don’t let myself get tripped up on plot holes so I wouldn’t notice it if I fell in it, but this explanation works for me.
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I am too busy staring at this many swoony pictures to care about plot line right now. I’m sure I’ll be more coherent after I’ve had time to recover. Maybe by the weekend…
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This is also one of those moments when former “rule follower” Amanda bends the rules a bit by initialing something on behalf of Lee (resident “rule breaker”) when she really shouldn’t. One of the reasons Lee can’t complain too much is because he’s kind of taught Amanda that mentality. And thus, the learner becomes the master! 😀
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Agree, and I think he was secretly pleased and impressed that she did this! Her agenting potential just went up a notch in his book!
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Oooh – I will definitely have to check the script out and see if there has been any scene switcheroos. You have some gorgeous screen caps, there, IWSOD
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