Whoo hoo! I can’t wait to see how Amanda reacts to Lee arresting Will Towne! [At least I think it’s Will Towne..]
Back at IFF, Billy is heading into his office followed by Amanda who is charging ahead of Lee.. tee hee.. this is gonna be good!! 
Billy: The FBI has lost Towne in the system which means he’s in our Interrogation Room…
(Amanda dumps her briefcase on Billy’s desk and puts her hand on her hip.)
[Whoooo she’s ready for a fight!]
…. and we can keep him there for 36 hours.
[36 hrs with no charges? geez!]
Lee: We’ll owe them for that.
Amanda: Well we already owe him for that!
[Whoa! Amanda starts straight in with the raised voice!! You can just tell that Lee and Amanda have been yelling at each other before they even got to Billy IMHO!]
Before Lee can respond, Billy cuts them off.
Billy: Stop! Sit!…
[Billy is very abrupt with them here. Hilarious!]
Lee and Amanda share a silent look..
and begin to take their seats..very slowly…
It’s like they are both watching each other to make sure the other sits – because if the other doesn’t sit then they don’ t want to sit either!
They carefully take their seats at exactly the same time. Can’t have one of them higher than the other!
[I love this!! It highlights the power struggle that’s going on here perfectly!]
Billy, incredulous continues: …What is it with you two? [Ohhh where do we start?! ]
Lee immediately shoots up out of his chair and back onto his feet – Amanda jumps to her feet too!
Lee: Mrs King’s personal feelings…
…are clouding her professional judgement.
[Anyone got a pot? so I can you know.. call it “Black!!!!’’?!
I think Amanda is thinking: of all the nerve! She doesn’t even wait for him to finish before she jumps on in – whoooo hoooo!!!]
Amanda: And Mr Stetson’s…
…need to always be right…
…is about to cause this Agency to make a serious mistake.
[Oh my gosh.. the way Amanda says AAAAAnd Mr Steeetson!!!! as she swirls around to look at him is flippin hilarious! How dare you call me Mrs King!!! grrr!!!!
It’s sooooo interesting what each of them identify as the problem here..
Lee- Amanda’s professional judgement is clouded by personal feelings.
Amanda- Lee needs to always be right.
Do you think they are accurately seeing what’s going on here? I do love that Amanda does not accuse Lee of having his personal feelings cloud his professional judgement – she just says he has a need to always be right! lol!
I cannot wait to chat with you guys about all this!! ]
Lee: I made a serious mistake by listening to Mrs King…
…We came within…
…an inch of losing the guy!
[Umm when exactly did Lee listen to Amanda??!!! I blinked and missed it!! Lee IMHO is pretty blind here!! Blinded by intense emotions!!!!]
Amanda again doesn’t wait for Lee to finish talking and interrupts him. All bets are off here pal!!!
As she interrupts we see Billy look from Lee to Amanda.. lol he’s taking it all in.. and trying to figure out what’s going on.. with Lee and Amanda and with William Towne!
Amanda: That was obviously a set up! [Agree!! Very obvious!]
Lee: Oh there she goes with her fantasy frame-up theory again!
Hoooo haaaa at the dismissive look up and down Lee gives Amanda to make his point.. a bit Grrrr… Plenty of sexual tension goin on here- you think?
[They’re totally talking over each other here.. in each other’s space.. and it’s flippin awesome!! haaaa]
Amanda: It’s not a fantasy!
Lee: Then back it up!
Amanda: Oh please! How can he have possibly known those joggers were gonna come down the street?!
[Oh music to my ears!!! An smk coincidence that wasn’t a coincidence!!! So obvious it’s ridiculous of Lee to call it a fantasy!]
Whoa – the yelling gets louder and Lee yells over the top of Amanda..
Lee: He didn’t know it was going to happen so soon!
[huh??!!!]
Amanda just keeps on going – Lee yelling or not – she’s on a roll and can’t stop!! whooo hooo!!
Amanda: We caught him two blocks away!!!
Whooo hooo! I love Amanda here!! lol.. Lee totally deserves it – I get the impression that she isn’t just fighting for herself and her standing or role or whatever, she’s actually fighting for Will Towne, a man who she believes is innocent – As his agent of record, he needs her to shout for his innocence.
Maybe it’s just me- but without that, I don’t think Amanda would have gotten so worked up.
It seems to me Lee doesn’t have an answer-except to just glare at Amanda..
And Billy intervenes.. phew!
Billy: Alright!
Amanda: Oh Sir!
(Amanda turns and remembers she’s yelling at Billy. haaaa.. )
Amanda much quieter: …Yes Sir.
[haaa that is KJ brilliance right there so funny!]
Billy (sounding very measured and reasonable): Now I agree with both of you…
…and I disagree with both of you…
…I’m going to wait on the lab results of your samples.
Amanda: Well Sir, that could take hours.
Lee: Oh I agree with you there…
[rofl! Amanda can be seen glaring at Lee and cursing him as he interjects with his temper]
…Now listen Billy, we have got to get rolling with a dose of damage control here…
…Towne has compromised our codes!
Amanda: Oh—
Lee: Now we’ve got to call State or someone and tell them their communiques are being passed around the Kremlin!
[Lee sounds so certain!]
[The way Lee talks to Billy here doesn’t do him any favours IMHO – can’t wait to hear what you all make of this fabulous scene!!
Lee talks to Billy like he’s dumb.. IMHO. Like he wouldn’t have thought of that?!]
Billy: If we do that Scarecrow, if I blow that whistle, there’s no turning back. Get me something more!
Lee: What?
[You know Lee.. ‘back it up!’ Lee is so certain he is right and Billy is wrong to even wait for any more answers.. oh dear.. ]
Billy: I need to know if this man Towne is an American citizen at least.
Amanda: Well Sir, he was born and raised in Culpepper.
[haa haaaaa too funny! Lee’s reaction is hilarious- oh you trusting beginner you!]
Lee: Or so he told you.
Amanda: Pleeeeaaassseee!!!!
[grrr she practically growls this! Lee she’s wishing she had put that other more massive cactus on your seat earlier! 
]
Lee responds to Amanda’s growl by just glaring back at her…
Hooooo haaaa!!! don’t touch anything metallic or you’re going to get an electric shock!
These two are electric here with the sexual tension!!!
Billy: Now please,…
…just put your personal differences aside…
(Billy speaks softly)
…Get me something more conclusive by tonight…
…or I will have to blow that whistle.
…Dismissed.
Billy gives them a head toss.. ‘put aside your personal differences’ not professional differences- how interesting.. so Billy agrees there’s some ‘personal’ going on here! 
With this the kooky music kicks in.. as Lee is all macho power play here turning and trying to out glare Amanda.. 
Lee totally gets in her space…
Seems since she hasn’t backed down here he tries on a little physical intimidation.. 
Forget it Lee.. She’s totally unintimidated by you- she made you soup for five days.. and she knows you would never hurt her or anything!
In silence, Lee then turns to Billy..
and then turns to leave.
Love the look Amanda gives Billy as she leaves!
We cut to the wide shot, where Amanda gives Billy a smile, picks up her briefcase and leaves.. Determined to help William Towne who she believes is innocent!
The briefcase is an interesting addition here huh.. kind of underlines that she has more professional responsibilities here with this assignment.
As they walk out Billy’s door.. we can see Billy is pondering – what the heck just happened here??!!
rofl! 
I think he finishes this scene with a bit of a grin.. but.. I can’t be sure.. what do you guys think?
I recommend watching this scene with the volume turned down.. grrrrr!!! Hooo haaaa!!! It’s getting hot on SMK!! 
This is such a steamy moment.. it deserves a gif so we can enjoy it on a continual loop 🙂
You know.. for all their disagreement – their bodies are perfectly in sync 😉
Yoooo Hoooooo!!!! Transfixed by that gif?!
Slap! Are you with me here people?!
You know, I don’t really know what all this fuss is about. Why don’t they just ask TP what he’s heard? I bet he knows! I bet he knows about Francine too! tee hee..
Sooooo come on everyone I’m busting to hear what you all think!!! do tell!!!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I’m sorry but these two even fight cute! (Brunettes Are In being the exception) Normally I avoid eps like this like the plague but I adore watching this. I think because it’s not bitter — you can see deep down that they still care about each other even when they’re driving each other crazy!
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#Rewatch
This was not in my top of the rewatch list but since i rewatched FLIGHT TO FREEDOM,i thought i’d give this a shot..and i actually liked it a lot…probably becoz i was watching it in a better order😂😂
I like the interaction between Billy and Gregory..their scenes were pretty good and actually had some weight to the storyline. Yes,kudos to the writers. They haf put a teensy weensy thought into this episode😂
Now our couple..Although Lee had acknowledged Amanda as his partner in Brunnettes..she hardly ever made any major decisions on her own..Lee usually does or he would just take over whatever she starts mainly fearing her safety😍so,it was really nice to see her being very professional,standing up for what she thought and knew to be true of Towne and best of all standing up for what she believed in…even if it meant going up against her patner. She may have been flirty with him in the begining with the talk abt ratings😂😂but when it came to her job she was really professional…
Lee however ,who is all abt facts and evidence struggles with the thought that something could be wrong abt Towne.Lee is good at what he does and it was hard for him to accept a partner’s decision.. It was hard for him to accept that THIS woman whom he loves ,was his partner afterall🤣🤣.Hence all the growling and shouting😂😂😂. Too much SEXUAL TENSION.Can actually feel the heat projecting out of the laptop😂😂😂. I guess Billy was having a field day when he said ” WHAT IS IT WITH YOU TOO”😂😂😂come to think of it,i feel he knows something was really going on with them😂.Anyway,underneath all that anger,he was seeing a side of her that he had not seen before..i think he was really proud of her by the end of it..loved her even more😍😍😍
Unfortunately for us,SMK was an 80s show with PG ratings..if it was current,the whole SEXUALLY TENSED OFFICE SCENE would have an equally SEXUALLY TENSED SCENARIO in the next scene..Probably in the Q BUREAU. 😍😍😍😍😂. Sorry…abt that..😍😍👌
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LOL. So true!
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I think Lee would be a lot more convincing in this argument if he could keep his eyes off her lips for more than 3 seconds at a time, LOL. So steamy.
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Oh no. Now the thoughts are flowing and I really have no time to do this. But, I must!
I was thinking about Amanda. I do think she is fighting because she really does believe that Towne is who he says he is. But I wonder how much of her is bewildered? I think she was beginning to really trust Lee’s feelings before her, even enough to make that flirty quip about not rating him yet. I guess I wonder if she is getting that sinking feeling in her stomach. Why is he dismissing me and belittling me? Why is he not respecting the work I have done? Hadn’t Lee been the one to encourage her lately? Hadn’t he been her cheer leader in a way? And now he was dissing her. I could easily see how she could be getting mad at his need to always be right. Was he just like the other men she had known. Like Dean who would only marry a woman who worked for him and told her to be a good girl? And Joe who could easily traipse off to Africa to help others and leave her behind with two sons to raise. Would Lee let her grow only so far and then cut her off when she started to grow enogh to challenge him? I could see her not really believing that to be true, but not sure how to handle what was going on between them here. And so she would choose to just focus on what she knew and stay professional and wait for the dust to settle. All she knows is that she truly believes that Towne is innocent and that she can hold her won in that.
I know I may be digging too deep, but the idea popped into my head. Now on to all of the other annoying real life things that seem all consuming and dare to demand more attention than SMK. Grr.
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I’m absolutely with you. I’ve been pouring over similar questions in my head for the past week and not coming up with many ideas. We can say that Amanda is firmly putting her trust in two people in this episode…Towne and Lee. Maybe in both cases, she’s just following her gut feeling. We’ve seen a couple plot holes already. Maybe we missed a conversation between them? Maybe Lee’s still cranky about being off for a week. He did say he had ‘a lot to do’ (whether or not that was to escape this mandatory time off, we don’t know.) And Amanda might be used to this from him. Maybe she’s decided it’s not entirely directed at her. There’s a lot of faith on her part. I’m wondering if she’s been down this road with him before (even if it’s something we’ve witnessed) and resolved it within herself. Like you say, Morley, she’s staying focused and professional, regardless of how she feels. But it does seem like she’s developed a real skill at doing this.
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Oops, that should say, ‘…even if it’s something we haven’t witnessed.’
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“Forget it Lee.. She’s totally unintimidated by you- she made you soup for five days.. and she knows you would never hurt her or anything!”
I think that may be whats eating at him even though he has no clue.
And, yes, I got transfixed by that GIF. Thanks for the slap.
Billy sure got an eyeful watching that fight and I swear, its a good thing they had it in front of Billy. It would have become something very different if they had been alone in the Q. I do want them to see this conflict through until the end and not go careening into and angry, tumultuous physical relationship in which they try to sort these issues out.
I agree, Iwsod, Amanda would not have become so impassioned if she didn’t truly believe that Towne was innocent. I don’t think that this conflict for Amanda is about her relationship with Lee. I think it bewilders her that he won’t agree with her, but she strongly trusts the research that she has done and her opinion based on that research that she isn’t willing to capitulate to Lee even in terms of their relationship.I don’t think she has a need to be right other than she truly believes that she is right. Lee on the other hand isn’t reasoning at all because of how his personal feelings are controlling him. I guess he has more work to do in letting his sub conscious inform his conscious.
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I agree, Morley. I think this conflict for Amanda is not about her and Lee personally. It is about his view of her work and how he is treating it and her. I think maybe she believed he had finally reached the point where he did think she was a capable partner and not just a lucky guesser with good intuition. And here is showing her that he has not reached that point. I think that is something she desperately wants in her professional life, and when she gets it, if she ever gets it, it will carry over into her personal life. I do think Lee’s feelings towards Amanda are clouding his judgement. Maybe because he’s falling in love with her he still thinks he needs to protect her from herself in some way. Here he is doing it in a professional capacity – she’s wrong, and as the agent of record, she’ll take the fall for it. I therefore must protect her from making a serious career mistake. Does that make any sense?
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yup, makes perfect sense. I also think he is protecting himself… except that he really is messing himself up.
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Iwsod, I just want to say that I love your commentary throughout this scene. Its seems you picked up on every little nuance and presented it with just the right amount of commentary, analysis, forgiveness, and humor. I smiled all the way through and LOL’d a few times too. Great job making a wonderful scene even better!
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Awh! Thanks so much Raffie – that’s the nicest compliment ever! 🙂
It’s a great scene isn’t it!
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I really like this scene because of feisty Amanda. It has been a long time since seeing this side of her. I wonder if Lee isn’t a little scared or nervous that Amanda will be getting more assignments on her own (that would change a lot in his world) and he’s hiding behind grumpy Lee! Amanda’s mostly been his support, his helper, and his apprentice. If she does well with this assignment it could, in Lee’s mind, open a new working field for her.
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Agree!!! I too love feisty Amanda. I vaguely remember hating this scene when I first saw it because I thought Lee was being so awful… but for some reason now I love it 🙂 I’ve come full circle!
Anyone hate it?? if so I’d love to hear your take on it!
Interesting thoughts Melissa! I think a few people have suggested that’s behind Lee’s sudden change here..
I resist seeing this as Lee being scared of losing Amanda professionally/ worrying that she could do work without him. I am guessing I’m in the minority with this – and I reserve the right to agree with you guys and change my mind in the next five minutes.. haaaa.. I’m yet to see how this ep plays out.. soo I’m probably resisting forming definite conclusions.. I’m going to ponder this one!
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I don’t see Lee afraid of losing Amanda professionally. I think he is afraid for her professionally. As the agent of record, if Amanda gives him an A1 security clearance, and he turns out to be a Russian spy, that would not be good for her professionally. So he is trying to protect her and the country at the same time. As her supervisor, he is trying to step in and take over her job.
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To be fair to Lee, I can see why he thinks Towne is rotten: people recognizing him, the pictures, what he saw (or thought he saw) with his own eyes. But, the problem is what Amanda has been trying to explain: there are some unexplained details here that make the whole thing seem fishy and Lee doesn’t know Towne the way she does because he wasn’t really involved in investigating him.
Lee seems pressured to go with the situation as he sees it and not ask any further questions just to be sure. There’s a time element involved here, and Lee doesn’t want to take any more time than he thinks he has to. But, you know what they say about rushing things? Rushing things ruins things.
Billy is great for getting them both a little time (not a lot, but a little) to take a second look at the situation and see if they can find something concrete to explain it.
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I agree to a certain extent as far as Lee going with what he has seen thus far and needing some proof, but again he did almost the same thing in The Pharaoh’s Engineer. He went with what he knew of Rupert and the fact that it all seemed so outlandish, but Amanda (and Rupert) turned out to be right.
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Yeah, you’d think that someone who has been involved in espionage as long as Lee would understand the importance of not making assumptions and rechecking things just to be certain. I think there was a lecture about that in the movie version of Kim, the Rudyard Kipling story about the boy trained to be a spy. When they were playing the jewel game, where the boy had to remember how many there were of each type, the man teaching him would try to trip him up by telling Kim wrong numbers. He told Kim to check and recheck everything and not to take anyone else’s word for what’s there without checking himself. I think Amanda’s trying to do that with this situation, but Lee doesn’t have the patience. 😛
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Also, when Amanda talks about where Towne was born, Lee’s comment that that’s only what Towne told her makes no sense. I doubt anyone conducting an official investigation would simply ask someone where they were born without checking on the official birth certificate. That probably accounts for Amanda’s “Please!” and angry look. She knows better, and he should realize that she knows and did her job right. If Lee had taken a real look at her work, he would know. Lee’s not following up on the things he should because he’s too impatient and thinks he already knows the answers.
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I think you are spot on Jestress!!! good call!!
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And for someone who teases Amanda about her gut feel and instincts on numerous occasions, and the need for procedure and hard evidence, Lee is being a bit of a hypocrite. His reactions here are almost all based on emotion, and very little on objective facts.
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Bad Lee! Bad!
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yes Lee is not at his objective best here! 😉
He is looking at evidence.. but he is being too emotional..
Exactly! Objectivity has flown out the window!
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Love that you raised Pharaoh’s Engineer Valerie!
Yes true! it is similar in some ways! – Lee didn’t listen to Amanda at first, it seems outlandish but.. she turned out to be right… Rupert turned out to be right.. (Lee didn’t listen to Rupert either).
Lee knew Rupert for years, and had believed him before a number of times, and he had learned not to listen to Rupert (Lee’s disbelief was based on his history with Rupert). Amanda had just met Rupert, so Lee thought she had been taken in… when in reality, she was not hampered by the history.. and thus saw the evidence..
Lee still came in the middle of the night to check out Lois’ room or whoever it was. He wasn’t so closed off as he is here.
In wrong number, Lee doesn’t know Towne at all..
It’s right that Lee objectively consider the evidence, but he seems to have given far less weight to the evidence Amanda presents than he should- because he isn’t objective about her!
I don’t think Lee should have believed because he trusts Amanda or knows her or she’s been right in the past..or she has great instincts/luck/intuition.. he should weigh the evidence correctly.. discounting Amanda’s ‘fantasy frame up theory’ is because of Lee’s bias. If he were truly being objective here he would not have just dismissed it..
Billy is the example of how an agent should truly approach this situation.
Not the way Lee is.. and I guess as Agent of record, Amanda can’t approach it the way Billy is either.. but Lee doesn’t have that excuse 😉
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I’ve been meaning to come back to this fascinating topic!
I agree with you, good point Jestress – I too can see why Lee thinks Towne is rotten.. It’s not based on Lee’s feelings for Amanda alone. Which is a positive! 😉
Well said!
So why doesn’t Lee see there are unexplained details? While a part of me thinks ohhh Lee should 100% trust Amanda! lol.. this isn’t terribly realistic.. and in the context of the spy biz, it wouldn’t be healthy nor expected. I don’t think Amanda expects that (wise woman).
It is right for Lee to remove his personal feelings for Amanda out of the equation here and look at the evidence.
It is also good spy craft to be able to disagree with you partner and raise differences – this is where I find Lee’s accusation to Amanda that she is ‘way out of line’ when she disagrees with him so fascinating.
They’ve disagreed in the past.. so what’s different here?
Amanda is speaking with authority here, as the agent of record and it makes all the difference IMHO to the whole situation..
I don’t think I’ve said it, but I’ve been reminded a few times throughout this situation of Over The Limit.. fascinating to me to compare the two:
It’s the first time since over the limit where we have seen Lee and Amanda actually outright yelling and fighting with each other (an over the limit blog post came up as a random post the other day and it was perfect timing for me).
The fighting was partly, about sending Amanda home and excluding her from the work and replacing her with Francine a real agent. ouch…
relevant to Amanda’s growing responsibility in wrong number no?
Secondly, that episode has Amanda off doing spring cleaning. A role with less responsibility than checking security clearances. But Amanda attacks it with her enthusiasm.. and yes Billy asks Lee to keep an eye on her.
Then, in over the limit we had Elizabeth Sullivan wrongly accused of the bombing – with misleading evidence against her. And the only person who was there and could vouch for her was Amanda.
Amanda got very angry, disregarded what Billy was saying and went to go straight to that police station to do what she could to help Elizabeth Sullivan.
Lee stopped her on the way out – remember?
And.. the person was intermingled with the professional here as Amanda makes a quip about being surprised Lee noticed..
Amanda had met Elizabeth Sullivan, and they were seen as good people. She hadn’t done a security check on them. But she had been with them in the lead up to the bombing..
Amanda went into bat for Elizabeth – and Lee went with Amanda to the police station, and he helped out Elizabeth and Amanda.
Here in wrong number? things have moved along a great deal professionally for Amanda. She’s now doing security clearance checks – not just surveys of possible werido gurus of kabal or whatever.
Amanda has been diligent and thorough with Will and his clearance. Also, Billy has not asked Lee to keep an eye on Amanda!
But.. Lee seems to be stuck – I think he sees Amanda as being the same with Elizabeth Sullivan and Will Towne.
She met him, she thinks he’s a nice man.. so she thinks he is innocent.
When in reality- had Lee actually paid better attention to those reports, he would have seen Amanda has been thorough, and had not just taken his word for it that he was from Culpeper, she would have checked the documentation.. (‘Or so he told you’ i.e. you believe anything on face value!)
Here, the stakes are much higher.. professionally and personally.. they are both much more deeply invested in this outcome.. and it’s interesting to see how far they’ve come personally from Over the Limit to here..
and how far they’ve come professionally.. Amanda has progressed, but Lee’s view of Amanda professionally seems stuck back in Over the Limit.
This being stuck is what I’m currently pondering…
Oopsie sorry this is so massive!
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Yes.. I’m replying to myself 😉
Just wanted to add.. this would be ‘right’ – and I think Lee has attempted to do this.. but he has IMHO he has failed!!! because.. he is stuck with a view of Amanda and her professionalism that is clouding his judgements here..
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I agree, I guess I am lead to ask “why is he stuck?”
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I think he’s stuck because he wants to protect her because he’s falling in love with her. I think he thinks he is protecting her from making a career mistake and a very big mistake for the security of the country. I think he’s stuck because he can’t get past the idea that she might not need protecting. I think I mentioned this in a reply to one of your earlier comments in this thread or post.
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No apologies necessary, you said it so much better than I could.
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awh thanks Cindy!
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Agreeing with all of you. I’ve been struggling with this Lee attitude and what to make of it. I think I need to sit down and watch some Lee-soft scenes to get over this irritating side to him. I think it’s just as you all have said. I also think it’s the opposite of Burnout… This is what happens when you give him ‘too much’ idle time.
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edited… i.e., that ‘too much’ idle time refers to the 5 days off before hand. I also wonder if Amanda came back before him and got this assignment from Billy, then took over his office just before Lee returned.
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I like this theory of Mr. Crankypants Lee (not that I condone it). I know it is harder to keep my wonderfully sweet and sunny disposition (stop laughing!) when hubby is around the house for the summer.
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I think both KJ and BB do a brilliant job in this scene – I especially like BB’s facial expressions (maybe because I take KJ’s brilliant facial expressions for granted a bit??). I wouldn’t like to be on the wrong side of an argument with him
Agree with everyone – a total “flooding” of emotions from the personal into the professional. On thing that strikes me is that they’ve given away how close their relationship is to Billy. Only to my closest family members or other half would I ever lose it to this extent. And thank goodness that was never at work!! Must be hard for those who work with their thier romantic partners…
IMHO, Lee is almost entirely in the wrong here 😦
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It’s almost as if these two were a ticking bomb and it just exploded. Whatever the issue was it just went from simmer to boil in very short order. What did happen during those 5 days? Things seemed fine with them in the beginning and then BAM! Maybe Lee found a rating that Amanda was working on about him and didn’t like his score. It’s amazing that Jango is readily believed and Amanda’s thoughts are a fantasy. Lee can’t seriously be questioning Amanda’s professionalism. Yeah, this has got to be personal. Maybe Lee’s statement about Amanda is really about himself. His personal feelings and professionalism are starting to get cloudy. I love how Amanda stands her ground. Billy is certainly getting an eyeful of these two. I do like how Billy handles the situation. And he doesn’t just go along with Lee or ignore Amanda. Amanda and Lee so remind me of how my students sometimes act when they argue and are trying to prove their point to one another. They think talking over the other one makes them right.
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Yes, my thought is that Lee referring to “personal feelings getting in the way of professionalism” is more a commentary on how Lee Stetson is feeling in his efforts to keep that statement from applying to him.
Plus… I think he’s tied his tie too tight this morning – Uptight (everything’s not all-right) 😉 (Thanks to the Master-Blaster Stevie Wonder for my take on his lyrics, which seem to fit Lee right about now.)
Love how Amanda gives as good as she gets – and better. Lee hasn’t fired a shot that Amanda hasn’t deftly and decidedly deflected. Bet she’s the first woman who hasn’t fallen in a puddle at his feet. You go girl! 😀
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I agree, Valerie, that the root of this must be in the mystery five days. Did it start with Amanda being given “authority” over Lee during that time period? Maybe he found that harder to process than we think and he’s trying to reassert himself as top dog (or top agent 😀 ) to Amanda’s romantically and agently (?) less experienced, um, dog. I mean person 🙂
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Not sure if this came up earlier, but I had a thought this morning that maybe Lee’s comment was a throwback to how Amanda handled the 5 days. Maybe Lee wanted things to be more personal and Amanda wanted to be more professional. Maybe she told him he was letting the personal interfere with the professional and he’s throwing it back at her now. Maybe during those days he asserted his need to always be right by saying that her superior status was only temporary. I don’t think they argued like this, but maybe there were little subtle comments here and there like the one in the Q Bureau. And now things have just escalated. That little boy that’s trying to grow up has reared its ugly head again.
We know that we can see Lee falling deeper and deeper for Amanda, but for some reason she still seems to be holding back a bit, sort of keeping him at arm’s length. Maybe she’s still waiting for that little boy to grow even more. Maybe that’s why she won’t give him a rating yet, hypothetical or otherwise.
The 5 day assignment was given by Billy and so was the upgrade so once again, maybe those comments back in the Q Bureau went back to how Lee felt about Amanda only being humored by Billy. What’s so awesome though is that you can see so much more just bubbling under the surface with “these two” as Billy might say. Even though they argued back at the condos, that immediately disappeared when danger arrived. That caring came out loud and clear. And while there is surface tension here, Billy can see there is way more going on than just this case.
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“What’s so awesome though is that you can see so much more just bubbling under the surface with “these two” as Billy might say. Even though they argued back at the condos, that immediately disappeared when danger arrived. That caring came out loud and clear. And while there is surface tension here, Billy can see there is way more going on than just this case.”
Love this part Valerie
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“Maybe Lee’s statement about Amanda is really about himself. His personal feelings and professionalism are starting to get cloudy.” Yep, I recognize that character flaw in myself and completely agree that is what Lee is doing here… reprimanding himself by reprimanding Amanda. So agree that Billy’s handling of this is wonderful — so managerial, so tactful, so cutting-out-the-emotion and keeping to the facts.
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Your screen caps of Billy are priceless. And way to go Amanda! I am shocked (get it?) that we can’t literally see the sparks flashing between them — electricity between these two is palpable.
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This exchange is one of the reasons I like this episode. Maybe we miss some of that S1 and S2 sparring? Plus this time, it’s got the added fizzle of steaminess. Ok, that mixed metaphor didn’t work but it’s like an active version of the car scene in Filming Raul.
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Yes to this scene being a big reason to like this episode! And yes to missing some of the S1 and S2 sparring! So nice to see sweet Lee recently emerge, but real life isn’t all sunshine and roses. So glad that SMK has decided to stir the pot like this. (Although 30+ years ago watching this in real time I would have been crushed: Oh, no, looks like the long-awaited, much anticipated first kiss isn’t going to be happening in this episode either! Oh, script-writers, don’t you DARE break them up! Oh, wait, maybe there will be a big, romantic make-up kiss at the end of all this!)
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