It’s tag time and it looks like the Q bureau is decked out for a little Chinese take away celebration.
Very fitting given it was Chinese take away that saved Towne from a permanent stay in Moscow!
I guess it also saved Francine the same fate sorta.. no?
I gotta say, seeing people try to eat with chopsticks off a normal dinner plate cracks me up. It just looks wrong to me.. but.. hey kudos to everyone for looking competent with using them 
Francine: Oh, I haven’t eaten for days. This is fabulous.
[Francine showered, changed her clothes, did her hair and makeup, and waited until the next day to eat?!]
Lee: Well, I’m certainly glad that Amanda recognised the recipe or Dr Towne here would be aboard an Aeroflot airliner heading for Moscow right now.
[Awh!!! great to see Lee acknowledging Amanda’s achievement in front of everyone involved and giving her credit where credit is due It’s wonderful to see that he is proud of her.. and no bruised ego is more powerful than that]
Sonia: Would you really have had him deported?
Towne: Not deported Sonia – traded.
Hey.. I’ve seen that tie Towne is wearing before.. It’s pretty distinctive..
Yep.. so kind of Lee to gift him with one of his ties to say sorry for the whole almost shipping you off to Moscow thing!
See.. here it is! Lost and Found (the episode, and the tie!)
I don’t doubt there are many more tie swaps going on that I would never noticed..I just hope they are not doppelganger ties being wrongly swapped.. eek! I wonder if we’ll get another tie patrol post one day? KC you are always welcome!!! when the mood strikes we’d love to see some Tie Patrol!
Sorry.. I digress..
Sonia: But what about his rights?
Lee: KGB agents don’t have rights. And that’s what we thought he was.
Francine: Well, I can tell you one thing. That is the last favour I do for Abernathy…
[that’s a great colour on Francine! even if it is somewhat astronaut like!]
… I can recall his exact words. He said, “It’s just a milk run. You’ll be back in Cairo in time for dinner.”…
(everyone has a chuckle)
…Are there any, ah, snow peas left?
Amanda: I’m sorry they’re all gone Francine.
Francine: Oh. Oh boy,…
…I need a candy bar… [Chocolate!]
(Francine puts down her plate and prepares to leave)
[Hey.. anyone else notice the little look Lee and Amanda share here as Francine makes this confession?!]
Francine (to Towne): …Listen, I want to thank you very much.
Towne: Oh no, you’re welcome.
(Francine leaves, Will and Sonia get up to prepare to leave also)
Towne (to Lee and Amanda): And you’ll have to excuse us. Sonia and I have to run.
Amanda: Well, we certainly do appreciate everything that you’ve done. [Yes, we hope the tie is gift enough to show our appreciation ]
(Lee and Amanda get up and walk them to the door)
Lee: Yes, and once again,…
(Lee holds out his hand to shake Will’s)
…I hope you won’t hold a grudge.
(Will accepts his handshake)
[Speaking of grudges.. Gregory is still out there.. and umm might still want Towne no?! Plus, Popovich is still alive also.. I think they could have done a part 2 to this episode!]
Towne: I’m just— I’m just glad everything turned out okay.
Amanda: Yeah.
Smiles all around!
I just hope the KGB got that bug out of the Towne’s house.. or that the agency did a good sweep and found it.. 
Lee: Okay, bye bye now.
Sonia: Bye.
Amanda: Bye bye.
(Will and Sonia leave.. )
…Well—
(Amanda closes the door.. and could Lee’s smile be any bigger?!)
Lee: Yeah. [I bet Lee is happy to see the back of that tie.. he never liked it anyway as it reminded him of Evil Eva!]
Amanda: There you have it.
Lee: mmm hmmm..
(Amanda goes back to her food.. )
…I knew he wasn’t KGB.
Lee: You knew?
Amanda: Mmmhhh.
Lee: Mmmm, that’s pretty strong…
[LOL yeah! because at one point Lee ‘knew’ he was a Russian spy!]
…You were fairly certain…
…but you really didn’t “know”.
Amanda: Oh,…
(Amanda shakes her head)
…you know me too well.
Lee: No, no, wait, listen to me Amanda will ya?
(Amanda’s giggle here as he asks her to listen is too cute.. she’s having fun! Flirting with Lee and simultaneously using chopsticks. Is there anything this woman can’t do?! )
Amanda: What?
Lee: Most of the time we only think that we know…
…Therefore,…
…I can’t really know you too well. 
You can see the moment Amanda decides to act..
Amanda: Exactly..
…my point.
Amanda is focused on that mouth and making him eat his words! haaaaa!!!
A cute ending.. what do you make of it?
What’s her point?
lol Lee catches on quickly and opens his mouth happily to accept the Moo goo gai pan
I think Amanda’s point is that Lee doesn’t know her as well as he thought.. he only thinks he does… and the episode’s events showed him he still had much to learn I think?! lol… yeah.. I’ll go with that..
And I look forward to hearing you guys put it all together brilliantly!
Overall I’ve really enjoyed this episode! I do like episodes which relate to Amanda’s professional progress (and thus see Lee/Amanda personal progress also).
It’s funny.. I’m finding on this walk that eps I didn’t think overly about before the walk – I’ve discovered a real enjoyment of!!! [and yes.. okay the opposite is occasionally true- but I’ll focus on the positive here] This ep, along with Welcome to American Mr Brand I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into! Wrong way home and playing for keeps are some others.. I hadn’t really connected with these eps till this walk.. and so too with Wrong Number. It’s definitely the right number!
Plot craters? I didn’t find any that mattered to me.. it all fit okay.. and I loved seeing the agency come up against a clever baddie!
Oh and what of Lee’s rating? They didn’t come back to that! Hmm maybe in a future episode we’ll find the answer!
What did you all think? Lastly – and very importantly – A huge thanks to Kiwismh who transcribed the dialogue of this episode – Kiwismh, we salute you!!
Thanks for reading everyone and looking forward to hearing what you think. Bye!
"Just walk with me.." 
Wrong number is one of my least favorites for several reasons. If you think the best in an ep is the baddie it probably says all. Even though Gregory makes a great baddie. I think the tag is insignificant and boring. Even if we don’t watch SMK because of its well-thought-out logical plots this one is IMO one of the worst. All of you have already pointed out enough details why. But most of all I don’t like Lee behavior is the ep. He is outright rude and dismissive. Even if there were some tension lasting from the 5 days of forced rest with Amanda being superior to him I don’t think he would react that extremely and than make a 180 turn out of the blue. This is a reason why I don’t like this ep esp. after Triumvirate. It’s like not only a step but rather a big jump back from him like S1 Lee had returned (nearly as bad as in TAD).
I don’t really know where it would fit best. But I put WN before Triumvirate during my re-watch (I try to get through all eps so I can restart when the walk restarts too.). It still feels wrong but after TPE I could at least ímagine Lee thinking ‘on no not again’ Amanda believing everything she is told although she should know/have learned better by now. He conveniently forgot that Rupert was right and Amanda found even prove for his story (sleeping pills). Well, there’s a reason he is the Scarecrow. But maybe it could work even earlier.
The other reason I think this ep doesn’t fit here is the upcoming ep TBTCBK. Will come back to that thought when I’m there.
LikeLike
I must say I love this blog and I love all your perspectives. This show is a great pleasure of mine since I started watching it in 5th grade. This episode made an impression on me way back when and I remember it well from my first watch. It is a favorite episode of mine. With that, I am very surprised so many don’t like various aspects of this episode. (On the plus side, It is always FUN for me when one of my lesser favorite episodes is one of your favorites—this happens often– because you all show me new perspectives.) I am a very logical person and I believe I follow logic as a default (more than gut feelings). I also appreciate that once we/humans believe something, and follow the evidence, it is easy to continue thinking what we “know.” I have to give Lee great credit for changing his mind based on the MSG evidence—as that was the flimsiest evidence of all to my brain. As well, I love how he is sincerely sorry when he finds evidence that Towne had died. I do not fault Lee in the least for following the evidence that he saw or with being a bit frustrated—as being easily frustrated is probably one of my faults. Defending national security seems like a good reason to get upset to me! In the real world, Amanda’s over reliance on “gut” would actually be a weakness. In the real world, it was probably more likely that Amanda would have been wrong. The tag was “not-bad” and the disagreements with the coming back together interspersed with compassion and respect make this episode one of my top 5. What a fantastic blog. You all are great.
LikeLike
Something about Lee’s body language and delivery in the “You can’t really know” scene reminds me so much of the late British actor Simon MacCorkindale, especially on Counterstrike and At The Midnight Hour.
LikeLike
I love it and I think it is so funny how different we all are! When you said this, Iwsod: “Plot craters? I didn’t find any that mattered to me.. it all fit okay..” I actually snorted! I’m in the camp with those who hardly ever notice plot holes until you point them out and even then, they don’t bug me that much, but this episode has always been the exception! I remember watching this one as a kid and just scratching my head at the big MSG reveal that seemed completely pointless. I think it’s the only plot hole I ever noticed on my own! That combined with all the fighting, mean Lee showing up a couple times, and this IMHO lame and incomprehensible tag makes this one of my least favorite episodes. And to top it all off, they let Towne walk out of there unprotected despite the fact he would seem to be in serious danger of being kidnapped by the Russians! You did a great job with this walk-through and it was fun to see people enjoying this episode, but I’m sure happy to move on!
LikeLike
I have finally read all of the posts for this episode. Phew! And Yay! What I noticed about those lines of the tag this time was that Amanda had started talking about Towne – that she knew he wasn’t KGB and as Lee reacted to her statement and his observations about knowing versus being fairly certain he switches his reference to his knowledge of Amanda herself. I kind if think that is what was at the crux of this episode for Lee. And I think if he took the time to think about his behavior over the course of the previous few days he would recognize how much he has to learn about himself too. And I think he is mature enough now to learn from the experience. Amanda, too, I think is fascinated by her own growth and what she sees happening with Lee. And I love her continued playfulness here, its rooted in confidence and appreciation for the man that Lee is as well.
And I am going to keep my ears open for the word “know”. It ties in so well with the spy world and their preoccupation with the “need to know” bit, but the thing I keep thinking is that Lee has never really let anyone know him or felt a need to really know another person, until now. Lets see what happens with Lee’s “need to know” Amanda. And I can’t help thinking about the way the word “know” is used Biblicaly as well? Yes I am talking about backgammon and the Bible in the same sentence 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve reached the end of my rope here. I’ll just say that this tag has always been sort of meh for me. When the series first aired, any tag that did not involve romance or a potential kiss at this point in the series just left me feeling frustrated. Even now I still can’t seem to muster the energy to analyze it. Then again, I am dead tired and need to go to bed. I’ll see about getting back here soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lee was all over the place in this episode in regards to Amanda’s role as an up and coming rookie agent. At the beginning he’s pooh-poohing her assignment. He then barely glances at the report, but tells her it’s good work and even wants a ranking, which she hesitates to give. Then he tells her that being referred to as the agent of record was kind of a stretch. They have that big fallout where Lee says Amanda is letting her personal feelings get in the way. He’s a jerk to Towne and further irritates Amanda. He finally is back to the great work that Amanda did as the agent of record.
Lee seems to think that he knows Amanda and tries to make it seems like he does. He’s back to the having to be right that Amanda mentioned about him earlier. Ultimately what we’ve seen most of all the past few seasons is Lee as a work in progress and the changes he’s made. They’ve been more obvious and easier to track. Even though he seemed quite hesitant at first to open up, Amanda has been able to get more out of him, including in the first episode when he revealed something about his previous partner.
Amanda can still sometimes be an enigma. I think this tag is good for a look back and for some foreshadowing. In the other “Wrong” episode..Wrong Way Home, Lee mentions how he doesn’t really know Amanda as well as he thinks or would like to. He knew about her recent present, but not the past. He learned more but not everything. I think that for as open as Amanda was at the time Lee still didn’t get a complete story about the Joe situation or how she dealt with it. Here we have another “Wrong”, a Wrong Number. Maybe the tag is telling us that while Lee thinks he has Amanda figured out he’s got the wrong number. There’s much more to learn. Amanda is sort of letting him know that he still doesn’t have a complete picture of just who she is. And that is why she is able to keep him on his toes and keep him attracted.
I think the tag was a bit unwieldy and awkward, but Lee and Amanda had a few awkward and unwieldy moments in this episode.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Wow, I like this – a lot, Valeriejw! 😀
LikeLike
I like the episode for the reasons you gave, Iwsod… I like that it shows Amanda’s professional growth. Not a great tag though. I’ll concur with Raffie’s thoughts on it. I did chuckle about Francine’s request for candy bars. Who knows how long she had to go without her chocolate? 😉
Amanda’s chopstick with food was a polite little, “shut up, Lee.” That was cute. Not sure on that dialog either. Lee saying, “Most of the time, we only think we know…” seems like his way of trying to back her down again. Like her instincts didn’t pay off in this case, but they did. He’s trying to re-establish that he is the senior agent and his instincts are key, but Amanda’s responding with a, “yes, I know Lee, and I still had it right (‘now shut up and eat some Moo Goo Gai Pan’). I think I’m calling this harmless bickering. Like an old married couple, which has been brought up in this episode discussion already. This matter will be dropped quickly and they’ll be onto something else at a later time. Maybe they’re at that stage? I don’t know, I sort of thought this was the cute/smug ‘I kinda like you more than just a little‘ stage.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The tag as scripted sounds as though it’s referencing some scene that we didn’t see. It also is very reminiscent (to me) of Sour Grapes where Amanda said that she should have known that the chef was guilty because she overcooked her croutons. More culinary clues. I guess it’s hard to make tags continue to be fresh and unique, especially when nearly 50 episodes in to a show. There are parts of this episode I really like, but overall I find it overly confusing, right down to the tag. It reminds me of stories I would write in igrade school — lots of intrigue and plot twists and action as the story began, but at some point I would either get bored or run out of time or both, and rush through some random and abrupt wrap-up. So I am ready to continue our wonderful walk — is that a King that I see ahead on the Trail?!? How exciting!!
LikeLike
Hiya Raffie, as always great to hear from ya! Even if this ep isn’t a fave.
I think I must have been in the mood for walking through this kind of ep!
I dont’ expect complicated plots from smk.. or at least.. ones that make sense haaa…
But I was in the mood for something to sink my teeth into for this one.. maybe because of it’s implications for Amanda and her professional progress… which I love 🙂
LikeLike
What strikes me about this scene is – why does Francine ask about snow peas and then when she finds out there are now left, she wants a candy bar. Surely that’s the wrong way round. I like snow peas, I love chocolate. And I think Francine agrees with me 😉
I find Amanda and Lee’s exchange right at the end quite incomprehensible and obscure. Cute but unclear. Did they get the wording exactly right?
In the SMK-land script, it is totally different.
Amanda: I knew he wasn’t Russian all along
Lee: Oh come along, Amanda, how could you have known?
Amanda: Whoever heard of putting soy sauce on Borscht
Yup, clear as mud. At least we get some flirting in the filmed version. Even though I don’t understand what Amanda is getting at…
LikeLike
Even though I don’t understand what Amanda is getting at…
You and me both. This Tag scene always bugs me because it seems like no one could come up with an idea for how this episode should end.
Why the Chinese meal in the Q-Bureau? I guess Lee’s gesture to Towne to mend some fences, but why not go to a restaurant?
The dialog seems forced and pointless.
I think I need the mighty “imagination” and “making right” powers of Morley and Jestress to help me appreciate this scene more (or at all!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the Agency could at least foot the bill for dinner at a flashy Chinese restaurant for the Townes after what they’ve put Will through.
LikeLike
OK, I have to say it: the Agency owes the Townes a night on the Towne 😉 (I can hear the gagging sounds across the JWWM universe)
LikeLiked by 4 people
No Learjet I was laughing!!!! Good one!! I love a good pun!!
I love it when we go to ‘Towne’ with puns here on JWWM 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, how about this:
After they rescued Francine, everyone went back to the Agency. They took Francine to the Agency’s infirmary where they had her checked out to make sure she was okay. When they told Lee and Billy that the worst parts of her condition were that she was overtired and underfed but that she was okay to handle food, Lee said, “Leave it to me, I’ll be right back.”
Francine probably had an extra outfit stashed away at the Agency, so Amanda got it and helped her get cleaned up. Billy probably showed Towne where he could freshen up and gave him some spare clothes that he could borrow, which may be how he acquired Lee’s old tie. 😉
By the the time everyone had cleaned up and changed clothes, Lee was back with Towne’s wife and their Chinese feast. Francine was probably too exhausted to go out to eat, so Lee just set up everything in the Q Bureau and brought Towne’s wife to him because he knew they’d want to see each other as soon as possible. Towne was also hungry, and it gave them a chance to talk things over in private and hopefully soothe the Townes’ feelings a little.
Towne still seems a little awkward around Lee when Lee says that he hopes he won’t hold a grudge, but I think that he’s proud of the role that he played in saving Francine’s life. Now that he’s seen a little of what it’s like being a spy and what they have to deal with, it’s calmed his earlier anger, and he can tell himself that even though it was rough, it was all in a good cause.
LikeLiked by 6 people
LOL, I love this, Jestress! The more I read this, the more plausible it sounds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And thanks to Amanda Lee would know to leave the MSG out of the food 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh boy, that would have been awkward if he forgot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Would that make Lee a Russian spy if he’d forgotten about the MSG?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Plot twist! O.O
Come to think of it, people who are guilty of something often try to cover up by accusing others. Weren’t people asking earlier about the possibility of a Lee double? 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
haaaaa good one! or.. should I say good two!
LikeLike
Wahahhaaa!!
I’m pretty sure after the MSG thing kept Towne from being shipped off to Russia, he never ever forgot to ask for no MSG 🙂
LikeLike
Kudos for attempting to plug this crater Jestress! 🙂
For me, there’s no way to get around the fact that… not only did Francine have a change of clothes at the agency.. so did Lee, Amanda and Will 😉
Okay.. clearly Lee provided a tie.. but.. the rest of their clothes? I’m pretty sure after that shoot out Will would have been in need of some new underwear 😉 tee hee..
I figured Warner Bros didn’t want to ‘fork’ out for a Chinese restaurant set – so they went with Chinese takeaway in the Q bureau. that works for me.
LikeLike
Awww. Kiwismh, I wish I had those powers right now. But it is Friday after all, and even though I have two costumes to make and a houseful of people i had to drop by the blog ( I miss it SO much!!). I wanted to know what all you brilliant SMK lovers made of this tag.
I love what Valerie wrote. And in my own head I keep thinking that there has got to be something about this word “know” and the whole “need to know” business in the spy world. I don’t have time right now to really wrap my brain about it, but I sure would love the luxury to do just that. In fact I am determined to make a way and my family should be just as determined because I may lose my marbles if I can’t find time to exercise my SMK brain soon.
But, yes, to Valerie’s ideas about Lee realizing that he doesn’t know as much of Amanda as he wants to, or even needs to. And a quick remark to say that for a person who needs control in order to maintain emotional safety to be able to realize that he doesn’t know the person he is being drawn too completely is a huge step. But I think lee still may be hiding that realization behind their professional relationship at this point. Not so sure about Amanda, except I think that she is enjoying keeping Lee off center and drawn to her. She knows she is safe, but she loves playing with him.
But I really want to look at the rest of the posts before I go further. And I sure have missed my in box being peppered with JWWM comments. Wow! does it feel great to take the time to write a comment!!! JWWM therapy, just made my Friday!!!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Hey Morley! I’m missing the blog and missing hearing from you more regularly too! but.. it’s always great when you can sneak in a little visit 🙂
yeah the knowing thing is all I got out of the tag.. and.. Amanda keeping Lee on his toes and off balance! I’m enjoying watching Amanda’s new confidence.. I think the professional achievement is giving her more confidence as his equal in all ways 🙂
LikeLike
I’ll have go figuring this one out..
Francine asking about snow peas is a ruse. She doesn’t reeeeeaaally want snow peas. she just wants an excuse to leave and go find a chocolate!!!
This is why Lee and Amanda share a look at this moment. sure Francine. you’re sad about no snow peas? okay go hunt down your truffles, bonbons, éclairs,kisses… anything she can get her hands on. she looooves chocolate! 🙂
LikeLike
Francine is a gal after my own heart. 😉 Nice that Lee and Amanda went along with her little ruse.
LikeLike
Or how about it’s not really Francine after all? It’s Magda, minus the accent and with dyed and permed hair! Francine’s actually still being held by Gregory – that’s why he “gave up” that easily at the tunnel. Plan A failed – go with plan B. Gregory does strike me as the kind of guy who ALWAYS has a plan B. And Magda could easily be worked on by Gregory if he threatened to hurt her mother and sister … Oh boy, just what I need. more fanfic ideas …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that would be good! XD
I think they tried a similar trick on that Get Smart episode where KAOS and CONTROL kept kidnapping each other’s agents. It started with Sigfried trying to trade the Chief for a secret weapon. Smart tried to hand over a dummy of the weapon, but then, they just gave him a dummy of the Chief in return. That’s why they then escalated to kidnapping other people from each side until only Smart and Sigfried were left. XD
LikeLike
I honestly could not remember what this tag was. Seems kinda intimate for Amanda to share her food with her chopsticks and they haven’t even kissed this season. Makes you wonder what their characters are doing behind the scenes 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, exactly! When did this start and how did I miss it???
LikeLiked by 1 person
Didn’t they drink from the same glass in a S1 episode? They’ve been sharing spit without giving it a thought for quite a while, me thinks. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can think of one time.. there may be more..
But Lee drank from Amanda’s champagne glass once she goes in to meet Magda in Dead Ringer.. yep.. another doppelganger ep!
LikeLiked by 1 person
haaaa I like where your thoughts are headed 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Abernathy must be way in over his head in his current assignment if he thinks Francine can be in the backof beyond of Afghanistan for a pickup and still be back in Cairo in time for dinner! Bet if he’d been the one nabbed, Billy would have just shrugged and left him with Gregory.
LikeLike
Yep, that would have made a very short episode though. , Okay, has Abernathy been mentioned in previous episodes or am I thinking about fan fiction stories where he tends to much things up as much as Fred Fielder?
LikeLike
Maybe if Francine was in New Zealand she might make it back for dinner…but the time difference of 2 and a half hours between Egypt and Afghanistan would have made it more like breakfast than dinner 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that you actually stopped and figured that out 🙂
LikeLike
I think it only became something bigger because of operation sliderule.. it really actually was suppose to be routine stuff.. errr if arms deals could ever actually be routine!
LikeLike