On to IFF, and we find Ms Walker patrolling the IFF perimeter along with the chirping birds!
We find a rather dishevelled Lee in the elevator with Beaman..
Lee: Just a simple trade off you said. You give her the ID phrase, she’ll counter. You give her the money, she’ll give you the microfilm, right?
Efraim: Not so simple.
[Kiwismh has noted – it says “Mr Perry” in the script but this is Efraim Beaman]
Lee: No, not so simple. The phrase was, “Hold me!”,..
[Oh rofl!! gee what could possibly go wrong?!
Sounds to me like the lady he was suppose to do the trade off with was trying to take advantage of her chance to have scarecrow hold her who wouldn’t?!]
…and the woman I thought was my contact turned out to be a vice cop with the Metro cop shop…
…Then things got outta hand pretty quick after that, believe me.
[oh this is funny!! I think it’s almost funnier because we don’t see it!]
(The elevator doors open and they exit)
Efraim: I hope the transmitter survived.
Lee: Yeah, well get the damned thing off of me will ya?…
(Lee points to his chest)
….I was supposed to pick up Amanda an hour ago.
[LOL Beaman starts to unbutton Lee’s shirt?! why wouldn’t Lee do that..I’m starting to wonder about Beaman
I love that in spite of what sounds like a bit of a crazy morning, Amanda and his commitment to her is front and centre on his mind ]
We find Billy and Francine exiting his office. Aie. what is she wearing?!
Billy: Actually, it shouldn’t take but a couple of hours to brief the King. Make him feel welcome, and review the World Status Report we compiled on Cap D’Far.
Francine looks at a piece of paper..
Francine: This isn’t much of a Status Report, Billy.
Billy: Well, Cap D’Far is not much of a country. She’s about the size of Rhode Island, population of less than a 1000 and strategically a zero. But King Edmund has a vote in the UN, and sometimes we need that vote. [Sooo strategically not a zero?]
Francine: Wait a minute Billy. It says here that Cap D’Far’s only export is fish bones?
Billy: You got it. The bones are crushed into a pulp that formed into a product called cuttlebone. You’ve seen them in bird cages. Birds use them to sharpen their beaks…
[Francine seems stunned by how lame this country is starting to sound!]
…I said it wasn’t much of a country.
Billy walks off leaving Francine to roll her eyes a little..
She collects herself.. this is starting to sound like a not so glamorous assignment huh!
Whahahahaa!!! We cut to Lee standing still as Beaman continues to undo his shirt buttons. Beaman.. is takin it sloowww….oh rofl. I’m sorry guys but my gaydar is going off with Beaman here haaaaa.. though lol I’m guessing it’s completely unintentional!
We hear Billy continue: …Edmund Spencer is a sovereign King but I don’t think he’s exactly what you have in mind.
Francine: Er, Royalty’s Royalty, Billy.
[Ah Francine is so dismissive here.. this is gonna be good! ]
(Francine sees the state of Lee..)
…Well, get lucky?
[I’m guessing she doesn’t mean with Beaman ]
(Lee chuckles…
then gives Francine an air kiss)
[Lee looks like he has a shaving rash. Someone give him some aloe vera stat! okay… I know it’s lipstick.. but it doesn’t look it
Is it just me or do people look hilarious when they are giving air kisses??!!!
Phew.. Hope Francine’s accidentally doesn’t hit Beaman ]
Francine wanders off so pleased with herself! Aie!
Billy: I hear you had a little run in with the boys and girls in blue, Scarecrow.
(Billy laughs one of his massive big booming laughs)
[Billy has the best laugh!]
Lee: (laughs, not genuinely) Ahhh ha ha!!..
…Girls?… (Lee starts to button up his shirt.)
[Oh don’t do that Lee.. Beaman wants to help! ]
…The one who jumped me could go one on one with the refrigerator and win.
Billy rolls his eyes
[I won’t include an image: Billy looks like he’s passing out after a run in with a refrigerator and he lost]
Efraim: This appears to be busted, Mr Stetson.
[Mr Stetson? Beaman calls him Mr Stetson? I would have thought he’d refer to his as Scarecrow. Is Lee senior to Beaman?]
Lee: Yeah, well, that’s not the only thing…
[What a brilliant one liner! ]
…I take it you didn’t tell Francine everything about King Eddie.
Billy turns to head back to his office.
Billy: I didn’t have the heart. Poor thing. Francine sees herself as Grace Kelly meeting Prince Rainier for the first time.
[whahahaa!!! yes.. err poor thing Hilarious!!! Billy is having some fun this morning with his team! haaaa!!! Billy is brilliant here letting Francine walk into a mess of her own making because she’s such a social climbing snob! Poetic Justice!
By the way – watch the top left corner of your screen as they enter the bullpen.. you can see the sound boom 😉 ]
Lee: You didn’t tell her about your last little brush with King Eddie? What was it – about 10 years ago?..
[oh lol.. suddenly Billy’s good mood has vanished! Lee remembers?! grrr..]
…You went undercover as his sideman for the DC Jazz Festival? Saxophone right?
Ha haaaa.. Lee’s turn to have some fun
Billy: That file is closed, Scarecrow.
They all head into Billy’s office.
Lee: What was your codename again – Billy the Bopper? Or something like that.
[lol the way Lee says ‘Bopper’ is flippin hilarious!! So.. seems they can have different code names depending on the operation huh?!]
Billy: (annoyed) Billy Bluenote!…
(Billy tanks a handkerchief out of his back pocket)
feigning disgust he orders Lee to: …Here, wipe your face.
Lee is having fun
Beaman? No fun!
Efraim: I’m going to need an M13 Malfunction Report on this.
Lee: Well, why don’t you fill it out, Beaman, I’m in a rush.
Efraim: What’d you get in this thing?
Lee: (sighs) I don’t know – champagne, turpentine
Efraim: I won’t ask. [Ummm I think you just did!]
Beaman leaves..
Billy hands Lee an envelope.
Billy: Here, a John Doe found at the Municipal Refuse Centre. Deceased.
[Whoooo is this connected to Amanda’s rummage sale?! tee hee.. btw in Australia we call them Garage sales. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a ‘rummage sale’]
Lee: Let’s see. Sanded fingerprints and bent passport. No Boy Scout.
[Ah so the rifle guy died did he.. guess those barrels had more than air in them this time!]
Billy: Which is exactly why State wants to find out who he is, and you know how edgy they can be these days.
Lee: Mmmm.
Billy: Listen, the man had this matchbook with him with the name Terry Wall written on the inside. Now there are three people with that name in the DC area, so, check it out.
(Lee has another go at wiping that lipstick off)
Lee: All right, I’ll get on it. I’m an hour late picking Amanda up, so I’ll…
Billy: Listen, if you’re going to meet Amanda, have her give you a hand. The work is piling up here…
…Knowing King Eddie, Francine is not going to last two rounds with him and then I’ll have to find someone to replace her.
[Already, I sense the guy is hard to keep up with.. and maybe errr great in small doses!]
Lee (feigning innocence): What about Billy Bluenote?
Billy Bluenote..
…is not taken in.. nor amused!
Billy: Button it!
The scene abruptly ends with that command.. lol I can just imagine Lee had an even more massive grin on his face in response!
I have a question guys.. if the lady Lee gave the ID phrase to was an undercover vice cop who thought he was trying to pick up a good time.. why does he have lipstick all over his face?! And.. did he get the microfilm? what was on it? Maybe it was the secret recipe to that lipstick and Lee needed a sample to confirm. ahem!
Okay guys.. I’ll pause here for the moment.. I’ll follow Billy’s order and errr Button it! errr at least until the next post
Can’t wait to hear from ya!!!!
Love Billy’s laugh! It goes all the way to his belly
LOL, iwsod, Lee is senior to everybody – including Billy!
Lee’s kissy-faced make-up seems a bit over the top. Would have have not looked in his rear view mirror on his way back to the Agency? Surely he would have been able to wipe himself off. I can’t imagine Lee walking into the bullpen looking like that unless he wasn’t aware.
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Yes, I thought the refrigerator was the football player. I think the other thing that was busted was Francine’s ego. Billy really set her up there, but I agree, it is her own ego that is doing the work there.
That lipstick and Lee’s beaming countenance in this scene has alwys bothered me a bit and I feel the need to make it work with what I believe is true with Lee’s emotional growth. Not sure how to do that though, but here goes. Maybe Lee has lipstick all over his face because he really tried to get away and so instead of giving the vice cop a good liplock the lipstick got smeared all over his face as he tried to remove himself from her grasp? and maybe he was just smug and happy with the fact that he wasn’t the old Lee that just went with whatever experience got thrown at him, just for the fun of it. I have to make him not thrilled in a playboy “love the way the women love me” sort of way…
I do love the way he just drops Amanda’s name like that, even with Beaman. But he really doesn’t seem like he is in too much of a rush. I guess its because he knows he already blew it. He doesn’t seem anxious about it though. Something seems rather settled in him concerning Amanda. None of that “not really knowing everything about you” vibe that we got in the tag of the last episode.
And I do like Francine’s outfit here. Love the Grace Kelly look.
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Nice mental gymnastics, morley. I always thought the second thing that got busted was Billy. Lee knows something about King Eddie and I think he knows that Billy wasn’t being completely forthright about him to Francine. Billy is a bit too vague on King Eddie. Billy doesn’t say anything about his past undercover work with the King, so it seems like he’s leaving something out. When he walks away from Francine after telling her Cap D’Far isn’t much of a country, I get the feeling that he had to before he’d start laughing or something.
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I loved the busted gag 🙂 a great one liner!
I thought it was a reference to his busted up physical state.. or.. his ego 🙂
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I like your busted idea BJo. Is Lee calling Billy’s bluff?
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I never understood where the lipstick came from before this slow walk-through. I missed the significance of “hold me” – maybe my non-American ear didn’t hear it properly. I feel much better about the lipstick marks now I understand what happened…
Poor old Beaman – just trying to do his job. So pedantic. The good-looking, exciting guys always get all the admiration and credit and guys like Beaman just be laughed at and criticised…
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Lee seems very smug and pleased with himself, Ii think. He must have enjoyed his bout with the refrigerator (and thanks for that info cindy). I suppose the lipstick was from some other’ lady’ he used the code phrase on. I agree with Janet that his memory about his promise to Amanda had a real ‘missus’ feel to it.
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Francine’s outfit… She obviously dressed to impress. Maybe she’s hoping this time his country won’t be “too small?” (i.e., Gift Horse). Then Billy crushes that hope. I wonder if she’s missing her prince now?
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This is one of my fave SMK scenes because of the dialogue between Lee and Beaman – although my gaydar never picked up on Beaman undoing the buttons. 😯 Now I’ll think of that every time! Not that there’s anything wrong with that (to quote Seinfeld). I hasten to add that the nicest, most thoughtful, polite and attractive guys I’ve ever met have all been gay – ain’t that always the way. Anyway, live and let live I say, but I just prefer to think of Lee as straight.
Lee looks like he’s got a rash – a contagious looking rash! Did I say I liked this scene?
What was the other thing that was busted, Lee? Ouch!! I prefer to think he is referring to the drop being “busted” as opposed to any part of his anatomy.
… must drag self out of gutter…. sooo difficult 😈
I thought Lee was talking about an actual refrigerator- in other words, the lady cop who jumped him was “built like a brick outhouse” (as we say in NZ).
Agree with others who have noticed the way Lee has Amanda top-of-mind despite everything that has happened to him already today. Something else to like about this scene – he’s so much more responsive and responsible these days. A far cry from S1 Lee who would have just completely forgotten that he had agreed to give her a lift into work, or, if he had remembered, would probably have not prioritised her anyway.
I’m not liking the way Billy is so dismissive of another country – even a fictional country. Usually this sort of thing doesn’t bug me – it’s only SMK after-all – but maybe it reminds me of the attitude that has got the world in the mess it is today.
The dialogue around the deceased assassin is realistic “John Doe” “sanded fingerprints” “bent passport” – the sort of jargon that evolves within organisations.
Billy’s “Button it” is a bit tame (and lame) coming directly after the more realistic dialogue – I think he might have found a somewhat more colourful come-back, but this is SMK and PG, so such a colourful come-back will remain in my mind only. 😉
Francine’s shoulder’s look positively lethal in that dress! The Fashion Police have decided that wearing that dress is its own punishment, so we’ll let her off with a warning. 😎 8-|
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I don’t mind Francine’s ensemble, I’ve always like 1940s-esque fashion. 🙂
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I love 1940’s fashion too, but the 1980’s take on the 1940’s tended to over-exagerrate the angular. The 1940’s fashions were beautifully and sharply tailored but somehow also remained femine and alluring.
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I like it too – she looks to me as if she’s off for to Ascot. The only problem I have are the bit black buttons on the bodice (esp the ones at the back). Maybe it reminds of Amanda’s unfortunate S2 ear appendages 😀
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I kind of figured that Billy’s dismissive attitude about King Eddie’s country was partly to bring down Francine’s expectations a bit. Monaco is a small country with gambling casinos and a world-famous race. Cap D’Far is a small country that offers cuttlebones for bird cages. King Eddie is not like Prince Rainier. There is no chance that Francine’s afternoon with King Eddie is going to be like anything that Grace Kelly ever experienced. She really should have asked more questions when Billy started to tell her that the king isn’t going to be what she’s expecting.
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Billy is being somewhat mean with her here, but she kind of deserves it.
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For a guy in a hurry to go collect Amanda, Lee sure is dawdling with the boys’ club. It’s almost as if he knows he’s going to be in trouble with t’missus. 😉
Lee and Beaman – hmm, there’s a fanfic in there somewhere…but by someone else! LOL
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I like how Lee explains what happened to Beaman. He’s not the staid Lee he used to be and it’s starting to show more. He’s dressing a bit more casual and we’re not seeing the suits as much.
Always love a good Billy laugh. Poor Francine, always the social climber. The hat with the fishnet veil is killing me.
We have all kinds of sales here in the US where you can find awesome bargains–garage sales, rummage sales, estate sales, yard sales. Sometimes whole communities will have them at the same time so you can traverse several neighborhoods in one trip.
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Yeah, “garage sales” and “yard sales” are usually run by a single family at their house. “Estate sales” are when relatives sell off household goods when someone dies (like furniture and things that the relatives don’t want to keep out of sentimental value). “Rummage sales” are usually larger, run by a group of people, often to raise money for something specific like a church or Amanda’s “Save the Clams” club. 😉
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Francine’s hat and veil reminds me of the baddie lady in Sour Grapes!
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The evil Bee keeper!!! 🙂
Hiya BJo!
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Yep, that lipstick all over his face was bothering me. Worse than Beaman trying to unbutton his shirt (although that was a close second). Hey I’d volunteer for that job too!
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I’d also be first in line to volunteer for the job of applying those lipstick kiss marks. It’s a dirty job but… sorry, I fell into the gutter and lost my train of thought.
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I assume the Refrigerator reference was to a Chicago Bears football player named William Perry. He was a big man, over 150 kg/ 330 lbs and a huge (literally and figuratively) fan favourite.
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Just about to post that and you beat me to it, Cindy. My dad’s a big Bears fan. I was too back in the 80s.
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I was going to say something about The Refrigerator as well. This episode came sometime after the Bears won the Super Bowl that year and with BB being from the Chicago area I figured he sort of ad libbed that. I was excited to hear the reference as I was in Chicago teaching at the time.
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I agree too – you’re spot on Cindy with the reference to William Perry!
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