We see what’s left of Amanda’s car arriving at IFF.
Oh wait.. Funny. No damage! 
On to the Q Bureau, we find Lee and Amanda entering, Amanda mid flow.. and Lee just silently listening. LOL you can just guess this is right in the middle of an Amanda ramble!
Amanda: So I finally got Mother and the boys on the train … and I got the estimate on the car..
[Is this later that day? I guess it must be.. Lee listens but goes about his business, collecting something off his shelf
– btw the socks? the shoes? ick!!! Lee No!! ]
… and it’s only a hundred and twenty-five dollars, well, the guy gave me three hundred dollars. Now… I have a hundred and seventy-five of his dollars and I don’t think I should keep it. 
[Lee has gathered what he is looking for and turns back to his desk. Um are they slides he is holding? remember those?!]
Lee chuckles: Heh. What, are you bucking for sainthood?
[Lee isn’t critical I think. He just jokingly points out that maybe she’s going a bit over the top no?
Lee is so patient with Amanda and her being all worked up. Such a difference to season 1 Lee!]
Amanda: Yeah.
(Amanda chuckles too.)
[Good to see she can see she is being a little ridiculous and laugh at herself.]
Lee: The guy took full responsibility, didn’t he?
Amanda: Uh-huh. 
Lee: Put the change down to aggravation.
[I’m torn! I am not loving this shirt, nor the jacket. I usually love Lee in lighter colours.. and more casual threads. But I must say.. I am missing the blazer and tie look..
I’d even prefer his double breasted phase than this look! sorry if you love it! ]
Amanda: No, it wasn’t really that much trouble and I got his license number… Uncle Wiggly’s birthday…
…that’s, uh, U-W-B-one-one-five, and I thought maybe you could just put that in the computer and get a name for me, huh? 
[If she has such great memory strategies, why did she make such a show of writing it down? I guess they needed a way to tell the audience that Amanda was taking note.]
Lee: What! Me?
Amanda: Yeah.
Lee: Hey, you’ve spent more time with that box than I have.
[Hey Lee, get with the program or you are going to get left behind!
Whoa. this is actually pretty unnerving. And highly illegal!!]
Amanda: Well I know, but Internal Security just put in a new AP-10 clearance and I haven’t made friends with it yet.
Lee: You realize it is against Agency policy to, uhhhh,…
[I suspect Lee doesn’t really mind.. the way he leans in like this as he makes this point is a bit flirty IMHO. Reminds me of the tag in J Edgar’s Ghost. Maybe Lee is hoping as a reward he’ll get dinner at Spencers?!]
…use the databank for personal business?
[That doesn’t sound so bad. Say it’s illegal and it sounds a whole lot worse! And how does Amanda respond?] We cut back to her licking her lips!
Thinking of a yummy meal at Spencer’s perhaps? whwhahahaa..
Amanda quietly: I know, and you’re not supposed to handicap the horses at Saratoga, either.
Such a contradiction! She’s going for the sainthood and doesn’t want to accept the extra $$ but is happy to bend the rules to get the guy’s details She never would have done this in season 1 or 2!
Lee reacts.
Hmmm what’s he up to?!
Lee: However, occasionally friends do favors for friends….
[Based on this dialogue in isolation, I’d swear I was listening to a baddie conversation here Just this once, favour for friends..
But because of the playful delivery it’s downplayed what they are up to here.
This ep has such a good vibe in my long term memory, I didn’t expect to see Amanda breaking the law! Umm how bout I tell myself it wasn’t breaking the law back in the 80’s and I’ll try and let it go okay? 😉 ]
… Didn’t you tell me that you used to write speeches for a congresswoman…
(we cut to Amanda reacting)
[It’s all pretty playful and flirty IMHO – or is it just me?! this scene does have a vibe of being after that tag in WN!]
..when Joe was in law school?
[Awh and Lee remembers 🙂 and uses it for his own benefit ]
Amanda: You want me to do your orientation speech. Don’t ya? 
Lee: Ahmm… 
LOL Lee is cheeky here! 
Amanda: We can make a deal.
[It’s the negatives that are gonna cost ya!]
Amanda IMHO tries to pretend it’s tough.. but.. nah..
She doesn’t really mind and can’t hide her big smile
Lee: Ahh. 
Lee doesn’t hide his enjoyment of this little game they are playing here! Awh! The scene ends here.
It’s all so cute for a moment I can forget the illegality of it.. just for a moment…lol!
I love that here Lee and Amanda are definitely on the same level. There’s no seniority going on here. This is some flirty repartee! I love that Amanda isn’t afraid to ask for a favour 
(even if I don’t like the actual favour she’s asking for!). Lastly, I love that in this scene, Amanda arrives pretty stressed out.. Lee listens.. and lightens the mood for Amanda.. helping her to relax and just enjoy some flirty fun Good husband material here me thinks thoughts everyone?
Oh hey – What was Amanda’s plan if she found the crash guy? say ‘hello! here’s your money! how did I find you? ohhh luck!!!’ eh?
Anyway.. I’ll pause here before we move on to the next scene.. any thoughts, comments, gripes, wishes, questions or illegal ideas you’d like to share with us? lol.. Bye!
"Just walk with me.." 
As others have mentioned, I love the playfulness between Lee and Amanda in this scene. I just adore them at this phase of the show. Lee sees Amanda’s value professionally a great deal, and rightly so – she is settling down and not getting as over “enthused” as she used to with her work. And they personally have such a flirtatious vibe that shows us the intensity of all that’s simmering between them that has yet to be addressed, but they do both seem to know it’s there and are enjoying the ride. I love her little chuckle at herself when he asks if she’s bucking for sainthood. So cute!
I’m in the not-a-great-outfit-but-who-cares-what-Lee-wears camp. 😁 Besides, as I mentioned in a TPE post, I’m sure all his time with the wonderful folks at Birchwood are getting him in a mature frame of mind. 😉
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Oh this is my favorite era of the series too. I wish we could have an extra season between S2 and 3 to see their friendship blossoming and then again to fit in between The Eyes Have It and this ep where they’re close but not QUITE romantic just yet. I adore their romance but I just want more of this too. And if I had my way, SMK would have run as long as L&O: SVU!
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While it’s almost a sidenote in this episode, what I found interesting and what I love about this scene is Lee pointing out how it’s against Agency policies when he so often thinks of himself as the rule breaker and Amanda as the rule keeper. There is another scene coming up in this episode in which Lee does something similar. Giving that Billy appointed him the speech to the newbies, Lee acting as sort of a “teacher” and/or rule keeper is definitely a little theme throughout this episode.
Clothing-wise I have to agree with the majority, his attire in most of S3 isn’t exactly Yowza! but this beige in beige combo needs a special kind of getting used to.
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Ugh – not liking anything about Lee’s outfit here, except for the fact that Lee is in it. I agree, iwsod, I’m missing the snappier tie/jacket look. I think for me it is because this whole outfit just looks cheap. As does Amanda’s. I think the S3 wardrobe budget took a serious hit.
It’s pretty ironic that Amanda is going to write Lee’s orientation speech for the new hires when Amanda is still wearing the blanket blank guest pass…..
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Squeeeee!!!! Looks like BJo is making her way through the current ep 🙂 Great to see life has slowed down enough to let you stop by BJo!! 🙂
I’ve got a work day ahead of me now, and replying to all the fab comments here is my carrot! So if I get to reply in the next 18 hours you’ll know I’ve been good and working hard haaaaaaa..
Hope you are all well!!!!
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Making my way through slowly! On to the next post! Hope you are working hard!
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Fabulous to see – at any speed 🙂
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Oh my gosh!!! that’s flippin hilarious!!!!!! 🙂 so true!!
Yeah the wardrobe is a bit blah isn’t it.. good thing Francine is never dull! 🙂
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I like this comfortable, flirty banter. And I like it that Amanda is comfortable enough with the Agency and her role in it to be able to ask to use the equipment. Just like I like it that Lee is beginning to embrace “normal”, Amanda is making Agency life a part of herself too. Illegal or not, that is what I notice here ( as I try not to notice the beige jacket and shoes on Lee. I hope he wasn’t inspired by the beige baddie in the last episode)
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Exactly. I even see a glow from him which is adorable. Sort of offsets the beige. Even just a little.
I also wonder if Amanda’s comfort level with the agency is gearing her up for a more permanent role? Might even explain why she missed the science fair? I’m sure she’s disappointed that she can’t be in both places.
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Sara, I really agree with you about Lee’s glow. How can that be acted? Its amazing? And yes, it does offset the beige, even though the clothes are hideous. Maybe they dressed him like that to help us focus on the plot:-)
Its funny about the science fair, I don’t think she is missing it at all:-) Seemed keen to rush them all out of the house imo 😉
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I wasn’t sure where to put this, either here or the last post, but since I was already here..I was thinking about the title of this episode today. I’m sure it’s related to the idiom of dead men telling no tales. Pirates of the Caribbean has ruined that one. Anyway, it’ll be interesting as we go to see if this dead man leaves a trail. He already blew it by running into Amanda, literally.
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LOL I dont like the outfit really anyway ( I can see why that young agent was all like “My dad has a pair of shoes just like that!” … implying that Lee’s style was OUT of style haha). Though I really dont care what Lee wears, he always looked/looks good to me ;). However, with Amanda, I prefer her hair down, to that half of it up thing she sometimes does (like how she had it in the Tag of J Edgar’s Ghost), I actually REALLY liked it when she cut it short, like she had it in Burn Out.
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Moderator announcement: Boxer colour and young agent warning! Keep to where we are in the walk everyone! I know it’s hard, but ultimately it make the walk more fun and fulfilling. End of Moderator announcement 🙂
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We may be able to grant a pass for the boxer color observation on a technicality. Didn’t we see a pair of lovely blue boxers in Savior? 🙂 Or is that my overactive imagination being stimulated by leggy Lee in a shorty bathrobe?
I thought at first Lee was getting tape reels off the shelf, but yes, I think they are slide carousels. I do enjoy the nostalgia of seeing things like that. Brings back memories of sitting in the brown paneled family room on Saturday nights eating a bowl of popcorn and watching slides of family vacations and holidays. Things sure were different when there were only 4 TV stations.
And I feel like I have to confess that I like Lee’s shirt. There is something about the multi-color wide vertical stripes of the 80’s that I love. As for the rest of the outfit, no comment.
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I do believe you’re right about Lee being in his boxers during the episode Savior where he is getting measured for new suits and Amanda walks in. I do believe they were a lovely blue 😉
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Yes {blush} – Raffie and Melissa R, you’re both right and I’m thinking of other blue boxers. Sorry, everyone!
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Didn’t we also see them in another S1 episode when he was in hospital – I forget which episode but he was concerned when Billy mentioned that there might be people who don’t like him, and Lee looked hurt and asked “Who doesn’t like me?” Or am I thinking of the same episode as you guys have already alluded to?
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Both “Savior” and the Damn Duck episode contained Lee in his nether garments…
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And both times his boxers were blue… ♡
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Nether garments – love it!
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I know, and you’re not supposed to handicap the horses at Saratoga, either.*
Love that line. 😀 And love this playful exchange.
In these days where we’re all under surveillance one way or the other (yes, Facebook, Google, etc, know more about you than you might think…) using the agency database to throw up a name so Amanda can do Sallee a good deed doesn’t seem particularly “bad” to me.
Agree with whoever said Lee looks like a senior citizen in those colours (and I use the word “colour” in the loosest possible sense). I see he didn’t follow mu advice to go home and change. He better not wear that get-up for the whole episode.
A thought just occurred to me – I wonder if he is wearing beige boxer shorts as well today?? 😉
Yeah, that’s me, face down in the gutter… again….
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I couldn’t resist commenting so guess I will join you in the gutter and add that if my near retirement brain serves me there is an episode where we get to see the color of a pair of those boxers 😉
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I wonder if he is wearing beige boxer shorts as well today??
Uugh!! What a weired thought….
I prefer thinking of him wearing his blue boxers. 🙂
guess I’ll join you in the gutter 😉
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yeah Amanda is such a cute, likeable person, I love how KJ plays her, I esp love the little wink she gives Lee in Utopia now when they get the drop on Saddler’s goons on that bridge! so funny! and in this episode, when she is all like “what to do in case of an accident, stay calm, great advice, no wonder this insurance is so expensive.” makes me LOL every time I hear it, the way KJ delivers it is so great!
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I was going to comment, but got distracted by all the things in the Q Bureau. See that plant holder thing on the wall above the filing cabinets – it was in Lee’s bedroom in Season 1.
And what did he do to win that enormous trophy ? We only used to get things like that if we won our bowling league. (I can see a “Walk through the Q” in my future !)
I thought that Amanda must have gone home after taking the fuse to the train station – after she got the quote for repairs, she decided to track down the man to give him back the money and decided to get changed to go into the office to get Lee to help perhaps.
I hope she is a quick speech writer – how does she know what to say to the new agents anyway ?
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😀 I can see that we need to add you our list of very observant JWWM commenters, SilverCorvette. A Walk Through the Q would make a great post, especially if we can find some of Amanda’s bits and pieces around there…
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I made a comment somewhere in this blog when I noticed things moving from the Q-bureau to Lee’s place. I’m sure that’s against agency policy too! 😉
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I want to salute all of you for being able to focus on the changes in Lee and Amanda’s relationship and their characters since the first season. As I was reading yet another wonderful post, I was thinking about my comments about Amanda suggesting to do something probably illegal for what she considered a good cause. Then I came to that last incredible screen shot and I went down that rabbit hole and I couldn’t find my way back out. Lee’s smile and dimples made my brain simply go blank and I know I was just staring at the screen. I must had a very audible sigh because my daughter asked if there was anything wrong. (Reminder to self to wait until that kid is not in the same room 🙂 I give Amanda a lot of credit for her strength for being to able to negotiate and deal and think on her feet like that with that smile in front of her.
I also really liked Amanda’s hair style in this episode. I am not a fan of the 80’s big hair and big shoulders. I also think she should have stayed with the red shirt and jeans. I know in the 80’s you had dress for work. At least I had to for teaching with a skirt or slacks and blouse.
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Can we use Amanda’s hair as a help when considering the episode order? Is this the first time in these end of season three episodes that we see this shorter, straighter do on her?
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I’m happy to see the Q Bureau again.
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Yep, but still no desk for Amanda in it…. 😦
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No desk and I think that’s a visitor pass attached to her belt. Shameful!
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Oouuch – that ‘visitor’s pass’ hurts in my eyes every time I see it. 😦
She is an employee and not a visitor – isn’t she?
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She is an employee and not a visitor – isn’t she?
That is/was actually my point when I made a comment in OBDOBD (15/19) regarding this matter. I still don’t think being part-time makes anyone less of an employee. At least it shouldn’t.
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I think it’s because for government jobs it’s a little different. She’s probably similar to what we call “Casual” in Alberta. Remember Lee seemed surprised she was at the office the day he and Paul Barnes argued. And the Visitor Status probably is more about her security rating than anything. She isn’t cleared to be everywhere in the building without supervision. We see that when she temporarily loses her pass on Photo Finish. But it does need a better name for “Temp” or “Casual” status. I’m guessing that wasn’t as much of a thing in the 1980s, so The Agency didn’t make a special category of badges for it.
What does that dizzy little thing who collides with Lee on You Only Die Twice have?
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I just wanted to add that I worked at a call center doing customer service for a cell company and we had “visitor badges” too, but the company was so strict with security that we didn’t really have visitors. Instead they were used your first couple days of training till your photo I.D. was made up and if you forgot your own badge, which happened to everyone more than once. A Team Leader would vouch for you with Security and you might get a mini lecture before being let in. And in our case all badges worked as key cards to go in and out as well. And you had to remember to turn in your visitor badge on your way home. Anyway, the name isn’t always a literal designation of your status.
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This is a nice playful scene…I like!!!
I guess she could always say, “We have our ways” to Sallee if he asked how she found him 😬 That then would make it very dangerous for her, oh wait that’s what happens quite fregrently, Amanda stumbles onto something that puts her in harms way and then Lee saves her. Well then if I had Lee saving me maybe I would willingly put myself in danger too😉
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As to legality: since these two are in law enforcement, it might not really be illegal. That’s maybe why Lee refers to Agency policy instead of law.
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That’s a good point- finding the name might be quicker using agency database but necessarily illegal. That sounds a lot better to me
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I certainly like the explanation too! Like Iwsod, I feel very uncomfortable with Amanda here. It really feels out of character…she is normally quite law-abiding. Although hasn’t she used Lee’s login a couple of times before, sometimes without him even knowing? Was it in WTAMB?
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Problem is I don’t actually mind the illegality of this scene. My logic was always that in the Agency they tend to bend the rules anyway, so Amanda asking Lee to find out the owner of the car didn’t bother me. And yes, I loved the repartee and the fact that although Amanda still rambles, Lee doesn’t dismiss her, or automatically roll his eyes. He’s definitely improving. And this scene I always think sets the tone for the rest of the episode (which we’ll talk about later.)
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No problem that we see it differently 🙂 I think what bugs me is that as far as they know this guy is a private citizen.. in the 80s I’m sure I wouldn’t have cared 🙂
Love it! yes no eye rolls.. no massive sighs.. it’s all lookin good 🙂
Great to hear from you anchoret.
byee! signing off for the night… you all have a great day!
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It bothers me too, its the kind of thing that very much annoys me both in real life and in television. I try to ignore it here as SMK doesn’t exactly pride itself on realism (just think of the undamaged car as you pointed out in the first screen cap) and also because both Lee and Amanda are being so sweet to each other and just generally lovable in this scene. (I don’t much like the light colours on Lee, the kind of drain him but he still manages to look really great). However, I would have preferred Amanda to have found out the owner details in an ethical way.
L and A are at a lovely stage in their relationship, its pure harmony.
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I kind of like that this scene kind of reaches back to the first season and what Lee said about how he and Amanda aren’t compatible because he’s a rule breaker and she’s a rule follower. Things have changed since then, and they’ve rubbed off on each other a little. Lee’s philosophy always seemed to be focused on what he had to accomplish, and he didn’t care much about what rules he had to break in order to do what he needed to do. Amanda, on the other hand, was always concerned about doing the right thing and not getting into trouble.
Now, Amanda has a good deed to do (returning the guy’s money), and she’s willing to bend the rules a bit in what she sees as a good cause. Lee reminds her that technically she shouldn’t do it, and she points out the things that he’s done that he technically shouldn’t have. They understand each other and end up compromising. I suppose that Amanda thinks that the man will be so glad to have his extra money back that he won’t be too concerned about how she found him to do it. That might or might not be true.
I don’t like Lee’s outfit today, either. I keep thinking of it as grandpa clothes. Actually, I think that it was my grandmother who had an outfit that color, with the matching shoes. Little Jestress was about three years old when this episode was filmed, so it’s entirely possible that my grandparents were on the cutting edge of fashion then.
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That is a good, she has changed from season one. I also notice that she’s changed her clothes☺ I am guessing after she put the boys on the train and got the estimate. I suppose because she felt it too casual for work (even though it was a much nicer outfit).
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I noticed her change of clothes,too, and wondered when she did it and why…
Wouldn’t she have dressed ‘properly’ first, if she planed on coming to the office after sending her family off? Or did blowing up Jamie’s fuse also blew up Amanda’s schedule? scratching my head
Must be late morning by now. Lee’s speach is due to one, isn’t it?
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Also dislike Lee’s outfit – I think you’ve hit the nail on the head about it being Grandpa clothes, Jestress. I’m not sure what is worse – the shoes or the jacket. And the shirt and socks follow swiftly behind them in awfulness. The shoes are a beige version of what 80s dentists wore in white…
I wish Amanda hadn’t changed from the red top (although I think Jamie might have been able to go camping inside those sleeves!). Those icy pastels, one of those skirts and the belt 😦 😦 😦
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It has seemed in season three that they’ve had Lee’s and Amanda’s outfits to coordinate. The outfit that Amanda changed into blends better with Lee’s. Although I like Amanda in red the red shirt would have stood out over Lee’s plain outfit.
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I saw a comment on the Shower Thoughts site that might explain Lee’s clothes: I used to think that my dad dressed funny because people lose their sense of fashion when they become adults, but now that I’m married and have young kids of my own, I realize that he just didn’t care what anybody thought of him anymore.
That might be it with Lee. He’s moving into a different phase of his life where he doesn’t care that much anymore about what people think of him. He’s busy with the Q-Bureau, which is in a less-populated part of the Agency, so he might not feel obligated to wear the more formal suits he wore down in the bullpen. He has Amanda, so he couldn’t care less about impressing the girls in the steno pool. So, he’s dressing more informally for comfort and functionality than for style.
But, yeah, I just don’t like the colors. 😛 You know, light-colored shoes show stains and scuffs much faster than darker ones. Just saying.
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I love, Jestress. Another sign of Lee’s devotion to Amanda is his bad clothes choices 🙂
It’s interesting because I’ve had this argument with my husband before: he asked me why I was “dressing up” and I said I was doing to for myself, whereas he thought I must be doing it to impress other people. I dress for me (well, at this stage of my life) not for others. Maybe this is a male/female difference? (What does it say about how I feel about myself that I”m in a tracksuit at the moment 😀 )
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The tracksuit probably says that you like yourself because you want to be comfy. I met people who spent their college years wearing sweat pants as much as possible and even wearing slippers as they shuffled across campus. Don’t ask me how they pulled that off. They must have either changed to shoes every so often or went through a lot of pairs of slippers.
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Learjet, I’ve had the same convo with my husband, except he thinks I dress up to impress other women/ Scratching my head on that one — I really have no idea how he thinks.
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I think I mentioned a few episodes ago how Lee’s wardrobe was starting to change. It’s like the closer he gets to Amanda, the more casual his attire. While I do like the sharp-dressed man, I find that he’s less stuffy in his more casual attire. I just wish the casual attire was more appealing and less blah.
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Even if he just took off the jacket, he’d look a little better. I really don’t like that jacket. I’m ignoring the shoes.
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Yeah, I’ve never understood why he wears those jackets all day. Unless he got so used to wearing the suit coats that he doesn’t think about it. Not a fan of the plastic looking coats that he wears no matter the color!
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I don’t mind the “illegality” either. And like happycamper says above, it’s against Agency policy, which is different than the law. Plus we all know that Amanda’s not going to do anything bad with the info. she gets anyway. If anyone is going to track me down, I’d rather it be a goodie like Amanda and not a baddie. I think we’re in an ethical gray area here. Not sure I would do what Amanda’s doing, but I don’t necessarily mind her doing it.
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And besides, it’s not like anything has ever gone wrong when it comes to Amanda and the agency computers (You Only Die Twice, The Triumvirate). What could possibly go wrong?
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Yeah, but neither of those was Amanda’s fault or initiative…surely she won’t cause something bad here???
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tee heee… Ahhh we all know the answer to that.. 😉
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Oh my word – Cindy that’s hilarious!! yep, Amanda and computers shouldn’t mix in smk land 😉
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fair enough!
Yeah it is a gray area it’s true..
we have privacy legislation here in Australia that would mean this is illegal without a warrant. I think. But maybe in smk land they don’t worry about oversight for spies 😉
The – it was meant to be for good defence! The end justifies the means huh! 😉
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