There’s lots happening in the hallways of the Hotel Monroe.
That’s an agent in a tux? Drat!!! Missed opportunity!! why was Lee not wearing a tux and attending!!!! 
Hmm did the script have Lee attending?
Oh well instead we have to watch him in his Beige day clothes 
We can see agents talking to guests.. and we find Amanda coming around the corner. She did well staying away! She must have been worried about Lee. Good to see she can leave him to get the dangerous stuff done with other agents backing him up. Is this further maturity? I think Amanda tends to not follow orders when Lee doesn’t have much or any back up. lol.
Anyway, Amanda approaches Billy.
Billy: Lee told me about the diary, Amanda…
…That was fine work.
[Squeeee!!! You can just picture it – Lee being quick to let Billy know about Amanda’s great work! Now this is a rather swoony quality – no wonder Amanda loves this man Early Lee didn’t want to tell anyone what Amanda was able to achieve!]
Amanda: Well, thank you, Sir, but actually Millicent McDonald did all the work, I just interpreted it. 
[I guess Amanda wants to remember Millicent – without her they never would have caught Sallee.. it’s a lovely way to honour her memory – plus it’s some Amanda humility]
Amanda and Billy share a smile as Amanda pays tribute to Millicent.
Francine walks up to join them, Lee following behind..
Francine: Sallee’s dead. [His light bulb has gone out]
And we see dead Sallee being wheeled out.
Lee: Killed by his own hand, huh.
[yeah.. poetic.. but umm doesn’t really make sense to me! whatev.. ding dong the baddie is dead! No, really!!! He’s actually dead! Honest! ]
Billy: Well, he who lives by the sword…
Sallee is wheeled past.. trailing away.. see there you go – dead men do leave trails, they just need some help 
LOL, Poor Van Kleef! We see Van Kleef all dusty and shell- shocked.
Van Kleef: Disaster. Absolute disaster.
[What’s he carrying? is that Viking spears?!]
Francine is still looking over at Lee to share a look in response to Van Kleef. But.. Lee isn’t engaging.. 
In response to Van Kleef’s devastation Billy says: Come on, Francine, we’ve got to mend some fences.
[Hoorah for Billy! that’s why he’s the boss. Savvy. A good man!] Billy isn’t asking. He’s telling.. he starts to walk off expecting Francine to follow.
As she walks off she says:
Francine: Don’t know what his problem is, look at my hair.
rofl! Hey, that’s a Francine I recognise! 🙂
Love Amanda’s silent reaction!
We hear Lee let out a chuckle at Francine. Yep.. what else can you do with her! I guess all this humbling is tough enough, but with bad hair it’s really tough for Francine!
Ahhhh Lee and Amanda.. finally alone 
What a day it’s been! Check out the body language here.. A word hasn’t been spoken between them yet, but the body language says it all – totally mirroring each other! 
Amanda doesn’t move. Lee takes a couple of steps forward to join her Yep… Lee you gotta take the lead here man!
Lee: Well, another day, another dollar, huh?
Amanda: Yeah.
They share a quiet smile.
Lee: What do we do for an encore after a day like this?
’we’?!
Amanda: Well, Mother and the boys won’t be home until tomorrow,..
…I have a couple of steaks…
Lee: You and me?…
…Your house, just like,…
(Lee playfully looks around)
… uh…a couple of normal people?
Amanda: Let’s give it a try.
(Amanda reaches for his arm.)
Lee: Yeah.
These two walk off arm in arm, two peas in a pod and.. adorable! So full of joy to have the chance to be two normal people together!
The scene ends there..
Well I’m full of anticipation! How about you?? Finally we’ll get to see what these two are like together now that they both seem to have embraced their feelings for each other and become comfortable sharing their romantic feelings.. It’s like up till now they haven’t crossed over into romantic couple territory – the opportunity to be alone, and to actually address what’s happened between them just hasn’t seemed to come up yet. They’ve been in the office, on a case, or wrapped up in work mode…. Not since that romantic scene in the triumvirate – where Lee watches Amanda read her magazine I think. And here we have – a chance for something to finally happen between these two!!!!!!
There is no way I’m going to rush this steak dinner.. I’m going to pause here. Hang in there! I’ll be back with the tag soon!
It’s really fascinating to explore where the story is- right at this moment.. not sure of what’s ahead, just hoping… and squeeing! And.. also quite anxious – will we be disappointed again?
So appropriate that recently (on 12 December, 2016) Iluvsmk commented on post 12/16 of Utopia now and shared how frustrating it was to have that near miss kiss!!! Great timing Iluvsmk!!! Here we are again!! will they finally have that kiss?
Anyone remember watching this ep for the first time? What were you thinking at this point??
One last thing – on IMDB Elyssa Davalos is listed (who played Lee’s former girlfriend Leslie O’Connor.) Weird! I was wondering, do you think maybe she was suppose to be one of the guests at this reception? and that she and Lee had a surprise meeting?? and Lee was well and truly over her?? Is there anything in the script about her?
Okay gotta run.. back with the tag really soon!! Just in time for Christmas 😉 Then.. we’ll start the next episode on 1 January 2017 🙂
"Just walk with me.." 
Why is it that some eps have the act finish on a freeze frame and a delightful scene like this had to fade out so we miss some of their expressions?
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Love Amanda’s acknowledgement of Millicent here, and Billy’s (and Lee’s) acknowledgement of Amanda. But once it’s just her and Lee and the looks and the way his voice sounds when he talks to her here….I genuinely forget everything else. ❤ How do they do that!?!? BB & KJ sure were something special together.
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100% in agreement. The scenes they shared just lit up the screen … every time!
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They light up the screen like the DMLNT chandelier! 🙂 they just explode and radiate light.. over and over and over… and they take out the bad guy while they are at it 😉
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Is multi-tasking taught at The Agency? I tend to doubt it. Must be Amanda, who taught Lee how to multi-task so well.
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I think SMK handled this closing nicely, almost like a tag in the way it incorporates everything. Billy complements Amanda, Amanda remembers Millicent. A dead man is wheeled out … that could be a very heavy way to end. But rather we then see Van Kleef going past mourning the Viking Spears et al, and Francine back to normal worrying about her hair! Billy and Francine neatly depart the scene to “mend some fences” and suddenly a tragedy involving multiple deaths is transformed into a scene where Lee and Amanda can flirt around a “normal people” conversation. Really an artfully smooth transition scene in my opinion! Love it!
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Love, love, love Lee and Amanda in this scene. I had to go back and look at the hands in the pockets thing. Lee comes up with his hands in his pockets and Amanda eventually does the same thing. How cute is that?
I could say that Francine is back to normal, since she’s worrying about her hair. But considering everything else that has happened and the non-response from Lee, I would say it was a defense mechanism designed to let others know she’s fine, but I’m waiting to see how she fares down the road.
The ‘we’, the normal people, Lee not trying to go out somewhere, it’s all so swoony. I honestly wonder if they kept their hands in their pockets to keep from touching one another, especially in front of all these agents and others. I could see Amanda wanting to touch Lee’s lapels or Lee wanting to take Amanda’s arms, but they are in public and must restrain themselves.
I like how they move closer and the camera zooms in on just the two of them, because for them, it is just the two of them. The rest of the world has now faded away. And Amanda is thinking about her family, but put them squarely on the back burner for the moment. I was in heaven when I first saw this.
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While I can understand why Iwsod is excited that Lee acknowledged Amanda’s contribution (regarding the diary clues) to Billy, what strikes me is how Billy handles it. As an “underling” who has observed how various managers in charge of me handle their staff, I think it’s wonderful how Billy is not only open to what Lee says, but also takes the trouble to warmly acknowledge her contribution to Amanda – and does in in front of another staff member, Francine (it could be argued that this was tactless of him, given Francine’s unfortunate day, though!)
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Ohhhhh yeaah!!! Love it! Yes I was distracted by what it all said about Lee, but you make a great observation here Learjet! so True! Billy is wonderful at acknowledging contributions – and is not remotely interested in squashing anyone – other than the baddies!! 🙂
For me? -Nahhh. he doesn’t need to protect her feelings. He’s her boss, she’s stuffed up.. and IMHO just because she stuffed up doesn’t mean that other’s great work can’t or shouldn’t be acknowledged 😉 lol. Billy doesn’t wrap Francine in cotton wool when it comes to her feelings haaaaa.. there’s been a few times he’s found it hilarious when she has been knocked down a peg or two 😉 and she is very adept at holding her own 🙂
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I don’t think at this point in the show Francine doesn’t mind anymore to hear Amanda praised right in front of her – even by Billy. I mean, two episodes ago (or so) she took a bullet trying to protect Amanda … And besides, if she’s completely honest then she’ll have to admit to herself it wasn’t exactly one of her better days on the job.
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Does mind anymore … No edit function?
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This is one of my very favorite scenes in SMK! In fact if I did have an avatar for JWWM (I don’t because its linked to all of my accounts and I don’t share my SMK obsession with everyone) I would use this last photo of the two of them looking like they just ate the canary. And all that joy is about having an evening together, at home, like a couple of normal people. “Normal” is something that Lee is excited about and I think that is as charming as his offer to cosign a loan or his banter about BLTs. Truly, a dead terrorist was just wheeled by and an highly important reception with international important people was just destroyed ( I could see Leslie being there) and Lee is tickled pink to head off to suburbia and have steaks with Amanda.
I love the way he keeps his hands in his pockets. He reached out to touch her in front of Billy and Francine before he went off to get Sallee, but now his hands are deeply rooted in his pockets. Worried you can’t contain yourself, huh Lee?
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Gaaahhhhh! I’m 30 minutes from leaving for the airport and see this update, wondering how far you’d post to and it stops right there. lol… Yes, I understand the need to hold the steak dinner until later.
So “a couple of normal people” …hmmm…, Sounds like Lee is very happy about that. I laugh at the fact that Van Kleef is muttering about an “absolute disaster.”
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I don’t recall Leslie being in the script, but I will look at it again tomorrow. I know that according to IMDB, Dean was supposed to be in “Life of the Party” but to my knowledge, wasn’t,
I love the line “like a couple of normal people” It reminds me in Remembrance of Things Past when Amanda was talking about real people staying home and having hamburgers. Looks like they are finally going to get their dinner at home, but have upgraded to steaks.
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Remember, they did have steaks and potatoes after Over the Limit. These red meat meals are very significant to Lee and Amanda’s relationship.
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Should we be contrasting the steak and baked potato dinners and hamburgers (“normal” people, the fare of a nice middle-class American family in the mid-80s) to the “exotic” food that Lee used to like? (I’m thinking of that Japanese stir-fry, and his international cooking skills, but inability to have a in-date piece of cheese in his fridge!)
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