Having just learned (for supposedly the first time) that Thomas Blackthorne is the source of the information on Lee’s parents, Lee and Amanda drive along in the corvette.. from a distance we hear:
Amanda: I don’t think this is such a good idea.
(the vette pulls into a drive way)
Lee: Amanda, just go along with it, OK?
Amanda: All right.
(A guard approaches) 
(Amanda holds out a badge and her ID card.) [Whoa! I do believe Amanda has a badge and her very own ID that she can like – show others and be official and stuff!! Lee eventually holds his up to. Is this Blackthorne’s place? why would he want to use the name ‘Stetson’ around him?!]
Lee: Hi.
Amanda: Hello. Hi there.
[We see a great close up on Amanda’s badge and ID here. I think they are letting us enjoying finally seeing it materialise! I’m pretty sure it’s not from the office of marital relations!
Do you think Lee’s and Amanda’s badges are the same? Even if the ID badges are not? ]
Lee: Stetson and King from the Agency? We got a line on those death threats against Mr Sinclair. [I think Amanda reacts to this bold faced lie.. uh oh.. but quickly recovers]
Amanda: Right. We wanna ask him a couple of questions. Only take a few minutes.
[Amanda manages to not run off at the mouth and play it cool. Go Amanda! Love the way Lee looks at her here 
]
Man: Mm-hmm.
[Guard says yes! and motions for the gate to be opened]
Amanda (super cheery): Thanks a lot.
Lee: Nice pickup. [Whoo a verbal compliment from Lee.. seems quite natural now doesn’t it!]
Amanda (flat): Yeah, I’ll probably be sorry I did that.
[rofl great line! yeah I can see it now, Amanda reminding Lee it was a bad idea and Lee reminding Amanda that she helped him! 😉 ]
(In they drive..)
[have we seen this mansion in an smk episode before?! If we walk through the show again, I’d like to keep a little inventory of all the locations!]
(Once they are through the gate, the guard picks up a phone at the gate and makes a call..)
Man: Mr Landers? Yeah, this is the Secret Service guard at the front gate….
(We don’t hear the rest of the conversation, instead we cut to Lee and Amanda having driven up the drive.
Lee and Amanda get out and walk up the stairs to the door. A maid comes to the gate in front of the front door.)
Lee: Hello, we’re from the Agency to see Mr Blackthorne regarding the threats against Mr Sinclair.
Maid: Yes, Sir. I’ll announce you.
Lee: Thank you.
[LOL while they wait to be announced, Lee turns to Amanda and gives her a fingers crossed gesture. LOL doesn’t inspire confidence! Just what is the plan here?]
Amanda: Oh, boy.
[I agree with Amanda! Oh boy!]
(The maid returns and opens the gates for them..)
Maid: Come right this way, please.
Amanda: Thank you very much.
Lee: Thank you. 
(They’re then seen inside, with the maid opening a second wooden door for them both. This is quite the fortress!)
[LOL love the unicorn tapestry. Random! I wonder if Blackthorne has a stuffed unicorn on a wall somewhere?! I wouldn’t be surprised if he shot the last one 😉 ]
(The maid leaves them at the entrance there, and Amanda has a quiet word with Lee before this goes any further.) 
Amanda: Look, um, if he says he’ll see you, why don’t I just wait here, because he may have some things to tell you that are private… 
…And, you know, you wouldn’t want me around.
[Interesting, what do you make of this everyone?
I think Amanda has been pushy because she’s been concerned, but is now trying to give Lee back the boundaries she ran roughshod over earlier when she broke into his house (and I understand why she did and can’t blame her!) Where the boundaries lay from here is Lee’s choice. I don’t see this as a dig at Lee for keeping secrets, with some characters I might think this- but because it’s Amanda, I think she’s sincere – what do you all make of it? ]
(Lee quietly looks at Amanda.. and then before he responds the maid returns.) 
Maid: Would you come this way, please?
Amanda: Go ahead. 
(Amanda gives Lee a nod, and waits at the door for him.)
(We cut to Blackthorne)
[He’s sitting at his brown desk in his brown chair in the brown room – it’s a good thing he and Lee are wearing gray or I’d lose them!
Well plenty of opulence and arrogance on display here – definitely an smk baddie! ]
(Lee approaches the desk.)
Lee: Mr Blackthorne?..
…My name is Lee Stetson…
…I came to talk to you about these.
(We see the image of Matthew Stetson from the past, blending with Lee Stetson in the present.) 
[Personally, I find it clunky and kinda creepy! I guess this is suppose to represent Blackthorne seeing the resemblance. And, I guess this puts to rest the theory that this Blackthorne is the son of the Blackthorne who killed Lee’s parents! Aie!! ]
Blackthorne: These are the reports I filed on your parents. 
[LOL yep, it even says so! Source: Joseph Blackthorne. Thomas/Joseph.. whatev.. We see the earlier version, that’s redacted but err not enough!]
[Is it just me or does Blackthorne look older than in the last scene we saw him in – present time of course.]
(Lee looks so heartbroken.)
[To be honest, I find it very challenging to watch Lee be so vulnerable here.. he’s putting himself out there to this guy?! I wish he had done a little background before jumping into this so unprepared… I find this hard to watch]
…Look, Mr Stetson, I heard things; I had to report them.
Lee: Report what? Rumours? Nothing ever came from them, no formal proceedings, just a black mark on their records. [So Lee is firmly on the – they were not traitors side now huh. And it turns out the report was just a rumour anyway?]
Blackthorne: Look, Mr Stetson, I know that this is very difficult for you, but there’s nothing I can do to help you…
…I made those reports based on facts as I knew them… [facts- such a loosely thrown around term even back in the 80’s!]
…and I stand behind these reports.
(He holds the files out to Lee)
[I think Blackthorne does a pretty good job of pretending he has empathy for Lee and his situation, not that he will do anything. This Blackthorne is a snake!]
(There’s some non verbal communication here..
Blackthorne pleads with Lee to move on.
Lee’s heart seems to be breaking. He stoically takes the files out of Blackthorne’s hands.)
Blackthorne: Good day, Mr Stetson. 
(Lee doesn’t answer, he just turns and leaves.
With the door closed, Blackthorne seems to let out a breath – like he really wasn’t sure if Lee would accept it…) 
[I wonder – does Blackthorne think this is over? He must know Lee is an agent because he flashed his badge at the gate and came under the guise of having information about the death threats on Sinclair. And, Blackthorne could wonder – how did he get the CIA files? Lee is not without resources…
I find this scene so hard to watch.. How about you all?
My heart breaks for Lee, and it’s cringe worthy (IMHO) that he would have just showed up and confronted the guy like that when he didn’t actually know anything. Lee took a big risk. Did he think Blackthorne would say – Yeah sorry, shouldn’t have reported it?! As if!
And Lee is assuming this Blackthorne is not a bad guy! Ugh..
Okay okay.. Lee’s all emotional and not thinking clearly, but Lee is suppose to be trained to handle stuff. Maybe the idea was to take Blackthorne by surprise, but Lee went in there with no evidence, vulnerable and hurting.. he had nothing to come back at Blackthorne with!
Ugh.. Glad the scene is over!
One final thought – Amanda is with Lee 100%, but this was a bad idea, and Amanda knew it was a bad idea – and she still went along with Lee. What if Lee needed her to step in and stop him from making a really really bad mistake? When would she do that? Would she do that? ]
What do you all think when watching this scene? Do tell!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
Just wanted to mention that the tapestry next to the door when Lee & Amanda enter the embassy is virtually identical to one I remember seeing on the wall at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. It’s been a couple of years, so I can’t remember which hallway it’s in, but it’s one of a few tapestries I remember taking pictures of. So awesome.
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Couldn’t Amanda at the very least have distracted Lee for a short time from this terrible half-baked plan by saying she needed to go home and change into something more professional??!! Ugh.
I do like how you pointed out her giving the control of the boundaries back to Lee in this scene, Iwsod. That was a really good insight and a powerful thing she did.
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How did a whole quarter of a year go by???
I really like the picture of the two of them in the car with their badges out. It really captures this new stage that they find themselves in, personally and professionally. And I agree with the idea that Amanda was handing Lee back his boundaries by offering to not go with him. Although I don’t have any problem with her busting through his boundaries earlier. I think they both knew that Lee had some boundaries up that needed to come down, especially with Amanda and that earlier moment was when they had to come down. Lee was wanting her to come through them ( I think) and I am glad she did, I think he was too. But this moment here shows that she is still respecting his own personal journey and wasn’t asking for him to let her in on everything, only that she wanted to be with him as he walked that journey. That part is lovely to see.
But this little interview with Blackthorne is hard to watch. These dealing with the past are so tricky and the emotions and reaction are so complicated and multi layered. After what we have seen of Lee through out the series while he copes with the past and emotional things, I am not surprised that he isn’t calculating here. Actually, that is one of the things I love about him. And it makes me even more glad that Amanda barged into his apartment. He needs her. But we all know that and I think they both know that now too.
And about that tapestry. Its one of my favorites! Hanging in the Cloisters in NYC. But I think there may be some significance. This one comes from a series of tapestries called The Hunt of the Unicorn. And this particular one is depicts the part of the hunt where the unicorn is in captivity. Interestingly this one comes after they have killed the unicorn and brought it to the castle. There is some interesting interpretations given to this series of tapestries. One being that the unicorn symbolizes Christ. But the other is that these are an allegory to true love. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about them if anyone is interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn
Oh, Its fun to be back 😉
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Glad to see that you are back.
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Welcome back Morley! I’ve missed you!!!!
I’m currently facing a big deadline in two weeks so won’t be commenting much till then.. but I’ll get back to your comments then. Just wanted to say a quick hello and that I was really happy to see Morley is back!!! 🙂
Hi everyone! Hope you are all well byeee
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Ahhh, now I get why Treasury would be worried about death threats to Sinclair. Because of the death threats, I bet he is under the protection of the Secret Service. Sinclair is staying at the Blackthorne Estate, right? So the Secret Service detail at the front gate is probably because he’s there. Up until 2003, the Secret Service was under the Department of the Treasury when they moved to the Department of Homeland Security.
Why is Amanda in blue jeans and a picnic tablecloth shirt and Lee is in a suit and tie???
Lee and Amanda going here to confront Blackthorne under the guise of wanting to see him because of the Sinclair death threats is very risky behavior. Even for Lee. It’s not as if it’s Agency business – it’s very personal business. Billy’s gonna blow his stack if he finds out. No wonder Amanda is thinking she’s going to regret helping Lee get into the estate. I think it’s kind of weird how she tries to sound all authoritative – she seems more Sabrina Duncan in that moment than Amanda King.
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Yeah I didn’t understand how Treasury would be involved because I don’t understand your system!
Thanks for raising this BJo!
Oh my gosh that is hilarious BJo!!!!!
So glad you are on fashion police patrol 🙂
If this shirt didn’t bring Kiwismh out of lurkdom I’d say Kiwismh isn’t reading this [Miss ya Kiwismh!]
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Yes, BJo! I’m with you again!! It drives me crazy how for so much of this episode, Lee is in a suit and Amanda is in these jeans and way-too-casual shirt. She looks SOOOO unprofessional! Ugh!!!
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I think Amanda is completely sincere when she says he should see Blackthorn alone. It shows how well she knows him. He doesn’t hesitate to take her up on the offer & looks almost relieved. I don’t think he would have asked her to wait outside, but some part of him wasn’t ready to have her there & Amanda realized it. By giving control of the situation back to Lee, she increases Lee’s trust in her & it makes him more willing to open up later.
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Xiolaperry – so great to see you stop by and share your thoughts!!! 🙂
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I would agree with Nancy in that maybe Amanda doesn’t feel ‘properly’ dressed (which is why she doesn’t go in with Lee) but she knows this is a BAD idea but when Lee’s got the bit between his teeth there’s no shaking him. Maybe she thinks that if she’s with him she can offset some of the damage so to speak. Or at least try to mitigate it.
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Hiya Anchoret- wonderful to hear from you it’s been a while!
Loved this!
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Hi Everyone!
loving your comments! Hoping I can get back here tonight and respond more!! byeeee
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Oh so sad.
I felt very sorry for him.
At the beginning I did not understand why Amanda had not gone with him.
But it is a good point that she wants to return his boundaries. That makes sense for me.
The last unicorn shot … Muahaha…:-)
Has anyone seen Goldi, is he alright??
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I have to agree that the scene between Lee and Blackthorn is hard to watch. I think that BB is brilliant in conveying how vulnerable Lee is as he offers his parents files to Blackthorn. It is truly heartbreaking. (I think that the make up people put some grey powder in Blackthorn’s hair and that is why he looks older).
I have to say that I also agree that Lee’s plan is crazy. The old scarecrow brain takes the lead when the emotions are affected. I don’t really let Amanda off the hook here, she should have used her skills here to present an alternative plan (which she has often done before).
I also have to say that I hate her outfit! No one has commented on it so I presume that I am alone here. I hate the balloon top but mostly I hate it because it is so completely informal. I think she has zero credibility as an agent going around in an outfit she should hesitate to do her house work in (unless they were undercover of course). It is not the jeans per se, it is just the whole ensamble that looks a mess to me (rant over!)
I was delighted to see that she has proper ID but I think she over chummy attitude to the guard at the gate was very unprofessional. Her friendly ways are ideal with regular people but they strike a very odd note (to me) when talking to security people. It sounds like she has no authority and is trying to wrangle her way in (which actually was the case ).
I don’t mean to be giving Amanda a hard time here but I do think she is all over the shop.
I am not going to even try and untangle the ramifications of this plot, it really is so confusing to me that I just don’t bother. I am in awe of those of you that do.
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I like the colors on Amanda and I think the outfit looks cute on her. It would look better if they’re both dressed casually. I get what you mean about the particular setting and circumstances. I wonder if Lee gave her the opportunity to change (if she even asked to) or just decided time was of the essence? I also think he mostly wanted her there for moral support. His smile at her as she leans in and is touching him (whether or not she intends to) is reinforcing to him, I think. I like the thought of an alternative scene with Amanda coming up with a new approach. That would be interesting. I also agree with Valerie, that she’s still assessing the situation and giving Lee some rope before stepping in.
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You are right, the colours are nice. And you are also right that she probably hadn’t time to go home and change after surprising Lee in his apartment (although he had time to clean himself up, he is very dapper). But let us be honest, when did time ever stop either Lee or Amanda ever popping home and having a quick change of clothes? It is normally an important consideration in a moment of stress or urgency.
I don’t know why Amanda’s outfit bothers me, perhaps I am just grumpy
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I think what’s bothering you most is the incongruity between Lee’s suit and Amanda’s jeans…
Talking about things bothering you, the maid bugs me for some reason. Her outfit. Is this the first time we’ve had a maid acting as a “gatekeeper” in SMK?
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Yep, it would have been better if they were more matched in the same level of professional attire.
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She reminds me of Francine in LOTP! It’s the blond French braid tucked in at the bottom!
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Love it!!
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I agree that the colours look lovely on Amanda. And when you’ve got a waist that small, most tops (esp in the 80s!) tend to balloon 😀 .The pale colours don’t bring out the best in her and I don’t think the parachute style skirts look particularly professional.
Much as I am not a fan of Francine’s often garish outfits, I think she tends to look more business-like and authorative than Amanda because of the outfits she chooses.
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Her hair looks good AND she’s got on “Lee” jeans. Two positives. Also agreeing about Francine looking more professional. I don’t like the ‘ballooning’ top either, but I know that’s what was worn. I had a couple tops like that back then. The “Lee” jeans always makes me grin, though.
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Love this Sara! It’s so hilarious and brilliant that Amanda has on her “Lee” jeans!!! 🙂
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You are not alone, Michele. I cringed watching Amanda go with Lee to meet McCrary and later to the Blackthorne estate wearing a loud plaid shirt and blue jeans. I re-watched the episode through this post, paying close attention to what Lee was wearing and realized this sequence of attire:
Day 1 when Lee sent her home, Amanda wore a lovely skirt and blouse and he wore a charcoal grey suit with blue shirt and striped tie.
Day 2 when Lee left the office, after he found her snooping at his desk, Amanda again wore a skirt and blouse. Lee wore a light grey suit with white shirt and solid dark tie. He wore that same suit when Amanda came to his apartment and found him sleeping, that same suit when they went for a walk in the park, pulled that drug heist, met McCrary and visited Blackthorne. Clearly, all this occurred on Day 2, so Amanda must have changed out of her skirt and blouse into casual clothes when she returned home early. Hours later, just going to Lee’s apartment to check on him, she wore the plaid shirt and jeans. Events followed so quickly (plus she was directing the episode!), she just didn’t have time to return home and change back into her business attire.
[edited by iwsod… no jumping ahead with the content of the episode please 🙂 ]
….So I’m cutting her some slack over this “Unfinished Business,” but will still cringe every time I watch this episode.
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hi Nancy, super quick- Hope you don’t mind – I deleted a line of your comment referring to a specific future event in this episode..
We don’t jump ahead of the where the walk is up to..
iwsod has already forgotten the reference 🙂 have a great day! 🙂
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Oops! Day 3 hasn’t yet been posted. Thanks for catching & correcting. My bad, as the kids say these days.
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It has always driven me crazy that she goes to do this with him dressed like this – who would take them seriously? It’s one of my “Grrrr” mpments for sure!
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Indeed!!!
lol. Yep.. I think this is one of those plot twists which needed Lee to do something very silly! And.. I guess Amanda is 100% in with Lee in this, whatever happens.. but.. she could have tried a little harder to be the voice of reason here!
LOL when I read this comment Michele I thought to myself – oh yeah it’s fugly! but how did it get past me??!! lol.. good to see Michele is on patrol! 🙂
I love the colour.. but I don’t like any of these plaid shirts on anyone ever!
I also figured she was dressed down because she had gone to Lee’s not intending to work.. it does look weird that Lee is dressed up and she’s not – but hey – maybe the secret service agent is thinking: these agents are a breed of their own.. who knows why they do what they do. maybe Amanda has been undercover at the local supermarket all morning, she may have uncovered the plot to assassinate Sinclair there and rushed right over here with her properly dressed partner to talk to Blackthorne. rofl. I don’t know! 🙂
Interesting observations! I’ve previously pondered Amanda’s challenge of speaking up with authority – looks like she still has some work to do huh!
I guess It’s okay for Amanda to be ‘nice’ and get the job done.. but I do wonder how she would respond with more authority if ‘nice’ didn’t get her what she wanted or needed.. hmm interesting to ponder!
lol sometimes taking the plot at face value is the best way to enjoy! 🙂 lol!
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I think Amanda is trying to give Lee a little rope before trying to truly rein him in. She doesn’t want him to shut down again now that he’s seems to be on to something. She probably knows that Lee will tell her what happened with Blackthorne, but allows him to deal with it initially on his own. I think she is continuing to make the situation as comfortable for Lee as possible so that he can deal with everything and continue to move forward.
It is hard to watch Lee go through all these emotions and be so off kilter. He was off kilter in Wizard, but these emotions seem to run deeper and his reactions are quieter and less bombastic. It’s a more powerful effect. It’s almost heartbreaking.
As soon as Lee says who he is, Blackthorne seems to age. Lee is trying to reconcile this Blackthorne guy whom everyone else seems to see as a hero, to this guy to ratted out his parents for no reason he can fathom. Who specifically is Blackthorne anyway and what did or does he do? Did I forget or miss that? How is it that he can file a report that places a black mark on their records and have them labeled as traitors?
I know that Blackthorne flashes back to Matthew Stetson when he sees Lee, and Lee says he is Stetson, but he doesn’t initially say the reports are about his parents. Blackthorne refers to them as his parents as if he knew who Lee was.
Like how the Lee and Amanda partnership is working so well now. He asks her to go along, she does, and he compliments her. Such progress.
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That actually is a good question who is this Blackthron anyway ? They don’t call him Senator Blackthorn so what is his job ? Is he just some VIP ?
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Francine said he was rich and powerful and McCrary from the CIA called him the patron saint of Ile de Marin. That’s about all I could find when I looked back over the posts. Trying not to go ahead and I can’t remember if it comes up later on. I’ll have to wait and see. He obviously does have some power if he could do what he did to Lee’s parents.
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LOL yeah I don’t think he’s in government – but it would fit ha! 🙂
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I believe Amanda had Lee go in to meet Blackthorne alone because she was not “dressed for success” in her plaid shirt and blue jeans. Lee needed every bit of credibility and respectability to question Thomas Blackthorne’s accusations against his parents. After all, TB has wealth and power that even impresses Francine! Though he clearly does not impress his own “man’s best friend” … his Golden Retriever 😏.
Curious that the source of Thomas Blackthorne’s wealth is not mentioned; however, it seems his power is currently tied to Rene Sinclair, who is expected to be elected leader of a wealthy country. It appears that, once Sinclair is elected, he will return stolen wealth to the citizens of that island nation. I’d imagine that’s why the US Treasury is keeping tabs. Ile de Marin must have natural resources that have been plundered by outsiders and left the people of this island nation destitute. That Thomas Blackthorne immediately plans to murder Rene Sinclair upon hearing that he will return the stolen funds to the people … three guesses what plans TB had for that money once his “friend” gained control of it — and the first two guesses don’t count! He is one corrupt and greedy murderer, who keeps his hands clean by contracting out his own dirty work.
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“As soon as Lee says who he is, Blackthorne seems to age.”
That’s a brilliant observation!
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I’m really enjoying hearing what you all think of Amanda going along with Lee’s errr ‘plan’ here!
Oh yeah 😦
Yeah! that’s what being a murderer will do to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah we don’t know much about Blackthorne. I can’t say I mind to be honest. lol… I don’t need detail I can just get a flavour for what type of guy this is.. I’d say the props help us too 😉
I see Blackthorne as an entrepreneur – he probably works with some seedy characters.. he’s probably gone into business with dodgy characters but has managed to keep it a secret and maintain his reputation (maybe this is what the blackmail was all about – he seemed to have information Matt and Jennie wanted – maybe about some despot somewhere or something) but where Sinclair said no to exploiting his country, I think others had probably said yes and Blackthorne has reaped the benefits.
This is the flavour I have for this guy.. but I agree we aren’t really given details.
I don’t know if Lee is thinking Blackthorne is a baddie at this point.. I guess we’ll see 🙂
Whoooooo!!! It could be that he assumed.. or.. it could be that he’s a baddie!! 🙂
LOL Ummm yes.. and no! (at least in my book- there are no right or wrong answers here 🙂 ) I think Amanda shouldn’t have gone along with this idea! [and Amanda’s ‘oh boy’ leads me to suspect she may see it that way too lol] Lee was all emotion.. and maybe a bit of logic and a cool head was needed.. ahem! but.. then, this is a tv show- and we’ve got to have a bit of drama right?! 🙂
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