Moving on.. we find Lee and Amanda eating ice cream.. 
but not saying anything to each other.. Are they okay? After the last scene, I’m not sure how they are travelling at the moment! Have they talked about it?
or is this a case of – not needing to have a conversation, just needing time to deal with it, and.. ice cream helps?!
They round a corner and there’s T.P. 
T.P. : I’ll call you back.
[T.P has a phone in his briefcase?!]
Lee: Well, T.P… there’s a tongue over at the Library of Congress says that, uh, you’re spending more time here than over there. This your new office? [A tongue?]
T.P.: Man must surround himself with the sources of inspiration, Lee… 
(hearing about inspiration we see a close up on some disgusting bowl of inspiration. I’m guessing it’s something resembling ice cream)
…Besides—with my briefcase phone, any tabletop is my office. Oh! Uh, Mrs. King—I would recommend the tutti frutti; it’s the best in town.
Amanda: No, thank you. This is terrific, Mr. Aquinas. 
[Awh. we finally see a real smile from Amanda again!
Oh boo. I wanted to know what flavours Lee and Amanda chose for themselves! Or did they just get shakes or something? anyone? Hope they are not choco blockos! 😉 ]
Lee: Look, there’s this guy that I bumped heads with a few years back that has this nervous habit of… walking a coin back and forth over the back of his hand: Alexi Makarov?
[LOL he could be referring to the bad dude from ship of spies! this is quite the tenuous clue IMHO but hey, at least it’s not based on coincidence or luck so I’ll take it!
Also, ‘a few years back’ would have to be at least nine years ago!]
T.P.: Ah, the Sorcerer… 
[Whoooo the dude is legit! He has an ominous nickname!!! whoooo!!! He’s right up there with the puppetmaster!!! whoooooo. I love that now it’s TP who knows everyone!]
…He used to do that trick with the coin to keep his hands limber…
… Oh, and what wonderful hands. Yeah—he fell out of favor a few years back, uh… thanks to a, uh, sting organized by our Scarecrow. 
[Just who the heck is this TP? and how does he know all this top secret stuff?!]
Amanda: I read the case report. [huh? why would Amanda have read that case report at this stage? Has she read up on all of Lee’s cases?!]
Lee: Well, I just met a woman who does the same coin trick. Now, I was wondering—could there be a connection? Is he still alive?
T.P.: Well, it… it might be difficult to get that close to the Gulag to find out.
Lee: Well, poke a stick around that hole anyway, would you, T.P.?
T.P gives a look as if to say he’ll try. 
Lee and Amanda share a look. [Looks like Lee’s itch has been temporarily scratched 😉 ]
Maybe they are on to something!
I guess we know the sorcerer is involved, but we don’t really know Alexi and Sonja’s game yet… (other than coin tricks).. Maybe Lee isn’t living up to his code name after all, and he’s noticed there is more going on here- given Sonja first approached him!
Moving on. We see this building exterior: 
[Anyone know what this building actually is? In smk land, it’s not labelled.. It’s like they forgot to add the caption]
Lee and Amanda walk through the foyer.. toward a guard at a sign in station..
Lee: Hello.
Amanda: Hello.
Lee: Stetson and King, to see Mr. Dart.
[Oh right. the guy running the war games, who gives the radio frequency.]
[Is this the state department maybe?
Which we saw back in Tail of the Dancing Weasel?
So glad Lee has no need for the glasses 
I guess this ep could be: Tale of the Dancing Peacock!]
Gus: Stetson and K-.Okay, uh… Name. Destination. Time in, please. One signature will do.Wear these while you’re in the building.
(The guard [apparently named Gus- thanks KC!] hands them the book to fill in the details.. While Lee does that – Gus hands Amanda two guest passes saying ‘Visitor’.)
[Ahh how satisfying!! 
tee hee.. ]
(Amanda puts one on Lee haaaaa.. )
Amanda: All right. Thank you.
Lee: Thank you.
Amanda: Thanks a lot.
Gus: You’re welcome.
(Amanda puts her own visitor badge on as they walk off. Hmm they go through a metal detector do they?)
[Lee is not armed? Whooo and.. now Amanda is an agent – is she armed?!] Is it just me or is this not very secure if only Lee needed to put down his name and sign in?
Okay I’m going to pause here – I’m keeping posts shorter so I can publish a little more often – can’t wait to hear from ya!
"Just walk with me.." 
I also love TP! He has some great lines here and delivers them so poetically. “Oh, and what wonderful hands…” Very nicely done.
iwsod, you are correct that this building Lee and Amanda are visiting is the State Department (the exterior, that is). Looks like there was less security/street closures around the building then, as was the case with most of DC pre-9/11.
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I love T.P. I don’t know why, but his sweet quirkiness is just so charming. But I have never been able to figure out what on earth is swimming around in that bowl he is eating. Yucky!! At least it got my mind off of flesh eating bacteria for a minute!!!
Speaking of eating, how on earth can Amanda stomach anything this week?????
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T.P. is a huge favorite of mine, too; unpalatable tutti-frutti ice cream and mismatched clothing choices notwithstanding!
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Even my 12-year old son who loves ice cream reacted to T.P.’s bowl of huh and said, “Yuck, what is that?” 🤣
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Nice to see Lee and Amanda working together on some other aspect of the case. Maybe it will take some of the pressure off of dealing with the Peacock Dance.
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After looking at that slop swimming in T.P’ s bowl, I’m sure I don’t ever want Tutti Fruittt!
I’m always amazed when I watch this scene that T.P. had a “cell” phone in his briefcase….That was way innovative for the 80’s and my guess is it would have been REAL expensive to operate. Which leads me to wonder exactly what did T.P. do at the Library of Congress to afford the briefcase phone?
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The view of the tutti frutti icecream is all I can focus on in this scene. I really like icecream but this is just a mess of colours and flavours. It would not be more choice of over-indulgence….
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The fact that I cannot make out any ice cream melting near the sides of the bowl makes me think this is not real ice cream. The bowl is glass, a poor insulator…we should be seeing evidence of melting where the ice cream hits the bowl if it were the real thing. Maybe I’m being too critical, but the fact that TP doesn’t actually take a bite of it makes me wonder….
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‘with my briefcase phone, any tabletop can be my office’
loved that line! How Tp would enjoy mobile (cell) phones no longer linked to briefcases and especially the world wide web! Or would it make him redundant? anyway I love the shout outs to the future in SMK like Lance in The Triumverate.
The bowl of ice cream is a little much. Is there a rule that informants like food? I think in the wine episode, Plato, the informant was also keen on the food. Augie, not so much:-)
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“The bowl of ice cream is a little much. Is there a rule that informants like food? I think in the wine episode, Plato, the informant was also keen on the food. Augie, not so much:-)”
It must be a rule for the male information brokers, who are chowing down; not so true of the women. KGB Gregory ate caviar (if memory serves) while sitting on a bench working his information toward a trade (Francine for the mathematician Towne) with Billy in Wrong Number. Augie, well he is in a league all his own! He’s barely made any progress from being a kid playing with mud (hamburger) patties!
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rofl. I think the weird eating/food is a ploy to make exposition interesting! And give characters we see on screen so briefly some personality for us quickly..
Auggie? Oh no one could eat around Auggie surely?! 😉 tee hee..
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Yeah!!! Me too!! 🙂 good call re Lance and his trailer park office 🙂 Should I be worried for TP’s safety now? 😉
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I am just suprised/relieved that TP took the hint that he didn’t have to rehash the case for Amanda’s sake. He does not appear to be a man of few words. (And is he wearing the same clothes as he was for 3 Little Spies? – I’ll have to check)
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Oops, it was The Boy Who Would Be King
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Hmmm, not sure why the image disappeared, here is the one I wanted to post
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Here’s a closer view of TP in The boy who could be king:
Here is TP in Stemwinder for easy comparison:
Well spotted Cindy!!!!
I think you are right- TP must be wearing his Tuesday nonsemble! 😉 [or whatever day it is!]
At least he changed his bolo tie!
Kudos Cindy! 🙂
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TP stands for Tuesday Plaid. 😉
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Oh my gosh! the neighbours just heard me howling with laughter! I love it Sara!
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Oh thank goodness he changed his tie! That makes it a totally new outfit eyeroll. Thanks, IWSOD!
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T.P. is quite the fashion trendsetter … good grief I hope NOT! His shirt pattern is plaid, his vest pattern is argyle and his bolo tie’s slide pattern is desert southwest! It mystifies me that he chose to INCREASE the dizzying clash of patterns by replacing his relatively subtle (tiger’s eye quartz?) bolo slide with an even larger bald eagle bolo slide that has a busy zigzag patterned border. I get that the bald eagle is a patriotic American symbol; however, possibly being color blind doesn’t come close to explaining T.P.’s eccentric clothing choices. They actually hurt my eyes so I focus on his face and dialogue because he is a truly marvelous and entertaining character. That he loves his unappetizing tutti-frutti ice cream shouldn’t be a surprise!
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rofl!!!!
With his fashion and his taste in ice cream – no one can accuse TP of having good taste 😉
Great point Nancy! 🙂
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TP reminds me of those genius types who have several of the same type of trousers and shirts and appear to wear the exact same thing every day. But that vest must surely be one of a kind?
(Also in deference to our non-American readers, I edited that last comment to read trousers instead of pants! 😉 )
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thanks 🙂
In Australia trousers are also called pants – we use either.. and call the undergarments version ‘underpants’ rather than pants..
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Okay, I owe TP an apology, he does have at least 2 shirts (Welcome to America, Mr. Brand)
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“… I would recommend the tutti frutti …”
Tutti frutti is an Italian ice cream, candied fruit & nut concoction that was popular in the USA during the first half of the 20th century. T.P.’s bowl contains pink (cherry) ice cream, green (pistachio nut) ice cream, yellow (pineapple or sometimes banana) ice cream and brown (chocolate, which is not traditional) ice cream swimming in whipped cream. YUCK! Two other Italian ice creams made it to the USA: Neapolitan (strawberry, vanilla & chocolate) and, my personal favorite, Spumone (cherry, pistachio & chocolate). Nowadays, Italian gelato is the big craze.
An aside: There was an early 1950’s rock ‘n roll song, Tutti-Frutti by Little Richard, with X-rated sexually suggestive lyrics that he cleaned up for his recording of it in 1955. Before he recorded Tutti-Frutti with another record company, Little Richard was with Peacock Records. “Awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom!”
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Ugh!!! at this point of the ep I do not want to think of ‘Tutti Frutti’ as being some kind of allusion to sexy times! 😉 tee hee..
Please, no “Awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom!” with Sonja! 🙂
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OMG, that’s hysterical, Nancy! Maybe that’s why it’s called the peacock dance. Do we have a character named Richard in this episode??? What is Dart’s first name? Goes well with Richard 😀
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“Do we have a character named Richard in this episode??? What is Dart’s first name? Goes well with Richard 😀”
Richard does go well, but according to IMDB, the character is Philip Dart. The only cast name beginning with R in this episode is Rostov. ********************************************** … oh yeah, he’s a player and I bet he’s done a PD many times! Hmm … what’s that I hear? Hey, it’s our very own Billy Blue Note playing Tutti-frutti on his 🎷 and who’s that lead singer? “Little Richard” Rostov at the 🎤 wailing, “Awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom!”
[iwsod-edited out future reference]
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but Rostov is a butcher in the mob! ?!
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“Little Richard” Rostov … “A butcher in the mob?” … Really! [shrugs] Hey! What a funky name for a band! Don’t recall if King Eddie’s band had a name …
PS: Thanks for catching that Rostov sentence. I forgot that it’s just ahead of us on this walk, not behind.
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” Well, T.P… there’s a tongue over at the Library of Congress says that, uh, you’re spending more time here than over there.”
It’s slang. To make it easier to understand in this case, instead of the word “tongue” insert the word “talk.” Lee’s sentence then becomes: … there’s talk over at the L.O.C.
You might be more familiar with the slang, “a wagging tongue,” which refers to a person who gossips or “bite your tongue,” which means to not speak out loud about something.
Just take note that when Lee says, “… there’s a tongue …” he means one person; versus saying “… there’s talk …” which could mean more than one person. Most likely, Lee is also letting T.P. know that one person at the L.O.C. knows where he is spending his time.
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Hey Nancy,
Thanks for offering to address my confusion!
LOL, I am a native english speaker (though some would say Australians don’t speak english 😉 ) so I am familiar with the slang about tongues wagging, and biting your tongue.
‘there’s a tongue over at the Library of Congress says that’? This was an expression I had not heard around me – though from the context it was easy to gather he was talking about ‘talk’ – Maybe this was doing the rounds in the 80’s!
After all the tonsil hockey with Sonja I can do without references to tongue 😉
[Cindy I’m so glad you gave us ‘tonsil hockey’ it’s perfect! and I like not calling it kissing! 😉 ]
Bye!
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“[Cindy I’m so glad you gave us ‘tonsil hockey’ it’s perfect! and I like not calling it kissing! 😉 ]”
Me, too, iwsod. Cindy’s comment hit home because ice hockey (and curling) are fun to watch.
Lee, use talk NOT tongue at Sonja’s. That’s an order from Blue Leader!
PS: No worries! The folks in England don’t consider Americans to be English speakers either and our different slang words really get us in trouble! Not to mention driving on the wrong side, too!!
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love it!
LOL ‘wrong’ side?!
I got myself into trouble with american/australian language differences when I lived there for a bit.. I’m not sharing that story!
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As a fellow non-American native English speaker (who has lived in 3 other countries where English is the first language, I’m also familiar with tongues wagging and biting your tongue, but not “a tongue over at…says that”. All this tongue talk reminds me of the early 80s when we had tongue sandwiches and cold tongue with salad – literally tongue. Yuck!!
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Hey Learjet, thanks for confirming for me – I thought maybe it was just me lol!
rofl tongue talk eh! Is that why that female scientist Francine was following around in Vigilante Mothers ate a tongue sandwich for lunch?! rofl!! it stuck in my mind because it sounded like a hilarious euphemism! 😉
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From the USA and a teenager in the 80’s and I never heard that expression before either…..must be a Hollywood thing. 🤷🏼♀️
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That big smile of Amanda’s is a relief, isn’t it? Phew!
I’m guessing the ease with which they have gone for ice cream and settled down with TP means that we can make the reasonable assumption that they are still in a good place with each other. I mean, they must have talked every night when he got back to the car, right? I think her discomfort in the previous scene was from having to listen to it in a group setting and hearing it (again! Ick!) in the cold light of fluorescence in Billy’s office. And not helped at all by Francine taking so much glee in it, however good humoured her teasing is meant to be.
The line about Amanda having looked at the case report is exactly because she and Lee have discussed every aspect of this endlessly so she would know why they were going to see TP before they got there.I think she is telling TP that he doesn’t need to explain more about who Makarov is because she’s up to speed. Yay! For once Lee has let her know everything ahead of time! That’s practically a marriage proposal in Lee-land!
I really like the throwback to Magic Bus and Amanda putting his pass on for him – also a sign that they are physically still very comfortable with each other. 😀
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Whooo clagjanet I like this.. I can go with this!
They had a talk in the Q bureau before heading off to consult with TP!
rofl – so true! 🙂 haaaaa…
Yeah the throwback is great! 🙂
Great to hear from you clagjanet!
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I like your comment about that Amanda putting is pass on him is a sign that they are physically still very comfortable with each other. If there was lingering resentment over the scene in the office & the whole peacock dance, I think she would not be doing that.
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whoooo I like this too clagjanet and xiolaperry!!!
Very comforting/reassuring to see!
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