Well, moving on.. and it’s back to Emelio’s… Rostov enters.. 
and sees Lee and Amanda over at a booth eating.
]Hmm I thought they had broken up?! I guess Lee is cheating on Sonja! lol]
We find Francine is following Rostov. [LOL rather closely! ]
[She seems surprised to see him approaching Lee and Amanda. Hmm maybe also surprised to see Lee and Amanda eating togehter off the job? or… is this part of the lisbon variation thing and it could be perceived as pretending to still be in this unhappy couple? What does everyone think?
I guess now Lee is giving the radio frequencies to Sonja Francine is no longer trying to create a window with Rostov? And instead she’s just following him?]
Rostov: Excuse me. Are you the party that requested the limousine?
[from the Henchman & Limo Service?]
Lee: No.
[Don’t you recognise Frankie Columbus?!]
Rostov: The call specified a black limousine… to be engaged for the entire evening—correct?
[Francine seems to be frantically taking photos of this approach with her compact.. or checking for a pimple. Not sure 
But she also seems to have changed outfits for the occasion of following around Rostov. Lee and Amanda haven’t changed.. ]
Lee: No—I don’t think so.
Amanda: No. Heh.
Lee: Did the caller leave a name?
Rostov: There seems to be a mistake. Excuse me.
[Francine is seen and heard to be frantically capturing pictures throughout]
Rostov leaves. 
Lee and Amanda look pretty confused..
Amanda: You’re sure that was Rostov?
[LOL yeah maybe it was Frankie Columbus! ]
Lee: Positive. He ran the procedure down perfectly. He was expecting a meet.
[Sheesh.. Lee looks a little out of focus here! What a shame 
]
Amanda: All right. Why would the KGB station chief wanna meet you?
[Why is the assumption Rostov wanted to meet Lee? Amanda’s an agent now, he may have wanted to meet her?!]
Lee: Huh. That’s a good question. [Maybe Sonja told Rostov Lee was about to give her stemwinder frequencies? lol I guess that would be too simple! and this is the Russians! 😉 ]
[Whoooooo… so what’s going on here.. Someone setting up Lee and/or Amanda to look like they are double agents? or lol. if Lee is deliberately giving information to the Russians he’d be a triple agent wouldn’t he? Like Harry V Thornton?!
Well, there are certainly signs the Russians are up to something.]
The scene ends here.
[Okay.. did you guys notice the bird? Above Lee and Amanda- It’s rather- peacock like!!! Maybe a pheasant.. but haaaa I thought it was a great prop!]
Moving on, we find Lee and Amanda parked outside Sonja’s.. I guess it’s the night Lee hands over the radio frequencies..
Lee: Same check-in signal…
Amanda: Mm-hmm.
Lee: I’ll tap the mike every hour; tap-tap… pause-tap.
Amanda: Tap-tap-pause-tap.
Lee: Yeah; just to let you know I’m okay.
Amanda: Right.
Lee: Now, it’s 10:00… I should be out of there by midnight.
Amanda: Okay…
Lee smiles a little smile, and pauses a moment before he continues..
Lee: Look, Amanda… it’s an agent’s option to spend the night…
…I don’t want to…
[whooo hooo! I love that not only will he not stay the night, nor does he want to 
So! Finally we get a bit of a conversation about what is actually going on here and their relationship!!]
(Amanda responds with a massive smile)
[IMHO if he had stayed the night or if he had wanted to, it would have been bye bye Lee! I don’t care how good you look in a tux!]
…. I feel a headache coming on.
(Amanda’s smile gets even bigger, and she then puts her headphone in her ear)
Amanda: I’ll see you at midnight.
Lee: You bet.
(Lee smiles and gets out of the car.)
[Awh.. he’s happy things are this way too. thank goodness!]
(Left alone, Amanda rehearses to herself..)
Amanda: Tap-tap-pause-tap.
The Scene ends here.
Boy, I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this ‘agent’s option to stay the night’!!!!
I remember this was implied in Weekend & in that pillow patter script that was never filmed. I find it all rather Ick.
However, it’s also wonderful to see this ‘perk’ of the job no longer interests Lee..errr and iwsod will blot out any thought that it ever was!!!
Any thoughts you haven’t blotted out that you’d like to share? Please do!
"Just walk with me.." 
This is going to be long, for which I apologize in advance.
The first scene here, where we see Francine in the bar tailing Rostov and watching as he speaks to Lee and Amanda, is where I thought this episode started getting really good the first time I saw it. For a moment, I was confused – what is Francine doing here? And then I remembered that she had been assigned to Rostov for Stemwinder, so she must be following him. I appreciated that they added this little piece of complexity to the plot, because if you weren’t paying close attention to that first conference room meeting on Stemwinder, you might not get this. So it is rewarding to viewers who are paying attention.
There are a lot of unanswered questions, as iswod summarized so nicely. What is Francine thinking??? Do Lee and Amanda realize Francine is there or not? Is Francine trying to make sure that Lee and Amanda do NOT see her? Is Francine concerned only about Rostock or is she confused to see Lee and Amanda here as well? The answers are not immediately clear, and I love that some of them remain ambiguous.
I have always interpreted the scene like this: Francine simply cannot fathom Lee and Amanda eating together romantically as a couple. There have been times in the past when she has caught them in “compromising” situations, but for whatever reason, she attributes it to meaningless office flirtation. She cannot overcome her preconceived notions about Scarecrow and Amanda being from vastly different worlds that simply cannot fit together in any kind of serious way.
But having a romantic dinner, including sharing an entrée, is exactly what they appear to be doing (and indeed, IS what they are doing, I think – and I agree with others that returning to the same restaurant was careless on their part). There is no reason Francine can think of for them to be doing this as part of the Peacock Dance/Lisbon Variation – that part of the dance is already over. So she immediately jumps to the conclusion that something is up, and that the meeting with Rostov is no accident. Either there is some sort of operation going on here that she has not been made privy to (and Francine would hate that idea), or else Lee and Amanda are doing something nefarious (which would be much, much worse). This scene is important, because it is the first time we start to get a hint of the fact that by keeping their co-workers in the dark about their relationship, Lee and Amanda are sowing confusion that is going to come back to bite them.
And that, to me, is a larger theme of the show, one that begins here and runs beyond this episode: the consequences of secrecy. Specifically, the consequences of choosing to keep the true nature of a relationship a secret from close friends and colleagues, even colleagues to whom you sometimes entrust your very lives.
To be clear, I think it is perfectly understandable for Lee and Amanda to want to keep their romantic involvement private when the relationship is still very new. Of course it is! But this is not a “normal” work environment, and even now, there will be consequences.
(As an aside, I really like Francine’s hair and outfit. I think she looks glamorous, and I think the compact/camera is a cool piece of spy equipment.)
The exchange of dialogue between Lee and Amanda in the car outside Sonja’s apartment is sweet, but I think that there is some exposition or dramatic license going on here. There is no way that Lee would have waited until now to assure Amanda that he has no intention of sleeping with Sonja (with Amanda listening in, no less!). They would have had that conversation days ago. Alternative # 1 – that he has intentionally left open the possibility of spending the night – is not realistic, considering how head-over-heels he is for Amanda. Alternative #2 – that he has allowed Amanda to think he might be keeping that option open – is simply cruel. I don’t buy it. I guess Alternative #3 is that Amanda never even considered that a Peacock Dance might sometimes involve sex until Lee admits it here, but that doesn’t seem realistic to me.
LikeLike
Oh, Lee, you think you’re being sweet with the whole “I feel a headache coming on” line. If only you knew how true this statement is!!!! 😟
I think for just a split second when we see Lee & Amanda at dinner, we see them smiling at each other. Between the ice cream parlor moment and this quick glimpse, as well as the brief exchange in the Corvette, my nausea is subsiding somewhat and feeling like they are ok with things again. Fleetingly, at least.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember when I first watched this and several times thereafter I couldn’t figure out why Lee and Amanda were back at this restaurant together if he was supposedly with Sonja. I can see where this was still supposed to be a part of the dance. I wonder if when Lee and Sonja talked to each other about being spies, if Lee told Sonja that Amanda was one too or if he told her she was just a civilian.
Sometimes there are parts of episodes I could do without seeing and then there are times I wish I could see parts that weren’t even filmed.
LikeLike
Hi Valerie! What a treat this weekend has been! A binge from Valerie!! 🙂
So happy you could stop by and join in, really great to hear from you!
I’m guessing not many smk fans would wish to dwell on a conversation between these two! 😉
Me too! Sometimes I think – oh don’t make things so complicated!! But.. other times I’m thinking: Oh why didn’t they explain that more!
I can only put it down to different elements of the story interesting different people in different ways. And.. together we can fill in the gaps on the bits we were interested in – in a non-formal way here in comments, or in a more structured way via smk fan fic I guess (which I have little exposure to at this point in time – just due to time constraints and prioritising the blog).
LikeLike
Like this, iwsod. I think see it the same as you, and it is a wonderful gift Amanda gives to Lee. I think Amanda has somehow come to terms with this assignment because of how she is acting here. Gone is the awkwardness from Billy’s office, and even though I hear skepticism (?) in her voice when she says “okay” to Lee, I think she believes Lee truly does not want to spend the night with Sonja even though it is his prerogative. I think her skepticism, or whatever it is I hear in her voice, is because she thinks Lee may be enjoying this assignment just a little bit. Sonja is a very beautiful woman, and Lee is, well, Lee. I wonder if she’s thinking that he’s still not firmly disavowed his old Scarecrow ways completely. Lee’s reassurance gives her hope that he has or at least wants to and will act accordingly tonight.
LikeLike
I think the stuffed bird above Lee and Amanda was a pheasant? Great prop regardless and I am sure that they were trying for a peacock but just couldn’t find one:-)
Francine’s expressions into her phone compact are hilarious. She blends in so well and is so inconspicuous (sarcasm of course)
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Francine’s expressions into her phone compact are hilarious. She blends in so well and is so inconspicuous (sarcasm of course)”
Francine is one-of-a-kind, that’s for sure! She ALWAYS gets a reaction (though not always the one she wants, teehee) whether it’s from her snarky provocative remarks … self-important superior attitude … outrageous clothing … jealousy, etc.
Makes me wonder how many of her photos were actually selfies?!?! In keeping with her trend-setter image, I could imagine her being the one to start THAT trend.
LikeLike
Michele I think you are so spot on! haaaaaa.. [I appreciate you labelling the sarcasm I think that’s a good idea.. sarcasm can get lost with the written word. 🙂 ]
LikeLike
I cannot picture KJ being cool with the “slash the tires ” line.
I wonder if she would rewrite the lines herself or send them back to the writers to do ? Too bad she never tried her hand at writing a script for SKMK After all, she did direct. Why not write too ?
I always would like to know what’s in the head of the actor playing the character. Anyway, I thought Lee and Amanda were just having dinner when Rostov aka Mr. COLUMBUS showed up but maybe not. I think Lee kind of likes to see Amanda jealous a bit. It’s sweet when he reassures her and then she’s cool. I wonder if there’s a fan fiction about what would have happened if he had come out at midnight and the case wrapped up and that was that? How would that have changed the trajectory of their relationship?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree on the “slash your tires” line – she might be thinking it but I don’t think they’re in a place in their relationship yet for such overt jealousy. Also, since they’re working up the end of the case and he has those frequencies ready to hand over, I would have thought a conversation of “Okay, one last time and then we are so done with this” would have been more realistic. I still would have liked to see that kiss before he left the car though. 🙂
LikeLike
whooooo natsned I think you are right..
maybe that’s why it got tossed out! As Amanda would say – good thinking!
LOL yeah KJ could put her hand to anything [Yep I’m biased because I admire her so much!]
Sorry can’t help you with fan fic.. and we don’t discuss it here.. I”d suggest you ask at Neds or at the smk forum maybe?
I think I said in the post: if Lee had stayed the night – it would have been farewell to the romance I think! Great question! What do you think natsned?
LikeLike
Learjet, I had to.laugh at your description of Amanda’s hair, “it looks like she as Bern to her weekly set at the hair dresser, and used a can of hair spray”. 🙂
Back in the 80’s, we did use a lot of hair spray, that section of hair right.over the ears had to lay flat and we would brush, spray, brush, spray to make it flat…..if was an ugly hair style just like Amanda’s frizzy perms are ugly….it was the 80’s baby, not our finest year for style!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ugh!!!! I gave myself a home perm once – it was all wonky!!! whahahaaha!!!
Yeah we were hard on the ozone layer in the 80s with all that hair spray!
I liked Learjet’s description too!
Somewhere a while back Nancy (I think) called it poodle hair – I thought that was a great description too.. then at some point BJo jumped in with stories about dachshunds haaaa 😉
LikeLike
If nobody can see the beautiful, silver sports car parked outside, then nor could they see Lee give her a proper smooch before he goes back into the lioness’s den. Come on, Lee! Amanda (and us) deserve that much.
LikeLiked by 3 people
lol Sara! a peacock or carrier pigeon (take your pick) in the lioness den huh! 🙂
I hear ya re the kiss.. we just had the sweet little one at the start.. I’m going to guess this absence of a kiss here is either:
a) because they are both trying to get into professional mode
b) it’s going to serve a purpose with the journey in some way – but.. we’ll need to come back to it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think Lee & Amanda are going to the same restaurant to continue the Lisbon-variation set up. Sonya knew they were together before, so Lee could be playing the sleazy two-timer, since he’s trying to sell Sonya on the idea that he’d betray his government also, it would fit. But I think they are also enjoying any opportunity to be together, even if its at a ‘tainted’ location. It’s nice they haven’t let all the drama completely ruin it for them. They’re making the best of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
” Sonya knew they were together before, so Lee could be playing the sleazy two-timer, since he’s trying to sell Sonya on the idea that he’d betray his government also, it would fit. ”
Yes, xiolaperry, you brilliantly hit the nail on the head! Great insight and your two key words here are PLAYING and IDEA. We know Lee’s neither sleazy nor a two-timer for he is committed to Amanda. We also know that betrayal, of his nation (or Amanda), is not in Lee. Thanks for posting this.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like the two-timing bit! Good call!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Xiolaperry, I’m going with this! you’ve cleared up my confusion and I”m happy 🙂
It also clears up my question about how it works – once Lee hands over the info he just suddenly stops seeing Sonja? well.. If he hasn’t totally broken it off with his lisbon variation, he can say they’ve mended things and dasvidaniya Sonja!
LikeLike
Still in farce set-up stage, I see. Ugh. I guess we wait now to see if it’s Lee and Amanda being set up, or Rostov, or both. I feel like we have both a Sorceror and a Puppetmaster working this convoluted tale and I need a Wizard to get it all straight for me.
I am confused by the choice of restaurant if it’s been “hacked” by the Russians – it seems dangerous to let yourself be seen back with the old girlfriend when you’re supposedly besotted with the new one?
I do like that the writers in the original script had no illusions about what was going on in Amanda’s head though – wish we’d seen this bit on screen, LOL
AMANDA: But, if you spend the night with her, while I’m sitting out in that car, I’m going to rip out your headliner and slash your tires. And don’t tell me it’s just business, because it wouldn’t be.
LEE: Are you finished?
Amanda nods.
LEE: Now, I’m not going to spend the night…
That’s right, Lee – do what she says or the car gets it…
LikeLiked by 1 person
OOOOH! Looks like I have to wander over to Petra’s site to read the script.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whooo, yeah, me too!
Sounds quite interesting. 🙂
LikeLike
I really like this. Like so many bits of script that are edited out, the whole scene makes a lot more sense with this dialogue included. I can see Amanda thinking it, but I’m not sure I can see her saying the bit about slashing the tyres though….
Just an aside, I really don’t like Amanda’s hair here. It looks like she’s been for her weekly “set” at the hairdresser, and used a can of hairspray to keep it in place. Reminiscent of my grandmother’s hair back then (but she was not in her 30s!)
LikeLike
And in the script he kisses her before he gets out of the car, damn it! Why did they edit that out? 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
IMHO, they could have cut out some of the Lee/Sonja “action” {shudder} and left in some of this good Lee/Amanda stuff
LikeLiked by 2 people
“And in the script he kisses her before he gets out of the car, damn it! Why did they edit that out? 😦”
Me thinks TPTB at S&MK and CBS got a kick out of tormenting, torturing and traumatizing their female audience! They traumatized us by editing out Lee kissing Amanda … after piling on the torment by torturing us with Sonja’s cannibalistic comment to Lee. How was THAT romantic?!?!?!
Did TPTB think the 3T’s would generate higher Nielson ratings among the male demographic?
LikeLiked by 1 person
lol you got me thinking Learjet – we could have had an ‘inside Amanda’s head’ voice say the lines to us – but she censures herself and doesn’t verbalise it.. rofl!
Learjet do you think Amanda was thinking it was possible Lee would stay the night?
This whole concept opens a great big ugly pandora’s box!
What if the job demanded it? Is it required?
I guess an agent could try for any other tactic to avoid this option (err like killing! lol).
Reminds me of a spooks episode I saw where the agent slept with the guy and totally earned his trust because of it. She saved London from getting blown up or something.. it’s all pretty ick stuff!
LikeLike
LOL maybe that should be censures and censors!
LikeLike
GAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Phew.. okay.. now I’ve gotten that off my chest. Thanks Clagjanet for your script research, and for sharing it with us all! I love to hear what’s in the script and explore it, but have limited myself from looking or I’d never have time to get posts done. lol.
anwyay..
I’m confused too!
My first reaction to reading this alternative version was – well.. Gah!
But.. I think I actually prefer what we got.
I liked that Lee offered this reassurance freely – and that Amanda did not pressure him. I thought it was wonderful to see Lee step up like this and it gave us a clear honest view of where Lee is at in the head and the heart here – all the tonsil hockey hasn’t changed a thing – his heart is Amanda’s… .and he only wants to give his body to Amanda too (he just has to share around his tonsils on a temporary basis 😉 )
I thought it was powerful that of his own free will he shares this with Amanda – it wasn’t in response to being forced into a corner or threatened with tyre slashing, or even in response to Amanda being moody.. I liked this.. so I’m happy with what we got..
Then, when I thought even more about it – I thought it works better for Amanda’s character too.. I see her relationship with Lee as developing on a basis of freedom and unconditional acceptance – she hasn’t demanded he change, or passed judgement on his old playboy ways throughout their story really.. Amanda has always given Lee space to decide his own path.
Somewhere on this walk – I commented that I think this is one of the parts of Amanda that Lee likes the best. Her unconditional acceptance is a gift..
Thanks so much for sharing this scene clagjanet, it’s really fun to explore the possibilities!
Here’s a question for anyone interested… this script version implies that Amanda thought it was possible Lee would spend the night with Sonja while she listens in !!!! Ummm do you think in the version we got that Amanda thought that possible?
What do you all think? Do tell!
Bye!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I am curious – they know Francine is tailing Rostov, so they have figured out she is nearby? She is not exactly subtle here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
rofl. yeah subtle and Francine don’t tend to go together 😉
good question! there’s no indication in what we saw that leads me to think they knew she was there.. IMHO
LikeLike