We find Lee knocking on Amanda’s front door. Yes!!! Front door!!!!! Amanda answers and lets him in. 
LOL without a hello he just jumps right into it! 
[man I am having loads of problems getting clear images of this ep!]
Lee: He decided he could tell you because you knew all four of the Mavericks?
[As they talk they walk through the house together, heading out the back. Sorry too blurry to bother with pics.
This is a first. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a scene where the two walk through the house like this?!]
Amanda: I know it sounds crazy but it’s true.
[I love how smk can see how ridiculous it is sometimes! It’s very meta! and.. hilarious!]
Lee: Well, how did he find you?
Amanda: Well I told him my name and he saw the address on the back of a picture of Philip and Jamie that I showed him He’s some kind of a speed reading wizard and he memorizes numbers or something. I don’t know. [Errr Lee- Amanda’s name and address is listed in the phone book- rofl!!!!!! Yes, to find that this guy must be a real wizard! haaaaaa… ]
[I notice she doesn’t tell Lee about ‘handsome Joe’ who was in the photo also!]
Lee: Hardly your average Russian sailor jumping ship…
…Did he say why he was recruited by the KGB?
Amanda: No. He just said he was running from them because he was afraid. He still thinks I work at the hospital and I told him you were State Department. 
[Lee accepts this readily. No objections.. she’s done good!]
Lee: Huh. State Department.
[Lee fixes his tie as he repeats who he is from now haaaaa…]
They head off together toward the tree house.
Amanda: He said he was recruited by a man named Tolst.
Lee: Tolst?! Alexis Tolst? 
Amanda: I don’t know.
[Tolst Shmolst.. I’m more worried about the magically expanding backyard at Amanda’s!!!!! This is seriously sinister!!! 
]
Lee: Well he’s a very big fish in the KGB’s considerable pond. A legend really…
[LOL this is hilarious given how disrespectful the other KGB agents were being toward Tolst and his plan earlier! Someone forgot to tell them! ]
…Nobody in the West has ever seen him…
…They say he’s their major domo of dirty tricks. This could be a very big catch…
(Lee reaches out and taps Amanda’s hand. She smiles)
[I think this implies it is ‘her’ catch. Which.. I like! ]
… Where’s your man? 
[Yep! Definitely ‘her’ catch I love that Lee is not slipping for a second into seeing the catch as his, or even theirs! ]
Amanda : Up there.
(Amanda points up at the tree house)
Stunned Lee looks up.
Zhmed pokes his head out again.
rofl. Lee gives Amanda a look!!! [Your kidding me!] Amanda gives Lee a look back [ Yep!!]
[Lee is not impressed! LOL..] Amanda shrugs..
[as if to say what could she do?! It is what it is.. Start climbing 
Heck, Amanda has probably already climbed up there in her heels ] 
Lee walks over to the ladder. And gives Amanda another look.
LOL He really doesn’t want to do this! Lee scared?! Up he goes. 
LOL So much drama for a top spy – and rofl we know Lee can climb ladders!!! Remember this?!
haaaa aaaaany excuse
Okay, okay, I’m guessing Lee’s discomfort (Embarassment?) was at the thought of entering the tree house. Why I’m not sure.. but would love to hear what you think!
Lee climbs into the kiddie tree house to find Zhmed sitting in far corner on a tiny chair.
[My my… just look at the view up there!!! ]
[ROFL! I can’t possibly overlook this view! gutter or not!]
Lee: Hi. 
Zhmed. Hello. I’m sorry for this inconvenience but I’m told the KGB is everywhere. [yeah maybe the cookie monster is with the KGB too!]
Lee: Yeah, well take my word for it, they’re not in the backyard.
Zhmed: You can help me to defect?
[Lee sits down in the cookie monster chair! rofl!]
Lee: Yeah, I’ll try but it’s not as easy as it sounds, you know. It depends on your circumstances, politics… 
Zhmed: Please, for years I dreamed about coming to America. This is dream come true. If it is necessary for me to go to jail, this is okay. 
Lee: No, no, no, you don’t go to jail for defecting but you do have to have political reasons for defection… Now why don’t you tell me how you got here and why? 
Zhmed: About two months ago, the KGB came to my village and told me I had a job to do for my country. They were never specific about what I was to do, but I’m sure it has to do with my gift. 
Lee: Gift?
Zhmed: In my district they call me ‘chelovecheski komputer’ this means human computer…
[Hmm Lee looks… dubious? unimpressed? Maybe he is comparing this gift to the ability to eat unlimited quantities of cookies.. Hmmm I can’t think why.. Hmm ….]
…I am able to compute and analyse information spontaneously, immediately. I am amazing.
Lee: Oh? 
Zhmed: I can prove it to you. When I found Amanda’s address in the book, I was able to remember the names and addresses of all her neighbours because I saw them as I scanned. Next door, the Eberharts, two doors down, 4241, next to the Mirhabs. [Ah yeah Lee you need to do something about getting Amanda’s name out of the phone book!]
Lee: Okay, okay. So you’re good with facts and figures. Why should I believe any of this, huh?
[lol does this mean Lee knows the Eberharts and the Mirhabs?! I mean how does he know Zhmed the memory monster didn’t just make that up?! ] 
Zhmed: Because I am telling you the truth.
[Lee taps his watch.. he seems frustrated]
Lee: I want to believe you. So first you tell me everything that you know about Alexis Tolst. Is he in the country now? 
[lol. Lee puts on his ‘I’m serious! this is serious!’ tone..
Only.. Lee is sitting in a tree house, in a cookie monster chair! rofl! ]
Zhmed: he must be. He was to contact me at my hotel. But this is all I know about Tolst or why I’m here.
Lee: That’s it, nothing else?
Zhmed: One more thing. I will be killed if I make one mistake.
[Lee gives a bit of a ‘meh’ gesture in response.. hey – I what else is new! All baddies say that! 😉 ]
The scene ends here.
Will Lee take this seriously?!
Is it just me or is this ep feeling pretty slow? I guess the pause in the walk has also shaken up the flow a bit here..
I love Lee in the cookie monster chair.. but.. the plot is pretty slow to get moving. Maybe it will get better! It might be because I find Zhmed to be a pretty boring protagonist- he seems to have two expressions – blank and totally uninteresting… He’s sweet.. naive.. but kind of boring. Give me Bela and his twisted Americanisms and funny laugh any day! You know.. like a Russian version of: In Leichtenstein Russia women make pastries and babies…….. and trouble. ha hahhaaaa…
Hmm maybe we can liven up Zhmed a bit together! What do you think could liven up Zhmed? Some vintage Rod Stewart records maybe for this elegant lady of the lamp?!
Can’t wait to hear from ya!!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I didn’t really see it that Lee was scared of climbing a ladder (although I suppose he COULD have been a little worried that their ladder might be as flimsy as their trellis 😄), but that he felt silly climbing up into a treehouse. And yeah, now that someone mentioned it, having to wear a suit while climbing up into a treehouse probably didn’t help matters, either! 😁
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lol. Lee puts on his ‘I’m serious! this is serious!’ tone..Only.. Lee is sitting in a tree house, in a cookie monster chair! rofl! Smile ]
The cookie monster chair gets me giggling so hard that I genuinely don’t really ever catch too much of the boring dialogue with Zhmed. 🤣
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Zhmed: I’d find him boring and feel a bit sorry for him if he wasn’t so full of himself. “I am amazing“??? So what if English isn’t his first language, he’s still too puffed up and childish for me to feel any sympathy for him. So now he just irritates me. Maybe human computers were more valuable in 1987 than they are in 2018 – otherwise I don’t think Lee would bother with him.
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” – otherwise I don’t think Lee would bother with him.”
That all depends on how much Lee wants to nab the elusive Tolst.
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rofl! True!
Yes, I figured this was maybe expressed this way due to english being his second language. rofl. Yeah those human computers are now redundant haaaaa!
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I definitely like Amanda’s obvious professional growth in this episode, but it is still a bit weird to see her talk and act so confidently. She seems more Sabrina Duncan than Amanda at times – or maybe that’s just me projecting. Lee’s attitude and behavior toward her are definitely different as well. I think I like seeing that change even more than Amanda’s professional growth. Maybe it’s just how the writers wrote Amanda’s lines that makes it seem a little weird. It seems like she’s had more of a whole person transformation than just professional growth. I think that is partly why S4 at times feels like a very different show than S1-S3. This episode is sort of the start of the departure. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen S4, and I don’t want to get ahead of the walk, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
Yes, iwsod, i definitely remember that other ladder…. 😉
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“It seems like she’s had more of a whole person transformation than just professional growth.”
Unfinished Business and Stemwinder were huge episodes for both Amanda and Lee because they spent considerable time working together outside The Agency umbrella. That’s bound to transform them personally and professionally with Amanda experiencing the most growth as she caught up to and became an equal partner with Lee in Unfinished Business and Stemwinder. … At least that’s how I see it, BJo.
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Hiya BJo, I agree! I see Sabrina Duncan sometimes too..
I love to see her professional progress – but do wish that in order to see this the flakey rambling quality of Amanda hadn’t been sacrified to show this…
Yes!!! it’s been ages since I saw S4 too! I’m really looking forward to walking through it with you!!!
oh rofl. the memorable ladder! 🙂
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On Zhmed vs. Bela: I don’t really mind Zhmed being a little dull because I read him as being intentionally nerdy and helpless and thus someone who truly needs their protection from the baddies. In the original “Sudden Death” script, Bela was apparently intended to be a kind of European playboy, until they cast a Russian comedian, but Zhmed is much more a fish out of water and a frightened one at that, because unlike your average Liectensteiner, he has a healthy appreciation for what the KGB can do to him.
Actually, with Amanda’s motherly attitude and Lee’s gritted teeth patience, he reminds me more of Alexei in “ACM KId” than Bela.
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“Actually, with Amanda’s motherly attitude and Lee’s gritted teeth patience, he reminds me more of Alexei in “ACM Kid” than Bela.”
Yes, I see now that you pointed it out; in addition to their nerdy computing skills and need for protection, both were born in the U.S.S.R.
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The joys of transcribing and seeing this at slow speed means that I also know Zhmed didn’t see her address on the back of the photo, he saw a stamp for her local pharmacy.
Also, the whole bit about memorizing the phone book and knowing her neighbours? I guess a Russian who doesn’t understand English alphabetical order might have to read the whole thing to find “King, A” but he had the book for about two seconds and somehow remembers the people from the E’s and the M’s who are on the same street?
And yet, all is forgiven just for the sheer bliss of seeing Bruce, who is 90% leg, trying to fold himself into the tiny chair..😍🤣
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Oh cool clagjanet – glad to hear of an upside to transcribing the dialogue!
rofl you make a great point about her neighbours – aie! the more we think about that phone book the more of a plot crater it becomes! hilarious!!!
You’ve summed it up perfectly!!!!! 🙂
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Yes!!! This is one of the only plot holes I think I ever caught just watching the show at normal speed. The words on the back of the picture have no relevance to the plot whatsoever and I could never figure out why they showed them and then why it was mentioned again here. There must have originally been a picture of Jamie in a Hollywood shirt and Philip in big goofy glasses with their address on the back and then a script change to bring in the ridiculous phone book scene and then they filmed it with the wrong picture, somehow inexplicably still focused on the irrelevant words on the back of it and tried to splice it all together??? Either that or a line got missed that he needed the words on the back of the picture to know to look in an Arlington phone book as opposed to another DC area one? Seriously, I have spent far too much time mulling on this one since I was about 12 years old. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
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Such a transition since Stemwinder and their readjusted partnership. Not only Lee at the front door, but in broad daylight no less. Lee is coming out of the shadows. Love it!
Also, love that Amanda has come up with her own scenario and Lee doesn’t bat an eye, but jumps right in. Maybe Lee’s hesitancy in going up the ladder is due to the situation and circumstances. They were in a different situation and setting in Utopia Now and he was in jeans. Lee loves his suits and maybe doesn’t want to mess it up in any way. It’s also a bit less dignified for someone from the State Department to have to climb a ladder. In a way it may put him at a disadvantage. Maybe his conversation with Zhmed it a way to get that advantage back.
I would say that at this point Zhmed is going to be more serious because he’s afraid for his life and knows he’s in some serious trouble. Bela wasn’t dealing with the same issues.
About the telephone book issue. I think that if you have a land line, your information is automatically put in a telephone book. You have to pay extra to have it unlisted. Not sure if you still can, but at one time you could call directory assistance and get someone’s information unless it was unlisted and they would tell you so. Pay phones eventually faded in usage and I think that the phones books connected to them were updated less and less as time went on.
Also, had a thought about Maverick. Not sure if it came up before and I’m too lazy to look so if I repeat myself, I apologize. When BB was in the Gambler movies with Kenny Rogers they did one that brought back many of the stars and characters from western TV shows, one of the Mavericks was in it.
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I love this Valerie!!!!!!
lol. I wonder if Amanda could have paid for it and claimed it as a tax deduction!
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Who else here thinks Amanda told Zhmed to stay up there just so that she could watch Lee go up the ladder?
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I sure would!
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Me, too, because Dotty did not raise Amanda to be a fool!
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Nice to know I am not the only one who thought the same thing.
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Clagjanet, I like where your thinking is at 😉 haaaaaaaaaaa
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Whoohoo, it’s getting a little crowded here in the gutter, isn’t it? 😉
Got some wine in my backpack. 🍷
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It was hilarious watching Lee “transform himself” into a State Dept. official. In Lee’s view, if no one in the West can I.D. Tolst, he’s the Soviet’s big kahuna and Lee wants to bring Tolst down! Heck, Tolst is so good, even the Soviets in D.C. aren’t aware of his greatness! LOL
That’s a well-crafted ladder to the boys’ treehouse hideaway, complete with hand holds. Wearing a suit or his tight Lee Jeans from Kansas, watching that handsome “State Dept. official” climb up a ladder is simply irresistible! Permission to join you in the gutter, iwsod?
Zhmed declares, “I am amazing.”
Lee’s skeptical “Oh?”
Implies, not while you’re in MY country you’re not! Too funny!
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Yea, the Cookie Monster chairs really crack me up! And I note that Amanda actually TELLS Lee what his cover is instead of having him fumble through it and having to backtrack. Score one for Amanda!
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Agreed, she made that part easy for Lee.
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