14/15 Season Four Episode Four: No Thanks for the Memory

Hi All!
On with the show!!! We cut straight to a shot of a car driving into the Betsy Ross Estates. My goodness, have we seen this since there goes the neighbourhood? 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002480180
Of course, I couldn’t help myself.. had to go back to TGTN and see if they used the same shot with the white volvo. Yep! They sure did! Smile  Same guy walking along the road and everything!4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002481181

We see Billy approach a house. He rings the doorbell.. and uh oh..  Tolst opens door. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002494194
Billy: I’m sorry to bother you, Colonel Hannigan. I’m Melrose with the Agency. For security reasons, I’ll be escorting you to the airbase.
(Billy shows his ID)
[uh oh! Does Billy know? or not know? He’s in danger!!! and.. why is Billy even doing this job that any agent could do in the first place?!]
Tolst: What’s the problem?
Billy: I’ll explain in the car.
Tolst: let me get my things.
They are all smiles. Tolst closes the front door. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002508408
Billy secretly checks his photocopy of Col. Hannigan’s Air Force ID… seems to check out. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002512412
Inside, we see a dead body on the floor by the front door. Oh boy. Billy is in danger!!!! okay, maybe it is unconscious.. but then again.. maybe not!
How did Tolst manage to get his face on all the ID? Hmm..
Tolst approaches the body, and pulls out his ID. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002524224
We can’t see the body’s face.. but he opens the ID and we see a close up. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002530830
The body looks just like Tolst. lol or maybe I should say Tolst looks just like the body Winking smile
Tolst (to himself): After I fly the Looking Glass to Cuba, you might want to consider cosmetic surgery, Colonel Hannigan.4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002533833Muahahahahaa!!! whoooo aren’t I bad?! And cunning.. and incredibly good looking.. Laughing out loud tee hee.. he does think quite highly of himself doesn’t he. Nahhh I bet Tolst is super cranky because he had to go and have surgery to look like this.. think yourself lucky mate that Col. Hannigan didn’t wear ear buttons!2.17 ODDS ON A DEAD PIGEON.avi_000641274
[No wonder Karen in Odds on a Dead Pigeon was a drinker Winking smile ] Another one of those plots that revolves around plastic surgery being able to make a baddie change their appearance so perfectly that they can theoretically get away with their crimes! Oh SMK – love ya!!

Oh rofl. Seems Billy shouldn’t have been suckered by this ID..
Amanda showed Zhmed this:
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And we saw this: 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002513013
The first initial is wrong! Winking smile
Looks like the air force got suckered too haaaa..

Moving on to St.Andrews air force base..
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[which really looks like a WB back lot Winking smile close up. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002542042_thumb
I’m guessing we’ve seen this little shack before.. wait.. wait a minute.. is this the car impound where Gino was in Car Wars?
It is! 2.18 CAR WARS.avi_001699330_thumb
We saw it in J.Edgar’s Ghost too!
Here’s evil Nicky and Agnes in the van.. ahem.. sorry I’m getting distracted.. where was I.. I’m so ashamed.. Billy is in grave danger thanks to the advances of plastic surgery and I’m analysing the lack of advances in WB backlots! ahem.. ]
At the Base entrance, we see the vette pull up..
Guard: Yes sir, sign here please sir. Thank you, go ahead sir.
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the vette drives on.
On the tarmac we see an Air Force guy: Yes sir, we read you. Yeah, we’ll take care of it. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002560326_thumb
[rofl. I think they’ve tried to use historical footage here as he walks into his walkie talkie but his lips don’t match at all. lol smk must have been trying to cut down on production costs!]
We see another shot of real planes.
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then we cut back to a set. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002564731_thumb
LOL. This does not hold up well to scrutiny. I’ll move on! Smile We need a code word for – yep lame, lets not dwell here, moving on! How about… Operation Rainbow?!

Out walks Tolst with Billy.. Do they not know? or is this all a set up??!!! gah!!! [do I really care? actually no not really Winking smile ]
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they join Lee and another air force guy – they give Tolst something to sign.
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Tolst signs… Billy and Lee look around. Tolst starts walking away.
Tolst: It’s not often I get a personal escort by the Agency and I appreciate the trouble.
Billy: No trouble, Colonel. I’m just relieved that it was a false alarm. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002588955_thumb
LOL Billy gives a little hidden grin.
Next thing  – we hear (don’t see) Zhmed: Excuse me Colonel Tolst… 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002590357_thumb
(we focus on a stunned Tolst.
We cut to Zhmed for his heroic reveal.)
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[ROFL it’s surely the inspiration for that CSI Miami guy! ][Here!]
(Zhmed takes off the shades to deliver his line.) [smooth.]
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…But this is checkmate. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002593560_thumb
[I think he should have left the shades on.. for me with Zhmed – his eyes always look like: the lights are on but no one is home!! The Zhmed blue helmet head is somehow hilarious here.. I don’t know why!
oh and.. checkmate?? Nooooo ‘Tolst is Toast!’ come on people! I’ve been waiting the whole episode to hear someone say this!]
(Now we cut to the real smooth hero of this show..
Lee..) 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002593760_thumb
Lee: And you lose the game.
[rofl. was that just in case Tolst doesn’t know the rules for Chess? I mean.. he’s Russian?!!]4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002594761_thumb
The music cuts in as we watch Tolst seethe with rage.
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Oh no. He is going to run.. yawn yawn.. No! wait! don’t! yawn.. Oh well maybe we’ll find a gem in here somewhere..
Okay.. brace yourselves for the last little action sequence..
torture.. I’ll summarise: Tolst runs.
Lee catches him. They exchange punches. Grunt. Whack. Lee wins. There. That wasn’t so bad Smile

Lee hands him over to the MPs while Billy delivers the final oh so painful verbal punch:
Billy: I hope you like your new face. You’re going to be wearing it a long time. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002614180_thumb
Yeah!!!! Ouchie! Winking smile  Brutal stuff!
Lee pats Zhmed and Billy.. congrats all around. 4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002617384_thumb
Lee: There you go gentlemen, take care of him. Let’s go check on the real Colonel Hannigan.
[Umm lol he’s dead isn’t he?!
Why did Zhmed even need to be there? funny I don’t really feel any great enjoyment of Zhmed getting his little moment to take down Tolst. Meh.
Still.. at least the action here wasn’t too drawn out! ]4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002618385_thumb
Oh I hope the real Col. Hannigan was alive and well.. and yes he should still have plastic surgery!

Ah Amanda and random Pollyanna are waiting by the door.
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Weird. No dialogue, Amanda just hugs Zhmed and give shim a pat on the back.. and the scene ends there. [those shoulder pads on Amanda look massive!]  4.04 NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.avi_002628795_thumb
[Can’t say I mind. Whooo I’m so narky!!]

I’m having computer issues yet again.. good thing this post has already been written and uploaded – phew!
Okay guys.. I’m going to pause here!
Was anyone else not remembering this plot and how Tolst is a plastic surgery wielding baddie?!
thoughts everyone??? Can’t wait to hear from ya!

38 thoughts on “14/15 Season Four Episode Four: No Thanks for the Memory”

  1. In watching this scene this evening, I started thinking about what a great opportunity it would’ve been to utilize the Air Force angle and get Uncle Bob the Colonel to have been written into the story a bit. It would have been fabulous to have had him come back when Lee and Amanda were in an actual relationship!

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  2. Well hello everyone… I’m kind of lost in the walk ! It’s been so long since I’ve tuned in. It looks like the walk is moving slowly and I know most of these responses were written months ago, but I don’t see any newer posts. Anyway, I don’t have anything to say about this episode I never liked it, it was kind of dumb. Bruce looked pretty swoony, (but doesn’t he always?) That’s the only redeeming qualities with this ep.

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  3. I’m so glad there wasn’t a drawn out action sequence to end this. It’s not like Tolst would have had too many options for escape with so many Air Force personnel around. No black beans and rice for Tolst.

    Since we got the random Pollyanna in this scene, it must have been filmed when Martha was gone.

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  4. Now that we’re past the part where this can be a spoiler for anyone, I have to give a small tip of the hat to the director for getting in so many shots where Tolst is using a mirror or looking through a 2-way mirror as he attempts to steal the Looking Glass plane and while being a mirror image of another person.

    And the writers too! Look at all the parallels to “Alice Through the Looking Glass “with its emphasis on chess (strategy and Zhmed’s Checkmate comment), coded words to be interpreted (the biorhythm charts) , a queen who can remember future events (both memory and predicting from the charts)… And let’s not forget a huge Lee in a tiny chair like a giant Alice in her Wonderland adventures…

    There’s a ton of stuff packed in this script that got overlooked in the breezy enjoyment of this one. Seriously, kudos to Lee Maddux for this one, pity he was undone by poor casting.

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    2. Not being into “Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass” I only caught the basic mirror imageries with Tolst-Hannigan. Typical of S&MK, that camera work was very “in my face.” LOL Thank you for pointing out the 4 instances connected to AIW and TTLG. It takes an accomplished writer to see through another writer’s parallels … those nods to the books soared right over my head.

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    3. well done clagjanet! I don’t know AIW well enough to get half these! I only noticed the conspicuous looking glass!

      Ahh sometimes the silliness of smk can overshadow really clever ideas and it can be easy to be distracted and not give the show it’s due credit!

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  5. OMG iwsod, what did you do… I burst out laughing at “the lights are on but no one is home” (Info: I’m reading this at work in my lunch break, so glad no one was around that would have been a difficult one to explain. Bwahaha.)

    Yeah this episode is a bit of a yawn…except for the Lee/Amanda bits of course, but you’re making this much more bearable with your funny tidbits about the WB lot and recycled shots.

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    1. Rofl!
      Yeah sneaking a look here during work hours is dicing with your reputation at work haaaaa.. NSFW! haaaaa.. I mean Muahhahahahaa!!

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        1. That could have ended badly indeed. Phew, so glad I wasn’t leisurely sipping my tea… um, I mean coffee, cause I’m a good person, you know–generally speaking 😉

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  6. In a fitting (anti-)climax this episode, Zhmed looks quite ridiculous in his blue hard hat. Thank you for reminding us of the previous episodes from which footage was borrowed, Iwsod. Those memories sustained me through this less-than-gripping scene. This episode was never a favourite of mine, and remains so.

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    1. hi Learjet!
      rofl. yeah hang in there – ummm we haven’t made it to the tag yet.. Ummm there may be a very very very good reason this episode is worth watching – regardless of silly Zhmed blue helmet, his sunglasses, and cheesy chess references. Um I guess they would be chessy references LOL!

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    2. learjet1: “Zhmed looks quite ridiculous in his blue hard hat.”

      He does look ridiculous, but wearing a mock turtleneck that matches his hard hat was what Mr. Human Computer calculated to be the best solution to that fashion dilemma! LOL

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      1. 62.9 % of Americans wear mock turtlenecks. ahem. or.. so Zhmed would say ha!
        Had I been less distracted during this episode I could have had loads of fun with Zhmed’s tendency toward random american factoids!

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      2. Hey, there’s a Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland, too! I think you just spotted another nod that they snuck in!

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  7. The middle two seasons being Odds on a Dead Pigeon (S2) and Wrong Number (S3) is that correct? At least KJ got her turn and I imagine it’s a ton of fun for an actor/actress. What’s missing and has me bummed is BB never got his turn at what you so aptly term, “perfect double, making trouble.” Has anyone written a story righting that wrong?

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    3. Hmmm I know it’s not the same thing – but we did get Burn out Lee..
      He was like a different person.. bad enough to actually slap Amanda. Aie.
      Doesn’t that sound terrible?!
      But.. I do love that ep so much!

      We also got BB playing his dad in Unfinished Business so while not doppelgangers we’ve seen BB play another persona and we’ve see Lee play a different Lee. if you know what I mean?! tee hee..

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  8. iwsod: “… why is Billy even doing this job that any agent could do in the first place?!”

    I’m thinking Billy took this on himself because, if he didn’t, Scarecrow would insist that he be the one to escort Tolst. That would give him way too much time with Tolst. Billy does not want to risk Scarecrow making a remark that tips off Tolst before he’s inside the secure Andrews AFB. Billy did let Scarecrow take a victory lap of sorts by letting him be the one to tackle Tolst, who really had … “Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide …” Then Billy made his bitter reminder that Tolst, for his long years in prison, will be lamenting Colonel Hannigan, “… Everywhere I go, your face I see, every step I take, you take with me, yeah, nowhere to run to [Tolst], nowhere to hide …” Songwriter: Paul Stanley (1965)

    iwsod: “Why did Zhmed even need to be there?”

    Zhmed is the only one who can positively ID Tolst to make the Agency charges against Tolst stick in case the Soviets make trouble with the wishy-washy political types in D.C.

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    2. LOL yeah I get that Zhmed needed to ID him, but I was just laughing at the absurdly complicated set up for him to do so.
      I just know he had to be wearing that blue helmet to ID Tolst!!! 🙂

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  9. Phew! I am so relieved that season 4 has a baddie doppelganger (Yes, Magda, “Dead Ringer” season one makes the baddie list because she was such a bi—). Now I can relax, safe in the knowledge that SMK has kept its ‘perfect double making trouble’ plot streak alive for all 4 seasons! I can’t think of any other show outside of a daytime soap opera that has achieved such greatness in a recycled plot device! Bravo, SMK. Bravo!

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    1. For a super secret spy group with a film company cover and everything, they sure expect absolutely everyone to just go along with “I’m from the Agency”, don’t they?

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      1. You guys crack me up, rofl.

        Always waiting for someone to pronounce it “THE Agency”, but the casual way in which they always say it makes me think they just let anyone decide for themselves from what kind of Agency they are. Just like they say “federal agent”…I would always assume they’re FBI, lol.

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    2. rofl! I can’t wait to see what you do with the season 4 golden teacup Cindy! For this reason alone – I want to finish season 4 haaaaa!
      Yeah Bravo SMK we love ya!

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So what do you think??? :)

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