7/7 Season Four Episode Eight: Photo Finish -Scarecrow & Mrs King

Let’s finish this up with a long final post..
Back to Statik Aerospace, it’s night time and time for an evil monologue!
Williamson: Here we are, gentlemen. The heart and brains of the world’s first hunter-killer satellite… [heart and brains?!]
…Now, handle this with extreme care. It’s the down payment on the rest of our lives, which, I might add, should be spent in the East – way east. Once the Warsaw Pact gets a hold of this baby, the Western space defenses won’t be able to keep out a mad parrot with a loaded ICBM.

(They hide the heart brains in what looks like cleaning equipment.)
[Blah blah blah.. I keep getting distracted by that shelving behind him – which doesn’t match the size of the door. lol!]

Back at Statik Aerospace the next day..
Whooo the whole gang is on site, joined by Sam Tanner.
Lee: There’ve been at least three more janitors coming in here than Grime Busters’ contract in the last 3 months.
Amanda: Who makes up the schedule?
Tanner: Well, Jake Williamson. Ahh. Two months ago, we began final ready check of the HK-86. We check each subassembly and then we lock it away in a clean bin until final assembly.
Billy: Until then, no one rechecks the components?
Tanner: No.
Billy (to Tanner): Get one of your tech people down here to give us the cook’s tour.…Francine, I want you to find Williamson. I want to talk to him.
Francine: Yes, sir, I’ll put the trackers on it.
Billy: Let’s go look at the assembly.
(They part ways and we cut to the Grime busters van arriving at the warehouse.)

Cue lots of pointless footage, checking cameras, and getting ready to photograph stuff they shouldn’t..

and finish the scene with an intense caress of the satellite’s heart and brains… rofl. I think it’s love.
Looks like the gang might be too late! gah!!!

Back at Statik Aerospace and they’ve found the cupboard with the magical shelving. Engineer: I filed the detonator subassembly in there myself on Friday. Where the hell is it?
Lee: They’ve been smuggling the parts out after they were checked and then bringing them back before anyone missed them.
Engineer: Well, let’s hope they bring this one back.
Tanner: No, they don’t have to. The detonator was the last piece of the puzzle. They’ve got the whole enchilada.
[Am I supposed to understand why a satellite would have a detonator? Ummm? ]
Billy: I’d better notify State.
(Billy leaves)
Engineer: What’s missing is the proximity bomb. It’s our doomsday option. We can smuggle the HK-86 up close to the target and then, poof.
[Ohh I see lol. thanks for explaining that Engineer. ha! Soo the satellite is really not just a satellite? it’s a bomb that can hunt and kill. Lol no wonder Williamson loves it so much ]
Lee: All right. How do you track it?
Engineer: Well, it’s been designed to be tracked by commanders in the field with mobile gear.
Amanda: That could find it for us.
Engineer: None of it’s been assembled yet.
Lee: Great. That takes us right back to square zero, doesn’t it?
Engineer: Not necessarily. All I need is this little circuit board, this row of LEDs. I could use this power supply. Hey, I could jerry-rig something.
[I love this woman. I’m pretty sure she has partnered with Macgyver in the past. Probably taught him….. whooo I know, let’s call her Macgirlver! None of what she says actually has to make any sense. it’s brilliant. ]
Amanda: Okay. We don’t have much time.
Macgirlver: Give me 45 minutes.
[I bet Macgyver would have needed an hour!] Back to the warehouse, and more talking on the phone!
Williamson: Coming soon to the Bulgarian Embassy… [whooo anyone speak Bulgarian?!]
…Complete photographs of the prototype hunter-killer satellite. We’re not in the pizza business. We don’t deliver. You do. And you buy the beer. [Is it just me or is that beer line really lame?]
(he hangs up and sends the grime buster off on patrol… we then see more gratuitous photo taking of satellite bits.) Yawn.

Back at Statik Aerospace, and the engineer is working on the tracking and disarming device.
Macgirlver: I don’t know how this is going to work, particularly in the DC area with all the microwaves. But then, again, if it’s outside the DC area, there’s no way you’re going to pick up the signal.
Lee: Well, my guess is, they haven’t taken it out of DC.
Macgirlver: This is like a coat hanger antenna on a car radio…[okay. I can go with that.] …When you get close, you’re going to have to fine-tune it with the keyboard.

Lee: Now, look, we don’t really have the time to memorize a lot of complicated codes.
[rofl. oh yes please no complicated codes.]
Macgirlver: Oh, no problem, I’ll copy these for you. But whatever you do, don’t enter “267.” That’s the destruct sequence. There’s no failsafe in a unit like this.
[What exactly did she copy? err maybe I don’t want to know. I just gotta know 2-6-7!!!!]
Amanda: Okay. Well, I guess we should probably start working out from the plant in concentric circles.
Lee: Well, it’s a million-to-one chance, but we’re going to have to take it.
(Macgirlver hands Amanda what she copied down. codes? I don’t know…) Amanda repeats: 267.
[Hey – don’t forget 267!!!!!! I mean it might be important. I honestly can’t remember but usually when they repeat something it means something. lol.]
(Lee and Amanda leave to run around in (concentric) circles! )[Only professionals go around in circles!]

We cut to the corvette going around in circles..
Lee: Got to be close by. I’m sure they want as much time as possible to put those parts under a microscope.
Amanda: All we can do is keep working this pattern.
[Thanks for the reminder. You are driving around in a pattern! got it! This background is not supposed to be looked at as a still. lol. Hey why is Amanda looking at the piece of paper with the codes the whole time, isn’t she supposed to be looking at that gizmo?]

Back to Statik Aerospace.[LOL we’ve seen those women outside a few times now. Get back to work!]
Billy is trying to call Lee and Amanda.. but we learn the gizmo is blocking the signal.
Soooo they’re on their own! Only Lee and Amanda can save the whole of the west!!!

(Back to Lee and Amanda in the Corvette…
Ohhh lol more performing in front of the projection screen haaaaa..
Amanda: I got something right over there.

(They turn into a street, driving past that old warehouse.) [Umm Lee said it was a million-to-one chance.
These two should buy a lotto ticket!! And.. maybe look a bit more suprised about it?! haaaaa..]
(Anyway, the lookout grime buster sees them.. he’s holding a rifle.
They turn at the end of the street, pull over and park.

Lee tries to make a call on his car phone.
Back inside the warehouse, the lookout Grime Buster alerts the others..
They all look down the street.)
[ but the Corvette just kind of blends into the background there, so they go unnoticed. Hey! Just checking you are paying attention!! haaaaa!! No way is that Corvette blending into anything baby!]
The three spot the Corvette.. Even Williamson spots it with his one eye! ha!
Williamson: That’s the guy from the Agency. (Cuts back to Lee, still in the Corvette)
Lee: Damn phone. Frequency’s out again. You stay put. Keep trying to get us some backup.
Amanda: Wait a minute.
Lee: Wha —
Amanda: You can’t go in there alone.
Lee: You’re fond of quoting me the rulebook, right? Chapter 11, Subchapter 4.
Amanda: No.
Lee: “Without tactical backup, an agent team must not risk both members in the same action.” If one of us gets in trouble, the other can cover.
[Whoooo Lee, I love it when you speak rule book to me! haaaa]
Amanda: I just wish you wouldn’t take all the chances.
Lee: I’m not taking all the chances.
Amanda: What do you mean?
Lee: I’m going in there alone and you’re staying out here alone. Okay? [Ummm look what happened in Nightcrawler. But ahhh, I miss the whole stay in the car gag!! Will Amanda stay in the car this time? I honestly can’t remember, but I kinda hope she doesn’t haaaa]
Amanda: You’re right.
[lol while I love to see a little tiff between these two this one seems to fizzle out pretty quickly when Lee is still the one putting himself in danger. but.. hey whatevs..]
Lee: Now, remember –
Amanda: Uh-hm.
Lee: — the destruct code is 267.
Amanda: 267.
[Enough! we got it. what 5 times in 5 minutes. 2-6-7!!!]
Lee: That thing is not to go over to the other side, no matter what.
[soooo we got Lee going in alone, no car phone to call for back up, umm oh yeah and the satellite might get blown up by Amanda from the car if Lee leaves her to wait in the car too long. Anything else at stake here? Oh yeah.. the grime busters have guns..]
Amanda: It won’t.
Lee: Understand?
Amanda: I got it.
Lee: Okay. Let’s do it.
(Lee goes to leave, but Amanda grabs his arm, making him pause)
Amanda: Be careful.
(Lee exits the car with a bit of a chuckle.)
[What, can’t kiss I guess cos the baddies are watching?! but hey could have at least said an I love you and don’t forget 268 err I mean 7.]
Yes, we have crime busters vs grime busters. This is going to be epic!!! tee hee.. I’m going to sum up this whole action sequence as painlessly as possible: Grime busters vs Crime busters – Crime busters win. Amanda ends up using the big boom boom code. And all is well.. I think that’s my fave summary ever. haaaa..

But!! Here’s the action finale description that Ruth so patiently transcribed if you want details: [we thank you for your sacrifice Ruth!!]
(Amanda gets out of the Corvette. Janitor No. 1 heads back toward the interior of the warehouse. Williamson follows him. We see Lee running toward the warehouse from the Corvette. Amanda gets out as soon as he gets ahead of the car. Janitor No. 1 is shown coming along the side of the warehouse. Cuts to Williamson inside picking up a grenade and a rifle. He walks to the garage door again. Cuts to Amanda getting into the driver’s seat of the Corvette. She picks up the car phone. Cuts to Lee running toward the warehouse. Janitor No. 2 shoots at him from the second floor window several times. Amanda looks up. Lee takes cover behind an old car, then shoots twice at Janitor No. 2. He is hit, gasps and falls out of the window. Cut to Lee, moving carefully out from behind the cover of the car. Janitor No. 1 comes around the side of the building and shoots at Lee, breaking a front light on the car. Lee takes cover again behind the old car. Lee shoots and hits Janitor No 2, who falls out the second floor.
Lee shoots at Janitor No. 1 and hits him. He groans. Lee runs up to take cover behind another car. Amanda looks on anxiously. Williamson comes out of the garage door and throws the grenade toward Lee.

[rofl. I love how gleeful he is!]
It explodes on the other side of the car from Lee but he rolls on the street from the force of the blast. As he is laying on the street,
Williamson comes out to shoot him with the rifle and Amanda detonates the HK-86 with the device she has. Lee is lying dazed on the ground. Williamson is thrown to the ground by the blast behind him.
[whoo hoo! That’s for Patch the security guard!!! ]
Amanda then starts the Corvette and rushes up to Lee, gets out and grabs his arm to get him up from the street.)

Lee: Damn it. You cut that pretty close.
Amanda: I didn’t want to have to do that.
Lee: Yeah… (Lee checks Williamson’s pulse.. )  …He’s alive.
[What a shame]
(Lee cuffs Williamson. Amanda looks on thoughtfully, and the scene ends)
[Looks to me like Amanda didn’t want to kill the bad guy. lol. I love how Lee says regretfully ‘he’s alive!’ haaaaa.. I’m with him!

I love how it’s really obvious that is not Amanda facing Lee as he’s laying on the ground, it’s been a while since we saw that wig in the foreground!
And the light is completely different when it cuts back to the close up on Amanda. lol. Ahh smk you are awesome. ]

Tag time! Back at the agency, in the conference room, Lee, Amanda and Billy are joined by Mrs Frampton, and a bunch of random agents..
Mrs. Frampton: Mrs. King, I’m well aware of the events that have happened over the last couple of days. You handled yourself with great poise and professionalism under harrowing circumstances…

(Lee looks so proud of Amanda, it’s adorable!)
…And from what I hear, Mr. Stetson would agree with me.
Lee: Oh, yes. [rofl!!!!! Understatement!!]
Mrs. Frampton: And now, it is my pleasure to announce our unanimous decision to reinstate Amanda King’s security clearance… (She passes Amanda’s pass to Lee who hands along to the people seated next to him, then down to Amanda)
…Oh, and please, forgive us for our earlier misunderstanding.
[Yeah try investigating it before you make accusations lady! Umm forgiven! I’ll give it to her: when she’s wrong she admits it, and she seems to be genuinely happy for Amanda!]
Amanda: Thank you, Mrs. Frampton.
[Everybody vacates the conference room leaving Lee and Amanda alone]
Amanda: Well —
(they each share a sigh of relief)
Lee: Yeah. Now that the smoke has cleared, what do you say we take that day off, huh?..
(You just had a long weekend!! tee hee..)
…We’ve lost the cabin, but, uh, I think we can find some trouble to get into.
Amanda: (shaking her head) I still have a lot of work to do at Statik Aerospace.
Lee: Arrghhhhh. (whispers)…Oh, c’mon….

…Okay. Suit yourself…

…I don’t want to be accused of putting ideas in your h–
Amanda: (grabbing his tie and pulling him towards her)
Oh, hoo-hoo…
…You gave up too easy.
Lee: Oh, yeah?

(They both laugh and the episode ends here.)

Now that is what I call an awesome Photo Finish!!! Love flirty Amanda keeping Lee on his toes.. and Lee kinda loving it  

My general impression of this episode? Some really cute flirty Lee and Amanda moments – but overall a bit dull. Maybe because the baddie was not super interesting to me, and the plot seems so similar to things we’ve seen in the past.
Then again, we had Francine actually trying to be nice. That’s new! ha!
Actually, now I think about it.. I enjoyed seeing Amanda spreading her wings some more, and the acknowledgement of her individual professionalism, aside from her partnership with Lee.

That ending is super flirty for a conference room with the blinds open, right next to the bullpen!

What’s your overall take on this one my fellow smk fans? Do tell!!! Up next? The Man who Died Twice.