2/7 Season Four, Episode Nine: The Man Who Died Twice–Scarecrow & Mrs King

Lee and Billy enter IFF via the entrance guarded by Mrs Marsden.
[She’s back! whoo hoo!]
Billy:  It took the Review Board ten minutes to rule ‘inadvertent homicide in the line of duty.’
Lee: It was a suicide. Tranh Van Khai knew how to set up an ambush, Billy. And from that range he couldn’t possibly miss me – he was a crack shot
[soooo do you remember the first time watching this? Were you thinking this could be a suicide? I think I always thought that was a stretch. thanks to the title. lol]
(Mrs Marsden hands Lee and Billy their ID tags)
Mrs. Marston: Dr. Smyth’s in the building… low to medium boil.

(She seems to point upstairs like indicating where Dr Smyth is.)
Billy: Thank you, Mrs. Marston.
[lol I would have turned around and left!]
Lee: Yeah, great.
(Billy and Lee climb the stairs as they discuss the situation. Where is the portrait of Harry?? Bullet holes can be repaired easy! lol. Maybe they are supposed to be boring on purpose. Boring previous IFF bosses. old men old men.. Nothing to see here! Yawn! )
Billy: Khai’s dead… you probably won’t be able to explain it, so take the standard two weeks.
(Hey look! Billy is taller! teee heee)
Lee: I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.
Billy: Well, what do you plan to do? Khai decided to turn you over to his side, but he was the loser.
[How does Billy get that from this scenario?!]
Lee: He was a damn good friend of mine, and you know it. And don’t give me any of this hard nose stuff. He left a widow and two kids.
Billy: They’re being taken care of. Two Vietnamese nationals on a special guest visa from the State Department…
…A sizeable amount of quiet money to help compensate for their loss.
{Neither notice Dr. Smyth coming out of the men’s’ room at the end of the hall and listening to their conversation.}
Billy: I understand how you feel. I’ve been there. Double agents change sides all the time. I’ve been there.
Lee: Billy, Khai was a good man…
{Dr. Smyth appears in the doorway}
…If he wanted to ‘call the question’, I’d have been the dead one…
(Dr Smyth watches from the doorway.)
[Billy and Lee don’t seem to see him. Guys, check your peripherals! Then again, they knew he was around and probably expected he would be watching from somewhere!]
… I’ve never known him to be sloppy, and I’ve known him for fifteen years!
Dr. Smyth: So much for the sanctity of friendship.
[Lee and Billy don’t seem surprised by his appearance, more.. annoyed?]
Dr. Smyth:  You don’t appear particularly sanguine. Reasons?
Lee: It’s in my report.
Dr. Smyth: Read it. Punched your man a ticket on the last train to Nirvana. [love this dialogue!]
Lee: We owe Khai a lot more respect than that!
[Uh oh. Lee is gonna let Dr Smyth have it!]
…We owe him a full scale crackdown on the Viets, and a fast boot out of this country!!!
Dr. Smyth: No can do. Mr. Diem is the darling of the State Department, and he quivers like a tuning fork at the mere suggestion we don’t love and cherish his delegation…

[Lee doesn’t have patience for quivering! He looks to the heavens.. errr nirvana!]
…. We’re trying to bury the hatchet with those people… [in their backs?] …capice?
Lee: What about Khai’s tip? He was going to confirm it. Diem is planning a major hit against the Chinese. Five hundred PRC nationals in town this weekend.
(Dr Smyth doesn’t seem to care. He walks between them toward the door puffing away and producing smoke! He turns back toward them as Billy tries to explain to Lee that it would be a major diplomatic flap.

Lee thinks it’s worth it because it cost Khai his life, and the info might be legit. But Dr Smyth isn’t having it. He thinks because Khai is dead the info is meaningless. Lee argues Khai was a high performing double agent and they should value his information more.. but.. Dr Smyth isn’t listening, and doesn’t care. Rah Rah.. Not even Dr Smyth dialogue makes this little discussion terribly interesting, it feels kind of repetitive to me.)

Lee: My intelligence is good… [yes ‘scarecrow!’] …Every instinct I have tells me so. Dr. Smyth: Lemmings go on instinct. And I find their plight enviable in comparison to my own…
[He doesn’t look unhappy about that. lol]
…Perhaps you’d like to take my place at the meeting of the National Security Council this afternoon and explain this snafu to the President…
(Billy lets out a big breath) [i.e. no thanks!]
…Bye all.

[In other words, you need to get more information if you want anyone to take this seriously. Dr Smyth isn’t about to stick his neck out. Capice? business as usual.]
(Dr Smyth leaves,  Lee crosses to door and slams it, turning back to glare at Billy and the scene ends)[LOL that the door slams but it just slides right back open again, kind of undercuts the whole whooooo intense Lee/ the tension is rising vibes they were going for here!]

Moving on to the Vietnamese Mission…
{A Vietnamese man (Diem) is in a controlled rage. A woman (Lien) nods along with his ranting as she walks beside him up the stairs.} [More talking on stairs! lol.]
Diem: I knew Khai would run. I simply expected you to find him by now! [whooo Diem is quivering!]
Lien: He’s gone deep… but every eye in Chinatown is watching.
[Hmmm sooo they think the man who died twice hasn’t died.]
Diem: Watching is passive. Stetson will be searching. He’s smart enough to find Khai.
[Uh oh. they know about Lee Stetson by name?! haaa everyone knows Stetson!]
Lien: Yes, Mr. Diem!
[She sounds really over this gig already!]
Diem: Yes, yes, yes. Lien we must find Khai first.
Lien: I think you’ve given Khai an irresistible reason to come to us on his own.
(Lien seems to motion to the door. Diem opens it, and we see a young Vietnamese boy. They have a short exchange in Vietnamese.) {Diem smiles and says something in Vietnamese to the child who responds politely with a nervous glance at his guard. Diem then shuts the door}

the scene ends..
[So is this a geography lesson or something?! weird. The boy doesn’t seem to be under distress though maybe a little nervous. I really don’t remember what this is all about. but it seems Khai will care about this boy..]

Amanda arrives at the Q bureau.

Amanda: Hi
Lee: Hi
Amanda: What are you reading?
Lee: Oh I’m just looking at the architecture. Here check this out.

Amanda: Let’s see…. …‘Colonial four bedroom. Rockville area, acre and a half’…
…I bet it’s perfect for horses too.
{Lee smiles and waggles his eyebrows.}
Amanda: Look if you really wanna go house hunting, let’s take a few days off and go.
[To me she still doesn’t sound enthusiastic.. what do you think?]
Lee takes back to paper and walks back over to his desk with a sigh.
Lee: No, I can’t. I can’t, not now. Not with Khai… (He drops the paper on his desk, and instead picks up a file and walks back over to Amanda’s desk)
…Did you read the M.E. report?
Amanda: Yes
Lee: Cause of death?
Amanda: He was killed in the fire.
Lee: Did you read that I grazed his skull with one of my last shots? That he lost consciousness while taking the turn? A lucky shot at a moving target, believe me. But he was driving then and he only fired twice… Khai was not trying to kill me. He even warned me before he shot.
Amanda: If he wasn’t trying to kill you, what was he trying to do?
Lee: I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t have the slightest idea. The only thing I do know is that if you are grazed in the skull by a 9mm, you are gonna go down…. The ME can’t make a positive ID, you notice? Khai’s features were obliterated in the fire, they can’t find his prints or dental charts or anything. All they have is this..
(he opens file again)
… “Asian male, blood type O-positive, 30-36 years old.” Period. Amanda, I don’t believe this is Khai and I’m gonna try to prove it.
Amanda seems to agree, or be on board with exploring deeper.
[one way to avoid house hunting?! haaaa. Well, I’m glad we finally get there. Something is dodgy with his death, and Lee is gonna prove it! I could do without the whole ‘the agency doesn’t care and won’t act’ side of things. Even though I love Dr Smyth!]Anyway, the scene ends here.

(Lee and Amanda head back to the crash site, after lots of pointless repetitive dialogue, some distance measuring [which looks like they are being super clever but which actually doesn’t really prove anything], Lee gets in the vette and tries to take the corner as tightly as Khai did. Not even the super brilliant corvette [which corners like its on rails] could do it.
Conclusion? Khai faked the accident.)
Amanda: Why did he fake it?
Lee: Ah, I can’t give you a good reason, but let’s look at it. Khai ‘calls the question’… the classic way a double agent lets you know he’s one of theirs…
…He tries to kill me… He kills his own credibility at the same time. Dr. Smyth gets cold feet… he’s afraid to insult Diem… so he lets the Chinese General Secretary waltz right into Diem’s party.

[Is it just me or are they really being over the top with the dialogue about what happened? Whatever. The most interesting parts of this scene?
While Amanda watches Lee try and corner like Khai did, we can see the cross again.
You know what? Amanda is one picky lady… a love heart necklace is perfect for talking to Lee in the Q Bureau, but forget about it for being out in the field measuring tire tracks.. that calls for….The Crucifix!!

My goodness those shoulder pads are massive! Bigger than Stripey Francine? -Amandarambler’s comment on this reminded me of them- thanks Amandarambler!

Sorry I’m getting distracted! ]

Moving on, back to the Vietnamese mission.

{Diem and Lien enter. Three other Vietnamese are already there, sitting at a meeting table, smoking cigarettes. Diem crosses to a cabinet and removes a large map, then comes to the table.}

Diem: Dangle the bait gently. We want Khai on the hook…
..If we kill his son too soon he’ll want to take revenge on us… We must not let Khai get in the way…
[So the artistic geography student is Khai’s son. Oh nooooo.
‘too soon’? sooo they are planning on killing his son regardless of what Khai does? and lol- kidnapping his son is dangling the bait gently?! ]
… Now I intend to take all the revenge this city can bear.

[I’m sure he is doing a Muahahahaah on the inside!]
{He thumps his finger down on the map}
…We have six bombs on the parade route….

…The Chinese rejected us the day they chose televisions and blue jeans above Maoism…
[whoa. they chose tv and blue jeans huh. okay, whatever]
…They simper for affection and they have the audacity to call us Vietnamese ‘reactionary dogs.’ …

…But wait, wait until their blood flows in the streets tomorrow, and the bamboo curtain will drop for another thirty years.

[They call us reactionary dogs, so we are going to react by blowing them up!! ha haaaaa!! This Diem is a genius!!]

The scene ends here.

It’s pretty funny how Diem is on his evil rant, but his audience don’t seem terribly enthused. Tough crowd! I wonder what Cindy D will make of the baddies in Season 4. -Great to see you stop by and comment  again Cindy D!!
Diem is pretty cold to kidnap and plan to kill a child, and yet.. there’s nothing in his speech that fills me with terror?? Weird.  I was more afraid of Dr Smyth!

Thoughts everyone?? do tell!!