Back to the Q bureau.. Amanda is at her desk, while Lee paces.. In jeans.. Lee in jeans…
Lee: I can’t put my finger on it, but something about Trask that is a little out of focus…
Amanda: Well, he was right in front of us when the bomb went off… if he planned it, it was pretty risky.
Lee: Yeah, well, Maybe it’s worth it to him.
{The phone rings and Lee grabs it}
Lee: {into phone} Hello, Stetson. Yeah, Uh, Hi – How you doing?.. 
…Yeah, she’s right here. Hold on. {with a look} It’s, ah, Joe. 
Amanda: Oh. (Amanda reaches for the phone not noticing Lee’s reaction) 
[Lee looks… thoughtful? concerned? What do you think?
Like yep, I know it he wants her back sad!] 
(Lee’s so deep in thought he doesn’t noticed Amanda has picked up the phone and he needs to transfer it)…I have it.
Errrrr….
[lol this image below- Like Lee is all pouty and Hmm maybe I don’t wanna transfer it!]
Lee {still holding phone.}: Oh
Amanda: Hello. Ah, wait a minute, let me check and see.
{checks calendar} Yeah, okay, That’s fine. Uh huh. Okay I’ll see you then. Me too. Bye-bye {She hangs up.}
Lee snaps shut the book he was pretending to read.
Lee: I was right. 
[lol I love how Lee doesn’t beat around the bush he’s straight out with it!]
Amanda: Right about what?
[It has to be said. That sweater or whatever that is? It’s wrong. very wrong.]
Lee: Mm-mm, I was absolutely right…
He is making a move. He wants you back.
[Lee plays it light-heartedly, but going by the way he was looking at Amanda when she wasn’t looking? I think his heart is not totally feeling ‘light’ about this.]
Amanda: Well, he can’t have me.
Lee: No, he can’t. But, what are you going to say when he asks? Huh? {a beat} You are gonna say that you are taken.
(Lee approaches and kneels beside Amanda’s desk.)
[whoo I like where this is headed. haaa.. oh wait no he’s already proposed hasn’t he.. and oh wait it was right here that he gave her the ring! awh!]
Amanda: Okay, I’m going to say I’m taken. All right?
Lee: Amanda, you cannot lead Joe on like this. 
{{CINDY: UGH Lee, really!?! Just because she is on friendly terms with her ex?}}
…I mean. it’s not like telling your mother, or broadcasting it around the Agency. Joe can keep a secret.
[Okay, Lee doesn’t seem too threatened.. I don’t see this as being about Amanda being on friendly terms with Joe.
I like to think this is Lee frustrated at not being able to err stake his claim fully and openly on Amanda. secret fiance and all that.. cough cough.. Sooo they are going to tell Joe about their marriage? – please don’t spoil if this is covered in future, I’m just pondering out loud here as I walk through the ep. sorry if this is somewhat frustrating!]
Amanda {nods}: Okay, well, he’s gonna want to know when..
Lee: So do I. 
Amanda: Heh!
[whoooo Lee’s thumbs starts stroking Amanda’s hand. awhhhh] 
Lee: Yeah, when are we going to stop talking about it and set down some concrete plans?
[Hmm Lee, I would avoid any references to concrete in this episode!! whahahahaaaa]
Amanda: {jokingly}: Saturday
Lee: No, Saturday is too soon…
…We have got to get blood tests, apply for a license…What are we waiting for, huh?
Amanda: We’re chicken. {Makes eye contact with him.} Chicken.
[I think these may win the ‘Amanda’s biggest shoulder pads’ award! Except I am distracted by the ‘world’s ugliest sweater’ award at the same time.. ahem. Fashion Police!! Drat this stoooopid top. Distracting me while these two are being all lovey and romantic and wonderful!!! Focus Iwsod!!! ]
Lee: You’re right. Ha ha, you are absolutely right. We are chicken. All right, I’ll tell you what… 
(Lee gets up and pulls his diary/agenda out too)
…What is it, Tuesday today? Blood test and license by Friday. 
Amanda: Hold it…
…Now, Philip and Jamie have a soccer game on Saturday with a picnic afterwards.
Lee: Monday, then.
Amanda: {long beat} Okay, I’ll pencil you in…
{{CINDY:OUCH! But she is joking}}
(Lee reacts – cheeky Amanda!!!) 
…Heh, come on…
{knocking at door} I’ll get it.
Whoa. Who knocks before entering the Q bureau?!
(Amanda opens the door)
[Look at that! yep biggest shoulder pads ever! She almost needs to navigate that doorway sideways!!! haaaaa]
..Hello
{Jack Coleman, a young lab technician enters. He waves an evidence bag.}
Coleman: They yanked me off a Priority Code Red Electron Microscope hair analysis for this… 
[No one cares dude. Suck it up. ]
(Tosses the evidence bag on Lee’s desk)
…Cuffs and a stone from your man’s ring. The stone is a chunk of garden variety turquoise…no help.
{As Jack talks he crosses to the refrigerator and prepares himself a huge sandwich without asking.}
Lee: I know you, Jack. You made this personal trip up here to show off…
[maybe he just really likes Lee’s sandwich ingredients?!]
…Something with the cuffs, right?
[has that fridge always been there?!] 
Jack: From the outside they’re standard issue Satin 190’s. But, you pop ’em open, and you’re looking at a MacKintosh double latching interlock system. Used specifically, and only, by the US Treasury until 1984.
Lee: Is there a connection?
[Keep that quirky sandwich making coming!!! gotta make all this exposition interesting somehow!]
Jack: This is where it gets fun. I sifted through years of Treasury records. Thanks to some ingenious deductive reasoning, I came up with a name to go with that collection of bones… {indicates computer} Punch up the temp file I’ve got working — C seven one two.
{Lee taps some computer keys.}
Lee: C, seven, one, two {reading screen} Luther Spickens…
Jack: Uh huh
Lee: Right, The ‘D and I’ guy who dropped out of sight a few years ago?
[Oh my gosh.. that is so funny! Lee heard about him?! A random dude who went missing six years ago?! haaaaa.. Okay okay, I guess if this guy made Lee’s ISP, Lee may have actually met him soon before his disappearance after fabricating the second copy??]
Jack: {building sandwich} Six years ago…Spickens, AKA ‘The Scribbler.’…[Ohhhh WAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!! The Scribbler??!!!! Oh oh oh my stomach hurts!!! Guys guys guys!!! whahahahahahaahahaaaa.. hang on… I’ve gotta catch my breath here..I’m howling with laughter!!!! It’s sooooo smk that this guy has – a Nickname!!!! duh duh duhhhh… haaaaa]
…worked in Documentation and Identification, and those guys always transport classified materials in briefcases locked to their wrists…
(Splat!)
Amanda: With black Satin cuffs? {Points to the sloppy mustard laden sandwich}. You’re going to get that all over–
Jack: Bingo.
[I think I now know why Jack wears a shirt with a pattern… it’s so the stains don’t show!]
Lee: Oh.
Jack: Got any sweet gherkins?
[lol we just saw them in front of you two seconds ago. don’t tell me this is like the magical eggs in Tegernsee breakfasts?!]
Lee: There is only one problem with your theory., Jack.. For two years after Spickens took off we suspected him of peddling ISPs. [Lee knows this off the top of his head?! Scarecrow’s memory is truly miraculous. How Ironic.]
Jack: Four of ’em. I’ve read the file. The last one turned up in the pocket of a hijacker in Cairo. In ‘82.
Lee: That’s right. We have reports of Spickens showing up all over the globe since.
[Umm you are talking about fake IDs and then saying this other guy kept showing up around the globe. It doesn’t take much imagination here.. I figure Lee is sooo distracted by that magical mess of a sandwich to concentrate. I am too. Now the meat is white?!]
Jack:Yeah, but nothing solid. Supposition, innuendo, assumption. No positive ID. We call a file like that ‘bathroom fiction’.
Amanda: Someone could’ve killed Spickens and taken the ISPs to sell…
Jack: It’s a good guess, but I’ll leave that to you… I deal in facts… [and sandwiches] …And, for my money, we can read old Luther Spickens his last rites…
{Jack picks up his huge sandwich and starts to take a bite. As Lee and Amanda react}
Jack {continuing}: Bites?
Lee and Amanda pass on that suggestion.
[GAG!!!!] 
The scene ends here.
Moving on to Billy’s office.. The scene opens with a close up on the gem from Spicken’s ring.
Lee: The stone from Spickens’ ring survived the fire. Amanda’s running a trace on his wife. She could give us a positive I.D.
Billy: On the body… but is it getting us closer to the source of the ISP?
Lee: Well, they may have dried up. They haven’t been for sale in over four years.
Billy: Nobody plants a bomb if nothing is at stake.
{Billy produces a familiar-looking red ISP.}
Billy:{continuing} With one of these, you could start a war…
…We all have one…every agent, every general, every damn senator that wants to go on a junket to some foreign military base.
Francine: Two point four million top secret clearance in the U.S. by last count. {{CINDY: Which are hard to police, keep track of or control. *FACE PALM}}
[LOL Hey maybe that was a bit of marketing and not legit when Weathers said that?]
Billy: …the really cute thing about Spickens and his ISPs is you can’t catch them. They’re the real thing.
Francine: So the guy made two…One ISP for Uncle Sam and one for the cookie jar.
[And Francine is positively gleeful about catching hands in the cookie jar! whahahaaa]
Lee: Maybe he got greedy…or scared… [Is it just me or is this all pretty likely and obvious to well.. anyone?!] 
…But, he became a liability. {shrugging} One way or another, someone killed the goose that –
{Billy reaches out his hand.}
[Like he has suddenly realised something]
Billy: Let’s have it. {no reaction from Lee} Your ISP, Scarecrow. Now!
[Whoa! Billy you think Spickens planted a bomb in Lee’s ISP?! whahaahaaaa]
Lee: Ah Billy. Come on, you can’t ground me. We’re only guessing here. We don’t know that Spickens made my ISP… Why hasn’t it been sold by now?…Huh? {knows it’s for the best} Okay. {hands over the ISP} . . but I can still nose around DC, right?
[Ugh. Whatev.]
Billy: For now. We’re already sending a flash alert overseas to cancel your ISP. That’ll cover our embassies and our military bases. {beat} It could be worse.
Lee: Oh yeah, tell that to Patterson huh? Since his ISP was cancelled, he’s been strapped to a desk in crypto for the last three years. {beat, then} You might as well have asked for my resignation.
(Lee heads for the door)
{{CINDY: Dramatic much?}}
[Strapped to a desk?! rofl. I agree with Cindy this all seems a bit OTT- they are trying to up the stakes here to build the drama – but for me it just falls really flat. Let’s get back to Lee and Amanda being chickens! haaa.]
Billy: Hey! If anybody gets out of the country with a Lee Stetson ISP… we’ll all be looking for a new job.
[Nope, I’m still not really feeling it. lol. All these super top secret clearances have a little red passport and if that ever gets lost or stolen their whole career is over?! How exactly do they carry that thing around? Do they all keep it stuffed in their underwear? I mean contact lenses I could get.. but this book? kinda funny aka ludicrous idea! I bet Francine hides hers in her hair. Ohhhh now this explains the massive shoulder pads on Amanda and Francine now.. Where does Billy keep his? errr never mind I don’t want to think about that haaaaa!! ] 
Lee: Eh {leaves Billy’s office}
Cue tense looks all around..
[Kudos for that colour Francine, a lovely look on you! and while shoulder pads are big enough to hide an ISP in (handy!), I’m not sure about the brooch. Anyone?]
The scene ends here.
"Just walk with me.." 
I don’t like these jeans on Lee’s. Put him in a pair of black slacks EVERY DAY.
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I am a little slow in adding my comments about this scene in the Q Bureau, but wanted to make sure I got them in before commenting on the next scene!
To get the obvious out of the way first – I agree that Lee looks SMOKING HOT in this scene. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but his look here is second only to Munich. A sincere thank you is owed to whomever changed the Agency dress code away from suits-and-ties required. In contrast, Amanda’s shoulder pads are – once again – just horrible. I feel like whoever was responsible for her wardrobe just didn’t have a good vision for which styles would be timeless versus those that would look terribly dated. Not all shows from the 80s have the women characters wearing such ugly clothes. (Okay, a lot of them do, but not all.)
Now on to the actual scene itself. I think this whole dialogue between Lee and Amanda is just…strange. Lee asks what they are waiting for with respect to scheduling their marriage, and Amanda’s response is to look at him with a deadpan expression and respond, “we’re chicken.” With which he agrees. What? Um, maybe you should have an actual meaningful discussion about WHY you are “chicken”? Why are you feeling nervous about going through with the secret marriage? Gee, could it be because it is a stupid idea that is likely to lead to feelings of hurt and betrayal, should the family ever discover that they did this behind everyone’s back?
And then with the whole calendar-checking thing… It’s like they’re trying to find a time to neuter their dog! Why couldn’t they focus on the one great thing that we the fans are clinging to, which is the romantic aspect of it? They are talking about scheduling their wedding. Can’t they exchange some words of romance, an “I love you so much,” perhaps? An acknowledgement that this plan is nutty, but they feel compelled to do it, because they just can’t bear to go forward any longer without making this lifelong commitment to each other? It just could have been so much…better. Instead, we get this scene where it seems like Amanda is treating the whole thing like a joke and is just humoring Lee. I find it most unsettling and disappointing.
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Totally agree!
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Wow! Lots to think about in your comments.
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Sorry — not trying to spam but I just wanted to add to your comment about the jeans. I LOVE this shirt on Lee as well. I wish we could have seen more of it and the blue denim jacket he wore on It’s In The Water.
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Lee has some unique expressions that I just love. “A little out of focus.” Also “It doesn’t track” which he uses frequently. And of course my all time favorite, “I know it” instead of “I know,” which I’ve caught on seven eps so far.
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Love all the jokes 🙂 and the Lee in jeans too!
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I do wonder if some of Lee’s insecurities regarding Joe are because he and Amanda have such an amicable divorce. Especially when you consider the “sweetheart” stuff on the Christmas ep, which still feels weird to me. If a guy I was engaged to was that close to his ex I’d feel a bit worried too.
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I agree LeesMolly! Using an endearment with your ex-husband is disturbing. Using it in the presence of the love of your life is downright condescending towards Lee.
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And I feel like there are some things you just don’t do in a committed relationship or when you’re married versus when you’re single. Kind of like how the Bible says “Avoid the appearance of evil” just because of how things can be misconstrued. It’s like confiding in someone of the opposite sex and same age as your spouse/fiance. It can lead to being emotionally unfaithful. I just wish they’d left some of that out.
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I agree. Brainstorming here, might it have anything to do with her long-time actor friend Sam Melville (who plays Joe King) from when they played husband and wife for 90+ episodes on “The Rookies”?
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In regards to the magic meat now being white, maybe Jack had smothered so much mayo on it, it just looks white? EWWWWWW.
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That linebacker sweater of Amanda’s is absurd!
It looks like the costume folks were going for a Cousin Oliver (“Brady Bunch”)/Messy Marvin (Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup commercial)/John Denver (in “Oh, God!”) vibe.
Those little ISP books remind me of Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book.” Probably not what they were going for!
But what really struck me about this scene when I re-watched it for the first time in 30 years (during my pandemic full re-watch, in the past I’ve avoided Season 4) was the blood test stuff. I’d COMPLETELY forgotten that you used to have to get blood tests before you could get married. Seems to no longer be required now. But even into the 90s and beyond, tests were a requirement before marriage to screen for sexually transmitted diseases as a public health initiative. What cracks me up is that having pre-marital sex (or engaging in other sexual activities that could transmit diseases) was increasingly socially acceptable by the 60s/70s/80s… it all seems just so antiquated. Were/are blood tests like this required in other countries?
More pertinent to our favorite couple here… I like to believe that if Lee and Amanda were sexually intimate before marriage that they were safe and responsible!
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I am with you in the blood tests. I was married in the 80s and my (USA) state did not require it. I think it was not for STDs, but for positive/ negative blood type resulting in a rhogam (sp?) problems with having children. Now that there is a shot, blood tests would not be necessity. I may be completely wrong on this and I’m not willing to look it up tonight.
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I remember people talking about blood tests for getting married when I was a kid in the late 1980s or early 1990s. I like needles about as much as Lee does and when I heard you needed a blood test for getting married I almost decided to stay single then and there! LOL
Of course, this is in Canada, so I don’t know if things were different in D.C.
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I was married in the District of Columbia in 2002, and we had to get a blood test — for syphilis! Ewww! That law was from 1966. Why syphilis in particular? Who knows…. DC eventually repealed the blood test requirement, but not until 2006.
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Okay, then.
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OMG! that sweater is hideous looking. What possessed them to even have something like that. I understand it was the 80’s and the error of shoulder pads, which is plain awful.
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I’ve always found Amanda’s comment “Saturday?” so abrupt and odd for talking about getting married. I’ve never known how to read that.
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Did I imagine it or did Jack knock because the door was locked?
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Hiya AMS! Welcome!!!
I had a quick look and yes I think you are right.
Looks like Amanda unlocks the door as she puts her other hand on the door knob. I didn’t hear him trying to open the door though, and there was no focus on the door being locked in the scene so it seems to me he could have just knocked but who knows he might have quietly tried the door first…
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Yes, the fridge has always been there because at the end of Nightcrawler, Amanda puts away groceries before going to her desk and finding the ring. 🙂
This bit of Lee jealousy always bothers me now because it seems to be the tinder for the flaming fanfics and fan theories that Joe is desperately trying to get her back. Is he really so uncertain of her that he thinks he has to remind her that she’s engaged to him? Not a great Lee moment in my mind. I do love her “I’ll pencil you in” just to bug him though!
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I agree, not a great Lee moment. I do think most men could relate to Lee’s feelings here, even if other guys might handle it with more confidence, so I don’t think it’s over the top writing, however, I do think it shows how melodramatic men can be. I think Lee subconsciously wants a problem, so he can either: rescue her, feel the competitive victory, or, sadly, be released from being a chicken.
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Can’t read the label, but since he asked, the jar of gherkins in the Q must be salty-sour pickled gherkins instead of sweet gherkins. Nevertheless, it’s the most disgusting sandwich I’ve ever seen … YUCK!
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I had completely forgotten about Lee in those jeans.
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I can’t seem to get my mind off Amanda’s sweater and those humongous shoulder pads. Francine’s blouse also had humongous shoulder pads, not as big as Amanda’s sweater. That broach, what the? Enough said!
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Yep. The only thing saving my eyes from seeing Amanda in that jacket, is Lee in those jeans!
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Did Amanda know her ex would call so she wore that ugly “King” size sweater?
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Haaaaaa..I love it!
Surely you must be Joe King/Joking! 😉
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Indeed! Those jeans.. on Lee.. are a godsend!
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