Back to the agency. 
The scene opens with a close up..
Billy is meeting with a member of the military. Lee and Francine are there too.
Man (Colonel McJohn): Until a year ago, a doomsday bug like PD-2 was just a bad rumor. Then, an escapee from Russia wiped out an entire Finnish village in less than a week. It turns out he was a human lab rat for the Scarlet Rose—The KGB’s ultra-secret chemical warfare group….
…we’re sure they hit Lee during that mugging. Which means that within 24 hours, he’s going to be contagious…
…Not sick, mind you, contagious… 
…You see, the difficulty with PD-2 is that, uh…the carrier has no symptoms.
Lee: I could have destroyed most of our counterintelligence operation, if Amanda hadn’t insisted on me seeing Doc Kelford, I… I could have taken out the whole agency. [Ouchie!]
Colonel McJohn: Uh, not really. The bacterium dies after two generations of transmission. The damage would have been substantial, though. 
[Aie. Oh no not the whole agency, just a lot of important people! How does a bacteria die after only two generations of transmission? anyone know anything about this?! One I could see but two? And why am I even trying to make sense of this? Just go with it Iwsod!]
Francine: What about a remedy?
Colonel McJohn: The Russians have it, of course. We’ve been working on an antibiotic since the Finland incident, but uh… We still haven’t cracked the nut. It’s got to be administered before Lee becomes contagious or it’s useless.
[oh hoorah. someone is talking antibiotics lol. Maybe Billy was supposed to say Antibiotics rather than Antidote in the previous scene.. ]
Billy: What are the chances of coming up with it before then?
Colonel McJohn: In 24 hours?
(The Colonel shakes his head)
{{SARA: Thanks, Colonel Mc-Downer!}}
[Haaa lol Sara, well he doesn’t have much good news to give really! More like Colonel McRealistic?! ]
{Billy stands and offers his hand to shake the Colonel McJohn’s hand.}
Billy: If you need anything, anything, let me know. It’s yours.
Colonel McJohn: How are you fixed for miracles?
(The Colonel leaves)
[Okay, sooooo Lee’s got 24 hrs before he’s contagious, and once he is the antibiotics will become useless. Sooooo 24 hrs to get the magical antibiotics/antidote from the Russians. Got it!]
Billy (to Francine): Put us on a magna alpha alert. Code double red… 
[Oh boy, that sad sad tragic music in the background is ripping my heart out here! gah!!!! ugly cry ugly cry!!] 
…Coordinate physicals for all personnel. Then jump on this Scarlet Rose. Find out who runs it, where they are and how we can get to them…
…If we can’t count on Colonel McJohn’s team to crack this nut—and I don’t think we can—maybe we can beg, borrow or steal it from the Russians. 
[Sounds good!]
Francine: Yes, sir.
{Francine starts to leave, pauses before reaching the door, then goes to hug Lee as he stands up.}
[My goodness they are laying it on thick with the harp and all the feels!! ugly cry ugly cry ugly cry!!! but okay okay, it’s lovely to see Francine giving Lee some comfort here!] 
Lee: Hey… It’s going to be okay, don’t worry. 
{Francine leaves. Lee turns back toward Billy.}
[Oh hang on, what is Lee doing back in those work clothes? He was wearing an 80’s sweater and different pants back at Amanda’s! Why did he have to change back into his dirty work clothes for this meeting?! Looks like they’ve changed up the scene order? or inserted the kitchen scene? Maybe that’s it.. thoughts everyone?..]
Billy: I have to make the call to Mrs. McMurty, Lee. 
[oh boy, that music tells me Mrs McMurty’s is no holiday resort!]
Lee: Yeah. Listen, Amanda is waiting for me up in the Q bureau. I’ll fill her in on this, but… Billy she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family, except for my uncle, and… 
…Well, if anything should happen, I’d… I just want, you know, her sons and… 
Billy: Just let me know what you want. It’ll be taken care of.
[Ah Billy, you are a gem!
Err now you are asking, an antibiotic to kill PD2 would be fab!] 
Lee: Yeah. 
[Amanda is family! Very sweet Lee is thinking of Amanda and her boys.
Though haaaa I’m guessing he will send Billy a memo and say if anything happens to me I don’t want Philip to get my car. I want Jamie to have it!!! haaa!! This has become my head canon!!]
Next up, it’s back to the Q bureau and Lee is filling in Amanda. 
[Oh look, seems Amanda has randomly decided to put her dirty work clothes on from the day again too.
Definitely looks to me like they’ve inserted the chateaubriand/Dotty/Lee/Beaujolais scene in for some fun and romance, and then to give us a big bam right in the feels.
Ouchies SMK!!! You’re deliberately ramping up the Ouchies!!!! Focus Iwsod..
Okay, I’m glad we have the kitchen scene and that they added it! It’s okay no one can see me ugly cry anyway! ]
Lee: That’s as much as we know so far. McJohn and his people are doing everything they can.
(Billy enters.)
Billy: Francine finally got a line on that Scarlet Rose group. (To Amanda) How are you, Amanda? (to Lee): And guess who’s been the head honcho for the past three years? [Billy’s excited!]
Lee: Who?
Billy: Anatoly Doneck.
Lee: Doneck? When did he drop out of sight?
Billy: Um, 1983, Germany. 
Lee: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. We shut down the Heinhoff gang in Berlin. I put a bullet in Doneck’s knee… 
[OH MY GOSH!!!!! It really was Lee who gave him that limp??!!!! whahahahahaaa!!! Oh that’s soooo funny!!!!!!
Hang on… the neighbours are wondering what’s soooo funny!!!!!
Okay, I’m back! Focus Iwsod! Whoooooo this is really angst ridden and serious!!! ]
…Wait a minute. Wait a minute. When I was mugged the other night, I saw someone in the shadows. I couldn’t see his face. But he ran with a bad limp and he carried a cane. 
[He ran??? Really?]
Billy: It could be him.
Lee: And it could be that he’s running a field test on PD-2 and waiting for me to die.
{Cut to Amanda looking sad.} 
Billy: Well, if he’s here, we’ll get him.
{{SARA: Gotta love Billy for his optimism. Take a lesson from him, Colonel McDowner!}
[Agreed!!! I’m loving your comments Sara!!!]
{Billy starts to leave, then pauses by the door to the Q-Bureau.} 
Billy: Oh, your escort’s waiting downstairs. 
Lee: Uh… 
(Lee quickly glances at Amanda then back at Billy)
Billy: Amanda, if you’d like to go with him to Mrs. McMurty’s, you may.
(Billy leaves)
Lee: Amanda…
Amanda: What’s Mrs. McMurty’s?
{{SARA: I take it she’s not the woman in the neighborhood who all the kids love, with the great snacks, Halloween treats, etc. lol…j/k}
[yeahhhh!!! haaaa. Does anyone know if there is a reason/significance to this name being used?]
Lee: It’s an isolation facility. They have to keep me there under protective custody. I mean, it’s high security, Amanda…
…But they do everything they can to make you as comfortable as possible. What do you think? 
We don’t hear Amanda’s answer. Just her facial expression..
[Not that I’m complaining but I always wondered how Amanda could go with Lee when he is supposed to be ISOLATED. Doesn’t it put her at risk of catching the bacterium?! Especially if they are going to be sucking faces.. cough cough.. Hmm maybe they’ll address this as we continue.]
Cut to …{View of the outside of the capital building from a street.
{{SARA: I think it’s Constitution Avenue.}}
Next, we see another close up on that clock of doom! 4 hours down… 20 hours to go..} 
Billy is in his office, talking on the phone, basically cracking the whip to get Doneck.
Dr Smyth shows up. Uh oh. 
I’m going to skip this scene, other than to say that Dr Smyth questions why Billy is making such an effort, displays his characteristic care and concern for his agents! Err no… his characteristic heartlessness and callousness more like! He then teases Billy with not letting Billy do what he can to save Lee…
I guess it’s important to note that in this scene, Billy clarifies they have 17 hours left to save Lee,.. 
[Ah you can see the clock behind him is still showing 7 o’clock. so Billy just can’t do maths under pressure. Maybe when McJohn said at 3 am that Lee had 24 hrs, he really meant less than 24 hrs. Whatev. Okay! He has 17 hours! gah!!!!!!]
Billy also tells Dr Smyth that this is not just about Lee, it’s about stopping Doneck and this bioweapon.
As Sara said in her comments for this scene: Go Billy!
Back to the USSR embassy to check in on the baddies.
The Russian sidekick of Doneck updates him that the plot has been discovered. Duh Duh Duuuuuuhhhhhhhhh….
Russian guard: An agency Magna Alpha alert has been issued. Stetson’s been secreted away. Probably to some medical facility.
[Whoa. They have good information!]
Doneck: No. No, no, no. Our psychological profile indicates that he would never seek out medical assistance. That’s one of the reasons I chose him. How did this happen? [That and his bung knee right Doneck! haa]
{{SARA: rofl… Clearly, Doneck doesn’t know about Amanda!}
[haaaaaa I love this!!! Go Amanda! Good thing Doneck doesn’t know about Amanda! I mean if they were not keeping that secret marriage of theirs so sooo secret he might actually know that they care about each other you know?! 😉 ]
(The sidekick wants Doneck to return to Moscow because he’s the key to PD2, but Doneck isn’t having it..) 
Doneck: …While I am inside the walls of this embassy, the president himself couldn’t touch me. Besides, Stetson has destroyed my plans—again. This time, I reserve the right to be present at his death. 
[Muahahahahaa!! Oh good. yes do hang around Doneck! I hear the tea is excellent at the Russian Embassy 
Something tells me that sadistic streak and your arrogance are going to bring you down! Delightful. ]
On to Mrs McMurty’s..
A clock tells us it’s 10am. [uh oh. 14 hours to go!]
Amanda and Lee are together in a cold room. Amanda’s pacing, and Lee’s tending the fire.. 
Lee: Amanda, you saw the film Lawrence of Arabia, didn’t you?
Amanda: Sure.
Lee: Remember the scene where he…he puts his hand over the flame of a candle? He doesn’t move, doesn’t even flinch.
Amanda: Mm-hmm.
Lee: Finally, someone asks him… What is the secret? How do you keep it from hurting?… 
{Amanda opens the window and there are bars over it. She puts her hands on the bars and studies them for a minute as Lee continues.} 
… And Lawrence says, ‘The secret is not to keep it from hurting. The secret’s not to mind it.’ …I think that’s the way this business is, Amanda. I can’t say I ever learned not to mind the pain. But I sure as hell learned to live with it. As long as I could fight back. And make a difference.
{He throws the fireplace poker down, a little frustrated.}
Lee: And I can’t do it.
{Lee turns and walks away from the fireplace toward Amanda.}
Lee: They MIGHT find Doneck. McJohn MIGHT come up with an antidote.
{He joins Amanda at the window, facing her. He puts his hands on her arms. She reciprocates by putting her hands on his chest.}
Lee: I can’t sit this one out, do you hear me?
Amanda: Well, I knew that before we even came here. 
{Lee puts his hand on one of the bars, then turns back to her.}
(Lee lets out a breath and gives her a look when she says this… lol)
Lee: I’m an Omega-class prisoner. Any escape attempt from this place requires a shoot-to-kill response. A D-1 manhunt goes into effect if I do get out. 
[Just what we need. Even higher stakes!! Ramp it up smk. I’m here for it!!!]
(Amanda nods)
Amanda: How do we get through these bars?
(Lee smiles at Amanda hearing she’s on board with his plan!)
{{SARA: Would she be his fiancée if she said anything but this?}
[Rofl!!! I love this Sara!]
Lee: (smiling) That’s what I thought.
{He leans in and they kiss briefly.}
[Wha? why not on the lips guys??!! Is that cos Lee has germs right now??!! haaaa]
Lee: Watch.
{He draws back from her and begins to remove a wire from his shirt collar. Amanda helps.}
Lee: Now… This thermite wire is state-of-the-art. It’ll burn right through. Here we go. Alright…
(we are treated to Lee doing a macgyver with the bars.)
[It all looks yawn. all really super yawn errr yawn, Impressive!]
…Alright, let’s stand back. …Because in a few seconds we might have a little spark.
[Yep, sparks, and stuff. The bars are toast.. and they are on their way to freedom.] 
Lee: There should be a silent alarm. We’d better move.
{Using his fist, he pushes the bars loose, they fall through and he climbs through the opening.} 
[We see Lee start to climb through but don’t actually see him do it. Is it just me or would that have been kind of hilarious to see?!]
Yep. There’s a silent alarm, and guards start their pursuit.
We see Amanda run toward a guard like she’s chasing Lee too..
Amanda: He’s headed for the far gate. 
(Lee hits the guard from behind. Ouchie. He steals his gun, and their off! Heck, that almost seems too easy! Ah but wait! there’s more!!)
Amanda: Go, go, go!
A Jeep with two soldiers approaches with really big guns. Whoooo. they stop next to the unconscious dude and fall for the same trick basically. Surprise! Lee’s around the corner!! haaaa!!!
Lee: Okay, boys. Guns in the back of the Jeep. Now!… Down on your bellies.
They do it. It’s that easy! haaaa. 
Amanda comes out from hiding, and gets in the soldier’s jeep.
Lee opens the gate for Amanda. Amanda drives through the gate, Lee shoots up the gate operating system, and then runs for the gate and climbs over it.
[LOL I figured the gate would be electrified.
One lousy guard at the gate? Aie. This was all so easy it’s embarassing. I guess they didn’t want to have Lee the good guy hurting fellow good guys. I’ll go with it.]
Lee and Amanda speed off in their inconspicuous army jeep. whahahaahahaaa ..
Sooooo what do you all think? Do tell!!!! Back with more in a week!!
Thanks soooo much for joining me on this walk all!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I love that the Digital Clock of Doom is back in Billy’s office! It looks like the same one that was hanging on his wall during the latter part of The Pharaoh’s Engineer.
This is undoubtedly the highest-stakes plot in all of SMK, which is what makes this episode so awesome. But, especially in the age of Covid, the episode really requires some high-level suspension of disbelief by the viewers. Why is Doc McJohn the only one working on the antidote??? A biological warfare agent has been unleashed! This room should be full of infectious disease experts from Fort Detrick and the National Institutes of Health!
And as much as I enjoy a good Dr. Smyth scene, I’m just as glad you skipped over most of his conversation with Billy, because his blasé attitude … just, no. The Soviets have launched a bio-attack on the U.S. intelligence community – in Washington, D.C., no less. Top agents from foreign governments have also been expressly targeted, including agents of NATO countries. Even if this whatever-bacteria does die off after two generations, it still had the potential to kill thousands, in the heart of the U.S. government. President Reagan himself could have been infected if Smyth had caught the virus from Lee before meeting at the White House. No matter how dislikable Smyth is, there is no way he, and by extension, the government higher-ups, would treat this as “shrug, too bad for Scarecrow” situation. Nuclear subs would be on high alert and planes would be in the air! (Okay, enough, I know it is just a show. Sorry, sometimes I just cannot help myself.)
The scene between Lee and Billy where Lee wants to make Amanda his beneficiary is so moving. Wonderfully played by both actors. The way that Lee is struggling to hold it together … it looks like he is trying not to cry. We know how much he hates dwelling on the negative and scary parts of his job — it is a necessary survival skill for him – but here, he is forcing himself to acknowledge the likelihood of his imminent death, just when his life was finally so happy. So heartbreaking! An unforgettable performance, one of the best.
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Thankfully, Lee was diagnosed within the 24 hours that he is NOT infectious. Therefore, the-powers-that-be (namely Dr. Smyth) plan to isolate this to one death … Lee Stetson. The Feds surely cordoned off the Soviet Embassy, which means no one else can be infected. Then, of course, Lee breaks out of the isolation facility … Love that he boldly takes a chance before being contagious and Amanda is all for it!
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Yeah, I get what they are going for, but… How does the Agency know that Lee was the only person infected? They have NO way to know whether this thing is contained. Other individuals in the government might also have been jabbed, or there may be a plan to make that happen over the coming days/weeks. It might not even be limited to DC, or to the U.S. Perhaps other Western countries are being targeted as well. There is no way to know that the perpetrators are confined to the Soviet Embassy, either. Doneck is not the only person involved in “Scarlet Rose.”
Thinking about these issues is just something that interests me. Seriously, I am in no way trying to criticize the show, which I love dearly! I think this episode has a great plot. It is fiction, and it is great entertainment.
Of course I also love that Lee takes this one desperate chance to save his life and his upcoming new life with Amanda.
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In the first of six parts in this episode, Doneck states: …However, with such a situation as this, I am less concerned with numbers than with individuals… …Which is why I have so carefully chosen the subject for this particular field test.
That is what made me believe this is Doneck’s first trial in the USA.
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Yes indeed — but the U.S. intelligence community has no way of knowing that. They would have to assume that a broader attack might be underway. They do know that these people took out an entire village in Finland(!) (and it is also ridiculous to think that the U.S. would have known about that and done nothing, IMHO, but that’s another matter). This could be the beginning of World War 3! Thankfully, it is fiction and we get to focus on Lee’s personal battle instead. Much more fun!
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I hear ya peacockdancer! Alot of smk falls apart when we actually pause and think about it.
Soooo I give it all a handwave – yeah no one else would have been exposed. Just Lee. WINK!
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The photo montage above, especially the middle part where they are up in the Q Bureau, helps to illustrate why Kate Jackson’s performance in this episode leaves me cold. There are at least five photos of Amanda, all with the exact same expression on her face. A deadpan, grim expression, showing very little emotion. That’s it. And that is essentially – not entirely, but pretty much – the only facial expression and the only emotion (or lack thereof) we will get from her for the entire episode. It struck me the very first time I saw it as a teenager, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get past this impression.
Here are Amanda and Lee, finally alone for a moment in their office – and are taking this brief opportunity to console each other, to exchange some words or gestures of love? No, they are not. She is sitting in a chair across the room from him. No affection at all.
The script here is way better. It says that Amanda is “suddenly up and in his arms.” And after a couple more lines, “They hold each other again. The door opens. It’s Billy. Lee and Amanda don’t adjust for his benefit. To Billy’s credit, he doesn’t seem to notice.” Wonderful. Why didn’t they film it that way?
I swear, I have tried. I have thought, perhaps Kate actually put a ton of effort into thinking about how she wanted to play this, and what she was going for was one of the following, or a combination of both:
• Amanda is in an acute state of shock and fear. Season 1 Amanda didn’t shy away from these emotions (e.g., think of the tears she shed in Remembrance of Things Past), but as the character has developed, she has gotten better at suppressing such feelings so they won’t overwhelm her (like when she was about to thrown in a furnace in The Triumvirate, or being interrogated by Addi Birol in Night Crawler).
• Amanda is trying to be strong for Lee. She cannot let herself succumb to grief or fear, or there’s no way he will get through this alive.
But no matter how much I try to appreciate what she might be going for, I just can’t escape the feeling that the actress herself was just … disengaged during the filming of this episode. Low-energy, reserved … disinterested.
I’m sure many/most of you disagree with me, perhaps strongly. Please don’t throw trash at me! It’s just how I feel. And despite all of it, this is still my third-favorite episode of Season 4, behind Night Crawler and Stemwinder 1.
(Maybe the cancer had something to do with it – but like I noted earlier, the production order of season 4 had this episode filmed out of order, a couple of months before she woke up with that bad intuitive feeling and went to get that mammogram. The first episode to be filmed after that was Mission of Gold.)
In contrast, we have Martha Smith’s performance. There isn’t a photo above that quite captures it, but Francine’s expression and body language in that scene in Billy’s office, and especially the look she gives Lee as she rushes in to hug him tightly – it is amazing. Somehow, in a matter of five seconds, she manages to convey everything I do not feel from Amanda: terror, shock, grief, sympathy, and love for her friend.
I am more emotionally affected by Martha Smith’s acting in that one scene than by anything Kate Jackson does in this entire episode.
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The more I think about it, the more I’m thinking Amanda is reverting to “Mom” mode and wanting to be strong for Lee. It fits when you look back at past eps. For example on Eyes Have It she doesn’t let herself fall apart until Lee is in the ER and can’t see her. If this does not work out, she has the rest of her life to grieve. For now, she wants to hold it together for Lee’s sake and be strong for 24 hours and hopefully not 72 as he’s dying in hospital.
That said I think what we don’t see are moments where she lets herself have a cry when Lee can’t see her.
It could also be Kate wanted to tone the emotion down a bit since this was akready a pretty heavy ep for a family slot.
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Mmmmm I think I’m seeing it this way too – Amanda is distressed, but keeping her focus on what can be done, to keep from falling apart.
I think I read a comment or two saying Amanda’s reaction seems subdued. At times I could go along with that, but other times – I do feel Amanda’s heartbreak at this awful situation even if she is not openly expressing it. [which usually brings on the ugly cry!]
so for me it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
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I just about cried reading your recap for pity’s sake!
Lee isn’t contagious yet. I assume if they hadn’t gotten the antidote in time he would have been transported to hospital and Amanda couldn’t have stayed with him there unless she had a Hazmat suit.
The hug between Lee & Francine is so beautiful. But that thing about the life insurance makes me cry pretty much every time!
And Bruce’s acting is so amazing in that scene with the way he’s looking down like he’s trying to absorb it and can’t believe it.
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Well said LeesMolly! Francine’s hug, making sure Amanda is his beneficiary and how he doesn’t want to visualize the destruction of all their wonderful plans … it was all superb acting by Bruce.
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The changing of the clothes got me too. I didn’t understand why they would have them in the same clothes when they were in the doctor’s office, then when they were at Amanda’s for dinner, completely different. Season 4, they were all over the place.
This was still one of my favorite episodes from season 4.
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Hieeeeeee everyone!!!! Man, it’s been a hot minute because my life has been in utter turmoil and chaos for some time. But this is one of my favorite episodes and I’m just gonna hop in not knowing anything that’s been said up to this point.
My theory about this ep is it is when I think Bruce had the flu and Kate had that moment where she slept long one morning and woke up and knew something was wrong (I’ve seen interviews or maybe read some somewhere where she discusses her breast cancer and I’ve tried to figure out where things start). This is pure speculation on my part. But IWSOD, as you pointed out, there are some costume changes back and forth, and then their limited physical affection in this scene and I notice we already beging to see Amanda sitting a little more in this ep. Just a theory. Anyone else know?
Hope you are each doing well. I have missed being able to chime in and have also been excited to see more new folks pop in. ❤
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