4/6 Season Four: Episode Fifteen- Bad Timing–Scarecrow & Mrs King

Got your hankies at the ready? Let’s continue!!

Back to the agency, a clock close up tells us it’s 1020am. Whoooo continuity SMK! Go you!!! So it took 20 minutes for Lee and Amanda to escape McMurty’s – that’s gotta be a record haaaa. Focus iwsod.. 10am is about 14 hours to go..

Billy’s on the phone in his office..
Billy: How long ago? How the hell did that happen?
{Door opens and Francine enters}
Billy: Is he armed?
Francine: Billy, Billy. It’s Lee. Line two.
Billy: (to person on the other line): Hold on.
{He switches to line two.}
Billy: Lee, where are you? Listen to me, Lee. You’re already on a wire. There’s going to be a scramble. (To Francine.) He wants a meet.

{He switches back to the first line.}
Billy: Hold the dogs until you hear from me. Yes, I said hold them!
{He hangs up the phone, grabs his gun and jacket and goes to the door. Francine follows.} [Billy didn’t tell! cool!]
Francine: Billy, look, even you can’t keep the bloodhounds tied up for long and he is dead on the streets once they’re set loose.
(Billy responds to this by walking out!) And the scene ends.
[He already knows this Francine! But hey, it’s a good time to up the tension and remind us all it’s a race against time in a number of different ways! Billy seems to be going to meet Lee alone. Me happy!!   

You know I’m actually surprised at how much they’ve managed to fit into the first 21 minutes of this episode.. it has certainly packed a punch!]

Next up, we find Lee waiting outside for his meet with Billy. [LOL Lee is in don’t mess with me I’m sexy mode.]

They have their usual exchange. Hey Billy I’m going after Doneck./ Lee don’t do this, we have tons of people working on this! /Billy I’m doing this. Any leads? /  err nope Lee.
Haaaaa!!!!!]

Lee: Well, I’m contagious by midnight. Now, I’ve got to do this.
{Billy pulls a gun out of his jacket.}
Billy: And I’ve got to do this.
[More like he whips it out! swip!]
(Lee sighs.) [Ah Billy come on!!! Not angry though lol]
{{SARA: Okay, Billy, but the last time Lee pulled something out of his jacket, it made sparks. Might want to stand back. }

Billy: Lee, you’re a walking time bomb. Now come on back and don’t make me use this, because you know I will.
[hey! He can be a walking time bomb until at least 11 pm. Let him go do what he’s gotta do!]
Lee: No, you won’t.
{Lee shows him a band on his arm with a metal plate and digital readout. He presses a button and one display reads 12:10:10, time remaining, while another display beside it reads 11:22, current time.
There are five buttons at the top; a blue, a gold and three black buttons. There are two small buttons beneath the 11:22 read out.}
[at 1020 he has 13 and a half hours. Now at 11.22 he has 12 hours ish. whhooo the maths still works!]
Lee: Leatherneck outfitted me with this about an hour ago. It’s a hypo, time-activated. Contains enough cyanide to take out a platoon.
[Do I want to know why the agency had a gadget like this all ready to go like that?! Err maybe not.]
Billy: Dead man’s watch.
[Is there a more slender version for the ladies?!]
Lee: It’s counting down to 11:30 tonight. Plenty of time before I’m contagious.
[Hey I’m impressed, Lee used his noggin, and came up with a way for Billy to be able to say okay to him being out and about leading up to his cut off time!]
Billy: Scarecrow listen—
(Billy puts away his gun)
Lee: Just hear me out, will you, Billy? Now, it takes two keys to undo this watch. It activates if anyone tries to remove it without them. Amanda has one. I want you to take the other.
{Lee hands him the key.}
Lee: And give me the next 12 hours.
[Cute that dramatic super sad and angsty music!!!! GAHHHH!!!! ugly tears ugly tears ugly ugly ugly tears!]
Billy: Okay. I can buy you some time… …But if the mirror breaks, they’re going to come after you with a vengeance and there’s not a damn thing anybody can do.
{Lee nods.}
[Heck, this is the usual IFF work environment anyway haaaa]

Back at IFF, Billy’s on the phone again!
Billy: Melrose here. I’d like some travel documents. Stetson, Lee. No, one-on-one. I’m the courier. Destination is Anderson. Thank you.
(The clock behind Billy reads 12:15)
[Five minutes since he met with Lee? Fast work!!
I have no idea what this anderson business is but I’m going with it].
{Billy hangs up as Francine enters.}
Francine: Lee was right. Doneck is here.
[Francine’s outfit is almost… normal!]
Billy: That’s fantastic.
Francine: Now, he’s holed up in the Soviet Embassy. We can’t touch him there. It’s sovereign territory.
Billy: Set up three teams. If Doneck so much as steps a centimeter outside of that embassy, I want him.
Francine: We need a reason to bust him.
Billy: Jaywalking, shoplifting, kicking a dog… I don’t give a damn. Just get him…
[Haaaaa this is genius!]
Billy says he’s managing to keep Lee’s escape on the down low, so far.
Francine does the compulsory – are you sure you know the risk you are taking, and Billy says Yep, Lee’s worth it! The scene ends there.

Moving on.. back to Amanda’s! Good thing Dotty decided to go on a trip this weekend huh!
{Outside of Amanda’s house. We see her Jeep parked in front of the curb.}
[She’s swapped out her army Jeep! haaa]
Inside, we see a close up on the time..

[Lots of clock watching in Bad Timing. How appropriate. And it seems they’ve taken great care to get the timings all correct. So bad timing is actually really good timing. ahem. Kudos!]
Amanda joins Lee on the sofa.. with his massive computer and printer haaaaaa.
Amanda: How are you doing?
Lee: I’m into the agency computer network.
Amanda: Ah.
Lee: My entry codes still work. Billy knew I’d use them.
Amanda: Billy’s a good friend.
Lee: Yeah, the best. He’s taking a big risk covering for me.
{He pushes a button on the dot matrix printer and it makes a whirring noise and prints a page.}

Lee: I’ve pulled everything that the agency has on Doneck. Here we go.
{Lee tears off the page glances at it and looks at it with Amanda.}
[I’m impressed. Lee tore that off with his non dominant hand. Makes me wonder if it was made easy for him. looking at the images I’m wondering if it was already cut. lol I remember those printers and they were a pain to tear off!!!! I bet there are bloopers of BB not tearing it off. lol.
oh and… all the agency has on Doneck can be printed on one page! haaaaaa.. things are not looking good! haaaa.. sorry I digress!]
Lee: He was stationed in D.C. from ’79 to ’83. I’ve got a list of all his haunts, girlfriends and how he got his kicks on Friday nights.
{{SARA: Do we really want to know how he got his kicks on a Friday night? Lol}
[Ewwwwwww Doneck didn’t have girlfriends or get his kicks on any night. I refuse to believe it. No wonder this information all fits on one page haaaaaa.]
…Hmm. It’s not much. I just need one break.
{Phone rings. Amanda and Lee look at one another.}
Lee: Ah, you’d better answer it. 
They head over to the phone..
Amanda: Hello. Yes, sir, he’s right here. Lee: Yeah. Billy. You’re sure? No, don’t worry. I won’t, I won’t. Okay, keep me updated.
(Lee hangs up and immediately starts dialing another number)
Amanda: What’s happening?
Lee: That break I wanted.
Amanda: Mm-hmm?
Lee: Yeah, T.P.? Stetson. Yeah, I’m… I’m laying low. You heard about it, huh? Look, T.P. There’s something you can do for me. I need an up-to-date blueprint of the Soviet embassy ASAP. You got it? Yeah, yeah…
[whoa. Lee has a lot of faith in what TP can get his hands on! I love how there’s no question he can get it. haaa]
…And one other thing. I’m looking for Fritz the cat. You got any ideas?
[rofl. Fritz the cat is a mystery to me.. Fritz is german maybe? from Berlin? haaaa.. anything to do with Anderson?! Go with it iwsod…]
{{SARA: Hmm… Stray cat? Feral cat? Check an alley way or a back porch, or just leave him some treats.}
Lee: Good, good. Alright, I’ll talk to you later.
{Lee hangs up.}
Lee: Doneck is holed up in the embassy. Now, we can’t touch him there. At least not legally. And my guess is, he’s not about to take a casual stroll from now to midnight, so we’re going to have to take the mountain to Mohammed.
Amanda: Wait a minute. That’s crazy. You can’t break into the Soviet embassy, not alone.
Lee: Amanda, we made a deal, right? You’re support, no questions. I’m going to hold you to that.
Amanda: Right.
[I didn’t hear that deal. Nope I didn’t hear a promise of no questions! haaa]

Moving on to a park, Amanda’s car is parked near by…
Lee is meeting someone..
{{SARA: Must be Fritz the cat. Definitely looks feral, lol}
[Oh as in cat burlgar maybe. lol the penny just dropped for me..]
Man (Fritz the cat): This is pretty wild. This is a real interesting box… …Sort of like one of those crazy Chinese puzzles, huh?
{{SARA: And a cat would know about boxes, right?}
[yep. and a Siamese would probably be especially good at crazy chinese box puzzles?]
Lee: Is there a way in? Any way?
Fritz the cat: There’s always a way to score, Lee. It just depends on how much you’re willing to put on the line.
Lee: How about everything?
{{SARA: Says the one who doesn’t have nine lives. Then again, Lee’s probably cut it close more than a few times.}
Fritz the cat: Alright…This place is loaded to the hilt. I’d better get started on it right away. How much time have I got?
Lee: Five hours is about all I can give you.
{{SARA: Ohhh…kitty looks a little nervous!}
[yeah Fritz’ jaw is on the floor with that one but hey, he’s willing to give it a go!]

Time to pause!!! What do you think? Any thoughts you’d like to share?