3/4 Season Four:Episode Eighteen–One Flew East –Scarecrow and Mrs King

We ready for more??
(Back to Laura who is in a phone booth)
[BJO:  – those relics. Do they even exist anymore?]
[Gosh, I don’t know!!!]
Laura calls Amanda, tells her Donaldson is following her and she doesn’t know what to do.. she’s all out of options and has to trust Amanda…

Amanda finds out her location, and suggests Laura hang out in the nearby Sports goods store. She’ll come asap to meet her there… Laura agrees.

Amanda is at Lee’s place, but she makes another call and leaves a message for Lee..
(We cut to Laura driving her Jeep into the parking lot for Robinson’s sports store.)
[Yes because nothing gets the baddie off the scent like parking in the allocated parking for the shop you are hiding out in. rofl. If only Amanda had suggested she avoid that! ]
We see Donaldson pulling his car into the same lot as Laura. Yikes!
We’re inside the store where Laura is walking around and trying to look interested in sporting goods. [this is the bad actress -whose name I haven’t even bothered to look up- pretending to be Laura who is pretending to shop for sports supplies. Scary stuff]

Back to Lee’s apartment. Amanda’s car is parked out the front.
[Why did Amanda take Lee’s car to meet Laura and not her own? Oh hang on, I guess Lee, Jamie and Philip drove somewhere in the King car to play basketball.. hey that’s actually pretty well thought out for smk!]
He’s just arrived back with the boys.
Lee: Come on. Mmm, smells like your mom’s been cooking up some of that world-class chilli of hers.
Philip: Oh, I could get rid of a big bowl of that.
[BJO: Who writes this dialogue?]
[Philip maybe?! tee heee..]
Lee: Amanda? (No answer. Lee looks over to his answering machine to see a note instructing him to check his messages.)

Lee: Uh, look, why don’t you guys go clean up, huh? The bathroom’s down the hall. [Let’s hope the boys don’t get into Lee’s closet and find any nightgowns with another woman’s name on it haaaa] 

Philip: Sure.
Lee: Okay.
(We cut back to Robinson’s. Laura sees Donaldson entering the store. Donaldson quickly sees her and starts to make his way toward her.

Cut back to Lee’s place.)
Lee: Listen guys, a friend of mine is having some car trouble. I’m going to go help him out.
Philip: Okay, I can hold down the fort.
Lee: I’m sure you can. Uh, the VCR is underneath the TV. You got tapes, movies, whatever you want, okay? And, uh, let the answering machine take all the calls.
Phillip: All right, take care, see ya later.

[BJO: omg, melt my heart]
Lee: Hey, Jamie, is everything okay?

Jamie: Sure.
Lee: You sure?
Jamie: Sure.

Lee: Okay.

[I agree BJO! the looks Lee gives as he heads out is absolutely heart melting!!!
Jamie actually seems to be somewhat okay here which is good. I love the touch with the book vs the VHS and how the boys go for different things they are interested in..]
Lee starts to walk out but turns to look at the boys one last time..

AWH!!!!

(We’re back at Robinson’s where Laura is starting to look more frantic.)

[Are you sure BJO? rofl. I think Laura does frantic or not frantic and nothing in between haaaaaa]

(Amanda pulls up in Lee’s Corvette.

Amanda enters the store.

Laura sees her and starts to walk toward her. Now we see Lee pull up in the Wagoneer.

[It’s weird to see them switch cars!]
(Laura is walking quickly toward Amanda, but Donaldson cuts in front of her.)
Donaldson: You mind stepping outside with me, Ms. Mayfield?
Laura: Excuse me.
(Laura tries to walk around him but he grabs hold of her. We hear her struggle to get loose of his grip, but then Donaldson puts something in her mouth and she sort of instantly goes limp.)

[I thought it was something she inhaled but you are probably right!]
(Meanwhile, Lee has entered the store!)
[BJO: This is exciting.]
[Rofl BJo, I love your commentary! haaaa. Is it just me or is this scenario quite brutal? the way he drags around Laura like that in public.. this is two overactors here so of course it’s going to be highly dramatic! lol.]
Man: What’s going on?
Donaldson: Out of my way. My wife is having a seizure.
[What a creep!!!]

(Donaldson starts to drag Laura to the door but Lee is in his way.)
[BJO: haha!]
Lee: (shouting) Donaldson! Let her go.

Donaldson: This is I.A.B. business, Stetson. Keep out of it.
Lee: What did you do to her?
Donaldson: She’s probably on something. Now, back off.

(We can see Amanda sneaking through the store to a small machine.)
Lee: Come on, man, she’s an Agency witness. Let’s talk to your Special Agent-in-Charge about this, huh?

Man: He’s got a gun!
Lee: (shouting) Everybody down!
(Donaldson shoots. Amanda turns on the machine. It’s one of those tennis ball launchers! She’s aimed it right at Donaldson.

A ball hits him and he turns to see where it came from.

Lee pops up and shoots him!

Laura falls to the ground.

Laura appears to be unconscious, and Donaldson too… [is he dead? who knows.. that tennis ball looked pretty fatal! haaaaaa.. I nearly died of laughter.. The first time I saw this I was ROFLMAO sooooo loudly!!!! Amanda was crouched right next to the machine. Why not just pick up a tennis ball and throw it at him! rofl!!! But no she had to work some tennis machine she’s probably never used in her life, and aim it right at him, then crouch next to it to watch. this is so funny to me!!!! Using the machine would make sense if she started it and took cover then coming out from somewhere unexpected because he was distracted by the ball machine. but haaaaaa.. nope.]

We cut to the Agency and see Billy on the phone.
Billy: Yes, sir, my responsibility. It fell through the cracks. Well, I didn’t think the you’d want the entire Agency getting the idea that we believed her kidnapping story. Yes, sir, I guess they do now. Ten minutes.

[yes. Let’s have a conversation with the boss about a sensitive topic in front of a security guard with people walking by as they please?!]
Lee: Let me go cool off Dr. Smith. You don’t deserve to take the heat.
Billy: Agreed, but I don’t know who does. And I need you to find that out. We can’t ask Donaldson anymore questions.
Lee: I didn’t have any choice. He’d already hurt the girl. It’s all very clear in my report.
Billy: Nobody’s questioning that. They’re into bigger things now like why the hell did Donaldson try to grab Laura Mayfield in the first place?

Francine: 9:10 update, sir. Laura’s still in a coma. They identified the drug that Donaldson used on her. It’s TU-76.
Lee: TU-76?
Francine: Mm-hmm.
Lee: Boy, that is an old Agency drug. I didn’t realize it was toxic.
Francine: Well, that’s why we took it out of service, but once it ages, it decomposes into a lethal compound.
Billy: Francine, get over to the hospital and start firing questions the minute she comes out of it.
Francine: Okay
Billy: Where was she? Why was Donaldson following her? And where can we buy some answers?
(Francine walks off, Lee and Billy head to his office.)
Lee: Billy, she told Amanda that she was concerned about her father and that she suspected Sid Rollins.
Billy: And that triggered an investigator from Justice to flip out and get himself killed?
Lee: Yeah… Is that Mayfield’s diary?
Billy: Yes, the FBI found it in Donaldson’s apartment. He certainly was up to his nose in something dirty. Look, I’m going to be tied up all day in this damage control meeting, so start with Donaldson and see if you can find some light in the tunnel. I’d  just like to find out where he got his hands on some our old TU-76.
Lee: Amanda and I will get on it right away. At least we guessed right when we tapped Donaldson’s phone at Justice.
Billy: Please, disable that thing before somebody finds it. They’re already screaming their heads off because we killed one of their guys. God forbid they find out we tapped their phones. [Ding Dong Donaldson’s dead!!!!!! hoorah]
Lee: Amen to that.
[okay dokey… I thought they decided to get call logs and not tap the phones?  whatever. ]

Cut to the Q Bureau where Lee and Amanda are looking mighty snugly as they work on the computer… [Agreed! Love all the touching 🙂 ]
Amanda: Okay, we’re in.

Lee: Okay, put it on the clock. According to Chip, we have less than a minute before their security kicks us out.
Amanda: Uh-huh.

Lee: Okay, there’s Donaldson’s file.

Amanda: Okay, I’ll check the directory and see who belongs to these numbers. Okay, the first one…the first one’s his home number. The second one’s an 892 exchange. Let me check the county directory on that. Okay. Hobart, Rodney.
Lee: Hobart, Rodney (typing into the computer). Employee, Briarwood.

Amanda: What’s Briarwood?

Lee: It’s a mental hospital Rollins leased on his own back when he ran the Agency. The things that he did there under the name of counterintelligence cost him his job. It took Smith years to clear it up.
Amanda: Alright (typing on the computer)…

…Closed in ‘74 when he left the Agency. And reopened as a division of Hospimerica.
Lee: Hospimerica.
Amanda: What is that?

Lee: It’s a healthcare conglomerate. Amanda, this is not so simple.

[Chip needs to revise his advice.. Lee and Amanda were in there for over a minute. yes, I actually checked haaaaaa… Cos it tickles my funny bone. They’re at a minute when they check out what’s a briarwood..]

Cut to a sidewalk somewhere…Lee and Amanda walk out of a building with a man.

The man has just exited the ‘Corcoran 595 Building’ [which lol must be a shout out to Kevin Corocoran – The First Assistant Director for this episode!!!! Well he may as well have some perks!!!]
Man: I’m sorry to be running like this, but I’m really late for a Medicaid hearing up on the hill. Taxi! [yeah good luck with that.]
Amanda: Yeah, Hospimerica has a big lobby up there, don’t they?
Man: Right, we have over 20,000 beds across the country. Hospital care is our business, and my job is to make sure it’s profitable. Oh, oh, Briarwood, now, ah, here we go. What did you want to know?
Lee: Uh, what kind of operation they have down there.
Man: Ah, standard, 3 OR’s, outpatient, 350 beds –
Amanda: Excuse me, don’t you mean 300 beds? Our research tells us you have 300 beds.

Man: Ah, we don’t count the beds we lease out. We leased out the entire east wing to an outfit called Standard Research.
Amanda: What do they do at Standard Research?
[This makes me laugh. the name says it all doesn’t it?! haaaa]
Man: Ah look they’re a private clinic, as long as their rent’s paid the first of the month we’re obliged to protect their privacy. Taxi!
Lee: You don’t provide them with a staff?
Man: Nothing – 50 beds, two nursing stations, I’m sorry I really do have to run.
Amanda: Okay, well, thank you very much for your help.
Man: Taxi!

Amanda: Aye! So long. Bye bye.
[this guy is exhausting, like Amanda, I was sure he was about to get hit by a car any minute. lol Is that a red corvette at the end of this scene parked next to where Lee and Amanda stand? anyone? ]

We’re back at Hospimerica, uh, Standard Research.

Rollins: We’ve got may 24 hours to pull up stakes. This Stetson’s smart enough to figure out the rest by then. [Stetson? what about his smart as a whip Partner?!]
Lee: Donaldson’s death gives them just what he died to keep them from getting…
[BJO: That sentence makes no sense to me.]
[My head hurts.. is it saying they ended up getting the girl after all, but now she’s not talking?
And.. what’s with the pipe tapping? Is Rollins trying to quit smoking his pipe and feels all kinds of stress about it? haaaaa.. that would explain his cranky murderous ways maybe.. haaaaa]
…At least he shut up the woman.

Rollins: What we need here is an accident, something like an explosion or a fire only it can’t look deliberate. If there’s nobody around to talk our connection to the place can’t be proven.
[Nobody will know it was us huh. Spoken like a true baddie.]

Cut to the IFF sign – we’re in the Q bureau with Lee and Francine.
Lee: (on the phone) Gracias. Buenos Noches. (to Francine) Draw a line connecting Air South America with Global Citrus Traders in San Pedro Sula.
Francine: We’ve got something on Global Citrus Traders.
Lee: We do?
Francine: Yeah, here it is. It’s a blind trust. Solely owned by an organization called National Endowment for a Disciplined Society?

Lee: Yeah, an ultra-right wing outfit that’s been harassing the anti-nuke movement.

[Aie. You know I watch SMK as an escape from the rule world.. soooo I’m not gonna even think about real world events while listening to this scene..]
Francine: I’ll see what else I can get on them. (a paper comes out from the tray under the board) So, some right-wing crazies have been funding Standard Research?
[LOL she’s going to see what she can get on them, by printing off what they wrote on the whiteboard. whooooo technology!!!! I guess we all thought that was super clever in the 80’s.]

Lee: Yeah, which means 50 extra beds for Briarwood. Why?
Francine: Oh, it’s not for burnt-out fundraisers.
Lee: You know, this is beginning to sound like Rollins’ old operation.
[Yep. He never stopped!]
Francine: Yeah, but there’s no direct connection to him. If he’s in there anywhere, you can bet he’s ten layers deep.
Lee: Yeah. I think it’s time we check out Briarwood.
Francine: How much backup do you need?
Lee: Just Amanda. If we go charging in there with an army someone’s liable to get angry and want a search warrant. [Search warrant? what’s that again?!]
Francine: Yeah, right, and I don’t think Dr. Smith would be quick to approve that.
Lee: Huh, not likely.
Lee picks up the phone, and the scene ends there..
[Is it just me or is it hard to imagine Dr Smyth approves all the search warrants?! lol]

We are in Amanda’s back yard(?), back porch(?)
[BJO: not sure what you’d call it.]
Philip: Hey, how about we invite Mr. Stetson to the skate competition Saturday?
[?? why are they calling him Mr Stetson? Oh boy. Hmm maybe that was the standard way to address men back in the 80’s who are dating your mother.]

Jamie: He can have my ticket.
Philip: He’s an alright guy! Would you just loosen up?

[Philip clearly can’t do subtle. All his pushing just leads Jamie further away from accepting Lee in my view. Philip don’t tell your brother what to do.]
Jamie: Look, I don’t like the guy. I’ll never like the guy, okay?

[Ohh noooo that’s hard to hear!!! Awhhhh!!!]
(Amanda comes out of the back door.)
Amanda: Okay, fellas…ahhh, your dinner’s in the oven and I’ll probably be in the editing room all night. What’s going on out here?

[Oh yeah. the editing room. Uh huh. Forgot about that! hey maybe this is how Amanda explains all her absenses now that she’s living in two homes at the same time.. she is suddenly doing alot more emergency night shifts in the editing room? the editing room is short staffed?! ]
Jamie: Nothing.
Philip: Junior here’s just jealous of Lee. I’m going outside to practice. (Philip leaves)
[Hallelujah]
Amanda: Jamie, let’s talk.
(Amanda takes Jamie’s hand and sits down, then she takes both his hands.)
Amanda: You’re jealous of Lee?

Jamie shrugs.
Amanda: Hey, look, you don’t have any reason to be jealous of Lee, okay?
Jamie: (weakly) Yeah.
Amanda: Well, when I was out in California, it was knowing that you and Philip loved me that helped me get through that. You know that, now come on. I love you just as much as I love Philip, or your grandmother, or Lee.

[Out in California, Hmmmm so they’ve made an effort here to tie this episode in after MOG.. and yet I see noooooo wedding rings. Ever.  Maybe they rarely wear them till the end of the show.. I honestly can’t remember.. and sorry to muse on this out loud when we can’t discuss this really till the walk is finished. but I would love to go back to these final episodes with you all once the walk has been completed, to discuss the order of these final season 4 episodes.
Sorry I digress.. eek! back to this lovely mother/son moment! ]
Jamie: Sure, whenever you’re around
[BJO: ouch!]
Amanda: Oh, sweetheart, I know, I know. Oh gosh, you know, one day you’re going to grow up and you’re going to fall in love. Does that mean you’re going to stop loving me?
Jamie: No.

Amanda: No?
Jamie: No.
Amanda: Oh! Well then you understand.
Jamie: Yes.
Amanda: You understand that just because you love somebody new doesn’t mean you stop loving the people you already love, does it? So that means I still love you.

We can see Lee behind the lattice has arrived and is listening in..
Jamie: Yeah.
Amanda: And you know that.
Jamie: Yeah.
Amanda: So you feel better?
Jamie: Yes.
Amanda: I love you. Come here, give me a hug. I really love you.
Jamie: I love you, too, mom.

Amanda: Alright, everything’s okay?
Jamie: Yes.
Amanda: All right, go out there and teach your brother a lesson. Go ahead. Go get him!
(Jamie leaves with his skateboard and Lee comes from behind the fence, he’d been standing there for a bit.)
[So what do you think of this scene? I think that all things considered Jamie does a great job with the acting here. Philip never would have been able to be this believeable!!! but heck, that’s just my opinion.. which lol is about 2 cents worth haaa. I think the chemistry here between Amanda and Jamie is very heartwarming and believable.. Kudos!!!!]

Lee: Dr. Dutton used that same approach in chapter 9. Until right now I didn’t quite understand it.
[Isn’t it all kinds of adorable to see Lee openly acknowledging and enjoying Amanda’s parenting/relationship skills?! I like to think he has always thought this way, he just wasn’t saying it out loud.. ] 

Amanda: Hello…

Amanda gets up and gives Lee a kiss.
Amanda: Muahhhh!!!

Lee: Just forget the books and talk straight from the heart, huh?
[that’s totally adorable. Am I right or Am I right??!]

Amanda: Yeah.
Lee: Yeah. I hate to do this, but back to business. We have to go take a look-see at Briarwood.
Amanda: I know I’m all ready to go.
Lee: Good.
Amanda: Help me lock up.
They head off..

We are going to pause here too.
Sooooo…. What do you think? What’s sticking out for you that you’d like to share with us all?