Ready for another episode? Three more episodes (including this one!) till we’ve finished the walk through all episodes!!!!
Apologies in the delays… Let’s do this!!!
This wouldn’t have been possible without the transcribers who have supported JWWM and Operation Sandstorm!!!
So a special thanks again to all who have contributed!
Thanks to peacockdancer for transcribing this episode for Operation Sandstorm, and sharing it with us all. I hope you enjoyed it!
A formatting reminder as we get started:
peacockdancer’s descriptions are in this format- (xxx)
My descriptions are in this format- xxx
My comments are in this format- [xxx]
peacockdancer’s comments-(Peacockdancer- XXX)
Same as the previous episode, I won’t be watching this fresh as I write it up, I’m finding it’s too time consuming when I’m not as engaged with the full content of these final few episodes! The walk will be briefer and less detailed as I don’t think there is much to be gained by delving in great detail – other than with Lee and Amanda scenes of course..
However – if you love this episode, or a particular scene and you would like to discuss it in more detail than what I’ve covered in the walk, go for it and share in comments your thoughts please.
The episode starts with.. a Russian location…
A meeting of Russian men…. speaking in Russian and English randomly.. Hmmmm… Oh SMK, how to make actors look like Russians? 
No smiling allowed (unless evil!).. large old fashioned glasses, dark suits.. no women attend meetings…. where is the fish in the newspaper and black bread guys? Mmm a bust of Lenin, and a picture of Mikhail Gorbachev in the back ground.. Interesting as this episode aired in 1987, right at the start of the Glasnost era… What year did the Berlin Wall fall? Hmm I shall leave that to someone else to go into if they want. It is rather awkward for me to be writing up SMK Russians when the world is the way it is at the moment… still smk is for fun, so I’m going to put all that out of my mind!
But what’s most interesting is – Dr Glasner (If Thoughts Could Kill) seems to have moved to Russia! Seems he broke out of prison to move to Russia to continue his vendetta against the agency with a new name and identify. This Sergei seems to have skipped the I’ll get myself a new face with plastic surgery step though… this is smk so he can get away with it!
This Chernev guy who seems in charge seems to be a big deal.. he’s feeling a bit hurt by world press coverage of the USSR, so wants to fight back.. but how?
Sergei has a suggestion!
…something called ‘The Trojan Horse’. 
[Since when is any Russian plan simple!] 
Uh oh. The plan seems to have Francine at the centre of it, but we don’t find out anything about it. [But lol you can see the whole plan fits on one page with just a few sentences when Chernev looks it and knows the whole plan within 2 seconds haaaa.. soooo it’s apparently not a super complicated plan. Hmm we’ll see!
Hey, is this an episode where they had originally had Amanda centre stage but it got moved to Francine because she was recovering?
The photo of Francine Desmond, is from SMK Season 4 It’s in the water! This was when she was wearing a hideous salmon-and-pink outfit with white tennis shoes and banana-clipped hair, posing undercover as a student at Georgetown University. Haaaaaaa..
Whoa. they’ve had their eye on Francine for a while!!!]
Back to IFF, and Billy has called a meeting to start working on ‘Trojan Horse’ – a leak from a Bulgarian source has told them about the plan.
Lee (whistles): Chernev is the best agitprop agent the KGB has got. He springs an average of one major propaganda embarrassment on us every year. This one must be an A-1 priority action.
[Propaganda huh. Maybe a plan named Trojan horse isn’t the actual plan, but a plan hiding the real plan. rofl. We just need a character named Troy here.]
Lee is not happy to have to cancel his evening’s plans with Amanda…
I’ve edited this post to add in this line of dialogue from Billy…
Billy: There was a time when I couldn’t keep you out of New York. What were their names, the Orgalovsky sisters?
Another one of those references to Lee’s….. adventurous past love life!
Billy is ordering him to accompany him to NY for a short notice visit..
This shot of Lee watching Billy walk away reminds me of a few times Amanda did that to him…
and made her exit with him being left speechless… Not Exactly!!
Lee arrives home calling out for Amanda.. I’m going to include this full scene – of course!!- and thanks to peacockdancer, here’s the transcription.
(Lee is disappointed to find that Amanda is not there. He turns and sees his dining room table set for a romantic dinner for two, with roses, crystal wine glasses and a candle. The lights are off and the candle is unlit.)
[Lee looks around all forlorn.] 
(Resting against the candle is a handwritten note that reads, “Lee, Call me at my house. Amanda.” Lee walks over and picks up the note, sighs, and then walks to the phone in his living room and dials. The phone rings and we hear Amanda)
Amanda is off camera for the whole conversation.
Amanda’s voice: Hello?
Lee (into phone, happy to be talking with her): Amanda, it’s me.
Amanda’s voice (cheerfully): Hi, you home?
[I like that Amanda says home.. like it’s their home, and she referred on the note to ‘my house’ not my home!]
Lee: Yeah, I just got in.
Amanda’s voice: Good, I’ll feed the boys and I’ll be right over.
Lee: Uh, Amanda, listen… (He is very sorry about what he is about to tell her.)
Amanda’s voice: Everything’s on low in the oven. Beef Wellington—
Lee (interrupting): Amanda, stop. (He pauses.) I have to fly to New York … with Billy tonight, for 36 hours of Q&A with the FBI and a gaggle of Soviet shadows.
Amanda’s voice: Sounds pretty important…
Lee: Yeah, it could be… Sascha Chernev’s got something cooking on the stove, something code-named “Trojan Horse.”… [Need to know Lee!!!]
(He sighs and closes his eyes regretfully.)
…Oh, and I love Beef Wellington, too.
Amanda’s voice (disappointed, but trying to console him): Don’t worry… It’s good cold too.
Lee (his voice rising): I don’t want it cold, I want it hot. Tonight. With my wife. (Lee is upset)
(Peacockdancer- and he is very clearly NOT talking about beef anymore.)
[Grrrrr! I remember I heard about this line many times before I ever got to see this episode, as I didn’t watch this episode till 2008 when I got hold of the dvds. I was shocked to find out Lee was discussing Beef Wellington. Haaaaa… It’s pretty funny how he wants it hot, tonight with his wife!!! hehehee.. Originally I was thinking no way did they mean that as a euphemism, but now I wonder – given how they tried to sex it up in All that Glitters – it would have been an awesome line to include in the tv commercial! haaaaaa.. Now I lean toward peacockdancer’s take. He ain’t talkin about food!]
…Damn it, Amanda, we have not had an uninterrupted weekend since we’ve been married! We are lucky to get a night now and then!
Amanda’s voice: Well, we knew it would be hard for a while, and we do spend a lot of time together … at work.
Lee (quieter now):Yeah, but work is torture…
(He pauses, then continues more softly.)
…You know what it’s like … watching you across the room, when all I really want to do is—
[If this were not a PG rated blog, I’d ask you to complete this sentence haaaaa. what Lee? What do you want to do??? hooooo haaaaaaa..]
Amanda’s voice (interrupting): When do you leave?
Lee (sighing regretfully): An hour.
Amanda’s voice: I’ll be over there in ten minutes, the evening won’t be a complete loss.
(Lee smiles with surprise and gratitude.)
[Thanks for transcribing peacockdancer you have a very strong constitution. When Lee started talking about how he likes his beef wellington I wouldn’t have been able to transcribe anything but gibberish!
The boys can feed themselves lol. I think Amanda likes it hot too -cough cough! Good for her!
Amanda’s voice sounds very tired, do you think? Poor KJ to have put herself through all this for this show. KJ we salute you!!!!!
Lee is complaining about all the interrupted weekends.. yeah maybe it’s time to rethink that dumb secret marriage and his career choices…
I hope I remember to come back to this further in this episode..
Whooo I love to hear Lee talk about the torture of seeing Amanda at work… Whoooooo Haaaaa!!! Bet you can cut the sexual tension with a knife! 😉 ]
On to Amanda at the Q bureau the next morning. she answers the phone, tells the caller Lee is in NY (Need to know please Amanda!!!!) and passes on the call from Mr Andropoulous to Francine.
A greek name.. hmmm.. and an operation named Trojan Horse.. Hmm..
[Amanda is looking pretty here!]
Next up, we join Lee and Billy in a super realistic looking drive through New York while they both are on their phones. lol. Anything interesting in this scene? Ummm not really, other than Billy’s line here…
Billy (into phone): Vodka and some decent caviar usually pries something loose…. But 147 dollars for some stale stories about a Hungarian double agent’s sex change operation? Please.
[His delivery is pretty funny!]
[I find the image of them both on their phones so close, talking to different people hilarious. How anyone can make out what anyone is saying is beyond me haaaa] 
Oh and this.. the information will be passed using the ” modified Steinglich Maneuvre. ” love how Lee says that with such authority.. I bet Bruce has no idea what it is!
Lee and Billy’s trip to NY is a bust and they’ll be back in DC that evening. The only other thing we learn is that code name ‘Mr Andropoulous’ has a tip which will be passed on to Francine before he leaves the country that night.
We join Francine undercover as a waitress at L’Etoile.
[No gags here about how Francine doesn’t do domestic work?? 😦 I miss those smk days!
Doesn’t look like there’s a diplomatic party going on there to me. Also doesn’t look french with those busts but.. whatev.
Anyway, seems the maneuver is to drop a whole tray of dishes in the middle of a busy restaurant and then have the other person ‘help ‘ to clean it up while handing over the paper. 
Talk about drawing attention to yourselves.. and was there any Beef Wellington on that tray? because if there was Lee will not be happy. That’s about as much as I want to say about this maneuvre..
The two baddies enter the restaurant, see the exchange and follow Francine. 
Francine leaves L’Etoile with the paper, and there’s a guy waiting outside for her looking all threatening.
[edited to add: This might be wrong! I’m rethinking this, as he actually doesn’t look threatening??? the one guy waiting outside may be her agency back up???
, for some reason Francine avoids her agency back up and steers the two bad guys away from him. And…. we never see her agency back up do a thing in this whole scene. Soooo this all still makes zero sense!]
Continuing on.. the two baddies follow her out of the restaurant and she starts trying to evade them… seems she’s located close to Georgetown university..
She stops a guy on the street….
Let’s take up peacockdancer’s transcription here:
Francine (urgently, gripping his arm): Look, I know this is going to going to sound crazy, but this is a matter national security, maybe even life and death, all right? (The student looks around with an expression of disbelief.) My name is Francine Desmond, I’m a government agent. I need you to keep this safe for me. (She shoves the message she is still holding into his white paper bag.) Now, meet me back here tomorrow morning at … nine o’clock, okay?
(The student grins at her, perhaps pleased to have been singled out by this attractive woman.)
Student (seemingly amused): Whatever you say, lady!
(Francine takes a quick look around and sees the two men are still behind her.)
Francine: All right, now get out of here!
(She rushes off.)
Student (calling after her): Hey, I’m not even up at nine o’clock on Sundays!
(We see a short distance behind him the two men who were following Francine. They have come to a stop on the sidewalk. 
[Why is one of them all beaten up?? Did we miss something? Is there anything in the script on this? anyone?]
They turn to the street and enter a waiting black station wagon. It drives away in the direction opposite Francine’s.)
The black station wagon’s number plate is LBK 192. Why does that sound familiar???!!!!
A quick search of JWWM and aha! There’s this little gem back in Any Number Can Play!
Here: ….Outside we see Harry in the Bentley drive off.
Lee and Amanda rush out to see him driving off.)
Lee: Did you get the plates?
Amanda: LBK 192.
Amanda pushes Lee towards the Corvette. The window is conveniently open and Lee starts punching a number into his car phone.
Lee (into the phone): Yeah, this is Scarecrow. I need a make on a Bentley; DC plates… (looks at Amanda)
Amanda: LBK 192.
Lee: LBK 192.
They say the number plate literally 3 times!!! [I confess it is hard to focus with Lee in that tux and all so good thing they said it three times! haaaaa. And yes, it is a good excuse to include a picture of Lee in a tux again.] Looks like that rich dude Guy Van Hagen has had his number plates stolen by these baddies. Naughty naughty!
Back to this episode!!!
It’s hard to not have how this episode plays out in mind while watching this moment of the handover of the papers.. but I’ll try!
I do find it telling that the moment Francine heads off after passing the papers, the bad guys get in their car and leave. If this were legit they would have followed her further, or they’d nab this student to get the papers. One minute they have her cornered and the gun out, and the next they are just stepping back and letting her hand over the note. Hmmmm..
Anyway, I guess Francine couldn’t know that. She would know they didn’t continue to follow her once she passed on the papers though – so she should be concerned she has gone and put this student in danger at least…. Thoughts?
Me thinks this ‘simple’ Russian plan (oxymoron or what) is not good to look at too closely!
On to the Q bureau for a really cringe exchange – Ephraim Beaman [wearing a lovely cardy!] has done Francine a favour unlocking the Q bureau office door and not reporting the lost keys.. (Is there a reason she has lost her keys? Any clues in the script? anyone?)
… Beaman takes a seat and doesn’t seem to want to let Francine get on with her work!
I think the taking his glasses off is him trying to be all sexy. ROFL, he hasn’t got moves. 
He starts suggesting she should do a favour in return.
Francine pushes the sexy up to 1000 and Ephraim freaks out and leaves.
[I guess he was after a date, and she was pretending to assume it was a sexual favour of some kind which sent Ephraim straight to confession or whatever it is he does lol.
Was this funny the first time you saw it?
Did anyone see this episode for the first time in the 80s?
In times when women are pressured in the workplace to perform ‘favours’ I find personally this kind of joke turns my stomach. Just not for me.. so moving on! Why has Francine lost her keys? What’s that all about?]
Once Beaman has left, she answers a call on Lee’s phone.
Francine: Hello?
(We see a setting shot of New York City.)
Lee’s voice: Francine, it’s me.
Francine’s voice: Oh hi, Lee. I’m sorry I didn’t call you, I just had to check something out on your computer here first.
(We see Lee sitting on a desk in a New York office, wearing his Agency badge.)
[Something about that view out the window makes me dizzy, the perspective of it is all wrong!!!]
Lee (smiling): That’s okay. What about the papers?
[Papers? It didn’t seem that big to me.]
Francine: Well, the quick look I got at them indicated that they had something to do with Agency operations in Eastern Europe. I just confirmed it on your active file… Lee, I had to protect them somehow…
[She had a quick look???? when??? Maybe in the kitchen! ]
Lee: Pretty risky, handing ‘em off like that… (Fondly.) Though I’d have done the same in your place.
Francine (dryly): As I recall, you did do the same thing. About, oh, four years ago…
[Awh… well a reference to how Lee and Amanda met is very welcomed by me here. It feels different though as Lee handed Amanda a sealed box and told her to give it to the man in a red hat. Francine handed papers unsealed to the dude and said see you here tomorrow. The vibe is different to me, regardless of how this turns out.]
Lee (standing up, getting serious): If this has anything to do with “Trojan Horse,” it is imperative that we get those papers back, and fast.
Francine: Yeah, I know, I know. So I’ve got the guy meeting me at nine o’clock. I’ll pick you up at the airport at 10:30?
Lee (smiling): Okay. Bye.
[Why is Amanda not picking up Lee from the airport?
I understand KJ wasn’t able to be in this episode much, but they could have at least come up with a premise for it- like they did in Playing for Keeps.
So far the way it’s handled it’s like: let’s pretend it is normal for the show to hardly include Amanda. Which IMHO is a big mistake as Amanda is key to the show and the audience knows it! I think I would have preferred Amanda took the boys on a camping trip, right after helping Lee with his Beef Wellington. cough. ]
Francine waits for the student.. and he’s a half hour late… 
He finally shows up.. I think I won’t include this exchange.. Share your thoughts if you see it playing out differently, or notice anything different or have things you’d like to discuss about this scene.
Basically, the student shows up and is all starry eyed at meeting a spy… 
He’s so shook he slept in and only woke 10 minutes ago, he’s ‘late for his make up class’.
[Make up class huh. Today’s class is focused on Guyliner! He can’t miss that!!]
So he rushes off without giving the papers.
[You want the papers Francine? follow him to class… you give up too easy..
Sooo he’s super excited at how serious it all is, but says catch you later I have a class to go to?
I think we are to assume he’s all flustered due to the stress and Iiiiiintrigue!
but.. It really doesn’t add up does it.
Anything else we need to note… Ummm the student says his name is Brian Benedict, and he peeked at the papers… Oh and he’s four months from finishing his degree, in languages. Let me guess – Russian?! haaaaa.
I confess Francine’s last line in this scene in isolation is pretty funny as she sounds more and more desperate!
I don’t know why but I find this funny!
Maybe because she was playing Beaman like a fiddle, only to have this guy completely have her at a loss a moment later. He’s dictating everything and she’s not even pushing back.]
Francine picks up Lee from the airport, and Lee is starting to get more angry – angry that he is starting to sense there is a real threat here, and yet, Francine is assuming this guy is what he appears, and she is grasping for every bit of information that backs it up. First time I saw this I probably didn’t notice, but now at this point we see Francine being played like a fiddle too!
Francine tells Lee in the car about the student: We have to meet him at noon.
[Why? You know his name, you know he is in class. Go get him. I do not understand why suddenly the schedule is dictated by some kid on a bike when this is national security and urgent. It has red flags all over it doesn’t it.]
We get this little exchange after Francine has listed how ordinary and non suspicious this student’s background is..
Francine: …What more could we ask for?
Lee (skeptically, raising his voice): A better story. (They glance at each other.) In case someone asks what we’re doing passing classified documents to civilians! 
Francine (defensively): Well, I don’t know, it seemed to work out pretty well for you and Amanda.
Lee (heatedly): Well, she’s one in a million!
She is indeed!
The baddies are tailing Lee and Francine as they drive..and get noticed..
[rofl. Lee actually turns around to look at the car following them??!!! He would have told off Amanda for doing that in season 1! did he at some point?!]
Lee urges Francine to keep going.. Seems being followed doesn’t change their plan to head to the university to meet the student at noon.[Must stick to the student’s instructions!]
Next thing we cut to the baddies’ car.
– we see briefly they have a camcorder.
Then, one makes a call reporting Lee and Francine are heading to the University.
A Russian-accented voice on phone responds: Good. We’ll have what we need by this afternoon.
Okay, sooooo it’s now clear to a first time viewer, this is all being orchestrated in some way.. but whether the student is involved is unclear, I guess?
Lee and Francine wait at the spot where Francine meets the student, like good obedient spies.. lol. 
They finally see Brian reading and walking, Francine calls out his name but he doesn’t answer till the second try.
[Hmm actually now I think about it, that’s a sign Brian is not actually his name. lol. I never noticed that before..]
Francine: Brian. Brian!
Brian: Look I, I’m sorry, I had so much on my mind, I, I didn’t see you.
Francine: It’s okay. This is my colleague, Lee Stetson and we really need those papers back now.
Brian (nervously): I can’t. (Francine is alarmed.) Look, I, I don’t know when, or, or how, but they’ve disappeared.
Brian’s reaction to seeing them is all over the place. Lee grabs Brian, no more Mr Nice Guy!
Lee (angry, shaking Brian): “Disappeared?” Now wait a second, you’ve gotta have those papers, pal, now you tell me right now…
[Pal? oh he’s in trouble now!!!]
At that moment, the bad guys show up.. 
If you read peacockdancer’s transcript, you’ll find they have been named – Comrade Brownhair and Comrade Mustache, and Comrade Grayhair is the driver. Haaaa I love it!
[Did the two baddies pick up Comrade Mustache along the way? he wasn’t in the care before, and Comrade Brownhair was sitting in the front not the back. Hmmm]
Comrades Brownhair and Mustache get out of the car, guns drawn, which prompts Lee to shove Brian into the car… and drive off.
Love how the two baddies stand there with their guns out – for all the passers-by to see. Where’s the campus police?!
As Lee drives off- you can see where Lee and Francine were standing is marked with 2 X’s on the sidewalk (footpath) in chalk. haaaaaa.
Sooooo what are we all thinking of this episode so far? Does anyone remember the experience of watching this episode for the first time not knowing anything about what was going to happen? I would LOVE to hear what that was like if you don’t mind sharing!!!!!!
Anyone around? Sorry for the delay! I’ll be back next weekend to publish part 2!
[BTW I checked out my thoughts from the first time I wrote up this episode years and years ago, but honestly now I can’t remember how much I drew on those old notes – I wrote this months ago.. anyway if you are familiar with my first posts back on the old forum a few thoughts may sound familiar it’s just me repeating my thoughts lol. ]
"Just walk with me.." 
I enjoyed transcribing this episode. It turned what was otherwise a rather forgettable episode into one that I like very much. Just a few random thoughts…
KGB headquarters. This opening scene is the only time in the whole series where they actually use subtitles to translate dialogue spoken in Russian. This is so much better than pretending that Russians speak accented English to each other. I would have liked to have seen them do this more often.
Comrades Brownhair, Grayhair, and Mustache. Hahaha. I was just having some fun with this. If a character’s name is never spoken, I think it’s more fun to use nickname in the transcript rather than to “cheat” by using the name from the real script. Actually, the “Amanda Redux” script doesn’t use names for these guys anyway. It just refers to them as “security men” and the “driver.”
Beaman. I really like this character and wish they had used him more often. It would have been great if they had actually paired him up with Francine and sent them out in the field together once in a while. The scene in the Q Bureau is cringey, for sure, but it’s not as bad as the Christmas party when Francine was actively trying to keep away from him and his drunken advances. I like how she disposes of him so quickly here, using her sex appeal to freak him out and make him go away.
Lee and Amanda on the telephone. I really, really hate these telephone conversations where we never see Amanda’s face. It’s just so obvious that Kate Jackson’s lines were recorded at a totally different time. But at least we get the line, “I want it hot. Tonight. With my wife.” There is no way that this was not intended as a euphemism! I don’t really find it out of place for the overall tone of the show. It’s just a funny line. Nothing wrong with some cute sexual innuendo!
Former women in Lee’s life. I cannot help but note Billy’s (feigned) puzzlement about why Lee doesn’t want to go to New York. He says, “There was a time when I couldn’t keep you out of New York. What were their names, the Orgalovsky sisters?” Sisters, AGAIN. So for those keeping track (probably just me), Lee has at one time or other been involved with the “Federova twins” (the circus act we learned of during the “Lovely Little Affair” audit), the “Petrovich twins” (a “tiny chapter in his past” learned of in “Need to Know”), and now the “Orgalovsky sisters.” What is it with Lee and sisters with Russian names??? It totally skeeves me out!
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I’m thinking they’re supposed to be the same sisters and the writers just couldn’t remember the name they used. The similarities and references are just too similar.
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I like that, let’s go with that. the less sisters the better! lol.
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Plus it makes more sense. I can see Lee being crazy enough to think he could get away with dating twins once. And the ALLA one might not have even been a date if the mother was along like they implied.
But knowing how women would react to a guy dating their twin at the same time — Lee would have to be colossal stupid to try that more than once. Even to think he could get away with it once was idiotic, but dating males tend to make a lot of idiotic choices — they’re just usually smart enough not to repeat the mistake. (Although the bonehead who tried picking me up with the line “I love romantic comedies…my favorite is Titanic” has probably repeated that line again, so never say never. And yes, he actually called the James Cameron AKA Everyone Dies version of Titanic a comedy )
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Also, why is Billy bringing this up when he knows Lee and Amanda are together? Is he reminiscing about Lee’s bachelor days? Making a point that Lee no longer has an interest in Russian sisters? Sisters or no sisters (yeah that skeeves me out too, Peacockdancer), why wouldn’t Billy automatically assume he has plans with Amanda?
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I think Billy has already deduced that Lee is upset because the trip will interfere with his weekend plans with Amanda. He knows full well they are a couple. My theory is that Billy is annoyed, possibly even a little offended, that months after he gave his “blessing” to their relationship – even after the cyanide watch incident, even after he walked in on them having breakfast together in Lee’s apartment on a Saturday morning – they are still maintaining this façade in the workplace that they are not actually “together.” After all this time, it is probably becoming annoying that they haven’t seen fit to bring him more fully into their confidence. Perhaps on some level, he also senses that they are keeping a huge secret from him (which they are: the secret marriage). I have said before that I think secrecy and its consequences are an overarching theme in this show, and this is another example of that.
In sum, Billy’s probably thinking, if Lee isn’t even willing to just come out and tell him that he has plans with Amanda, then he might as well play this pretend game as well, and act all faux-surprised that Lee isn’t looking forward to spending time in New York with his past ladyfriends. That’ my theory, anyway.
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And Billy played a part in getting them together. He might even have already picked out a nice wedding gift. 😉
I assumed Dr. Smyth had a problem with it, or would make things more complicated than they already are. Just a little extra dialog could have added support for that as being a cause. Maybe Lee thinks if he doesn’t come out and say it, he won’t have to get anyone to lie for them? I don’t know…I’m scraping bottom on explanations for this secret marriage.
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so true Sara, we are left to assume. the show doesn’t really explain it!
Hey what if we deleted the episodes The Man Who Died Twice ummmm Do you take this spy and Mission of gold??
Hmm maybe these three episodes could be episodes that are dream sequences.
The man who died twice could be a dream of Lee’s
Do you take this spy – a dream of Amanda’s…
and Mission of Gold? – a nightmare of Lee’s!!!!
Hmm maybe Suitable for Framing could be a nightmare of Amanda’s haaaaaa – being replaced by Francine!!!
whahahahaahahhahahaah
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Wow… That almost sounds like fanfiction! lol…
But honestly, I do like the idea of them having a dream, waking up and realizing none of it happened. Or better yet, Lee waking up from the nightmare of Mission of Gold and seeing Amanda beside him in bed (awwww…..). As for Suitable For Framing and Francine… I get why people think he (and the writers) intended for it to be Amanda. I also think his working relationship/friendship with Francine ‘could’ improve because he’s much happier overall since his marriage to Amanda. Despite not having much time together, he’s still overjoyed.
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Agreed! like your version.
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Hey, serious question – Is there anyone here who likes the secret marriage?
I honestly would love to know and am curious to hear how people who like the secret marriage see it all.
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I don’t completely hate the idea. I think under the right circumstances it could have have been fun, only we never got to see how it played out the way it was supposed to given Kate’s absence. And provided they tied things up on the series finale, and the DVD blurb (same one as on the site here) certainly gave me hope of that.
I just don’t understand the logic of having Lee continue to hang around with the family and meet them if they wanted the relationship to stay secret. To me, Man Who Died Twice takes place after Santa’s Got A Brand New Bag & Any Number Can Play. And the only way I reconcile One Flew East is that Lee and Amanda didn’t want to lie to the kids about a breakup when they knew they’d eventually have to be open after all.
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I’d be okay with a secret marriage, if they wrote it a little differently. Or maybe it starts out as a secret engagement, then ends up coming out as a small wedding with family and friends. Maybe Billy finds out about the engagement and figures out a way to let them marry and serve the agency as a couple. They’d need at least another season to develop the story. The wedding was sweet, but that venue and the lady witness were hokey and they deserve better. I think I mentioned this on another post, but I’d also would have liked it if they had ‘Mission of Gold’ while they were still engaged, (maybe traveling for work or vacation together and Amanda gets shot. Lee’s reaction would have still made sense). Then the wedding episode is last of the series. Other episodes just need minor tweaking to work. Fans could be left to write fanfiction about their life as a married couple. 😉
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It is very, very hard for me to come up with a scenario in which the secret marriage would have been palatable to me. Fundamentally, I think their engagement came too early in the series. Much as I love Night Crawler, it would have been better if they had waited until the end of Season 4 for that episode, or better yet, expanded it and made it a two-part opener for a Season 5.
I think that for a secret marriage to make any sense at all, it would have had to happen in a Night Crawler-esque situation – one in which they both believed there was a good chance they were about to die, and this was their only chance to do it. And then, when it became clear they were safe, there would have to be a specific, concrete threat that prevented them from telling people about the marriage – not this vague “we have to keep our family safe” nonsense. Then, they needed an “off ramp” – a “once we find and capture this bad guy, then we are safe and can tell people” plot. It could have been interesting to have a story arc with a single villain that they were chasing for an entire season.
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I’m with you on that. Curious to know who liked this “joke” of a secret marriage. That is why I refused to watch certain episodes. I do wonder if KJ didn’t get sick, they proceeded to season 5, would they have continued with this fiasco?
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I figure Lee knows when Billy is keeping something from him, so to avoid Dr. Smyth trying to pressure Billy, it is best he doesn’t know about their marriage.
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Love this take on Billy! I’m happy to go with this!
I have visions of him searching marriage records and finding the documentation. It’s here!
Would have been a fab season 5 plot – Russians find Lee and Amanda’s marriage certificate and threaten to disclose it yadda yadda.. and in there Lee and Amanda have 36 hours to fix it or quit. lol.
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Agreed! would have loved to have seen what season 5 would have looked like.
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Although I haven’t seen this episode in its entirety I agree with your theory. This is what gets me about the last season, it seems like they were all over the place. Granted KJ got sick so some of the episodes had to be rewritten. Regarding Billy, being aware and fine with their relationship was apparent. In the episode Billy’s Lost Weekend, he told Lee and Amanda he was fine with what they were starting relationship-wise. In the last scene when he went over to Lee’s apartment, he told them to enjoy their nice long weekend. I’m sure he knew they were together. Lee not telling him about plans with Amanda made no sense to me. I can understand their secret marriage, and him being a little apprehensive to let him know.
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I just think Archie Andrews from the comic books when they give us stories like this. Because they did at least three stories (the comics often repeated storylines) where he tried to date identical twins at the same time so he wouldn’t have to choose with predictably disastrous results. Or he’d think he could pull off dates with two girls the same night — I’m sure Lee made that mistake too.
I actually see the pre-Season 3 Lee as kind of a grown-up Archie Andrews with the black books and constant girlfriends that never last, except that Lee carries more emotional baggage and had a more tragic past, whereas Archie had a great family and home life growing up.
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The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, along with Communism in most of the other Eastern Bloc countries other than Albania and the USSR. I believe the last was Romania just before Christmas.
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Just started rewatching the episode. It’s been forever since I’ve seen it. Yes, that Beef Wellington scene is gold! I wish we even got a little more of a romantic moment. Even Amanda showing up 10 minutes later for a proper hello kiss. Just something.
That’s interesting about ‘Amanda Redux’ and the full-circle that could have happened if KJ played the part instead. Like most of you, I feel it’s not the same without KJ, but I’m keeping an open mind as I watch this.
I actually like Francine’s outfits so far. The shoulder pads are horrible, but can’t be helped. Yes, Iwsod that one picture clip is hilarious!
Also… Love the ‘Comrades’ line. ‘Comrade Brownhair’ could also be ‘Comrade Plaid’ (lol…sorry for that).
I loved Beaman and Francine. He’s kind of a dork, but he’s also cute. I wish he appeared sooner in the series, because it would have been cute to see flirting and banter even.
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Comrade was the way people in Communist countries addressed each other to avoid the elitism of titles such as Mr. and Mrs.. Your teacher was “Comrade Professor”, military leaders could be “Comrade General” etc..
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Yep, I know. Just commenting on the ‘brown hair’ line. Dotty might call him Comrade ‘Ownhair’?
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LOL Ooh love it!
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I also like Francine’s clothes in this episode. The outfit she is wearing in the pictures above — the gray blazer (jacket?) with the pink, purple and black pattern, over a pink dress — is the same outfit she wore in the first conference room meeting in Stemwinder Part 1. (She’s wearing different earrings though, and her hair looks better.) This is the only time I can think of where Francine re-wears an outfit from a previous episode.
I especially like the pink dress without the jacket (after she shimmies it off in the Q-Bureau). Nice accessorizing with the belt and bracelet. She looks beautiful!
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Yeah! I think someone could wear the pink dress today just fine. maybe a different belt though!
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This is another episode I didn’t care to watch. I did try, but the scene where Lee is on the phone with Amanda telling her he has to fly to NY with Billy, I got it, but the thing with the secret marriage was too much for me. So, a combination of this silly secret marriage, and the reduction of screen time for KJ made me opt out of watching it. Just isn’t the same for me.
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Iwsod, somehow I don’t think Beaman is off to confession since his lines also include asking Francien if she’d like to go to his nephew nat mitzvah… 😆
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lol I threw that in wondering if anyone would notice I had a giggle to myself about it haaaaa
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I’m now laughing at myself for mistyping bar mitzvah so badly!
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I think the funky dialogue that sticks out the most for me in this is that the kid says “I’m not even up at 9am on a Sunday” and then, when he does show up, claims to be off to class? That is one weird university he’s studying at…
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I never noticed that before. Maybe the instructor had a make-up class scheduled, or an optional class he normally skipped.
I had a computer/typing class where we only had to attend one seminar out of the four a month and we could choose when it was most convenient for us.
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According to the script on Petra’s site, it was originally supposed to be Amanda who did the drop and the ep was called “Amanda Redux”. Also that scene with Lee talking on the phone to Francine in the Q-Bureau was probably filmed (based on his tone and body language) with Bruce thinking he was talking to Kate.
I think it’s cool that Glaser appears on the third and third last eps of the series.
Loved that beef Wellington scene. Lee is really struggling with the secrecy of their marriage.
Good to have you back! We missed you!
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whoooooo I’m going to watch that again! 🙂
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There does seem to be some warmth and “intimacy” in Lee’s tone and expression as he talks to Francine on the phone. It hadn’t occurred to me that Bruce might have assumed he was talking with Amanda when the scene was filmed. Maybe. But he speaks to Francine in a similarly “familiar” manner in the next episode (A Matter of Choice). So I tend to think of this as showing that the two of them are very close friends. I like thinking of Lee and Francine that way.
I had a similar thought, though, about the scene where Billy and Lee are in the taxi. Lee tells Billy, “I think Francine can handle this,” and Billy deduces that Lee has just given her the “green light” to conduct the operation at the restaurant. Since when did Lee become Francine’s superior? Who is he to decide whether she can “handle” an assignment, and why would that even be a question?! I am offended on Francine’s behalf!
I wondered if maybe, in the original script, Lee was talking about Amanda instead of Francine. But no, the taxi scene isn’t in the “Amanda Redux” script.
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You know the whole Lee talking on the phone to Francine thing? I had a look. I think my mind just automatically interpreted it as : Lee’s thinking about Amanda awhhhhhh
because the situation reminds him of how they met.. and.. there is NO WAY(!!!!) Lee would be that adoring with his expression without thinking of Amanda. And certainly not about Francine. haaaa
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