"Just walk with me.."

Back to the fancy hotel, Lee and Amanda are in the foyer all dressed up. Whooo Lee is wearing a wedding ring (practice for the real thing huh Lee!) and Amanda too..Amanda comments they are taking a risk with trusting Nicky here… he might run again…
Lee: (clears his throat) No, listen. Don’t worry. Big Tony is the only fence in town that has got enough juice to handle the McMasters’ art. Nick’ll have to make this first contact alone. I don’t think he’ll wander off. He needs us as much as we need him. [Why exactly does Nick need them? He can just run again, can’t he? I guess Lee is counting on his having real feelings for Felicia, which is kinda against type given Nick’s history isn’t it? What do you guys make of this? ]
Nick: (approaches them from behind and puts his hands on their backs) In case anybody asks, you’re the Roths from Newport – incredibly rich. (He kisses Amanda on the cheek.)Lee: Ohh… What happened to the Detwilers of Philly?
Nick: (sitting) Oh, come on, give me some credit. Big Tony’s just been to Philly. He’s looking you over right now. (We see Big Tony, sitting in a lounge area, drinking tea.)
[rofl. Lee looks stiff as a board! whaaaaa]… Hmm. Jeff? Dixie? I think the tide’s low in your glasses.
(He snaps his finger for a waiter to come over.)
Lee: Jeff and Dixie?
Nick: Liven up, will you? Look, I told Big Tony you were wild enough to take the plunge on the whole collection and if he likes what he sees, he’s willing to arrange a private showing. Oh, yeah, and by the way – the clincher is your incredible offer of one of your Thai Picassos. We’ll make him a present of it.
Amanda: (whispering) He’s going to spot a phony Picasso.
Lee: (incredulous) Do you happen to have a genuine Picasso on hand?
Nick: Hell, no. No, we’ll just borrow one. (laughs)
[Oh boy. this keeps getting better and better. I think they should lock up Nicky and just check in at the Inn and forget about it. lol. Too funny how Lee is furious but trying not to show it as they are being watched. Lee is taking a big risk working with Nicky like this.. This whole plan seems too high risk to me, do you think they would have agreed to it if they weren’t in a rush to close the case and get hitched?]

We cut to the corvette driving at a distance.. and listen to a voice over…Lee: (V.O.) How do you propose we borrow a Picasso, Nick?
Nick: (V.O.) It’s a lot easier than getting your hands on the Crown Jewels.
Lee: (V.O.) That was different. We had the Prime Minister’s cooperation.
[oh haaaaa. that’s begging for a fan fic story that one! The crown jewels? really???!!! lol. I bet Nature Life Magazine was involved somehow! And besides, I would have thought you’d need the royal family to co-operate not the prime minister but what do I know? I guess Lee and Nick are in the vette and Amanda err I mean Dixie stayed behind?]

On to the National Museum.
{The script says that the museum’s curator is named Arthur Hatcher.}
Arthur: (opening a door and walking inside) We can talk in here.
Lee: There’s nothing to talk about.
Arthur: Gentlemen, I run this museum. You can’t expect to walk in off the street, flash federal ID, and walk out with a piece of facet Cubism without talking.
Nick: (walks directly to a phone on his desk and starts dialing.) We don’t have time for this. Can I use the phone?
Arthur: Who’s he calling?
Nick: (Into the phone) Covert Main, this is Branch One, please. Lee: Look, I don’t want you ramrodded out of here because you’re doing your job, but we are on a very tight schedule.
[I am not terribly engaged with this plot I must say, I just want to get to the wedding. Very naughty of me.]
Arthur: Ramrodded out of here? [Hang on, is this Arthur guy that Tisher dude from Playing for Keeps??? Who charged Lee $50- bucks for the sneaky print out of the country club guests?]

Nicky plays the role on the phone, while Lee sells Arthur on the white house being involved. I don’t find this super interesting.. so I’m gonna skip the rest. sorry if you love this – and do share your thoughts if you do!!

Poor Arthur, he swallows it hook, line and sinker, and is probably still waiting to hear from the president personally.

The scene ends with Lee and Nicky sharing a little mutual admiration at how good they are at lying together. lol. Lee: We do get better with age, don’t we?
(They laugh and slap five.)
[Bros who con people together! Hey didn’t  Lee say something like this in Bad Timing to Amanda?]

The scene movies on to.. Roger’s Bar and Grill. Oh Hang on, a few episodes ago wasn’t that Randy’s?
[Billy’s lost weekend. Looks like after 34 years, he couldn’t get his wife to leave, so Randy ended up leaving. Won’t miss your wife jokes Randy!]
Lee’s getting antsy.. Nicky is out of sight, with the Picasso, while Lee and Amanda err sorry Dixie and Jeff, wait in the limo.
Lee is doubting the plan they have in place, and comments that maybe he should have not trusted Nicky so much.. His panic seems to be escalating..
Amanda tries to calm him down.. advocates for trusting Nicky.
Lee: Well… We’ll just relax and, I mean, uh, everything is going according to plan.Amanda: Except that he’s twenty minutes late. Lee: I’ll kill him. [LOL Lee doesn’t miss a beat here, the delivery is pretty funny!!!
Honestly, why would you trust Nicky??! I don’t care that he’s in love. He breathes he cons that is what this guy does!!]

Back to the Q Bureau… both Lee and Amanda are pacing and trying to figure out what’s gone on here.Lots of swapping of ideas, some have Nicky as bad guy, others have him as an ally.
LOL this line was funny: Amanda (to Lee): You’re right there is absolutely no reason to stay calm!!
[The episode is certainly keeping Nicky ambiguous. In all, Lee continues to have a slither of hope he’s not deep down a bad guy for some reason. lol.]
{The phone rings!}
(It’s Nicky, he’s picked himself up a bright orange sports car.. He really is like a dark side version of early Lee Stetson or something lol. He is completely unconcerned about how mad Lee is. Nicky says the Picasso is with Big Tony and will be fine.)Nicky: …I just set you up with him for our first meeting on the art. He’ll be outside the Orion at noon tomorrow – except that I hope to have everything cleared away by then. Lee: Wait a minute… Just what are you up to? Nick: Well, I just had a little chat with Felicia. Jason’s at the house, so I’m going out for a little talk, man to man, like. We were right all along. Big Tony just confirmed it. Jason’s been setting me up right from the start. Ciao.
(Nicky hangs up…) [Uh oh!!] (Lee and Amanda rush out the door)

On to the McMaster’s estate. Lee and Amanda arrive, Lee winces and holds his rib as he gets out of the vette. They hear a loud shot out back, and they take off toward the noise.
McMasters, Sr: (he has a shot gun, and is pointing it at Nick,
Nick is crouched over McMasters, Jr, holding a gun…) Carefully put that gun down and move over next to your friend.
(We see McMasters Jr is unconscious) (Nick, joins scared looking Felicia, holding his arms up.)(Amanda and Lee watch on concerned, and it goes to a commercial break.)
[They look way too calm lol.]

After the commercial break, it’s back to the Q Bureau again.. New clothes so I guess it’s the next day, and today is the day they meet Big Tony at the Orion.
{Lee enters the Q-Bureau, weighed down with all of his luggage.}Billy: (already inside the office) Hope springs eternal. You’re still trying to make that vacation, huh?
[Hmmm looks like Amanda’s luggage was already there before Lee arrived on that chair, and Billy would have totally seen it. haaaa]
Lee: (putting down the luggage) Yeah. Nothing short of a nuclear war or the end of civilization as we know it is going to get in my way, Billy.
Billy: Not even Nick Grant?
Lee: He’s trying, I’ll give you that. He’s also getting plenty of help.
Billy: Meaning, he was framed, right?
[An Art Thief was ‘Framed’! that’s genius!!!! waaaahhhaaaa]
Lee: With a carpenter’s level. He didn’t put a bullet through Jason’s head any more than I did. Billy: Listen, the old man heard an argument, then a terrible fight, and then he found Nick Grant standing there holding the gun. Now, that’s pretty incriminating.
Lee: But nobody saw him pull the trigger, now, did they? He told me he picked it up after Jason was shot. They are going to bury him, Billy.
[Ummm the old man wasn’t the only person there. What does Felicia have to say? seems the writers are intentionally trying to have us overlook her! Totally suss that!! And why is the spouse not a suspect in her husband’s murder?! weird.. ]
Billy: You’re really worried about him, aren’t you? [You know, I’m more worried about getting the 2 million dollar Picasso back. lol but maybe it’s just me]
Lee: Yeah. Not even Nick Grant deserves this. Look, somehow those missing oils are the key to who killed Jason. Now, Amanda and I are going to keep a little meeting with this Big Tony and see what we can come up with. [Yeah okay I have no idea if I was even noticing this the first time I saw this but there is a great big hole in this conversation – what is Nick’s link to McMasters? Felicia!!! You know, who was cheating on her husband, and who knew where Nick was so could have easily gotten that painting into his car. aie. This is actually pretty clunky. And no I don’t remember what happens. Ha that may be pretty obvious huh. It’s just weird no one even mentions her!]
Billy: Sounds like police work to me.
Lee: No. They already figure they’ve got their culprit.
Billy: I think I’d better help you with this. (starts to pick up Lee’s luggage.) I wouldn’t want you or Amanda to miss your trip…
…trips.eeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lee picks up the rest of his luggage and follows Billy out the door.) [Lee is so busted. Haaaaaa good one Billy- I love it!!!!]

We move on to Dixie and Jeff’s chauffeur driven limo heading down a country road. Whooooo Francine is their Chauffeur! haaaaa!!!! Looks like they are waiting for Big Tony as they drive around.. noon at the Orion is now 430 driving around somewhere following a car.. okay! They update Billy on over the walkie-talkie. Amanda tells him the car they are following seems to be heading toward the McMaster’s farm, and they are turning on their homing signal. Billy confirms he is picking up the signal.

Big Tony’s and the black limo pull up at the McMasters stable. Big Tony (Aka Antony De Seca) has a thick Italian accent.[Ohhhh I guess Tony was in the car they were following but they weren’t sure if they would get to meet him after following him around for 4.5 hours? I was confused!]
Big Tony approaches Jeffrey Roth and his wife Dixie. Who has a full on southern drawl… and doesn’t mess around. She gets straight down to business.
Show me the art! haaaa..
I’m not going to include the all this transcribed dialogue.. suffice to say – Lee and Amanda (err Jeff and Dixie!) make a charming couple 🙂(Tony enters the stables to check out the art, Jeff and Dixie follow him in, but he blocks them from fully following him. Outside Lee and Amanda can hear Tony talking to someone…)
Big Tony: … Good afternoon. I have a charming couple interested in the entire lot. May I see the art?
Lee: {to Amanda} The paintings never left the property.
Big Tony: {crouches down and begins to uncover a painting.} Ahhh. Excellent! {He uncovers another.} Just beautiful.{He looks at a third painting and then stands.} …Of course, they’re all phonies. [The person he is talking to is…. Felicia?! Duh duh duuuuuuuhhhhhhhh. Oh? but I had forgotten all about Felicia?!!!! what a shock!!!! haaaaa]
Felicia: (angry) What are you talking about?Big Tony: Not to say they are not fabulous forgeries, some of the best.
Felicia: That’s ridiculous. They came right off the walls of the house.
Big Tony: ha haaa I’ve seen it before. Your father-in-law must have needed money, eh? Who knows? You could ask him. Lee: (enters) We’ll all ask him… (He pulls out his ID.) …Federal officers. Felicia: The Roths, huh? We’ve got no shortage of phonies here today. Lee: Let’s all step outside, huh?
{Big Tony looks worried. They all exit the barn. Once outside, Felicia pulls a rope that drops a huge load of straw on everyone. She runs off. She mounts a horse and rides away.}
[Oh no. I was hoping for no chase.. I’ll summarise it for us all.. and if you notice anything noteworthy in this chase do let us know!!!
It’s a horse chase!! A rather boring one if you ask me.. Except, it’s very cool to see cowboy BB on a horse again!]My Summary:Lee chases Felicia, and catches her. The end.

Okay hang on, let me pause for a second here and look at this plot. Am I on the right track here? lol!! If this stuff gives you a headache, feel free to skip ahead 🙂
Let’s see.. Felicia was setting up Nick the whole time.
She made contact with Big Tony to sell the McMasters paintings.
Nicky contacted Big Tony to buy the McMasters paints for Jeff and Dixie setting up the meeting, handing over the Picassso to Big Tony.

It’s the McMasters Jr shooting that confuses me… I guess Felicia shot McMasters  Jr?? and then Nick showed up to a shot guy at just the right moment to grab the pistol and look like he’s the one who did it?
And Felicia was there already? Huh? Who does Nick think shot McMasters Jr?
How did McMasters Jr manage to get shot at just the right moment for that to work?
And.. maybe I’m not supposed to even think about that! lol!!!

Does Nick think Felicia shot McMasters Jr and he now knows she’s the baddie?
She told him her husband was there and that he had been setting up Nick from the start – she wanted Nick to come to the property to set him up.
[EDITED TO ADD: I just watched that Nick/Lee/Amanda phone call again, it looks to me like Felicia was dealing with Big Tony passing herself off as her husband. As Nick says Big Tony confirmed McMasters Jr is the seller.]

If Nick knows he didn’t shoot McMasters Jr, how did Felicia manage to not look like she did it to Nick?
Because if Nick knows she’s the baddie, why did Lee and Amanda have to go through this whole time consuming charade to find out it was Felicia? Nick could have told them.
Okay, maybe they needed to go through the motions to find where the paintings were stashed, I can buy that – but why act surprised it was Felicia?

Have I missed something here? What’s your take on all this?

I’m thinking it was Felicia earlier shooting at Nick and Lee in the alleyway, not her husband as we thought. He drove off before the shooting started so he didn’t see her. Why shoot at them in the alley? Ummm so Nick could make a getaway maybe? as she needed him free for her plan to work.. thoughts?]

Getting back to the episode… {Billy, Francine and a car load of agents join where Lee is subduing Felicia.
Lee: let’s mind our manners. come on.
Lee says this as he wrestles to keep her in his grip. [Umm when have I ever heard Lee Stetson say that to a man who doesn’t want to be captured. Seriously?? Why should the baddie make it easy for Lee?! Felicia you wanna be bad, you be bad! and forget those manners. whahahahaaaaa.. what a sexist line. I put this down to the 80’s..and..I move on..]
Billy confirms he will take the bad mannered woman from here.
Francine confirms all the paintings were forgeries.
Amanda speeds up to them with the limo… tooting the horn like crazy!!!
She puts the window down as she calls out to Lee}

Amanda: It’s quarter of. Think we can make it?
Lee: (Getting in the limo) You drive. We’ll make it.Billy:What’s this?
Billy and Francine are all confused!! [Where is the luggage?!]
Lee: Vacation! Drop ya a card! (They speed off.)Is it just me or is it really weird the way Francine is treated in this action finale? In the Bad Timing finale too. It’s like she’s around but she’s such a bit player and really doesn’t get much of a role in the plan. She’s the back up.
As much as I love seeing Lee and Amanda play the cover, it would have made more sense for Francine and someone to have been the buyers Nick put forward – As all the players in the McMasters/Grant hi-jinks all already know Lee and Amanda. They took quite the chance. Felicia could have spotted them much earlier and taken off. She would know straight away.

And Billy? lol he’s actually relegated to carrying Lee’s luggage and being his back up. whahahahaahaaa.. oh my.. whahahaaaa..

Oh well, it’s pretty funny how they give up on trying to look like they are vacationing separately. No time. See ya! Off they go together, leaving Billy and Francine in the dust!!

Bring on the rice!!!! Of course we are going to pause here before we start the whole wedding part errr I mean ‘Vacation’ part 😉 haaaaa

So quite the reveal with Felicia huh! I hadn’t remembered it was her beyond it all I just didn’t like her (i.e. I think a part of my mind remembered not to like her lol) Had anyone else forgotten? maybe a good part of walking through this part of season 4 is the episodes are not rewatched as often as earlier episodes?

Thoughts?
next up… Wedding Bells!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!