Season Four: Mystery Marriages are for the birds

[David T. Cole]

Your S4 topic!

[Mama No Life]

I'm so excited to have a place to talk about SMK!  Loved season 3 but the stupid mystery marriage was not a good idea.  I wonder all the time what would have happened had Kate not gotten sick....

[Bastet]

I think season four still would have been the last season; as I recall, ratings were down well before Amanda's reduced screen time, and I know I was pretty bored with it post-Nightcrawler.  But Suitable For Framing could have been a pretty good episode as originally written (meaning not having to plug Francine into Amanda's role), so I have this fantasy world where that gets filmed as written and airs as the series finale.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Season four started off so well, and then it just...petered out. Do NOT get me started on the ridonkulousness of how they had to keep their marriage a sekrit.

 

Okay, I'll rant about it. But later, as I have to get cracking at work.

 

I will say I LOATHED and DETESTED Dr. Smith, though he was probably a necessary evil, but I much preferred John Saxon's character; though he didn't hate Lee or was as cold as Smith was. Until someone Smith cared for was involved like in that horrible, horrible "All that Glitters."

 

I'd like to think, if not for Kate getting sick, we'd have seen a lot more of her.

 

I know one of the disconnects for me regarding Jaime was how he seemed to like Lee in the Christmas episode, but post honeymoon, he was so resentful and hated him. I suppose it was because you can't have any angry feelings/attitude around the holidays, but it still continues to bug.

[Mama No Life]

They weren't great about airing the episodes in order and that caused some confusion with Jamie's attitude, I believe.

[GHScorpiosRule]

And so, I'm now up to Season 4 in my binge-watching and based on what transpired in seasons past, the way Billy, Francine even, look at Lee and Amanda spending time together, dating, with suspicion, just irks and confuses me.

 

Like I mentioned in Season 3's thread, throughout that season, it was clear that Lee and Amanda were more than just partners; In "We're off to see the Wizard", Billy even brings up, to other agents to be more careful, because some have worked with him, while some "dated" him. So finding out that Lee and Amanda have been spending time together off the clock, having dinner is supposed to be suspicious?

 

Then how Francine is so quick to believe that both are traitors, when in season one's "Mole", she herself was paranoid to think that everyone thought she was the mole and that they should know better. And she's had years of working with Lee.

 

And I know it's a plot point, and it may be my bias against Dr. Smith, who I hate with the heat of a 1000% blazing suns, but his saying and thinking that Lee and Amanda have been "sticking it" to the Agency for years is beyond absurd. Considering that Lee yanked Amanda and begged her to give the package to a man in the red hat...it's not as if she accidentally bumped into him on purpose.

 

I did appreciate how in "Stemwinder" that Billy called Smith on his hypocritical ass, about how Smith "scraps the rules" when he (Smith) sees fit, and ignores policy when it's convenient for him/suits him.

 

Still, I don't like that they were all quick to judge Lee and Amanda and call them traitors.

 

That said, "Stemwinder", "Night Crawler", remain my three top three favorite episodes, followed by "Photo Finish", "Bad Timing."  Oh, that's so sad. All the others are...okay, but even though I like "The Man Who Died Twice", I don't like it, because of the stupidity behind the reason for why Lee and Amanda couldn't tell anyone about their marriage. Especially considering, the stupidass Agency had married field agents. And the situation with Lee's friend in "The Man..." was totally different from Lee's. UGH.

[Myrrhine]

This is the season I have watched the least. I would just like to register my displeasure with Lee's season 4 hair.

And I like to think BB cringes a bit when he chokes out that nonsensical line about the mystery marriage. Why call it a mystery marriage anyway. It was a *secret* marriage for whatever ridiculous reason, mystery marriage just makes it sound even more dumb.

[GHScorpiosRule]

True, Lee totally needed to get a haircut this last season.

 

Just saw "The Man Who Died Twice" where the decision was made for their marriage to be a secret because of what happened to Kai.

 

Which, is STOOPID. First, Kai was a double agent, helping the U.S., so of COURSE, his life was more dangerous. What about all the other CIA, FBI, NSA, Agency field agents who married and had children, and everyone in the departments knew they were married, etc., etc....? It's such bullshit. No reason for them to hide that they were married. At all. It pisses me off. Ruins what was otherwise a good episode.  And sorry, writers, and researchers==Rockville may be pricey (I live there now, and have worked there during the late 80s), but there is NO WAY anyone could keep a horse or horses in Rockville! It's totally a metropolitan city! Now Darneswood, or further out closer to Virginia? Or northeast, I think, in Olney, where there is still acres of land, maaaaybe you could have horses to run and frolick.  There's just no excuse for that kind of fuck up.

 

And I WISH DC's China Town looked like the one in this episode. UGH.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to add these final thoughts while still fresh in my mind...

 

I feel like such an idiot that until today's viewing, I never caught what Lee said in "Photo Finish" which, had I caught it earlier, would have saved so much debate over on TWoP! About whether or not Lee and Amanda were lovers in this last season before getting married.  In the scene where Lee is trying to convince Amanda to go away for the weekend in that cabin, and she keeps saying "Stop...Stop!" the line I missed, was Lee saying how in that cabin, she'd be spending time with a man who "had a healthy sex drive" with that persuasive smile of his. I'm damned if I know why I never remembered that line or heard it.  Even though we all agreed, we were sure that in "Billy's Lost Weekend" and even in "Promises To Keep" follow up, that the weekend at Pine Top, was probably one, where they spent a good portion, not...skiing, since the skiing was terrible, heh.

 

Two more left and I'll be done watching the last season, which really really suffered with Kate not being available due to her cancer. And I'm not blaming her for getting sick. The show just is not as enjoyable when it's not Lee and Amanda working together.  Bruce and Kate were just magic and natural together.  I really loved in "Do You Take this Spy" at the end, after they're married and the maid is taking her own sweet time fluffing the pillows, and putting the mints on them...you see Amanda knocking her head on Lee's shoulder and he's nodding his head in a "I know, I know" way...but especially the expression on his face.

[Bastet]

I'm missing how that line is a definitive indication one way or the other as to the timing of their sexual relationship.  Amanda puts him off at that particular moment due to circumstance, but I don't think that says anything conclusively as to their relationship as a whole -- at the time it's uttered, it could mean they are not having sex, period, as per usual, or not having sex right now because they have bigger fish to fry.  

 

I think this saccharine, early-hour show set up a scenario - deliberately, given the removal of the pre-marital scene in which it was clear they had it off - in which those who believe they abstained until marriage and those who believe they took a less regimented path could both point to canon as support.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm missing how that line is a definitive indication one way or the other as to the timing of their sexual relationship.  Amanda puts him off at that particular moment due to circumstance, but I don't think that says anything conclusively as to their relationship as a whole -- at the time it's uttered, it could mean they are not having sex, period, as per usual, or not having sex right now because they have bigger fish to fry.  

 

I think this saccharine, early-hour show set up a scenario - deliberately, given the removal of the pre-marital scene in which it was clear they had it off - in which those who believe they abstained until marriage and those who believe they took a less regimented path could both point to canon as support.

 

Sorry Bastet, I should have been more clear; I didn't mean to say that that scene meant or confirmed the timing of their sexual relationship; just that they were had one, and not being chaste until they married.  "Billy's Lost Weekend" aired before "Photo Finish", so I think we got a good inkling that Lee and Amanda would be doing more than skiing. Does that make sense.  And my post was more of "I can't believe in all my rewatches, I missed that line by Lee at dinner" than trying to figure out the timing of when they became lovers.

 

But I agree, I don't understand why the vagueness. I read your post verrrrry late last night, and tried to rack my brain to think of any other similar shows that aired at 8 that weren't so coy.  I came up blank.

Edited September 14, 2014 by GHScorpiosRule

[Bastet]

Ah, okay; I misread that (I'll blame the late hour).  I never thought about the possibility they hadn't had sex until the discussion was raised on TWoP.  After that, I could see how some lines and scenarios I'd always interpreted one way could, in fact, be interpreted to indicate the opposite.  I still don't think they waited until the wedding night, if for no other reason than I can't come up with an explanation for why they'd have done so, but the show certainly doesn't make it clear when they had sex, so I just try not to put too much thought into it.

 

I do remember that line, though - about as "explicit" as the show got.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Ah, okay; I misread that (I'll blame the late hour).  I never thought about the possibility they hadn't had sex until the discussion was raised on TWoP.  After that, I could see how some lines and scenarios I'd always interpreted one way could, in fact, be interpreted to indicate the opposite.  I still don't think they waited until the wedding night, if for no other reason than I can't come up with an explanation for why they'd have done so, but the show certainly doesn't make it clear when they had sex, so I just try not to put too much thought into it.

 

I do remember that line, though - about as "explicit" as the show got.

 

Same here. Even as a teenager, I assumed they were having sex before they got married. This was 1987, after all!

 

It's really weird, though that as I'm watching the final season, that Amanda, becoming more seasoned...I see shades of Sabrina Duncan, in the way she thinks, heh. I suppose it's because her "Oh my gosh" have disappeared, along with her way of thinking/talking really fast, that she did a lot in the first two seasons. Not that I'm complaining. It was sign of growth. But I missed it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

So, I just watched the series again, and I'm going to blame the writer who wrote "The Man Who Died Twice" for the ridiculous plot line that led to Lee saying how their marriage was going to be a mystery marriage and how no one could ever know. Because the writers is someone who didn't ever write for any other episodes in previous seasons and this was the only one she wrote. Cynthia Benjamin was her name.  She obviously didn't read the show Bible or watch the show because what she wrote came straight out of her ass and she wanted to just add some unnecessary angst that Lee and Amanda did not need.

 

Like, the whole idea that these two, as field agents had to hide that they were married when:

 

1. Billy, who used to be a field agent, is married and it's common knowledge, just like a whole bunch of other agents were married and it was known that they were married;
2. That the reason why it was dangerous for Kai was because he was a double agent working for the U.S., and Lee and Amanda were NOT double agents, so there was no need to hide from their own government that they were married;
3. That Billy himself, in "Nightcrawler" told Lee that he'd been a lone wolf too long and should think about getting married...move into management, blah, blah.
4. Lee wasn't a double agent. (It bears repeating because the whole thing was just so stupid).

 

And don't get me started again on their dating in "Stemwinder" as something suspicious, when Lee had been known to date/sleep with fellow agents, Francine included, for Lee and Amanda to be dating as something nefarious and suspicious. UGH.

[Mama No Life]

I never thought the suspicion was the dating but rather the fact that they frequented the same restaurant repeatedly, the one in which they were approached.  But maybe I just told myself that to make myself feel better.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I never thought the suspicion was the dating but rather the fact that they frequented the same restaurant repeatedly, the one in which they were approached.  But maybe I just told myself that to make myself feel better.

Since I'm now finishing up on watching this final season, I won't repeat what I said above, heh. But, no, the suspicion was because Lee and Amanda had gone out five times in a two week period or something. Billy even asked what was this something new, them going out, etc.

 

But it seems that this show aired episodes out of order in every season! Even this last one, up until their wedding, was out of order. Like "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" occured after "Any Number Can Play" because in the former, both Phillip and Jamie already knew who Lee was, and in the latter, Lee introduces himself to Phillip. And I'm sure that "Bad Timing" was filmed around and before the holidays because of Amanda's hair. During the first half of the season, her hair is all curly, and from "Promises to Keep", her hair is this nice smooth bob.  Also, that line from Francine to Amanda in "Promises to Keep" about how it was clear that she and Lee were more than friends didn't make sense because, for me, that line would make sense, since she who they were with each other in "Bad Timing.".

 

And I'm thinking that "Unfinished Business" was probably filmed first and wasn't the season premiere because it wasn't dramatic or awesome enough to be a season premiere, like "Stemwinder" was. I say this because in "Unfinished Business", when Lee took that drug, right before Amanda brings him out of it, she was tempted to ask him one more question, which I think might have been if he loved her. Mabe not. But I could tell that the I love yous hadn't been spoken from the little things.

 

And I also loved and appreciated how at least this show didn't dance around whether or not Lee and Amanda were having sex before they got married.  There was the line that Lee had in "Photo Finish", when he's trying to persuade Amanda to go away to that cabin, and mentions "a man's healthy sex drive." Then there's the weekend at Pine Top, and how the skiing ended up being lousy.

 

And I admit, I grinned at the end of "Do You Take This Spy?" when the maid is taking her own sweet time preparing the bed, and Amanda bangs her head on Lee's shoulder and you see him nodding in agreement or in understanding. It's just funny, the look of frustration and impatience on his face.

 

So, two more to go and I'm done, because I am NOT watching the last batch that barely have Amanda in. Well, except for the one where Francine's ex returns.

 

And on a final note, I find it interesting, that for all the shootings that went on in this show, there was hardly ever any blood shown. I think the only time I noticed any were in the first season-The Christmas episode and the "Artful Dodger" when Lee got his jaw broken? or if not that, so bruised he couldn't eat, and his lower lip and jaw were beyond swollen.

Edited December 14, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[BkWurm1]

Another request, could you note which episodes are the ones that barely have Amanda.  I hate those episodes so if I knew which ones to avoid...  Pretty please?  :D

[GHScorpiosRule]

Another request, could you note which episodes are the ones that barely have Amanda. I hate those episodes so if I knew which ones to avoid... Pretty please? :D

All the episodes after "One Flew East."

They are the last four of the series. You can see how Ill Kate was. My admiration and respect for her just increased so much, knowing what she was going through yet managing to still show up for work.

ETA: oh! Forgot that Amanda is pretty much MIA in "Mission Gold" the honeymoon episode. Since she got caught in the crossfire and was in a coma? Until the last minute of the show. And the lies!! Lee has to come up with to explain how he learned of the shooting! UGH.

Edited December 15, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[BkWurm1]

I think where I'm all confused is I would have sworn that the wedding was the season finale, but maybe it was just the midseason finale? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I think where I'm all confused is I would have sworn that the wedding was the season finale, but maybe it was just the midseason finale?

Nope. "One Flew East" was the mid season finale, though of course, we didn't have mid season finales then. I just knew that the show had gone on a very long hiatus and when it returned, we got those last four episodes. I know because I remember complaining about why it hadn't come back, and a friend had to explain to me that it was on hiatus and was cancelled.

[GHScorpiosRule]

And "Oh My Gosh!" returned for one episode: "Bad Timing" when Amanda found Lee on the sidewalk.

 

And her over explanation, talking without taking a breath also returned, but again, only in one episode: part two of "Stemwinder" when she explained to Lee who Debbie Ann was. The notice in the newspaper, letting Amanda know, that they got her note.

 

It was like Amanda became a totally different character the last two seasons. I still recognized her, and it showed her growth as a character, but I sure did miss her "Oh My gosh"s and fast talking.

[Bastet]

And I also loved and appreciated how at least this show didn't dance around whether or not Lee and Amanda were having sex before they got married.

 

Yet people are still debating whether or not they did, so they didn't do too good a job of making it clear.  :-)  In fact, they may have been aiming for ambiguity.  I remember the original script for the one where Lee is some sort of ticking time bomb because of something he's been injected with, and they have only a certain window of time to find the antidote and get it into him to save his life had them very clearly going upstairs (at Amanda's) for nookie and there was dialogue indicating it to be their first time.  They obviously took all that out.

 

I just assumed they were sleeping together after Stemwinder.  But certainly after the engagement.  I can't remember when the lousy skiing was in relation to those episodes, but, yeah, what else would they be doing on a weekend away just the two of them?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yet people are still debating whether or not they did, so they didn't do too good a job of making it clear.  :-)  In fact, they may have been aiming for ambiguity.  I remember the original script for the one where Lee is some sort of ticking time bomb because of something he's been injected with, and they have only a certain window of time to find the antidote and get it into him to save his life had them very clearly going upstairs (at Amanda's) for nookie and there was dialogue indicating it to be their first time.  They obviously took all that out.

That would be "Bad Timing", which should have aired before "Promises to Keep". And really? Because that would be awesome (showing that that's what they were going to do) but would have contradicted the dialogue in "Photo Finish" which had the conversation about going away to the friend's cabin, solitude, and being with someone with a "healthy sex drive" which told me, at least, SEX.

 

I just assumed they were sleeping together after Stemwinder.  But certainly after the engagement.  I can't remember when the lousy skiing was in relation to those episodes, but, yeah, what else would they be doing on a weekend away just the two of them?

The lousy skiing episode was being planned and talked about in the five episodes after "Stemwinder"--it was in "Billy's Lost Weekend." And since Billy gave them a long weekend, they went skiing when that episode ended. The line about the skiing being lousy was six episodes after that, in "Promises to Keep" when Francine was in the vault and overheard Lee and Amanda laughing, because Lee was tickling Amanda to see if she was ticklish. Or it could have been vice versa. It was the episode where Francine was telling Lee to stop "leading" Amanda on, how she didn't know him, and that's when he said the line about learning about someone at Pine Top, "especially when the skiing is lousy" ending with Francine's "He never took me skiing."

And CLEARLY, I've been thinking too much about this, hee!

Edited December 15, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[Bastet]

I don't know if they took it out to leave open the possibility they weren't yet sleeping together (why, I don't know - airing early on CBS maybe, but this is the late '80s not the Production Code era, so whatever) or because they realized they'd already made it seem like they were sleeping together - or at least created that possibility - so it would be confusing to present this as a first time.  But they took it out before it was even filmed, so if they just wanted to eliminate the first time aspect they could have just changed the dialogue and still had them going upstairs.

 

It's all weird, but you can bet we've paid a lot more attention to this than they ever did, so it's sort of a choose your own adventure as to when they started sleeping together.

 

I don't see how it could be any time after their weekend trip, because there's no reason for them not to be sleeping together that weekend (whether they have before or not), and I'm still putting consummation back at the first good opportunity after Stemwinder -- they've known each other for years, they've been dating for months, and they've said their "I love you"s. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yeah, I figured that they had already consummated their relationship before they went to Pine Top, because there was no dialogue or inferences to it being the first time they would be alone together, or any nervousness, etc., that tv shows are prone to do, even when the characters are in their mid-30s.  I like that word, consumate. 

 

I mean, for goodness sake's, they had to close the door after their wedding instead of showing, with that one line from Amanda. Even if it was an 8:00 show, it was 1986. But whatever.  I mean they would give us a shirtless Lee in season one; a showering Lee in season one, when they weren't anywhere near close to the intimacy they shared by this season, but had to remain "demure." 

 

Ridiculous.

[Bastet]

Yeah, we were denied a proper love scene, because the wedding episode ends with us outside the door and then the honeymoon episode had to be completely reworked because Kate was having surgery.  (That one originally opened with them in bed together.)

 

I give writers a hard time for being afraid to put their characters together, worrying it won't be interesting any more, but I have to admit this is one show where I did get bored -- I was pretty checked out after Nightcrawler (the engagement episode).  But it wasn't just because they were together; the show had just basically run its course.  It rested on two fundamental tensions -- the romantic tension and that between an amateur and the professional spy who keeps getting stuck with her.  Well, by this point both are resolved -- they're together, and Amanda is an agent (or at least in formal training; I don't remember the specific timing). 

 

Now, if late-season episodes hadn't needed to be rewritten to accommodate Kate's reduced availability, they'd have been more interesting, certainly.  But this was never a show that anyone watched for the cases.  So they were never going to pull off a spy thriller where the agents happen to be married for any length of time (and no, writers, coming up with that stupefyingly stupid secret marriage plot did not allow you to have your cake and eat it too). 

[GHScorpiosRule]

In Hindsight, and learning what it means when a show gets five seasons (syndication!), I wish the show had gotten another season, but I can see why it didn't. I think it only ran in syndication for less than a year on the original Christian channel PAX in my area (DC/MD/VA) and even then the affiliate was horrible as to when they would cut for commerical. In "A Lovely LIttle Affair" the cut came while Amanda is telling Lee about her "date" with Ben Murphy's character, and it cut right when she's touching her lips, when he asked if anything happened. And then resumed as she's walking him back to the window. But, I never expected this show to run for much longer.  I know I just resented Kate being so absent. But now of course, I know why.

After they're cleared in "Stemwinder", Amanda is made into a full-time agent, though she's never given training again; or learned how to shoot, etc.  She's like the brains behind the Brawn or something.
 
The one thing I do like and appreciate is the casting of Phillip and Jamie. Those two were not pretentious or precocious. They were like real kids. They didn't even come off as "acting" if that makes sense.

Edited December 16, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[BkWurm1]

I don't think the show had run it's course so much as it ran into real world problems that imploded it;  I loved the episodes where they were working upstairs in their own little space.  I would have happily kept watching them be spies/investigators while trying to balance home life but yeah, Amanda just wasn't around in the episodes and at the time I remember thinking that the idiot show runners were thinking that the show was more interesting if they just focused on Lee (I never knew about her having cancer until reading it on these boards)

 

It's all weird, but you can bet we've paid a lot more attention to this than they ever did, so it's sort of a choose your own adventure as to when they started sleeping together.

 

I've said it before that when I watched the first time as a kid I was sure they only consummated their relationship after they got married (I mean, they did look awful eager to be alone, lol) but when it was on Pax (and yes, they cut out some of my favorite parts!) the dialogue was pretty clear (and there was one scene before the ski trip where the episode ended with Lee launching himself through the air at her, not subtle) that there was sexing going on.  Amanda was demure but clearly not opposed. 

 

I disagree that it was ridiculous that they didn't get more explicit.  Only soaps be it the day time or the nighttime ones like Dallas or Dynasty showed sex scenes between their stars.  Otherwise it didn't exist on television.  Not until at least the nineties. Hart to Hart was about as explicit as it got and they were married and more often than not wearing PJ's and robes half the time.  You might see a passing scene but usually that was saved for the bad guys or someone about to be killed or maybe a one episode relationship on a show that didn't have an ongoing relationship. 

 

It's crazy by the standards now, but perfectly normal then.   I remember considering it kind of racy when Lee and Amanda were on the run handcuffed together and had to figure out how to sleep next to each other comfortable while fully clothed in the woods.  That was enough to make me swoon, lol.  (I think I was 13)

 

I won't deny that I enjoy all the very pretty eye candy I get now on TV (shirtless all the time - thank you Arrow) and the love scenes but I'm not sure if it was a worthy while trade to be honest.  Now maybe 3-4 times in a series we get something hot and steamy but to get that the characters first aren't even allowed to be cuddly or cozy or romantic until right before they go for the clinch.  I miss getting the romance early on and pervasively throughout the show.  Now once the characters are allowed any romance, they are expected to get into a relationship and the writers want so badly to stall getting them together that it sometimes translates to 5-6 years before so much as a real kiss!  (Hello Bones and Castle!) 

 

It's funny, in shows like this one and Remington Steele (RS especially) they were constantly making out and invading personal space without it rushing the plot.  I felt like I got to eat my cake ahead of time.  Now instead of holding my breath for the last teaser to see what kind of treat I get, I have to hope maybe for a shoulder squeeze or a hand graze.  I feel like shows have gone both forward and backward when it comes to showing romance and intimacy.   

Edited December 16, 2015 by BkWurm1

[Bastet]

I disagree that it was ridiculous that they didn't get more explicit.  Only soaps be it the day time or the nighttime ones like Dallas or Dynasty showed sex scenes between their stars.  Otherwise it didn't exist on television.

 

It wasn't just soaps in the '80s; across the dial, there was a significant shift in talking about sex on TV starting in the '70s, and in showing sex on TV starting in the '80s (as many a thesis has explored; I rather hope the subject is no longer eligible for a degree).  Moonlighting was a contemporary of this show, and we saw it there.  This show was predated by Cagney & Lacey, and we saw oodles of sex scenes between Mary Beth and her husband, and quite a number between Chris and her boyfriends (some short-term, some long-term).  Miami Vice and Hill Street Blues took somewhat different approaches to their characters' sexual relationships, but neither shied away from showing them.  Roseanne showed the sex lives of both Roseanne (married) and Jackie (single), even in its early years (late '80s).  thirtysomething of all its characters (same timeframe).  I'm pretty sure we saw it on L.A. Law (and St. Elsewhere?)  Hell, The Thornbirds was in the early '80s.   

Edited December 16, 2015 by Bastet

[BkWurm1]

Talking about sex is IMO a different subject.  I'd forgotten about Moonlighting but the other shows mentioned were all in the gritty category or a serial drama which Sc&MK was not.  Also, I watched Cagney and Lacy and believe me, I wish I hadn't seen those sex scenes. ;)  I don't recall a lot of romance involved, lol.   

Edited December 16, 2015 by BkWurm1

[GHScorpiosRule]

And another big WTF in this season for me, well, actually, with the series in general, because it showed the lack or inability to do research about the DC/MD/VA area, was Lee's wanting to move and live in Rockville, MD, thinking they could keep horses there.

 

I've already ranted in the nitpick thread, but since there has been no discussion there, I'll put it here, because it took place this season.

 

First, Rockville has no land where horses could be kept to graze or even run. Back then or even now. I live in Rockville.  It's filled with highways and interstates and infrastructure of retails stores, movie theatres, office buildings, condos, apartment buildings and residential homes. Homes that don't have the acreage to keep horses.  The only thing they got right was having Amanda say that Rockville was "pricey."

 

Show should have stuck with Virginia, which is horse country.  But why move? All of Phillip and Jamie's friends lived in Arlington.  They were still young enough that they weren't going to leave for college in a year or two.  And it was a decent sized house.

 

Bad enough I had to accept that where Amanda lived was within driving minutes (less than five or ten) of DC or that DC has a marina, which it so doesn't. Baltimore does.