Picture courtesy of Anke Lantin

At the Agency, Lee carries boxes of files for Amanda who's going to take them to the Federal Records Centre. As they leave, Billy arrives with an agent from another agency who he hasn't seen in seven years, Sylvia Sansom. They go into his office where she gives him a letter of courtesy from her boss, Carl Dunbar, asking that she have full inter-agency help. Billy says that she can have all the help she needs and she tells him that she needs an ID as she wants to get into the HQ of Teldar Corporation. They're holding interviews for data processors, so she's going to apply. Billy says that as she's a whiz she'll get it no problem and then offers her the Shadow file for her to look through. He phones through to a secretary and finds a temp in the place of the regular person and asks her to bring through all the personnel disks.

As the secretary works through the bullpen, she notices Lee through the window and stares at him besottedly for a moment before walking again and then trips over, dropping all the disks. Lee walks in and automatically kneels to help her pick them up and she ends up putting some of the disks back into the wrong cases. She thanks him then goes over to Billy who is waiting impatiently in his office.

Billy takes them then picks out the Shadow file disk and hands it to Sylvia. She goes out to a console in the bullpen while Lee enters Billy's office. He asks if she's a new recruit and Billy tells him that Sylvia has been an agent longer than Lee and works at the Houston agency.

Outside, Sylvia picks out the profile she wants - only problem is, it's Amanda's!

Sylvia goes to Teldar and gets the job using Amanda's details for her cover. On the first day when everyone leaves, she hides in her office until the security guard has left, then turns her computer back on and starts to hack into the system.

Upstairs, Macy, the head of Teldar, talks with two men, Cavenaugh and Cregg, when an alarm sounds. Macy turns off the alarm and a panel slides open to reveal a PC. Cregg says that someone's operating and reads from a list that it's the new recruit, Mrs. King. Macy tells Cavenaugh to shut her out as she's calling for the 'red' file. Cavenaugh is unable to prevent her access and so they decide to go and get her. They see the lift heading for the roof and Cregg and Cavenaugh follow.

Cregg has a gun and they chase Sylvia to the edge of the roof and, as she jumps, Cregg shoots. Cregg says he got her but, when they look over the edge, her body isn't there. What they don't realise is that she fell on top of a delivery truck which then drove away.

Two days later, Amanda comes home and tells Dotty that her cash card has been rejected. Apparently her account has been shut down. Dotty says it's probably a computer error. Amanda goes on to say that she didn't have enough cash on her so Dotty's lipstick had to go back but her mother is too absorbed in reading the obituaries to hear her properly. Amanda doesn't know why she's so interested in them but then Dotty suddenly reads out one for Amanda King. Amanda goes over and they both realise that it's her details and she's supposedly dead. Moments later the phone rings and the doorbell sounds as people call to pass on their condolences.

At the Agency, Francine, Lee and Billy discuss the fact that Sylvia's body was found on top of a truck. Lee comments that he was shocked to read Amanda's name on the police file and it wasn't until he and Billy went to ID the body that they discovered it was Sylvia although she was carrying Amanda's ID. Francine asks how that could've happened and Billy explains that Sylvia must have gotten into the civilian file by mistake. He adds that they're going to find out what happened to her.

Just then there's a knock at the door and it's Amanda. She asks if anyone knows about her 'death' and Lee admits that it was a muck-up at the Agency. Amanda's upset and says that everyone now thinks she's dead. Billy gets on the phone and tries to get the newspaper to print a retraction while Lee tells her that the good thing is it's not true.

Billy concludes his call and asks Francine if she's got any information from FSA. She says no, but that she was told to call Sylvia's boss, Carl Dunbar. Billy tells her to do that while he goes to Legal to see what he can do there. They leave and Amanda tells Lee that she has no money or food. Lee offers to help but she says she just wants the situation cleared up. Lee appreciates her anxiety then goes out to Francine in the Bullpen. Just as he approaches, she gets off the phone and Billy arrives. Francine tells them that Sylvia's letter was a fake and that she took extended leave from FSA as she became obsessed with a case. Billy says that doesn't sound like Sylvia and Lee asks Francine if Dunbar mentioned the name of the case but Francine says he didn't and when she asked he was rude. Billy says he'll call him later.

Lee then asks why Dunbar thinks she was killed and Francine replies that he thinks she committed suicide. Billy doesn't agree and tells Lee he wants him to work on the case. He adds that he'll find out what case she was on and then Lee can find out who killed her. He then tells them that the good is that the newspaper agreed to print the retraction the next day.

The next day at Teldar, Macy reads the paper and discovers that Amanda King is still alive. Eiger can't believe it but Macy says that they now have her home address from the obituary and tells him to go and deal with her.

At the house, Dotty is getting fed up with all the phone calls and flowers and decides to take the boys to the park. Meanwhile, Lee has given Amanda money to get some shopping and helps her carry the groceries back to her car. Amanda notices that Lee's preoccupied and asks what's wrong. He says that something's not right about the Sylvia mess. He explains that Sylvia was on assignment six months ago in South America and she was convinced that there was American corporate involvement in the internal affairs of a small country called, San Rafine. Amanda recalls that a presidential candidate went missing there and Lee confirms this adding that Sylvia thought a US company had something to do with it. The case then turned into a real political hot potato and Dunbar told her to stop and that's when she asked for an extended leave of absence. Amanda guesses that it was to continue the investigation on her own and Lee agrees. He says he's going to look into it further then asks if she needs anything else. Amanda says no and they both leave.

At the house, Eiger and Cavenaugh wait for Amanda and see her pull up. As she gets out they drive up and pretend they want directions. Amanda is her usual helpful self and begins to explain the way to go when Eiger pulls out a gun and tells her to get in. She goes to put down the shopping but Eiger tells her to bring it along so as not to arouse suspicion. She gets in and they drive off. Amanda asks why they're doing this and Cavenaugh tells her that they thought she was dead but the papers were very helpful when they printed a retraction. Eiger tells her to put the groceries down but Amanda says she'll rearrange them first as they might spill. She begins to unpack the food and Eiger places a silencer on his gun. Just as he turns to shoot her, Amanda pulls out a can of whipped cream and sprays him in the face, across the windscreen and then in Cavenaugh's face. Blinded, Cavenaugh crashes the car and Amanda gets out and runs while they're both stunned. 

At the Agency, lee goes into Billy's office with news and then gets roped in to help Billy search the floor for a microdot he lost when he sneezed. As they look, lee tells Billy that their South American contact, Crandall, was in San Rafine at the same time as Sylvia and his suspicions were the same as hers. Francine enters and Billy says that they need something to crack open the case. Francine suggests that they need to get into Teldar and Billy says that he'd like to get a whole unit in but he can't without proof. Lee says he'll go in alone reasoning that if Sylvia was killed then she must have been onto something.

Just then, Amanda enters the office and tells them about her kidnapping and explains that they thought she was dead but then saw the newspaper retraction. Lee says that there's proof as they killed Sylvia when she was using Amanda's identity. Billy agrees and tells Lee he can go in. Lee offers to take Amanda home but she tells him she needs more groceries and so Lee says he'll get an agent to go then looks pointedly at Francine who begrudgingly picks up a pad and starts making a list of things Amanda says she needs.

At Teldar, they're going through Amanda's shopping and trying to figure her out. Cavenaugh asks why she hasn't done anything yet and Macy says that she only saw the information on screen. As she didn't have time to print anything out she's got no proof so it'd be her word against theirs and as Cavenaugh has removed all incriminating data, nothing could be done anyway. Unfortunately, if any evidence were found later, she'd be an excellent corroborating witness. Eiger wants to kill her but Macy says he wants her alive so they can find out who she works for, what she saw on the screen and who she's told so that they know who to pay off. They go to Amanda's house and Eiger knocks out the surveillance guy while Macy goes to her door. She answers and Macy pulls out a gun so that she goes with him.

Meanwhile, a helicopter lowers Lee onto Teldar's roof and radio's Billy who tells him he has one hour. Lee breaks into the air duct and heads for Macy's office using the blueprint they have.

Macy, Cavenaugh and Eiger bring Amanda into the office at Teldar and tell her to show them how she broke into the computer to access the red file. Amanda tries to explain about the mix up but they won't listen. Macy then asks her how much she read and she says she read nothing but he continues that she must know that Eiger killed Emmanuel Rohas in San Rafine. Shocked, Amanda turns to Eiger to get confirmation that he, did indeed, murder the presidential candidate. Macy tells her to stop pretending and says that Rohas was going to nationalise all of Teldar's holdings within the country - land, equipment, etc. and with over eight million dollars invested there, he had to die. And so does she!

Eiger suggests that they take her on a tour of Teldar's quarry and they leave, dragging a protesting Amanda along with them unaware that Lee has overheard every word from his hiding place in the duct. He hurries out as they put Amanda into a car and drive away. Once back on the roof, Lee calls the helicopter back in saying that Amanda's in danger. Billy is monitoring and, upon hearing Lee, says he'll meet them at the quarry too.

Macy and his goons reach the quarry and tie Amanda up then place her at the bottom of a cliff then tie her to an exposed pipe. They then drive up to the top of the cliff and Cavenaugh gets into a small bulldozer and drives to the edge to push rocks over and down on top of her. Eiger and Macy see Lee arriving on the helicopter and drive away. The helicopter lands and Lee jumps off and rescues Amanda just as Cavenaugh sends the rocks over the edge. Cavenaugh and Lee then have a shoot out during which Cavenaugh hits the helicopter pilot and Lee shoots Cavenaugh.

Meanwhile, Billy and Francine have come across Eiger and Macy and begin chasing them back to the quarry. At the same time, Lee and Amanda get into the helicopter. Lee pilots it and they also give chase to Eiger and Macy. Seeing the helicopter, Billy and Francine stop and help the injured pilot while Lee and Amanda continue to harass Eiger and Macy until the car goes over the edge of a cliff and explodes.

Later, Amanda enters her home with Lee bringing in more groceries. Amanda notices that Lee is holding a form and asks what it is. Lee says it's for Internal Affairs and until he hands it in she's still technically dead. Smiling, Amanda asks if she can stay 'dead' until Tuesday as she wants to take the boys to the amusement park on Monday. Lee agrees and then Amanda adds that when the bring her back, can it be at a higher salary and they both laugh.

SCENE'S TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Secretary dropping the disks and Lee helping her pick them up.

Lee and Amanda's chat after shopping.

Amanda spraying whipped cream in Eiger and Cavenaugh's faces - very unique escape!

Lee and Billy on their hands and knees searching for the microdot.

Amanda coming into the office and telling them about her kidnap and escape using whipped cream - the look on their faces is priceless!

ROMANCE: 

Not much romance to speak of in this episode but there's definite shows of affection and caring - particularly on Lee's part. There's the moment when Lee admits his shock at seeing Amanda's name on the police report and we realise he'd been upset but that's not really expanded upon unfortunately. There's a nice moment after Lee and Amanda go shopping where they have great interaction and share a little joke. He also treats her like an equal and tells her what he's found out, which shows how far they've moved on from the early days when he kept throwing out the old 'need to know' line.

QUOTES:

DOTTY: Amanda, you passed away two days ago.

LEE: It could've been worse, the obituary could've been for real.

AMANDA: Yeah, well, look, as far as all my friends are concerned it is real. Do you know how many people called my mother this morning and sent flowers? It's morbid.

LEE: Well at least you know you were well liked.

AMANDA: I knew I was well liked before I was dead.

AMANDA: Sir, am I back among the living?

FRANCINE: Define living.

FRANCINE: Why do I always get the choice assignments?

LEE: How much did you spend here?

AMANDA: Seventy-eight dollars.

LEE: You managed to cram seventy-eight dollars worth of groceries into two sacks?

AMANDA: Well, yeah, usually we're a four bag family but I didn't want to spend all your money.

AMANDA: Penny for your thoughts.

LEE: Oh, cost you a nickel…inflation.

AMANDA: Tough times.

AMANDA: Feels good not to be dead anymore.

LEE: Well put.

AMANDA: Most people can't say that.

CAVENAUGH: Well, the papers will be right next time. You only die twice, Mrs. King.

LEE: How did you lose a microdot?

BILLY: Scarecrow did you ever sneeze?

LEE: Yeah.

BILLY: Then get down here and help me find it.

LEE: Alright. Now which way did you sneeze?

BILLY: OUT!

LEE: Out?

BILLY: Out. It was a big sneeze.

AMANDA: Oh thank goodness you're all here. I was just kidnapped.

LEE: What?!

AMANDA: I was just kidnapped. They were gonna' kill me but I got them with the whipped cream.