Xenos 

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!

I guess you could say that this episode kept you guessing just like Steele Blushing. Is this the trend for S4 episodes? No sooner has Laura have it all figured out (the first time) that we find out it wasn't Mary, then it wasn't Whitney's manager, then it wasn't Dangerous Darryl, and it wasn't Whitney...who's left but Al!! and who would have thought of Al? I'll be honest, I didn't when I seen this episode the first time. I guess that's why we needed that darn interruption from Mildred in one of my favorite scenes from this episode to get Laura's detective spark going again. Darn Mildred!! And just when R and L are both ready to move to the next step!! 

I just love the opening scene with Mildred and Laura!!! It's so apparent that Mildred loves being there and that Laura is tolerating the whole experience right up to and after the point Mildred starts embarrassing Laura by standing up and yelling!! HA!! Mildred is so great in this episode I might add!! 

I think Laura says it so nicely when she finds out about "Hat Pin Millie" and that she was just a pond in Mildred's game....L: "Night out for the girls, eh?" and all Mildred can do is sit there and eat her popcorn nervously. But in the end this whole deception pays off cause Crunch ends up getting help from RSI..well, should I say Laura! 

Loved the whole office scene and the whole "I'm the boss" thing! LOL Mildred doesn't help either! LOL It was all too funny. I think this is the first time that this type of scene comes up and it's very refreshing to see this between the three of them! 

Loved the Brown suit on Mr. Steele and the black blazer/beige skirt outfit on Laura. 

Is it just me or did you all notice that RS and LH are not in as many scenes together as they were in the early episodes....early meaning S1 and S2!!!? 

I think Mary is something out of psycho 2! LH to the rescue! 

I thought that PB was very funny as the gay Filter Pure Man...how about the earring and his WoWaa! (sorry, I don't know how to do that phonetically! but you all know what I'm talking about). Loved when RS throws the Waterford crystal into the fireplace too!! LOL 
R: "I thought it was a ritual." 

Love the whole scene about hype on the professional and personal level! and the kiss of course and there goes Mildred again, Interrupting!! 

Love, love, love!!!! the candlelight/dinner/dance scene in R's apartment! Both subjects are willing to move to the next step...NO!!! not Mildred again!!! yep!! 
I just love how Mildred takes over the role of Laura in this scene..cause they surely aren't doing anything...R and L both had something else on their minds that night! 

Okay...the whole Star Spangled Banner scene... 
R: "I thought the Star Spangled Banner was your National Anthem?" 
L: "It is." beat "Spangled by a star." 
I TOTALLY AGREE!!!! YUCK!! It's good to know that both R and L have better musical taste. :) 

Loved the tag scene. This is one of my favorite tag scenes. Love how Laura looks suggestively at R and she says, "I'm learning Mr. Steele." and his answer "so you are, miss holt." Just love it! The music fade was good too! This brings to mind of a movie's ending music. but what movie?...could it be Gone With The Wind I'm thinking of? That doesn't sound right..no definitely not! Well, maybe something will come to mind soon. Anyone have any ideas what movie that tag scene music sounds like? Oh, this is really going to bug me! 

I don't think that I would have liked this episode as much if, and I hate to say this, if all the kissing scenes were taken out. I loved the dialog in all of these scenes and the kissing really made it a nice ending to a great scene. Like the topping on the cake so to speak. 

Jilly 
 

Memorable Stuff 

- Mildred dragging Laura to a wrestling match. I guess it's supposed to fit in with her more blue-collar side - to go along with the bowling - but really, I have a hard time seeing Mildred getting into it. Though maybe she does it just to look at large men exposing a lot of skin! 
- Crunch is such a cutie! He's charmed Mildred (who else can get away with calling her "Millie"?) and he takes care of his dad. 
- Funny bit by PB of working with plant (ivy?) when he stands up and it drapes on to his face. 
- Our Mr. Steele as Harley Ferguson, Filter Pure deliveryman! Oh wow! 
- Laura dragging the big red glasses out of storage and using them on the unsuspecting director. 
- Mr. Steele fretting that the meal he ordered - which sounds a lot like what he ordered at Marty's - will once again be interrupted. 
- Love, love, love the dance scene. We really must break Mildred of her nasty habit of interrupting them! 
- Sweet tag scene! 
 

Character Development 

- Mr. Steele baiting Laura with the "partnership" vs. "my agency" bit. Then asking if she's willing to risk "his good name". I like that instead of arguing about it, they challenge each other in a playful way. 
- LOVE how Laura tells Mr. Steele not to answer the door and asking Mildred if her interruption couldn't have waited until the next morning and on company time. She was definitely not thinking about work for once! 
- When Mildred tells Mr. Steele she "went home and did what you did", I like the pause before he says "I doubt that very much, Mildred", there's a great moment where Laura gives him a look. It lends credence to the theory that they'd already "experienced the ultimate moment". 
 

Favorite lines 

M: That Dangerous Darryl is some hunk! WOOF! (LOL!) 
-------------- 
M: I had to go to the boss for a second opinion. 
R: The boss has spoken, Mildred. 
L: She means me. 
-------------- 
Shelby: I resent the insinuation, Mr. Steele. I love wrestling too much to make a travesty out of it. (That's right, wrestling can do that all by itself. It doesn't need any help!) 
 

Hair & Clothing 

- That teal sweater does excellent things for Crunch. Or maybe it's the other way around 
- Mildred's green outfit is better looking than a lot of the shapeless things we've seen her in. 
- Crunch's best costumes: the little bitty towel and the red trunks. I do like a bit of meat with my potatoes! 
- I wasn't crazy about Laura's hair at the beginning or as the directing intern. 
- I like Laura's teal sweater and her copper suit with the yellow blouse 
- Mr. Steele's suit (the one with the braces) is nice and of course he looks great in the leather jacket 
- The blue & white shirt Laura wears in the tag scene - she wears it often in the fourth season - but I do like it. Her hair looks great in that scene too. 
 

Goofs, Headscratchers & Misc 

- This is Adele Rosse's (Mary) fourth, and biggest, role in the series. 
- Boyd Gaines (Todd Myerson) is a 3-time Tony winner 
- Lawrence Tierney (Al Molinski) was quite the tough guy in real life. A few of his off-stage incidents are in his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Tierney 
- Whitney is the star of the soap opera "Rage to Live". Her portrayer, Kim Ullrich, was on the soap opera "Passions" 
- When watched in slow motion, the ring ropes snap before Crunch ever hits them 
- How the whole dance scene SHOULD have ended: http://steeleinlove.com/grapplingredux.html

After 4 episodes into Season 4, I can say the best aspect of this season is the wardrobe. All the leads, especially Mildred, get significantly better attire. I mean Mildred's wardrobe from Seasons 2 and 3 were, hopefully, burned, and the ashes tossed into the ocean to prevent any ugly clothes from reprouting in her closet. Laura is so much more successfully and professionally attired. Finally she is as stylish as Mr. Steele has been in previous seasons. 

I have only watched this episode one other time and was extemely disappointed with the overall effort. Rick Mittleman's episode is in the bottom three of the series for me. I think this episode gives hope to every fanfic writer. Because if this is where the bar is set, I could write an episode (even though it would never get past the censor!). Afterall, you can't see bad spelling on TV! The amount of distraction in the mystery confuses me horribly and makes Steele and Holt look almost incompetent. Just who isn't trying to kill somebody? The best line of humor in the episode was delivered in the "Filter Pure" scene by Darrell: "...loud mouth bitty jabbing your derriere with a hatpin." Go Hatpin Millie! But the whole scene between Darrell and Harley was just flat and rather boring. The other scene I take issue with is after the championship match where Steele pronounces the ropes were cut. Laura responds: "Are you sure?" Three padded cables just happen to break in the same exact spot. It demeans her intelligence severely. 

In reading Mickey's post, I assume she was rooting as loudly as me and Xenos for a safety pin failure on Crunch's towel. But no, they made sure Mickey's "meat and potatoes" stayed in the kitchen! 

Finally, the three scenes that make this episode worth enduring are the ones that get put in alot of great music videos. So is there really a need to ever watch this episode again? I think not! But in the interest of discussion and debate I'll try to analyze the heck out of each one. 

First up, Steele and Laura getting caught by Mildred in the office. This one seems off to me. Like here's our required exposition to move the story along and by the way, since the episode's running a bit short, how about a little interoffice romance. Seemed like Steele used to always have romance first and foremost on his mind, even while discussing a case back and forth. Generally, Pierce did this with a look, or some other type of suggestive body language. He just seemed uninterested here until he had no choice. Off day, I guess. 

The best scene is the dinner and dancing in his apartment. I like the dialogue here: L: "Pleased?" R: "Case closed. You in my arms. What more could I ask for?" I believe Xenos has that list at your disposal sir! Although for quite a bit of the kissing all we get is the back of Laura's head. What is up with that editing? And a side note but the French braid isn't the right style for this scene. It makes her look hard, less alluring than her earlier styles. When Mildred interupts with her big deduction, the disappointment from both Steele and Laura is finally believable of an adult romantic relationship. Clearly both anticipated getting a bit of "grappling" done on their own. Next time Steele, instruct the doorman better as to whom to let up late in the evening!!! I mean Mildred was hardly being chased by a pack of wild dogs and had to be let up!!!Perhaps your doorman is telling you he's not happy with the amount your tipping lately? 

Lastly, the tag scene is cute and necessary for the movie per episode reference. Since the scene freezes on the kiss, I'll just assume they have learned to lock the door or installed an alarm on Mildred's desk chair to alert them when she's about to cause Kissus Interuptus! 

Thanks again to the video makers who have now made this episode irrelevent to view in it's entirety. 
 
 

A continuation of the dancing scene was a recent challenge at Steele writing. Stephs_the_star came up with this: http://community.livejournal.com/steelewriting/184435.html and this is my version: http://community.livejournal.com/steelewriting/186103.html 

I love the bit with the ivy. I added it to a songvid recently and it always makes me smile.

Let me just say that although I find wrestling a completely inane and mind-numbing form of "entertainment" (and I use that term loosely) with no redeeming value whatsoever, I find it funny as hell that Mildred not only watches it but also attends matches (or whatever they're called). And even funnier was seeing Laura in the seats watching this tripe! Hat Pin Millie, eh? LOL!!! 

Random Rambling: About Crunch...Sorry, ladies, but a guy who looks like that -- all bulked up and waxed to an inch of his life -- is usually A) trying to compensate for other "shortcomings" if you catch my drift, or B) of the homosexual persuasion. Since he was married and now dating an empty-headed bimbo, chances are it's "A"...Unless he's beardin'. 

Interesting how now that Mildred knows about Mr. Steele, she goes to "the boss" (Laura) to plea her case. (I'm trying to remember if she had done this before. I think she did, but I'm blanking right now. Help, please!) Though it kinda annoys me, it makes for a great little argument between Laura and Remington. And you all know how much I love it when they bicker! Laura even works an "aversion to leg-work" jab in there -- my favorite!!! 

LOVE all the jabs Mr. Steele gets in about Crunch -- whether it's about Crunch leaving footprints in the carpet or his limited vocabulary. HA!!! Shades of our "snobby" Mr. Steele...The one that in season one would have breakfast out on his balcony in a robe and ascot with fresh cut flowers on the table...The one that regarding monks' clothing said, "Well, if I had to wear one of these all the time I wouldn't know what to say either." SO, so funny!!! 

Next Random Rambling: Didn't know whether to blame casting or the director for two major clunkers in this episode. First, Mary. What was up with that?!?! Crunch's "pop" refers to her as 'such a sweet girl'. HUH?!?! I know he's getting old...but it doesn't make him dumb. Someone somewhere screwed up BIG TIME with this one. I just couldn't picture Crunch and Mary as people who ran in the same circles, let alone as a married couple. She was completely over-the-top and just plain awful. Un-kudos to that chick! Go back to acting school, babe! The second faux pas was Boyd Gaines as Todd Myerson. He was freakin' HORRIBLE!! So wooden and stiff!!! Such a disappointment...Especially since I had a brief schoolgirl crush on him when he played Valerie Bertinelli's husband on "One Day At A Time". Now I'm curious to re-watch an episode or two of "ODAAT" and see if he was as bad on there, too! Yikes!!! 

Had to laugh at the romance between Crunch and Whitney. Now THERE'S a match made in Hollywood Hell!!! I totally bought it...It's like most Hollywood romances -- the brief coupling of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. And good Lord, did she massacre the Star Spangled Banner!!! Totally awesome!!! Two thumbs up!!! 

I really liked that there were so many people with motives to get rid of Crunch...The least of which was Dangerous Darryl. 

Interjection with Random Rambling #3: O...M...G!!! With that mullet haircut and the thick mustache, Dangerous Darryl looked like a 70s porn star! Auburn, do you remember seeing him? Get out your video collection and let us know, would you? Thanks, babe! 

Continuing on...Love how Mr. Steele jumps to the conclusion that Dangerous Darryl is gay when Laura tells him he used to own a flower shop...Which leads to one of the most cringeful (yet freakin' hilarious) scenes in television history -- Mr. Steele's "Oh, wow!" scene!!! OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, O...M...G!!! (And not in a good way!!!) I always watch that scene through a slit in my fingers. *shuddering* Can't say more...Too disturbing. Moving on... 

Laura as an AFI intern -- BRILLIANT!!! Another appearance of those red glasses. HA! 

Loved how Mr. Steele made reservations for two to celebrate the conclusion of the case only to have Laura put the kibosh on it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Laura don't do this to me. My stomach is preparing for antipasto. . ." 

"And Shelby was the intended victim all along." 

". . . linguine and clam sauce. . ." 

"Now Whitney was supposedly in her dressing room from eleven to two." 

". . . a little veal. . . " 

"Shelby was killed at one." 

". . . Chianti. . . "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...Shades of the Chinese restaurant scene from "Steele Trying". 

Then comes one of my favorite scenes...*sigh*...Remington and Laura "celebrating" at his place. O...M...G!!! So romantic!!! Damn Mildred for interrupting again!!! If I were Laura, I would've said, "Screw whomever is at the door! Maybe if we jump in your bed and hide under the covers no one will find us!!! Hurry!!!" But nooooooooooo!!! Mr. Steele had to answer it! *shaking head in disbelief* Love Mildred's line, "I'm telling you, when I left the arena something didn't sit right. So I went home and I did what you did." Love Mr. Steele's line even more -- "I doubt that very much Mildred." Just what DID Laura and Remington do?!?! THINK of the possibilities!!! Oh-ho-ho, yeh-heh-hes!!! 

Nice twist that Al Molinski was the murder! Yikes! 

And the end tag was absolutely exquisite!!! "I'm learning, Mr. Steele." And then the kiss over the desk!!! OMG...How sexy was THAT?!?! Which reminds me...Can you believe that I went through an entire post without saying how HOT Pierce looked?!?! Neither can I!!! So as not to disappoint...OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, O...M...G!!! Pierce was SO beautiful in this episode!!! I just don't understand how that man continues to get better looking day after day after day!!! (Don't understand it...But most appreciative!!!) 

As always...Thanks for reading! 

Xenos 

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!

Most of what I love about it has already been mentioned, so I will try to note some new things. 

- Why doesn't Dangerous Darryl recognize Mr. Steele when he is in his Harvey disguise from when Laura, Mildred and Mr. Steele were watching Crunch and Darryl rehearsing? 

- Love how Mildred, Laura & Mr. Steele are counting down the ropes at the championship match. 

- Love the whole parody of "professional" wrestling and Soap Operas (Continuing Dramas:)) 

Pierce has his wedding band on in the limo on the way to the studio to rescue Whitney. 

The scene between Whitney and Mr. Steele - "I love Crunch, Mr. Steele. Somehow I thought you would undestand" 

The Professional vs. personal theme carried out through the whole show. Mr. Steele & Laura, Crunch & Whitney, Laura and Mr. Molinski., etc. 

That's all I can think of for now. 

GREAT ROMANCE!!!!!

I've got a version of the script that seems to match up pretty well with what aired, but there was a bit of that conversation left out: 

Whitney: Don't know what a nice girl like me is doing with a musclebound cartoon like Crunch? 
Steele: I wouldn't have put it quite like that... 
W: I love him, Mr. Steele 
(Steele holds her gaze, then turns on the water. Whitney fills the pitcher.) 
W: Louise Shotski. 
S: What's that? 
W: My real name. Louise Shotski. You see, Crunch and I are a lot closer under the skin than it might seem. He's hardly as dumb as the part the plays and I, Mr. Steele, am hardly as smart...I don't know why I'm telling you this. Sometimes even I forget who I am. Somehow I thought you'd understand. 
 

It's interesting to me that a few of the comments have made light of Crunch's intelligence. I always thought he knew exactly what he was doing. Making a buck while he could. He'll still have the college degree when his wrestling days are over.

Having considered dance as a career and having friends who are/were principal dancers with ABT and other companies, I can tell you that when your first choice of career has an upper age limit you go for it while you can. Business careers don't have such limitations.

Firstly, I think Laura's hair was fantastic - loved the way it was pulled up with tendrils escaping! She looked really good throughout the episode - loved her blue-and-white top in the tag scene as well. In fact, in a very strange way she even managed to look sexy in those large red-rimmed glasses - obviously the director thought so too! (Love how he sort of gives her a double-take) 

And Pierce really cracks me up playing the gay fan! What a performance - he had all the mannerisms, affectations, etc - absolutely amazing - over the top, but SOOOO believable. He looked totally different, and all that changed outwardly was a gap in his teeth... How does he do that? It was so funny... and then him throwing the crystal glass and his embarrassment - wow!!! 

Loved the fact that they then immediately switched to the "Laura as AFI intern" scene. So both Laura and Remington had a bit of fun "playing dress-up" :-) (And I'm sure the actors appreciated this as well - showing off their wonderful comedic talent). 

Also an episode with two "kisses interruptus" by Mildred! Maybe they should tie her to a bed and gag her again. 

Now, the *crunch* (sorry, couldn't resist that). The dancing scene. Sorry, ladies, but it just doesn't do anything for me. IMHO neither Stephanie or Pierce looked very relaxed in this scene - it looked a bit stiff and "artificial". I'd like to think it's because Laura was feeling a bit nervous because she'd decided to take things further... Why not totally relax against Remington, perhaps rest her head against his chest or something like that? The kiss was great, but the dancing... (real pity - I was trying so hard to see what everyone else saw!) 

However, just loved the interplay between Mildred and Remington. "I went home and did what you did..." and the reply "I doubt that very much Mildred..." Well, if they did do what we all wished/hoped they did, then they should have been VERY relaxed and close during their dance :-) 

Loved the tag scene - the almost peremptory way they interacted. It makes one really confused, because it's exactly the way lovers act... 
 

Also, I agree with another poster that Laura's French Braid was a bit up tight for a love scene, but I found it totally fitting since they were coming from a wrestling match.

Thanks for calling me on that. I guess I just find it hard to believe that a man who uses the word "zappo" is intelligent. (Says the cum laude college graduate who uses the words "freakin'" and "holy crap" in a most intelligent manner herself. Darn! Hoisted by my own canard!)  I'm also guilty of believing that most athletes who went to college on a scholarship really didn't get an education. It's terrible for me to say that...and probably grossly inaccurate. I shall re-think my biases and assumptions. 

Ms. Streep wrote: "Sorry, ladies, but it [the candle-lit dance scene in Mr. Steele's apartment] just doesn't do anything for me." 

Oh, my!!! Seriously?! Look where Laura's hands are...You know that as soon as she unclasps her hands, she's grabbin' that incredibly tight tushy and workin' it!!! (That's what I would do!!!)  Oh-ho-ho, yeh-heh-hes!!! 
 

Xenos 

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy! 
 
 

That would be my take on the dance scene!!! I thought they looked great together especially the hand placement! 

Jilly 

oh and btw...loving all the posts so far!!

I liked that Mildred had so many good scenes. I can actually see her going to 
watch wrestling and enjoying it. 

PB looked as good as always here and his scene as the water delivery man was 
soooo great. Most of the time, I do not give PB credit for his wonderful acting in RS. 

Loved that Laura did not want Remington to get the door when they were kissing. 
How great is that, he should have listened to her and let Mildred go and 
save Whitney. 

Merryl, I have to agree with your assessment of the tag scene. "Because it's 
exactly the way lovers act...", so true and how can that be? 

Isabel

Also, don't know if this should be a new thread (or has perhaps been debated before) - would the popularity of the show have waned if it somehow became obvious that they HAD experienced the "ultimate moment"? (I'm thinking of little clues like her makeup in his bathroom, his clothes in her cupboard, them arriving together at the office, etc, etc.) I honestly don't think so - I think the challenge wasn't in maintaining interest after taking their relationship forward, but more in maintaining the quality of the series - good writing, good comedic moments, good mystery, some titillating/romantic moments. I think the series declined BECAUSE they just stretched credibility to breaking point.

Any yes, we probably have addressed some of these views, but that doesn't mean we can't readdress them. 

Isabel

A tongue-in-cheek Xenos  

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!