Since Elizabeth mentioned Lee and Amanda as one of her favorite fictional couples the other day, I wanted to look back at the episodes of the show that I have enjoyed watching over and over again, including some of the ones that we have on tape from when I was 5 years old, and it came on late on the Family channel.

Season 1

• 1.1 "The First Time": Amanda is hilarious throughout this episode; it reminds me of when Bones/Booth first interact because he is always so exasperated with her. In this episode they go after a cooking show lady who is leaking information and getting federal agents killed, so Amanda is responsible for saving Lee's life!
• 1.3 "If Thoughts Could Kill": In this one, a mind control expert uses a duck to control Lee's thoughts, which sounds really goofy, but it's interesting because he is so controlled that he almost kills his boss, Billy. Also, this episode has one of my favorite goofy Amanda moments. When she comes in to stop Lee from carrying out his murder plan, she awkwardly tells the other guests at the banquet that she's not supposed to jump out of the cake for another hour.
• 1.7 "Service Above and Beyond": In my family, we always referred to this episode as the Victoria Grenidge episode because Amanda poses as a wealthy woman with houses all over the world so she can date a businessman that the agency suspects of stealing military secrets. This episode has great moments when Lee tells Amanda how beautiful she looks, and also she is drugged while at a party when she gets caught, so he has to carry her out.
• 1.8 "Saved by the Bells": Amanda is feeding Lee's fish while he's on vacation, so she is mistakenly kidnapped when enemy agents think she is Scarecrow, and they want to trade her for a Russian agent that the agency has. The agency refuses to make the deal for Amanda since she is only a civilian, and Lee commits what the agency calls "treason" because he feels he has to save her and can't live with her dying in his place. Eventually Amanda is able to lead Lee back to the place she was held captive, and Lee comes off probation, but they continue to think Amanda is Scarecrow, so it's hilarious. Favorite quote from Amanda in this episode: "I don't know how they could mistake me for you, you're so much taller."
• 1.20 "Weekend": Lee and Amanda pose as newlyweds at a resort so they can prevent a kidnapping, so all the moments between them are great, especially since Amanda feels so uncomfortable with sharing a room with him.

Season 2

• 2.9 "A Class Act": Amanda finally gets to go to an agency training class since she's been asking for training from the beginning, but then there are assassins who've infiltrated the group and mistake her for the trained agent instead of Lee because she keeps making mistakes to supposedly throw them off. Amanda figures out who is after her because she'd read her file which said she was from California and mentioned it to her despite Amanda not growing up there/mentioning it.
• 2.10 "Playing Possum": Since Amanda helps do secretarial work for the agency, she holds the clue to where a nuclear device is planted in Washington, D.C., in her subconscious, so she is hypnotized. I love when they find the device, and she keeps telling Lee which wire to pull to disable it, and when he finally picks the one that she said, she says it's the one she messes with when the dishwasher won't work.

Season 3: The season in which Lee and Amanda finally admit that they're more than just friends/start becoming a couple

• 3.2 "We're Off to See the Wizard": This episode reveals the reason for Scarecrow's code name since he was part of a network called Oz, and he tells Amanda about his past which they bond over. The episode has female agents being murdered because of their connection through the Oz network, and Amanda realizes who the villain is by figuring out that the Tin Man (this guy named Serdeych) is the one without a heart. I also love that this is the moment where Lee feels like his past with the woman with the code name Dorothy is finally over, and this makes more room in his life for romantic possibilities with Amanda.
• 3.7 "Utopia Now": Amanda and Lee are in the backwoods of Virginia tracking the leader of a utopian community who has concerning political goals. This is the episode that leads to their realization that they are more than friends because they nearly kiss when they are hiding from being caught and think they may die. When Lee suggests that they were just trying to keep warm to play off the moment after the fact, Amanda disagrees with him and says that that's "not exactly" what she meant.
• 3.17 "The Eyes Have It": Lee has information listed on contact lenses which his enemies are after, so when he is in the hospital after trying to fake his death, he leaves the hospital to keep the information of his civilian contacts secret by getting back his missing lenses. There's a great moment when Amanda has to pretend to think he's dead, and she just looks so heartbroken.
• 3.22 "All the World's a Stage": Amanda takes a role in a community theater production because of Soviet connections to the play, and she and Lee work together against the enemy. They keep trying to steal time alone together in the office that Lee shares with Amanda, but Francine keeps interrupting them until the end when they lock the door and kiss sweetly.

Season 4: Amanda and Lee get married!

• 4.1/4.2 "Stemwinder": Totally amazing 2-part episode in which Lee and Amanda are trapped by a vindictive KGB agent named Aleksei so that they have to go on the run because the agency believes they are going against them. Lee reveals to Amanda that he loves her and has for a very long time because he plans to hide out without her, but she goes with him, temporarily leaving her family until they can catch Aleksei. Since they're suspected of selling out, they have to work alone, but everything is cleared up eventually, and this situation makes Lee and Amanda realize how much they love one another. Also, at the end Amanda's ex-husband Joe is hanging around, so Amanda is able to assure Lee that while she will always love Joe, she's in love with him, so he shouldn't worry about it.
• 4.6 "Nightcrawler": It's one of my most-watched episodes since Lee and Amanda get engaged, and he proposes really well telling her she's the most beautiful, bravest, smartest woman he knows. Unfortunately before this happens, Amanda is kidnapped by an Arab terrorist who wants to trade her to the Libyans because he knew that taking her would get to Lee. Lee finally meets Amanda's mom Dorothy face to face after hiding from her from years when he goes to check on her since Amanda is a hostage. I also love when he gives her the engagement ring at the end of the episode because they look really adorable.
• 4.16 "Do You Take This Spy?": The case isn't very interesting; it just involves murder and art theft for which Amanda and Lee go undercover as a wealthy couple; mostly they try to wrap up the case quickly to leave for their secret wedding ceremony (secret because they're keeping their marriage from the rest of the agency, not even telling Billy that their vacation is together). I love when they finally make the ceremony and then have to wait in their hotel room for the maid to leave them alone.
• 4.17 "Mission of Gold": Amanda gets shot basically the second they arrive in California for their honeymoon and thus spends most of the episode in intensive care with Lee and her mother worrying about her condition. Ultimately she is fine, and Lee tracks down her shooter with the help of his retired friend whom he helps with proving some doubloons from an 18th century Spanish ship are counterfeit.

Note: Their marriage is a complete secret from Amanda's family/the agency so although they are married, they don't live together, and they are still trying to get Amanda's sons Phillip and Jamie used to the idea of him as their mother's boyfriend first. Also Kate Jackson who was Amanda got breast cancer during this season, so Amanda was barely in the last few episodes following their honeymoon, with Francine replacing her as Lee's partner for cases.