Post 3
The next day Amanda is already seated when Duncan and Kit arrive for
the race. Amanda declares that after she takes Kit's head, she'll
change the horse's name to the Queen of Spades. "How original," says
Kit sarcastically. They root for the horse, and embrace when the
horse wins.
They are facing off after the race when Duncan arrives with a copy of
a news article which proves that Kit was in the ocean when the casino
fire happened, so he couldn't have been the perpetrator. Amanda
admits that she was wrong. Kit says she owes him "a hell of a lot
more than an apology". Then they realize that they won, and suddenly
neither of them wants to fight. But they can't agree on the horse's
trainer or jockey. Duncan suggests they gamble for sole ownership of
the horse. He brings out a deck of cards and says "High card takes
it!" Amanda actually wins the draw with the Queen of Spades, but she
conceals this and tells Kit the horse is his.
After Kit leaves, Amanda apologizes to Duncan for letting Kit have the
horse. Duncan had his money invested in it. Duncan is pleased by her
generosity and kisses her.
Questions For Further Study
1) Amanda is later angry when Kit calls her French, so why did Amanda
choose to pretend to be French? She could have pretended to be
Russian, German, Italian or any number of other nationalities.
2) Speaking of Russians, Amanda boasts by implication (Czar Nicholas'
stamina) that she had an affair with the last Russian Czar. Do you
think this is likely?
3)Does it bother Amanda that Duncan doesn't want to eat her
stroganoff? Later she speaks of a lasagna recipe. Does Amanda like
to cook?
4)Do you think Amanda won the casino fair and square, or did she cheat
as Kit claimed?
5)Why did Amanda want to bring wealthy women into the casino? Did she
think women would lose more money than men, or did she want her casino
known as a place where women can be comfortable?
6)Why didn't Amanda object to Kit calling her a thief or a harlot?
7)What's the significance of the Queen of Spades for Amanda?
8) Did it bother you that Amanda refused to return Kit's lucky coin?
How did this make you feel about Amanda?
9)What did Amanda think when her Highland boyscout said to her that
it's OK to rig the tables in Kit's favor?
10)After the casino burns down, Amanda tells Duncan that the casino
was her home. If she had really put down roots, why was she still
living in a hotel room?
11)If Amanda was so angry at Kit in the present, why did she delay
their duel until after the race? Was it because she wasn't confident
of winning and keeping the horse?
12)Amanda and Kit argue about the horse's trainer and other issues
concerning the horse. We know from the Watcher CD that Kit used to be
a horse breeder. On what knowledge or experience was Amanda basing
her opinions about how the horse should be handled? What is Amanda's
history with horses? Had she owned a race horse before?
13) Why did Amanda let Kit have the horse?
I think that Amanda let Kit have the horse as restitution because she
recognizes by the end of the episode that she did Kit wrong.
As for the Queen of Spades-- It's very interesting that when people
use playing cards for fortune telling, the Queen of Spades is the
equivalent of the Queen of Swords in Tarot.
I also thought it was interesting that on HL:TR Amanda's Immortal
rival, Jade, identifies with the Queen of Diamonds. After that, I
wondered if there are Immortal Queens of Hearts and Clubs.
Next time that I post here, I'll be doing my first lecture on
"Reunion"
Professor Shomeret
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