We were talking about Wrong Number on JWWM, and most of us were confused/unimpressed by Lee's sudden change of position on Towne's innocence, just based on Amanda's clue about the MSG in the Chinese food, when she had presented other, more convincing evidence before. We also questioned just how the Russians could so completely wipe out anyone's past records from school, employment, etc. and how it convince everyone when there would still be old friends/teachers/employers to remember the person.
Janet Hill pointed out that the original script for the episode had Lee and Amanda visiting one of Towne's old schools to check his records and encountering a teacher who remembered him, which helps him to be convinced by other evidence later. I haven't read the original script, so I don't know exactly how it goes, but I'd like to talk about other possibilities for how Lee becomes convinced of Towne's innocence and Amanda's thoroughness as an investigator.
Some ideas I had:
First, I'd have Amanda mention the MSG first and have Lee dismiss it as another little detail that he thinks Amanda's making too much of in the face of what he thinks is greater evidence. Then, they go to visit the school to check Towne's old records.
If we have Lee and Amanda visiting Towne's old elementary school together, Lee might concentrate more on the apparent break-in to the school's offices and the lack of Towne's files in the office. While he's puzzling over whether the apparent break-in might have been to steal Towne's files or whether it's just coincidence or even if there was a break-in at all (Was there really obvious evidence that there was or were there just more subtle signs that the school principal noticed but that might not convince others?), Amanda is approached by an older woman who heard them mention William Towne. It turns out that the older woman was one of Towne's old teachers (like in the script), and she remembers him because he was a brilliant student even at a very young age and won a lot of math contests. Amanda tries to get Lee's attention to talk to this teacher, but he's still wrapped up in debating with the principal about the possible break-in. He tells Amanda that it's unlikely that any teacher who had Towne in her class more than 20 years ago would remember him because teachers teach so many students every year and it's just been too long. Amanda accuses him of not listening to her. Lee says he's trying to focus on what's important. Amanda says, "So am I!" and stalks off. Lee returns to talking to the principal and doesn't notice that Amanda has returned to talking to the teacher.
Amanda asks the teacher if there's anything else she remembers about Towne, like any old pictures she might have or if she remembers if Towne has old friends who might remember him. The teacher says that Towne was a shy boy at that age and that his best friend was a girl. She says that she heard that he and the girl stayed friends all through high school and that he married her later, and she thinks that's romantic. Amanda races off to talk to Towne's wife again. Lee doesn't notice right away that she's gone. When he does, he talks to the teacher, asks her where Amanda is. The teacher tells him that she left. Lee starts to leave, but before he does, he asks her if she really remembers teaching Towne. She says she does. He asks her how she can be sure after so many years, and she says that some people just stick in your mind because of the kind of people they are. He asks her what she means. She says that sometimes it's the little things that are important and when you've seen the shyest boy in class punch the class bully for calling his little girlfriend names and then helping the same bully with his math homework the next day, you remember. Lee starts believing her a little.
Amanda talks to Towne's wife, and she shows him memorabilia that she's saved from their school years, including a high school yearbook with their pictures in it. Sticking out of the yearbook is a letter about their high school reunion this year with both of their names on the envelope. The letter was mailed months ago, and the reunion is next weekend. Towne's wife said that they were originally thinking of going but with all the Agency business, they'd pretty much forgotten about it. Amanda thinks that this and the yearbook would be enough to convince Lee or at least get him to look into his high school years more. They are about to leave to see Lee when Popovich (looking like Towne) shows up. He's there to make sure that Towne's wife doesn't interfere with their plans. He was planning to kidnap her and make sure it seem like she'd skipped town or something. At first, they think Popovich is Towne, but his wife spots something about him that gives him away. He captures them both, but ends up accidentally leaving some small clue to where he's hiding them -- like a matchbook from a hotel.
Lee thinks that Amanda has gone on to Towne's old high school to find more evidence, so he heads over there to meet her. She isn't there, and the school can't find Towne's record. But, the school secretary says that Lee isn't the first person to ask about Towne's file. She's sure that it's only been misfiled somewhere, but if Lee is with the reunion and looking for pictures, he should talk to the man coordinating the reunion because she thinks he found some. She points out a man hanging up pictures of former students on the wall for the reunion. Lee goes over to talk to the man and spots pictures of Towne among the others, labeled with his name. The photo collection features current pictures alongside pictures of the people from their student days. Lee asks the man about Towne and where he got the pictures. The man turns out to be the former president of the student council when Towne was a student, and he remembers Towne from when they were students because Towne served as student council treasurer. Lee asks him where he got the pictures, and he said that since the school seems to have lost Towne's old file, he just used one from his own photo album that he took himself at a student council meeting and the one that his wife sent in when they RSVP'd for the reunion. He adds that it's nice that they're still together after all these years. Lee asks him what he means, and the man says that if he knows Towne, he probably also knows his wife. They started dating back in high school, and he once caught them making out in the student council room before a meeting (something he'll never forget
). Lee races off to see Towne's wife.
When he gets there, there's no answer at the door, but Amanda's car is still parked outside. Lee gets worried and breaks in. He finds the old yearbook and reunion invitation. Then, he spots the matchbook and remembers that Towne doesn't smoke and doesn't carry matches (if this wasn't established earlier, it should be so that Lee can demonstrate that he did observe something about Towne and remember it -- maybe that piano player asked him for a match and Towne said that he didn't have one because he doesn't smoke). Lee knows that something bad has happened to Towne's wife and Amanda and goes off to the hotel to rescue them. When he does, he captures Popovich and from there, I think the episode can continue almost the way it does originally so they can save Francine.
I think I'd also add something about Lee telling Amanda that she was right and that he sees her point now about the importance of little personal details. It would be a good time for him to compliment Amanda on her work and to tell her some of the little things he appreciates about her -- her attention to detail, her determination to stand up for what's right and help a friend, etc. Then, maybe for fun (and because episodes often end with a joke), he could mention her skill with plants and as a token of his esteem, he could give her the cactus he sat on earlier on the condition that she take it home and never leave it on his chair again.
I didn't mean to write almost a whole fanfic here, but what do you think?
I don't care if you write on the same theme, but maybe not the part about Towne and his wife being childhood sweethearts and the class reunion pictures. Not sure if I'll completely write this up or not (cause I kind of almost did already), but I might because I like it, and it might be nice to flesh it out. Actually, I debated about the class reunion part since Amanda just went to hers, but it just seemed like a good way to bring back an old classmate with not only memories but physical proof that he knows who Towne is. Oooh, maybe he's the former bully that the teacher remembered, grateful that Towne both knocked some sense into him and helped rescue his math grades, which would confirm what the old teacher said. Tie-ins! Or, would that be too much?
More and more, I find that I have to write things down as soon as possible, or I lose my original train of thought. I'm probably not going to write up the Wrong Number AU I kind of mapped out right away. That's part of the reason why I ended up making it so detailed. I've got a couple of other projects that I want to do first, and it might be awhile before I get around to it, so I wanted to put down as much as I could think of while I was still thinking of it. Sigh. The lure of new projects . . . 
