Bond’s first encounter with CIA agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye culminates in Wade tossing out this seemingly arbitrary question, a fitting end to the haphazard rhythm of their entire exchange. From the outset, Wade mangles the recognition code phres, sizes Bond up as a “stiff-assed Brit,” arrives in what appears to be half a functioning car, and casually references “Muffy,” his third wife, prompted by the name inked above his rose tattoo. Whether Wade’s gardening inquiry is a sly nod to that tattoo or simply the start of another of his offhand conversational detours is never clarified, but either possibility fits his peculiar style.

What is clear is that Joe Don Baker’s return to the franchise (after playing the blustering Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights) is inspired casting as Wade. His loud and unabashedly American persona shouldn’t mesh with Brosnan’s polished, composed Bond, yet it does. In fact, the contrast is exactly what makes the scene and their entire relationship entertaining.