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matt_zimmerUpcoming reviews include Doctor Who: Series 9, The X-Files: Season 10, Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Blu-Ray), Ant-Man (Blu-Ray), Captain America: Civil War (Blu-Ray), Doctor Strange (Blu-Ray), Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2, Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1, Daredevil: Season 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Blu-Ray), X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse (Blu-Ray), Logan, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 1, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 2, Zootopia, Moana (Blu-Ray), Tangled: Before Ever After (DVD), Inside Out (Blu-Ray), The Good Dinosaur (Blu-Ray), Finding Dory (Blu-Ray), Once Upon A Time: Season 5, The BFG, Tomorrowland, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Blu-Ray), Star Wars Rebels: Season 2, Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Season One, Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow (DVD), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (Blu-Ray), Teen Titans Go!: Get In Pig Out, DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, The LEGO Batman Movie, Justice League Dark, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Suicide Squad (Blu-Ray), The Flash: Season 2, Arrow: Season 4, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 1, Supergirl: Season 1, Vixen: The Movie, Gotham: Season 2, iZombie: Season 1, iZombie: Season 2, Lucifer: Season 1, Be Cool Scooby Doo!: Spooky Kooky Fun!, Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Prod.: Hare-Raising Tales, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: Extended Edition, Airplane! / Airplane II: The Sequel: Double Feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Beyond The Known Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Earth's Last Stand, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Shredder, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half-Shell Heroes: Blast To The Past, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, Power Rangers, Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 2, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Power Rangers Turbo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Turbo: Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1, Power Rangers In Space: Volume 2, Power Rangers Samurai: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Megaforce: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Super Megaforce: The Complete Season, Transformers: Robots In Disguise: Season 1, Heroes Reborn: The Complete Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1: Water, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 2: Earth, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire, The Legend Of Korra: The Complete Series, Haven: Season 5 - Vol. 1, Haven: The Final Season, Under The Dome: Season 3, Quantum Leap: Season 5, Sleepy Hollow: Season 2, Sleepy Hollow: Season 3, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 3, The Jurassic Park Trilogy, Jurassic World, Back To The Future: The Complete Animated Series, Shaun The Sheep Movie (Blu-Ray), Shaun The Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas, 12 Monkeys: Season 1, 12 Monkeys: Season 2, Grimm: Season 4, Grimm: Season 5, Grimm: Season 6, The Wonder Years: Season 4, The Wonder Years: Season 5, The Wonder Years: Season 6, The Peanuts Movie, Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales, Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go!, Bob's Burgers: Season 5, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call, Community: Season 6, Hannibal: Season 1, Hannibal: Season 2, Hannibal: Season 3, Preacher: Season One, Danger Mouse: The Complete Series, Prison Break: Season 5, Game Of Thrones: Season 5, and Game of Thrones: Season 6.
Quantum Leap: Season Four
I think the defining thing to me about Season Four, is that they started to break the rule of the idea that the show had no sci-fi or supernatural elements besides the time travel. It's been broken once or twice before, but this year it is broken MANY times. Most of the time, I don't approve of it. But it does sort of make the show seem more layered than it might be at first glance.
The season starts off with Sam and Al trading places as Leaper and hologram, and we finally get to see the fun future stuff including the megacomputer Ziggy, who turns out to have the same voice as the Narrator. As the season goes, on Sam Leaps into a rape victim, a chimpanzee(!), a rainmaker / huckster, a chain gang member, a gay cadet, a reporter, a Temptations-like black female singer, a cowboy, a soap opera star, an archaeologist, a stand-up comedian, and finally Al as a kid. That last one delivers many great twists and turns including the most unexpected Leap ever in the cliffhanger.
Best episodes are Sam's return home (The Leap Back), the one where Sam Leaped into a rape victim (Raped) the Deborah Pratt horror masterpiece (Dreams), and the mindblowing and sexy season finale (A Leap For Lisa). Worst episodes are where the mission is so boring, it's him giving an older woman a singing career, and the worst episode of the season, and arguably series (Justice). I'll get into exactly why that sucks so much in the review below. I'm practically seething just thinking about it. Season Overall: ****.
The Leap Back:
That was awesome. This episode changes some things, but keeps things a lot more consistent than you'd expect (including not recasting Dennis Wolfberg as the bit part of Gushie in the Pilot). Previous episodes hinted that the future stuff was set in 1996, but this episode actually outright says it's 1999 for the first time ever. Sam has been doing this supposedly for four years (which does NOT track with how long the average Leap takes) which sets the Pilot "Genesis" in 1995. Ziggy is amazing to me. I never quite grasped exactly how cool the character was over the air, but Ziggy is not only hinted at being transgendered (female voice, still referred to as a he) but Ziggy is NOT just egocentric and sharp with the one-liners. The way Deborah Pratt performs him suggests that Ziggy is outright sinister, and doesn't care if the characters live or die. I had always thought after this episode that Ziggy was, in fact, the Narrator at the beginning. But even if Pratt plays them both, the Narrator has far too much empathy and soulfulness to not be an entirely separate character. Ziggy's ambiguous sexuality is made even more ambiguous by the fact that he seems to openly lust after Sam. "If only you weren't my father" is an extremely disturbing line for that reason. Ziggy taking a few seconds to read all of Shakespeare makes me realizes he has far less computing power than the average computer in 2017. We're supposed to be impressed, but what Ziggy did is every search engine everywhere. I think Al and Sam switching libidos was dumb, and I thought it was a bit embarrassing back in the day too. But it led to an interesting moment that I didn't appreciate over the air (that I now do). Both Sam and Al get laid in this episode. And they both think each sexual experience was amazing because Sam was voracious and Al was sensitive. Sam seems horrified at himself during the episode, and Al seems frustrated. But the truth is, the change in personas gave them both nights of passion unlike any they've experienced. Frankly, after that, I find it curious that Sam actually forget the Leap Back. Donna says Sam never betrayed her love during the Leaps. I question if she will still think that after Abigail and the events of "Trilogy" in Season 5. Also, I am saddened and a bit steamed that Sam not only promises Donna to return to her, but Donna sets the expectation that he will. Which just makes the revelation in the series finale that he never returned home an even bigger bummer. The post office idea was great because it's the exact same solution from Back To The Future, Part II. It's good to see famous time-travel projects giving each other such solidarity. Ziggy's disinterested revelation that Tina is having an affair with Gushie makes me REALLY glad Al wound up marrying Beth after all in the series finale. I think Sam was a far better and more useful hologram than Al usually was. He goofed around a little in revenge, but he did so well because he gave Al amazing advice, which is made all the more amazing because he didn't actually live through this time period. Sam's a genius, and STILL knows that they called PTSD shell-shock in 1945. The outside of Project: Quantum Leap has a MUCH different design than it did in both the Pilot, and the opening narration from the second half of season two. I actually like the blue electrical motif here better than the old white building from season 2. Sam should have been shown looking into a mirror in this episode. Here's a question: Why doesn't Sam actually have any narration in this episode? It raises a LOT of questions to me that we heard Al's thoughts once before he makes love, but Sam's secret opinions are entirely silent. This episode is one of the three episodes in the entire series that does not end on a cliffhanger (the other two being M.I.A. and Mirror Image). This is how you know the events are a big deal. For the record, I love the new main title, even if they kept the opening Narration the same for this episode (they changed it next episode). The more people Sam leaps into, the more eclectic the theme song becomes. And Future Boy popping his head out of the spaceship will never get old. This is not one of the best episodes of the series. But it is one of the defining ones to me. ****1/2.
Play Ball:
It absolutely amazes me how long Neal McDonough has been acting. He doesn't have his distinctly deep and smooth voice yet, but it's still him. Interesting to learn that Al used to be an angry drunk before Sam reformed him. We had not been aware that had been his and Sam's dynamic until this episode. I like that Sam always seems to take a longer view of the Leaps than Al does. While it is true that last episode Sam made a better hologram than Al ever did, he is also indispensable as the actual Leaper. He realizes fixing Doc's career is nowhere near enough, and improves two other things in the scenario. What I especially like is that he figured out that he was playing the same game as in the original history, and that they needed to swap pitchers to do the game any good. And that is something that should have occurred to Al sooner, which shows that Sam is truly cut out for this. The way that Sam was playing the same game hints that he was always there in the original history. Which raises a ton of questions. This is NOT Gargoyles. The rules are NOT consistent. I like that the little kid Billy got the "Oh boy!" at the beginning. Speaking of "Oh Boys!", Sam saying "A hurricane?" while being slapped in the face with a newspaper, is one of the most memorable ones of those we got. They changed the images on the opening Narration by Deborah Pratt, to include some of the future oriented scenes of "The Leap Back", such as showing Project: Quantum Leap, when talking about Sam theorizing that one could time-travel within their own lifetimes. I also liked seeing Casey Sander in stuff too. He was a good character actor back then. Sam Leaping in with a mouthful of tobacco was super gross, and very funny. God has a wicked sense of humor. Not very memorable episode outside of the teaser and cliffhanger. ***.
Hurricane:
All of that file footage used in the hurricane unpleasantly reminds me that Quantum Leap was often done on the cheap. It's cheapness is partly why NBC didn't cancel it long before most sci-fi series of that era, but I don't have to like it. Personally, after all that, I don't think Lisa deserved the happy ending she got. She should be in jail for attempted murder, not two years of therapy. This episode is a good chance to see 24's James Morrison before he became The Silver Fox. The cliffhanger filled me with dread, because I knew how much I was going to hate rewatching the next episode. When Sissy tells Archie that she loves her dog more than him, I would have been offended. Even if it's true, you don't say that. And I think it IS true, because she didn't sound like she was joking. Sam firing the gun at the party was genius. Instead of rescuing most of the party guests, he saved all of them. Partly because he made sure they felt in mortal danger. Which is the proper actual response to the situation. Sam seems to enjoy making out with other people's girlfriends entirely too much. He is not the boy scout Al makes him out be. One thing I like is that it would have made the most sense for Sam to shoot Lisa at the end, but he manages to apprehend her without killing her, or her killing anyone else. I know Sam isn't a cop, but I wish this was the first instinct of actual cops: to put their own lives in danger to protect everybody else's. That's what they SHOULD be doing, and Sam risking his life so that NO-ONE died shows he'd make a fair cop. Do you know what bugs me? They never explained WHY two different people sort of saw Sam's eyes in Archie if they looked at him by different angles. That strikes me as a major piece of the mythology that deserves to be explained. Not as great an episode as the teaser promised. ***.
Justice:
I knew I was going to hate this episode in hindsight. I was right. It's deplorable on every level you can think of. And possibly some you can't. There is nothing about it that doesn't suck. I didn't like it over the air either (and for similar reasons). But I tolerated it because I loved the show so much otherwise. I no longer do that since my eyes are now wide open. This episode LOVES to have white people say the N-word. It looooves it. It acts like it is horrible, but that is not the impression I got from not only how frequently it was used, but the situations in which it was used. I wanted to puke as Al is encouraging Sam to use it to keep his cover and save Nathaniel's life. Only a white writer would think it remotely acceptable to try and give a white person an actual good reason for saying the word. See, Sam is just using that word for Nathaniel's own good! Why doesn't he love and appreciate him for it? See, this is Sam being a philanthropist! He's the cool white friend who is allowed to say it! And Quantum Leap thinks that extends to the entire franchise. This episode had crap moral after crap moral. When Nathaniel essentially calls Sam a long-winded version of a cracker, and asks him if it still hurts even knowing he didn't mean it, I threw up my hands. Those two words are on no way equivalent, and only a white writer would have a black person actually think they are, and use it as a teaching moment. White liberals are the absolute worst. Somehow they manage to be just as offensive as conservative racists, but we're supposed to give them a pass because they are supposedly well-intentioned. I don't ever do that and I never will ever again. Sam talks about how the world has passed these guys by, and they need to let go of the hatred. Him saying that is saying that hatred was acceptable once upon a time, and that we all just need to get over it. As if the worst part of hatred is that it's no longer trendy. He acts as if it EVER had a place in this world. Sam later espouses the exact opposite opinion to his white family, which makes his original observation worse, because it's him as the Narrator saying the original moral, without a filter of having to try to keep everyone alive as Sam is doing later with the opposite (and correct) opinion. I don't usually even NEED to comment on the end title credits, as they are usually irrelevant to the rest of the episode, but I am absolutely shocked at what bad taste these are actually in. If they had used images of a cross-burning, Klansmen running in the woods, a lynching, or a black Church exploding using the Quantum Leap Theme as a musical score, it would suck (for obvious reasons). But it would makes sense. This is Quantum Leap after all. Instead they use an African American Gospel Choir singing a spiritual hymn as all of these horrific things are happening, without the slightest idea of why that is completely inappropriate and offensive in every conceivable way. It is shocking that an episode that is clearly trying to preach equality, used images and music that could be used in a KKK recruiting video. I might have found a kid calling Al a crazy white man funny, if it didn't completely illustrate what kinds of monsters the people who blew up the Church were. It's a cute and funny line in a situation that is in no way cute and funny. We're supposed to think it's a moral victory that the Grand Wizard cuts down Nathaniel after Sam's sermon, but I don't give a sh*t that he did. He still blew up a Church that he knew had small children in it. I'm just supposed to forget that? He gets a free pass for an attempted first degree mass murder of children because he's grown as a person for 30 seconds soon afterwards? Bull. F***ing. Sh*t. I have not seen every single episode on the set as of this review, but I suspect this is Quantum Leap's worst episode. That's not a definite. Considering how appalling I remember the first Evil Leaper episode being, there is a small chance its sucktitude will be surpassed with potential false Down Syndrome rape allegations. But even if it DOESN'T wind up the absolute worst episode ever, it's still a major contender, and at least Number 2. 0.
Permanent Wave:
The last five minutes saved this. It's an entirely predictable mystery. Of COURSE the killer is the skeevy cop played by a pre-Buffy The Vampire Slayer Harry Groener, sporting a truly hideous pornstache. How else to explain the more information they gave him, the more dire the situation became? I was like "Why can't Quantum Leap ever do a surprising mystery?" And then BOOM! Chloe, the ditzy hairdresser, is suddenly Keyzer Soze, and my TV loves me again. The gunshot murder victim being named Phil Hartman is a REALLY unfortunate coincidence in hindsight. At this point in time, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was literally cast in everything. He was even more prolific at this stage of his career than Samuel L. Jackson was in the mid-nineties. If you ever needed an annoying kid who could act, Levitt was the guy they always cast. It's almost a shame Fred Savage, an even MORE amazing child actor, never got the part after part Levitt got, which carried his career into adulthood. I call foul on Sam making out with the twins to annoy Al. This is another example of perhaps Sam leaving behind a mess for the guy he Leaped into. By all accounts, Frank is a great guy, and faithful to Laura. Sam doing what he did here as a joke, puts that entire trustworthy relationship in jeopardy should either the twins tell Laura, or another beauty shop gossip does instead. This is probably the weirdest Leap-In the show has ever done. First Sam is a hairdresser, and then you hear a gunshot, and suddenly you wonder if Sam is a hairdresser in a warzone. Do they have white beauty shops in Somalia? Why else would the mother supposedly be afraid of the kid going off by himself before gunfire rings out? Two totally incongruous things happening in that teaser. Money in the shoes is a GREAT clue for penny loafers. Although you'd figure Kyle could have been more specific than that. From what he said it sound like he had bills sticking out. A penny is a MUCH more specific thing and something worth noting. Sam not Leaping in to prevent the murder, but find the killer, doesn't make too much sense. But possibly it does. Maybe if Sam prevents the murder, he puts Frank, Laura, and Kyle is MUCH worse danger since Ward is not the sole killer, and Chloe might have to kill all three of them if her connection to Ward is uncovered. Maybe saving Laura and Kyle was always the best Sam was ever gonna do. The Captain Galaxy and Future Boy stuff is inconsistent with the later part of the series. In "Trilogy" Sam claims that each time he Leaps, he forgets most of the details of the previous Leaps. And we can see here that is completely untrue, and was only a thing when A Leap For Lisa unilaterally decided it was. It does not fit in with the earlier episodes, especially this one. Better than average episode. ***1/2.
Raped:
Quantum Leap has always been very hit and miss with the social issues. This was a hit. It isn't perfect, but it's the closest this shows gets to that when tackling these topics. The audience may wonder if the reason Sam is there is to kick Kevin's @$$, why he had to be present for a trial he was going to lose. I'm guessing because participating in that trial showed him the stakes and what to do just then. It is possible if he Leaped in right before the attack, he'd fend Kevin off. But that is inadequate for the situation. Kevin needed every square inch of his @$$ kicked, and to be beaten nearly to death for that. Otherwise, it would never end, and Katie would have to leave town. I love the detective Shumway and how supportive he is, and that he seems to have a friendly back and forth with the D.A. Nancy. I have also never seen The Office's Amy Ryan look so young either. The stuff with the actual Katie on the stand sort of worked, but it's one of those high concept Quantum Leap things you need to take as an audience member on faith to believe. I'm not sure I believed it entirely. But the drama was so good and genuine from that moment, that maybe it's less important that I believed the plausibility of the sci-fi and the show's conceit, than Katie's actual story. This episode is very significant in that it is the first and only time Sam has actually met the person he Leaped into. I think the episode gets exactly why rape trials are so tough, and having Kevin be a pillar of the community gives it added relevance today after Trump. These type of guys always get away with it, and when the lawyer basically asks the court if they truly believe Katie is rapeable compared to his ex-girlfriend, I realized that was Trump's entire defense against one of the women he assaulted. Were I Nancy, I would have been like "Dude, you are totally the grossest dude ever." As if the reason women are raped is because they are hot, and the guy can't get any. It is a way for people to rationalize that crime, when it is in truth committed by psychopaths and narcissists who NEED no rationale to hurt people. There is nothing actually rational about it. The argument is insulting and demeaning, and were I the judge, I might have sanctioned that lawyer for being too skeevy to wear people-clothes. The teaser was great just because you can see that Sam kind of feels like an @$$hole for complaining about being a woman when he realizes exactly why he is there. And he SHOULD feel like an ahole for that. It is one of Sam Beckett's most unpleasant character quirks, and I'm glad he finally got some humility for it. As far as I remember, he never did it again after this either. The cliffhanger is beyond disappointing. They REALLY should have been teasing the fact that Sam just Leaped into a chimp. The fact that they just pretend he's an astronaut makes that cliffhanger a huge wasted opportunity to get the viewer to turn in next week. And finally, I have to complain about something. It is not believable to me that Nancy would have put Katie on the stand without reviewing her testimony first. ESPECIALLY since Kevin lied on the stand about them previously having consensual sex. Even back in 1980, a D.A. would want to dot all of the "i's" and cross all of the "t's" upon Sam claiming not to remember if that was true when he claimed it. I kind of think Kevin stating that on the stand caused more problems for the narrative, instead of Katie herself. They had Katie in the imaging chamber, and could have rebutted it. But it's just the fact that it was brought up in the first place which is why Sam's last minute save on the stand by Al and Katie is not believable in the least. But this is still a great episode. ****1/2.
The Wrong Stuff:
Very ironic that Dr. Leslie is portrayed by someone with the last name of "Goodall" (Caroline). Especially since Wikipedia and IMDB tell me she isn't actually related to Jane. I like the message of the episode, but I don't like the fact that this episode had to use animals to tell it. And it did. But animal safety standards were miserable in the early 90's, and almost all "acting" animals suffered greatly for it. But perhaps like Dr. Winger, the producers of Quantum Leap believed it would be for the greater good. I like that God's design seems to include looking out for chimpanzees. It is ironic Sam is there to save Bobo and Kori instead of Dr. Leslie. But it's not like Sam never Leaped into a fireman to save a cat from a tree either. God's plan seems to involve animals on this show too. I do not think there is a better demonstration to how cruel we treat animals than seeing a grown man wearing a diaper being stuck in a cage that small. Even when Sam was on death row, he was never treated so shabbily. And you only get this is the worst Sam has ever been treated upon seeing him in the tiny cage wearing the diaper. Lots of Scott Bakula beefcake for the ladies this episode. When Sam kissed Kori as they were hiding, and promised to protect her, I thought that was unbearably sweet. My biggest problem with the episode is something that also bugged me about "Jimmy", and is something that strikes me as the wrong moral for both of these stories. Sam saves the day by doing something a chimpanzee is literally unable to do. That might be fine under normal circumstances, but like a person with Down Syndrome in the 1950's performing CPR, swimming a man to safety is not something a chimp can do. And they make Sam doing that be the reason the doctor changed his mind about the chimps. And that strikes me as a bit disempowering and unfair to Bobo, and a bad message. It's cheating. And I thought the same thing about making Jimmy the hero in the specific way he was in season 2. Al was wrong about something: The doctors would NOT have dissected Bobo immediately upon seeing he could write. They would eventually, but they'd want to get as much information from that situation before they did. They'd probably keep him alive for months, if not years. Bobo would have actually had a longer lifespan than in the original timeline at least, if he had done that. Al's career in NASA does not line up to the time he was a P.O.W.. A lot of people think that is a continuity goof, and the show dropping the timeline ball. I personally don't. There is every possibility Al is actually lying to Sam about being on the Apollo, because I actually think it's unreasonable to ask me to believe that Al has actually done all of the crazy things he says he has done. If he hasn't made up half of the stories he's told Sam to portray himself as an expert, I'd be surprised. He grew up in an orphanage. Bragging and exaggerating stuff comes with the territory in that setting. And it's not like an amnesiac Sam can ever call him on it. Al can try to present himself to Sam any way he choose to impress him, and that wouldn't be out of character. But it would be another thing that hints that Al is a sociopath. And it wouldn't be the only thing that hinted that. For the record, this is the easiest Sam and Al have ever had it. Because nobody understands Bobo, this is the first time Sam and Al can have their entire conservatives uninterrupted, with no fear of anyone else thinking Sam is crazy for talking to himself. That was a really cool benefit of Leaping into an animal. This is probably the scariest cliffhanger we've ever gotten. The rest of the series' horror episodes have funny cliffhangers / teasers. It is VERY unusual for the show to leave us on such a horrific note. I love the episode, but I worry about those real-life chimps. ****.
Dreams:
That was a whole lotta crazy. This kind of horror episode is in Deborah Pratt's wheelhouse, and is the specific reason she is this show's unsung hero. Let's talk firsts for Quantum Leap. This is the first time that the Leap scrambled the brain between Sam and the Leapee, which is something that became a recurring facet in season five, mostly notorious with Lee Harvey Oswald. Also, this is the first time the last episode's cliffhanger was longer than the current episode's teaser. Here, Sam Leaped into the scene we saw last episode at the halfway point. I think Dr. Crane was a wonderful villain, although, despite the name, he shares little with Frasier, and is more a Hannibal Lecter kinda guy. I don't know why Sam didn't finger him immediately. He spent his entirety onscreen acting like a total malevolent psychopath. Even Hannibal is better behaved around strangers. If the episode had a flaw, it's that Scott Bakula was not very convincing as he flashed back to a 9 year old boy witnessing his mother's autopsy. And when I say he wasn't convincing, I actually mean his performance bordered on the unintentionally comical. Bakula is MUCH worse actor on this show than the Emmy nominations gave him credit for. He's good at making Sam likable and relatable. Just please, God, don't ask him to stretch. Fortunately the rest of the scene is creepy enough that it hurts things less than it should. You don't see Alan Scarfe getting work anymore, and that's a shame. He is a truly scary dude. My absolute favorite thing about the episode, the actual reason I will be giving it four and a half stars, is the fact that there is zero wrap-up. Al does NOT read off from the Ziggy remote that Jack and Officer Roselli got married, or that P.J. pulled out of his funk, and became a well-adjusted adult. After Crane is killed, he just looks at Al in horror, and then freaking Leaps. That's it. Leap. I love that. It is one of the most effective Leap-outs EVER, simply because it gives Sam and the audience zero level of closure, and for the first time ever. It was actually a bit creative and ballsy for a show this usually cliched to do. It's something a clever storyteller would do on a critically acclaimed modern show, not back in 1992 when practically all television was utter cr*p. It made me uncomfortable. Which made it the best ending ever. It is something David Lynch would have done on Twin Peaks. And I can give it no higher praise than that. ****1/2.
A Single Drop Of Rain:
This was never my favorite episode back in the day but it is not actually terrible. Unlike the last episode, I think we could have used a little bit more wrap-up here. If Billy stays with Ralph and Annie, what is to stop him and Annie from getting back together? I would have liked a definitive history to state that didn't happen. I also wanted to know what happened to Clinton. What's interesting about Clinton is that nobody seems to like him, but everyone treats him respectfully due to Billy calling him a friend. When he walked into Grace Beaumont's house I would have melted at Anne Haney's dirty look. Clinton's race is never brought up, but it remains a subtext to how everyone in the episode treats him. More casting continuity problems as Anne Haney plays Grace, even though she was an adoption agent last season. I have never seen Patrick Massett outside of his Klingon make-up before. I remember Carl Anthony Payne II from both The Cosby Show and Martin. This is one of his few roles I can still enjoy in hindsight. R.G. Armstrong's role here is one of the few times I've seen him play an outright good guy. I wonder how the producers expected the audience to ignore the noise of thunder in the background of the fight. I'm wondering how everyone else did too. It starting to rain was not the surprise the characters thought it was. Al states Congress passed a "low cholesterol bill" in the future. While trans fats have recently been banned in some areas of the country, I seemed to have missed that bill in 1999. So-so. **1/2.
Unchained:
Wow, that was way awesomer than I remembered. "Bye, Al!" Letting Boone in on the secret of Al really helped the story. Sam could NOT have the amount of clandestine conversations with Al as he usually does, while he and Boone are in such close quarters. Unless Boone understands an invisible being named Al actually exists. You might accuse Boone of being foolish and superstitious for being Al exists (it could read that way by racists) but I don't. There is plenty of evidence Cole had access to secret knowledge that he wouldn't get with another outside source. And since Boone has been with Cole the entire time, and the information has repeatedly turned out to be accurate, Occam's Razor states that Al exists. Boone isn't being superstitious or overly religious for believing in Al. He's simply examined all of the facts, and came to the logical conclusion. Ironically, this makes him far smarter than practically every other guest character on the show who hears Sam talking to himself, and merely thinks he's crazy. Boone's an interesting character. While he DOES seem good, he is also incredibly selfish by insisting on a cockfight to the death with the one person who ever helped him, rather than suffer a punishment he had clearly earned for being violent. Boone's not all good, and he's not all bad. I like the fact that even though he's innocent of his crime, the Leap mission is not to clear his name. He's a black man in the South in the 1950's, who is going up against a corrupt white cop. There is no amount of evidence that would free him from that. So instead, the solution is for him to run off, never to be seen again. And finally Ziggy not having any data on somebody becomes a good thing for the first time ever, because the fact that he and Cole were never seen again meant they disappeared into society with new lives under assumed identities. Which is the best each could have hoped for. Also smart to make it clear that Cole was being held hostage years beyond his 9 month sentence so you don't object to him escaping either. He's not running from justice. Him still being in prison after serving his time is the actual injustice. I like this episode far more than I remembered liking it. ****.
The Play's The Thing:
Below average episode with no real stakes. It's kind of fun to see early roles for Daniel Roebuck and Anna Gunn, but that's the only interesting this about this boring episode. I think this is one of Al's most annoying showings ever. Sam is ALWAYS right about the actual points of the missions, and he is ALWAYS right to not just fix one thing, but everything, and Al only listening to Ziggy, who has been wrong about something major in every single episode so far, almost makes me seethe. Even more infuriating is him yelling at Sam for rushing the nude woman out of the room, despite the fact that she was ruining the actual mission, simply so he could get his perv on. Al is often selfish and values the wrong things. Speaking of which, Al saying his fifth wife ran out on him is a genuine plothole. They did an entire episode last season premised on the idea that Al divorced his fifth wife because he believed she was cheating on him, but that it turned out later she was innocent. If this isn't a plothole, it's another thing to suggest that Al is a sociopathic liar about everything in his past. I can't stand that Ted fool. He calls Sam anti-American and a coward. Did Ted serve? I sincerely doubt it, or he would have brought it up. He's a classic chickenhawk hiding behind the flag, while his actual "service" involves selling textiles to the government. For the record, Sam HAS served. When he Leaped into Magic's life in Vietnam. He saved a lot of lives back then, including his own brother's. Can Ted say the same? And finally, nude Hamlet bothers me, because even if it's New York, and the 60's and 70's were the times goofy cr*p like that happened, I don't buy the idea that it happened at the last second, and that everyone in the audience was surprised. They were doing Hamlet. Surely not everyone who paid a ticket went there to see something like that. H*ll, a bunch of school kids who were into theater could have potentially been in the audience. It's not at all credible they would put on an all-nude production without warning the audience first. A total snooze. *1/2.
Running For Honor:
Decades later, this episode still rankles me like no other. Which is weird, because I agree with the message. But 25 years has taught me something about this episode that I didn't realize 25 years ago: There really should be no controversy built into the scenario of the episode. The fact that there is, angers me. About society and the things we have to fight for, and are still fighting for decades later. Sam is the wise liberal in this episode, which is refreshing because his perspective is usually that of the conservative. But it appears because of this episode that Sam's values aren't necessarily conservative. Perhaps they are simply moral and just, and you don't need to put a political value on that. Back then, many conservatives were not as outright unrepentantly evil as they are today, so it makes sense as a more conservative kid, I just assumed that was the message of Sam's prudishness. But learning he is not judgmental about anybody's else's private sexuality, simply means that while he is personally conservative with his own life, it doesn't mean he is going to judge anyone else. I like that, because it makes Sam a lot like me. I am VERY personally conservative, which is something that might surprise people, but I fall on the liberal spectrum precisely because I don't judge anyone who sees things about abortion, premarital sex, drug and alcohol use, and the like, different than me as morally inferior. I am very willing to listen to a different experience, which is what makes me a liberal. And it is kind of cool that as personally conservative as Sam Beckett is, he doesn't judge anyone else. Which is something I have in common with him. The problem with the episode is that they use Al to play the Devil's Advocate as to why gay people shouldn't be in the military. The problem there is that Al's position is indefensible. He is an outright homophobic sh*tbag in the episode, and making all sorts of sarcastic comments about the way Sam is carrying himself, and basically being a bully. This is literally Al's worst episode in the entire series. It is to his credit that he realizes he was wrong, and makes a sincere, full throated apology for his bigotry at the end. But Al is like 55 years old, and supposedly intelligent. This is something somebody like him should already have known. I give him some credit for the apology. But not much. Not much at all. But if we HADN'T gotten that apology, I simply would never have forgiven the character. I love Coach. I love that he's basically an insane drill sergeant with the cadets, but when he and Sam are alone, he completely breaks character and relates to him as a human being, as if this is nothing weird about going from a screaming Wife Swap persona, to that of a NPR radio host within the space of thirty seconds. I like that the crazy guy is just an act for him. Back in the day, both this episode and "Raped" sort of made me roll my eyes. What are the chances the mentors in both of those episodes would also turn out to have been raped and secretly gay, and to out themselves right when they needed to, to impart the wisdom they did? I thought that was sloppy writing, and extremely unlikely. I have a completely different perspective now. The truth is being gay is common. There are a lot more gay people out there than most of society realizes, a HUGE percentage of the population in fact, so having a gay guy pop up in an unexpected situation is pretty much how real life works. And rape culture is so pervasive in our society that I really don't know too many real-life women who HAVEN'T been raped. Quantum Leap was ahead of its time in stating that both of those things in our society were normal (in this episode's instance) and pervasive (in Raped's instance). I simply was not giving the show enough credit. Sam Leaping out at the exact start of the race strikes me as ill-timed. I think Tommy is gonna be so surprised by the Leap back that he's liable to trip. Maybe Sam should have Leaped five minutes earlier. This is a good episode, but a frustrating one. ***.
Temptation Eyes:
This is pretty much the cheesiest episode of Quantum Leap ever. It makes perfect sense it is set in the 1980's. To the Blu-Ray's credit, they got the music rights to "I Want To Know What Love Is", which is the cheesiest thing about the cheesiest episode. It would be nowhere NEAR as cheesy without it, so it's essential. This is the first thing I ever saw James Handy in, and I never forgot him. With his piercing blue eyes and silver hair, he is one of the most distinctive looking character actors of that era. This was probably Tamlyn Tomita's break-out role too. This is the only time Sam has sex on the series in which I think it's perfectly all right. Because she is the only one of his lovers who knows who he is. I also think that because people see him as Dylan, they probably make a very weird looking couple to everybody else. Sam Leaping out on them hugging was VERY smart, because if they had Leaped out on them kissing, Dylan would have been very confused, and Tamlyn possibly a little grossed out. I liked the goodbye so much because Sam does not tend to get those with the people he winds up caring about during the actual Leap. This is the one time Sam is actually able to say goodbye, and the other person understands what he means, and actually sees him go. The psychic powers thing is the show exploring a bit of the supernatural, which is one of the things it most famously does not tend to do. With the exception of the time travel stuff, Quantum Leap is usually played entirely as a straight drama, or at least until this season. God, this episode is so freaking corny as sin. And just as much fun years later. ****.
The Last Gunfighter:
Passable. Again, I love how Sam makes everything better by offering a job to Pat on the show. I like that, because even if Knight is the antagonist of the episode, his beef is legit. It would feel incredibly wrong if the show didn't have Tyler make it up to him. And having him being a consultant and an actor was a great way to do it. John Anderson was great as Pat Knight too. I liked the moment where Al tells Sam that gunfighters standing so far away from each other is from movies. I also like the revelation that Al learning his shooting from a stripper. Even if I suspect Al lies about a ton of stuff from his past, they all sound like lies that SHOULD be true, whether they actually are, or not. Not bad, but not great either. **.
Song For The Soul:
This was all right, but I never quite understood why this earned Harrison Page an Emmy nomination. He's good enough and all, but the show has had much better guest actors, in much better episodes, before and since. I love me some T'Keyah Crystal Keymah as Paula here. She was one of the stand-outs on In Living Color, and she makes me laugh here too, first by cheering with Lynette upon Sam kickboxing that potential sex offender, and then by saying Sam dances like a white girl. Eriq La Salle plays the villain, and I like how disgusted with him Paula is after what he tried to do with Lynette. Personally, I think Sam has a higher instant good opinion of Reverend Walters than is actually warranted. He's a good guy in the second half of the episode, but in the first, he's one of those scary fire and brimstone preachers, and it's hinted he is sometimes violently abusive with his daughter. While Sam is right that Al needs to trust Sam more for why he's here than Ziggy, it doesn't mean Sam is a great judge of character either. I would have again liked a little more wrap-up at the end than we got. I assume it was a happy ending, but the premise of the show means I'm not satisfied until I actually hear Al read off the history from the Ziggy remote. Sam's reaction shot in the cliffhanger was absolutely priceless. Average episode. ***.
Ghost Ship:
"Not THIS blooey!" Probably Al's greatest line of the season. This is another explanation for Cooper's rescue from a Ghost Ship at the end. He could have hallucinated that rescue based upon an old story he heard. Keep in mind he HAD kept most of the story blocked out of his memory for years. There's every chance some false memories returned with the real ones. I do NOT actually think this is one of the rare Quantum Leap episodes to deal with the supernatural. Carla Gugino has been acting for far longer than I ever realized. Surprised Sam didn't try to remove the appendix himself. Other shows with similarly dire situations have done that. In a close quarter airplane, Al's shadow is even more noticeable than normal. Which for a hologram, sucks. I like that Grant starts off the plane ride as a cocky jerk, and bit by bit winds up respecting Eddie, and treating him that way. When Sam tells him to be a little more concerned with his wife's comfort, I think that gave him the dose of humility he needed in that situation. This episode was pretty good. ***1/2.
Roberto!:
Bakula directed this. First off, we'll ignore the loathsome Dr. Laura. But this episode had a lot of 80's mainstays. Alan Oppenheimer (He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe), Don Gibb (Revenge Of The Nerds), and Jerry Hardin (Star Trek: The Next Generation) all had roles. Delane Matthews from Dave's World plays Jani. I like the idea that the actual Leap took place where Project: Quantum Leap was gonna be built 7 years from then. I like how Sam figured out the inhaler had been poisoned ahead of time. It's the only reason she could have died from an asthma attack, and I like that while people were trying to kill them, Sam knew what to watch out for. Can't believe the guy agreed to be on the show for an "apology". Rookie mistake. Ambushes are Trash TV's specialty. That was a weird Leap-out in my opinion. But the rest of the episode was better than I remembered it. ***1/2.
It's A Wonderful Leap:
The good: Liz Vassey as Angela. To be honest, the idea that she's an actual angel might be a stretch, but I can't think of any other reason she can see Sam and Al, can you? Al thinks it's because she's crazy, but that's him being insulting. That doesn't track. At all. As theatrical as she is, she also seems very aware of her surroundings and is scarily insightful. She's definitely not crazy. Which means there is something else going on. Perhaps her angelic nature is truly nothing more than an Nth Level Quantum Leap Project above Sam's paygrade. He DOES work for God, after all. And there is every possibility he would have lost this mission had she not taken that bullet. It is very possible her role towards Sam is the exact same role Sam usually takes for the people he protects every week. Sam forgetting everything at the end sort of is another clue she's legit. She's so great. Whether she's singing "Somewhere To Watch Over Me", or dancing the Charleston. When she tells Al that she isn't loud, just Puerto Rican, I'm rolling. The bad: The producers had no way of knowing this in 1992, but saying Sam is responsible for Donald Trump is a plothole. Because Sam is on a mission from God. And Donald Trump is the most sinister person alive. Granted, nobody knew that back than, and it was just supposed to be a cute joke about a real estate developer. But the fictionalized boy Trump sort of ruined this episode the way the real-life Trump has ruined reality. Not the show's fault, but it still bugs. And can I just state once and for all how much Al sucks? It's not just that's he's fat-shaming Angela which is so bad. He's doing it to her face. She makes fun of the flashy way he dresses. He makes fun of her physical flaws. Their battle of the sexes subtext is actually completely unequal. Al sucks. Bonus points for the soap opera theme at the end to give a small hint about what the next episode is actually about. Pretty good. ***1/2.
Moments To Live:
Another episode filled with stars I used to watch. Kathleen Wilhoit, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Frances Bay, Brian George. It's as if episodes of Heroes, ER, and Seinfeld all boinked. I love the Norman Jean Bates thing. While Al is right that the maiden name makes her eerily close to Norman Bates, on the show Bates Motel, Norma Jean IS the actual name of Norman's mother. This episode is now perfect in hindsight. All that being said, I truly hate Norma Jean. Forget the fact that she wants to rape Sam "for a baby". It is clear it has nothing to do a baby. She just wants to screw a soap opera star. That's it. If it were truly about a baby, there would be no candlelit dinners, and dancing, and Sam would be on the wrong end of a turkey baster. The fact that she expects her husband Hank to watch that and have no objections, shows that no matter how angry the descriptor makes her, she is in fact, crazy. I don't much like Hank, to tell the truth, but he must have the patience of a saint to put up with this crackpot idea. I love how she gets Millie to hold the gun on Sam, and tells the old woman if he moves to shoot. When they are alone, Sam advises Millie not to point the gun at her. And she asks how he expects her to shoot him then! Every single person in this episode is crazy. What is weird to me, is that just based on the original history, Sam should not have Leaped in at all. Lyle turned out to be fine later, and was just missing for two weeks. But I think Sam Leaped in because if he hadn't, Norman Jean would NOT have gotten the professional help she did at the end. Lyle himself would have been fine, but Hank and Norma Jean would be miserable, and possibly mistreat a helpless baby. A happy ending for them years in the future fits into God's design better. I love when Sam performs CPR on the extra at the beginning, she starts kissing him. And you know, that is the exact proper response to that scenario. If "Lyle" is gonna "goof around" like that, it serves him right. Plus, who would complain on either end? The one thing Norma did that I liked was destroying the camera of the mean Lyle fan. She is incredibly rude to whoever "Lyle" is actually speaking to, and if that is the actual way celebrities friends and families are treated when they are out with them, I never want to be a celebrity. If I were hot and a talented actor, I would not want to have to sit there and listen to a woman going on about how plain looking my companion was. Maybe that wouldn't happen because society is now far more celeb centric and sympathetic. But I CAN picture that happening in 1982, ESPECIALLY from a soap opera fan, and it would make my skin crawl. As much as I hate Norma Jean, were I Sam, I would have stood up for her just then. Sam is usually more gallant, but to be fair, at this point he isn't aware Norma Jean is the person he's there to help. The episode answers the question as to what would happen if "Misery" had a happy ending. It's not as good as Misery because of that fact. But it's not terrible either. ***.
The Curse Of Ptah-Hotep:
This asks the old age question, "Can a white guy like John Kapelos pass for an Egyptian?" The answer is "Yes. But not very convincingly." Quantum Leap is famous for not really going for the sci-fi, so it amazes me rewatching Season 4 how much legit supernatural stuff is in it. Before this season, that's never really been this show's shtick. How's the episode? I am actually amazed that there is no murderer and the actual murderous bad guy never actually killed anybody. All of that stuff being either a random coincidence, or part of a curse, kind of blows my mind. Interesting to learn that as a hologram, Al cannot see in the dark, and project light into the past. What is interesting about that, is that he COULD do that last season in the episode "Last Dance Before An Execution". How do you know it's Hollywood? The mummy's tombs are all spacious and well-lit. I'll grant them the well-lit thing as a part of artistic license, but tombs back then were tiny and cramped, and not just because space is a luxury only modern man has been able to afford. It's also because people were actually MUCH smaller back then. I would have preferred Sam Leaping out AFTER he escaped the tomb, because I'm betting Dale is going to be mega confused returning in the middle of that. Good thing Al told us he and Ginny survived. The Bob Saget cliffhanger is so significant to me because back in the day, he was the first celebrity I actually recognized in the cliffhanger before the next week. The next week was gonna feature Danny Tanner. Which was both kind of amazing, and considering my low opinion of Full House back then, kind of worrying too. ****.
Stand Up:
Amy Yasbeck was one of those loud-mouthed comediennes back in the 1990's who always made a favorable impression to me. I loved her in "The Mask", and I think John Ritter was a very lucky guy, for as short as his life was. As for Bob Saget. I see why he took the role. He's cast out of type as an angry jerk. The problem I would think he would have had with the role, is that Mack is a terrible comedian. It almost doesn't matter that he's sometimes funny. He is too thin-skinned and rage-filled for that particular profession. Comics need stomachs of steel to put up with hecklers, and this is the kind of guy who gets himself murdered by mobsters at the drop of a hat. I love Sam's solution to say Frankie and Mack were engaged to the mobster. Degorio waits a beat and then is all, "Well why didn't you say so?! I'll throw the wedding!" What I love about that is that Degorio turns from the Big Bad of the episode, into the hero's mentor, in the space of five seconds, simply because Sam put the truth in a manner an Italian guy could understand. It is immaterial if they ARE actually engaged. That's really why Mack DID hit him. Sam is stating the truth by lying. And as long as this story is keeping them alive, they might as well make it true. Genius move by Sam there. I think the weak link of the episode is Al. His psychoanalysis could have been written by a bored 14 year old. There is nothing deep or meaningful about his insights, and I resent that the episode is so badly written that is decides to make him right. Do you know who he is? He's the Great Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock, if the writers of that show didn't know she was secretly useless. Even the Fraggle Rock kiddie producers knew better than to make the Trash Heap's cliches the correct solutions. Why doesn't this show? Ugh. For the record? That cliffhanger? Terry Farrell at her sexiest. And THAT is saying something. Hubba hubba. ***`.
A Leap For Lisa:
Amazing episode. Best of the year. Great premise, great guest cast, great cliffhanger. Everything works. Let's start with Roddy McDowell as St. John. I kind of love that he's better at the hologram job than Al is. How do I know that? Because his existence was so brief. He correctly got Sam to the right solution, far before Al did, who was busy hanging out with his friends, and talking to himself in the waiting room. Having Young Al Leap back even further in time was a good idea. Because as The Leap Back showed, they had found a way to control the Leaps somewhat, at least for a person other than Sam. So that was using that to its full advantage. I honestly do not think Chip deserved to have his crimes wiped away and to get a happy ending, but do you know what? Our Al's look at the end upon Lisa being alive means I'll tolerate it. Just this once. It amazes me that Donald P Bellisario was smart enough to set up the Bingo Bango Bango thing seasons ahead of time. Bellisario is NOT known as either a sci-fi writer, or a writer for shows with a ton of continuity and mythology that need to hold together. But he did a better than average job at those things during Quantum Leap. I think my favorite thing in the episode is (unsurprisingly) the JAG trial. It is just amazing, and Charles Rocket is skeevy perfection. He makes my skin crawl. Even though it's a continuity problem to cast him as Riker here because he was Blake last season, Riker's the better role. As much as I loved seeing an actor with such a sad history get a happy ending last year, Riker is MUCH more consistent with the rest of the acting jobs Rocket has taken. Except he is beyond a monster. He is a full-fledged psychopath. When he says with such clarity "Not just anyone. It was Ensign Calavicci," I immediately get why Al was sent to the gas chamber. He freaking went for it and sold it. And when he asks Bingo's attorney what he expected him to say in that moment, I got freaking chills when he yells, "How about 'Hey! Stop that!'?" Yeah, Bellisario IS good at the Navy Lawyer stuff. For real. If Sam Leaped into the middle of a dream, I imagine that meant the Leap connected him and Bingo more than usual. Because if he Leaped into somebody asleep, he still wouldn't be having their dream. That's not how that stuff works unless there was still a piece of young Al in them. Tina and Gushie are married in the new timeline. I like to think they are in the fixed timeline from the very last episode where Al stayed married to Beth. Tina and Gushie's ship has sort of been around the edges of the series (including Ziggy's revelation in the premiere that they were having an affair) so I think God probably has a plan there. Lee Harvey Oswald is NOT the best season ending cliffhanger they did, but it's probably the most outright intriguing. Just because that since JFK came out, you weren't quite sure where the show would go with it. This is the first time we've actually SEEN the waiting room, and the first time we've seen scenes in the future from Al's perspective, besides Genesis and The Leap Back. The waiting room, and more future scenes are going to be a major part of the fifth and final season. Terry Farrell's bathing suit at the beginning is so great, because it's like she's wearing nothing at all. That's how it played on grainy low-def TV's back in the day, and it was a good way to go around the censors. I love that the Waiting Room turns out to be all blue, with no visible walls, ceilings, floors, or doors. This was the first episode to set up the idea that each Leap reset certain aspects of the memory loss. The idea would be returned to in Trilogy. This episode also stated an obvious truth for the first time, and it's about time it was said: Sam's success on the missions has nothing to do with him Leaping out. Even if Sam fails, he's gonna Leap. God needs him elsewhere, and if he DOES get someone killed he shouldn't have (see Abigail's father in "Trilogy: Part 1") he's still going to Leap. That's always been the case, and I'm glad Sam finally called Al on that. Cannot say enough good things about this finale. *****.
Quantum Leap: Season Four
I think the defining thing to me about Season Four, is that they started to break the rule of the idea that the show had no sci-fi or supernatural elements besides the time travel. It's been broken once or twice before, but this year it is broken MANY times. Most of the time, I don't approve of it. But it does sort of make the show seem more layered than it might be at first glance.
The season starts off with Sam and Al trading places as Leaper and hologram, and we finally get to see the fun future stuff including the megacomputer Ziggy, who turns out to have the same voice as the Narrator. As the season goes, on Sam Leaps into a rape victim, a chimpanzee(!), a rainmaker / huckster, a chain gang member, a gay cadet, a reporter, a Temptations-like black female singer, a cowboy, a soap opera star, an archaeologist, a stand-up comedian, and finally Al as a kid. That last one delivers many great twists and turns including the most unexpected Leap ever in the cliffhanger.
Best episodes are Sam's return home (The Leap Back), the one where Sam Leaped into a rape victim (Raped) the Deborah Pratt horror masterpiece (Dreams), and the mindblowing and sexy season finale (A Leap For Lisa). Worst episodes are where the mission is so boring, it's him giving an older woman a singing career, and the worst episode of the season, and arguably series (Justice). I'll get into exactly why that sucks so much in the review below. I'm practically seething just thinking about it. Season Overall: ****.
The Leap Back:
That was awesome. This episode changes some things, but keeps things a lot more consistent than you'd expect (including not recasting Dennis Wolfberg as the bit part of Gushie in the Pilot). Previous episodes hinted that the future stuff was set in 1996, but this episode actually outright says it's 1999 for the first time ever. Sam has been doing this supposedly for four years (which does NOT track with how long the average Leap takes) which sets the Pilot "Genesis" in 1995. Ziggy is amazing to me. I never quite grasped exactly how cool the character was over the air, but Ziggy is not only hinted at being transgendered (female voice, still referred to as a he) but Ziggy is NOT just egocentric and sharp with the one-liners. The way Deborah Pratt performs him suggests that Ziggy is outright sinister, and doesn't care if the characters live or die. I had always thought after this episode that Ziggy was, in fact, the Narrator at the beginning. But even if Pratt plays them both, the Narrator has far too much empathy and soulfulness to not be an entirely separate character. Ziggy's ambiguous sexuality is made even more ambiguous by the fact that he seems to openly lust after Sam. "If only you weren't my father" is an extremely disturbing line for that reason. Ziggy taking a few seconds to read all of Shakespeare makes me realizes he has far less computing power than the average computer in 2017. We're supposed to be impressed, but what Ziggy did is every search engine everywhere. I think Al and Sam switching libidos was dumb, and I thought it was a bit embarrassing back in the day too. But it led to an interesting moment that I didn't appreciate over the air (that I now do). Both Sam and Al get laid in this episode. And they both think each sexual experience was amazing because Sam was voracious and Al was sensitive. Sam seems horrified at himself during the episode, and Al seems frustrated. But the truth is, the change in personas gave them both nights of passion unlike any they've experienced. Frankly, after that, I find it curious that Sam actually forget the Leap Back. Donna says Sam never betrayed her love during the Leaps. I question if she will still think that after Abigail and the events of "Trilogy" in Season 5. Also, I am saddened and a bit steamed that Sam not only promises Donna to return to her, but Donna sets the expectation that he will. Which just makes the revelation in the series finale that he never returned home an even bigger bummer. The post office idea was great because it's the exact same solution from Back To The Future, Part II. It's good to see famous time-travel projects giving each other such solidarity. Ziggy's disinterested revelation that Tina is having an affair with Gushie makes me REALLY glad Al wound up marrying Beth after all in the series finale. I think Sam was a far better and more useful hologram than Al usually was. He goofed around a little in revenge, but he did so well because he gave Al amazing advice, which is made all the more amazing because he didn't actually live through this time period. Sam's a genius, and STILL knows that they called PTSD shell-shock in 1945. The outside of Project: Quantum Leap has a MUCH different design than it did in both the Pilot, and the opening narration from the second half of season two. I actually like the blue electrical motif here better than the old white building from season 2. Sam should have been shown looking into a mirror in this episode. Here's a question: Why doesn't Sam actually have any narration in this episode? It raises a LOT of questions to me that we heard Al's thoughts once before he makes love, but Sam's secret opinions are entirely silent. This episode is one of the three episodes in the entire series that does not end on a cliffhanger (the other two being M.I.A. and Mirror Image). This is how you know the events are a big deal. For the record, I love the new main title, even if they kept the opening Narration the same for this episode (they changed it next episode). The more people Sam leaps into, the more eclectic the theme song becomes. And Future Boy popping his head out of the spaceship will never get old. This is not one of the best episodes of the series. But it is one of the defining ones to me. ****1/2.
Play Ball:
It absolutely amazes me how long Neal McDonough has been acting. He doesn't have his distinctly deep and smooth voice yet, but it's still him. Interesting to learn that Al used to be an angry drunk before Sam reformed him. We had not been aware that had been his and Sam's dynamic until this episode. I like that Sam always seems to take a longer view of the Leaps than Al does. While it is true that last episode Sam made a better hologram than Al ever did, he is also indispensable as the actual Leaper. He realizes fixing Doc's career is nowhere near enough, and improves two other things in the scenario. What I especially like is that he figured out that he was playing the same game as in the original history, and that they needed to swap pitchers to do the game any good. And that is something that should have occurred to Al sooner, which shows that Sam is truly cut out for this. The way that Sam was playing the same game hints that he was always there in the original history. Which raises a ton of questions. This is NOT Gargoyles. The rules are NOT consistent. I like that the little kid Billy got the "Oh boy!" at the beginning. Speaking of "Oh Boys!", Sam saying "A hurricane?" while being slapped in the face with a newspaper, is one of the most memorable ones of those we got. They changed the images on the opening Narration by Deborah Pratt, to include some of the future oriented scenes of "The Leap Back", such as showing Project: Quantum Leap, when talking about Sam theorizing that one could time-travel within their own lifetimes. I also liked seeing Casey Sander in stuff too. He was a good character actor back then. Sam Leaping in with a mouthful of tobacco was super gross, and very funny. God has a wicked sense of humor. Not very memorable episode outside of the teaser and cliffhanger. ***.
Hurricane:
All of that file footage used in the hurricane unpleasantly reminds me that Quantum Leap was often done on the cheap. It's cheapness is partly why NBC didn't cancel it long before most sci-fi series of that era, but I don't have to like it. Personally, after all that, I don't think Lisa deserved the happy ending she got. She should be in jail for attempted murder, not two years of therapy. This episode is a good chance to see 24's James Morrison before he became The Silver Fox. The cliffhanger filled me with dread, because I knew how much I was going to hate rewatching the next episode. When Sissy tells Archie that she loves her dog more than him, I would have been offended. Even if it's true, you don't say that. And I think it IS true, because she didn't sound like she was joking. Sam firing the gun at the party was genius. Instead of rescuing most of the party guests, he saved all of them. Partly because he made sure they felt in mortal danger. Which is the proper actual response to the situation. Sam seems to enjoy making out with other people's girlfriends entirely too much. He is not the boy scout Al makes him out be. One thing I like is that it would have made the most sense for Sam to shoot Lisa at the end, but he manages to apprehend her without killing her, or her killing anyone else. I know Sam isn't a cop, but I wish this was the first instinct of actual cops: to put their own lives in danger to protect everybody else's. That's what they SHOULD be doing, and Sam risking his life so that NO-ONE died shows he'd make a fair cop. Do you know what bugs me? They never explained WHY two different people sort of saw Sam's eyes in Archie if they looked at him by different angles. That strikes me as a major piece of the mythology that deserves to be explained. Not as great an episode as the teaser promised. ***.
Justice:
I knew I was going to hate this episode in hindsight. I was right. It's deplorable on every level you can think of. And possibly some you can't. There is nothing about it that doesn't suck. I didn't like it over the air either (and for similar reasons). But I tolerated it because I loved the show so much otherwise. I no longer do that since my eyes are now wide open. This episode LOVES to have white people say the N-word. It looooves it. It acts like it is horrible, but that is not the impression I got from not only how frequently it was used, but the situations in which it was used. I wanted to puke as Al is encouraging Sam to use it to keep his cover and save Nathaniel's life. Only a white writer would think it remotely acceptable to try and give a white person an actual good reason for saying the word. See, Sam is just using that word for Nathaniel's own good! Why doesn't he love and appreciate him for it? See, this is Sam being a philanthropist! He's the cool white friend who is allowed to say it! And Quantum Leap thinks that extends to the entire franchise. This episode had crap moral after crap moral. When Nathaniel essentially calls Sam a long-winded version of a cracker, and asks him if it still hurts even knowing he didn't mean it, I threw up my hands. Those two words are on no way equivalent, and only a white writer would have a black person actually think they are, and use it as a teaching moment. White liberals are the absolute worst. Somehow they manage to be just as offensive as conservative racists, but we're supposed to give them a pass because they are supposedly well-intentioned. I don't ever do that and I never will ever again. Sam talks about how the world has passed these guys by, and they need to let go of the hatred. Him saying that is saying that hatred was acceptable once upon a time, and that we all just need to get over it. As if the worst part of hatred is that it's no longer trendy. He acts as if it EVER had a place in this world. Sam later espouses the exact opposite opinion to his white family, which makes his original observation worse, because it's him as the Narrator saying the original moral, without a filter of having to try to keep everyone alive as Sam is doing later with the opposite (and correct) opinion. I don't usually even NEED to comment on the end title credits, as they are usually irrelevant to the rest of the episode, but I am absolutely shocked at what bad taste these are actually in. If they had used images of a cross-burning, Klansmen running in the woods, a lynching, or a black Church exploding using the Quantum Leap Theme as a musical score, it would suck (for obvious reasons). But it would makes sense. This is Quantum Leap after all. Instead they use an African American Gospel Choir singing a spiritual hymn as all of these horrific things are happening, without the slightest idea of why that is completely inappropriate and offensive in every conceivable way. It is shocking that an episode that is clearly trying to preach equality, used images and music that could be used in a KKK recruiting video. I might have found a kid calling Al a crazy white man funny, if it didn't completely illustrate what kinds of monsters the people who blew up the Church were. It's a cute and funny line in a situation that is in no way cute and funny. We're supposed to think it's a moral victory that the Grand Wizard cuts down Nathaniel after Sam's sermon, but I don't give a sh*t that he did. He still blew up a Church that he knew had small children in it. I'm just supposed to forget that? He gets a free pass for an attempted first degree mass murder of children because he's grown as a person for 30 seconds soon afterwards? Bull. F***ing. Sh*t. I have not seen every single episode on the set as of this review, but I suspect this is Quantum Leap's worst episode. That's not a definite. Considering how appalling I remember the first Evil Leaper episode being, there is a small chance its sucktitude will be surpassed with potential false Down Syndrome rape allegations. But even if it DOESN'T wind up the absolute worst episode ever, it's still a major contender, and at least Number 2. 0.
Permanent Wave:
The last five minutes saved this. It's an entirely predictable mystery. Of COURSE the killer is the skeevy cop played by a pre-Buffy The Vampire Slayer Harry Groener, sporting a truly hideous pornstache. How else to explain the more information they gave him, the more dire the situation became? I was like "Why can't Quantum Leap ever do a surprising mystery?" And then BOOM! Chloe, the ditzy hairdresser, is suddenly Keyzer Soze, and my TV loves me again. The gunshot murder victim being named Phil Hartman is a REALLY unfortunate coincidence in hindsight. At this point in time, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was literally cast in everything. He was even more prolific at this stage of his career than Samuel L. Jackson was in the mid-nineties. If you ever needed an annoying kid who could act, Levitt was the guy they always cast. It's almost a shame Fred Savage, an even MORE amazing child actor, never got the part after part Levitt got, which carried his career into adulthood. I call foul on Sam making out with the twins to annoy Al. This is another example of perhaps Sam leaving behind a mess for the guy he Leaped into. By all accounts, Frank is a great guy, and faithful to Laura. Sam doing what he did here as a joke, puts that entire trustworthy relationship in jeopardy should either the twins tell Laura, or another beauty shop gossip does instead. This is probably the weirdest Leap-In the show has ever done. First Sam is a hairdresser, and then you hear a gunshot, and suddenly you wonder if Sam is a hairdresser in a warzone. Do they have white beauty shops in Somalia? Why else would the mother supposedly be afraid of the kid going off by himself before gunfire rings out? Two totally incongruous things happening in that teaser. Money in the shoes is a GREAT clue for penny loafers. Although you'd figure Kyle could have been more specific than that. From what he said it sound like he had bills sticking out. A penny is a MUCH more specific thing and something worth noting. Sam not Leaping in to prevent the murder, but find the killer, doesn't make too much sense. But possibly it does. Maybe if Sam prevents the murder, he puts Frank, Laura, and Kyle is MUCH worse danger since Ward is not the sole killer, and Chloe might have to kill all three of them if her connection to Ward is uncovered. Maybe saving Laura and Kyle was always the best Sam was ever gonna do. The Captain Galaxy and Future Boy stuff is inconsistent with the later part of the series. In "Trilogy" Sam claims that each time he Leaps, he forgets most of the details of the previous Leaps. And we can see here that is completely untrue, and was only a thing when A Leap For Lisa unilaterally decided it was. It does not fit in with the earlier episodes, especially this one. Better than average episode. ***1/2.
Raped:
Quantum Leap has always been very hit and miss with the social issues. This was a hit. It isn't perfect, but it's the closest this shows gets to that when tackling these topics. The audience may wonder if the reason Sam is there is to kick Kevin's @$$, why he had to be present for a trial he was going to lose. I'm guessing because participating in that trial showed him the stakes and what to do just then. It is possible if he Leaped in right before the attack, he'd fend Kevin off. But that is inadequate for the situation. Kevin needed every square inch of his @$$ kicked, and to be beaten nearly to death for that. Otherwise, it would never end, and Katie would have to leave town. I love the detective Shumway and how supportive he is, and that he seems to have a friendly back and forth with the D.A. Nancy. I have also never seen The Office's Amy Ryan look so young either. The stuff with the actual Katie on the stand sort of worked, but it's one of those high concept Quantum Leap things you need to take as an audience member on faith to believe. I'm not sure I believed it entirely. But the drama was so good and genuine from that moment, that maybe it's less important that I believed the plausibility of the sci-fi and the show's conceit, than Katie's actual story. This episode is very significant in that it is the first and only time Sam has actually met the person he Leaped into. I think the episode gets exactly why rape trials are so tough, and having Kevin be a pillar of the community gives it added relevance today after Trump. These type of guys always get away with it, and when the lawyer basically asks the court if they truly believe Katie is rapeable compared to his ex-girlfriend, I realized that was Trump's entire defense against one of the women he assaulted. Were I Nancy, I would have been like "Dude, you are totally the grossest dude ever." As if the reason women are raped is because they are hot, and the guy can't get any. It is a way for people to rationalize that crime, when it is in truth committed by psychopaths and narcissists who NEED no rationale to hurt people. There is nothing actually rational about it. The argument is insulting and demeaning, and were I the judge, I might have sanctioned that lawyer for being too skeevy to wear people-clothes. The teaser was great just because you can see that Sam kind of feels like an @$$hole for complaining about being a woman when he realizes exactly why he is there. And he SHOULD feel like an ahole for that. It is one of Sam Beckett's most unpleasant character quirks, and I'm glad he finally got some humility for it. As far as I remember, he never did it again after this either. The cliffhanger is beyond disappointing. They REALLY should have been teasing the fact that Sam just Leaped into a chimp. The fact that they just pretend he's an astronaut makes that cliffhanger a huge wasted opportunity to get the viewer to turn in next week. And finally, I have to complain about something. It is not believable to me that Nancy would have put Katie on the stand without reviewing her testimony first. ESPECIALLY since Kevin lied on the stand about them previously having consensual sex. Even back in 1980, a D.A. would want to dot all of the "i's" and cross all of the "t's" upon Sam claiming not to remember if that was true when he claimed it. I kind of think Kevin stating that on the stand caused more problems for the narrative, instead of Katie herself. They had Katie in the imaging chamber, and could have rebutted it. But it's just the fact that it was brought up in the first place which is why Sam's last minute save on the stand by Al and Katie is not believable in the least. But this is still a great episode. ****1/2.
The Wrong Stuff:
Very ironic that Dr. Leslie is portrayed by someone with the last name of "Goodall" (Caroline). Especially since Wikipedia and IMDB tell me she isn't actually related to Jane. I like the message of the episode, but I don't like the fact that this episode had to use animals to tell it. And it did. But animal safety standards were miserable in the early 90's, and almost all "acting" animals suffered greatly for it. But perhaps like Dr. Winger, the producers of Quantum Leap believed it would be for the greater good. I like that God's design seems to include looking out for chimpanzees. It is ironic Sam is there to save Bobo and Kori instead of Dr. Leslie. But it's not like Sam never Leaped into a fireman to save a cat from a tree either. God's plan seems to involve animals on this show too. I do not think there is a better demonstration to how cruel we treat animals than seeing a grown man wearing a diaper being stuck in a cage that small. Even when Sam was on death row, he was never treated so shabbily. And you only get this is the worst Sam has ever been treated upon seeing him in the tiny cage wearing the diaper. Lots of Scott Bakula beefcake for the ladies this episode. When Sam kissed Kori as they were hiding, and promised to protect her, I thought that was unbearably sweet. My biggest problem with the episode is something that also bugged me about "Jimmy", and is something that strikes me as the wrong moral for both of these stories. Sam saves the day by doing something a chimpanzee is literally unable to do. That might be fine under normal circumstances, but like a person with Down Syndrome in the 1950's performing CPR, swimming a man to safety is not something a chimp can do. And they make Sam doing that be the reason the doctor changed his mind about the chimps. And that strikes me as a bit disempowering and unfair to Bobo, and a bad message. It's cheating. And I thought the same thing about making Jimmy the hero in the specific way he was in season 2. Al was wrong about something: The doctors would NOT have dissected Bobo immediately upon seeing he could write. They would eventually, but they'd want to get as much information from that situation before they did. They'd probably keep him alive for months, if not years. Bobo would have actually had a longer lifespan than in the original timeline at least, if he had done that. Al's career in NASA does not line up to the time he was a P.O.W.. A lot of people think that is a continuity goof, and the show dropping the timeline ball. I personally don't. There is every possibility Al is actually lying to Sam about being on the Apollo, because I actually think it's unreasonable to ask me to believe that Al has actually done all of the crazy things he says he has done. If he hasn't made up half of the stories he's told Sam to portray himself as an expert, I'd be surprised. He grew up in an orphanage. Bragging and exaggerating stuff comes with the territory in that setting. And it's not like an amnesiac Sam can ever call him on it. Al can try to present himself to Sam any way he choose to impress him, and that wouldn't be out of character. But it would be another thing that hints that Al is a sociopath. And it wouldn't be the only thing that hinted that. For the record, this is the easiest Sam and Al have ever had it. Because nobody understands Bobo, this is the first time Sam and Al can have their entire conservatives uninterrupted, with no fear of anyone else thinking Sam is crazy for talking to himself. That was a really cool benefit of Leaping into an animal. This is probably the scariest cliffhanger we've ever gotten. The rest of the series' horror episodes have funny cliffhangers / teasers. It is VERY unusual for the show to leave us on such a horrific note. I love the episode, but I worry about those real-life chimps. ****.
Dreams:
That was a whole lotta crazy. This kind of horror episode is in Deborah Pratt's wheelhouse, and is the specific reason she is this show's unsung hero. Let's talk firsts for Quantum Leap. This is the first time that the Leap scrambled the brain between Sam and the Leapee, which is something that became a recurring facet in season five, mostly notorious with Lee Harvey Oswald. Also, this is the first time the last episode's cliffhanger was longer than the current episode's teaser. Here, Sam Leaped into the scene we saw last episode at the halfway point. I think Dr. Crane was a wonderful villain, although, despite the name, he shares little with Frasier, and is more a Hannibal Lecter kinda guy. I don't know why Sam didn't finger him immediately. He spent his entirety onscreen acting like a total malevolent psychopath. Even Hannibal is better behaved around strangers. If the episode had a flaw, it's that Scott Bakula was not very convincing as he flashed back to a 9 year old boy witnessing his mother's autopsy. And when I say he wasn't convincing, I actually mean his performance bordered on the unintentionally comical. Bakula is MUCH worse actor on this show than the Emmy nominations gave him credit for. He's good at making Sam likable and relatable. Just please, God, don't ask him to stretch. Fortunately the rest of the scene is creepy enough that it hurts things less than it should. You don't see Alan Scarfe getting work anymore, and that's a shame. He is a truly scary dude. My absolute favorite thing about the episode, the actual reason I will be giving it four and a half stars, is the fact that there is zero wrap-up. Al does NOT read off from the Ziggy remote that Jack and Officer Roselli got married, or that P.J. pulled out of his funk, and became a well-adjusted adult. After Crane is killed, he just looks at Al in horror, and then freaking Leaps. That's it. Leap. I love that. It is one of the most effective Leap-outs EVER, simply because it gives Sam and the audience zero level of closure, and for the first time ever. It was actually a bit creative and ballsy for a show this usually cliched to do. It's something a clever storyteller would do on a critically acclaimed modern show, not back in 1992 when practically all television was utter cr*p. It made me uncomfortable. Which made it the best ending ever. It is something David Lynch would have done on Twin Peaks. And I can give it no higher praise than that. ****1/2.
A Single Drop Of Rain:
This was never my favorite episode back in the day but it is not actually terrible. Unlike the last episode, I think we could have used a little bit more wrap-up here. If Billy stays with Ralph and Annie, what is to stop him and Annie from getting back together? I would have liked a definitive history to state that didn't happen. I also wanted to know what happened to Clinton. What's interesting about Clinton is that nobody seems to like him, but everyone treats him respectfully due to Billy calling him a friend. When he walked into Grace Beaumont's house I would have melted at Anne Haney's dirty look. Clinton's race is never brought up, but it remains a subtext to how everyone in the episode treats him. More casting continuity problems as Anne Haney plays Grace, even though she was an adoption agent last season. I have never seen Patrick Massett outside of his Klingon make-up before. I remember Carl Anthony Payne II from both The Cosby Show and Martin. This is one of his few roles I can still enjoy in hindsight. R.G. Armstrong's role here is one of the few times I've seen him play an outright good guy. I wonder how the producers expected the audience to ignore the noise of thunder in the background of the fight. I'm wondering how everyone else did too. It starting to rain was not the surprise the characters thought it was. Al states Congress passed a "low cholesterol bill" in the future. While trans fats have recently been banned in some areas of the country, I seemed to have missed that bill in 1999. So-so. **1/2.
Unchained:
Wow, that was way awesomer than I remembered. "Bye, Al!" Letting Boone in on the secret of Al really helped the story. Sam could NOT have the amount of clandestine conversations with Al as he usually does, while he and Boone are in such close quarters. Unless Boone understands an invisible being named Al actually exists. You might accuse Boone of being foolish and superstitious for being Al exists (it could read that way by racists) but I don't. There is plenty of evidence Cole had access to secret knowledge that he wouldn't get with another outside source. And since Boone has been with Cole the entire time, and the information has repeatedly turned out to be accurate, Occam's Razor states that Al exists. Boone isn't being superstitious or overly religious for believing in Al. He's simply examined all of the facts, and came to the logical conclusion. Ironically, this makes him far smarter than practically every other guest character on the show who hears Sam talking to himself, and merely thinks he's crazy. Boone's an interesting character. While he DOES seem good, he is also incredibly selfish by insisting on a cockfight to the death with the one person who ever helped him, rather than suffer a punishment he had clearly earned for being violent. Boone's not all good, and he's not all bad. I like the fact that even though he's innocent of his crime, the Leap mission is not to clear his name. He's a black man in the South in the 1950's, who is going up against a corrupt white cop. There is no amount of evidence that would free him from that. So instead, the solution is for him to run off, never to be seen again. And finally Ziggy not having any data on somebody becomes a good thing for the first time ever, because the fact that he and Cole were never seen again meant they disappeared into society with new lives under assumed identities. Which is the best each could have hoped for. Also smart to make it clear that Cole was being held hostage years beyond his 9 month sentence so you don't object to him escaping either. He's not running from justice. Him still being in prison after serving his time is the actual injustice. I like this episode far more than I remembered liking it. ****.
The Play's The Thing:
Below average episode with no real stakes. It's kind of fun to see early roles for Daniel Roebuck and Anna Gunn, but that's the only interesting this about this boring episode. I think this is one of Al's most annoying showings ever. Sam is ALWAYS right about the actual points of the missions, and he is ALWAYS right to not just fix one thing, but everything, and Al only listening to Ziggy, who has been wrong about something major in every single episode so far, almost makes me seethe. Even more infuriating is him yelling at Sam for rushing the nude woman out of the room, despite the fact that she was ruining the actual mission, simply so he could get his perv on. Al is often selfish and values the wrong things. Speaking of which, Al saying his fifth wife ran out on him is a genuine plothole. They did an entire episode last season premised on the idea that Al divorced his fifth wife because he believed she was cheating on him, but that it turned out later she was innocent. If this isn't a plothole, it's another thing to suggest that Al is a sociopathic liar about everything in his past. I can't stand that Ted fool. He calls Sam anti-American and a coward. Did Ted serve? I sincerely doubt it, or he would have brought it up. He's a classic chickenhawk hiding behind the flag, while his actual "service" involves selling textiles to the government. For the record, Sam HAS served. When he Leaped into Magic's life in Vietnam. He saved a lot of lives back then, including his own brother's. Can Ted say the same? And finally, nude Hamlet bothers me, because even if it's New York, and the 60's and 70's were the times goofy cr*p like that happened, I don't buy the idea that it happened at the last second, and that everyone in the audience was surprised. They were doing Hamlet. Surely not everyone who paid a ticket went there to see something like that. H*ll, a bunch of school kids who were into theater could have potentially been in the audience. It's not at all credible they would put on an all-nude production without warning the audience first. A total snooze. *1/2.
Running For Honor:
Decades later, this episode still rankles me like no other. Which is weird, because I agree with the message. But 25 years has taught me something about this episode that I didn't realize 25 years ago: There really should be no controversy built into the scenario of the episode. The fact that there is, angers me. About society and the things we have to fight for, and are still fighting for decades later. Sam is the wise liberal in this episode, which is refreshing because his perspective is usually that of the conservative. But it appears because of this episode that Sam's values aren't necessarily conservative. Perhaps they are simply moral and just, and you don't need to put a political value on that. Back then, many conservatives were not as outright unrepentantly evil as they are today, so it makes sense as a more conservative kid, I just assumed that was the message of Sam's prudishness. But learning he is not judgmental about anybody's else's private sexuality, simply means that while he is personally conservative with his own life, it doesn't mean he is going to judge anyone else. I like that, because it makes Sam a lot like me. I am VERY personally conservative, which is something that might surprise people, but I fall on the liberal spectrum precisely because I don't judge anyone who sees things about abortion, premarital sex, drug and alcohol use, and the like, different than me as morally inferior. I am very willing to listen to a different experience, which is what makes me a liberal. And it is kind of cool that as personally conservative as Sam Beckett is, he doesn't judge anyone else. Which is something I have in common with him. The problem with the episode is that they use Al to play the Devil's Advocate as to why gay people shouldn't be in the military. The problem there is that Al's position is indefensible. He is an outright homophobic sh*tbag in the episode, and making all sorts of sarcastic comments about the way Sam is carrying himself, and basically being a bully. This is literally Al's worst episode in the entire series. It is to his credit that he realizes he was wrong, and makes a sincere, full throated apology for his bigotry at the end. But Al is like 55 years old, and supposedly intelligent. This is something somebody like him should already have known. I give him some credit for the apology. But not much. Not much at all. But if we HADN'T gotten that apology, I simply would never have forgiven the character. I love Coach. I love that he's basically an insane drill sergeant with the cadets, but when he and Sam are alone, he completely breaks character and relates to him as a human being, as if this is nothing weird about going from a screaming Wife Swap persona, to that of a NPR radio host within the space of thirty seconds. I like that the crazy guy is just an act for him. Back in the day, both this episode and "Raped" sort of made me roll my eyes. What are the chances the mentors in both of those episodes would also turn out to have been raped and secretly gay, and to out themselves right when they needed to, to impart the wisdom they did? I thought that was sloppy writing, and extremely unlikely. I have a completely different perspective now. The truth is being gay is common. There are a lot more gay people out there than most of society realizes, a HUGE percentage of the population in fact, so having a gay guy pop up in an unexpected situation is pretty much how real life works. And rape culture is so pervasive in our society that I really don't know too many real-life women who HAVEN'T been raped. Quantum Leap was ahead of its time in stating that both of those things in our society were normal (in this episode's instance) and pervasive (in Raped's instance). I simply was not giving the show enough credit. Sam Leaping out at the exact start of the race strikes me as ill-timed. I think Tommy is gonna be so surprised by the Leap back that he's liable to trip. Maybe Sam should have Leaped five minutes earlier. This is a good episode, but a frustrating one. ***.
Temptation Eyes:
This is pretty much the cheesiest episode of Quantum Leap ever. It makes perfect sense it is set in the 1980's. To the Blu-Ray's credit, they got the music rights to "I Want To Know What Love Is", which is the cheesiest thing about the cheesiest episode. It would be nowhere NEAR as cheesy without it, so it's essential. This is the first thing I ever saw James Handy in, and I never forgot him. With his piercing blue eyes and silver hair, he is one of the most distinctive looking character actors of that era. This was probably Tamlyn Tomita's break-out role too. This is the only time Sam has sex on the series in which I think it's perfectly all right. Because she is the only one of his lovers who knows who he is. I also think that because people see him as Dylan, they probably make a very weird looking couple to everybody else. Sam Leaping out on them hugging was VERY smart, because if they had Leaped out on them kissing, Dylan would have been very confused, and Tamlyn possibly a little grossed out. I liked the goodbye so much because Sam does not tend to get those with the people he winds up caring about during the actual Leap. This is the one time Sam is actually able to say goodbye, and the other person understands what he means, and actually sees him go. The psychic powers thing is the show exploring a bit of the supernatural, which is one of the things it most famously does not tend to do. With the exception of the time travel stuff, Quantum Leap is usually played entirely as a straight drama, or at least until this season. God, this episode is so freaking corny as sin. And just as much fun years later. ****.
The Last Gunfighter:
Passable. Again, I love how Sam makes everything better by offering a job to Pat on the show. I like that, because even if Knight is the antagonist of the episode, his beef is legit. It would feel incredibly wrong if the show didn't have Tyler make it up to him. And having him being a consultant and an actor was a great way to do it. John Anderson was great as Pat Knight too. I liked the moment where Al tells Sam that gunfighters standing so far away from each other is from movies. I also like the revelation that Al learning his shooting from a stripper. Even if I suspect Al lies about a ton of stuff from his past, they all sound like lies that SHOULD be true, whether they actually are, or not. Not bad, but not great either. **.
Song For The Soul:
This was all right, but I never quite understood why this earned Harrison Page an Emmy nomination. He's good enough and all, but the show has had much better guest actors, in much better episodes, before and since. I love me some T'Keyah Crystal Keymah as Paula here. She was one of the stand-outs on In Living Color, and she makes me laugh here too, first by cheering with Lynette upon Sam kickboxing that potential sex offender, and then by saying Sam dances like a white girl. Eriq La Salle plays the villain, and I like how disgusted with him Paula is after what he tried to do with Lynette. Personally, I think Sam has a higher instant good opinion of Reverend Walters than is actually warranted. He's a good guy in the second half of the episode, but in the first, he's one of those scary fire and brimstone preachers, and it's hinted he is sometimes violently abusive with his daughter. While Sam is right that Al needs to trust Sam more for why he's here than Ziggy, it doesn't mean Sam is a great judge of character either. I would have again liked a little more wrap-up at the end than we got. I assume it was a happy ending, but the premise of the show means I'm not satisfied until I actually hear Al read off the history from the Ziggy remote. Sam's reaction shot in the cliffhanger was absolutely priceless. Average episode. ***.
Ghost Ship:
"Not THIS blooey!" Probably Al's greatest line of the season. This is another explanation for Cooper's rescue from a Ghost Ship at the end. He could have hallucinated that rescue based upon an old story he heard. Keep in mind he HAD kept most of the story blocked out of his memory for years. There's every chance some false memories returned with the real ones. I do NOT actually think this is one of the rare Quantum Leap episodes to deal with the supernatural. Carla Gugino has been acting for far longer than I ever realized. Surprised Sam didn't try to remove the appendix himself. Other shows with similarly dire situations have done that. In a close quarter airplane, Al's shadow is even more noticeable than normal. Which for a hologram, sucks. I like that Grant starts off the plane ride as a cocky jerk, and bit by bit winds up respecting Eddie, and treating him that way. When Sam tells him to be a little more concerned with his wife's comfort, I think that gave him the dose of humility he needed in that situation. This episode was pretty good. ***1/2.
Roberto!:
Bakula directed this. First off, we'll ignore the loathsome Dr. Laura. But this episode had a lot of 80's mainstays. Alan Oppenheimer (He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe), Don Gibb (Revenge Of The Nerds), and Jerry Hardin (Star Trek: The Next Generation) all had roles. Delane Matthews from Dave's World plays Jani. I like the idea that the actual Leap took place where Project: Quantum Leap was gonna be built 7 years from then. I like how Sam figured out the inhaler had been poisoned ahead of time. It's the only reason she could have died from an asthma attack, and I like that while people were trying to kill them, Sam knew what to watch out for. Can't believe the guy agreed to be on the show for an "apology". Rookie mistake. Ambushes are Trash TV's specialty. That was a weird Leap-out in my opinion. But the rest of the episode was better than I remembered it. ***1/2.
It's A Wonderful Leap:
The good: Liz Vassey as Angela. To be honest, the idea that she's an actual angel might be a stretch, but I can't think of any other reason she can see Sam and Al, can you? Al thinks it's because she's crazy, but that's him being insulting. That doesn't track. At all. As theatrical as she is, she also seems very aware of her surroundings and is scarily insightful. She's definitely not crazy. Which means there is something else going on. Perhaps her angelic nature is truly nothing more than an Nth Level Quantum Leap Project above Sam's paygrade. He DOES work for God, after all. And there is every possibility he would have lost this mission had she not taken that bullet. It is very possible her role towards Sam is the exact same role Sam usually takes for the people he protects every week. Sam forgetting everything at the end sort of is another clue she's legit. She's so great. Whether she's singing "Somewhere To Watch Over Me", or dancing the Charleston. When she tells Al that she isn't loud, just Puerto Rican, I'm rolling. The bad: The producers had no way of knowing this in 1992, but saying Sam is responsible for Donald Trump is a plothole. Because Sam is on a mission from God. And Donald Trump is the most sinister person alive. Granted, nobody knew that back than, and it was just supposed to be a cute joke about a real estate developer. But the fictionalized boy Trump sort of ruined this episode the way the real-life Trump has ruined reality. Not the show's fault, but it still bugs. And can I just state once and for all how much Al sucks? It's not just that's he's fat-shaming Angela which is so bad. He's doing it to her face. She makes fun of the flashy way he dresses. He makes fun of her physical flaws. Their battle of the sexes subtext is actually completely unequal. Al sucks. Bonus points for the soap opera theme at the end to give a small hint about what the next episode is actually about. Pretty good. ***1/2.
Moments To Live:
Another episode filled with stars I used to watch. Kathleen Wilhoit, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Frances Bay, Brian George. It's as if episodes of Heroes, ER, and Seinfeld all boinked. I love the Norman Jean Bates thing. While Al is right that the maiden name makes her eerily close to Norman Bates, on the show Bates Motel, Norma Jean IS the actual name of Norman's mother. This episode is now perfect in hindsight. All that being said, I truly hate Norma Jean. Forget the fact that she wants to rape Sam "for a baby". It is clear it has nothing to do a baby. She just wants to screw a soap opera star. That's it. If it were truly about a baby, there would be no candlelit dinners, and dancing, and Sam would be on the wrong end of a turkey baster. The fact that she expects her husband Hank to watch that and have no objections, shows that no matter how angry the descriptor makes her, she is in fact, crazy. I don't much like Hank, to tell the truth, but he must have the patience of a saint to put up with this crackpot idea. I love how she gets Millie to hold the gun on Sam, and tells the old woman if he moves to shoot. When they are alone, Sam advises Millie not to point the gun at her. And she asks how he expects her to shoot him then! Every single person in this episode is crazy. What is weird to me, is that just based on the original history, Sam should not have Leaped in at all. Lyle turned out to be fine later, and was just missing for two weeks. But I think Sam Leaped in because if he hadn't, Norman Jean would NOT have gotten the professional help she did at the end. Lyle himself would have been fine, but Hank and Norma Jean would be miserable, and possibly mistreat a helpless baby. A happy ending for them years in the future fits into God's design better. I love when Sam performs CPR on the extra at the beginning, she starts kissing him. And you know, that is the exact proper response to that scenario. If "Lyle" is gonna "goof around" like that, it serves him right. Plus, who would complain on either end? The one thing Norma did that I liked was destroying the camera of the mean Lyle fan. She is incredibly rude to whoever "Lyle" is actually speaking to, and if that is the actual way celebrities friends and families are treated when they are out with them, I never want to be a celebrity. If I were hot and a talented actor, I would not want to have to sit there and listen to a woman going on about how plain looking my companion was. Maybe that wouldn't happen because society is now far more celeb centric and sympathetic. But I CAN picture that happening in 1982, ESPECIALLY from a soap opera fan, and it would make my skin crawl. As much as I hate Norma Jean, were I Sam, I would have stood up for her just then. Sam is usually more gallant, but to be fair, at this point he isn't aware Norma Jean is the person he's there to help. The episode answers the question as to what would happen if "Misery" had a happy ending. It's not as good as Misery because of that fact. But it's not terrible either. ***.
The Curse Of Ptah-Hotep:
This asks the old age question, "Can a white guy like John Kapelos pass for an Egyptian?" The answer is "Yes. But not very convincingly." Quantum Leap is famous for not really going for the sci-fi, so it amazes me rewatching Season 4 how much legit supernatural stuff is in it. Before this season, that's never really been this show's shtick. How's the episode? I am actually amazed that there is no murderer and the actual murderous bad guy never actually killed anybody. All of that stuff being either a random coincidence, or part of a curse, kind of blows my mind. Interesting to learn that as a hologram, Al cannot see in the dark, and project light into the past. What is interesting about that, is that he COULD do that last season in the episode "Last Dance Before An Execution". How do you know it's Hollywood? The mummy's tombs are all spacious and well-lit. I'll grant them the well-lit thing as a part of artistic license, but tombs back then were tiny and cramped, and not just because space is a luxury only modern man has been able to afford. It's also because people were actually MUCH smaller back then. I would have preferred Sam Leaping out AFTER he escaped the tomb, because I'm betting Dale is going to be mega confused returning in the middle of that. Good thing Al told us he and Ginny survived. The Bob Saget cliffhanger is so significant to me because back in the day, he was the first celebrity I actually recognized in the cliffhanger before the next week. The next week was gonna feature Danny Tanner. Which was both kind of amazing, and considering my low opinion of Full House back then, kind of worrying too. ****.
Stand Up:
Amy Yasbeck was one of those loud-mouthed comediennes back in the 1990's who always made a favorable impression to me. I loved her in "The Mask", and I think John Ritter was a very lucky guy, for as short as his life was. As for Bob Saget. I see why he took the role. He's cast out of type as an angry jerk. The problem I would think he would have had with the role, is that Mack is a terrible comedian. It almost doesn't matter that he's sometimes funny. He is too thin-skinned and rage-filled for that particular profession. Comics need stomachs of steel to put up with hecklers, and this is the kind of guy who gets himself murdered by mobsters at the drop of a hat. I love Sam's solution to say Frankie and Mack were engaged to the mobster. Degorio waits a beat and then is all, "Well why didn't you say so?! I'll throw the wedding!" What I love about that is that Degorio turns from the Big Bad of the episode, into the hero's mentor, in the space of five seconds, simply because Sam put the truth in a manner an Italian guy could understand. It is immaterial if they ARE actually engaged. That's really why Mack DID hit him. Sam is stating the truth by lying. And as long as this story is keeping them alive, they might as well make it true. Genius move by Sam there. I think the weak link of the episode is Al. His psychoanalysis could have been written by a bored 14 year old. There is nothing deep or meaningful about his insights, and I resent that the episode is so badly written that is decides to make him right. Do you know who he is? He's the Great Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock, if the writers of that show didn't know she was secretly useless. Even the Fraggle Rock kiddie producers knew better than to make the Trash Heap's cliches the correct solutions. Why doesn't this show? Ugh. For the record? That cliffhanger? Terry Farrell at her sexiest. And THAT is saying something. Hubba hubba. ***`.
A Leap For Lisa:
Amazing episode. Best of the year. Great premise, great guest cast, great cliffhanger. Everything works. Let's start with Roddy McDowell as St. John. I kind of love that he's better at the hologram job than Al is. How do I know that? Because his existence was so brief. He correctly got Sam to the right solution, far before Al did, who was busy hanging out with his friends, and talking to himself in the waiting room. Having Young Al Leap back even further in time was a good idea. Because as The Leap Back showed, they had found a way to control the Leaps somewhat, at least for a person other than Sam. So that was using that to its full advantage. I honestly do not think Chip deserved to have his crimes wiped away and to get a happy ending, but do you know what? Our Al's look at the end upon Lisa being alive means I'll tolerate it. Just this once. It amazes me that Donald P Bellisario was smart enough to set up the Bingo Bango Bango thing seasons ahead of time. Bellisario is NOT known as either a sci-fi writer, or a writer for shows with a ton of continuity and mythology that need to hold together. But he did a better than average job at those things during Quantum Leap. I think my favorite thing in the episode is (unsurprisingly) the JAG trial. It is just amazing, and Charles Rocket is skeevy perfection. He makes my skin crawl. Even though it's a continuity problem to cast him as Riker here because he was Blake last season, Riker's the better role. As much as I loved seeing an actor with such a sad history get a happy ending last year, Riker is MUCH more consistent with the rest of the acting jobs Rocket has taken. Except he is beyond a monster. He is a full-fledged psychopath. When he says with such clarity "Not just anyone. It was Ensign Calavicci," I immediately get why Al was sent to the gas chamber. He freaking went for it and sold it. And when he asks Bingo's attorney what he expected him to say in that moment, I got freaking chills when he yells, "How about 'Hey! Stop that!'?" Yeah, Bellisario IS good at the Navy Lawyer stuff. For real. If Sam Leaped into the middle of a dream, I imagine that meant the Leap connected him and Bingo more than usual. Because if he Leaped into somebody asleep, he still wouldn't be having their dream. That's not how that stuff works unless there was still a piece of young Al in them. Tina and Gushie are married in the new timeline. I like to think they are in the fixed timeline from the very last episode where Al stayed married to Beth. Tina and Gushie's ship has sort of been around the edges of the series (including Ziggy's revelation in the premiere that they were having an affair) so I think God probably has a plan there. Lee Harvey Oswald is NOT the best season ending cliffhanger they did, but it's probably the most outright intriguing. Just because that since JFK came out, you weren't quite sure where the show would go with it. This is the first time we've actually SEEN the waiting room, and the first time we've seen scenes in the future from Al's perspective, besides Genesis and The Leap Back. The waiting room, and more future scenes are going to be a major part of the fifth and final season. Terry Farrell's bathing suit at the beginning is so great, because it's like she's wearing nothing at all. That's how it played on grainy low-def TV's back in the day, and it was a good way to go around the censors. I love that the Waiting Room turns out to be all blue, with no visible walls, ceilings, floors, or doors. This was the first episode to set up the idea that each Leap reset certain aspects of the memory loss. The idea would be returned to in Trilogy. This episode also stated an obvious truth for the first time, and it's about time it was said: Sam's success on the missions has nothing to do with him Leaping out. Even if Sam fails, he's gonna Leap. God needs him elsewhere, and if he DOES get someone killed he shouldn't have (see Abigail's father in "Trilogy: Part 1") he's still going to Leap. That's always been the case, and I'm glad Sam finally called Al on that. Cannot say enough good things about this finale. *****.
