The Pilot Episode, aka Genesis
We begin on a lonely stretch of highway in the New Mexico desert. The first thing we learn is that Al's a lech. Good beginning. The woman's sparkly accessories is a nice touch; after all, this is supposed to be the future. Everything is sparkly in the future. I hate the woman's dress though; it seems...off. On the other hand, Al's tux is hot. But then, so is Al. I love most of Al's wardrobe anyway, if only in the "OH MY GOD, MY EYES! MY EYES!" sort of way. But the tux? Ooh, baby.
Something flashes in the distance. Miss Sparkly notices and starts going on about the nuclear testing that was done in the area, and about government secrets and such. Al pretty much ignores her as he contacts Gooshie, who melodramatizes that Sam is leaping. He's leeeeaaaaping. Al demands to speak with Sam, but it's too late; Sam's in the Accelerator.
This next shot is supercool. It's the one used in the main credits and is probably the shot everyone is most familiar with when they think of Quantum Leap--Sam standing in the Accelerator, in the Fermi suit, with his arms to either side and smoke billowing around him. Makes me think of dry ice, actually. Sam's putting himself on ice!
More melodramatizing from Gooshie.
Credits.
I can't even remember what else Jennifer Runyon has been in. She was a big deal at the time, though. [ETA - Charles in Charge! How could I have forgotten that?! And yet, that's still all I remember her in.]
The camera goes from the clouds to inside a house, where Sam suddenly wakes up. The first thing he thinks is, "we did it!". The second is, "did what?" He doesn't remember who he is, where he is, or what happened.
He awakens next to a young woman, which surprises him. As she tells him she'll put on the coffee, she calls him Tom, and we get our first "ohhhh boy" from Sam. Bakula is a fantastic actor; he really sells the amnesia and slight hysteria. "Tom" notes he's in trouble when he realizes he woke up next to someone's wife. Someone's very pregnant wife.
I love Bakula's facial expressions; not just in this episode but all through the series. I don't think he gets enough credit as an actor, personally. He plays subtle very well.
Still disoriented, Sam gets into the shower in his boxers. As he smears Burma Shave cream on his face, he tells himself it's a dream and wigs slightly, since it smells and feels real. As he turns around, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, but it's not his reflection. Freaking out, he calls Peg (the wife--we find out her name later) and asks him who that is in the mirror. She, of course, tells him that it's him--Tom.
Ooh, Tom's cute.
Peg asks if he's sick and says he shouldn't fly if he is. Sam suddenly gets a memory--his office phone number. When he tries dialing though, nothing happens. Peg tells him that he's dialing too many numbers, and she doesn't know what an area code is. The Howdy Doody show comes on the TV. He begins to realize he's no longer in his own time.
He goes outside and notices the fifties-style cars as a military jet flies over (haven't a clue what kind--my dad would be ashamed of me). He now thinks this is a nightmare, and if it is, then there's sure to be a bogeyman.
As Sam decides to "ride out the dream", we learn that the year is 1956, Sam is Captain Tom Stratton, with pregnant wife Peg and a son, and a best friend named Bird Dog. Who's a lech. What is it with Sam and his best friends being leches? Is he living vicariously?
They pull into a bar parking lot as Bird Dog starts chatting up a blonde bombshell. He brags about the two of them being the best test pilots; only ones brave enough to fly the X-2. Sam tells Bird Dog he can't fly. Bird Dog thinks he's pulling a joke and wants to know who to pull it on, but Sam's serious. Bird Dog still isn't buying it, and suggests they try it on "Weird Ernie". So Bird Dog and the other pilots, one of which is Tony LaMott, pull the joke on Weird Ernie, who falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Weird Ernie's pretty stupid.
We hear the little chiming noises that indicate Al's presence. Damn, but Dean Stockwell looks good in a tux. I mentioned that before, didn't I? Woof. Sam notices Al looking at him and nods his head. Bakula again comes through with the expressions--it's obvious he doesn't recognize him, but for the time being, Al is oblivious to Sam's memory loss. He (Al) makes his first reference to one of his wives.
The next couple of scenes are of planes starting up and moving over the runway. If I remember right, they used actual footage of test pilots and aircrafts in the fifties. Some of it looks it--the quality is markedly different from the rest of the episode. Don't get me wrong, it's still neat, but you can definitely see where some is actual footage and some is TV show.
Peg and the other pilots' wives are talking about stretch marks and cactus cream. The house rattles as the jets fly overhead, and the wives pause their conversation and look anxious and uneasy. I think the house is trying to tell them to quit talking about stretch marks.
In the plane, Sam starts to relax and enjoy himself. Obviously, that means it's Bird Dog's cue to turn control of the plane over to him. Hee. The plane tilts as Sam hasn't a clue what he's supposed to do. Bird Dog takes back control and tries to believe "Tom" is still pulling a joke on him.
Another house rattling scene. Weird Ernie clears the plane for a drop. As Bird Dog ribs Tony about the blonde bombshell, Sam notices Al in the back of the plane. Bird Dog doesn't see him. He drops Tony.
Tony punches some buttons as he tries to break mach 3.
Ah, the buttons are rockets. He reaches 2.4 and hits the third rocket. He hears percolating as the plane's skin temperature reaches 800. The fire warning light goes off and he kills the rockets, but as he starts back he loses control. The plane spirals down and explodes. Everyone rushes out to the airfield and the wives cheer when they see that Tony has ejected.
An aside - I have the greatest respect for the men (and women) who risked their lives in the effort to advance new technology in the betterment of humankind. The space race was just beginning to take off - I think Sputnik was launched a few years after this episode's leap time. My dad was hugely into airplanes as a kid, and I believe these years influenced him in going into aircraft maintenance. I grew up listening to his (and mom's) stories of Chuck Yeager and many other flyboys. It must have been extremely exciting, and scary, time.
Soft jazz music plays as the scene changes to a bar. Tony and blonde bombshell dance as others tease each other. Sam is much more relaxed and looks fondly on Peg and asks her to dance. She's surprised but quite willing. I can't blame her.
Al wanders in the background, still in his tux but minus the long coat he had earlier. He looks fondly at the scene around him.
Peg wonders where "Tom" suddenly learned to dance. Sam flirts with her a little until he notices Al by the jukebox. She tells him it's Doug; he corrects her, saying, no, the guy in the tux. "Tux? In here?" she asks incredulously and asks him not to spoil things.
Sam's "thinks" in a voice-over that either Peg's view was blocked, or the bogeyman had arrived. His voice wavers on a bit on the last part, and while I sympathize since he thinks it's a nightmare, I can't help but be amused at the thought of Al as the bogeyman. Though the theme does come up again in the Halloween episode. I like it better here.
Sam sits Peg down at the booth and overrides her complaints, saying he doesn't want her to overdo it. "Doctor's orders", he says. He gets a funny look on his face when he says it. I have to say, I never noticed that particular nuance before; the hint of one of Sam's professions before it's actually confirmed by the episode. Kudos.
Sam tells Peg he's going to feed the jukebox and wanders over to confront the "bogeyman". Al starts in with one of his patented "there was a girl..." schticks, until Sam interrupts him. "Am I dead?" he asks Al. It explains much, he says, that he's dead and is in a reverse reincarnation that's entered in midlife. He gets a WTF look on his face as Al laughs.
"That's a good one, Sam". Sam abruptly turns back to Al. "You know my name". Al chuckles, "I'm not that wasted". Hee. Sam asks him why it is that Al knows Sam but no one else does. It's Al's turn for the WTF face as he realizes that Sam doesn't recognize him or remember the experiment.
Al's really agitated now as he mentions "that putz Ziggy" was right. Sam remembers Ziggy "little guy with bad breath". At this point everyone notices "Tom" talking to thin air. Sam chuckles nervously and realizes Al disappeared; he hurries outside and sees Al muttering to himself before opening an invisible door on the street and literally disappearing. I don't like this scene, mostly because it serves only to showcase the weirdness of Al's appearance and is never used again. Although the white rectangular door doesn't show until the second season, the rest of Al's coming and going isn't nearly as clumsy as this.
Sam pleads to God to let him wake up.
Sam and Peg drives home. Sam mentions striping on the road so it's easier to see, lamenting how hard it is to drive without them. Peg brings up Sam's oddities; the dancing, the beers, not talking flying, and of course the scene at the jukebox.
Sam tries to distract her by reading Burma Shave signs. It didn't work, since Sam mentions an electric razor. Sam starts to spill; he's not Tom, that's not his image, he can't fly, and he can't remember anything. Peg is freaked.
He tries to smooth things over by lying it's a gag, and that he's a real nerd; he and Bird Dog have been thinking up ways to explain why Tom can't fly. She's relieved, and asks what a nerd is. I'm not sure, but it looks like Bakula starts to break a little; the grin that appears seems a little too spontaneous.
Oh, that's a sweet car. I want that car.
The clock goes berserk as the camera pulls back, then suddenly zooms back into the house. That was weird.
Sam wakes up suddenly and assures Peg he's fine. He thinks to himself all he needs is a good night's sleep, and he'll figure it out when he milks the cows. Another "the hell?" look on his face. Did I mention I love Bakula's expressions in this episode? Well, I do.
More memories start to come to him; he was raised on a farm in Indiana, remembers Katie his sister, who married a naval officer named Jim Bonnick; mom lives with him after dad dies in '74. But he's in '56, so realizes his dad is still alive.
He tries to phone the operator but does not have a number or last name to give her. He remembers Elk Ridge and Oakdell, but can't remember anything else so hangs up. He notices Mikey looking at him. Mikey asks him about going fishing.
Sam's a crappy fisherman.
This is probably my favorite scene in the whole episode. Al shows up, all cute and rumpled in his red pajamas and black/white striped/polka-dotted robe. Sam suddenly reaches through Al. I never quite understood why he did that; I guess because no one else could see Al. It just seemed rather sudden in context.
Anyway, Sam reaches through Al and gasps "ahh". Not very loudly, I might add. Al asks him not to yell. That's hardly a yell.
Al introduces himself and tells Sam a lot of things are restricted, so it's easier not to ask a lot of questions. Sam asks "what are you?". Al responds that that's a question. Sam gives Al his first patented Look of Disgust, which, seriously. Shut up, Al. I just noticed Al's coffee mug. It's white with a wavy musical scale and is really cool. I want a mug like that.
Al explains that he's a man, like Sam, who waves his arm through Al and scoffs, "not like me". Al explains he's a neurological hologram tuned to Sam's brainwaves--Sam interrupts about agitation of carbon quarks and mesons and neurons. Whatever. He wonders how he knows that. Al side-steps the question by saying Ziggy has five theories--Sam interrupts him again, "Ziggy, little guy with bad breath". "No, that's Gooshie," replies Al. This sets the pattern for the whole series; Al trying to explain, and Sam interrupting. Shut up, Sam.
Al tells Sam Ziggy is a hybrid computer. Sam states that holograms and hybrid computers didn't exist in 1956, while Al says they do in his time. Sam asks what his last name is and Al can't say. Sam asks what can Al tell him. Al says not much other than what Sam already knows, and tells him probably the most recognizable quote in the series. "...you're part of a time-travel experiment that went a little...caca".
Al hesitantly tells Sam they're experiencing technical difficulties retrieving Sam. Sam laughs sarcastically as he asks Al whose brain child it is - Al's? Al huffs, "no, not mine". He needs to find out why they weren't able to retrieve Sam that morning, to which Sam is surprised - they tried? Of course they did, he wouldn't leap.
Oh! So that's what that weird scene was - that Al and Co. were trying to get Sam back, but Sam wouldn't go. Sam asks so that's his fault? Al replies, Possibly, and asks if Sam told anyone about himself - his true self. Sam looks chastised and tells him, yeah, he told Peg.
Al mentions the body-swapping part of the series. Tom's in the future in Sam's body.
They're going to try and retrieve Sam again on Tuesday, to which Sam replies that's too late--he's scheduled to fly the X-2 on Monday. Al suggest flying lessons.
Scene changes to a backyard bbq. Mikey asks Sam about a plane stunt who replies he doesn't know, which causes strange looks. Sam's concerned about how Peg looks. She tells him to spend time with Mikey; it's the most he's spent with him after Mikey was hit by a bus, which is totally a test that Sam fails. She kisses him passionately, which is another test, which Sam doesn't...fail exactly, but doesn't pass either.
Weird Ernie and the Berger doctor put together a test regarding memory; Sam will fill it out and get it back to them Monday. Ernie and Berger think they either on the verge of a momentous discovery or the butt of a momentous joke. Both, really.
Sam caresses the X-2. Careful, there, boy; she might get ideas.
Al surprises Sam (as usual). Sam still doesn't remember the experiment, so Al explains the string theory. One end is life, other is death; touch them together and they form a loop, which is a lifetime. Ball the string together and the days of the life touch each other out of sequence. So touching one part of the string or another will leap you back and forth within your lifetime--Project Quantum Leap.
Al walks through the airplane, which wigs Sam out, so Al says fine, he'll walk around things that aren't there, thus causing another explanation that while Al is a hologram to Sam, Sam and everything else is a hologram to Al; he's in the imaging chamber, which Sam remembers.
You know, I think I know why I like this pilot so much. Most pilots are loaded with exposition--they have to be to set up the series. Most of the time, the exposition is clumsy and forced. In Genesis, however, it's in a simple ask/answer format. Something weird is happening, why? Who/what are you? What's happening to me? The exposition fits in smoothly with the flow of the story, and is not shoving it's way in so that the viewer is up to speed. Basically, it's not forced in at all.
Sam asks what year it is in Al's time--Al says Sam will find out, IF they get him back. Sam wigs again - IF? - and Al gives Ziggy's theory that God, Time, or Whatever --heretofore known as GTW-- wants Sam to correct a mistake. They carry on in this vein for a little while, but I'm suddenly distracted by the apparent large sweat stains on Al's shirt. Oh, I see--those are dark mauve prints against a lighter mauve shirt. Note to designers--when creating dark prints on light material, keep said prints away from areas that sweat, such as the neck and armpits.
According to Ziggy, Tom Stratton was killed trying to break MACH 3. If Ziggy is right, Sam has to break MACH 3 and live. Sam says no way, jose, and demands another possibility. How about ground zero at a nuclear detonation? Considering the tests that were going on in that time, and in that area, that may not be such a bad theory, really. Though I don't blame Sam for not wanting to be around cancer-causing radiation.
The final theory is freezing the brain until all electrical activity ceases. Al punctuates the theory with his hands. Sam rightly calls it death, mimicking Al's movements. Hee.
Al does mention Sam could play it safe and wait around 40 years or so, but that would cause Tom Stratton to live from where he is now. Sam considers Peg and Mikey. He doesn't want to hurt them but he can't stay as Tom Stratton. Al again mentions breaking Mach 3 and living. Each time I type Mach 3 I think of the Gillette razor. I don't think that's what the pioneers of avionatics had in mind, I'm sure.
Sam reiterates that he can't fly. We got that. Al says he can. Sam says Al's a hologram. Al responds he's also an ex-astronaut, which for some reason I find amazingly sexy. According to Al, the hardest part of flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 takes care of the taking off part. Sam hits a couple of rockets; he takes off and breaks Mach 3. Landing is impossible; even with Al's help he wouldn't be able to do. So, he ejects. Once accomplished, he should leap.
Back at the house, Sam tries to remember his name or number to call his dad. No luck. He has no shirt on. This is the most shirtless I remember ever seeing him on this series. So, not a bad start to the series.
Peg comes in and asks if Sam's worried about breaking Mach 3. He says no. She doesn't believe him. She sits on his lap and asks him to promise something. He asks what. She says promise first, so he does. He asks what he promised and Peg says she'll tell him the next night. Not too hard to figure what the promise is supposed to be.
Damn, forget shirtless--Sam's practically naked. Lucky Peg.
The next day Sam is all decked out in the X-2 pilot gear; he gives the memory test to the doctor and says it brought back some old memories. As the doctor reads it, he begins to chuckle.
Dirty talk at the wives' house. And I thought '50s wives were supposed to be demure and meek. The house rattling commences.
Berger and Ernie read over Sam's answers. Most positive affect of high school - miniskirts. Most negative effect - panty hose. Damn, Sam--apparently he IS living vicariously through Al.
Tony tells Sam he swore he could smell coffee right before almost hitting mach 3. Sam says it might be one of Ernie's gremlins.
Sam gets strapped into the X-2, wondering where "Albert" is.
More about the memory test. Apparently Sam was expelled from college for streaking? Somehow I doubt that. Weird Ernie is not amused. Dr. Berger is.
I know as a TV show they have to milk the suspense, but there were times I wish they had given Sam a bit of a break. I mean, there's only so much anxiety a man can take. They drop Sam in the X-2; after a bit more freaking from Sam and suspense from the show--they drop Sam and he yells for Al. Al finally shows up and appears in the cockpit. He tells Sam to follow his lead and light off rockets one and two. Sam matches Al's movements in the cockpit. Al comments it's a kick in the butt. Sam asks him where he's been, Al replies at a Laker's play-off game and he spent the night with Martha. Sam gives him the Look of Disgust.
The X-2 goes faster. Sam's in the stratosphere, and the site is pretty amazing. I don't know if its actual footage, but it is pretty awesome. Sam punches rocket 3. He reaches skin temp 750. Mach 2.9. Sam hears percolating. The fire light comes on. The heat is boiling the fuel. Al tells him to shut down. Sam doesn't. Al tells him to eject--Peg's coffee pot explodes at the same time the X-2 does.
The plane crashes into pieces. Sam lands with the parachute billowing around him. Fortunately, he's alive. Unfortunately, he hasn't leaped.
They're on the way to the hospital. Al shows up and Sam talks to him in a nuanced conversation. Sam's responses to Al are taken a different way by Dr Berger--talking about why Sam is still there. Al never really bought into the "change history". Sure, Al.
Hospital. Peg's in premature labor. Sam asks Mikey to stay with the other wives while he checks on Peg. She's relieved to see him and tells him she knew he'd keep his promise. He smiles and says it would take more than a gremlin to kill him. She gets a contraction and Sam has her do Lamaze. When she asks where he learned to do that, he effortlessly says pre-med.
Dr. Berger beckons to him. Another doctor tells Sam that the baby will arrive nine weeks premature. There's a plane standing by to take them to a specialist hospital, but the doctor doesn't want to risk moving Peg considering the shock she's had. Sam asks about contractions and dilation. He tells them she's early enough to stop and to start her on beta something or other. He gives a couple of medicinal examples but realizes they didn't come out until the late '70s. Dr. Berger pulls him aside and starts to give him a major set down--the joke's gone on long enough. Sam brushes him off and asks him what would happen if they set up an intravaneous 5% alcohol drip mixed with water. Dr Berger replies that she would get instantly drunk. Which would apparently interfere with whatever is stimulating the contractions. I don't know, I'm not a doctor.
My second favorite scene. Peg starts singing Que Sera Sera. I laughed hysterically the first time I saw this. Hey, I was 11. The doctor is amazed--she'll have a hell of hangover but she won't deliver. At least, until she's nine months along, I assume. I'd hate to think of that kid in her forever. And I just grossed myself out.
A nice tender scene between the two as they kiss. Sam looks out the window at Mikey and gives him a thumbs up. As Mikey tosses the baseball to him, Sam finds himself with an out-stretched glove as he catches a ball and is in a uniform. He looks around in confusion as an old-timer hollers at "Fox" from the stands.
Sam has apparently leaped, so it looks like Ziggy was right.
Sam finds himself standing on a ballfield and starts to wander towards the dugout while an announcer chatters into a microphone. As Sam sits down a dog starts barking at him. Animals can tell that it's Sam, and not the original person. And hilariously, my dog hears the barking on my computer and runs outside to chase the intruder away. She does it every single time, too. It always cracks me up.
The coach tells "Fox" to shut the dog up; it's his, after all. Sam gives the dog an evil eye as he voice-overs "He knew...the little sucker knew. And he wasn't going to stop until they all knew." Right, Sam, the dog is somehow going to tell the players that you're a time-traveler in someone else's body. I think they'd be more shocked at the dog suddenly talking.
Sam remembers his father teaching him how to stare down wild dogs and gives the dog what I guess is an alpha-look. He thinks it's working until he turns around and jumps as he sees Al, calming the dog down. Good boy.
Sam tries to get Al to follow him into the clubhouse. Al wants to watch the game, but relunctantly follows Sam. Sam asks Al how he got there so fast, and we get the first instance of time distortion. Apparently, even though Sam leaped instantly, it was over a week before Al and the others found him again. They never fully explain this, do they? Is Sam in some kind of ether, and the others finally find him when he leaps back in? And why does Sam never get a break? Does he ever get a chance to just rest? Noooo, he has to keep leaping, going from one stressful situation to another. It's a wonder he's not insane.
Anyway. Sam tells Al he's having an identity crisis. One minute he's Tom Stratton, then next he's a ballplayer named Fox. Al gives him the lowdown; he's Tim Fox, 32-year-old third baseman for the Waco Bombers. Explains all the "accents", I guess. So apparently Fox managed to get up to the Majors for one game, blew out his legs sliding into second, and sent back down to recover. He's been there ever since. For some reason, this causes Sam to rush to the mirror to see what he looks like. I don't think that has anything to do with hurting a leg, Sam.
Al tells Sam that it's Fox's last year, and his last at-bat will fly out to center. He goes on to open a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, marry a girl named Sue, and have two kids. You know, that's really not that bad a life, people. Could be a hell of a lot worse. Like, I don't know, DEAD?
So anyway, Al says something about trying to fix what went wrong in Fox's life--apparently flying out to center is an event that warrants leaping--and fix it. Sam will then leap out again. Sam sarcastically asks, like when he flew the X-2? Al says Ziggy blew it; he (continuity alert...Ziggy becomes a she later) didn't research enough. Apparently, Peg went into premature labor when Tom died and the baby died too. Now, since Tom lived, both Tom and "Samantha" are living long, healthy lives. It seems GTW wanted both Tom and Samantha to live.
At this point Sam looks back and the mirror and realizes he can't see Al; he calls Al a vampire. Heh. No, but he is a cylon. Hee. Ahem. Al says holograms don't reflect and calls Sam a mental slug for forgetting. There's some more lechery from Al, but I'm not in the mood to recap it. Totally unintentional pun, but I'm keeping it.
Sam asks Al why he didn't leap all the way. Al says 12 years forward isn't bad...a couple more and Sam's home. Sam asks the obvious, "what if I leap back?...I could be bouncing around in time forever?" Al responds, "no one lives forever, Sam". Sam just gives Al a Look.
Sam asks Al what he's supposed to do. Al doesn't know, because Ziggy is sulking. He doesn't want to print it out in case he's wrong, due to his big ego. Sam asks Al who created "this Ziggy". Al just gives him a rather sympathetic look and tells him "you". "Quantum Leap is your project, Sam. You're the genius behind it." Sam looks at Al like Al's putting one over on him. Sam denies it, saying he's a medical doctor. He found that out, see, on account that he saved a baby's life. I guess that would tell you something, wouldn't it?
Al tells Sam that he holds six doctorates, medicine was one of them. His specialty is Quantum Physics (you think?), and Time calls him the "next Einstein". He literally is a genius. Al tells him that "the truth is, if there's one guy who can figure out how to bring you back, it's you."
Sam just kind of smiles. He ruefully leans against a wall and says, "and I can't even remember my name". Al takes pity on him and says "Beckett. It's Sam Beckett."
This next scene is very poignant. Sam is on the phone, trying to reach his dad, John Beckett, in Oak Ridge, Indiana. The operator connects him through and Sam is talking to his dad that died in the '70s. Sam is pretty overcome, but they manage to chat a little while. Sam lies a little bit, telling John that his father was John's father's brother, making them cousins, I guess. And whaddya know, John's got a kid named Sam. How interesting.
So they chat for a bit, and Sam gets all verklempt. Eventually he hangs up, both happy and sad that he got a chance to talk to his father again.
HA! They cut to his father in this episode. I had forgotten that. Given that Bakula plays his father in The Leap Home, I find that rather hilarious. But the scenes are good ones, and Bakula plays the hell out of it. Young Sam bounces in and says in Bakula's voice (in a hideous dubbing effect, I might add) that a calf is about to drop. They banter a bit and the scene cuts back to older Sam in the hallway, thanking GTW for allowing him to talk to his father again. Aw, that cut got to me. Sniff.
Sam voiceovers that maybe Quantum Leaping isn't so bad...getting a second chance to make things right, and make the world a better place. Who knows what he can accomplish? Well, if you've seen the series, you know. And I'm not even talking about the Evil Leaper.
Sam goes back into the dugout. I hope the coach isn't wondering how long that pee break was, dude. Sam thanks Al and Al just tells him to go fly out. Sam smiles and says, "I don't know, maybe I'm here to win this one". Al doesn't look convinced.
Coach tells Sam that it's his last year, too, and he doesn't want to end it in the cellar. Sam lightly punches his shoulder and goes up to bat.
Now, apparently Scott Bakula is actually a pretty decent ballplayer, and he says in one of the behind-the-scenes bits that he really wishes he had a better swing than the one he gives here. I can't say I blame him; it is pretty awful.
The pitcher throws a strike, then another. Finally, the music goes a bit nuts as the pitcher throws the third pitch. Everything slows down into slo-mo; Sam swings and misses. But the catcher fumbles the ball and Al freaks out, telling Sam to run. There's no dialogue, all music and crowd cheering. The catcher overthrows first base, and Sam keeps running. The first baseman overthrows third, and Sam keeps running. He slides into home headfirst, safe, and scores the winning run.
Really, GTW? THIS was the life-changing event for Fox and the Bombers, and THAT's how you want him to do it? Bleh.
Sam leaps, FINALLY, into the next episode.
And that's it for the pilot episode of Quantum Leap. I'll be doing Shock Theater for the link I posted in a previous post, and probably other episodes of QL and posting them here. Hope you enjoyed it.
Read more!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Well, I've finally figured out the "Read More". Kind of. I have the code, and I put it in correctly and tested it and it worked. The lack of the "read more" has been a big reason why I haven't updated with any actual recaps/reviews. Now that it's working...kind of...I'll be updating this blog more often. As I mentioned several months ago, I will post both Hathor and Quantum Leap:Genesis first. You can also read my QL recaps here as part of a TWOP recapping project. It should be a lot of fun.
ETA: Got it. urgh.
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ETA: Got it. urgh.
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Show Reviews
I'm lousy with updating. I love to write, and I really want to get back to it, but I really suck at keeping up with it.
I've decided that I will try recapping/reviewing TV shows that I am currently obsessed with. They will be out of order. They will not make sense in context. I will recap or review ST Deep Space Nine one day, Beauty and the Beast ('80s TV show) the next, then later maybe Buffy or Firefly or BSG or Stargate or whatever-I-am-currently-crazy-for. One thing I can almost guarantee--they will pretty much be scifi reviews. I do watch non-scifi shows, but I rarely have deep thoughts about them. Scifi brings out the meditation in me, I guess.
These will suck. I am trying to get past the suck, so if you happen across these, be patient. I do hope to get better.
Coming soon...a complete recap of Quantum Leap's season one Pilot, or "Genesis", and a complete recap of Stargate - SG1's first season "Hathor". After that, who knows?
Stay tuned.
Read more!
I've decided that I will try recapping/reviewing TV shows that I am currently obsessed with. They will be out of order. They will not make sense in context. I will recap or review ST Deep Space Nine one day, Beauty and the Beast ('80s TV show) the next, then later maybe Buffy or Firefly or BSG or Stargate or whatever-I-am-currently-crazy-for. One thing I can almost guarantee--they will pretty much be scifi reviews. I do watch non-scifi shows, but I rarely have deep thoughts about them. Scifi brings out the meditation in me, I guess.
These will suck. I am trying to get past the suck, so if you happen across these, be patient. I do hope to get better.
Coming soon...a complete recap of Quantum Leap's season one Pilot, or "Genesis", and a complete recap of Stargate - SG1's first season "Hathor". After that, who knows?
Stay tuned.
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Thursday, August 7, 2008
Okay, well, I actually do have a draft of the pilot episode of Quantum Leap. And I will post it. Eventually. In the meantime, I will be recapping the episode "Hathor" from Stargate - SG1. I don't know how well it will go; I don't much like the episode, but there is a lot of snark-worthy material.
Should be up sometime over the weekend.
Read more!
Should be up sometime over the weekend.
Read more!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Quantum Leap Recap - The Pilot Episode aka Genesis
The Pilot Episode, aka Genesis
We begin on a lonely stretch of highway in the New Mexico desert. The first thing we learn is that Al's a lech. Good beginning. The woman's sparkly accessories is a nice touch; after all, this is supposed to be the future. Everything is sparkly in the future. I hate the woman's dress though; it seems...off. On the other hand, Al's tux is hot. But then, so is Al. I love most of Al's wardrobe anyway, if only in the "OH MY GOD, MY EYES! MY EYES!" sort of way. But the tux? Ooh, baby.
Something flashes in the distance. Miss Sparkly notices and starts going on about the nuclear testing that was done in the area, and about government secrets and such. Al pretty much ignores her as he contacts Gooshie, who melodramatizes that Sam is leaping. He's leeeeaaaaping. Al demands to speak with Sam, but it's too late; Sam's in the Accelerator.
This next shot is supercool. It's the one used in the main credits and is probably the shot everyone is most familiar with when they think of Quantum Leap--Sam standing in the Accelerator, in the Fermi suit, with his arms to either side and smoke billowing around him. Makes me think of dry ice, actually. Sam's putting himself on ice!
More melodramatizing from Gooshie.
Credits.
I can't even remember what else Jennifer Runyon has been in. She was a big deal at the time, though. [ETA - Charles in Charge! How could I have forgotten that?! And yet, that's still all I remember her in.]
I can't even remember what else Jennifer Runyon has been in. She was a big deal at the time, though. [ETA - Charles in Charge! How could I have forgotten that?! And yet, that's still all I remember her in.]
The camera goes from the clouds to inside a house, where Sam suddenly wakes up. The first thing he thinks is, "we did it!". The second is, "did what?" He doesn't remember who he is, where he is, or what happened.
He awakens next to a young woman, which surprises him. As she tells him she'll put on the coffee, she calls him Tom, and we get our first "ohhhh boy" from Sam. Bakula is a fantastic actor; he really sells the amnesia and slight hysteria. "Tom" notes he's in trouble when he realizes he woke up next to someone's wife. Someone's very pregnant wife.
I love Bakula's facial expressions; not just in this episode but all through the series. I don't think he gets enough credit as an actor, personally. He plays subtle very well.
Still disoriented, Sam gets into the shower in his boxers. As he smears Burma Shave cream on his face, he tells himself it's a dream and wigs slightly, since it smells and feels real. As he turns around, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, but it's not his reflection. Freaking out, he calls Peg (the wife--we find out her name later) and asks him who that is in the mirror. She, of course, tells him that it's him--Tom.
Ooh, Tom's cute.
Peg asks if he's sick and says he shouldn't fly if he is. Sam suddenly gets a memory--his office phone number. When he tries dialing though, nothing happens. Peg tells him that he's dialing too many numbers, and she doesn't know what an area code is. The Howdy Doody show comes on the TV. He begins to realize he's no longer in his own time.
He goes outside and notices the fifties-style cars as a military jet flies over (haven't a clue what kind--my dad would be ashamed of me). He now thinks this is a nightmare, and if it is, then there's sure to be a bogeyman.
As Sam decides to "ride out the dream", we learn that the year is 1956, Sam is Captain Tom Stratton, with pregnant wife Peg and a son, and a best friend named Bird Dog. Who's a lech. What is it with Sam and his best friends being leches? Is he living vicariously?
They pull into a bar parking lot as Bird Dog starts chatting up a blonde bombshell. He brags about the two of them being the best test pilots; only ones brave enough to fly the X-2. Sam tells Bird Dog he can't fly. Bird Dog thinks he's pulling a joke and wants to know who to pull it on, but Sam's serious. Bird Dog still isn't buying it, and suggests they try it on "Weird Ernie". So Bird Dog and the other pilots, one of which is Tony LaMott, pull the joke on Weird Ernie, who falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Weird Ernie's pretty stupid.
We hear the little chiming noises that indicate Al's presence. Damn, but Dean Stockwell looks good in a tux. I mentioned that before, didn't I? Woof. Sam notices Al looking at him and nods his head. Bakula again comes through with the expressions--it's obvious he doesn't recognize him, but for the time being, Al is oblivious to Sam's memory loss. He (Al) makes his first reference to one of his wives.
The next couple of scenes are of planes starting up and moving over the runway. If I remember right, they used actual footage of test pilots and aircrafts in the fifties. Some of it looks it--the quality is markedly different from the rest of the episode. Don't get me wrong, it's still neat, but you can definitely see where some is actual footage and some is TV show.
In the plane, Sam starts to relax and enjoy himself. Obviously, that means it's Bird Dog's cue to turn control of the plane over to him. Hee. The plane tilts as Sam hasn't a clue what he's supposed to do. Bird Dog takes back control and tries to believe "Tom" is still pulling a joke on him.
Another house rattling scene. Weird Ernie clears the plane for a drop. As Bird Dog ribs Tony about the blonde bombshell, Sam notices Al in the back of the plane. Bird Dog doesn't see him. He drops Tony.
Tony punches some buttons as he tries to break mach 3.
Ah, the buttons are rockets. He reaches 2.4 and hits the third rocket. He hears percolating as the plane's skin temperature reaches 800. The fire warning light goes off and he kills the rockets, but as he starts back he loses control. The plane spirals down and explodes. Everyone rushes out to the airfield and the wives cheer when they see that Tony has ejected.
An aside - I have the greatest respect for the men (and women) who risked their lives in the effort to advance new technology in the betterment of humankind. The space race was just beginning to take off - I think Sputnik was launched a few years after this episode's leap time. My dad was hugely into airplanes as a kid, and I believe these years influenced him in going into aircraft maintenance. I grew up listening to his (and mom's) stories of Chuck Yeager and many other flyboys. It must have been extremely exciting, and scary, time.
Soft jazz music plays as the scene changes to a bar. Tony and blonde bombshell dance as others tease each other. Sam is much more relaxed and looks fondly on Peg and asks her to dance. She's surprised but quite willing. I can't blame her.
Al wanders in the background, still in his tux but minus the long coat he had earlier. He looks fondly at the scene around him.
Peg wonders where "Tom" suddenly learned to dance. Sam flirts with her a little until he notices Al by the jukebox. She tells him it's Doug; he corrects her, saying, no, the guy in the tux. "Tux? In here?" she asks incredulously and asks him not to spoil things.
Sam's "thinks" in a voice-over that either Peg's view was blocked, or the bogeyman had arrived. His voice wavers on a bit on the last part, and while I sympathize since he thinks it's a nightmare, I can't help but be amused at the thought of Al as the bogeyman. Though the theme does come up again in the Halloween episode. I like it better here.
Sam sits Peg down at the booth and overrides her complaints, saying he doesn't want her to overdo it. "Doctor's orders", he says. He gets a funny look on his face when he says it. I have to say, I never noticed that particular nuance before; the hint of one of Sam's professions before it's actually confirmed by the episode. Kudos.
Sam tells Peg he's going to feed the jukebox and wanders over to confront the "bogeyman". Al starts in with one of his patented "there was a girl..." schticks, until Sam interrupts him. "Am I dead?" he asks Al. It explains much, he says, that he's dead and is in a reverse reincarnation that's entered in midlife. He gets a WTF look on his face as Al laughs.
"That's a good one, Sam". Sam abruptly turns back to Al. "You know my name". Al chuckles, "I'm not that wasted". Hee. Sam asks him why it is that Al knows Sam but no one else does. It's Al's turn for the WTF face as he realizes that Sam doesn't recognize him or remember the experiment.
Al's really agitated now as he mentions "that putz Ziggy" was right. Sam remembers Ziggy "little guy with bad breath". At this point everyone notices "Tom" talking to thin air. Sam chuckles nervously and realizes Al disappeared; he hurries outside and sees Al muttering to himself before opening an invisible door on the street and literally disappearing. I don't like this scene, mostly because it serves only to showcase the weirdness of Al's appearance and is never used again. Although the white rectangular door doesn't show until the second season, the rest of Al's coming and going isn't nearly as clumsy as this.
Sam pleads to God to let him wake up.
Sam and Peg drives home. Sam mentions striping on the road so it's easier to see, lamenting how hard it is to drive without them. Peg brings up Sam's oddities; the dancing, the beers, not talking flying, and of course the scene at the jukebox.
Sam tries to distract her by reading Burma Shave signs. It didn't work, since Sam mentions an eletric razor. Sam starts to spill; he's not Tom, that's not his image, he can't fly, and he can't remember anything. Peg is freaked.
He tries to smooth things over by lying it's a gag, and that he's a real nerd; he and Bird Dog have been thinking up ways to explain why Tom can't fly. She's relieved, and asks what a nerd is. I'm not sure, but it looks like Bakula starts to break a little; the grin that appears seems a little too spontaneous.
Oh, that's a sweet car. I want that car.
The clock goes berserk as the camera pulls back, then suddenly zooms back into the house. That was weird.
Sam wakes up suddenly and assures Peg he's fine. He thinks to himself all he needs is a good night's sleep, and he'll figure it out when he milks the cows. Another "the hell?" look on his face. Did I mention I love Bakula's expressions in this episode? Well, I do.
More memories start to come to him; he was raised on a farm in Indiana, remembers Katie his sister, who married a naval officer named Jim Bonnick; mom lives with him after dad dies in '74. But he's in '56, so realizes his dad is still alive.
He tries to phone the operator but does not have a number or last name to give her. He remembers Elk Ridge and Oakdell, but can't remember anything else so hangs up. He notices Mikey looking at him. Mikey asks him about going fishing.
Sam's a crappy fisherman.
This is probably my favorite scene in the whole episode. Al shows up, all cute and rumpled in his red pajamas and black/white striped/polka-dotted robe. Sam suddenly reaches through Al. I never quite understood why he did that; I guess because no one else could see Al. It just seemed rather sudden in context.
Anyway, Sam reaches through Al and gasps "ahh". Not very loudly, I might add. Al asks him not to yell. That's hardly a yell.
Al introduces himself and tells Sam a lot of things are restricted, so it's easier not to ask a lot of questions. Sam asks "what are you?". Al responds that that's a question. Sam gives Al his first patented Look of Disgust, which, seriously. Shut up, Al. I just noticed Al's coffee mug. It's white with a wavy musical scale and is really cool. I want a mug like that.
Al explains that he's a man, like Sam, who waves his arm through Al and scoffs, "not like me". Al explains he's a neurological hologram tuned to Sam's brainwaves--Sam interrupts about agitation of carbon quarks and mesons and neurons. Whatever. He wonders how he knows that. Al side-steps the question by saying Ziggy has five theories--Sam interrupts him again, "Ziggy, little guy with bad breath". "No, that's Gooshie," replies Al. This sets the pattern for the whole series; Al trying to explain, and Sam interrupting. Shut up, Sam.
Al tells Sam Ziggy is a hybrid computer. Sam states that holograms and hybrid computers didn't exist in 1956, while Al says they do in his time. Sam asks what his last name is and Al can't say. Sam asks what can Al tell him. Al says not much other than what Sam already knows, and tells him probably the most recognizable quote in the series. "...you're part of a time-travel experiment that went a little...caca".
Al hesitantly tells Sam they're experiencing technical difficulties retreiving Sam. Sam laughs sarcastically as he asks Al whose brain child it is - Al's? Al huffs, "no, not mine". He needs to find out why they weren't able to retrieve Sam that morning, to which Sam is surprised - they tried? Of course they did, he wouldn't leap.
Oh! So that's what that weird scene was - that Al and Co. were trying to get Sam back, but Sam wouldn't go. Sam asks so that's his fault? Al replies, Possibly, and asks if Sam told anyone about himself - his true self. Sam looks chastised and tells him, yeah, he told Peg.
Al mentions the body-swapping part of the series. Tom's in the future in Sam's body.
They're going to try and retrieve Sam again on Tuesday, to which Sam replies that's too late--he's scheduled to fly the X-2 on Monday. Al suggest flying lessons.
Scene changes to a backyard bbq. Mikey asks Sam about a plane stunt who replies he doesn't know, which causes strange looks. Sam's concerned about how Peg looks. She tells him to spend time with Mikey; it's the most he's spent with him after Mikey was hit by a bus, which is totally a test that Sam fails. She kisses him passionately, which is another test, which Sam doesn't...fail exactly, but doesn't pass either.
Weird Ernie and the Berger doctor put together a test regarding memory; Sam will fill it out and get it back to them Monday. Ernie and Berger think they either on the verge of a momentous discovery or the butt of a momentous joke. Both, really.
Sam caresses the X-2. Careful, there, boy; she might get ideas.
Al surprises Sam (as usual). Sam still doesn't remember the experiment, so Al explains the string theory. One end is life, other is death; touch them together and they form a loop, which is a lifetime. Ball the string together and the days of the life touch each other out of sequence. So touching one part of the string or another will leap you back and forth within your lifetime--Project Quantum Leap.
Al walks through the airplane, which wigs Sam out, so Al says fine, he'll walk around things that aren't there, thus causing another explanation that while Al is a hologram to Sam, Sam and everything else is a hologram to Al; he's in the imaging chamber, which Sam remembers.
You know, I think I know why I like this pilot so much. Most pilots are loaded with exposition--they have to be to set up the series. Most of the time, the exposition is clumsy and forced. In Genesis, however, it's in a simple ask/answer format. Something weird is happening, why? Who/what are you? What's happening to me? The exposition fits in smoothly with the flow of the story, and is not shoving it's way in so that the viewer is up to speed. Basically, it's not forced in at all.
Sam asks what year it is in Al's time--Al says Sam will find out, IF they get him back. Sam wigs again - IF? - and Al gives Ziggy's theory that God, Time, or Whatever --heretofore known as GTW-- wants Sam to correct a mistake. They carry on in this vein for a little while, but I'm suddenly distracted by the apparent large sweat stains on Al's shirt. Oh, I see--those are dark mauve prints against a lighter mauve shirt. Note to designers--when creating dark prints on light material, keep said prints away from areas that sweat, such as the neck and armpits.
According to Ziggy, Tom Stratton was killed trying to break MACH 3. If Ziggy is right, Sam has to break MACH 3 and live. Sam says no way, jose, and demands another possibility. How about ground zero at a nuclear detonation? Considering the tests that were going on in that time, and in that area, that may not be such a bad theory, really. Though I don't blame Sam for not wanting to be around cancer-causing radiation.
The final theory is freezing the brain until all electrical activity ceases. Al puncutates the theory with his hands. Sam rightly calls it death, mimicking Al's movements. Hee.
Al does mention Sam could play it safe and wait around 40 years or so, but that would cause Tom Stratton to live from where he is now. Sam considers Peg and Mikey. He doesn't want to hurt them but he can't stay as Tom Stratton. Al again mentions breaking Mach 3 and living. Each time I type Mach 3 I think of the Gillette razor. I don't think that's what the pioneers of avionatics had in mind, I'm sure.
Sam reiterates that he can't fly. We got that. Al says he can. Sam says Al's a hologram. Al responds he's also an ex-astronaut, which for some reason I find amazingly sexy. According to Al, the hardest part of flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 takes care of the taking off part. Sam hits a couple of rockets; he takes off and breaks Mach 3. Landing is impossible; even with Al's help he wouldn't be able to do. So, he ejects. Once accomplished, he should leap.
Back at the house, Sam tries to remember his name or number to call his dad. No luck. He has no shirt on. This is the most shirtless I remember ever seeing him on this series. So, not a bad start to the series.
Peg comes in and asks if Sam's worried about breaking Mach 3. He says no. She doesn't believe him. She sits on his lap and asks him to promise something. He asks what. She says promise first, so he does. He asks what he promised and Peg says she'll tell him the next night. Not too hard to figure what the promise is supposed to be.
Damn, forget shirtless--Sam's practically naked. Lucky Peg.
The next day Sam is all decked out in the X-2 pilot gear; he gives the memory test to the doctor and says it brought back some old memories. As the doctor reads it, he begins to chuckle.
Dirty talk at the wives' house. And I thought '50s wives were supposed to be demure and meek. The house rattling commences.
Berger and Ernie read over Sam's answers. Most positive affect of high school - miniskirts. Most negative effect - panty hose. Damn, Sam--apparently he IS living vicariously through Al.
Tony tells Sam he swore he could smell coffee right before almost hitting mach 3. Sam says it might be one of Ernie's gremlins.
Sam gets strapped into the X-2, wondering where "Albert" is.
More about the memory test. Apparently Sam was expelled from college for streaking? Somehow I doubt that. Weird Ernie is not amused. Dr. Berger is.
I know as a TV show they have to milk the suspense, but there were times I wish they had given Sam a bit of a break. I mean, there's only so much anxiety a man can take. They drop Sam in the X-2; after a bit more freaking from Sam and suspense from the show--they drop Sam and he yells for Al. Al finally shows up and appears in the cockpit. He tells Sam to follow his lead and light off rockets one and two. Sam matches Al's movements in the cockpit. Al coments it's a kick in the butt. Sam asks him where he's been, Al replies at a Laker's play-off game and he spent the night with Martha. Sam gives him the Look of Disgust.
The X-2 goes faster. Sam's in the stratosphere, and the site is pretty amazing. I don't know if its actual footage, but it is pretty awesome. Sam punches rocket 3. He reaches skin temp 750. Mach 2.9. Sam hears percolating. The fire light comes on. The heat is boiling the fuel. Al tells him to shut down. Sam doesn't. Al tells him to eject--Peg's coffee pot explodes at the same time the X-2 does.
The plane crashes into pieces. Sam lands with the parachute billowing around him. Fortunately, he's alive. Unfortunately, he hasn't leaped.
They're on the way to the hospital. Al shows up and Sam talks to him in a nuanced conversation. Sam's responses to Al are taken a different way by Dr Berger--talking about why Sam is still there. Al never really bought into the "change history". Sure, Al.
Hospital. Peg's in premature labor. Sam asks Mikey to stay with the other wives while he checks on Peg. She's relieved to see him and tells him she knew he'd keep his promise. He smiles and says it would take more than a gremlin to kill him. She gets a contraction and Sam has her do Lamaze. When she asks where he learned to do that, he effortlessly says pre-med.
Dr. Berger beckons to him. Another doctor tells Sam that the baby will arrive nine weeks premature. There's a plane standing by to take them to a specialist hospital, but the doctor doesn't want to risk moving Peg considering the shock she's had. Sam asks about contractions and dilation. He tells them she's early enough to stop and to start her on beta something or other. He gives a couple of medicinal examples but realizes they didn't come out until the late '70s. Dr. Berger pulls him aside and starts to give him a major set down--the joke's gone on long enough. Sam brushes him off and asks him what would happen if they set up an intravaneous 5% alcohol drip mixed with water. Dr Berger replies that she would get instantly drunk. Which would apparently interfer with whatever is stimulating the contractions. I don't know, I'm not a doctor.
My second favorite scene. Peg starts singing Que Sera Sera. I laughed hysterically the first time I saw this. Hey, I was 11. The doctor is amazed--she'll have a hell of hangover but she won't deliver. At least, until she's nine months along, I assume. I'd hate to think of that kid in her forever. And I just grossed myself out.
A nice tender scene between the two as they kiss. Sam looks out the window at Mikey and gives him a thumbs up. As Mikey tosses the baseball to him, Sam finds himself with an out-stretched glove as he catches a ball and is in a uniform. He looks around in confusion as an old-timer hollers at "Fox" from the stands.
Sam has apparently leaped, so it looks like Ziggy was right.
Sam finds himself standing on a ballfield and starts to wander towards the dugout while an announcer chatters into a microphone. As Sam sits down a dog starts barking at him. Animals can tell that it's Sam, and not the original person. And hilariously, my dog hears the barking on my computer and runs outside to chase the intruder away. She does it every single time, too. It always cracks me up.
The coach tells "Fox" to shut the dog up; it's his, after all. Sam gives the dog an evil eye as he voice-overs "He knew...the little sucker knew. And he wasn't going to stop until they all knew." Right, Sam, the dog is somehow going to tell the players that you're a time-traveler in someone else's body. I think they'd be more shocked at the dog suddenly talking.
Sam remembers his father teaching him how to stare down wild dogs and gives the dog what I guess is an alpha-look. He thinks it's working until he turns around and jumps as he sees Al, calming the dog down. Good boy.
Sam tries to get Al to follow him into the clubhouse. Al wants to watch the game, but relunctantly follows Sam. Sam asks Al how he got there so fast, and we get the first instance of time distortion. Apparently, even though Sam leaped instantly, it was over a week before Al and the others found him again. They never fully explain this, do they? Is Sam in some kind of ether, and the others finally find him when he leaps back in? And why does Sam never get a break? Does he ever get a chance to just rest? Noooo, he has to keep leaping, going from one stressful situation to another. It's a wonder he's not insane.
Anyway. Sam tells Al he's having an identity crisis. One minute he's Tom Stratton, then next he's a ballplayer named Fox. Al gives him the lowdown; he's Tim Fox, 32-year-old third baseman for the Waco Bombers. Explains all the "accents", I guess. So apparently Fox managed to get up to the Majors for one game, blew out his legs sliding into second, and sent back down to recover. He's been there ever since. For some reason, this causes Sam to rush to the mirror to see what he looks like. I don't think that has anything to do with hurting a leg, Sam.
Al tells Sam that it's Fox's last year, and his last at-bat will fly out to center. He goes on to open a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, marry a girl named Sue, and have two kids. You know, that's really not that bad a life, people. Could be a hell of a lot worse. Like, I don't know, DEAD?
So anyway, Al says something about trying to fix what went wrong in Fox's life--apparently flying out to center is an event that warrants leaping--and fix it. Sam will then leap out again. Sam sarcastically asks, like when he flew the X-2? Al says Ziggy blew it; he (continuity alert...Ziggy becomes a she later) didn't research enough. Apparently, Peg went into premature labor when Tom died and the baby died too. Now, since Tom lived, both Tom and "Samantha" are living long, healthy lives. It seems GTW wanted both Tom and Samantha to live.
At this point Sam looks back and the mirror and realizes he can't see Al; he calls Al a vampire. Heh. No, but he is a cylon. Hee. Ahem. Al says holograms don't reflect and calls Sam a mental slug for forgetting. There's some more lechery from Al, but I'm not in the mood to recap it. Totally unintentional pun, but I'm keeping it.
Sam asks Al why he didn't leap all the way. Al says 12 years forward isn't bad...a couple more and Sam's home. Sam asks the obvious, "what if I leap back?...I could be bouncing around in time forever?" Al responds, "no one lives forever, Sam". Sam just gives Al a Look.
Sam asks Al what he's supposed to do. Al doesn't know, because Ziggy is sulking. He doesn't want to print it out in case he's wrong, due to his big ego. Sam asks Al who created "this Ziggy". Al just gives him a rather sympathetic look and tells him "you". "Quantum Leap is your project, Sam. You're the genius behind it." Sam looks at Al like Al's putting one over on him. Sam denies it, saying he's a medical doctor. He found that out, see, on account that he saved a baby's life. I guess that would tell you something, wouldn't it?
Al tells Sam that he holds six doctorates, medicine was one of them. His specialty is Quantum Physics (you think?), and Time calls him the "next Einstein". He literally is a genius. Al tells him that "the truth is, if there's one guy who can figure out how to bring you back, it's you."
Sam just kind of smiles. He ruefully leans against a wall and says, "and I can't even remember my name". Al takes pity on him and says "Beckett. It's Sam Beckett."
This next scene is very poignant. Sam is on the phone, trying to reach his dad, John Beckett, in Oak Ridge, Indiana. The operator connects him through and Sam is talking to his dad that died in the '70s. Sam is pretty overcome, but they manage to chat a little while. Sam lies a little bit, telling John that his father was John's father's brother, making them cousins, I guess. And whaddya know, John's got a kid named Sam. How interesting.
So they chat for a bit, and Sam gets all verklempt. Eventually he hangs up, both happy and sad that he got a chance to talk to his father again.
HA! They cut to his father in this episode. I had forgotten that. Given that Bakula plays his father in The Leap Home, I find that rather hilarious. But the scenes are good ones, and Bakula plays the hell out of it. Young Sam bounces in and says in Bakula's voice (in a hideous dubbing effect, I might add) that a calf is about to drop. They banter a bit and the scene cuts back to older Sam in the hallway, thanking GTW for allowing him to talk to his father again. Aw, that cut got to me. Sniff.
Sam voiceovers that maybe Quantum Leaping isn't so bad...getting a second chance to make things right, and make the world a better place. Who knows what he can accomplish? Well, if you've seen the series, you know. And I'm not even talking about the Evil Leaper.
Sam goes back into the dugout. I hope the coach isn't wondering how long that pee break was, dude. Sam thanks Al and Al just tells him to go fly out. Sam smiles and says, "I don't know, maybe I'm here to win this one". Al doesn't look convinced.
Coach tells Sam that it's his last year, too, and he doesn't want to end it in the cellar. Sam lightly punches his shoulder and goes up to bat.
Now, apparently Scott Bakula is actually a pretty decent ballplayer, and he says in one of the behind-the-scenes bits that he really wishes he had a better swing than the one he gives here. I can't say I blame him; it is pretty awful.
The pitcher throws a strike, then another. Finally, the music goes a bit nuts as the pitcher throws the third pitch. Everything slows down into slo-mo; Sam swings and misses. But the catcher fumbles the ball and Al freaks out, telling Sam to run. There's no dialogue, all music and crowd cheering. The catcher overthrows first base, and Sam keeps running. The first baseman overthrows third, and Sam keeps running. He slides into home headfirst, safe, and scores the winning run.
Really, GTW? THIS was the life-changing event for Fox and the Bombers, and THAT's how you want him to do it? Bleh.
Sam leaps, FINALLY, into the next episode.
And that's it for the pilot episode of Quantum Leap. I'll be doing Shock Theater for the link I posted in a previous post, and probably other episodes of QL and posting them here. Hope you enjoyed it.
Soft jazz music plays as the scene changes to a bar. Tony and blonde bombshell dance as others tease each other. Sam is much more relaxed and looks fondly on Peg and asks her to dance. She's surprised but quite willing. I can't blame her.
Al wanders in the background, still in his tux but minus the long coat he had earlier. He looks fondly at the scene around him.
Peg wonders where "Tom" suddenly learned to dance. Sam flirts with her a little until he notices Al by the jukebox. She tells him it's Doug; he corrects her, saying, no, the guy in the tux. "Tux? In here?" she asks incredulously and asks him not to spoil things.
Sam's "thinks" in a voice-over that either Peg's view was blocked, or the bogeyman had arrived. His voice wavers on a bit on the last part, and while I sympathize since he thinks it's a nightmare, I can't help but be amused at the thought of Al as the bogeyman. Though the theme does come up again in the Halloween episode. I like it better here.
Sam sits Peg down at the booth and overrides her complaints, saying he doesn't want her to overdo it. "Doctor's orders", he says. He gets a funny look on his face when he says it. I have to say, I never noticed that particular nuance before; the hint of one of Sam's professions before it's actually confirmed by the episode. Kudos.
Sam tells Peg he's going to feed the jukebox and wanders over to confront the "bogeyman". Al starts in with one of his patented "there was a girl..." schticks, until Sam interrupts him. "Am I dead?" he asks Al. It explains much, he says, that he's dead and is in a reverse reincarnation that's entered in midlife. He gets a WTF look on his face as Al laughs.
"That's a good one, Sam". Sam abruptly turns back to Al. "You know my name". Al chuckles, "I'm not that wasted". Hee. Sam asks him why it is that Al knows Sam but no one else does. It's Al's turn for the WTF face as he realizes that Sam doesn't recognize him or remember the experiment.
Al's really agitated now as he mentions "that putz Ziggy" was right. Sam remembers Ziggy "little guy with bad breath". At this point everyone notices "Tom" talking to thin air. Sam chuckles nervously and realizes Al disappeared; he hurries outside and sees Al muttering to himself before opening an invisible door on the street and literally disappearing. I don't like this scene, mostly because it serves only to showcase the weirdness of Al's appearance and is never used again. Although the white rectangular door doesn't show until the second season, the rest of Al's coming and going isn't nearly as clumsy as this.
Sam pleads to God to let him wake up.
Sam and Peg drives home. Sam mentions striping on the road so it's easier to see, lamenting how hard it is to drive without them. Peg brings up Sam's oddities; the dancing, the beers, not talking flying, and of course the scene at the jukebox.
Sam tries to distract her by reading Burma Shave signs. It didn't work, since Sam mentions an eletric razor. Sam starts to spill; he's not Tom, that's not his image, he can't fly, and he can't remember anything. Peg is freaked.
He tries to smooth things over by lying it's a gag, and that he's a real nerd; he and Bird Dog have been thinking up ways to explain why Tom can't fly. She's relieved, and asks what a nerd is. I'm not sure, but it looks like Bakula starts to break a little; the grin that appears seems a little too spontaneous.
Oh, that's a sweet car. I want that car.
The clock goes berserk as the camera pulls back, then suddenly zooms back into the house. That was weird.
Sam wakes up suddenly and assures Peg he's fine. He thinks to himself all he needs is a good night's sleep, and he'll figure it out when he milks the cows. Another "the hell?" look on his face. Did I mention I love Bakula's expressions in this episode? Well, I do.
More memories start to come to him; he was raised on a farm in Indiana, remembers Katie his sister, who married a naval officer named Jim Bonnick; mom lives with him after dad dies in '74. But he's in '56, so realizes his dad is still alive.
He tries to phone the operator but does not have a number or last name to give her. He remembers Elk Ridge and Oakdell, but can't remember anything else so hangs up. He notices Mikey looking at him. Mikey asks him about going fishing.
Sam's a crappy fisherman.
This is probably my favorite scene in the whole episode. Al shows up, all cute and rumpled in his red pajamas and black/white striped/polka-dotted robe. Sam suddenly reaches through Al. I never quite understood why he did that; I guess because no one else could see Al. It just seemed rather sudden in context.
Anyway, Sam reaches through Al and gasps "ahh". Not very loudly, I might add. Al asks him not to yell. That's hardly a yell.
Al introduces himself and tells Sam a lot of things are restricted, so it's easier not to ask a lot of questions. Sam asks "what are you?". Al responds that that's a question. Sam gives Al his first patented Look of Disgust, which, seriously. Shut up, Al. I just noticed Al's coffee mug. It's white with a wavy musical scale and is really cool. I want a mug like that.
Al explains that he's a man, like Sam, who waves his arm through Al and scoffs, "not like me". Al explains he's a neurological hologram tuned to Sam's brainwaves--Sam interrupts about agitation of carbon quarks and mesons and neurons. Whatever. He wonders how he knows that. Al side-steps the question by saying Ziggy has five theories--Sam interrupts him again, "Ziggy, little guy with bad breath". "No, that's Gooshie," replies Al. This sets the pattern for the whole series; Al trying to explain, and Sam interrupting. Shut up, Sam.
Al tells Sam Ziggy is a hybrid computer. Sam states that holograms and hybrid computers didn't exist in 1956, while Al says they do in his time. Sam asks what his last name is and Al can't say. Sam asks what can Al tell him. Al says not much other than what Sam already knows, and tells him probably the most recognizable quote in the series. "...you're part of a time-travel experiment that went a little...caca".
Al hesitantly tells Sam they're experiencing technical difficulties retreiving Sam. Sam laughs sarcastically as he asks Al whose brain child it is - Al's? Al huffs, "no, not mine". He needs to find out why they weren't able to retrieve Sam that morning, to which Sam is surprised - they tried? Of course they did, he wouldn't leap.
Oh! So that's what that weird scene was - that Al and Co. were trying to get Sam back, but Sam wouldn't go. Sam asks so that's his fault? Al replies, Possibly, and asks if Sam told anyone about himself - his true self. Sam looks chastised and tells him, yeah, he told Peg.
Al mentions the body-swapping part of the series. Tom's in the future in Sam's body.
They're going to try and retrieve Sam again on Tuesday, to which Sam replies that's too late--he's scheduled to fly the X-2 on Monday. Al suggest flying lessons.
Scene changes to a backyard bbq. Mikey asks Sam about a plane stunt who replies he doesn't know, which causes strange looks. Sam's concerned about how Peg looks. She tells him to spend time with Mikey; it's the most he's spent with him after Mikey was hit by a bus, which is totally a test that Sam fails. She kisses him passionately, which is another test, which Sam doesn't...fail exactly, but doesn't pass either.
Weird Ernie and the Berger doctor put together a test regarding memory; Sam will fill it out and get it back to them Monday. Ernie and Berger think they either on the verge of a momentous discovery or the butt of a momentous joke. Both, really.
Sam caresses the X-2. Careful, there, boy; she might get ideas.
Al surprises Sam (as usual). Sam still doesn't remember the experiment, so Al explains the string theory. One end is life, other is death; touch them together and they form a loop, which is a lifetime. Ball the string together and the days of the life touch each other out of sequence. So touching one part of the string or another will leap you back and forth within your lifetime--Project Quantum Leap.
Al walks through the airplane, which wigs Sam out, so Al says fine, he'll walk around things that aren't there, thus causing another explanation that while Al is a hologram to Sam, Sam and everything else is a hologram to Al; he's in the imaging chamber, which Sam remembers.
You know, I think I know why I like this pilot so much. Most pilots are loaded with exposition--they have to be to set up the series. Most of the time, the exposition is clumsy and forced. In Genesis, however, it's in a simple ask/answer format. Something weird is happening, why? Who/what are you? What's happening to me? The exposition fits in smoothly with the flow of the story, and is not shoving it's way in so that the viewer is up to speed. Basically, it's not forced in at all.
Sam asks what year it is in Al's time--Al says Sam will find out, IF they get him back. Sam wigs again - IF? - and Al gives Ziggy's theory that God, Time, or Whatever --heretofore known as GTW-- wants Sam to correct a mistake. They carry on in this vein for a little while, but I'm suddenly distracted by the apparent large sweat stains on Al's shirt. Oh, I see--those are dark mauve prints against a lighter mauve shirt. Note to designers--when creating dark prints on light material, keep said prints away from areas that sweat, such as the neck and armpits.
According to Ziggy, Tom Stratton was killed trying to break MACH 3. If Ziggy is right, Sam has to break MACH 3 and live. Sam says no way, jose, and demands another possibility. How about ground zero at a nuclear detonation? Considering the tests that were going on in that time, and in that area, that may not be such a bad theory, really. Though I don't blame Sam for not wanting to be around cancer-causing radiation.
The final theory is freezing the brain until all electrical activity ceases. Al puncutates the theory with his hands. Sam rightly calls it death, mimicking Al's movements. Hee.
Al does mention Sam could play it safe and wait around 40 years or so, but that would cause Tom Stratton to live from where he is now. Sam considers Peg and Mikey. He doesn't want to hurt them but he can't stay as Tom Stratton. Al again mentions breaking Mach 3 and living. Each time I type Mach 3 I think of the Gillette razor. I don't think that's what the pioneers of avionatics had in mind, I'm sure.
Sam reiterates that he can't fly. We got that. Al says he can. Sam says Al's a hologram. Al responds he's also an ex-astronaut, which for some reason I find amazingly sexy. According to Al, the hardest part of flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 takes care of the taking off part. Sam hits a couple of rockets; he takes off and breaks Mach 3. Landing is impossible; even with Al's help he wouldn't be able to do. So, he ejects. Once accomplished, he should leap.
Back at the house, Sam tries to remember his name or number to call his dad. No luck. He has no shirt on. This is the most shirtless I remember ever seeing him on this series. So, not a bad start to the series.
Peg comes in and asks if Sam's worried about breaking Mach 3. He says no. She doesn't believe him. She sits on his lap and asks him to promise something. He asks what. She says promise first, so he does. He asks what he promised and Peg says she'll tell him the next night. Not too hard to figure what the promise is supposed to be.
Damn, forget shirtless--Sam's practically naked. Lucky Peg.
The next day Sam is all decked out in the X-2 pilot gear; he gives the memory test to the doctor and says it brought back some old memories. As the doctor reads it, he begins to chuckle.
Dirty talk at the wives' house. And I thought '50s wives were supposed to be demure and meek. The house rattling commences.
Berger and Ernie read over Sam's answers. Most positive affect of high school - miniskirts. Most negative effect - panty hose. Damn, Sam--apparently he IS living vicariously through Al.
Tony tells Sam he swore he could smell coffee right before almost hitting mach 3. Sam says it might be one of Ernie's gremlins.
Sam gets strapped into the X-2, wondering where "Albert" is.
More about the memory test. Apparently Sam was expelled from college for streaking? Somehow I doubt that. Weird Ernie is not amused. Dr. Berger is.
I know as a TV show they have to milk the suspense, but there were times I wish they had given Sam a bit of a break. I mean, there's only so much anxiety a man can take. They drop Sam in the X-2; after a bit more freaking from Sam and suspense from the show--they drop Sam and he yells for Al. Al finally shows up and appears in the cockpit. He tells Sam to follow his lead and light off rockets one and two. Sam matches Al's movements in the cockpit. Al coments it's a kick in the butt. Sam asks him where he's been, Al replies at a Laker's play-off game and he spent the night with Martha. Sam gives him the Look of Disgust.
The X-2 goes faster. Sam's in the stratosphere, and the site is pretty amazing. I don't know if its actual footage, but it is pretty awesome. Sam punches rocket 3. He reaches skin temp 750. Mach 2.9. Sam hears percolating. The fire light comes on. The heat is boiling the fuel. Al tells him to shut down. Sam doesn't. Al tells him to eject--Peg's coffee pot explodes at the same time the X-2 does.
The plane crashes into pieces. Sam lands with the parachute billowing around him. Fortunately, he's alive. Unfortunately, he hasn't leaped.
They're on the way to the hospital. Al shows up and Sam talks to him in a nuanced conversation. Sam's responses to Al are taken a different way by Dr Berger--talking about why Sam is still there. Al never really bought into the "change history". Sure, Al.
Hospital. Peg's in premature labor. Sam asks Mikey to stay with the other wives while he checks on Peg. She's relieved to see him and tells him she knew he'd keep his promise. He smiles and says it would take more than a gremlin to kill him. She gets a contraction and Sam has her do Lamaze. When she asks where he learned to do that, he effortlessly says pre-med.
Dr. Berger beckons to him. Another doctor tells Sam that the baby will arrive nine weeks premature. There's a plane standing by to take them to a specialist hospital, but the doctor doesn't want to risk moving Peg considering the shock she's had. Sam asks about contractions and dilation. He tells them she's early enough to stop and to start her on beta something or other. He gives a couple of medicinal examples but realizes they didn't come out until the late '70s. Dr. Berger pulls him aside and starts to give him a major set down--the joke's gone on long enough. Sam brushes him off and asks him what would happen if they set up an intravaneous 5% alcohol drip mixed with water. Dr Berger replies that she would get instantly drunk. Which would apparently interfer with whatever is stimulating the contractions. I don't know, I'm not a doctor.
My second favorite scene. Peg starts singing Que Sera Sera. I laughed hysterically the first time I saw this. Hey, I was 11. The doctor is amazed--she'll have a hell of hangover but she won't deliver. At least, until she's nine months along, I assume. I'd hate to think of that kid in her forever. And I just grossed myself out.
A nice tender scene between the two as they kiss. Sam looks out the window at Mikey and gives him a thumbs up. As Mikey tosses the baseball to him, Sam finds himself with an out-stretched glove as he catches a ball and is in a uniform. He looks around in confusion as an old-timer hollers at "Fox" from the stands.
Sam has apparently leaped, so it looks like Ziggy was right.
Sam finds himself standing on a ballfield and starts to wander towards the dugout while an announcer chatters into a microphone. As Sam sits down a dog starts barking at him. Animals can tell that it's Sam, and not the original person. And hilariously, my dog hears the barking on my computer and runs outside to chase the intruder away. She does it every single time, too. It always cracks me up.
The coach tells "Fox" to shut the dog up; it's his, after all. Sam gives the dog an evil eye as he voice-overs "He knew...the little sucker knew. And he wasn't going to stop until they all knew." Right, Sam, the dog is somehow going to tell the players that you're a time-traveler in someone else's body. I think they'd be more shocked at the dog suddenly talking.
Sam remembers his father teaching him how to stare down wild dogs and gives the dog what I guess is an alpha-look. He thinks it's working until he turns around and jumps as he sees Al, calming the dog down. Good boy.
Sam tries to get Al to follow him into the clubhouse. Al wants to watch the game, but relunctantly follows Sam. Sam asks Al how he got there so fast, and we get the first instance of time distortion. Apparently, even though Sam leaped instantly, it was over a week before Al and the others found him again. They never fully explain this, do they? Is Sam in some kind of ether, and the others finally find him when he leaps back in? And why does Sam never get a break? Does he ever get a chance to just rest? Noooo, he has to keep leaping, going from one stressful situation to another. It's a wonder he's not insane.
Anyway. Sam tells Al he's having an identity crisis. One minute he's Tom Stratton, then next he's a ballplayer named Fox. Al gives him the lowdown; he's Tim Fox, 32-year-old third baseman for the Waco Bombers. Explains all the "accents", I guess. So apparently Fox managed to get up to the Majors for one game, blew out his legs sliding into second, and sent back down to recover. He's been there ever since. For some reason, this causes Sam to rush to the mirror to see what he looks like. I don't think that has anything to do with hurting a leg, Sam.
Al tells Sam that it's Fox's last year, and his last at-bat will fly out to center. He goes on to open a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, marry a girl named Sue, and have two kids. You know, that's really not that bad a life, people. Could be a hell of a lot worse. Like, I don't know, DEAD?
So anyway, Al says something about trying to fix what went wrong in Fox's life--apparently flying out to center is an event that warrants leaping--and fix it. Sam will then leap out again. Sam sarcastically asks, like when he flew the X-2? Al says Ziggy blew it; he (continuity alert...Ziggy becomes a she later) didn't research enough. Apparently, Peg went into premature labor when Tom died and the baby died too. Now, since Tom lived, both Tom and "Samantha" are living long, healthy lives. It seems GTW wanted both Tom and Samantha to live.
At this point Sam looks back and the mirror and realizes he can't see Al; he calls Al a vampire. Heh. No, but he is a cylon. Hee. Ahem. Al says holograms don't reflect and calls Sam a mental slug for forgetting. There's some more lechery from Al, but I'm not in the mood to recap it. Totally unintentional pun, but I'm keeping it.
Sam asks Al why he didn't leap all the way. Al says 12 years forward isn't bad...a couple more and Sam's home. Sam asks the obvious, "what if I leap back?...I could be bouncing around in time forever?" Al responds, "no one lives forever, Sam". Sam just gives Al a Look.
Sam asks Al what he's supposed to do. Al doesn't know, because Ziggy is sulking. He doesn't want to print it out in case he's wrong, due to his big ego. Sam asks Al who created "this Ziggy". Al just gives him a rather sympathetic look and tells him "you". "Quantum Leap is your project, Sam. You're the genius behind it." Sam looks at Al like Al's putting one over on him. Sam denies it, saying he's a medical doctor. He found that out, see, on account that he saved a baby's life. I guess that would tell you something, wouldn't it?
Al tells Sam that he holds six doctorates, medicine was one of them. His specialty is Quantum Physics (you think?), and Time calls him the "next Einstein". He literally is a genius. Al tells him that "the truth is, if there's one guy who can figure out how to bring you back, it's you."
Sam just kind of smiles. He ruefully leans against a wall and says, "and I can't even remember my name". Al takes pity on him and says "Beckett. It's Sam Beckett."
This next scene is very poignant. Sam is on the phone, trying to reach his dad, John Beckett, in Oak Ridge, Indiana. The operator connects him through and Sam is talking to his dad that died in the '70s. Sam is pretty overcome, but they manage to chat a little while. Sam lies a little bit, telling John that his father was John's father's brother, making them cousins, I guess. And whaddya know, John's got a kid named Sam. How interesting.
So they chat for a bit, and Sam gets all verklempt. Eventually he hangs up, both happy and sad that he got a chance to talk to his father again.
HA! They cut to his father in this episode. I had forgotten that. Given that Bakula plays his father in The Leap Home, I find that rather hilarious. But the scenes are good ones, and Bakula plays the hell out of it. Young Sam bounces in and says in Bakula's voice (in a hideous dubbing effect, I might add) that a calf is about to drop. They banter a bit and the scene cuts back to older Sam in the hallway, thanking GTW for allowing him to talk to his father again. Aw, that cut got to me. Sniff.
Sam voiceovers that maybe Quantum Leaping isn't so bad...getting a second chance to make things right, and make the world a better place. Who knows what he can accomplish? Well, if you've seen the series, you know. And I'm not even talking about the Evil Leaper.
Sam goes back into the dugout. I hope the coach isn't wondering how long that pee break was, dude. Sam thanks Al and Al just tells him to go fly out. Sam smiles and says, "I don't know, maybe I'm here to win this one". Al doesn't look convinced.
Coach tells Sam that it's his last year, too, and he doesn't want to end it in the cellar. Sam lightly punches his shoulder and goes up to bat.
Now, apparently Scott Bakula is actually a pretty decent ballplayer, and he says in one of the behind-the-scenes bits that he really wishes he had a better swing than the one he gives here. I can't say I blame him; it is pretty awful.
The pitcher throws a strike, then another. Finally, the music goes a bit nuts as the pitcher throws the third pitch. Everything slows down into slo-mo; Sam swings and misses. But the catcher fumbles the ball and Al freaks out, telling Sam to run. There's no dialogue, all music and crowd cheering. The catcher overthrows first base, and Sam keeps running. The first baseman overthrows third, and Sam keeps running. He slides into home headfirst, safe, and scores the winning run.
Really, GTW? THIS was the life-changing event for Fox and the Bombers, and THAT's how you want him to do it? Bleh.
Sam leaps, FINALLY, into the next episode.
And that's it for the pilot episode of Quantum Leap. I'll be doing Shock Theater for the link I posted in a previous post, and probably other episodes of QL and posting them here. Hope you enjoyed it.
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New Blog
I'm thinking of providing my own recaps of shows I enjoy. I'm in the middle of Quantum Leap and Battlestar Galactica marathons. These may be recaps or just reviews; kind of depends on how I'm feeling.
First one will be a recap of The Pilot episode of Quantum Leap. It's probably one of my favorite series pilots. I'm heavily influenced by the recaps at Television Without Pity, so if I imitate styles I do apologize in advance. I promise I'm not trying to steal from anyone.
Read more!
First one will be a recap of The Pilot episode of Quantum Leap. It's probably one of my favorite series pilots. I'm heavily influenced by the recaps at Television Without Pity, so if I imitate styles I do apologize in advance. I promise I'm not trying to steal from anyone.
Read more!
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