WHAT THE, Quantum Leap?
Aaages ago, my sister and I used to watch Quantum Leap reruns, and my mom would talk about how good the show was when it started. In her words, "it got really political and really yukky towards the end". I've always enjoyed it, and wanted to see more/all of it, so several years back when I saw some of the seasons for cheap on DVD, I snagged 'em. The past year or so, I've been working my way through the seasons - there's 5 in total. I own 1-4, and had yet to buy 5. And frankly, at this point, I'm pretty sure I will never will bother to buy it.
I love Scott Bakula, I love the concept, and most of the show has been pretty great (I would say for sure season 1-3, most of 4). There's a fair few logical plot holes and inconsistencies (like in the first season, Ziggy is referenced as a guy but later it's a woman; for a long time it's implied Al sees Sam as Sam, but when he leaps into an attractive woman, Al sees him as her and so on), but it's all good, entertaining fun. There's the odd strange or not-very-good episode, but overall it's pretty great. I would agree it certainly loses traction by the 4th season - something about the magic is missing - but up until the season 4 finale, I wasn't sure what mom had been talking about. Until I hit the 5th season.
Because I've run out of Quantum Leap dvds that I own, and now that the TV season has ended for pretty well all my shows, I'm watching the rest of Quantum Leap on Netflix (which turns out to be just the 5th season). And so far, most of the episodes have been one WHAT THE HECK after another. Just messed up, or weird, unenjoyable, nonsensical... it feels like they're reaching, or forcing, or just out of ideas, trying to be dramatic... I don't know. I'm on episode 7, and at least half of the episodes so far have been very unenjoyable.
One of the episodes I did remember one specific moment from when I saw the rerun ages ago - this evil time traveler shows up when Sam leaps back into someone he's previously leapt into (something that has never happened before), and she's all creepy and scratches her own face horribly, and tries to frame Sam. One of the episodes involved a murderer showing up in the waiting room (in the future, with Al), and somehow gets his hands on a gun. Now, I don't know if you know anything about the show, but I can barely say just how ridiculous this is.
The basic premise of the show is that Sam Beckett "leaps" into other people's lives. We see him, but in the mirror he sees the person he has "leapt" into, and so do the people around him. Sam is there to "put right what once went wrong". The people he leaps into are sent to the future temporarily, and basically go "into" Sam's body - so when they look in the mirror, they see themselves as Sam. Only a handful of episodes show what happens on that end, as the focus of the show is Sam. But in those episodes that we have seen what happens, the people (in Sam's body) are in the Waiting Room, which is pretty much a big blank room with nothing in it, and they're dressed in a plain white unitard. Al comes in the one and only door to talk to them. In the first episode of season 5, there's like a table/thing with a mirror on it, but that's it. There is nothing else in there - never has been, never will be. So how did this guy get a gun!?
They hilariously explain it away by completely not explaining it at all, more than once.
Al: "How did you get a gun!?"
Guy: "It doesn't matter! All that matters is that I have one!"
(later)
Sam: "A gun?! How did he get a gun?"
Al: "It doesn't matter -" (continues explaining other things)
All the while, I'm like, IT DOES MATTER BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE.
Season 5 opened with a two part episode about Lee Harvey Oswald, which was just painful - it was weird and they played so hard on (what only happens to some extent occasionally) Sam and Oswald's psyches meshing wrong or not switching fully, that Sam would abruptly go all semi-evil with a weird voice to show he was apparently Oswald. Last episode, they dealt with literal UFOs and aliens - not like on Castle where it seems like aliens until it's of course not. They literally went there, with the episode ending with Sam (as the Grampa), walking up to the mothership. I wish I was joking. (This episode I have on right now, they are implying that the child is possibly possessed or something. Or just a murderer. Wow.)
Like, did they completely change showrunners? Directors? Everyone except Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula? Between 4 and 5, did the entire writing staff disappear or were fired, abducted by aliens or quit? Did they all just take too many drugs or completely lose their heads? Because season 5 is off the rails, and not in a good way. Maybe they were sliding in the ratings and thought this stuff was groundbreaking or good-risky, or trying to be different? I would love to know.
I'm sorry to say, but no wonder they got cancelled if this is where they were going with the show.
I mostly want to know just what possessed them to make most of these episodes that I've been swallowing. Yikes.
~Red
P.S. Ohmyword. So after a ridiculous climax sequence - where this one lady drops a lantern and near-instanteously the entire house is on fire, Sam managed to save the daughter, and then leapt out... and into bed, with what turns out to the daughter in the far future - now he's her boyfriend. Oh boy. (Yet another episode that really sucked.)
ETA: I only have about four episodes left now (thank gosh). There was an episode about vampires or faux!vampires, more with the "Evil Leaper" (or more correctly her Observer), Dr. Ruth, vastly increased airtime of Al in the waiting room with various leaped-out people, more general weirdness and overdrama, and an actually decent episode about Marilyn Monroe. It's like like out of 20-something episodes of this season, I liked about... 5 or less. Ouch.
I love Scott Bakula, I love the concept, and most of the show has been pretty great (I would say for sure season 1-3, most of 4). There's a fair few logical plot holes and inconsistencies (like in the first season, Ziggy is referenced as a guy but later it's a woman; for a long time it's implied Al sees Sam as Sam, but when he leaps into an attractive woman, Al sees him as her and so on), but it's all good, entertaining fun. There's the odd strange or not-very-good episode, but overall it's pretty great. I would agree it certainly loses traction by the 4th season - something about the magic is missing - but up until the season 4 finale, I wasn't sure what mom had been talking about. Until I hit the 5th season.
Because I've run out of Quantum Leap dvds that I own, and now that the TV season has ended for pretty well all my shows, I'm watching the rest of Quantum Leap on Netflix (which turns out to be just the 5th season). And so far, most of the episodes have been one WHAT THE HECK after another. Just messed up, or weird, unenjoyable, nonsensical... it feels like they're reaching, or forcing, or just out of ideas, trying to be dramatic... I don't know. I'm on episode 7, and at least half of the episodes so far have been very unenjoyable.
One of the episodes I did remember one specific moment from when I saw the rerun ages ago - this evil time traveler shows up when Sam leaps back into someone he's previously leapt into (something that has never happened before), and she's all creepy and scratches her own face horribly, and tries to frame Sam. One of the episodes involved a murderer showing up in the waiting room (in the future, with Al), and somehow gets his hands on a gun. Now, I don't know if you know anything about the show, but I can barely say just how ridiculous this is.
The basic premise of the show is that Sam Beckett "leaps" into other people's lives. We see him, but in the mirror he sees the person he has "leapt" into, and so do the people around him. Sam is there to "put right what once went wrong". The people he leaps into are sent to the future temporarily, and basically go "into" Sam's body - so when they look in the mirror, they see themselves as Sam. Only a handful of episodes show what happens on that end, as the focus of the show is Sam. But in those episodes that we have seen what happens, the people (in Sam's body) are in the Waiting Room, which is pretty much a big blank room with nothing in it, and they're dressed in a plain white unitard. Al comes in the one and only door to talk to them. In the first episode of season 5, there's like a table/thing with a mirror on it, but that's it. There is nothing else in there - never has been, never will be. So how did this guy get a gun!?
They hilariously explain it away by completely not explaining it at all, more than once.
Al: "How did you get a gun!?"
Guy: "It doesn't matter! All that matters is that I have one!"
(later)
Sam: "A gun?! How did he get a gun?"
Al: "It doesn't matter -" (continues explaining other things)
All the while, I'm like, IT DOES MATTER BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE.
Season 5 opened with a two part episode about Lee Harvey Oswald, which was just painful - it was weird and they played so hard on (what only happens to some extent occasionally) Sam and Oswald's psyches meshing wrong or not switching fully, that Sam would abruptly go all semi-evil with a weird voice to show he was apparently Oswald. Last episode, they dealt with literal UFOs and aliens - not like on Castle where it seems like aliens until it's of course not. They literally went there, with the episode ending with Sam (as the Grampa), walking up to the mothership. I wish I was joking. (This episode I have on right now, they are implying that the child is possibly possessed or something. Or just a murderer. Wow.)
Like, did they completely change showrunners? Directors? Everyone except Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula? Between 4 and 5, did the entire writing staff disappear or were fired, abducted by aliens or quit? Did they all just take too many drugs or completely lose their heads? Because season 5 is off the rails, and not in a good way. Maybe they were sliding in the ratings and thought this stuff was groundbreaking or good-risky, or trying to be different? I would love to know.
I'm sorry to say, but no wonder they got cancelled if this is where they were going with the show.
I mostly want to know just what possessed them to make most of these episodes that I've been swallowing. Yikes.
~Red
P.S. Ohmyword. So after a ridiculous climax sequence - where this one lady drops a lantern and near-instanteously the entire house is on fire, Sam managed to save the daughter, and then leapt out... and into bed, with what turns out to the daughter in the far future - now he's her boyfriend. Oh boy. (Yet another episode that really sucked.)
ETA: I only have about four episodes left now (thank gosh). There was an episode about vampires or faux!vampires, more with the "Evil Leaper" (or more correctly her Observer), Dr. Ruth, vastly increased airtime of Al in the waiting room with various leaped-out people, more general weirdness and overdrama, and an actually decent episode about Marilyn Monroe. It's like like out of 20-something episodes of this season, I liked about... 5 or less. Ouch.