Fandom Overview: Quantum Leap

[muccamukk]

Quantum Leap was a science fiction tv series that ran from 1989 to 1993, or roughly five seasons (I say roughly because the first season was very short and the fifth season was very strange). It followed the adventures of Doctor Samuel Beckett (no relation) as he travelled through time, and his best friend Admiral Albert Calavicci who could

Comments

[lanalucy]

Wow. I guess I must've stopped watching the show at some point, because I don't remember a lot of this. Nice job with the overview. Snarky, sassy fun. :D

[muccamukk]

I'll admit to skipping a fair bit of season five on rewatches. I know a lot of people like the Evil Leapers, etc, but it was never something I was interested in. There are a lot of great episodes that season though.

I'm glad you liked the overview, in any case.

[lolabobs]

Delighted to read this and looking forward to the recs - I absolutely loved QL and can@t wait to see the fic!

[muccamukk]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it!

My recs are probably going to slant Sam/Al, because that's how I roll, but I'll try to put in some variety.

That's a great icon!

[lolabobs]

Thanks - I think it was made by "Imasupergirl" (purged account)

Recognise Dean in this one?

[muccamukk]

I do because I've seen that picture before. That guy has had a long career.

[desireearmfeldt]

I just want to say, what an entertaining (and comprehensive) overview! :)

[muccamukk]

Thank you! I kept thinking of things to add, and finally was told to stop, and just post it already :D

[lightbird777]

Great job on the overview! I love it.

Yes, Sam did appear to provide excellent hugs. Sam was the essential hug therapist.

Agreed about season 5. Very odd and I wasn't a fan of a lot of what they did (like the evil leapers). I think they were trying anything and everything at that point to pull in better ratings. But a couple of the episodes you mentioned from that season were terrific, like 'Killin Time' and 'Mirror Image'.

[muccamukk]

You could kind of see them spinning their wheels in season five, and I suppose we ought to be grateful that we didn't get another season, because that probably would have been just embarrassing.

I'll admit to not liking a lot of Mirror Image, though the stuff with Beth pleased me greatly. Sam never getting home, not so much (which, like I know a lot of people liked that ending, but my feeling is that Sam and Al need to actually hug at least once in the show, and Sam doing that insecure hugging himself thing while he's leaped into Al doesn't count).

[lightbird777]

I'm on the fence about the Beth stuff at the end of Mirror Image. I love that Sam is willing to do that for Al and I love that Al finally gets his happy ending, but I also feel like it would have changed Al's character so much. I kind of love Al the way he is, even if he pissed me off sometimes.

The thing that really bugged me about Mirror Image is Sam and Al are only together once in the entire episode and it's such a short and unsatisfying meeting (and depending on how you interpret what happened afterward, it's possibly their last meeting ever). That made me even sadder than Sam never returning home (and I think he should've returned home - he deserved to go home and then there's poor Donna who really got a short end of the stick).

As a sucker for Sam and Al hugging, or at least getting to touch one another on the shoulder or high-five or something, I definitely think Sam needed to leap home at the end and hug Al.

[muccamukk]

Well, I think if Sam never went home, it was nice that Al got a happy ending, and he probably appreciates being less screwed up. That said, I've seen fic, probably by Azar, where he is still pretty screwed up, due to above mentioned tragic childhood and Vietnam, so there was still the drinking and the womanising, but the marriage held and eventually settled out.

Donna is the one that really bugs me. Why go to all that fuss to marry Sam off if you're just going to ditch her later? I suspect they forgot she existed.

There needs to be hugging! This month I will be reccing hugging!

I do get why people like the ending as it stood. It was an interesting way to go, and people have done fic things with it, but mostly OUCH.

[magician113]

What an excellent overview; thank you so much for the great summary. I've always been a science nerd, so this show really hit the spot because it put the human side to the theorists. I just can't believe that this is the first time QL has shown up in CV. I've read several QL crossovers with my main fandom, so I assumed it was bigger.

It sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun showcasing the fandom. Cheers.

[muccamukk]

I've always been a science nerd, and usually this show makes me back slowly away in horror :D There's a really good fic that talks about the science, but unfortunately it was never finished, so I can't rec it.

I couldn't believe it hadn't been recced here before either. Some great crossovers have showed up, but no dedicated posts. I didn't actually figure that out until I went looking for a fandom overview and there wasn't one. I'm very happy to hear that you like mine, in any case.

I am! Though now I'm looking at some stuff I'd flagged and realising that it needs more Beth and Donna.