![]() (And surprise, surprise, Sam’s dad in “Part I” is played by none other than Bakula himself, caked under the best Emmy-winning prosthetics early ’90s TV could buy.Ben leaped into a female bounty hunter this week, but the real Quantum Leap action took place in the present where we learn what it’s like to be on the other side of a leap. But most people would more likely recognize ’90s sex symbol and Wayne’s World actress Tia Carrere as a Viet Cong defector-turned-spy. Notable Guest Stars: “Part II” features Babylon 5 actress Andrea Thompson as a photojournalist who comes along to document the squad’s mission. ![]() What’s more, he gets a second chance to save Tom’s life when he leaps into a member of his squad on the day he’s supposed to die. But all he really wants to do is save the other men in his family from the untimely deaths he knows are coming: His father from heart disease and his brother Tom from getting killed in Vietnam. What Once Went Wrong: Ostensibly, Sam is meant to win a pivotal high school basketball game that would serve as an inflection point for many lives around him. The Leapee: First, a young Sam Beckett himself, as a teenager growing up on a farm in Elk Ridge, Indiana then, one of his brother’s squadmates in Vietnam. “The Leap Home” (Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2) The episode’s final minutes, where Al bares his feelings to a Beth who can’t hear or touch him (and play-acts dancing with her to Ray Charles’ “Georgia”), is one of the most gut-wrenching scenes of the show, not to mention Stockwell’s body of work.Ġ2/01. If you had the ability to time travel, would you change your own fate? Would you try to get back those you’ve loved and lost? The twist - that Beth’s MIA husband is Al, and he’s been trying to manipulate Sam into saving his marriage before she moves on - makes for a scintillating morality play, compounded by the last-minute reveal of who Sam’s actually here for. Like the best episodes of the show (including the two left on this list), Quantum Leap excelled when it explored the implications of its premise for its two central characters. But “M.I.A.” finally gave Stockwell the heartbreaking showcase he deserved, exploring his past through the eyes of the endlessly-empathetic Sam. Oh, Boy: For most of Quantum Leap‘s tenure, Dean Stockwell’s Al was just the cigar-chomping comic relief, the zoot-suit-wearing Jiminy Cricket to Sam’s Pinocchio. Quantum Drip (AKA Al’s Fashion Corner): Al’s just in his Army dress whites this time, but that matters not, since he spends most of his time in the Imaging Chamber trying to wring Sam back from wherever he is. You’ll also recognize Richard Herd (All the President’s Men) and Stephen McHattie ( Pontypool), not to mention a heaping helping of guests from prior episodes of the show, whose characters return as cameos. Notable Guest Stars: McGill is a familiar face from films like Matchstick Men and Animal House, recent shows like Reacher, and a whole mess of ’90s Star Trek. Meanwhile, Al and fellow Quantum Leap supervisor Gooshie scramble to find out why Sam’s disappeared from the imaging chamber… What Once Went Wrong: Nothing Sam knows not why he’s here, why the bar patrons all look like important people from his past leaps, and why Al the bartender (Bruce McGill) seems to know about the last five years he’s spent leaping. The Leapee: An adult Sam himself, in a mysterious bar on the exact day and time of his birth. It’s cozy and optimistic about the American experiment (bordering on naive), which puts it out of lockstep with our modern disillusionment with the nation’s historical evils. What’s more, it was that rare crossover hit for a science fiction show, the kind of adventure you could watch with your mom.Īnd that kind of old-fashioned attitude worked for the show, whose do-gooder remit made it that rare series that tackled throny social issues like racism, sexism, and homophobia, without a hint of cynicism. Bellisario, was a winning one, not just critically but commercially: The show would net 43 award nominations and 17 wins, including Emmys for cinematography and Golden Globes for both Bakula and Stockwell. The formula, crafted by TV titan Donald P. Think Touched by an Angel with a hint of Back to the Future. The only hint of its genre trappings, apart from the mechanism that ushers Bakula from life to life each week, was Dean Stockwell’s Al, a garishly-styled, streetwise hologram from the future who served as Sam’s confidant, sounding board, and sidekick.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |