Quantum Leap

[JD]

I just started watching the occasional episode of Quantum Leap on Cozi TV and I was just wondering if there were any other fans on here? I used to watch QL when I was younger, but hadn't watched it in a very long time. I've enjoyed it more than I expected, so I'll probably be watching it more often.
One of the episodes I caught was finale, which I had never seen before, and I found it kind of confusing. Could someone explain it to me?
The impression I got was that the bar was either Heaven, or some kind of way station for Leapers, and that Al the bardender was God, and he was responsible for Sam's leaps.
I though the end bit with Sam never leaping home was kind of anti-climactic, but the fact that it was just done with text at the end made me wonder if that was added at the last minute. Was that not originally meant to be the series finale?

 

[Kemaiku]

The finale is literally Sam being given a brief reprieve by God, who sends him leaping around.

In the season 3 or 4 Hallowe'en episode, they meet the Devil, who tries to kill Sam and cursing him for "putting right what *I* put wrong."

So yeah, the whole series is him on a mission from God to repair the damage Lucifer did to the timeline with the Evil Leapers. You've already had the big spoiler of the show.

 

[Ovation]

I enjoyed it first-run, and my kids often watch re-runs with my wife (who did not see it first run). Not very science-y, but I never took it in that manner and simply enjoyed it as a kind of fluffy entertainment. Certainly from a more innocent time but still entertaining, if a bit uneven. It does represent the moment where I decided to stop trying to "figure out" time travel "rules" and just take whatever the story tellers offer me as "given". I've enjoyed time travel stories a lot more ever since (as I've long since stopped nitpicking them--not one I've come across survives much scrutiny, though some are more consistent than others). So for keeping my blood pressure down, I'll always be grateful to the show.

 

[JD]

When did Sam run into Evil Leapers? I don't think I've ever seen any of them.
I find it kind of funny that two of Scott Bakula's big series involve time travel, this and Enterprise. Obviously Ent. doesn't do time travel as much as QL, but it did have a lot of it.

 

[Ovation]

Later seasons, but before the finale. If you're watching them in order, it'll take a while before you get to the evil leapers.

 

[JD]

I'm just catching a few random episodes on Cozi when there's nothing else on. I was going to try to keep an eye out for the Evil Leapers episodes so I can watch some next time they're on.

 

[hux]

It was great until he met evil leapers and all that nonsense started. When I did a re-watch, I was surprised at how many episodes are utterly forgettable and mediocre. As a kid, just the fact that he was a time traveller meant I was excited by the premise each week but watching them now, you're basically just watching a show about {insert bland story about non-sci-fi stuff here}.

But still loved it for the most part.

 

[Kemaiku]

Season 4 or 5, I'm not sure if they appear before or after the Leap Home. But yeah, two rival groups developed Quantum Leaping, one outright evil willing to do damage to time on behalf of a mysterious benefactor.

Sam believes he created the technology on his own from brief flashes of brilliance.

It all comes down to God and the Devil having given them both the push and made everything happen to send two groups into time. Sam is riding in the wake of the Evil Leapers undoing their damage.

They do age though, so they'll be at this until they die, he did manage to reform one of the Evil ones, but she's off on her own now.

 

[JD]

Does anybody know if that was always part of the plan for the series, or did they just decide to throw that in towards the end? It just seems kind of out of nowhere for a show like this to suddenly throw in God and the Devil. It makes sense for a show like Supernatural, but I never would have expected it in a show like QL before I heard references to "God did it" online.

 

[Kemaiku]

I don't recall, but the show changed drastically with season 4, the opening credits and theme to the Evil Leaper arc covering it right up to the Hallowe'en reveal. It starts out with the Leap Home premiere so I think they decided they needed a major change of direction after season 3.

 

[Marc]

Does anybody know if that was always part of the plan for the series, or did they just decide to throw that in towards the end? It just seems kind of out of nowhere for a show like this to suddenly throw in God and the Devil. It makes sense for a show like Supernatural, but I never would have expected it in a show like QL before I heard references to "God did it" online.

I think there were a references early on with Al saying attributing things to "God, time, whatever". Didn't strike me as being particularly "God" but implying that there was some entity at work affecting Sam's leaps.

Same for the devil - don't recall a direct mention as being behind the evil leaper but their computer system named Lothar was no Ziggy

 

[Kemaiku]

He did refer to himself as a variation of devil/satan, Sam makes the connection and the reference to the "someone" the Evil Leapers work for.

They tried not to be overt, but they were slamming the audience over the head by season 5.

 

[tomswift2002]

Well, my favorite episode of the series is the Season 2 episode Thou Shalt Not... where Sam leaps into the Jewish priest whose brother's family is still grieving over the death of the brother's son a year earlier.

 

[bryanb2014]

quantum leap was my favourite show when i was a teenager, begging my parents to let me have the tv in the living room because i couldn't get bbc 2 on the tv upstairs with a portable aerial, i remember watching the evil leaper episodes but not really understanding what was going as i think bbc messed about with the running order. The finale for me wasn't great i assumed they where going to do another series.

 

[E-DUB]

I don't think that Sam was "cleaning up" after the evil leaper. In fact in the ep that introduced that concept the evil leaper was trying to "unfix" one of Sam's previous leaps.

 

[Kemaiku]

Originally maybe, but when they went with the 'evil leaper with a heart of gold' thing that ran most of the season with her as a love interest, they were implying they'd caught up to one another, and Sam was now actively stopping them putting it wrong to begin with.

It was a real mess but that point.

 

[Reverend]

My take on that whole scenario was that "the devil" was responsible for the "wrongs" in the first place, not though his own leapers but though his traditional ways of corruption, preying on peoples weaknesses, selfish tendencies and the like. In that interpretation the evil leapers are a direct response to Sam's activity and his failure to confront him directly. Sort of a "two can play at this game!"

Personally though I think it was probably a mistake trying to delve into the larger implications of what was going on since it's only going to demystify the whole thing. Particularly if you're going to tie it to a specific mytho-religious belief structure. It starts to limit what you can do. Better leave the "why" of it all a mystery and just tell compelling stories.

To be fair though, that Halloween episode was the only one that seemed to directly tie it to Judeo-Christian-Islamic beliefs. IIRC for the most part Sam & Al were always unsure of what if anything was guiding the leaps, usually referring to it as something to the effect of "fate or time or God or whatever..."

Side note: I often thought that if they had to tie it to a religion then it would seem that Buddhism is the more natural choice. I mean he is pretty much reincarnated in every episode, performing good karmas and moving ever onward without any material attachments.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've always assumed that "Al the bartender" from QL's final episode is actually Captain Braxton...

Yeah, I know Bruce McGill played both roles, but it really does make sense if they're the same person! If Braxton can't time travel or affect the future anymore, he can still help others to do so...

 

[Commander Richard]

^ No, McGyver's buddy has secrets.

I liked Quantum Leap. I dismissed it when it first started so I didn't see the first episode until several years later when the show was in reruns. When I finally did, I was surprised to find out that Al sees Sam as the people he leaps into, not as Sam himself. That must have made him difficult to find. This fact was never brought up again.

Like hux, I enjoyed it because it was time travel and had a fairly novel concept but the show was pretty mundane a lot of the time. Every episode took place in small town America in the 50s or 60s it seemed. I was so sick of it that I got excited when one episode took us to the 80s. There were a few other episodes in the first four seasons that caught my interest too. One was when Sam leaped into a pregnant woman and one was when Al became the leaper and Sam the hologram. Then season 5 really shook things up when it put Sam in major historical events. One episode even threw Sam back to the 19th century. That season also gave us a glimpse into what was going on at Project Quantum Leap in "the present".

Then there were the evil leapers. I loved that concept. There was actually only one of them at first. Her name was Alia and she had a hologram who was an older woman named Zoey. In a later episode, Zoey herself decided to leap and she had a hologram named Thames. He answered to Lothos, their project computer. We never found out anything about where they came from except that it was a hellish place. When they would leap, their light show was red. Something eventually happened to Alia but I won't say what. Their mystery was never resolved to my satisfaction but some of the discussion here seems to shed light on what was going on.

The finale wasn't supposed to be the finale which is why the message at the end seemed tacked on. Had the series continued we would have seen Sam visit the distant future.

A series of movies and even a continuation involving Sam's daughter were in the works but nothing materialized. What daughter? The one he fathered during one of his leaps. You'll see.

 

[MacLeod]

Well they became more overt with the God in the later episodes. As for the finalé most of the guest cast had appeared previously. For example Al the bartender was also in the Pilot episode.

And whilst it is true the majority of the episode took place in the USA, at least 6 episodes were prinicpaly set outside of the USA

S2: Sea Bride (RMS Queen Mary)
S3 The Leap Home, Part II (Vietnam)
S4: Ghost Ship (Bermuda Triangle)
S4: The Curse of Ptah-Hotep (Egypt)
S5: Leaping of the Shrew (Aegean Sea)
S5: Blood Moon (UK)