Sam Leaps Into:
1. Clayton Fuller, the town sheriff.
2. Will Kinman, a young man getting ready to marry his fiancéeAbigail.
3. Lawrence Stanton III, the former town lawyer.
Objective:
1. Save his daughter Abigail from a house fire started by a vengeful townswoman who thinks that Abigail killed her husband and daughter.
2. Save Abigail from a town lynching after she is suspected of killing a missing boy.
3. Successfully defend Abigail in court on a murder charge.
Date:
1. 8-8-55
2. 6-14-66
3. 7-28-78
Location:
Pottersville, Louisiana
Memorable Quote:
There's a 91.9% chance that Sammy Jo Fuller...is your daughter. ~Al
Highlight:
I appreciate the epic quality of the story and the interweaving of plot and characters over many decades.
Lowlight:
In previous posts I've alluded to a "future episode" which contained the scariest thing I had ever seen on television. Well, here we are! In particular, the moment I'm referring to occurs at the 13:50 mark of Part One when Sam is looking out the window and then a breeze compels him to turn around and he sees the creepy ghost standing in the doorway. This scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, and I remember being afraid at night that I would see her in my house.
It's not as scary now through adult eyes, but it is still a little freaky and I can understand why I would have been frightened as a youngster. And while that particular moment is the one that sticks in my mind, it's far from being the only scary image of that woman (Laura Fuller) throughout the three-parter. The actress's name is Meg Foster, and a quick google search reveals that she is known for taking on scary parts -- just check out the results of her google image search.
Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
- It's a three parter! I'm sure there have been other three parters throughout the course of tv history but I can't think of any off the top of my head. And for some reason I thought the Evil Leaper was involved in these episodes but apparently not.
- The town's main street set is the same as in The Leap Back. See if you can spot the similarities!
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| The Leap Back |
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| Trilogy |
- The scene at the end of Part One where Leta hunts Abigail is pretty intense. And for all I talked about Laura Fuller's creepiness, Leta Aider is reminding us all here that she can be pretty creepy too.
- In Part 2 Abigail is played by Melora Hardin who I know from The Office and also for her rendition of Begin the Beguine in The Rocketeer.
- If the mother of the missing kid is so mistrustful of Abigail, why did she let her babysit in the first place?
- Great, I'm so glad that Sam is going back to see Laura Fuller. These scenes with her in the mental institution are super spooky.
- I have a few issues with the end of Part 2:
- While Sam is babbling on to Al about how much he yearns for Abigail, shouldn't he be off protecting her?
- And then he goes and sleeps with her instead of protecting her.
- Why does he suddenly stop stuttering and turn into 100% Sam Beckett?
- Why does he offer to turn her in if they don't find the boy? Even if he knows they're going to find him, it still seems like throwing her under the bus and conceding that she could be guilty.
- How did Leta and all her pent-up rage make it 11 years in the same town as Abigail?
- The very end where Sam bares his soul to Abigail was hard to take and would have been my lowlight if not for Scariest Lady Ever. "I love you. And no matter what happens, or whatever I say in the future, just know that for right now for this brief moment in time, we belong to each other. Please know that. I love you." BLAAACCCHHHHHH! That was the sound of me vomiting on my laptop -- hold on a sec while I clean it up. Here's the thing, Sam:
- She's only 21 while you're approaching 40.
- You've known her (at her current age) for one whole day.
- Just one episode ago when you leapt into her father you were acting like a father figure to her and now she's your eternal soul mate who you want to bang into next Tuesday.
- I wouldn't have minded the dialogue so much if I felt like there was more of a legitimate relationship there, but it feels to me like they were trying to make it this epic love story without the necessary buildup or foundation.
- Coming into this episode (or this series) I had no memory whatsoever that Sam had a "daughter." I put daughter in quotes because it's not clear how this breaks down -- I guess Will is the biological father and Sam is the spiritual father? In any event, after Al told Sam he was the father (memorable quote above), I let out an audible "What?"
- Overall I'm not a huge fan of the "Sam as a father" plot line, just as I wasn't a huge fan of the "MacGyver as a father"plot line. There's a certain amount of irresponsibility (which I similarly discussed in the MacGyver post) on Sam's part to indulge in a night of passion and then create a child whom he will not be responsible for. And the whole notion of him being "the father" is a little kooky. Nevertheless, there were some good moments that came out of it including Sam and Sammy's conversation in the middle of Part 3 where she talks about wishing to tell her dad that she loved him, and also the ending is neat when we learn that Sammy works for Project Quantum Leap.
- Great, a third scene where Sam gets to visit Laura Fuller. Still looking creepy as ever, Laura!
- Why did Clayton forbid Laura from telling her story?
Final Analysis:
Whew! A lot to unpack here. Despite this being a three-parter, it had a good flow and there wasn't much in the way of wasted moments (unlike the recent Lee Harvey Oswald two-parter). And it certainly held my attention and I was quite curious to see how it was going to all get resolved. That said, it was way more creepy than I typically am looking for in a show, and it's not one that I would be all that excited to watch again for that reason. It reminds me of Parker House in that I think it's reasonably well done but just not my cup of tea. Ranking it8th from the bottom.
