Quantum Leap – Summer DVD Review – The Leap Home Part 1

quantum leap

Quantum Leap
The Leap Home Part 1

Original Air Date: Sep 28, 1990

Bob P , Jr. Reporter
bob@thetwocentscorp.com

Season 2 of Quantum Leap had some good episodes, but in my opinion the show really started hitting its stride in Season 3 with an especially strong 2-part season premier, starting with this episode. After two years of Leaping through time, experiencing everything from being a test pilot to civil rights pioneer, teen nerd to the opposite sex, Sam finally gets what he’s been wanting since the very beginning. He’s finally going home! Well, sort of. Sam has leaped into himself – he is 16 and it is November 25, 1969.

Since the very first Leap, Sam has had one overriding concern: the fact that his family had many wrongs that he could not set right. His father died much too early from heart failure, his brother died in Vietnam and his sister eloped with an alcoholic, abusive man who ruined her life. Could it be that God/Time/Fate has finally given him the chance to make things right with his own family once and for all? All of this flashes through his mind as he runs from the corn fields to his house after realizing where his is, but first he just enjoys the moment of seeing his family again.

As Sam is eating dinner, enjoying his mother’s cooking like a man starved, enter Al looking none too happy. (While I did not cover it here, in the Season 2 finale, Al tried to get Sam to intercede in his own past, to prevent his wife Beth from marrying another man while Al was a prisoner of war in Vietnam and presumed dead. This betrayal is what has shaped Al’s womanizing ways and Al is clearly still stinging from the fact that Sam’s Leap was not to fix his wrong, but for something else entirely.) Al tells Sam that he is not there to change his family’s lives, but instead to win a basketball game that he originally lost, one that will change the lives of many people in his home town. This time, it is Sam who does not believe Al and insists that he must take steps to change the lives of his family before he Leaps again.

There is a short, but amusing scene where Sam tries to convince his dairy farmer father that he must change his lifestyle to protect his health. This includes medical advice from the future about quitting smoking, reducing fat and cholesterol intake and increasing exercise. Sam’s father (played, incidentally, by Scott Bacula himself in a dual role) in typical 1969 fashion dismisses all of the advice as “hippie nonsense” since he works hard all day on the farm, gets plenty of exercise and “man can live for weeks on whole milk alone.”

After failing to convince his father to change anything, Sam heads off to basketball practice, where he introduces his teammates to the “high five” before facing off against a mysterious player in a monkey mask. This mystery “Kong” beats him handily, but seems familiar to Sam, as he should, for it turns out to be none other than his older brother Tom home for Thanksgiving. Hunting pheasant in the fields later, Sam tries to convince Tom that the Vietnam War is a waste of time and he should stay home, trying to save his life. Tom, a Navy Seal now, is of course unswayed in his dedication to his service and country. In a last desperate attempt to save his brother’s life, Sam reveals the fact that he knows the future and predicts that Tom will flush 2 pheasant from the field, shoot the first one and miss the second one, which does happen.

Another amusing scene follows, in which the family doctor is sitting at the kitchen table explaining that Sam must be suffering from too much stress and, while not crazy, perhaps his mind is “troubled” and has tricked itself into believing that he can predict the future. Tom reveals that he has spoken with “the guy from MIT” and we learn that Sam (remember, he is only 16), who is actually a senior, has chose to attend that college in the fall. He is someone who has a mind that comes around only once in a generation, maybe two. So even at this age, his brilliance was seen and recognized. Not only that, but it appears that it was brother Tom who had a hand in making sure that he actually went to MIT, which lead to Project Quantum Leap happening in the first place. It’s always nice to see time travel story telling fill in the gaps, especially with a long term story like this.

Next we see Sam out on the porch with Katie, strumming on the guitar and talking to her about the future. He introduces her to the term “awesome” to replace “far out,” which she really likes, then tells her that the Beattles are going to break up. He also warns her that she is going to meet a guy named Chuck and elope with him some day. She should, however, not do that because he is going to be a bad man who drinks and beats her. She, of course, says “OK, no Chuck” at which point he realizes that she is just patronizing him. Going back to the subject of music, she asks if Paul McCartney is going to die, because playing a track on the White Album backwards says “Paul Will Die” and he tells her about The Wings and all his songs. She asks him about John Lennon, to which he is just about to reply, when Al shows up and says “Don’t tell her.” Realizing that is something that a young girl just shouldn’t know about in advance, Sam changes his words and says that he wrote his favorite song, then proceeds to sing one of the best renditions of the song “Imagine” that I’ve ever heard.

Now, if you don’t already know this, you should: Scott Bacula is an incredibly talented, amazing singer. In fact, he is incredibly talented at just about everything, which made him perfect for this role, but in this case he just happens to be professionally trained as a musician and singer. He grew up in a musical family, sang with the St. Louis Symphony and right before starting Quantum Leap was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) in 1988 for his role in Romance/Romance. His musical talents are featured frequently throughout this series singing, playing piano, playing guitar and dancing, but to me this was definitely his finest moment musically speaking because of the emotion that he put into it.

The song also had a profound effect on Katie, because before the song ends she suddenly bursts into tears. When asked why, she says “Because I’ve never heard that song before.” When Sam says of course she hasn’t, because it’s from the future, she says “then that means Tom is going to die and I don’t want him to die” which brings the attention of the rest of the family. With everyone clearly upset and Al telling him that nothing is changed, everything still happens the way it originally happened, Sam has no choice but to tell them that he made it all up in an attempt to keep Tom from going to Vietnam, then runs off into the fields.

Naturally Sam can run, but he can’t hide from a hologram. As he collapses, Al is there waiting with a snarky “Feel better?” comment. In a very emotional scene, Sam tells Al – and God/Time/Fate – that he is tired of doing things for everyone else and getting nothing back for himself. Why should he keep doing things for everyone else and get nothing in return? He is done with this, he’s tired of it, he quits! Then he takes off running again. Of course when he tires and stops Al is waiting for him again. In a very beautiful, yet sad, moment Al explains to Sam that he is probably the luckiest man in the world. What he (Al) wouldn’t give to have the chance to go back and spend even a day with his mother and father, his sister, again like Sam has been given the gift to do right now. To relive these moments, to have the chance to say “I love you” to them again. This is an opportunity that nobody else has ever been given. A true gift. Who cares if he can change anything about the future, why can’t he simply enjoy the gift that he’s been given now, while he has it. A lesson for all of us, indeed.

After a lovely scene of the family enjoying Thanksgiving dinner together, Sam and Tom are practicing basketball in front of the barn for tomorrow’s big game. Tom is trying to show Sam how to do a move that will work against “No Nose” Pruett, the toughest competition on the other team. (His nose was cut off in a combine accident) Still worried about his big brother, Sam tries one more time to hedge his bet. He makes a deal with Tom. If he wins the game tomorrow, Tom will give him one day. On April 9th, Tom will find the deepest, darkest hole in Vietnam and crawl into it. Humoring his brother, Tom agrees.

Cut to the big basketball game. It’s the end of the 4th quarter and the home team is down by 2 points. Sam gets fouled by “No Nose” Pruett and gets two free throws, which of course he makes, after some amusing interference from Al playing holographic coach. With the score tied and less than a minute on the clock Sam manages to steal the ball from “No Nose” Pruett. You can see the hesitation in Sam’s face as the clock ticks down and everyone yells at him to take the shot. Should he shoot or should he let it go and maybe avoid Leaping? Finally he looks at his father, says “Bye Dad” and makes his move. He sinks the final shot and wins the game. History has been changed!

Lifted onto the shoulders of his teammates, Sam looks to Al to find out what has happened. Al confirms that history has, indeed, been changed. The team goes on to win the state championship and the lives of the players and coach are all improved. Unfortunately, his father still dies and his sister still marries Chuck. Tom … Tom still dies in Vietnam. Sam looks at Tom, who yells “Boo yah!” Sam yells “Toooommmm” and Leaps……

…. still yelling “Tooommm” Sam appears in a jungle in the center of a group of soldiers, who immediately open fire with their automatic weapons, while Sam ducks down into the water he is standing in. As the gunfire stops, he carefully stands up and says “Tom?” Tom turns around, looks at Sam and says “Damn, Magic, how did you know they were there?”

It is April 7, 1970.

Next week: The Leap Home Part 2