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Quantum Leap |
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am Beckett's quest to right wrongs across the years of his own lifetime continues in season three of Quantum Leap, a year that sends the multitalented scientist on 22 adventures to locales as diverse as the runway of a beauty pageant, a no-holds-barred wrestling ring and the jungles of war-wracked Vietnam in an effort to make the final leap back to his home time.
Now out on DVD, this season of the show follows Sam and his observer Al Calavicci on a series of mostly disconnected adventures. Drawing on the established histories of its principal characters and declining to embark on new story arcs, season three presents a time-leaping duo who have become deft at helping the people whose lives Sam visits. The two face ever-tougher challenges: Sam must work from within the confines of a tiny prison cell to save a death row inmate from execution, and is given one day to help a single father win a battle for custody of his daughter. On various leaps, he and Al confront homicidal bikers, the Mafia, racist mobs andperhaps most terrifyinga family of ordinary Americans driven to the edge of panic by their fear of nuclear attack during the Cuban missile crisis.
Season three has the usual Quantum Leap mix of politically themed stories, but comedic moments and funny leaps are plentiful too. In "Miss Deep South," Sam must compete in a beauty contest as Miss Sugar Belle. Another leap puts him on the stage of a Chippendale's show, dressed in a Zorro mask (and little else) and surrounded by screaming, lust-crazed women.
Season one of Quantum Leap was all about establishing the show's unique premise, while season two explored how Sam and Al's separately tragic pasts originally drove them to research time travel. In its third year, the show's writers drew on this foundation, deepening the connections in a host of satisfying ways. The resulting season finale is a real nail-biter: Sam receives electroshock therapy and forgets who he is. Al must fight to maintain contact as the befuddled time traveler begins reliving his previous trips to the past.
Stand-out performances
Season three opens with a wrap-up of one of the show's most critical arcs. In Sam's two-part leap back to his own past, the ethics of time travel get a hard examination. Having just refused to help Al rescue his first marriage, Sam now reveals an all-too-human weakness by attempting to save his own family from a trio of harrowing misfortunes. The leap is one of his least successful ... and, tragically, Al again pays the price for Sam's choices.
Part of the fun of Quantum Leap is seeing how Sam's personality will be affected by the person he leaps into, and Scott Bakula shines as he plays a differently nuanced role every week. In addition to showing off his acting chops, Bakula sings and dances in a number of episodes; he also wrote the lyrics to an '80s love ballad, "Somewhere in the Night," featured in the episode "Piano Man." Over the course of this season, Sam's relationship with Aland Bakula's rapport with Dean Stockwelldeepens. Both actors are at their best on leaps where Sam finds himself in an essentially powerless position. On those occasions, Sam's desperation and Al's inability to provide him with physical assistance are heartbreaking.
This DVD version of the series suffers from the same flaws that incensed fans about season twono extras, substitutions to music originally used in the series and moments where the image quality is grainy. Here and there the sound is poor, especially in the episode "Nuclear Family." These entirely valid complaints will leave fans trying to balance their desire to own some of the most strongly affecting episodes of Quantum Leap against the flaws in its presentation. This is a shame, because more than a decade after it first hit TV screens this series remains fresh and original, and it deserves to find as wide an audience as it possibly can.
This year of Quantum Leap features a number of its funniest and its saddest episodes, including my all-time favorite, "8 1/2 months," where Sam leaps into a pregnant teen-aged girl. I'm as extras-hungry as the next fan and would have loved more behind-the-scenes stuff or Bakula/Stockwell interviews, but seeing the episodes again is always a delight. A.M.D.
Also in this issue: Batman Begins and The Tomorrow People Set-One DVD
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