Quantum Leap
Season 1, Episode 2:
Star-Crossed
Sam: Four of my least-favorite clichés: headbands, bell-bottoms, flower power and English Lit.
Written by Deborah Pratt
Directed by Mark Sobel.
Airdate: March 31, 1989.
June 15, 1972
Sam leaps into the shoes of Dr. Gerald Bryant, an English Literature professor who cozies up to his bottles as much as his female students. While trying to steer clear of an amorous student and her large, jealous boyfriend, Sam crosses paths with the younger version of Donna Eleese, the woman who left him at the altar.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Sam tries to stifle laughter over Al's bit of blackmailing.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not until Season 4's "The Leap Back" that we learn if Sam was able to change history enough to prevent Donna from leaving him at the altar.
- Been There, Shaped History: Sneaking in, Sam and Donna leave a door at the hotel open. A security guard later notices this, so his superior makes a call to the police.This is the Watergate. We have a break-in here.
- Blackmail: Because he was covertly helping Sam try to change personal history, Al was promptly fired by a superior, Weitzman. He got his job back, though, when he had Tina go out with him. See, Weitzman is married, and Al threatened to tell the wife about this. As Al says, it was unscrupulous but effective.
- Brick Joke: When explaining to Sam what happened with Dr. Bryant and Jamie-Lee in the original timeline, he mentions that Bryant was forced into a Shotgun Wedding. Towards the end of the episode, when Sam keeps insisting to Al he was there to stop Donna from leaving him at the altar, and Al asks why he still hadn't leapt yet if that's the case, Sam (before leaping out mid-sentence) starts to crack that maybe he needs a shotgun...
- Call-Back: During the montage of Sam and Donna hanging out on campus, we see Sam remove the sash from his coat and show her his string theory, similar to Al using the string in the pilot.
- Cassandra Truth: Sam all but reveals he's not Dr. Bryant when talking with Donna for the first time:Sam: If you look into my eyes, you'll see another soul.
- Cliffhanger Copout: Right after Sam gets in contact with Colonel Wojohowitz, someone knocks on his door. He opens it, only to get punched in the face by Oscar and knocked to the ground, leading to the commercial break. When we come back, Sam immediately gets back up and punches Oscar into the porch.
- Could Say It, But...: Due to the committee cracking down on Sam's attempts at changing his history with Donna, Al attempts to use hieroglyphics to give Sam her father's name while their meeting is being observed. When Ziggy finds out what's going on, and Al is removed from the Imagining Chamber, Al shouts "How can I write Colonel Wojohowitz in hieroglyphics?!" at the last moment, tipping Sam off.
- Daddy Issues: The root of Donna's difficulty getting close to others and her fear of people abandoning her.
- Double Take: After Al states that Sam has a 99.5% chance of leaping out once he gets Jamie-Lee to leave Dr. Bryant alone, Sam states he doesn't want to leap yet:Al: But, anyway, we're gonna get you out of this one quick this time. Ziggy figures a 99.5% chance-
Sam: (talking over Al) I don't want out of this one quick.
Al: -you'll be able to leap when- What?! - Early-Installment Weirdness:
- While later episodes acknowledge the rules Sam himself established when developing Quantum Leap (in particular that he can't change history for personal gain), this is the only episode to mention a committee being put in place to oversee the Project and enforce said rules.
- When Al gets dragged out of the Imaging Chamber, Sam doesn't see who is dragging him out; from his end, it looks like Al is being pulled away by a ghost. It isn't until Season 3 where it's confirmed that Al can have Sam see additional people via the Imaging Chamber just by touching them.
- Everyone Has Standards: Downplayed. Al is disgusted by the mere suggestion that he would knowingly sleep with a superior's wife "unless it was Bartlett's wife." As he says, that is a woman worth getting fired over. This also leads to a tangent where he's critical of Bartlett for forgetting said wife's birthday.
- Foreshadowing: The security guards listening to a radio report about the upcoming Democratic convention hints at the historical twist that comes up later.
- Hero of Another Story: Played with: Sam is convinced his real reason for this leap was to prevent Donna's cold feet, even after Al tells him he's actually there to prevent Jamie-Lee from hooking up with Dr. Bryant, and instead get together with Oscar. This lasts all the way up until the end of the episode: as Sam insists on his theory to Al, we cut to Jamie-Lee and Oscar making out outside... which causes Sam to leap out mid-sentence.Sam: Maybe I need a shotgun- (leap)
- Implausible Deniability: "What hieroglyphics?"
- Interface Screw: While Sam and Al are in the Rathskeller Bar and Grill for the first time, Al becomes blue and semi-transparent due to standing underneath a black light.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Al tells Sam that if he does manage to help Donna, there's a chance she could marry the guy she was seeing before him. Sam certainly doesn't like that idea, but he'd rather take the chance than see her be all alone.
- Never Tell Me the Odds!: Variation: After Al tries to make it clear to Sam that Ziggy insists that he's there because of Jaime-Lee, not Donna, Sam blows him off:Sam: Don't you see, Al? I'm here to get Donna and I a second chance.
Al: You're here to see that Guineverenote there... doesn't make the biggest mistake of her life!
Sam: How do you know that?
Al: Ziggy's got it computed down to the decimal point!
Sam: I don't give a damn what a computer says! - Not Helping Your Case: After Al tells Sam that Weitzman wants to declare Sam "non compos mentis"note , Sam blows this off... while we cut to two college students observing as Sam talks to (from their perspective) thin air.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Averted. Al mentions that Sam has six doctorates and that one of them is in medicine.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Back at Project Quantum Leap, Al is dealing with a whole committee.
- Oh, Crap!: According to Al, Ziggy had a fit over Sam inadvertently causing the Watergate break-in to be found out.
- The One That Got Away: Sam crosses paths with his former fiancée, years before he actually met her.
- Parental Abandonment: Donna avoids relationships due to her father leaving when she was a girl.
- The Power of Friendship: The committee will not allow Al to give Sam the information needed to find Donna's father and two accompany him into the chamber. While telling Sam all this, Al tries to covertly pass on the desired information and guide the conversation to that end.
- The Power of Love: Al points out that Sam changing things for Donna doesn't guarantee they'll get together and that could even cause her to marry the guy she was with before him. Sam nonetheless remains confident.
- The Professor: Sam gets to be this, except it's a college professor who's having an affair with one of his students.
- Public Secret Message: During his talk with Sam, Al wears a sash with the information about Donna's father written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Sam pieces together some of it, but Ziggy ultimately figures out what's going on.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Al tells Sam he made up the rule about not interfering in personal history and swore everyone on the team to it. Sam doesn't remember that, and says he has the power to rescind the rule. Al says he still needs committee approval first. Sam still doesn't care.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sam gets extremely uncomfortable when Jamie-Lee starts hitting on him after class.Sam: (flustered) Uh, uh, (steals a glance at Jamie-Lee's notebook) Jamie-Lee, um, w-what can I do for you?
Jamie-Lee: (romantically) "Give me life, my darling. Touch my hand and light my soul."
Sam: Keats?
Jamie-Lee: No. Your lecture on expressing love.
Sam: (quietly) My... ... (begins hyperventilating; turns around; to the sky) I wanna go home.
Jaime-Lee: You live this way. (grabs Sam; leads him away) - Shotgun Wedding: Al mentions that Dr. Bryant and Jamie-Lee went down this path in the original history.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Al's scheme is figured out by Ziggy, he gets yanked out of the Imaging Chamber, but not before giving Sam one last non-hint:Al: How can I write "Colonel Wojohowitz" in hieroglyphics?!
- Take That!: When Al tries to clue in Sam about the significance of him being at the Watergate on June 17th, 1972, and Sam admits he doesn't remember anything about it:Al: (scoff) The Republicans would love you.
- Teacher/Student Romance: The real Dr. Bryant regularly engages in this kind of behavior. In fact, Jamie-Lee is head over heels for Dr. Bryant, and Al mentions that they wound up getting involved with a Shotgun Wedding. Sam had leapt in to put an end to this.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Variation: This is the leap that firmly establishes Sam's hatred of the 1970s.Sam: Four of my least-favorite clichés: headbands, bell-bottoms, flower power, and English Lit.
- Wham Line: Complete with a Extreme Close-Up: "Police? This is the Watergate. We have a break-in here."
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This is Sam's exact reaction upon seeing Gerald Bryant's reflection, and seeing that the supposed hunk of a college professor looks like a shabby drunk.Jamie-Lee: (as Sam notices his reflection) What's wrong?
Sam: (quietly taken aback) Everything.
Sam: If you look into my eyes, you’ll see another soul...
