Quantum Leap
Season 4, Episode 3:
Hurricane
Sam: Strangely enough, the thought of being in a hurricane was somehow comforting and familiar. I guess that’s because every time I leap, I feel that strange, unseen forces hurle me wherever they want to and there is nothing I can do to stop them. So that for me, life, like storms, is unpredictable.
Written by Chris Ruppenthal
Directed by Michael W Watkin
Airdate: October 2, 1991.
August 17, 1969
Sam finds himself in the life of a deputy sheriff whose town lies in the path of Hurricane Camille and must save the life of a Red Cross worker who died in the midst of the storm.
Tropes:
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Justified: Right as the hurricane really ramps up, Sam makes it back to the hurricane party and forces everyone to evacuate by shooting the ceiling.
- Big Storm Episode: Obviously, if the title didn’t give it away.
- Captain Obvious: When Lisa starts berating Cissy for "stealing" Archie while holding a big knife, Al's immediate reaction? "I don't like the looks of this."
- Clingy Jealous Girl: While it looks like Lisa is this, it turns out she’s a full-blown Psycho Ex-Girlfriend.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Sam and Al are concerned that Cissy’s ex is one of these. Ultimately subverted since, while he isn’t happy about his and Cissy’s breakup, he would never hurt her.
- Determined Homesteader: A drunk idiot refuses to leave his apartment during the hurricane and even hosts a wild party. See Too Dumb to Live.
- Insane Troll Logic: Mr. Deever states that if you could make the Earth spin the other direction, you could unwind a hurricane.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: It turns out Cissy did not die in the storm, but was killed by Archie’s ex-girlfriend Lisa.
- Spot the Thread: When showing up to the house Cissy is at, Lisa explains that she couldn't go anywhere else because the causeway to Clanton was washed out. Which would be a fine explanation... except, as Al finds out through Ziggy, it wasn't.
- Too Dumb to Live: The party-goers who refused to evacuate narrowly escape doom. Just like Archie did originally, Sam has to get them to leave before their apartment complex is leveled by the storm.
- Wham Line: After Lisa explains that the causeway to Clanton was washed out, Al quickly runs a check through the Handlink.Al: (suspicious) Now, wait a second... That causeway wasn't washed out.
- You Can See Me?: Another item gets added to the list of individuals who can see Sam in this episode: people with poor eyesight. Cissy manages to see a hint of green in Sam's eyes while they are out in the middle of the heavy wind at the start, and the man hosting the hurricane party, Mr. Lejeune, notes that Sam's hair changes color depending on what eye he uses.Mr. Lejeune: Makes you seem almost like two different people. Now ain't that somethin'?
