From: charles@zip.eecs.umich.edu (Charles Jacob Cohen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Opinions about the Evil Leaper Episode
Date: 11 Nov 92 15:58:54 GMT
Article-I.D.: zip.1992Nov11.155854.6056
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI

Disclaimer:  Although this post discusses most of the bad points
of this episode, I *am* a big fan of Quantum Leap (which is why
this episode saddened me).  Also, all these are just my humble 
opinions.

Spoiler Alert:


1.  Who was the evil leaper?  Well, unfortunately I had it figured out
as soon as I saw her talking to her holographic friend, Zowie.  Zowie
had to be from the future, I was looking for someone who had to be the
leaper, and there were only two main character non-holographic women
in this episode.  It wasn't hard to figure out.  Just like the majority
of QL murder mysteries, there aren't that many people to choose from
(at most one or two), so not much deduction is needed.

2.  Where is the evil leaper from?  This was not clear at all.  From the
technology that Zowie used and other little clues, you would guess she
was from the future also.  But then at the end of the episode Zowie says
they are demos or devils from hell.  If they are from hell, then why
do they need technology, etc?  This was an episode about an evil leaper
from hell, not an evil leaper from the future (a future hell? :)

3.  Why did everything revert at the end?  This, to me, didn't make sense
at all.  Sure, Alia "lost" because she didn't kill Sam, but can't Sam 
loose a few also?  She did mess up Jimmy's and everyone else's life. Sam
should have had to have stuck around to try to patch things up, not make
everything perfect.

4.  Can Sam really stop Alia from doing evil things?  No.  It is so
easy for someone to really mess up people's lives, especially when they
will just disappear when they fulfill their mission. Heck, just kill or
wound a few people at every leap, mess up friendships, reveal secrets.
There is no way Sam can stop all of that. It is just too easy.

5.  What was I hoping for from all the previews?  I really wanted to
see another leaper from the future. She didn't have to be evil, but
she could have been controlled by an evil source!  For example, what
if Alia and Zowie were from a parallel time-line Earth, where another
government (British, due to the accent?) was the world power.  They
might not be evil, but the government might want to ensure they stay
in power.  Sam's meddling makes sure the time lines stays as we know
it.  Alia tries to change the time stream to alter history to insure
that the other time line comes about.  This would lead to three types
of episodes.
a)  Sam and Alia each have their own separate goals, but there is no
need to hinder each other. Both help out their time lines.
b)  Sam has to stop Alia from effecting a change, or vica verca.
c)  Sam and Alia have the *same* goal and have to work together, weither
they like it or not.  <--- this could be lots of fun!

And note that the changes Alia makes don't have to be "evil" ones.  Small
changes in time could make big changes in the future, and helping someone
in the past might have disasterous results (like the old Star Trek episode
with Edith Keeler and the Guardian of Forever).  This could lead to 
neat episodes where Sam has to let bad things happen to someone so
good results can occur later.  They (the writters) don't go into this much.

Was anyone else disappointed and hoping for more?  Maybe I just
expect too much from QL.  Perhaps they should deal with social issues.
Most of their good episodes were about those, and leave mysteries and
science fiction plots to other television series.

- Chuck

-- 
"I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect, had intended for us to forgo their use." - Galileo
"I'm an engineer, not a dictionary!" - Me
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