From: mdp2842@ultb.isc.rit.edu (M.D. Perler)
Subject: Re: QL: Two-Faced Reviews: Deliver Us From Evil
Originator: mdp2842@ultb
Keywords: Evil Leaper From Hell
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 14:27:24 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.023308.7401@grebyn.com> billones@grebyn.com (Jeremy Billones) writes:
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>This post contains spoilers for the 11/10 episode of Quantum Leap

And a few comments by a new QL poster.


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>But then what do they do?  They pull a Boogieman, turning the clock
>back so none of it ever happened.  That means Sam never fixed anything.
>In fact, we saw him fail to stop Frankie from cheating on Connie.  The
>end result is a complete loss for the good guys, that is only rescued
>by the literal execution of a deux ex machina.  So that's half the episode
>right down the tubes.

My first impression of the ending was that the evil leaper leaping in Sam's
presence somehow caused Sam and Al to leap ahead two days. Thus, Alia's
manipulations would still be a part of history, but Sam would have corrected
it in the end. However, the dialogue doesn't really match this idea.

>The question running through the entire episode was WHY?  Why is Alia
>doing this?  Is she really a demon from Hell?  If so, why the letup at
>the end?  If she's like Sam, kinda sorta, why is Zoe pretending to be
>a demon from Hell?  And why the implosion at the end?  And if they're
>from a future, where did they get the theory that they have to ruin
>people's lives to get her back?

The line that Zoey says was something like "We clawed our way from hell to
get the simple jobs - adultery (and a couple other examples). My impression
was that "hell" refers to the things they used to have to do, which were
really distasteful even to this evil leaper project.

>I did like Zoe's first appearance, looking like one of Connie's
>neighbors.  And the mis-direction, making us think the "other woman"
>was going to be the "bad guy" was a nice touch.

I liked these parts of the episode myself. I wonder for me how much of
the mis-direction comes from missing Jimmy, as my brother was convinced
Connie was the evil leaper from the start. I kept wavering between her
being Connie, the other lady, or Frank (yes, Frank).

>Next week: Sam leaps into another smoking-gun, and the silly NBC commercials
>are no help whatsoever.

Actually, when the commercial was saying something about the "one woman" in
all the time periods, I was thinking "The evil leaper again already." :-)

As for what I thought of the show, I really liked it until the end. I think
I would have liked the end better if my first impression had been right.
This one does raise a lot of questions, though.

(1) What time period is the evil leaper project from? It would be interesting
    if they are from after 1999, as that would mean Alia could leap into
    someone at the project. Or what if she leaped into Sam before he used
    the accelerator, and stopped him from leaping at all?

(2) When was Alia born? This is important if you want to know what leaps
    of Sam's Alia can show up during. It also assumes that she is bound
    by the same restrictions as Sam about only leaping in her own lifetime.

(3) How many evil leapers are there? I wonder about this because of my
    interpretation of the "hell" line. If Alia and Zoey aren't handling
    the really dirty jobs, then who is?

(4) How did the evil leaper project start? My guess is either the tape
    from Star Light, Star Bright, or, if their project started after 1999,
    they somehow got their hands on Project QL's equipment.

(5) About the distorted leap out by Alia: is this normal, or does it only
    happen if she fails to accomplish her mission? If it's normal, would
    the same thing happen to Sam if he failed?

(6) Now that Sam and Alia have touched and seen each other, if they were
    together during another leap, would they need to touch again to see
    each other, or would they still have this ability?

(7) What if one of Sam's future leaps coincides with one of Alia's past
    leaps? The thought of this one gives me a headache. :-)

Well, I guess that's enough pondering about this one. Anybody else got
some ideas?

Mike P.