From: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.)
Subject: Re: QL: Two-Faced Reviews: Deliver Us From Evil
Organization: University of Houston Administrative Computing
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 16:12:14 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20

In <1992Nov11.142724.7653@ultb.isc.rit.edu> mdp2842@ultb.isc.rit.edu writes:

> In article <1992Nov11.023308.7401@grebyn.com> billones@grebyn.com (Jeremy Billones) writes:
> >
> >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.

  I disagree.  Part of Alia's mission seemed to be to get Jimmy commited/killed
via the rape business.  Sam failed the first part, but pulled off the second.
It seems as if the EL's tried for a little too much (like all evil people, they
got greedy) in gunning for Sam as well, and failing that mission, lost the
whole thing.  It's more real that sometimes the good guys don't win, but the
bad guys just fail.

  Frankly, I found the ending a wonderfully Twilight Zonish "What the HELL just
happened?!?"  Even so, a little deux ex machina never hurts, so long as it
doesn't become a crutch.

> 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.

  My opinion is thus:  Sam returned to deal with the EL, not really to correct
Jimmy's life again.  Having stopped her from killing Jimmy/Sam, ALL of her work
was undone, and time "snapped back" to Sam's original fix.

> >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 tend to agree, though Zoe seemed to also say "evil is real, don't be naive"
or words to that effect.  It made things rather confusing.  No doubt on purpose.
Is Alia someone who "made a deal with devil" and regrets it?  Or just somebody
the EVIL GOVERNMENT BADDIES IN THE FUTURE (EGBITF) [tm] were experimenting *on*,
and decided to use to put things the way *they* wanted them to turn out once 
she began leaping, holding out to the semi-decent person the reward of "going 
home".

  It's ambiguous if Alia is really evil, amoral, just being used, etc.  I tend
towards the latter, myself since often she seemed just tired.  Only when she
tore her slip did she seem evil (and even that expression could be taken in
other ways).  If really evil, she should have shown more relish all the things 
she did.  This was missing.

  I don't mind the ambiguity, as long as we get a bit more info each time she
shows up, and eventually, in a massive, stunning, climax, we get the whole
truth as Sam saves Alia from the EGBITF [tm], and wrecks the EL version of the
Project. Whatcha think, Sally? :-) 

> 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.

  You got that right.  Though I would put at the top: "What is the premise
Don and Co. are using?"  :-)

> (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?
> 
> (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?

  Scary thought.

> (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?

  I think, going from the EGBITF [tm] premise, that it is a "punishment" for
not doing her job.  Alia can't control her leaps, so that much of what she said
is true, but the controllers back at her project *can*.  When she refused to
kill Sam, they "pulled the plug" on her leap.  Remember, she asked Zoe why she
hadn't leaped after Frank left for the doc, and Zoe told her it had been dec-
ided that Sam needed to be offed.

> (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?

  I suspect they'll keep the touch business.  It's better drama.

Obsexim:  Though I like longer hair, I found Alia *very* attractive.  I wouldn't
have been able to resist for a fraction of the time Sam did.


semper fi,

Jammer Jim Miller 
Texas A&M University '89 and '91
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