Quantum Leap – Killin’ Time

Somehow, I didn’t see this episode until long after the series ended. The first time it aired I missed it. The re-run over the summer on NBC I managed to miss as well. It wouldn’t be until years later that it would be re-ran on USA and SciFi, which is when I finally got to see it, during the summer of 1996 – almost 4 years later.

This episode turned out to be one of the craziest in the history of the show. Sam leaps into a serial killer, (Leon) who is presently holding a mother and daughter hostage. Meanwhile, in the present-day, the man he has leaped into gets his hands on a gun and escapes the waiting room Sam is forced to buy time until he is retrieved. Al goes to chase after Leon, while Gooshie takes on the role of the hologram. Sam takes the liberty of explaining to his captives what is actually going on – that he is a time traveler. …yeah, this is a doozy of an episode. This episode is interesting in that we get to see the “future.” Leon immediately seeks out a prostitute – who is extremely fun to see by the way, with flashing lights and edible body paint. After getting shot, Al retrieves him.

Meanwhile, Sam bonds with the mother after letting the little girl go free. She still thinks that Sam is crazy and the time-traveler thing is BS, until she tells him she’s studying to be a doctor. Sam has her quiz him on everything which he aces – and he reminds her that Leon, the man that she thinks he is, is illiterate.

Al returns to tell Sam the good news, but Sam doesn’t leap. Leon previously had killed the sheriff’s daughter and in the original history, the sheriff kills Leon in cold blood rather than arresting him, which ruins his life. The sheriff barges in and is ready to do it, but the mother that Sam has bonded with stops him.

This episode had so much happening, seeing the future, Al gets shot, Gooshie gets to be the hologram, Sam reveals himself, and I didn’t know any of this until 4 years later. It’s really a must-see.

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