Quantum Leap: Genesis Part 1

Seriously, this might be my most favorite subject to recap. Even more than the Indian books. I am still majorly into Quantum Leap and the adventures of Dr. Sam Beckett but I was absolutely obsessed when I was a wee lass. So, I take great pleasure in recapping the pilot episode.

Let us begin, shall we?

When the episode opens, we meet Al, Real Admiral (ret.) Al Calavicci if you're nasty. Al is on the ho stroll (not really, I just wanted to type that), rocking out to some jazz while racing down a New Mexico desert street when he stops to help a damsel in distress wearing FMP's, a pink Kelly Bundy dress and some rocking Jem earrings. They even glitter and shit! Anyway, her car has broken down so Al, being the consummate gentleman that he is, offers to give her a ride by using a really cheesy pick up line.

While on the stroll, the hooker he picks up notices some lights in the sky and starts commenting on it. Al tries to tell her it's sheet lightening, but the hooker ain't having none of that. Okay, maybe I shouldn't call her a hooker. She's probably a really nice lady who volunteers at the homeless shelter on Saturdays and adopts those kids Sally Struthers shells out on late night TV. I probably shouldn't call her a hooker, but I'm going to. Because, honestly, I'll cut a bitch over Al Calavicci.

Anyway, Gushie breaks up the moment by telling Al through some device in Al's car that Sam's Leaping against Ziggy's advice. Side note: If you don't know who Gushie and Ziggy are, you'll find out. Trust me. Al's like "WTF? He can't do that" and Gushie's all like "Sam does whatever he wants cause he's a fucking genius. You try telling him he can't, foolio!".

So, we get a shot of Sam in the Accelerator, which is what causes him to Leap. Al puts the petal to the metal and rushes toward the funny lights the hooker pointed out earlier. I can only assume they ended up killing the hooker because she now knows too much. And they never really explain what happened to her. But I'm pretty sure hookers just can't go strutting around top top top secret areas. I also like to assume they knocked off the hooker once they got the chance.

Anywho, Sam wakes up at 5AM on September 13, 1956 in Edwards AFB in Blockfield, CA next to a very preggo blonde after we sit through 95 hours of stock footage they probably stole from Flight of the Navigator. First thing he thinks is "we did it!". Then he's all like "WTF did we do?" Sam can't remember a GD thing. Not even his full name. The preggo lady (Peg) keeps calling him "Tom" but he knows it's not his name. When Sam gets into "Tom's" bathroom he takes a look into the mirror and freaks out. A kid in a coonskin cap runs into the bathroom and tells him some dude's on the phone for him. Peg asks Sam if he's alright after she notices the lost look on his face and he insists his name isn't Tom. She then asks if he's sick and there's no way he's going to fly if he's sick, is there? Sam continues to freak at the mention of flying. Yeah, I would, too.

Sam remembers the number to his work (which happens to be in New Mexico and about 40 some odd years in the future) and rushes to give it a call. However, the phone is all sorts of confused because 555-2231 is way too many numbers for it to handle. When Sam asks for an area code, Peg laughs because there's no such thing as an area code in 1956.

Howdy Doody comes on and Sam, in a daze, comes on to survey his surroundings. He's convinced it's all a nightmare.He decides to play along, cause he's gotta wake up sometime, right? and learns his name is Tom Stratton and he's an Air Force pilot with a wifey and a kid plus one on the way. Capt. Birdell, a.k.a. Bird Dog, is supposedly his best friend and they carpool to work together. Bird Dog is a hoochie and macks on some hooker with poodle dog permed hair. Sam tries to convince Bird Dog he woke up that morning and has no idea how to fly, so flying that X2 this afternoon would not be a good idea. Bird Dog thinks is a funny joke and convinces the rest of the squad to pull the same prank on Weird Ernie, a military doctor, telling him they all began to suffer memory loss after flying Mach 2. There's a little foreshadowing here about a fire warning light malfunctioning in the X2 airplane.

Al finally pops up and begins to talk to Sam. Sam, of course, has no idea who the fuck Al is and politely ignores him.

At home, the military wives (including Peg and who are all preggo) are examining Peg's thigh stretchmarks to see which thigh is better. Her right one has less and the marks are thinner, which is the one she's been using her cactus cream on, if you cared. Tru Fax: When I got to my first duty station in 2002, every chick there was pregnant. Seriously. Every. Last. One. I thought it was something in the water so I steered clear from that. And Navy dudes. Continuing on....

And, back on the war front, Sam's chilling in the airplane that carries the X2 with other fellow Air Force captains. Bird Dog is at the helm, or whatever they call it in the Air Force; I was in the Navy, remember, and Sam's chillin' like a villain, that is until Bird Dog had to take a leak. He leaves Sam the, um, helm and that's when things go a little caca, seeing as how Sam hasn't the slightest on how to fly a plane. Bird Dog comes back like nothing's going on and takes over. Bird Dog thinks it was all a joke. Al pops up again just as they're about to drop the X2, with some no name captain at the wheel (or whatever). Sam, being the only one that can see him, kinda flips because Al is standing right where the trap door for the X2 is located.

The X2 hauls butt up to 71,000 feet, trying to hit Mach 3. The fire warning light turns on as soon as he hits Mach 2.8, after the pilot begins to hear something bubbling in the compartment. He slows down to Mach 2.3 and the warning light turns off. The pilot, a little too confident, tries to turn the airplane while still at Mach 2.3 and loses control. He jettisons out and the X2 comes crashing down.

Once again, Al comes snooping around while Sam, Peg, and the rest of the pilots (along with girlfirends and wives) are at the O club, which is what the Navy calls the officer's club and I can only assume the AF says the same. Sam asks Peg who the dude by the jukebox is, and naturally Peg doesn't know who Sam is talking about. Sam makes an excuse to head over to the jukebox to find out who the dude in the strange tux is. Sam asks Al if he was dead and is surprised Al knows his name. Al is surprised Sam doesn't remember what happened or the experiment. Al gets bitchy and can't believe "that putz Ziggy was right" Sam confuses Ziggy, who is a parallel hybrid computer, by the by, with Gushie, the project programmer with bad breath. Al wanders off which is sort of rude, leaving Sam with even more questions and even more confused and begging God to allow him to wake up.

On the ride home, Peg tells Sam about a few things he had done that night that were completely out of character. Sam tries to use that as an open invitation to tell her he really isn't Capt. Tom Stratton but really Sam Somebody, which just upsets her. Real smart, Sam, going around and upsetting a six month preggo woman. Sam backtracks and tells her he was just setting up a gag.

There's a few more Flight of the Navigaotr shots which represent the Project attempting to bring Sam back. As Sam and Peg sleep, the clock on the nightstand races forward but the attempt is a failure. Sam wakes with a start and soon begins to remember certain tidbits of his life, like how he was raised on a farm until he was 18 and went to college somewhere. He remembers he has a sister Katie who married a Naval officer. She and her hubby live in Hawaii with Sam's mom and his dad died in 1974. Realizing it's 1956 and that his dad is still alive, Sam calls the operator asking for a call to be placed to Elk Ridge, Indiana. When the operator asks for the extension, all he can remember is Oakdale. The operator then asks for the name and Sam can't remember. He hangs up the phone and breaks down and so do I. Poor Sam.

The little boy in the coonskin cap reminds Sam of the fishing trip they were supposed to take. It is, after all, Saturday and he said he would take him fishing. Of course, Al picks the time to pop back in while at the lake. Sam tries to touch Al and freaks when his hand goes right through him. Al yells at him for yelling because he's suffering one hell of a hangover. Al tells him his name is Albert but can't tell him Albert what because it's restricted, as is pretty much anything Sam is going to ask him. It totally didn't make sense to me when I was younger, but after working in the government for nearly a decade, I can tell you nothing makes sense in the government.

Sam asks him what he is and Al tells him he's a neurological hologram. At once, a little part in Sam's brain ignited and he spouts off "created by a subatomic agitation of carbon quarks tuned to the mesons of my optic and otic neurons". Um, yeah. Sam is pretty floored at the fact he knew that and wants to know why. Al only answers with the different scenarios Ziggy has come up with. Sam doesn't want to hear any scenarios and wants to know his last name, but that's on Ziggy's no-no list and it's double starred. Sam demands to know what Al can tell him and Al says he can tell him pretty much what Sam already knows; "that he's part of a time travel experiment that went a little ca-ca". Sam wants to know how ca-ca and Al tells him they're having trouble retrieving him. You see, they tried to retrieve him earlier this morning. Al tells him retrieving him is dependent upon everyone in 1956 to believe he's Tom Statton and that little mishap about telling people he was really Sam Somebody could explain why he couldn't be retrieved. They're gonna try again on Tuesday. Sam's all like "yeah, that's fine and dandy but I'm supposed to fly the GD X2 on Monday, so eph you and your little retrieval system, buddy".

So, it's later on that day, or the next, not sure which, Sam and Peg are hosting a cook-out. A smartass pilot decides to show off to the crowd and does some fancy maneuvering. Wee Stratton is all sorts of impressed and asks what that move is called. Sam has no idea, but Bird Dog does, of course, and tells him but is obviously a little confused by "Tom's" lack of knowledge.

Weird Eddie pulls Sam from the BBQ for the sole purpose of questioning Sam about Bird Dog's "theory" of memory loss after hitting speeds of Mach 2. He's handed a questionnaire and told to fill it out by Monday. Al pops is again while Sam is in the hanger bay, and Sam bitches at him for sneaking up on him. Al gets all snide in return, which will be par for the course and expected as time goes on, which is why Al Calavicci is all brands of awesome. Al explains string theory to Sam which is the basis for Project Quantum Leap. Sam vaguely remembers the Imaging Chamber, where Al actually is. Al tells Sam about Ziggy's theory that Sam is actually there to correct a mistake, which Al believes is a load of hogwash because that would mean God, Time, Fate, or Whoever was waiting for Sam to Leap just do he could make Sam his bitch and force him to put right what once went wrong. Al tells him Tom Stratton was killed trying to break Mach 3 in the original history. All Sam has to do is break Mach 3 and live. Sam ain't having none of that and wants the next option on the list, which Al cheerily tells him is all he has to do is stand at ground zero during an atomic blast. Doesn't make that Mach 3 thing look so bad, does it, Sammy Boy? Al tells him he'll help Sam fly the plane, with him being an ex-astronaut and all. Al tells him the hardest part about flying is takeing off and landing and half of that is already done for him. Sam asks how he's going to land and Al tells him there is no way in Hades Sam could land the X2, even with his help. So, he'll just make an emergency exit and let the X2 crash. Simple, no?

Monday rolls around and after Sam turns in his homework (filling it out as if he were Sam Beckett, not Tom Stratton, with answers to date of birth: August 8th, 1953, What had the most impact on me in high school: miniskirts, What had the most negative impact on me in high school: pantyhose, When feeling lonely I: rent a movie and microwave some popcorn, oh and that he had been expelled from college for streaking) he boards, ready to fly the X2. The pilot who flew that previous ill fated flight tells Sam he could smell coffee burning right before the fire warning light came on.

It's time. Sam climbs into the X2, nervous because Al has yet to make an appearance. They're at 25,000 feet, and ready to drop the X2. After a countdown, they release the X2 and just then, Al shows up. Al sits with him in the cockpit and has Sam match his movements. Sam demands to know where Al was. Al tells him he was at a Lakers game that went into overtime. Oh, and he met up with this hoochie mama named Martha and ended up spending the night with her. Understandably, Sam's a wee bit perturbed.

When Sam reaches Mach 2.3, Al has Sam "punch it" and the speed increases. Sam could hear the sound of coffee peculating. The fire warning light comes on and Al tells him the fuel is actually bubbling. Just a few ticks from Mach 3, Al tells Sam to shut it down. Sam continues, pushing the X2 until it reaches Mach 3 and ultimately explodes because of the bubbling fiel. But! Sam made it out just before it blew! And he's a-okay. When he lands, Sam gets pissed because he's still Capt. Tom Stratton. On the ambulance ride, Sam asks Al what the hell? Al tells him not to blame him cause he never really believed that whole do gooder theory. Al takes off to go attend to Martha.

Sam is taken to the hospital because Peg went into premature labor when she heard the crash. Sam goes to Peg's side and walks her through Lamaze breathing, which was unheard of in 1956, ya know. The docs pull Sam aside and tell him the baby is much too premie to be born. Sam jumps into doctor mode and begins asking all sorts of questions. Sam tries to convince them to stop labor, but the docs argue that can't happen. He convinces them to pump Peg full of a five percent solution of ethanol alcohol in dextrose and water wot stop the contractions, while babbling on about medical advancements in the 60's and 70's which would be better but really aren't able to be used, for obvious reasons. The most obvious: it being 1956 and all.

The docs give it a shot. Peg ends up drunk as a skunk but the contractions have stopped. So, Sam's saved two lives today and after giving a thumbs up to Wee Stratton, Sam Leaps.

And since I have to get up much too early in the morning to take a test, I'm signing off here. I'll get to part 2 tomorrow, which will be short and sweet. I hope enjoyed this hella long post here.