"Honeymoon Express"

Leap Dates:

1957; April 27, 1960

Episode Adopted By: AlBingo

Synopsis:

A government committee is threatening to shut down Quantum Leap for failure to prove that Dr. Beckett even actually leaped.

After saving a cat from a tree as a firefighter in 1957, Sam leaps into a cop who is on his honeymoon on the train to Niagara Falls.

Al tells Sam he must change history with a kind of global significance instead of just small personal fixes like he normally does. He must try and prevent a U2 mission from going ahead which launches the U.S. into the cold war.

While attempting this, Sam's new wife is being hunted by her mysterious ex-husband who is going to kill her if Sam can't stop it.

Audio from this episode

Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Songs
Music Artists
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Cast members who have passed away
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say what? (things in the episode that make no sense)
Quotable Quotes
Awards

Leap Dates: Wednesday, April 27, 1960 to Thursday, April 28, 1960

Writer : Donald P. Bellisario

Director : Aaron Lipstadt

Producers : Donald P. Bellisario

Broadcast Date :  September 20th 1989

Regular Cast : Scott Bakula (Sam), Dean Stockwell (Al)

Guest Stars :
Diane McBride: (Alice Adair)
Roget: (Mathieu Carriere)
Porter: (Hank Rolike)
Chairman of the Committee: (Warren Frost)
Henri: (James Mastrantonio)

Guest Cast Notes :
Warren Frost has acted since to 50s, but he is well known for his role as Dr. William Hayward in the film and TV series Twin Peaks. He also starred in the crime drama Matlock playing Billy Lewis.
James Mastrantonio also appeared in Matlock as 'The Prisoner' in the episode of the same name, and has a handful of TV movie credits to his name including Cagney & Lacey: Together Again.
Alice Aldair played Jan Bogomil in the film Beverly Hills Cop II.
Hank Rolike has had many guest appearances over the years. His varied career includes guest roles in The Incredible Hulk, Kojak, Hill Street Blues and Murder She Wrote.

Summary : Sam leaps into the body of Tom McBride a New York cop who has recently married his new wife Diane and they are currently on their honeymoon. They are currently on a train heading towards Niagara Falls.
Meanwhile back in the present Al is in court presenting a case to Congress to ensure that they will provide funding for Project Quantum Leap for another year. If they refuse to provide the funding then the project with shut down and Sam will lose contact with Al and his own time and he will be lost in the past forever. The government committee is having doubts weather Sam actually ever leaped at all, and seem highly dubious with Al's theory that God has taken control of Quantum Leap
Back with Sam, Al informs him that he is there to save the life of Diane, who is to be murdered by her ex-husband Roget, who is hell-bent on getting revenge because she left him. Meanwhile while trying to this Al also tells Sam that he has to change the past on a larger scale to try and convince the committee that Sam really is leaping. To do this they must try and prevent the U2 launching that started the events that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Personal Review: Honeymoon Express is a better than average episode of Quantum Leap. It has an interesting storyline, and been one of the early episodes has more plot ideas at its disposal, as this particular plot line was repeated many times later in the series. This episode is also the first time we see some of the world beyond Sam and   Project Quantum Leap, which I think was an aspect of the series which was never looked at as much as it should, with only Killin' Time in the 5th Series doing the same.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
Sam's first mission in this episode takes place in a different leap. The aim, save a cat from a tree!!
In this episode we learn a little about Al's past. Apparently he  took his first, third, and fifth wives to Niagara Falls for their honeymoons. We also learn that Sharon, his fourth wife, wore pink baby dolls. More suprising is that Maxine, his fifth wife, wore nothing at all and flavored her toes with mint leaves. Does anyone else think that this is most peculiar??
This episode probably has the record number of 'Oh, boy's' for any episode of Quantum Leap.
The usual leap in.
When he tries to talk to Al and Diane intervenes with a goodbye kiss.
Sam also says 'Oh,boy when he later sees Diane in a black nighty.
Sam says "Oh, boy" when he first notices Tom's gun
This is the first episode to use the standard Quantum Leap during the title credits.
Al says that when Sam was ten years old he could beat a computer playing chess. Bearing in mind the year would be around 1963 when Sam was ten, there probably weren't even any computers who could play rock,scissors, paper, let alone chess. Any computer that sophisticated at that period would probably take up an entire warehouse.
The whole committee scene seems a bit peculiar because in the episode Star Crossed in Season One, Al states that Weitzman and the committee are well aware that Sam is indeed traveling through time and altering the past, and even believe there is a third party involved who is unknown to everyone.

If Sam had succeeded in avoiding the U2 incident, wouldn't the committee just have accused Al of making it up? Would they have records?

We do not see the imaging chamber door in this episode but we hear it on one occasion

Movie Homage:
The train scenes for this episode recall the train scenes with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint from the film "North by Northwest."

Suggestive Moments:
Sam himself notices the fact that even though he has leaped into a cop, would a cop really take his handcuffs and gun on his honeymoon?? *Wink Wink*

Quotable Quotes:
"I took my first, third, and fifth wife to Niagara Falls."Sam: "How odd." (Al Calavicci)
"Admiral, are you  trying to tell this committee that God, has taken control of Project Quantum Leap?" (Chairman Weitzman)
"Excuse me Mr. Chairman, but if you kill this project you will end one of the greatest adventures mankind has ever undertaken, and more importantly, you will leave a brave man back there alone." (Al Calavicci)