506 Deliver Us From Evil <AKA Evil Leaper I>

Deliver Us From Evil


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alsplacebartender

Al's Place Bartender
Staff member
Deliver Us From Evil
March 19, 1966


Oakland, California


When Sam leaps back into Jimmy from a previous leap, things are not as they should be. The family is being torn apart and history has been rewritten for the worse. The answer lies in what Sam discovers next...a second time-traveler named Alia.


Written by: Robin Jill Bernheim, Tommy Thompson & Deborah Pratt
Directed by: Bob Hulme


Rate and comment on this episode!
 
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Why would someone want to do that? That's the question that's always bugged me about the Evil Leaper storyline.

Anyhow I LOVE this episode....I had to watch it on a re-run. I was out and stuck in traffic and everyone was talking about it the next day at school.

It's so freaking and thrilling. :) It's awesome!
 
I seem to have a different opinion than everyone else! (proud to be different)

I didn't like the Evil Leapers or Evil Leaper episodes. I didn't see how they fitted in with the story for QL, and thought that Sam should only be leaping in time, because he made an experiment that was bawled up due to premature launch. I have no problem with the leapers in Mirror Image because that episode is to entirely explain what is going on, but I totally disagree with the 'Evil Leapers'.
 
I love the Evil leapers. I didn't much care for this one before however. But I watched it again this morning and I was reminded how intense it is, and how evil Alia started out as. It makes me feel so bad for Sam though. He was so overwhelmed to meet another leaper and he was so volunerable. She took advantage of that by seducing him and setting him up to look like he raped her. After she so convicningly nice, telling Sam how empty she was and how she needed something to feel and to touch and taste that was real. Something that is a very powerful weapon to use against Sam. She seemed to really want to get to know him and relate to him, and obviously to have sex with him, but then she turns around and stabs him in the back and then threatens his life with a gun! Talk about PURE EVIL! Speaking of the gun scene in it is one of my favorite lines from this episode:
"You're not evil Alia, what ever is leaping you through time is."
I just love how Sam can find the good in even the most horrible of situations like when his life is on the line. it makes me think of a line from one of my fav songs (I posted the lyrics in my Sam Theme thread as a matter of fact)
"Oh you find God's grace in every mistake, and always give more than you take."
That's Sam all over, and that's why I was glad that they didn't go with that alternate ending that someone posted about on here somewhere. It did not fit Sam's charactor or the episode AT ALL!

That scene makes me feel bad for him just the way he is though. All he wanted from her was someone to share experiences with, someone to talk to about leaping and its effects and the feelings it brings. He just wanted someone to identify to and she turned out to be his counterpart and tried to kill him. Some way to meet a new leaper. I was really glad that Alia turned good by the second episode.

I also liked how they confused you about Alia because when they first introduce her they show her talking to Zoey as Connie. I remember when I first saw it, I thought Zoey was a friend of Connie's and then I saw her leave through an imaging Chamber door.


After the second time I am liking this episode even better because I like intesneness and there was all kinda of intense conflict in this epsiode, between the La Matta's and the leapers. In fact it was the Leapers or one of them that caused mayhem for the La Matta's. Speaking of the La Matta family it was quite nice to see Sam in a previous leap again and it makes sense that they would chose the La Matta's seen as it's Scott's favorite episode and one of the most popular and meaninful ones. It even had some impact on Al as Jimmy made him think of Trudy. So I found it interesting to see Sam in Jimmy's world a second time.
 
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Nope, didn't think they ever fit in the QL universe and I haven't seen 'em since they were on. Dumb concept, IMO. It was done because NBC insisted on conflict, not compassion. That was the only reason and it's a dumb reason period. I thought they had no place in QL and it was a huge waste of 3 precious hours of QL that could have been been possibly Deborah Pratts animated episode? Or something else? Not this drek. Another thing that made me pretty sick was that they took a golden moment like "Jimmy" and purely destroyed it for me. I think for that alone this thing should never see the light of day again.
 
Grimlock said:
One of the best stories in the QL history a bad fanfic:hair
Sorry but I am going to have to Hurculean disagree, but this thread is not about Abigale and I dont want to be held responsible for steering this off topic, so lets please get back to Deliver Us From Evil where this discussion belongs.
 
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Zoey didn't leave through the Imaging Chamber door the first time though... she just said she'd better go...

We don't see the Imaging Chamber door til after Alia is revealed...
 
I love this episode for a couple of reasons. One, it gives us more Frank LaMotta, my second favorite guest performance of the whole series. It also gives us a view of what happens after the leap is over - that Sam's work in Jimmy led to some good results. I think the bedroom scene is one of the best ever done - sexy and suspenseful and heartbreaking and so, so wrong. Watching Frank attack Sam, and Sam's response, is watching acting at its best. I believed that whole scene completely.

I wish the special effects at the end were a bit less cheesy, though, and "Zoe" chews the scenery like it's beef jerky.

Why would someone want to do that [ruin people's lives]? That's the question that's always bugged me about the Evil Leaper storyline.
I guess for the same reason that someone would spend hours and hours devising malware and trojans and viruses to destroy people's computers. Just because they can.
 
A fair episode,only.Why - Well read what Samnel said before me.most of what he said is what i think,too.

BTW is it just me or in some ways Zoey character is like a Female Al,only Darker and more Evil?!
 
bluedana said:
I think the bedroom scene is one of the best ever done - sexy and suspenseful and heartbreaking and so, so wrong. Watching Frank attack Sam, and Sam's response, is watching acting at its best. I believed that whole scene completely.

I agree, I love how Evil Alia starts out as in this ep before she gets feelings for Sam and turns to his side. Which this scene shows so well, and Yummy shirtless Scott moment! *licks lips* :)

isz said:
BTW is it just me or in some ways Zoey character is like a Female Al,only Darker and more Evil?!

Yes I believe she is cuz she seems to look at guys a lot, like in the third episode when she admires her host and she even calls Sam delicious.
 
naggindragon said:
Not to mention "frat boys" were Zoey's favourite college subject hahaha.

Yeah that's right hehe, in the second epiosde.
So there you have it a clue in every episode that she likes guys.
I just love in this ep when she is watching Sam try to pry his way out of the locked bedroom
"Oh what a tragity, what an absoutly delicious tragidy"
She didn't use the word tragidy though I don't remember what word she used.
 
I posted just about a year ago about this, and I will do it once more to expand on new sentiments.

I was watching the episode last night, and I was thinking how much of an impact Sam had on me at the time. I had tried to be a good person beforehand (I was only nineteen when I first saw the show in '89), but at the time, I had no idea who I wanted to be, so in a way, I 'became' him for a while (looking back on it, I find it quite amusing - I used to comb my hair to try and make myself even look like him, and funnily enough, sometimes it worked*) Anyway, that behaviour stuck with me, and eventually, Quantum Leap became more than just a show to me.

I loved the whole concept of somebody helping others, making the world a better place. I always liked to imagine that there really was - it's a very comforting thought.
But years later, that episode came along, and ruined the whole concept for me - 'Oh, there's a good person here, so we'll throw in someone else to make it more interesting' is basically what they were saying by writing this. The episodes containing the Evil Leapers always seemed 'tacky' to me, concentrated more on the sci-fi element than the drama element.
Contradicted the story, didn't work for the show, and at the time I felt distressed. You may say it's only a TV show, but at the time, the last five years I spent trying to redeem myself for my behaviour in the past nineteen years, and as soon as they ruin the concept, they shatter my illusion.

That is why I feel more strongly about the Evil Leapers than a lot of people. Say what you want, the whole thing may seem silly, but if you had known me at the time before I saw Quantum Leap, you'd understand.

*Doesn't work anymore, though :D
 
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I agree about the this episode with you. I believe taking such a touching and powerful episode as that of Jimmy and having evil leapers was wrong.
I also could not stand the season where Frank sees who he thinks is his wife Connie and Sam after Alia had accused " Jimmy of rape.
That to me just made me upset. Sam worked so hard to help Jimmy and got him accepted with his coworkers and Frank and to do have the evil leapers just upset me.


samnal said:
Nope, didn't think they ever fit in the QL universe and I haven't seen 'em since they were on. Dumb concept, IMO. It was done because NBC insisted on conflict, not compassion. That was the only reason and it's a dumb reason period. I thought they had no place in QL and it was a huge waste of 3 precious hours of QL that could have been been possibly Deborah Pratts animated episode? Or something else? Not this drek. Another thing that made me pretty sick was that they took a golden moment like "Jimmy" and purely destroyed it for me. I think for that alone this thing should never see the light of day again.
 
I agree, I wish Jimmy and Frank hadn't been the people at risk. I was really touched by their first QL episode and this one took away from that shining achievement of Sam's.

I thought Zoe was ABSOLUTELY a female Al, with scoping out the opposite sex and making suggestive comments. Interesting that they would replicate the characters in a good vs. evil conflict. Since Sam is so good, and Alia's not all bad, should Al be countered by a prude? Just kidding.

Riddle me this batman: is the actress who plays Zoe the same one who played the housekeeper-ghostee from "Portrait For Troian"?

I guess Zoe's a different character though since the nasty ghostee could sense (or see/hear) Al. She told him, pointblank that "Strangers aren't welcome here." Zoe doesn't notice she's standing next to Al even when he's smoking a cigar and yelling at Sam.
 
Riddle me this batman: is the actress who plays Zoe the same one who played the housekeeper-ghostee from "Portrait For Troian"?

I guess Zoe's a different character though since the nasty ghostee could sense (or see/hear) Al. She told him, pointblank that "Strangers aren't welcome here." Zoe doesn't notice she's standing next to Al even when he's smoking a cigar and yelling at Sam.

Yes, Carolyn Seymore played both characters. And they are both definitely different characters.
 
I was quite looking forward to the Evil Leapers after a work colleague let it slip that they were awaiting me in the 5th season.

I was a bit disappointed, for all the reasons said above. Why would they do it? blah blah.

Not interested in God/Devil as both infer we're religious, when I'm not.

Anyway, the girl who played Alia was beautiful, but I felt a bit weirded out that Sam and her wouldn't take their eyes off each other...considering he has a wife back in 1999. She was a bit too good to be true, and why would she care anyway, if both are going to leap, they aren't going to have any time to talk about their lives as Quantum Leapers.

Not sure why Sam loves being Jimmy quite so much, as if I remember correctly, playing him the first time was quite traumatic, what with the clumsiness and dastardly workers at the dock, and Connie herself trying to get rid of Jimbo!

All in all, an average episode, and possibly symptomatic that by Season 5, Quantum Leap may have jumped the shark.
 
I was quite looking forward to the Evil Leapers after a work colleague let it slip that they were awaiting me in the 5th season.

I was a bit disappointed, for all the reasons said above. Why would they do it? blah blah.

Not interested in God/Devil as both infer we're religious, when I'm not.

Anyway, the girl who played Alia was beautiful, but I felt a bit weirded out that Sam and her wouldn't take their eyes off each other...considering he has a wife back in 1999. She was a bit too good to be true, and why would she care anyway, if both are going to leap, they aren't going to have any time to talk about their lives as Quantum Leapers.

Not sure why Sam loves being Jimmy quite so much, as if I remember correctly, playing him the first time was quite traumatic, what with the clumsiness and dastardly workers at the dock, and Connie herself trying to get rid of Jimbo!

All in all, an average episode, and possibly symptomatic that by Season 5, Quantum Leap may have jumped the shark.

Well for one thing, Sam didn't KNOW he had a wife and Donna made it clear that she wanted it to stay that way.

And Sam loved being Jimmy again because it felt like going home to his family.
 
Interesting interpretation, Stakker. At first, I would have agreed that the Evil Leapers were taking the series in a direction I was uncomfortable with. But the more I think about it, I actually think that a touch of opposition and adversity to Sam's mission could have been a good thing. If the series had moved onto the sixth season, then as long as it wasn't overdone, or had taken the entire mission, the Evil Leaper arc could have been a nice recurring plot-line.

Maybe he likes Jimmy because, in a way, both feel out-of-place in their surroundings. Sam is obviously tossed around to situations and people that he just can't quite grasp, while Jimmy might not be able to fully connect with the people in his life that love him. Just a random thought on my end, though. :p
 
I actually started to watch the first one where we are introduced to Alia and keep in mind I haven't watched this episode in 19 years when it first aired but anyway when I got near the end where Sam and Alia are standing in the kitchen at night and Alia starts to seduce Sam and pull him into the bedroom I had to turn it off because I knew what was to come and how uncomfortable it made me when I first saw it! But from memory I just remember Alia running her fingernails down her face and neck and then letting out a bloodcurdling scream! Then if I remember correctly Frank runs in and Alia accuses Jimmy of trying to rape her followed by Frank beating the crap out of Sam. Didn't Al show up around this time and say to Sam "Don't hit him Sam, just don't hit him!"? Anyway, you can tell how much that ending had an effect on me! Without watching it I could still see that scene so clearly! Here's how I would have written it! Picture it, instead of having Alia as an evil human being I would have had her as one of Satan's minions who is in the form of a human being, then at the end she confronts Sam and tells him that she has finally ruined a leap for him and that she won't mess up this time! You know like in that other episode I won't mention so I don't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it! See I knew they should have had me on their writing staff! LOL!
 
Like Lee Harvey Oswald this episode was good, but forecast that the show had run it's course and was due to end.

The show had done so well with not having a recurring villain for the previous seasons - and whilst the idea was an intriguing one - it shows signs that the filmmakers are now relying on formula. Especially with Beckett's line at the end about "Alia is not gone". She'll be back boys and girls, Mwah hah hah!

Maybe this could have worked if it was just a one off episode. Could have been quite groovy. But as it stands, it's just a surrender to the formulaic. I know that's not Donald P Bellisario's fault and he was forced to do it...

Also, the motivation that "She's just evil" didn't really sell it for me. Who were these people? How did they get their hands on what is essentially the same technology which Sam Beckett is supposed to have pioneered?

Maybe if we were told Lothos and the rival project were created by a former friend of Sam Beckett's who was aware of what was going on, and was out for revenge... that maybe I could've bought. That he stole what Beckett had created....

But no. Bad idea, badly executed. Shark jumped.
 
Like Lee Harvey Oswald this episode was good, but forecast that the show had run it's course and was due to end.

The show had done so well with not having a recurring villain for the previous seasons - and whilst the idea was an intriguing one - it shows signs that the filmmakers are now relying on formula. Especially with Beckett's line at the end about "Alia is not gone". She'll be back boys and girls, Mwah hah hah!

Maybe this could have worked if it was just a one off episode. Could have been quite groovy. But as it stands, it's just a surrender to the formulaic. I know that's not Donald P Bellisario's fault and he was forced to do it...

Also, the motivation that "She's just evil" didn't really sell it for me. Who were these people? How did they get their hands on what is essentially the same technology which Sam Beckett is supposed to have pioneered?

Maybe if we were told Lothos and the rival project were created by a former friend of Sam Beckett's who was aware of what was going on, and was out for revenge... that maybe I could've bought. That he stole what Beckett had created....

But no. Bad idea, badly executed. Shark jumped.

Actually it's clear that Alia is not evil, they made the point that whatever trapped her in time was. Remember that she fought back and refused to kill Sam in the end (an act we find out she was severely punished for).

As for "where did they get almost identical technology that Sam pioneered", we need to remember that an artefact of his ended up in the past (the handlink from The Leap Back) and also in the directly previous episode, Sam reveals his project to the Government under Sodium Pentathol. It's quite possible that one or both of these could have ended up in the hands of the wrong people...