222 M.I.A.

M.I.A.


  • Total voters
    59
But Sam is also quite emotional and tends to even argue logic. The fact that he entertains the GTFW theory tells us that he's not completely logical. That's faith not logic. Which interestingly contradicts his being a man of science, they are not typically believers in God. Science vs. Religion is one of life's biggest rivalries.
He's completely illogical in denying that he has self control over his leaps. Even right in the face of the bartender whom depending on your view of that leap could be himself.

I'm not saying that Sam hasn't been known to be emotional or have faith, I'm just saying that if he had to make a choice, he'd follow logic. It's not even him choosing his head over his heart either, as he knew in his heart that he wanted to make the world a better place, he just also knew that he would have to make some sacrifices to do this. Head + Heart > Heart.
 
You can't argue with canon though. If there had been any ambiguity in the statement "Dr Samuel Becket (sic) never returned home", then you could, but there isn't. The ending leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouths, but it can't be argued with.

I don't completely agree with this. In fact, I believe DPB in a post-series interview may have said himself that it's a time travel show about changing the past so anything, even that ending, can be thought of as being changeable.

It's also possible that Dr. Samuel Becket never returned home but Dr. Samuel Beckett did.

And some people just say 'screw canon'.
 
I don't completely agree with this. In fact, I believe DPB in a post-series interview may have said himself that it's a time travel show about changing the past so anything, even that ending, can be thought of as being changeable.

Exactly, DBP's intention for the show is a kind hearted man who touched lives and changed them for the better. Anything scientific or dealing with the logic of time travel was not given a lot of attention and open for interpretation (a liberty the novels use to death). Ziggy's gender is a direct example of this. 'Another Time, Another Place' tells how he had directly addressed that controversy as something he did not care about.

The logic that Sam's never returning home is just as changeable a fact as Al's marriage to Beth or Tom's death in Vietnam is true at an inarguable level. When you interfere with time EVERYTHING is changeable. Even a detail as small and insignificant as a woman choosing to buy a white blouse instead of an orange one. QL novel author Ashley McConnell writes this to death. In Random Measures she mentions Al noticing that Tina's hair color changes in different timelines. Though I personally think she overdoes it for the purpose of the show she's not wrong. There are areas in which I personally feel she is but not in this one.

blue enigma said:
It's also possible that Dr. Samuel Becket never returned home but Dr. Samuel Beckett did.

What the heck? I believe I remember his name was misspelled in those ending comments but...what the heck!? :wacko

blue enigma said:
And some people just say 'screw canon'

The novels certainly do and they are legally published, the ones that have Sam's soul leaping rather than his body. There is clarification that this is disregard of canon. There is a behind the scenes fact (though I can't remember where I heard it) that for the episode The Color of Truth Scott had inquired with DBP as to whether he needed to practice Jesse Tyler's arthritic limp but was told not to because physically he is Sam.
 
It was definitely misspelled. I don't know whose fault that was. Probably someone at NBC. I doubt DPB spelled it wrong.

No doubt there.
Reminds me of Search and Rescue in the novel series. Sam discovers a small article in the corner of a newspaper about himself and his theory and his name is misspelled as 'Becklet'. It was intentional in this case, the article was a symbol of how his theory was scoffed at. It cracked me up though.
 
Something has just come to my attention as I am continuing my MIA screen captures (Thanks to Ladystoneheart for the torrent).
On the way to intercept Beth and Dirk's first encounter Scaggs recites to Sam who insists he 'somehow knows' a happening involving this woman:
"...when she gets a flat tire in the marina and some lawyer fixes it?"
How could Al have possibly gotten that information or that they even met on that date from Ziggy? When they got married would be on record but why would when and how they met be?
Contrary to the novel Pulitzer did Beth perhaps agree to meet with him once when he returned? I can see where the author wouldn't think so, you don't get that feeling from Al. How could Beth have been able to face him after what she did?

On another note, I caught something for the first time. When Sam tells Beth "You've uh...got a little dirt smuge on your nose" if you look closely at his left eye he's still got some of the eyeshadow on from the undercover hooker disguise! LOL! How did Scaggs not catch that!? XD
 
Something has just come to my attention as I am continuing my MIA screen captures (Thanks to Ladystoneheart for the torrent).
On the way to intercept Beth and Dirk's first encounter Scaggs recites to Sam who insists he 'somehow knows' a happening involving this woman:
"...when she gets a flat tire in the marina and some lawyer fixes it?"
How could Al have possibly gotten that information or that they even met on that date from Ziggy? When they got married would be on record but why would when and how they met be?
Contrary to the novel Pulitzer did Beth perhaps agree to meet with him once when he returned? I can see where the author wouldn't think so, you don't get that feeling from Al. How could Beth have been able to face him after what she did?

On another note, I caught something for the first time. When Sam tells Beth "You've uh...got a little dirt smuge on your nose" if you look closely at his left eye he's still got some of the eyeshadow on from the undercover hooker disguise! LOL! How did Scaggs not catch that!? XD

This happens numerous times in the series, where Ziggy immediately knows information that could never have been stored in a database. Another such example is "Another Mother", where Ziggy tells Al when the boy teasing the leapee's son will lose his virginity...
 
This happens numerous times in the series, where Ziggy immediately knows information that could never have been stored in a database. Another such example is "Another Mother", where Ziggy tells Al when the boy teasing the leapee's son will lose his virginity...

Actually that's probable. Perhaps his first time wasn't 'safe' if you catch my drift thus it could be on his medical record. Now the fact that Al expected Ziggy to know (having actually consulted the handlink for it) is an error.
 
ladystoneheart said:
Are these novels available as epub or pdf somewhere?

Honestly since they as well as the franchise are over ten years outdated I wouldn't think so.
They're not even in bookstores or libraries that I have found. I've gotten all of mine off Amazon.
 
Wow. What can I say? Is this my favorite episode? I'm not sure yet, but it certainly is *one* of my favorites. This is where we really, REALLY get to know Al. To see him slide into deeper and deeper despair is very hard to watch. His clothes and hair become more and more unkempt, he looks like he hasn't slept in days, even his voice starts cracking. To say that this episode was well-played by Dean would be the understatement of the century. I generally do not cry when watching television or movies (I don't even cry at funerals), but the final scene in this episode left me a little sniffly, I won't lie.

"If you're lucky, life gives you ONE shot at true love." As I'm sitting by my spouse of 19 years, I realize - Al is right. And I am damn lucky. And then the final scene comes along, and it's time for the tissues.

Yeah, this might just be the best episode in the series. I'll give you two guesses as to what my rating for this episode is. The first guess doesn't count. ;)
 
Prepare for my longest review so far... Wow. Going by the ratings alone, this episode is the absolute favourite of this forum as a whole. It's deserved. It's a high quality, emotional episode that packs a hell of a punch. Unfortunately, some people have decided to rank this below excellent... I'm ashamed to say I was one of them.

Back when I first created this account, I did do a handful of ratings here and there. For the most part my opinion hasn't changed. But with this one it has. I cannot fathom why my 18 year old self would only class this as a good episode. I can somewhat understand my reasoning for not putting it in my personal top 10, but there's no denying this is an excellent episode. I still stand by the fact that this episode is far from perfect, though, and one of the reasons why it wouldn't quite make my top 10 today. And that's for how Sam behaves in this episode.

I can understand the reasoning for not interfering in such a momentous decision, but I can't understand Sam himself (knowing the character like I do) behaving this way. He just comes across as a big hypocrite. In the very next episode he's doing everything he can to change history, even if that only meant given his dad a few extra years of life. I believe Sam cares for Al like a brother, and I don't believe he would have acted so cold like he does towards the end of this episode. For the most part he comes across as indifferent upon finding out (except for a second or two when we see the pain on Scott's face). Even in previous episodes he's thrown the rules aside, like with Donna and then arguably with Nicole. So yes, I do think Sam's behaviour in this episode is a major problem. It just makes him look selfish.

Dean Stockwell elevates this episode into my top 20. His performance alone is what does it. The agony you can just feel in that last scene is heartbreaking. It's just so...gutting. It's pain and that's all it is. There's no bittersweet feeling at all, it's just pure pain and Dean does such a great job with it. Susan Diol doesn't get enough credit either. Her performance as Beth is really good throughout.

The fact that this particular mistake in time eventually gets rectified is what really saves Mirror Image for me. It brings the whole series full circle. But more on that when the time comes for my final review.

My rating. Excellent. A brilliant, heartbreaking finale to season 2.
 
I'm watching this episode on Comet right now and I just noticed something.

In the scene where Dirk and Beth meet Beth repeatedly raises the hand she's wearing her MIA bracelet on to wipe at her tears and spoiler alert the name 'USN - Al Calavicci' is visible and legible on the bracelet.
 
I'm watching this episode on Comet right now and I just noticed something.

In the scene where Dirk and Beth meet Beth repeatedly raises the hand she's wearing her MIA bracelet on to wipe at her tears and spoiler alert the name 'USN - Al Calavicci' is visible and legible on the bracelet.
Good catch!