403 Hurricane

Hurricane


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Well watching the episode now I noticed something else. It appears that Joe was up to something with her because not only did Al mention that she was last seeing leaving the shelter with him but he claims that teh dog Bofus was scratching to go out but a quick scene clearly shows the dog lying peacefully at the old couple's feet and Joe lead him away. So it's clear that he meant something but Sam inercepted him when he insisted that Cissy stay and let him go after the dog. And that was most likely what led to Lisa. In the original history it was Joe letting to dog out that got her killed.

All things consitered though looking back I kind of like the idea of Lisa now. A pysho jealous ex-gf is a pretty cool idea.

One thing that puzzles me about this is that when Joe offered to go with Sam to get the dog, why the heck did Sam turn him down?

I don't think Joe could have been the original killer, because why would he follow Cissy back to her house? Then again, why would Lisa? Clearly the "thing" she went to get was the dog, and Joe was seen letting the dog out but he seems like a normal person, I don't buy that he would have any reason to kill Cissy, Lisa's the much better suspect, even in the OH.
 
Just watched this episode again.

One thing that puzzles me about this is that when Joe offered to go with Sam to get the dog, why the heck did Sam turn him down?

Because Joe was an idiot. Even if the dog was scratching to get out, which he wasn't, with the weather that was going on outside anyone with half a brain wouldn't let a pet outside. I don't know whether he was the original killer but his action was at the very least plain stupid if not malicious. Sam had enough problems without someone like that 'helping' him, so it's perfectly understandable that Sam would turn him down.

There are some interesting things in the episode and the footage is cool, but there is some bad plotting. I guess they were trying to set up conflict and keep us wondering who was the culprit, but it was badly executed in my opinion. It all hinges on a blatantly stupid and mean-spirited act by Joe -- and had he turned out to be the culprit that would've made a bit more sense in the narrative, where he's using the dog to get Cissy out of the shelter and to her house and vulnerable if he wants to hurt her. Instead it's left standing as a random act of stupid and it feels forced in order to move the plot in a certain direction. To me anyway. Other viewers may have very different takes on it.
 
Okay, I have a feeling Lisa was the original killer too. Joe had several chances to kill Cissy but didn't. When I wondered why Sam turned Joe down, I meant that if Cissy was last seen with Joe, then if he separated the two, he couldn't have done anything to Cissy. In fact Cissy offered to go with Sam too. I do find the sequence of events rather mysterious.

Just watched this episode again.

Because Joe was an idiot. Even if the dog was scratching to get out, which he wasn't, with the weather that was going on outside anyone with half a brain wouldn't let a pet outside. I don't know whether he was the original killer but his action was at the very least plain stupid if not malicious. Sam had enough problems without someone like that 'helping' him, so it's perfectly understandable that Sam would turn him down.

There are some interesting things in the episode and the footage is cool, but there is some bad plotting. I guess they were trying to set up conflict and keep us wondering who was the culprit, but it was badly executed in my opinion. It all hinges on a blatantly stupid and mean-spirited act by Joe -- and had he turned out to be the culprit that would've made a bit more sense in the narrative, where he's using the dog to get Cissy out of the shelter and to her house and vulnerable if he wants to hurt her. Instead it's left standing as a random act of stupid and it feels forced in order to move the plot in a certain direction. To me anyway. Other viewers may have very different takes on it.
 
True that in the OH it's probable that it was the dog that Cissy went back to get. But then would Joe follow her back in that hurricane? To me it seems just as likely that the OH death was accidental
 
The Joe character is indeed a plot hole.
Here is my theory:

Joe let the dog out into the storm with the intention of luring Sam (Archie) out of Unibelle's to get Cissy alone and had offered to accompany him to appear genuine knowing he'd be turned down (Sam's earlier behavior towards him was pretty telling).

Here's where it gets very grey area though.

As to why Sam turned him down, he clearly didn't trust Joe on the suspicion that he would harm Cissy based on an earlier moment where he'd started to manhandle her but leaving him behind was leaving her alone with him.
On the other hand, however, Sam seemed to see through Joe's claim that the dog had scratched at the door in request to be let out (which was stated to be a lie by a shot of the dog lying at the elderly couple's feet just before Joe reveals that he let it out) and might have felt that he was a liability.

In addition, in either of these cases, despite his immoral actions, Sam would have felt a responsibility to keep Joe alive as well.

The suspicion of Joe as possibly killing Cissy was unsubstantial, not only was it underdeveloped but it seemed like just a lazy way to temporarily turn the viewer's attention away from Lisa.

Technically the first known killer was the hurricane as she'd originally been killed whilst trying to retrieve something from her home. If, however, that something was still the dog, which is implied to be probable by her statement:
(Sam: "Where are you going?")
"Home, where Bofus went"
then if it could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Joe had let the dog out with the intent to get Cissy killed he could have been convicted for manslaughter but not only would that be a long shot, I'd never bought him as having the pretense to either want her dead or to kill her in the heat of passion.
Joe wasn't Prince Charming of course, he'd shown signs of being forceful thus possible controlling and he was disrespectful but he did seem to have genuine feelings for her that he'd never gotten over and that Cissy seemed perfectly fine in his presence out of Archie's sight suggested that he'd never abused her.

So as far as I'm concerned Camille and Lisa were the true threats to Cissy the entire time.
 
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In the original history, Lisa had followed Cissy to her house, and killed her, disguising it as an accident from flying debris in the hurricane.

In the revised history, with Cissy at Anabelle's, she tried to kill Cissy there.

As for the timing, I think that in the original history, Cissy must have discovered that the dog was let out much later than Sam realised, and so Sam retrieved the dog much earlier than Cissy would have, giving him time to get to the Hurricane Party and back to Anabelle's with enough time to save Cissy.
 
A big improvement from the previous episode Play Ball. Hurricane is an above average episode. The premise itself, the hurricane, could have made this episode tiring because most of the scenes are limited to one location because of it. However, like Nuclear Family did, Hurricane uses this to its advantage.

Cissy is one of my favourite characters from season 4. She's strong, warm and just full of life. The actress, Marilyn Jones, also has a great rapport with Scott Bakula, which naturally really helps. Lisa is also a decent character (despite her annoying voice). As a villain she was very compelling. Usually in Quantum Leap the villains are pretty much out and out villains, but I did feel genuinely sorry for Lisa at the end. Think Al was kinda awful calling for Sam to kill her.

An interesting thing I noticed in this episode is that Sam doesn't seem to have fully leaped in. The aura surrounding him is clearly weaker, because on two occasions people see a part of the real him. The drunk guy and Cissy.

My rating. Good. A decent episode.