QuantumMatt said:
There was talk about why Gooshie and the rest of the Project had to wait for Al's letter to arrive when they could've simply asked Tom (who Al had leaped into) what the date was and where he was from. There is another problem, however. I would've thought that Al would've mailed an envelop to Gooshie containing the handlink as well but yet in a later scene, Suzanne is holding the handlink and remarks that it's beautiful. The problem is that this could create a potential paradox considering that the handlink is a piece of advanced technology that happens to be back in time. Imagine if someone stumbled upon it and decided to dissect it? That would be discovering technology before it was supposed to be invented. Why didn't Al simply mail the handlink to Gooshie so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands?
Matthew
I'm inclined to believe that Tom was simply too Swiss-cheesed to remember where and what year he came from. It would be a bit too obvious for Ziggy (let alone other Project staff) to not think to do that. Al was certainly very Swiss-cheesed because it was the first time he leaped, so it would only make sense that Tom (and every single other leapee, for that matter) would be equally as Swiss-cheesed, considering that in most cases it's always the first time these people leap. As Sam continued to leap, I believe his brain was better able to adapt to the Swiss cheese effect, as he slowly re-learned facts about his life and was able to retain most of them.
As for the handlink, there are a few theories as to what happened to it. One is that the evil leapers got ahold of it sometime later in the future and built their project based off of the handlink's technology. I don't particularly like this theory, though. Let's also keep in mind that this handlink had to eventually begin to work again once 1995 rolled around (the year Project Quantum Leap started). I agree with you that it would have been a no-brainer to simply mail the handlink back to the Project, but for argument's sake, I guess it just never occurred to Sam and Al to do that. Given the fact that Sam, Al and the Project still existed throughout the series after that episode, it's safe to say that no paradox occurred, thankfully.
QuantumMatt said:
P.S. I thought that if Sam leaped out, since he was holding the handlink, that the handlink might leap with him but he would either have to mail the handlink to Gooshie on his next leap or keep the handlink with him as he lept and lept.
I believe the handlink should have never even been able to leap with Al in the first place. I believe it should have remained in the Imaging Chamber and ended up in Sam's hand, with his fermi suit, standing in Al's position. But this logic was tossed out the window in order to create a plot device for the episode. But all Bellisario had to do was simply keep the handlink in the future but have it become short circuited from the overload so that it still couldn't be used. He could have still kept the same conflict in the episode and had the mechanics make more sense.
Anyway, it makes even less sense that the handlink didn't just leap back with Al when he returned to the Project. Therefore this must mean that the handlink was most likely a catalyst for the overload, lightning bolt and the simul-leaping. In other words, the handlink leaping into the past was a one-time deal because it was under unique circumstances. If the handlink leaped out with Sam once he accomplished his mission, this would mean that the handlink would be "stuck" leaping with Sam on every single leap, regardless of whether he tried to mail it to the Project or not! It's also possible that the handlink has to physically be in Sam's hand in order to leap out, so that it's also surrounded by the quantum field, but either way it's still going to be stuck in the past along with Sam.