405 Permanent Wave

Permanent Wave


  • Total voters
    27
Great episode...I loved the scene with the twins where Sam turned the tables on Al for once. :roflmao:And the scenes between Sam and Kyle, and how Sam puts himself between Kyle and the nasty sheriff at the cabin are touching. Sam even told Chloe "don't make me do this" before he shot her in self defense. Forever the good guy.
 
Maybe because we don't see much of violent Sam,it feels weird to see Sam using gun and killing people.
Also a very young Joseph-Gordon Levitt,mind-blown of the episode >D
 
While this was a pretty decent episode, it's one that makes me understand why ratings were beginning to drop by the fourth season. There's a formula to this show and after awhile it starts to get a little stale. This feels like sort of a throw-away episode, another that seems like it could have taken place in almost any given time, so it doesn't really utilize the time-traveling premise of the show in a satisfactory manner, with the exception of the hysterical mirror image of Sam with the wild 80s hair.

Also, if I recall correctly, in the fourth season QL was on against something else that turned out to be more popular, although I'm hard-pressed to remember what it was. I had a co-worker who watched QL and she stopped right around Season 4 because she and her husband started watching whatever it was up against because they decided they liked it better. So I think even long-term fans were beginning to tire of the show a little by this time.

Whenever Sam's mission is to save someone from dying, there's very little suspense to it aside from how they get to that point, because 9 out of 10 times you know Sam is going to save that person. I was never really worried Laura or Kyle would get killed, so it's just an episode where you kind of sit back and watch to see how it all plays out. Not exactly edge-of-your-seat stuff.
 
While this was a pretty decent episode, it's one that makes me understand why ratings were beginning to drop by the fourth season. There's a formula to this show and after awhile it starts to get a little stale.

This is kind of why I think having Al do a few more leaps might have been good for mixing things up a little bit, at least at the beginning of the season. It would've been the same formula but with Al as the leaper and Sam as observer the dynamic would have been very different, which could've made it more interesting.

Also, if I recall correctly, in the fourth season QL was on against something else that turned out to be more popular, although I'm hard-pressed to remember what it was. I had a co-worker who watched QL and she stopped right around Season 4 because she and her husband started watching whatever it was up against because they decided they liked it better. So I think even long-term fans were beginning to tire of the show a little by this time.

I'm pretty sure it was up against 'Full House'. That's where the 'Stand Up' episode came in - they got Bob Saget as a guest star to try to pull that audience back in.
 
I'm pretty sure it was up against 'Full House'. That's where the 'Stand Up' episode came in - they got Bob Saget as a guest star to try to pull that audience back in.

I just looked it up - it was on against "Anything But Love," a sitcom with Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis. I'm pretty sure that's what my (married couple) friends decided they liked watching better. :wacko
 
I just looked it up - it was on against "Anything But Love," a sitcom with Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis. I'm pretty sure that's what my (married couple) friends decided they liked watching better. :wacko

Never saw that show though I'd heard about it.
 
Carrying on the strong start to season 4, Permanent Wave is actually one of the most underrated episodes of them all in my opinion. Sure, it may not be particularly hard hitting or be a game changer for the series as a whole, but as a standard episode I think it's very strong.

For the most part, I've always liked a good whodunit type story and this is a good example of how one should be handled. The first time I saw this episode I was very shocked by the reveal at the end regarding Chloe. I just didn't expect her to be the mastermind behind it all. The only drawback regarding this outcome is that it is kinda unrealistic that Ziggy didn't point out that Eloch is an anagram of Chloe. I know it's mentioned by Sam and Al (can't remember the exact words but I know they both seem dumbfounded by the fact everyone missed it). But I would have expected Ziggy to notice this.

I really, really like both Laura and Kyle. Two really good supporting characters. Laura did annoy me at times with her obsession in trying to protect Kyle herself, but ultimately it all came out of pure love for her son. It's cool seeing a young Joseph Gordon Levitt as Kyle. And yes, as far as child actors go, Joseph was a pretty good one. Very realistic acting from him throughout.

Above all else, I love all the Sam and Al scenes here. Yes, I always enjoy them, but here I think the interactions between them were top notch. And yes, the best scene is by far Sam trying to taunt Al by flirting with the twins in front of him. Funny stuff.

My verdict. Excellent. A real hidden gem of an episode. Good directing by Scott Bakula, too.