504 Killin' Time

[alsplacebartender]

Killin' Time
June 18, 1958

Pine County, Oklahoma


Sam leaps into a killer on the run in 1958. The house is surrounded and he is holding hostage a mother and her young daughter. But back in the future, the real killer, Leon, has escaped from the Waiting Room and Al searches to find him. If Al can't bring Leon back, Sam can't leap...and will be killed when the sheriff raids the house.


Written by: Tommy Thompson
Directed by: Michael Watkins


Rate and comment on this episode!

I just love the trip Leon and Al have in the "future"

[Vince Beckett]

Great episode. Sam is living the life of a bad guy who escapes from the waiting room and Al has to get him back. It's the first time anyone ever escaped the waiting room, which makes things very interesting.

[DeadZoneLeaper]

And for those who liked this episode, read the upcoming Season 12 Virtual Season titles...hehehe

[Sam Beckett Fan]

another one of my top favorite episodes, i love how deep it is that the only way to save himself and the mother and daughter is to reveal himself.

and i was so psyched at myself when i looked closer and discovered why little Becky looked so familiar, cuz shes Beverley Mitchell from another one of my fav shows Seventh Heaven. she was so cute that young.

i also loved Gooshi's remark "Time and Space can be a bit*h". lol.

[Samantha Beckett]

I made the mistake of drinking a diet coke when that ep was on. When Gooshie said that line, my screen was covered with the stuff.

There are a small handful of episodes that I call my favorites, but I think Killin' Time sits at the top of the list. It's fan-bloody-tastic. I love how Al is willing to risk his life to chase after Leon, and I screamed outright when Leon shot him. I was so tense throughout the entire episode, and I love that about any show.

Bravo!

Samantha Beckett

[Janna Galaxy]

I think that Sam was kinda shocked by that remark because his head turns so fast to look at him.

I think I love the part with Al looking for Styles.

[SamBeckett94]

I have to admit, Killin' Time is one of the best Quantum Leap episodes that I've seen. I think it was interesting to see what life is like in New Mexico on the outside world (In Quantum Leap, anyway).

[newleaper]

I loved that Killin' Time went outside the project, and was one of the few episodes that really let Al play hero.

I didn't realize Sam leaped into Oklahoma though. I just think it's cool when they're in OK, although if I remember my Oklahoma history correctly, there's no Pine county.

[Al The Observer]

This is by far my favorite episode. I, too, like the fact that Al got to "play hero," as it was so eloquently put. (I like that.) And trust me, it hurts to get shot, even while wearing a bullet proof vest.

As for Pine County, I believe the writers often made up places. In Color of Truth, the setting is a town and county in Alabama (I have forgotten the names they used), neither of which exist here.

[newleaper]

I'm sure it's much easier to make up a name than to pull out an atlas. I guess if a writer knew a name of a place, they put it in but don't worry if they have to make one up.

8 1/2 Months was supposed to be in Claremore, OK, which is a real town. Although I suppose it could be a coincidence the town exists!

[Aging Boomer]

I was wondering about the physics of this episode. I know that when Sam leaps, it's his body that leaps. When he first leaps into Styles, he's holding Styles' gun. But when Styles shows up in the waiting room, he also has a gun. So were there two guns? It seems to me that either Styles can take the gun with him or he can leave it in the past for Sam to grab onto. Does this question make sense?

[newleaper]

I had never thought of that! Perhaps Styles had a gun in his hands AND one in his pocket? Although that doesn't explain how they're both holding one.

Or maybe someone forgot to put up the spare gun in the waiting room

I guess I had just always guessed he took it from a guard or something.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

There is actually a cut out scene in that ep (explained in the Al's place episode guide for this ep) where a security guard was talking to him in the waiting room and he snatched the gun from him.

[Snish]

I wish they had kept that in. In the episode, you can see the guard lying on the floor in the background, but you have to look for him.

I thought that was interesting. It means that other personnel are allowed in the Waiting Room before Al or Verbena (or at least they were until this happened). But I guess they never had reasons to take precautions with a leapee until Stiles leaped in.

[Aging Boomer]

Originally Posted by Sam Beckett Fan

There is actually a cut out scene in that ep (explained in the Al's place episode guide for this ep) where a security guard was talking to him in the waiting room and he snatched the gun from him.

OK, that makes sense. Thank you. What is the link for the episode guide that explains this?

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Here it is:
http://www.sethargabright.com/qleap/cutting.htm

[bluedana]

I really like this episode, too, although the actress who plays the prostitute was really, really terrible. It has two of my favorite exchanges, though - not that the lines are memorable, but the way they're delivered is just wonderful.

When the mother (who is one of my favorite characters) is dressing Becky to go out of the house, the little girl asks if Sam/Leon is going to kill her. The mom pauses, smiles this beautiful smile, and says (not even trying to answer the question), "Have I ever told you how pretty you are?" I've found that I use that a lot to change the subject - when the kids ask me something that's too painful to explain or answer (usually while listening to or watching the news): Have I ever told you how smart/handsome/pretty you are?

The second is just before Sam leaps. He's cuffed (which we know from previous episodes really bothers him) and being led away. He stops and leans back toward the woman and kind of mutters, "I'm ready to go now." Just the way he delivers that line is so deep and it obviously has so many meanings.

[Al The Observer]

This is my favorite episode, as I have mentioned before on this thread. I, too, like the parts mentioned above. But as I was watching this episode for the umpteenth time, I noticed something I hadn't really noticed before. After Stiles escapes, Al is at the weapons locker, loading what appears to me to be a Glock 17. That's the gun he uses to draw down on Stiles in the prostitute's room. But when Stiles returns to the project, and threatens to shoot Gooshie, Al appears with an air-powered dart gun. This gun, which we can see better as Al walks up to Gooshie, is styled very differently from the Glock 17. My question is, how did Al get the dart gun? Or did he carry both, and we missed him loading and holstering that one? And if he carried both, why did he use the Glock, if Stiles had to be brought back alive?

Perhaps I should have prefaced that with "My questions are..." instead of "My question is..."

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Originally Posted by bluedana

I really like this episode, too, although the actress who plays the prostitute was really, really terrible. It has two of my favorite exchanges, though - not that the lines are memorable, but the way they're delivered is just wonderful.

When the mother (who is one of my favorite characters) is dressing Becky to go out of the house, the little girl asks if Sam/Leon is going to kill her. The mom pauses, smiles this beautiful smile, and says (not even trying to answer the question), "Have I ever told you how pretty you are?" I've found that I use that a lot to change the subject - when the kids ask me something that's too painful to explain or answer (usually while listening to or watching the news): Have I ever told you how smart/handsome/pretty you are?

The second is just before Sam leaps. He's cuffed (which we know from previous episodes really bothers him) and being led away. He stops and leans back toward the woman and kind of mutters, "I'm ready to go now." Just the way he delivers that line is so deep and it obviously has so many meanings.

I agree with you completely. I also love the deepness and intenseness of all three lives depending on Sam revealing his true identity, and Gooshi's line as I said above.

Originally Posted by Al The Observer

My question is, how did Al get the dart gun? Or did he carry both, and we missed him loading and holstering that one? And if he carried both, why did he use the Glock, if Stiles had to be brought back alive?

He probably carried both, as for why he had the Glock, I would say to scare him, or take him down so that he could no longer run. There are places a person can take a bullet without dying like for example where Sam was shot in Leap Between the States. And Al being an admiral is expirenced enough with a gun to make sure he didn't get a lethal area.

[Janna Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Sam Beckett Fan

Here it is:
http://www.sethargabright.com/qleap/cutting.htm

Thanks!!!! That's really cleared it up! I wish they kept it in!

I'm going to have to watch that episode when I get season 5!

But the bit with the mirror, freaks me out, because it looks like Sam is shooting Al!

[Sam Beckett Fan]

No It shows him shooting the mirror, but it is creepy when Al firsts demands that Leon look at the mirror and it appears that Sam has the hooker at gunpoint. I bet Scott had a lot of fun with that shot cuz he got a second of being evil hehe. It also makes me feel bad because the hooker sees Sam so poor Sam is being mistaken for a killer.

[Kirok]

This was my first choice from season five. It was original and fresh, and actually involved the other side (Al and the gang) of the story to a much higher degree. Yea, there were a lot of "huh??" moments (i.e., a gun just so happened to conveniently "leap" into the killer’s hand in the waiting room ), but the premise was solid and promising.

~Kirok

[Snish]

Originally Posted by Kirok

Yea, there were a lot of "huh??" moments (i.e., a gun just so happened to conveniently "leap" into the killer’s hand in the waiting room )

Nope, Stiles got the gun from a security guard who went into the Waiting Room before Al got there. Read back through this thread, we discussed it here.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

This is definietly one of my favorites as I take a liking to all the special episodes with the exception of trilogy. I forget if I have mentioned this but I loved how all three lives depended on Sam revealing his true self. And it must have felt good for him at the same time to finally be able to tell someone that he wasn't the person they see. Poor Sam, this must have also been one of the hardest pair of shoes to stand in especially when he was talking to the shariff on the phone and was telling him to call off the shooting or he would kill the mother and daughter. The look on his face when he said the words is really well acted out by Scott. You can really tell how much it hurts Sam even though he knows it's pretending. Definietly on my list of episodes that make me want to give Sam a hug...speaking of which I wonder if I even do have it listed, I should check. Yes I actually do keep a list lol.