Episode
Adopted by: Becky Additional info provided
by: Lou Davidson and Brian Greene
Synopsis:
Strange
accidents begin to happen when Sam leaps into an archaeologist who has
uncovered the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Ptah-Hotep. As the legend begins
to take face, the curse will bring forth a sandstorm that will bury the
site of Sam's camp - and the tomb - forever.
TV
Guide Synopsis: Sam (Scott
Bakula) is an archaeologist who faces a possible mummy's curse after
unearthing an ancient tomb with another Egyptologist. Ginny: Lisa Darr.
Mustafa: John Kapelos. Ali: Chaim Jeraffi. Gamal: Ali Dean. Al: Dean
Stockwell.
Project
Trivia:
Al reports that Ziggy can’t do a special comparison search because a
computer
chip is acting up. The imaging chamber door won’t open because of the
chip. At the end you learn that the problem was not a malfunctioning
chip, but a new program that Ziggy got from Egypt.
Al
can’t walk
through a wall into a dark room and see anything. It would just be
black and he would not bump in to anything since he’s a hologram.
The Imaging Chamber door makes a different sound as it sticks.
Sam
Trivia:
Sam knew about Ptah-Hotep’s tomb and the sarcophagus being made of
gold. He remembers that Howard Carter is the one who discovered King
Tut’s tomb. Sam can read Hieroglyphics.
Miscellaneous
Trivia:
When talking about a hidden door in the tomb of Ptah-Hotep, Al
compares it to "The Peorloin Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe.
An
Egyptologist from Berkley was hired to make sure most of the
hieroglyphs were correct. However, the set builders decided it would be
funny to add a Rolling Stone tongue, a smoking Pharaoh and Bart Simpson!
An
automobile from Indiana Jones first film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark,"
was used in this episode.
This
episode has a reputation of being cursed, much like "The Boogiem*n." Earthquakes happened
during it's first broadcast and the first repeat airing in California.
Plants
from Egypt were flown in for the set. The episode was filmed in a
quarry in California.
Outtakes:
Set to "Walk Like An Egyptian", this video features many of the cast and crew goofing off!
Regular
Cast:
Scott Bakula
Dean Stockwell
Guest
Stars:
John Kapelos as Dr. Mustafa El Rassul
Lisa Darr as Ginny Will
Chaim Jeraffi as Ali
Ali Dean as Gamal
Rodger LaRue as Dr. Dale Conway (Mirror Image)
Guest Cast Notes:
John
Kapelos as Dr. Mustafa El Rassul: Born
on March 8, 1956 in London, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and writer,
known for Big Sky (2020), The Umbrella Academy
(2019) and The Shape of Water (2017).
Lisa Darr as Ginny Will: Born
in Chicago, Illinois on April 21, 1963. She wanted to be an actress for
a long time and went to Stanford University, graduating with a
bachelor's degree in Biology. From there she went to UCLA and got a
master's degree in acting. Her first big break came when she won the
role of Laurie Manning in Ellen (1994). Darr recently appeared in
the Academy Award-winning film Gods and Monsters (1998).
Chaim Jeraffi as Ali: Known
for Waterworld (1995), Black Adam (2022) and Just
Like Heaven (2005). Chaim Jeraffi was born in Israel.
Ali
Dean as Gamal: Known for RED 2
(2013), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Drag Me to Hell
(2009).
Rodger LaRue as Dr. Dale Conway (Mirror Image): Born
on July 10, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known
for The Replacement Killers (1998), The Rookie
(1990) and Borderline (1980).
Say
What? Sam's
bandana moves between shots.
When
Al feels like he could be trapped in the tomb with Sam, why doesn't he
just relocate to a different spot? He's in the Imaging Chamber!
The
rock that seals in Mustafa bounces a little.
The
ancient trap that still works after three thousand years drops a giant
slab of rock in front of their hole and the slab is too thick to cut
through. However, it can't be more than two feet wide, so why didn't
they just cut around it?
----
Dr.
El-Razul insists that he was not the one responsible for the accidents
and for killing Ali and Gamal, and it's easy to believe him since he
could not have started the fire (he was with Sam when that happened).
Ziggy says the odds are 40,000 to 1 against it all happening by chance.
So who was actually responsible? There are really only two
possibilities:
Ginny
was in a position to commit the murders and start the fire. This
possibility is never seriously explored by anyone except Al, who, as
usual, suspects everybody. In the original history, Ginny (and Dale)
died in a freak sandstorm. Did Sam, by getting them out of there, allow
a murderer to go free?
The
curse itself was evidently a real one. Al saw Ptah-Hotep killing Razul
(and so did the home audience). However, if the curse was active when
Ali and Gamal were killed, why didn't Ptah-Hotep kill Sam and Ginny
since they were robbing the grave with no less eagerness than Razul
was? It is worth noting that Sam, throughout the series, disbelieves in
the supernatural, except for the force that is leaping him around. He
frequently tells Al not to be superstitious. He certainly seems pretty
blase about resurrected mummies in this episode. Source
10 Times Quantum Leap Got Super Weird
by Allison Pregler
Sometimes
things happened on Quantum Leap that you couldn't explain, like bigfoot
or vampires. Here's the 10 times the show got super weird!
Spoiler alert: This episode is #3! Ptah-Hotep begins at 10m 27s.
"For
anyone who will disturb the tomb of King
Ptah-Hotep, death will swallow him."
"I can
see them, too. Genius has death wish.
Noble prize winner is really a knuckle head."
Al:
"Sam, Sam, Sam I don’t like it here."
Sam: "Why don’t you go upstairs?"
Al: "Uh, good idea. I’ll meet you top side."
"Sam,
it’s the curse."
"It’s
not the curse."
"Dr.
Conway, my dear friend, you are a student
of Egypt, but you’re not one of its sons. And until you have heard what
I’ve heard, and seen what I’ve seen. I would not expect you to believe
that such a thing as a curse could be true. But it is."
"3500
year old dead men do not just get up and
walk around."
Sam:
"Al, if you can’t be helpful, why don’t
you leave, ok."
Al: "Helpful, I’m being helpful. I’m keeping you company down here in
the tomb of king Heebie-Jeebies."
Sam: "It’s just a room."
Al: "Yeah, it’s a room, how about the canary, how about Ali, how about
the car. Those were just coincidences I suppose."
Sam: "That’s right."
Al: "Yeah, unless they were planned."
"If I
were you I would sleep with my eyes open
tonight."
"Happy
hunting."
Sam:
"Maybe, maybe, I’m over thinking this
whole thing."
Al: "And this just occurred to you?"
"Give
her an oscar and lets get the hell out of
here."
"He’s
killing him. Ptah-Hotep is killing him."
Al: "She had
a really nice asp..."
Best
Line:
Sam:"This is a
chance of a lifetime."
Al: "So is inventing a time machine. But, but, you know quit while your
ahead."
Best
Scene:
The best scene is when Sam sends Al back into the tomb to what is
happening. Al sees what happens to Dr. Razul when he is stuck in with
the body of Ptah-Hotep. When Al comes back there is a look of complete
fear on his face.
Synopsis & Review:
Sam
leaps into archaeologist Dale Conway (the leapee is played by Rodger
LaRue) just as he and fellow archaeologist, Dr. Ginny Will (Lisa Darr)
enter the tomb of Pharaoh Ptah-Hotep. Sam is thrilled once he realizes
where he is and says that this is a dream come true and realizes that
he's in 1957, when he mistakenly mentions a publication from six years
in the future. Unfortunately, they cannot find the sarcophagus and
Ginny suggests that tomb robbers beat them to them to the punch.
Back on
the surface, Al warns that Conway and Ginny disappear at some point in
the next few days and are never seen or heard from again. He also warns
of a coming sandstorm that could bury the tomb and everyone at the
campsite under fifty feet of sand. He wants Sam to get out of there but
when he admits that there was a high probability that the tomb was
likely destroyed by a construction crew that built the Aswan Dam in the
1960s, Sam refuses and resolves to work fast.
Their partner with the museum, Dr. Mustafa El-Razul (John Kapelos),
drives up having finally managed to locate their new campsite since
they left the last one without telling anyone where they were going.
Ginny does not seem pleased to see him. A series of accidents have
meanwhile been plaguing the camp. A snake ends up in Conway's tent and
eats his canary. Ali (Chaim Jeraffi), the doctor's assistant on the
visit to the tomb, is poisoned and when Razul tries to leave to return
the body to his family, his car breaks down. Another assistant and
search guide, Gamal (Ali Dean), is then killed trying to fix the car.
Everyone, including Al, worry about a curse but Sam refuses to
entertain such ideas.
Sam meanwhile has a breakthrough. He knows that oftentimes pharaohs had
false entrances to trick thieves and wondered if maybe this time the
false room is the real room. He breaks through the wall and discovers
the sarcophagus and a lot of treasure. He calls Ginny and Razul down
and, though Razul would rather wait for more people and better
equipment, he allows Sam (worried he might leap too soon and about the
sandstorm) to sweep him up in the excitement of the moment and they
open up the sarcophagus.
While they are down in the tomb, their camp catches on fire. Razul and
Ginny are very shaken and starting to wonder seriously about the curse.
To prove them wrong, Sam charges down and grabs ‘the heart of
Ptah-Hotep’ (a large jewel the mummy was holding). Immediately
afterwards, he and Ginny are trapped in the tomb. They have two days
worth of air but only twelve hours to escape the sandstorm. Al starts
to feel claustrophobic and tries to leave only to find out that, due to
a technological malfunction, he's currently trapped in the imaging
chamber.
Razul promises to drive to town and bring back help but Sam would
rather not wait that long. He and Ginny eventually find their way out
by putting the jewel back...only to discover that Razul never left. He
says that he was going to go get help but then realized how profitable
letting them die would be. Sam accuses him of causing the other
problems but Razul denies it. In fact, he said he thought it was he or
Ginny who caused the death and other problems, inferring that they were
random accidents after all. At gunpoint, Razul forces them back into
the tomb and demands to know what they did to get trapped and to escape.
Sam warns Razul against tempting fate but the man won't listen. Sam
knocks the gun out of Razul's hand and when Razul takes the jewel,
Ginny and Sam escape before they are trapped. Razul tries to put the
jewel back but finds that it will not fit. He pleads for help and,
despite what he's done and the knowledge Sam possesses about the
incoming sandstorm, they try to free him by moving the giant rock
trapping him. Razul starts screaming and Sam sends a reluctant Al to
see what's going on. Al quickly runs back out again, revealing that the
mummy is killing Razul. He also reports that he wasn't trapped by a
chip failure as he had thought but by a new program from Egypt. He
informs Sam that Conway and Ginny look for the tomb again for years and
never find it. Sam manages to convince a reluctant Ginny that Razul is
already dead and they flee to the surface. Source
Personal
Review by Becky:
I like the fact that you get to see a
side of Al that you don’t normally see. Al is actually scared; he’s
terrified in this episode. Overall, the episode is very entertaining
and a great mystery to figure out.
Production Credits:
Theme by: Mike Post Music by: Velton Ray Bunch Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg Supervising Producer: Harker Wade Produced by: Jeff Gourson, Tommy Thompson Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal, Paul Brown Created by: Donald P. Bellisario Written by: Chris Ruppenthal Directed By:Joe Napolitano Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario Associate Producers:James S. Giritlian, Julie Bellisario Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario Director of Photography:Robert McBride Production Designer: Cameron Birnie Edited By:M. Edward Salier, A.C.E. Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow First Assistant Director:R. John Slosser Second Assistant Director: Kate Yurka Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac Costume Supervisor: David Rawley Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth Sound Editor: Greg Schorer Music Editor: Bruce Frazier Special Visual Effects: Roger Dorney, Denny Kelly
Panaflex ® Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ®
This
motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other
countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may
result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
The
characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Bellisarius Productions in association with Universal Television, an MCA Company
Quantum Leap Podcast: The Curse of Ptah-Hotep
Listen
to The Quantum Leap Podcast on this episode here:
Beware The Curse of Ptah-Hotep!
Join hosts Allison Pregler, Matt Dale, Christopher DeFilippis and
special guest host and QLP Producer Morgan Feldon for a Leap of deadly
discovery as Sam uncovers the resting place of an Egyptian pharaoh –
and unleashes the mummy’s curse!
Then stick around as Morgan talks about his collaboration with replica
propmaker Rob Werden in a decade-long journey to build a
screen-accurate Handlink prop, complete with lights and sounds.
