Sam's presence in a given time causes everything and the lives of everyone around him extending to the project to become hair-splittingly volatile. Every single choice he makes down to the smallest of them has the potential to change something and that something becomes everything.
I think the writers forgot that leaping takes time. How else to explain Al's knowing the date Sam is in while in the Imaging Chamber? Even with the "one of my ex-wives is suing me today" bit, the leap would have had to be instantaneous for Al to be correct about the date.
Other than the pilot, are there any other episodes that imply that leaping is not instantaneous?
Also, another thought about this episode and "Mirror Image"...If Sam is leaping himself around and his intention actually was to make the world a better place and to put right was once went wrong, wouldn't he remember that in this episode? In this episode, Sam is reacting like someone relieved to be home, having woken up from a bad dream.
I know the Leap Back was arrived at out of marital squabble but let's leave that aside for a moment.
Anyone wanna elaborate on what he meant by this?
Bellisario and Pratt were on the verge of splitting up around this time. There were rumors among fans that Bellisario intentionally messed with the character that Pratt created out of spite. I'm not sure how accurate that is -- I only know about it via hearsay.
Other than the pilot, are there any other episodes that imply that leaping is not instantaneous?
Leaping from "Black on White on Fire" where Sam is badly beaten, bloody and bruised, to "The Great Spontini" where he is completely healed. Time must have passed to allow him to heal...
blue_enigma said:Bellisario and Pratt were on the verge of splitting up around this time. There were rumors among fans that Bellisario intentionally messed with the character that Pratt created out of spite. I'm not sure how accurate that is -- I only know about it via hearsay.
This is new information to me, interesting.
Though I'm not seeing how that supposed rumor fits with the fact that it was Pratt that didn't appreciate Donna being reacknowledged in a form that made Sam's inappropriate feat in 'Star-Crossed' successful in this episode (among other things) and had tried to use Trilogy to justify disregarding that.
On the subject of the Donna character, it could definitely have been handled better, but I do think that her objection to Sam leaping again was understandable (though with a poor choice of words), and we can give Sam a "hall pass" for his future actions with Tamlyn and Abigail, considering that canonically, she has made it clear that she wants Sam to be able to complete his life's work.
I never understood how Donna was "supposed to react" to Sam leaving again mere hours of a four year absence. I would have been pissed too, especially since she had reasonable objections on why Sam couldn't leap to 1945 and he had lame technobabble responses in return. I would have been like "Really? That's what your subconscious was working on? Not leaping home but targeted leaping".
If anything, this episode ruins Sam and Al's character. Sam abandons his wife and does it so easily. Al's first reaction on getting home was wanting to get to bed with Tina, not "What happened? Where's Sam?"
TheLeaper said:I would have been like "Really? That's what your subconscious was working on? Not leaping home but targeted leaping".
blue_enigma said:Once you start looking closely at this episode there are so many problems with it.
Those two things are one and the same because if Sam mastered targeted leaping than he could choose to leap home.
When Al the bartender convinced Sam that he'd always had to option to return home but had to accept control of his own destiny to unlock access to it, he was establishing targeted leaping.
Sam leaping into Beth's living room was targeted leaping.
It just wasn't how he'd had it in mind here.
I found his "part of me is Al" logic sound. It was proven that he and Al had exchanged neurons and mesons in the simul-leap. Perhaps it was a stretch, but it made sense.
Now Sam's apparent intent on leaping into 1945 without a word to Donna even in spite of her breathing down his neck has no validity and was purely cold and inconsiderate.
I concur.
My perspective has morphed quite dramatically upon this discussion prompting me to notice the easily overlooked details that establish how awful the Sam/Donna relationship is.
Al's behavior upon his return, however, still hadn't occurred to me. That's a good point.
It was quite OOC that his initial reaction wasn't to demand an explanation and a status report on Sam. Or at the very least to demand to know if Suzanne was alright.
I don't know if it's THAT out of character... He did love Tina and was extremely happy to be reunited with her. He also probably swiss-cheesed during the leap, meaning he probably didn't remember everything or even anything from 1945 or even understand why he was in the Imaging Chamber...
If it can be done tactfully, I think a broad discussion about the character of Donna can include the motivations going on behind the scenes. It's no secret that Don threw a monkey wrench (spanner?) into Deborah Pratt's plans for the Trilogy story.
Personally, however, I've become quite comfortable with the head-canon that his marriage to Donna was rubber-banded sometime between this episode and 'Temptation Eyes'.
Personally I think that Sam's relationship with Donna must have been "good enough" in the eyes of God to justify the fact that she stuck around. I also think that if it really was intended for the Donna situation to be erased, then it would actually be addressed in the show...
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