Article 1224:
Anyone have opinion on Temptation Eyes?
Date: 02/10/2001
From: alongtimefan
Did no one on this bboard see Temptation Eyes?
This was the sort of episode that used to cause a flurry of posts. One of Sam's actual female connections while leaping (although not Abigal) and the only one who could see him for who he really was. I'm not a voyueur but really! This deserves some discussion, doesn't it?
I thought the psychic's character was somewhat contrived but I liked the fact that she could see Sam as Sam. I liked the underwear scene with Al. And, I liked the music (as an insight into Sam).
I kinda felt sorry for the killer (I know that's warped) ...that he was left alone on his b-day and that he lost his friend.
I thought it was interesting that Al just disappeared for 2 weeks and left Sam completely alone. Didn't seem normal, did it? I don't remember other leaps with so much down time.
Well, what did everyone think?
If no one replies on this...I guess everyone is just busy getting their Valentines in the mail. Or, at least I hope so.
Reply:
a good episode
Date: 02/10/2001
From: billcreeper
It was a great episode. Evidently Sam's partner was the murderer except for the current one right. At least that was the impression i got. It was strange that Sam was left alone with the girl for two weeks. He really did love her and she him even though both knew it wouldn't last. It was a good episode but I guess I have seen so many mysteries that I felt somehow his partner might be involved in it from the beginning. Just like I figured right away that the cop was the killer when he was the blind pianist. But I figured those out more from seeing lots of mystery programs that actual deductive skill
But it was a great episode.
Reply:
Some thoughts (you're not warped)
Date: 02/10/2001
From: Lemur3
I too had the feeling his partner might be the killer. At the beginning he was very impatient with Sam about getting the story good and didn't seem very pleased that he was spending time with the psychic. Then when he was suddenly okay with the fact that Sam/Dillan missed his birthday... The phone call seemed somewhat suspicious too.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the episode. It's fun to figure out who killer is - good practice at collection clues.
I felt very bad for (what was his name?) the camera man. I think I have changed and I'm not sure why - several years ago I would have labelled him as evil. He's just had a tough life. Now that doesn't justify murder, but I still feel bad for him. When Sam was able to talk to him and show him what he was doing, he realized it was wrong, and I think if he could, he would have gone back and not commited the murders.
At the end when he was hanging from the building and Sam was trying to save him, I truly felt felt that the right thing to happen was for him to fall. Not because he was evil, but because the rest of his life would only be suffering. He would spend the rest of his life in jail and be tremendously guilty.
It is sad that the murders happened, but since Sam wasn't there to change that, given the circumstances I considered it a happy ending.
It's funny how Al is always urging Sam to go for the girl, but when it happens he doesn't like it.
Sam didn't really seem to need the two weks to complete his task, so maybe it happened so that he could kind of take a break from his overly-stressful action packed life. It was nice that he got to enjoy so much of his leap this time.
Okay, enough comments for now.
~Lemur3
Reply:
Interesting posts and also...
Date: 02/10/2001
From: alongtimefan
I agree completely Bill and Lemur. I've seen too many mysteries too.
And, it was like GTF gave Sam a 2 week vacation. I'm glad he got to spend it with someone he cared about. Tamara seemed like a nice person and an exceptional one at that (anybody is better than Donna).
I've noticed too that Al encourages Sam to go after women but when he does Al objects. Maybe, this is because Al is so focused on getting the Leap job done so Sam can leap again ...And, they are always hoping his next leap will be the leap home. Al has Sam's best interests at heart always. Also, conflict is the essense of story, of course.
Reply:
one of my faves
Date: 02/10/2001
From: qs9300
ive always liked this episode. i know earlier someone had mentioned this as one of sams few loves, and that they didnt like her as much as some of the others. what appeals to me anout her character - and the episode in general - is that she sees sam for who he really is. in all the years hes been leaping around, no one has seen his real face when they look at him. theres even some question as to what al really sees (ie: he knows its sam, but in gloria, he was ogling sams figure, taht kind of thing). tamlyn gets to see what SAM looks like, not the man he leaped into. as much as he loved abigail and donna, when he leapt into their lives, they didnt know who he really was; they only consciously interacted with the person they saw, not knowing someone else was behind that facade. okay im rambling now, but the point is, if sam had no chance of ever leaping out of dylan powell, at least he could spend the time with someone who knew the real him. can we say that about any other leaps?
sarah
Reply:
great post
Date: 02/10/2001
From: alongtimefan
Sarah. Great points. I liked Tamlyn also. She was unusual enough to be interesting. And, seemed to be very insightful and bright, too.
A couple of misunderstandings possibly...You tell me? Al did see the aura of the leapee in the first season or so, but presumeably Gushie reprogrammed Ziggy to avoid such future complications (as the Gloria debacle). Because in subsequent seasons, Al sees Sam....not the leapee's aura.
You are absolutely correct, Aligal did see the leapee aura and not Sam...But she was aware of Sam in a conscious way. She might not have known what she was perceiving, but she tells him that she percieved a change (while they were in the sherrif's office) during their first interaction....She said something like (paraphrased)..."Suddenly we fit together..."
Donna is Sam's wife and she is at PQL. She see Sam as Sam because he is not in a leapee when he is at PQL (his own time). Sam and Donna met during Project Star Bright. They are each physicists.
Some of us on this bboard are not crazy about Donna as we think Sam could do better. He was not married to her when he started leaping.
In Star Crossed (his 3rd leap), he changed his own personal history and was then, at that point, married 11 years. But, Sam never actually experienced that marriage until "The Leap Back." So, it is not all that unusual that he didn't remember the marriage ...One of the vagaries of Quantum. Other explanations as to why Sam didn't remember Donna is GTF didn't want him to do.
Great post! Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this.
Reply:
Justified Cheater?
Date: 02/10/2001
From: BlueGoat
Acctually one of the rare and amusing things about QL is that Sam can have a new girl every episode, and it's 'normal'. Hah.
He cheats on his wife all the time, partially because he doesn't know he has a wife, and partially because he has to in some leaps.
And do we think badly of him for having affairs with all these women? I don't...he can't stay in any relationship, and these relationships aren't really his, he's been pushed into someones life temporarily, and so he temporarily takes their relationships.
As for Temptation Eyes-
I like this episode, it isn't on the top of my list, but I do like it a lot. The psychic is a much better choice than Donna. One thing I didn't really like was the almost cliche'd backstory on how she found out she was psychic. She got all sad and emotional when she was talking about how her mother came and talked to her before she died. I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before. I'm not trying to be cold, I just thought it wasn't the most creative story for her ;P What's even weirder is that the evening after that episode, my dad was talking about dreaming of his mom right after she died. He said how he was talking to her on the phone in his dream, telling her about his worries and the like, when he suddenly realized that he couldn't be talking to her, because she was dead. His mom hung up.
Now when my dad told me -that- story, I felt more emotional, maybe it's because I never met my grandmother, and I wished I had? (anyway, big sidetrack)
I also didn't like Al's attitude, but it added conflict, which makes sub-plots work.
That's all I have to say...I think.
~BG
Reply:
no marriage=no cheating
Date: 02/10/2001
From: alongtimefan
Bluegoat ...What a fascinating story about your dad. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I loved your post. I have fun replying. I hope you don't mind a bit of debate?
Does it count as an affair if it's only kissing? Sam only had 4 real female "liaisons" in the entire time he was leaping. Do you really think all that kissing counts as cheating on his wife? He didn't remember he was married and some would argue (such as me) that he wasn't really married at all.
He changed his personal history...but in a timeline he was never actually in...Until "The Leap Back." He never experienced his marriage to Donna before that as he wasn't married to her before he started leaping.
No marriage=No cheating.
Plus, GTF did put him in situations where he had to be involved with a lot of these woman (as you said).
I didn't think it was the best written Quantum episode either...but it was an interesting one from many points of view. Thanks again for your post. I have to get off the computer now....I have a ton of things I haven't done this weekend.
Reply:
Yes, well...
Date: 02/11/2001
From: BlueGoat
You had very good points there, and it -is- like he's single because neither he nor us knows that he is married in the episodes up to Leap Back, because even though we can assume something good must have happened when Sam helped young Donna, but it isn't confirmed.
Kissing isn't really having an affair, I suppose. But I sure wouldn't want my husband kissing girls and saying it isn't an affair and so it's ok ;P but Sam's situation is totally different, so don't think I'm complaining.
You think that was a good story from my dad? He gets a lot more interesting when he talks about the house he used to live in downtown St. Louis....it was haunted a bit. Some guy died in that house before they moved in. There are some weird things that happened in the house when they were little, but we don't need to get into that ;P
Besides, I doubt you'd believe me.
~BG~
Reply:
My thoughts...
Date: 02/11/2001
From: MTLEAPER
Temptation Eyes was one of my favorites, also, partly because we got to see Sam take his clothes off! But it was nice that someone saw him for himself. The Evil Leaper also saw Sam for himself whenever they touched, but that was because they were both Leapers. However, I always got the impression that Abigail's mother saw Sam as himself, because if you'll recall, she told him the last time that she "always knew he'd come back", and she was talking about Sam. Anyway, I just had the feeling that she saw Sam. And children who could see Al also saw Sam. Remember in the episode "Another Mother", when the little girl says "That's not my mother, that's a man"? But noone that Sam could really have a relationship with ever saw him as Sam in his leaps, so that made this time unigue. And like Bill & Along, I have read/watched so many mysteries that I, too, had figured out the killer before the end of the Leap. But it was still a great episode, and I agree that it was the best thing for Dylan to fall. As for Al, he always wanted Sam to have a physical relationship to satisfy Al's lust, but he never really wanted Sam to get involved with the people in his leaps emotionally, if you know what I mean. I think part of this was because Sam had been married so many times (5), and was never good at relationships. He cheated on Tina all the time. So Sam was the only really long-lasting and meaningful relationship he had, so he probably was a little jealous that Sam could connect with people in a way that Al couldn't. Plus, Al was just plain lecherous. Anyway, until "Mirror Image", when Sam changed history for Al & Beth, Al had pretty much been a loner and a drifter, while Sam had been married to his work, and never gotten over Donna (until he changed that history!). I think Along's right about Al wanting to get Sam home, because he was always telling Sam to just do something or other and then he could "Leap Out of Here". And I agree about Sam not being married. We all know he had a conscious, and he only slept with women he loved. (Al loved all the women he slept with, at the time he slept with them!) Think about how nervous Sam was about having to sleep with the bride in "Honeymoon Express", and then he finally prayed that he was doing the right thing, because by the end of the leap he had learned to love her, even though he knew he wasn't her husband. Whew! I didn't mean to get so carried away, but the responses to this one question brought up so many different questions! I'll stop writing now!
Emily
Reply:
loved it
Date: 02/13/2001
From: TinaBaby
I loved this episode, although my cable reseption kept going in and out in fact it went out three times each for about a minute during the entire show.
What I found neat was that Tamlyn didn't see sam until he touched her. (Did he touch her before the mirror time, when the mirror changed?) if he didn't it seemed kindof neat that she saw him after he touched her just as it was with Alia?
