The Evil Leaper(s)

[blue enigma]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Don't get me wrong, I liked the concept of the Evil Leapers, probably more than most viewers, but something tells me if they had continued to go in that direction with the story, they probably would have run out of gas after another 1-2 episodes. It's too easy to turn into a pure-as-driven-snow infallible Hero vs. one-dimensional Archvillains.

Definitely. In order for this concept to work over a longer period of time they would have had to take a much more nuanced approach than they did and the motivations of the evil leapers would have had to be more varied and complex.

I'm admittedly not a fan of the evil leapers for several reasons. But there were things I liked about the first two episodes of the trilogy, particularly 'Deliver Us From Evil' -- there are some great moments in that episode. But I would have liked a less black and white take on the concept -- that's just a personal preference.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I think it's an incongruity in the story. Deliver us from Evil seemed to be more of a "mirror" of Quantum Leap. The same basic tenets, but evil. The Return episodes really fleshed out the backstory and made it clear that the destructiveness of history is a "mission" for Lothos and their project.

This makes a lot of sense, that the Evil Project had not been fully developed upon it's debut.

Originally Posted by feldon30

I don't think Quantum Leap was ever what you would call a "mission", although certainly they flitted between the morality of Sam wanting to change the world, vs. the happenstance of being a time traveler stuck in the past, all while giving him a few fleeting opportunities to fix things in his own life (and eventually Al's). Maybe that's what made Quantum Leap an enduring story -- the motivations were wide and varied.

See this is why I believe the Evil Project is an attempt by the devil because it's directly referenced that it's leaps were targeted at wronging the right which connects to the devil's personal appearance in season 3.

"Who gave you the right to go bungling around in time, putting right what I made wrong!?"

In failing to take Sam out of the picture the next option would be undoing "the damage" which would require a more controlled environment to target the exact areas Sam effected which seemed evident with the LaMatta family where Alia and Sam first cross paths. The second encounter appeared to be no accident either. Alia's appearance shortly followed Sam saving the life of his host, to terminate that person. What they didn't realize at first was that the target was in fact Sam.
It confused me why Sam would leap into Arnold Walkins, the emotional help he required being impossible to accomplish AS him however I suddenly get the feeling that it was to keep him in a safe place out of the evil project's reach.

But I digress. The evil project managed to figure out how not only to aim their leaps but also to retrieve their leaper in between "Missions". They seemed to be specifically designed to undo Sam's impact though sensibly the members would not be aware of that as PQL was not aware of why their accelerator worked as it did.
I have actually wondered why Al did not initiate research into the Evil Project's retrieval success.
Though the novel 'Mirror's Edge' introduces the concept that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the retrieval program and thus no logical explanation as to why it does not work. This suggesting perhaps that a greater force doesn't want it to. A force that could possibly be God or though I haven't gotten all the pieces to make sense of it but could explain why the evil project's retrieval succeeds, the devil.

Originally Posted by feldon30

I liked the concept of the Evil Leapers, probably more than most viewers, but something tells me if they had continued to go in that direction with the story, they probably would have run out of gas after another 1-2 episodes.

It was a highly disliked concept not just by fans but by those on the show, Dean Stockwell is quoted in the BTS book 'Another Time, Another Place' saying how stupid he found it and Bellisario himself was quite displeased with a lot of season 5 including the celebrity leaps at which he'd actually 'grrred' when they were requested by the network(to which I personally tip my hat).

In my personal opinion however the evil leapers have grown on me from the opinion I once had which mimicked Dean's. I prefer them by far to the Abigail trilogy which irritates me to no end, though I admit I have yet to give it another shot.
I do however agree that if they had persisted with the evil project it would have reached a point where it seriously got too complex and too ridiculous to tolerate. Not to mention the exceedingly increased level of feel it would remove from Sam's story.

[TylerMeans]

It was never fully explained where the evil Leapers had come from.

'Were they from a parallel dimension?
Were they from later in the 21st century? Say maybe 10 years after Sam and Al's adventures.
If they are from the future, then Leah is able to leap outside of her lifetime and not limited like Sam is to only leaping within his lifetime.

Pity questions like these were never answered. Viewers were just expected to accept the evil Leapers and run with them.

Of the three episode arch, my favorite is "Deliver us from Evil", It seems to be the better thought out and written of the three episodes. I did like, "Return.." though.

[feldon30]

I believe there was going to be another episode in 6th season which could have followed through on more details of the backstory. I don't have any reason to believe they were from a parallel dimension. Probably a good guess that they were further into the future than Sam and Al's project.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I believe there was going to be another episode in 6th season which could have followed through on more details of the backstory. I don't have any reason to believe they were from a parallel dimension. Probably a good guess that they were further into the future than Sam and Al's project.

Shame I'd have liked to see that although the opening plot of the season that I heard was distasteful and I agree with the theory that the Evil Project is from further in the future than Sam rather than from an alternate dimension.

[Spartan83]

Originally Posted by Sam Beckett Fan

Watching the second installment in the episode trilogy tonight I have a consistency concern which may just be myself misunderstanding.

The evil leaper project clearly managed to surpass Project Quantum Leap in their heavy implications that they can bring Alia back after each leap and in compliment probably can target each one as well.
"They tortured me."
"I saw you die."
"It was worse than death".
- Return of the Evil Leapers, in reference to Deliver Us From Evil

"Lathos, pull Alia out!"
- Return of the Evil Leapers
as Sam takes Alia into his arms in his attempt to carry her with him into his next leap.

"She leaped!"
"She didn't leap back!"
- Revenge of the Evil Leapers
Zoey sends a bullet at Alia but she is leaped out just before it hits (the host returned unharmed).

This however is somewhat contradicted in Deliver Us From Evil in Zoey's attempt to egg an unsure Alia on with the gun by telling her that it could be the event that gets her home.
What is "home" in comparison to her project? "Home" in reference to Sam always indicates the project or the present in which the project exists.

Also I will express that I disagree with ChickenStu's theory.
My theory is that the Evil Leapers as Project Quantum Leap is believed to be driven by God, is being driven by the devil. His second attempt if you will after failing to undo Sam in season 3. That the handlink left in 1945 and the tape recording of Sam under Sodium Pentothal spewing his clearance number and other crucial details of the project in 1966 were the stepping stones perhaps laid by the devil himself which provided the blueprints for Lathos. This is actually something I got from reading posts by brilliant members like yourself Chickenstu right here at Al's Place years ago.

It would have been fascinating had they gone more into the backstory and working of their project as they themselves already are. These days they have actually grown on me more than all those years ago the more I put thought into them.

The way Deliver us from evil was shown implied the Evil project had NO prior knowledge of another quantum leap project. I find it strange when Alia first introduces Sam to Zoe what Zoes response to it is.

Sam " you're a time traveller TOO"

Zoe " TOO? what do you mean TOO?

ALIA " I'd like you to meet my partner Zoe"

Zoe seemed shocked at the knowledge of there being another time traveller, the GOAT of time travellers , SAM LOL

The only reason i can think of was unless the creators of EvilPQL did not tell the Evil team of scientists the origins of their tech or of any fellow time travellers in existance i.e Sam Beckett. Even Lothos the great AI unit didn't know of Sam or his project (probably because of government secrect project).

It seemed unusual that Zoe had no prior knowledge of any time traveller TOO.

[Lightning McQueenie]

Originally Posted by Spartan83

The way Deliver us from evil was shown implied the Evil project had NO prior knowledge of another quantum leap project. I find it strange when Alia first introduces Sam to Zoe what Zoes response to it is.

Sam " you're a time traveller TOO"

Zoe " TOO? what do you mean TOO?

ALIA " I'd like you to meet my partner Zoe"

Zoe seemed shocked at the knowledge of there being another time traveller, the GOAT of time travellers , SAM LOL

The only reason i can think of was unless the creators of EvilPQL did not tell the Evil team of scientists the origins of their tech or of any fellow time travellers in existance i.e Sam Beckett. Even Lothos the great AI unit didn't know of Sam or his project (probably because of government secrect project).

It seemed unusual that Zoe had no prior knowledge of any time traveller TOO.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, they didn't know because they weren't told. As for Lothos, it's probably a situation like in "Return" - he considered the chance of encountering Sam so small that it was negligable...

[Spartan83]

Originally Posted by Lightning McQueenie

I think you've hit the nail on the head, they didn't know because they weren't told. As for Lothos, it's probably a situation like in "Return" - he considered the chance of encountering Sam so small that it was negligable...

That's what I think yeah even back in OG QL encountering the Evil project leapers and it all seeming a surprise to all parties involved.

This looks like its been reveresed in the revival with the other leaper Martinez pointing Ben out in episode 5.

I think you're right regarding Lothos, he doesn't consider it that important even though Sam follows the random event theory.