#551175
"One Strobe Over The Line"
Original Air Date: October 19, 1990
Written by: Chris Ruppenthal
Directed by: Michael Zinberg
Leap Date: June 15, 1965
This time: Sam leaps into a photographer face to face with a lion. He is photographer extraordinaire, Karl. Also on set are up and coming model Edie and Helen, Edie’s agent. Edie is having problems keeping at it (the ad executive, Byron, is ready to replace her) so Helen gives her some pills.
The shoot ends quickly, and Sam gives Edie a lift home. It turns out she is not planning on modeling forever. She hopes to buy her dad some farm equipment, put her sister through school and become a vet one day. The two bond over similar situations and families. Al arrives and tells Sam that the ad agency is teetering on bankruptcy. In three and a half days, Edie dies in a combination of pills and alcohol.
Sam fumbles his way through the next days’ shoot, with a huge thanks to Karl’s assistant and Al. Edie needs some more pills from Helen, particularly since there is a dinner with some big kahunas that night. At dinner, Sam notices Edie is not eating but drinking quite a bit. Helen also calls Sam away to make out, something that the two engage in quite often, but this time Sam refuses. Helen comes clean about the drugs but after being confronted, she threatens Edie.
At Edie’s apartment, Edie confesses to being addicted. Sam offers to help her get clean. One sober montage later and they are ready for the shoot. Edie and the lion are showing signs of fatigue, but Sam is at least able to provide coffee to the former though not before Helen sneaks in some pills.
Edie gets into the shoot to the point where she indulges in some champagne and has the idea to antagonize the lion. A chase ensues but Sam is able to fend off the animal. Sam confronts Helen and finds out about the drugs Edie is taking. Sam needs her to be engaged and moving to get the drugs out of her system. Everyone leaves Helen alone, Edie goes back to her farm. Sam leaps …
… into a man with candlelight reading a book from 1898.
Stop talking to yourself: While leaping can be like photography, leaping does not quite make one a professional photographer.
Only Sam can see and hear: Surprisingly, Al appreciates photography. Unsurprisingly, he likes the ones with hot models.
Mirror images that were not his own: Needing to take a break after coming face to face with a lion, Sam sees Karl in the dressing area mirror.
Brush with history: This category is usually reserved for Sam, but an ad executive makes reference to Cheryl Tiegs or Twiggy.
It’s a science project: There is an art to photography, but Al seems to think that Sam can just have attitude and have his assistant do the set up/tear down.
Let’s up the rating: There are two women featured in this episode and both of them try to seduce Sam.
One more time: “How do you feel?” “Fine.” “That’s interesting because you seem like a country girl tired from a long day of milking cows.”
Helen being not exactly supportive with Edie.
The Rainbow Treknection: After guest starring as Edie, Marjorie Monaghan guest starred as Number One on Babylon 5. In between, she was Freya on Voyagers’ “Heroes and Demons”
Trivial Matters: Edie either has seven cats or five cats two of which are able to move around without making a sound, change the color of their fur and gain weight in an instant.
Al says that Edie dies due to a combination of drugs and alcohol. The episode implies that she is eaten by a lion which is a far cry from an overdose.
Put right what once went wrong: “Just think of them like aspirin. They’ll make you feel better. And I promise you won’t ever have to take them again. Come on, I cross my heart.” The eighties and nineties had all sorts of episode about drug addiction. Well maybe Little House on the Prairie avoided that but Star Trek: The Next Generation had a couple to make up for it. They generally ran the gamut from good to not good.
This hour features a strong sequence of Edie trying to sober up. The score gets downright Hitchcockian while Monaghan plays the effects perfectly. It starts out where she cannot get comfortable leading to paranoia and later, she frantically searches for her pills. Finally, she conks out for over a day. It is an amazingly effective sequence that is all to familiar to anyone who has to get clean or anyone who knows someone who is getting clean.
Monaghan and Bakula have fantastic chemistry together. Acting is tough especially in a show like Quantum Leap where you rotate your cast every episode but here that works since this is the first time these two characters have met. It is a pleasure to see them work together.
The rest seems to be there to support the drug plot. The abandonment of Helen, the photo shoot, a montage of a photo shoot, a dinner scene. All effective (more or less) but also window dressing. It is very good watchable window dressing but window dressing nonetheless through it is fun to see Bakula direct a photography session. The ad execs never really gel and Helen’s seduction of Sam/Karl kind of pops up out of nowhere and disappears as quickly but the tentpole is strong and the rest is supportive.
Original Air Date: October 19, 1990
Written by: Chris Ruppenthal
Directed by: Michael Zinberg
Leap Date: June 15, 1965
This time: Sam leaps into a photographer face to face with a lion. He is photographer extraordinaire, Karl. Also on set are up and coming model Edie and Helen, Edie’s agent. Edie is having problems keeping at it (the ad executive, Byron, is ready to replace her) so Helen gives her some pills.
The shoot ends quickly, and Sam gives Edie a lift home. It turns out she is not planning on modeling forever. She hopes to buy her dad some farm equipment, put her sister through school and become a vet one day. The two bond over similar situations and families. Al arrives and tells Sam that the ad agency is teetering on bankruptcy. In three and a half days, Edie dies in a combination of pills and alcohol.
Sam fumbles his way through the next days’ shoot, with a huge thanks to Karl’s assistant and Al. Edie needs some more pills from Helen, particularly since there is a dinner with some big kahunas that night. At dinner, Sam notices Edie is not eating but drinking quite a bit. Helen also calls Sam away to make out, something that the two engage in quite often, but this time Sam refuses. Helen comes clean about the drugs but after being confronted, she threatens Edie.
At Edie’s apartment, Edie confesses to being addicted. Sam offers to help her get clean. One sober montage later and they are ready for the shoot. Edie and the lion are showing signs of fatigue, but Sam is at least able to provide coffee to the former though not before Helen sneaks in some pills.
Edie gets into the shoot to the point where she indulges in some champagne and has the idea to antagonize the lion. A chase ensues but Sam is able to fend off the animal. Sam confronts Helen and finds out about the drugs Edie is taking. Sam needs her to be engaged and moving to get the drugs out of her system. Everyone leaves Helen alone, Edie goes back to her farm. Sam leaps …
… into a man with candlelight reading a book from 1898.
Stop talking to yourself: While leaping can be like photography, leaping does not quite make one a professional photographer.
Only Sam can see and hear: Surprisingly, Al appreciates photography. Unsurprisingly, he likes the ones with hot models.
Mirror images that were not his own: Needing to take a break after coming face to face with a lion, Sam sees Karl in the dressing area mirror.
Brush with history: This category is usually reserved for Sam, but an ad executive makes reference to Cheryl Tiegs or Twiggy.
It’s a science project: There is an art to photography, but Al seems to think that Sam can just have attitude and have his assistant do the set up/tear down.
Let’s up the rating: There are two women featured in this episode and both of them try to seduce Sam.
One more time: “How do you feel?” “Fine.” “That’s interesting because you seem like a country girl tired from a long day of milking cows.”
Helen being not exactly supportive with Edie.
The Rainbow Treknection: After guest starring as Edie, Marjorie Monaghan guest starred as Number One on Babylon 5. In between, she was Freya on Voyagers’ “Heroes and Demons”
Trivial Matters: Edie either has seven cats or five cats two of which are able to move around without making a sound, change the color of their fur and gain weight in an instant.
Al says that Edie dies due to a combination of drugs and alcohol. The episode implies that she is eaten by a lion which is a far cry from an overdose.
Put right what once went wrong: “Just think of them like aspirin. They’ll make you feel better. And I promise you won’t ever have to take them again. Come on, I cross my heart.” The eighties and nineties had all sorts of episode about drug addiction. Well maybe Little House on the Prairie avoided that but Star Trek: The Next Generation had a couple to make up for it. They generally ran the gamut from good to not good.
This hour features a strong sequence of Edie trying to sober up. The score gets downright Hitchcockian while Monaghan plays the effects perfectly. It starts out where she cannot get comfortable leading to paranoia and later, she frantically searches for her pills. Finally, she conks out for over a day. It is an amazingly effective sequence that is all to familiar to anyone who has to get clean or anyone who knows someone who is getting clean.
Monaghan and Bakula have fantastic chemistry together. Acting is tough especially in a show like Quantum Leap where you rotate your cast every episode but here that works since this is the first time these two characters have met. It is a pleasure to see them work together.
The rest seems to be there to support the drug plot. The abandonment of Helen, the photo shoot, a montage of a photo shoot, a dinner scene. All effective (more or less) but also window dressing. It is very good watchable window dressing but window dressing nonetheless through it is fun to see Bakula direct a photography session. The ad execs never really gel and Helen’s seduction of Sam/Karl kind of pops up out of nowhere and disappears as quickly but the tentpole is strong and the rest is supportive.
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