benzado

Quantum Leap: You Make It Rain (video)

A few nights ago I was drinking with some people who briefly discussed Quantum Leap, and how the show was ruined for them when it credited God-or-some-higher-power with orchestrating Sam’s leaping.

I didn’t say anything then-and-there, mostly because I didn’t remember the exact episode being referenced, and also because it was a pleasant night and I had just arrived and wasn’t drunk enough to start an argument. But, personally, I’ve always liked the way Quantum Leap handled the question, “Why in the hell is this happening?”

First, I don’t think it’s possible to explain away the show’s premise without getting spiritual. The time traveling can’t be random, given that Sam always leaps immediately after “fixing” something. If you wrote the series such that this was the Project’s intention, you’d have to admit that Sam was pretty arrogant, deciding who to help and what constitutes a better outcome for the people involved. The phrase, “playing God” would probably come to mind.

As a show about religion, it was the best possible kind. All the dogma, pomp, and circumstance are eliminated. There was no nod to any particular faith being the right one. The focus was on one thing: doing good.

It was easy to get wrapped up in the individual stories and forget about what a raw deal Sam Beckett got. He didn’t ask to do this. He gave up his family, his life, his identity. And he never got angry about it.

Which brings us to this clip, from an episode where Sam leaps into the life of a con-man who has promised a farming community suffering drought that he can make it rain. But even the man who has figured out time travel can’t figure out how to control the weather. Eventually, Sam is frustrated enough to call out, to whoever is running things, and plead for some help.

Watch. It’s cheesy, and the piano is overtly emotionally manipulative, but it’s a rare moment when you actually feel some sympathy for poor Sam Beckett.

P.S. Sorry I couldn’t embed the video, but YouTube won’t host it because I didn’t make it myself.

P.P.S. The cannon-firing is part of the cloud-seeding process. Those guys are not trying to shoot him.