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In this weeks episode of the Quantum Leap Rewatch, Cory and Tom are candles in the woods as they discuss season 5 episodes 18 and 19, “Goodbye Norma Jean” and “The Beast Within.”
Return of the Evil Leaper:
Sam leaps in Dennis Boardman, chauffeur to superstar Marilyn Monroe, and is given the job of making sure that she does not overdose and die as she did originally. To help keep an eye on Marilyn, Sam convinces her to hire a young fan names Barbara who has shown up for a job as an assistant.
At a party, Marilyn passes out but Sam manages to save her yet despite the save, Sam still doesn’t leap, leading Ziggy to suggest the reason has to do with Marilyn’s unfinished movie.
Sam tries several times to help Marilyn with her loneliness, her feeling of isolation, but his rebuffs of Marilyn’s affections only make those feelings stronger.
Meanwhile, Barbara, while seeming to be a good and competent worker, soon shows her true intentions as she encourages Marilyn’s partying, drinking and pill popping habits, and even going so far as to try on Marilyn’s clothes when she isn’t home.
Sam’s attempts to push Marilyn into staying sober and pill free results in him getting fired, followed by Barbara getting Marilyn so drunk that she is unable to wake up for her movie rehearsal the next morning.
While Barbara goes to the rehearsal claiming to have been sent by Marilyn to stand in for her, Sam works to get Marilyn sobered up and ready for the rehearsal.
The movie director and star are slowly becoming enamored with Barbara as she gives her best imitation of Marilyn but when the real thing shows up, she blows her out of the water with her superior acting skills, cementing her place in the movie as she dismisses Barbara and Sam leaps.
Ziggy’s Data Retrieval:
Marilyn Monroe’s press secretary actually did this to her in real life, and the episode follows a similar storyline to the movie “All About Eve” which Marilyn co-starred in. Norma Jean Pilcher, in the QL episode Moments To Live, may have been named so because of this incident.
John Tremaine Junior was played by Stephen Root, known for his roles in “News Radio”, “Office Space” and most recently for the shows “Barry” and “The Man in the High Castle”.
Liz Vassey played Barbara. She previously appeared in the QL episode Raped as Paula Fletcher. She was also Captain Liberty in the original “Tick” TV series as well as “Riley Parra”, the movie “Nikki and Nora” and the web series “Nikki and Nora: the N&N Files”. She was also in 77 episodes of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” during seasons 6-11.
Marilyn was played by Susan Griffiths. She also played Marilyn Monroe in a 2010 TV show called “The Defenders”, the Elton John “Candle in the Wind” video (red piano version) and in Pulp Fiction.
Our unsung hero as Dennis was Stephen Bowers. This is his one credit.
Kiss With History:
The Beast Within:
Sam leaps into Henry Adams, a Vietnam vet living in the wilderness along with his friend Roy Brown, another soldier who suffers from life threatening seizures due to injuries received during the Vietnam war. During the war, Roy and Henry were teamed up with two other old classmates named Luke and John. When Luke refused John’s order to kill an enemy civilian, John decided to do it himself but unfortunately died while attempting it. Luke blamed himself and later would marry John’s widow, Karen, attempting to make up for it by taking care of her and her son, Daniel.
Henry and Luke live by stealing what they need such as chickens for food or pills for Roy’s seizures. This has put them at odds with Luke who is the sheriff of the local town. Daniel, having seen Henry during one of his pill stealing attempts, believes him to be Bigfoot due his furry coat and hat he wears and leaves home to try and get a picture of the creature.
Daniel eventually meets up with Roy and Henry and the three share stories of seeing Bigfoot over the years. Sam decides to go to town and confront Luke, while Roy stays with Daniel. Unfortunately, Daniel slips and falls into a small hole in the rocks while Sam’s hopes to have Luke help his old friends go awry and he is arrested.
Al shows up, revealing what has happened to Daniel and luckily Karen shows up and releases Sam, bringing along the pills Roy needs as they rush back to their campsite, getting their truck in a minor accident on the rocks in the forest. Luke appears but after Karen tells him that she knows what happened in Vietnam, he has a change of heart and stops his vendetta against his former friends. Roy overcomes his claustrophobia and manages to save Daniel, joining him, Karen and Luke as they head to town for medical treatment.
Sam stays behind wondering how the truck was removed from its stuck position on the rocks when Al sees what appears to be Bigfoot walking away from them as Sam leaps.
Ziggy’s Data Retrieval:
Roy is played by Sean Sullivan. He played Phil in “Wayne’s World”, as well as a member of Buford Tannen’s gang in Back to the Future Part III. He is currently playing the middle aged and old age versions of Five in “The Umbrella Academy.”
This episodes unsung hero as Henry was Mike Jolly. He has 29 credits on IMDb. Most seem to be minor guest star appearances or featured extras.
David Tom played Daniel. He played Billy Abbott on “The Young and the Restless” from 1999-2014.
Luke was played by Pat Skipper. On The X-Files he was Bill Scully Jr (Dana’s brother). He was also in 2007’s Halloween as Mason Strode (Laurie’s father), and played Tequila in the Quantum Leap episode M.I.A.
Whats Next?
With only 2 podcast episodes left for Quantum Leap, next week Cory & Tom will be discussing “The Leap Between the States” & “Memphis Melody”.
Thanks:
We give thanks to some dedicated fan sights. For more information on Quantum Leap, please take the time to check out The Quantum Leap Wiki and Al’s Place.
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