Saturday, August 27, 2016

Quantum Leap -- Episode 47: A Hunting We Will Go


Sam Leaps Into: 
Gordon O'Reilly, a bounty hunter.

Objective:
Figure out if his captive is telling the truth (and then save her life).

Date:
6-18-76

Location:
Decatur, Arkansas

Memorable Quote:
There are 5 stages of love: the first is denial, then the second is sex, then there's acceptance, then there's divorce...and then there's more sex if you're lucky.  ~Al

Highlight:
I like the hotel room scene where Sam vacillates rapidly between attraction and loathing toward Diane.

Lowlight:
The scene in the barn is a little goofy when Sam is loudly talking to Al a few feet away from Diane but she somehow only notices a few things he says.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
  • I've never been to Arkansas but I wouldn't have thought that cowboy hats were a popular accessory down there (Sam and another guy on the bus have one).  I looked up Decatur on the map and it is fairly close to Oklahoma, so maybe there is some cowboy culture there after all.
  • The falling into the manure is reminiscent of Back to the Future.  And I would think those clothes would still be pretty smelly after getting washed in the hotel bathroom.
  • Diane shows off some nice self defense skills at the trainyard.  The ending which revealed her to be a future bounty hunter was a nice touch that I wasn't expecting.
  • This is the official first episode of the second half of the series, so we're over halfway home (or not home, in Sam's case).

Final Analysis:
This is a fun one and kind of a cross between Her Charm (defiant gal Sam has to protect) and Maybe Baby (on the run in rural America).  Jane Sibbett steals the show as Diane, and I also like that Al's instincts are right over Ziggy's projections (normally it's Sam's instincts which are proven correct). Ranking it 11 out of 47.

5 comments:

  1. This was an enjoyable one. Annoying as she was to Sam, Diane was a much more likeable character than the gal from "Her Charm" before she was so crafty and deceptively charming. I've said before that my favorite TV show before "MacGyver" was "The Fall Guy" and this episode really reminded me of that series as the protagonist was a bounty hunter and often had clever bail jumpers in his custody, usually attractive young women, figure out a way to give him the slip. Interesting observation about all the "Arkansas cowboys" that seemed to be everywhere. I was just there last week and didn't see a single cowboy hat, and even in the part of the state near Oklahoma and Texas, it wouldn't be natural cowboy country as that area is more wooded and swampy than it would be cattle rustling territory so I'm afraid the relevance of all the cowboy hats was a plot convenience for Diane's sake.

    I also thought the barn scene was ridiculous where Sam is shouting at Al and Diane only hears a few selective things. It was somewhat interesting that Al's gut was right on Diane being innocent but since it was just because she reminded him of an ex-wife that presumption of innocence was a little hard to swallow. And I knew the sheriff and Diane's boss would be in on it. Still, good episode and I liked the ending where Diane became a bounty hunter herself. I'll rank this one between "What Price Gloria?" and "Animal Frat".

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    1. Have never seen The Fall Guy but sounds like an interesting show. I remember it came up also during the Out in the Cold discussion.

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    2. Have never seen The Fall Guy but sounds like an interesting show. I remember it came up also during the Out in the Cold discussion.

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    3. "The Fall Guy" s1 is on Hulu... or it was a few weeks back. I used to watch it. It's a fun show.

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  2. Only season 1 of "The Fall Guy" came out on DVD which was disappointing because I have more memories of the later seasons. I was able to watch fragments of old episodes from seasons 2-5 on You Tube but it wasn't the same. It was and still is a fun show but the acting was pretty hammy.

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