MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE PROJECT:
Project Trivia #1: This episodes has two firsts: the first mention of the Waiting Room, and the first use of the sliding Imaging Chamber door with the blue-white light. Al only uses this door once--right after he gets hit by the bus. Now he knows how Mikey Stratton felt! (MPB)
Project Trivia #2 (or is this really a
nit?): This is the first episode that explores what Sam looks like
to Al. Al’s reaction clearly indicate that he sees Samantha, not Sam. Yet
later on (in "Pool Hall Blues," for example), Al seems able to see the
peron in the Waiting Room as she truly is, and Al is also able to see Sam
as Sam rather than the Leapee. So what gives? (RA)
PCR: Perhaps after Al’s harrowing experience
with Sam/Samantha (and Tina’s reaction to it), PQL staff adjusted the Imaging
Chamber so that Al can see Sam’s body, rather than the Leapee’s. (LW)
BACKSTORY NITS:
Sam Backstory Nit #1: Sam’s acrophobia doesn’t seem to show here. Or is he just doing a really good job of hiding it for Gloria’s sake? Certainly this escapade wouldn’t do much to cure it. (MPB)
HISTORICAL NITS:
Historical Nit #1: Boy, are Sam and Gloria living in a different calendar from the rest of the world. October 16, 1961 is the date that flashes across the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the episode. Usually, that date is the date Sam Leaps in. But several days later, when Sam and Gloria are on their blind date, Al informs Sam that Gloria commits suicide on October 16, which would mean October 16 is the date several days into the Leap. If you check a calendar for 1961, you’ll find that October 16 was a Monday. But if you count the days of the Leap, it turns out that Sam Leaps in on a Thursday. Gloria and Buddy have their date at the apartment (and Sam has to walk Bubbles) on Friday, and the double date is on Saturday. If you pay close attention to the dialogue, there are no missing days passed over that viewers just don’t see. Sam probably punches Buddy out the next Monday, as that’s the next opportunity he has to confront the nozzle. So, when exactly is this Leap supposed to have happened? Does Sam perhaps Leap in on Thursday, October 12, and finish the Leap on Monday, October 16? Then what about Al’s comment that Gloria is going to commit suicide on the 16th? It’s impossible for Sam himself to have done something to make Gloria commit suicide earlier, because Gloria is already talking to Mrs. Wright while Al is telling Sam the date of Gloria’s death. (MPB)
MIRROR NITS:
Mirror Nit #1: As Al leaves the bathroom, the mirror image’s head is at the wrong angle. (LW)
Mirror Nit #2: When Sam’s seducing Buddy at the end, Sam’s image (not Gloria’s) reflects in the glass table-top. (MPB)
GENERAL NIT-PICKING:
General Nit #1: Gloria and Samantha
must not be very good at communicating. Gloria has to tell Sam (Beckett,
that is) about her fiancé Buddy. You’d think if the affair has been
going on long enough for Gloria to be deluded into thinking Buddy’s going
to marry her, that she’d have told Samantha long ago. Meanwhile,
Gloria isn’t aware that Buddy is Samantha’s new boss. If these two women
are roommates, why didn’t they tell each other this stuff? Also, Gloria
never told Buddy that Samantha was her roommate. (IMZ)
PCR: Maybe Samantha didn’t know who her
new boss was going to be, only that she was going to be the secretary to
the new VP. Maybe Gloria didn’t tell Samantha about Buddy earlier because
she didn’t want to stir up Samantha’s bad memories of her own experience
with the infamous Tony. And maybe Gloria didn’t tell Buddy that Samantha
was her roommate because she figured Samantha already had. After all, Samantha
was Buddy’s new secretary. But that’s an awful lot of "maybes."(MPB)
General Nit #2: Why wasn’t Gloria angry
that Buddy chose Samantha, instead of Gloria, as his secretary? (LW)
PCR: Maybe Gloria felt if she became Buddy’s
secretary, it would just complicate matters. (NM)
General Nit #3: Sam’s pantyhose seem to appear and disappear, as does his nail polish. (IMZ)
General Nit #4: If Samantha is a secretary, how come she doesn’t seem to have a typewriter? (LW, NM)
General Nit #5: Why doesn’t Al stick around
to give Sam moral support when Sam goes to rescue Gloria? (LW)
PCR: Perhaps Al was there, but just not
in the picture. (NM)
General Nit #5: Maybe this should be a continuous nit--again we see more simultaneous thunder-and-lightning. (MPB)
General Nit #6: After Sam rescues Gloria and he is drying her hair, at first it looks wet and rather disheveled. By the time Gloria walks to the bed, her hair looks dry and combed. (ARS)
General Nit #7: When Sam punches Buddy, the second punch comes too fast, considering he’s using the same arm. (ARS)
MATTER OVER MIND?
While it later becomes canon that Sam’s body Leaps as well as his mind, this is one of those episodes where the whole mind/body issue gets very fuzzy. According to DPB, the appearance of Sam’s host is maintained by some sort of "aura" effect. But how exactly does this aura work--is it just an optical illusion, or a tactile one as well? When Sam is in Samantha’s life, does he feel himself to also be in Samantha’s body, or does he feel himself to be in his own male body? On the one hand, the hairy chest comment supports the body-leaping concept. (IMZ) On the other hand, Sam says to Al, "This feels really weird." Is he speaking literally or metaphorically? (MPB) Does Sam already know (by checking things out in the bathtub, under the bubbles) that he does (or doesn’t) have Samantha’s body before he looks in the mirror? (NM, LW, JK) Meanwhile, back in the Waiting Room, Al says that Samantha is terribly confused and needs to see Dr. Beeks. If it’s her body Leaping, why should there be a problem? She wouldn’t perceive herself to be in Sam’s body, and so would not be confused. (MPB) Is Sam too calm to have perceived his own body as a woman’s (LW), or is his agitation when he sees Al sufficient to indicate that Sam does see and feel himself as a woman? (MPB) And why do the clothes fit? (MPB) Does Sam’s body morph to assume the shape of the Leapee (LW). If so, then wouldn’t Sam "feel" as if he’s the same shape as the Leapee--i.e., a woman with breasts, etc. (MPB)?
Oh, did you expect an answer to any of the above? Well, to quote the Don himself, "Don’t investigate this too closely."
AL’S WOMEN:
Tina’s back again, feeling slighted when Al falls head-over-heels for Samantha. This time, Al wins her back before she has a chance to run off with Gooshie again.
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS:
Detail #1: Nice choice of names for our sleaze-bag-de l’episode. Buddy Wright is nobody’s buddy (although he wants to be everybody’s buddy), and he’s definitely not Mr. Right. (MPB)
Detail #2: Joy Stockwell (as in Mrs. Dean) played the receptionist outside Buddy’s office. (IMZ)
NAME THAT TUNE:
"Venus" by Frankie Avalon, is playing during the bathroom scene--very appropriate, since Sam has just Leaped into the goddess of love, at least according to Al. (MPB)
FAVORITE QUOTATIONS:
Gloria: "You should’ve worn a girdle."
Sam: "I’m not into bondage."
Gloria: "No stockings? You’re such a Bohemian." (Okay, this is only funny when you know that Bakula is a Bohemian name.)
Al: "Time has packaged my best friend inside a goddess of love."
Sam: "I have come to the conclusion that women are part masochist. It’s like someone designed a modern-day torture rack you can wear: from the bra to the stockings, to the tight skirt, to the shoes from hell. They get up every day and perform this weird binding ritual. And for what?"
Al (about Gloria being single at 26): "We’re talking serious old maid here. She’s probably up there shredding newspapers right now."
Sam: "We all know that a man can’t leave
his wife on the Fourth of July. It would be un-American."