Quantum Leap (continued)

Season 4 is a step down compared to the first three.  That is, there are a few good-great episodes but they're just mostly just so-so.  A Single Drop of Rain, about a con-man who sells rain to hick towns in drought is great, but then there's a lame episode about a psychic and a TV news presenter tracking down a killer.  Running For Honor is a great episode because it finally brings to light what anyone watching Quantum Leap to that point had been pondering, Sam Beckett's sexuality.  He plays a navy sailor accused of being gay by an anti-gay gang at a navy academy.  Even Al suspects it when he sees Sam crossing his legs gingerly and drinking tea.  The signs have been there throughout the whole series, even God itself teased it when he leaped Sam to kneeling directly in front of a man's genitalia.  The Last Gunfighter is an alright western episode.  You can tell when they aim an episode at kids because it's preachy and has some kind of moral value.  A Song for the Soul is a nice episode about a young singer frustrated and trapped between her strict gospel preaching father and her desire to sing in success.  It features an obvious shady nightclub owner who thinks he's smooth with the ladies who gets totally owned in the end.

Aside from the previously mentioned "Raped," Season 4 is mostly just light, fun episodes.  The Curse of Pah-Ho-Tep, set at an Egyptian dig, and especially Ghost Ship, are great.  Ghost Ship is hilarious because Sam leaps in to a pilot mid-flight over the ocean and despite being a well trained, focused polymath he panics and doesn't even try to take control of the pain.  It also features a WW2 pilot who in a hilarious scene has Bermuda triangle U-boat flashbacks.  It's fun because it's set on a little luxury plane and there's a sense of adventure.  It's a Wonderful Leap is a take on It's A Wonderful Life and is pretty good.  Roberto is another good episode with a good story about news anchors trying to uncover a conspiracy at a fertilizer plant, and it's funny because Sam tries to make wisecracks and just comes off as robotic.  Stand-Up is fun, about a comedy trio in Las Vegas.  The last episode thankfully is pretty good, and it's about Al, although it's not particularly moving like MIA.  Al is accused of rape and murder and Sam has to clear his name.  It's notable because the timeline is changed and Al disappears only to be replaced by an insufferable British ponce.  Thankfully the timeline is put back right and Al is back.  It's funny too because it features a weirdo navy commander who gets off on watching his officers have sex with his wife.  One more season to go, and then I'll probably just watch them all again in one go, because I have an important job to do.