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Quantum Leap
Season 2, Episode 4:
What Price Gloria
Sam: Two hours as Samantha and I knew that the lyrics to “I Enjoy Being a Girl” were not written by one.
Written by Deborah Pratt
Directed by Alan J Levi
Airdate: October 25, 1989.
October 16, 1961
For the first time, Sam steps into the high heels of a woman, Samantha, who has to deal with the constant sexual advances of her philandering boss while keeping Samantha’s starry-eyed roommate from making a tragic mistake.
Tropes:
- Admiring the Abomination: A low-key example - Buddy’s boss likes the Ford Edsel, despite the car’s landmark failure.
- Big "NO!": Buddy’s response when Sam tells him that he is going to prove to Buddy that he’s a man.
- Brick Joke:
- Buddy dismisses Californians as “avocado-growers”. Later, Al tells Sam that Gloria and her future husband will move to California and grow avocados.
- After his first interaction with Buddy, Sam monologues that he wants to punch him in the face. Guess how the leap ends.
- Dramatic Irony: While Sam tries to figure out what causes Gloria to attempt suicide, unbeknownst to him and Al, the incident had already occurred: Gloria, still under the impression that Buddy was going to leave his wife, talked with her about the pending "divorce"... only for the wife to, in as nice of a tone as possible, spell it out for Gloria that Buddy was never going to leave her.
- Driven to Suicide: When Gloria finds out that Buddy will never leave his wife, she almost takes this route.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In this episode, Al sees Sam as Samantha and is attracted to him. In later episodes, whenever it is brought up, it is stated that Al sees Sam as himself and not the person he leaped into.
- Failed a Spot Check: After Al and Sam get into an argument about Sam currently being a woman, Al storms off to exit the Imaging Chamber. In the process, Sam somehow manages to forget that Al is a hologram when Al crosses the path of a bus:Sam: Al, look out! (the bus passes through Al as he walks)
(Sam pauses as Al opens the door)
Sam: (embarrassed) ...yeah. Close the door. - Foreshadowing: The fact that Sam seemingly delays his leap out until he removes his shoes is the first sign that he is the one in charge of his leaps.
- Gender Bender: Sam leaps into secretary Samantha Stormer.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: After having some confused feelings for Sam-as-Samantha, Al comes to the realization that he does love Sam like a brother.
- Lady in a Power Suit: Al tells Sam that Samantha will eventually become one of these, leading the company’s entire car design program.
- The Mistress: The titular Gloria.
- Phoning the Phantom: When Al checks in on Sam in the middle of his and Gloria's double date, Sam uses a payphone to vent his frustrations to Al.
- The Precarious Ledge: The climax of the episode sees Sam having to traverse such a ledge at the top of the apartment building (during a storm, no less) in order to stop Gloria from jumping.
- Running Gag: Sam's hatred of women's shoes. In fact, after punching Buddy, Sam makes a point of refusing to leap until he removes his shoes.
- Too Dumb to Live: In the business world, anyway. Buddy completely dismisses the California automotive market. Even in 1961, he should have known it was the fastest-growing market in America. Furthermore, he’s banking the company’s success on a new car design featuring an oversized chassis, fins, excessive use of chrome and an unnecessarily powerful engine with an atrocious rate of fuel consumption.
