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Quantum Leap
Season 3, Episode 8:
The Great Spontini
Written by Cristy Dawson & Beverly Bridges
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
Airdate: November 16, 1990
May 9, 1974
Sam leaps into a traveling magician, Harry Spontini, who must deal with a custody hearing with his ex-wife and ensure the safety of his daughter.
Tropes
- Amicable Exes:
- Maggie actually wants to be this, despite still having feelings for Harry. However, Steve is very clearly forcing her to go for full custody, and during the hearing she tries to be fair to Harry while Steve basically forces her to respond in a way that makes Harry look bad.
- In fact, after Sam manages to get Maggie to both withdraw the petition and also dump Steve, it appears that's going to be the case, as Al reports them getting back together "isn't in the cards". One kiss from Sam later, Al reports they get back together one year later.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Steve at first introduces himself as being a polite man, but it quickly becomes apparent that he's the one seeking to get Maggie full custody of Jamie and tries to portray Harry as a terrible father. Sam soon realises that he doesn't really care about Maggie or Jamie, he's just trying to beat Harry and win.
- Butterfly of Doom: Sam initially makes the leap worse and alters Jamie's future so that she dies trying to do a dangerous Table of Death trick, but Sam is able to save her at the last moment.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Jamie calls her father by his first name for some reason and does the same to Maggie. However she calls them both mom and dad during and after the Table of Death trick.
- Continuity Nod: Once again Al mentions his many ex-wives and divorces, explains that he got into a Custody Battle over his dog Chester with his third wife. Sam also mentions Al's own Missing Mom.
- Continuity Snarl: Inverted: this episode is the proper introduction to the "gummy bear" Handlink, but a shuffling of the episode order meant it came out after the Halloween episode.
- Custody Battle: Maggie, with encouragement from Steve, is seeking full custody of Jamie despite leaving her and her husband Harry three years ago. Sam is there to make sure that Harry doesn't lose custody of his daughter.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Despite being separated for three years, Sam is convinced that both Harry and Maggie still love each other. In the end Sam is able to get Harry joint custody with Al explaining that him and Maggie never got together again, with Sam then kissing Maggie and Al reporting that they now do get back together.
- Dramatic Irony: "Harry, I don't think a great actor like Bill Bixby- and magician- is gonna play a green comic book character."note
- Failed a Spot Check: Tellingly, after Maggie's impassioned speech about how Harry shouldn't be held accountable for the Table of Death incident, and how she wanted to withdraw her petition for sole custody of Jamie, Steve failed to understand this was the writing on the wall for their relationship, as he assumed she still wanted to get married.Steve: (nonplussed; begins packing up his papers) I'll reinstate the proceedings for the divorce first thing tomorrow.Steve: (as the penny finally drops) ...you've got to be kidding.
- Golden Ending: After Sam manages to save Jaime's life, once everyone is back at the courthouse, Maggie decides that this means she was wrong for trying to take custody away from Harry, and drops her case, and even goes the extra mile in breaking off her engagement with Steve. Al then goes on to explain to Sam that Maggie winds up becoming a great mom for Jamie, and helps her and Harry find a magic shop. However, they don't get back together... So Sam decides to fix that as well, and kisses her.
- Instantly Proven Wrong:
- Once Sam and Maggie return to the courthouse with Jamie, Steve tries to claim that "we"note want Harry imprisoned for almost getting his daughter killed, a sentiment Maggie swiftly debunks by admitting sole responsibility for letting things even get to that point.
- After Maggie revokes her petition for sole custody of Jamie, Steve (having not fully gotten it yet) tells her he'll reinstate the divorce proceedings "first thing tomorrow". It's only after she gives back the engagement ring that he realizes she's done with him.
- Manchild: Downplayed: Upon hearing Jamie mention "that Bill Bixby audition", Sam gleefully assumes it's for The Incredible Hulk.
- Missing Mom: Maggie left Harry and Jamie three years previously to pursue her own education. However while Jamie is understandably angry at Maggie, she is treated sympathetically and having been motivated to provide a better life for herself and her daughter, after spending eight years with Harry trying and failing to set up a magic shop. She also admits that Sam isn't wrong when he calls out on her leaving Jamie and is simply looking for a chance to make things up to her, while Steve is the one seeking full custody.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Discussed: Right before Sam goes to the courthouse for the custody trial, he wonders aloud to Al about how he maybe messed up by not getting a lawyer to represent him. Al is quick to explain that in the original history, Harry did just that, and it cost him everything.
- Never My Fault: Inverted: When Steve tries to use the Table of Death incident as the smoking gun to revoke Harry's custody, Maggie steps in and insists to the judge that if anything, she's at fault. This happened while Jamie was under her care, and this only happened because she failed to realize how much Jamie wanted to be with her father, and that she was trying to take their connection away.
- Noodle Incident: Once the pair are backstage, and Jaime starts reading Sam the riot act about the lackluster performance he did, she gripes "It was Phoenix all over again."
- Not What It Looks Like: While initially annoyed with Sam's mistakes during the magic show, Jamie soon suspects it was because he's sick, and even checks his temperature.
- Oh, Crap!: Right before Sam is about to leave for the courthouse, he starts to get a bad feeling about Jamie for an unexplained reason. Al then decides to go check on her for Sam's sake... and bears witness to her strapping herself into the Table of Death trick.
- Parent with New Paramour: Maggie is now engaged to Steve Slater, who acts as her attorney.
- Phlebotinum Breakdown: At the worst possible time, the brown handlink finally craps out for good when Sam is trying to provide Judge Mulhearn with examples of Harry's good parenting prior to the custody hearing trial.
- The Runaway: According to Al, in the original history Jamie ended up as this a few years after Maggie got full custody, being unable to find Harry and resorting to stealing to survive.
- Screw Destiny: After Al reports that, despite the changes Sam made to the future by the end, Harry and Maggie don't get back together. Sam sees things different:Sam: Do Harry and Maggie end up together?Al: (reads the handlink) No, that's not in the cards, Sam.Sam: Well, then, maybe... we're gonna just have to change the cards. (walks over to Maggie and kisses her)Al: (reads the handlink) This is amazing. It's changing. Yeah, they fall in love again, and they get back together one year from today.
- Take That!: In regards to Sam all-but-botching their performance at the start of the episode, Jamie has this to say:Jamie: Thank God we're in Oakland. We'd never get away with that in Vegas.
- Wham Line: "This is not gonna work, Jamie! ...Ziggy says you're gonna die."
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Variation: Once Steve is alone with Jaime, he spells it out that he's going to make damn sure Harry loses custody of her, and never sees her again. This, in conjunction with Maggie implicitly stating she wants to move on from Harry and be with Steve, causes Jaime to decide to sneak out of Maggie's house, and try and get the Table of Death trick to work. Or in other words, Steve almost indirectly gets Jamie killed.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: As you can expect, this is Steve's verbatim response to Maggie giving back her engagement ring.
