Quantum Leap
Season 4, Episode 13:
Temptation Eyes
Written by Paul Brown
Directed by Christopher Hibler
Airdate: January 22, 1992
February 1, 1985
Sam leaps into Dylan Powell, a San Francisco news reporter who has been receiving clues from a Chinatown serial killer. Sam is there to protect a psychic named Tamlyn Matsuda (Tamlyn Tomita) from becoming the next victim, although it gets complicated by the fact that Tamlyn starts seeing Sam as who he really is.
Tropes:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Al doesn't believe that Tamlyn is a psychic at first, which is at odds with the fact that, by this point, he and Sam have met another psychic who picked up on their vibes, as well as a ghost.
- Artistic License – History: With some Artistic License – Space as well. A major part of the episode hinges on the fact that Tamlyn dies during a full moon on February 14, 1985. In reality, the moon was a waning crescent that night; the last full moon had been on February 5.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tamlyn is rescued, and Chinatown Strangler is killed before he can kill again, but Sam has to part ways with Tamlyn, who senses that they won't ever meet again.
- But Now I Must Go: At the end, Tamlyn senses that it's time for Sam to leave. When he suggests that he might return someday, she sadly says that it won't happen.
- Can't Stay Normal: Sam wants to stay with Tamlyn in 1985. Al has to repeatedly remind Sam that he can't remain with Tamlyn, since it's Dylan's life. Of course, Sam continues leaping.
- Creator Cameo: Supervising producer Harker Wade "played" Dylan's reflection.
- Dead Person Conversation: The first time Tamlyn realized she was psychic was when she was a child and visited by a vision of her mother, who she'd later learn had died in a car accident right beforehand.
- Disney Villain Death: Ross climbs over the railing on the roof of the factory, intending to kill himself. Sam tries to save him, but to no avail, and Ross falls several stories down and dies.
- Disposable Sex Worker: The Chinatown Strangler's first five victims were strippers and hookers.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: Sam and Tamlyn get one during their two weeks together, set to "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner.
- Foreseeing My Death: Discussed when Al cheekily asks why Tamlyn hasn't predicted her own death, and Sam mentions remembering reading somewhere that psychics can't foresee their own deaths. Tamlyn later tells Sam her vision of being pulled into a dark whirpool and being rescued by him, although she notes that it's a fuzzy vision.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: While previous episodes had established that small children and the mentally ill could see Sam's true identity, this is the first time an adult with full agency does, and it's the first time Sam pursues a relationship and romance as himself and not as his leapee. It's also his longest single leap, lasting for two weeks.
- Game Changer: Sam breaks one of the major rules of quantum leaping and tells Tamlyn his true name and that he's from the future. Al is concerned that this could mean that Sam won't leap again, but it ultimately doesn't. As a result, Sam would feel safe doing this again in later leaps, although typically only in dire circumstances.
- Glamour Failure: When Tamlyn first meets Sam, she recognizes him as Dylan, but has some kind of limited awareness of Sam's true nature. When Sam later makes physical contact with her while consoling her, she completely sees and hears Sam as Sam, and not as Dylan.
- Girl of My Dreams: Or guy, rather. Tamlyn had been dreaming about her death, and had visions of Sam's face rescuing her.
- Goofy Print Underwear: On the morning of February 14, Al pokes fun at the boxers that Tamlyn got Sam that have little hearts and bears on them.
- Gut Feeling: Tamlyn says that everyone is a little psychic, and that gut feelings are just one manifestation of this. This is echoed at the end when Sam and Tamlyn are saying their goodbyes, and Sam happily tells her that he has a feeling her future will be okay.
- Halfway Plot Switch: The first half of the episode seems like a conventional Quantum Leap mystery yarn. Then about halfway through, when Tamlyn starts seeing Sam as Sam, it becomes a Rescue Romance (by way of precognition).
- If It Bleeds, It Leads: Invoked by Ross in his Motive Rant.Ross: Besides, we're just giving the public what they want: sex and murder! RATINGS, MAN! RATINGS! IF PEOPLE ARE SICK ENOUGH TO WATCH IT, HELL, LET'S GIVE IT TO 'EM!"
- Immoral Journalist: Ross, Dylan's longtime cameraman and partner. Ross killed the first victim in a drunken rage after learning that he and Dylan were going to be laid off. He continued killing and sending cryptic messages to Dylan to invoke If It Bleeds, It Leads and help them keep their jobs.
- In Spite of a Nail: Played with; even though Sam spends two weeks with Tamlyn, catches Tony Beche, and keeps Tamlyn with him at the TV station on February 14, Ziggy says she's still fated to die in Chinatown. Sam decides that since it's inevitable the killer is going to be in Chinatown no matter what, he is going to go with Tamlyn to Chinatown so she can use her psychic skills to find the killer before he finds her.
- Jack the Ripoff: Sam and Al deduce that Tony Beche is a copycat killer, since Tamlyn had been initially hesitant to say whether he'd killed anyone else other than Janine. Turns out the real Chinatown Strangler is Ross.
- May–December Romance: Played with; while Sam is the right age for Tamlyn, Dylan is 59 years old and a month from retirement.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon figuring out that Ross is the killer, Sam kicks himself for leaving Tamlyn alone with him.Sam: Please, God. Not her.
- Not Himself: Sam spends his two weeks with Tamlyn as an ersatz vacation from leaping, acting like himself and not pretending to be Dylan. However, Ross notices and comments on it.
- Police Psychic: Tamlyn provides the police with assistance about the killings.
- Precognition: This is one aspect of Tamlyn's psychic abilities. She percieves her own death in abstract terms, with Sam's true face as her rescuer.
- Psychometry: While she's able to consciously and unconsciously catch vibes about things through the air, Tamlyn's psychic abilities are boosted tremendously when she makes physical contact with a person or an object. This is how she's able to start seeing Sam as Sam, and how she realizes that Ross is the Chinatown Strangler. She also has a vision of Janine Travis' murder by holding a pillow that belonged to Janine.
- Reunion Vow: Sam feebly attempts this at the end, saying that he might come back and see her again, but it's defied by Tamlyn, who psychically predicts that Sam won't return.
- Rescue Romance: In reverse due to Tamlyn's precognition; she has been seeing abstract visions of her own dying moments, with Sam as her rescuer. When she eventually "meets" him as himself, a romance ensues.
- Secret-Keeper: Since she sees and hears him as Sam anyway, Sam breaks his anonymity rule for the first time and reveals to Tamlyn that he's Sam Beckett, a time traveler from the future. He doesn't appear to tell her about Al, though.
- Serial Killer: The Chinatown Strangler is the episode's foe. By the time Sam arrives, the killer has apparently killed six victims; Sam's mission is to stop him before Tamlyn becomes the seventh.
- The Slow Path: Sam leaps in on February 1, but has to wait around to save Tamlyn on February 14.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Sam, who is married to Donna back in 1999. He actively enters into a romance — as himself, for the first time — with Tamlyn, for reasons unrelated to the leap. However, he doesn't remember his marriage to Donna back in the future due to his Swiss-cheesed memory.
- Time-Travel Romance: Sam — not Dylan — and Tamlyn have a two week romance that starts when she sees him as himself, and ends when Sam saves her and leaps.
- Unexpectedly Real Magic: While her initial psychic readings could be chalked up to coincidence, Tamlyn's psychic abilities are confirmed to be 100% accurate and real when she starts hearing and seeing Sam as Sam.
- Verbal Backspace: Right after Sam leaps in and finds himself live on the air:Sam: Well, actually, I just leaped in here—arrived here, and we just arrived here, and no, there isn't any information.
- Wham Line: "Excuse me, do you like orange spice, Sam?"
- Wham Shot: In Tamlyn's mirror, we see the reflection of "Dylan" consoling Tamlyn, and the shot closes in on her face. The shot then pulls back, where we see what Tamlyn now sees: Sam's reflection instead of Dylan's.
- Yoko Oh No: Ross is displeased at Dylan and Tamlyn's burgeoning romance (and genuinely hurt that Dylan forgot his birthday) and tells her "I guess if we're going to break up, you're a good enough reason". She sincerely declares "I'm not trying to break you guys up.", but he doesn't believe her, saying "Really? Because it seems like that's what's been happening." Of course, he's not just jealous and resentful, he's worried that she'll figure out that he's the killer they're looking for. Sure enough, his hostility tips her off.
- You Can See Me?:
- When Sam makes physical contact with Tamlyn and she begins seeing him as Sam rather than as Dylan, Sam nervously says this word-for-word.
- Tamlyn has some kind of perception of Al's presence whenever he's around, though she can't explicitly see him like Sam can. The disbelieving Al finally tries to exploit this at the end when he desperately shouts to her to hang in there until Sam finds her, on the off chance that she can hear him.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Sam catches Tony Beche, but Al says that Tamlyn still dies.
Sam: You're gonna be okay now.
Tamlyn: You sure?
Sam: I got a feeling about it.
Tamlyn: You sure?
Sam: I got a feeling about it.
