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More by Matt Dale |
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"The Avenger" |
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Adopted by: Matt Dale Information from Beyond The Mirror Image |
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Teaser: Sam leaps into the life of museum
curator Philip Cooper, an avenging angel of the night, fighting crime
in New York’s Central Park. But when history starts changing around
him, it can only mean one thing… |
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| Place Leap Date Name of the Person Leaped Into Synopsis Script Review Al Trivia Miscellaneous Trivia Guest Stars Guest Cast Notes Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes Say What? Quotable Quotes Production Credits |
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| Production
# 5x00 - UNPRODUCED EPISODE |
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PLOT SYNOPSIS BY DANIELLE ALEXANDRA Al and Sam compare notes. Al advises that he is in the life of Dr. Philip Cooper, a curator at the Museum of Natural History, who disappeared after the death of his wife in 1957. With no current address to work from, they head to the museum. Entering, they find a door locked with an ancient Egyptian ‘Sumar Lock’. Sam is able to break in, and they discover Cooper’s lodgings – a recreated 13th century lair, as Cooper wanted to live as a true knight. They meet Sadie Spooner, Cooper’s housekeeper and friend, who also doubles as a cleaning lady for the museum. She offers Sam some soup and suggests he gets some rest, reminiscing over meeting him 20 years ago when he started working there. Exploring, Sam and Al discover a suit of armour labelled “The Black Knight”, with the same markings as on Cooper’s vest, and a series of newspaper clippings of The Midnight Avenger’s successes. The Black Knight’s history seems to mirror Dr. Cooper’s, turning to vengeance when he was forced to watch his wife be tortured and killed, forever wearing a medallion for her. Dr. Cooper’s wife was killed in front of him in Central Park in 1957… Al shares a bitter memory of a teenage girlfriend being killed by a drunk driver, and Sadie reminds Sam that he promised her to stop in two days, the anniversary of Donna Cooper’s death. Al advises Sam that that is the day Dr. Cooper will be gunned down by police. Looking into the details further, Al notes that Cooper was supposed to die in the park, but now it’s going be in an alley on the East Side. Sam proposes to lie low that night, but Al points out that Cooper saved two innocent people’s lives. In an article published the day after, three people reported that he saved them (another change to established history). The following day, Lilly is at work, investigating the coin. Her colleague Tim McBride offers to help, telling her that the coins are supposed to have all been destroyed, and suggests checking for information at the museum. She goes there, and meets Sam, but does not recognize him. She tries to get information from him about the origins of the coin, which she pretends she inherited. She sees a photo of a younger Cooper accepting the coin on behalf of the museum and concludes that he is the Avenger. Later that night, Sam is making improvements to the bulletproof vest and accidentally fires off an arrow from the suit’s sleeve. Sadie says farewell to Sam, asking him to promise to take care, and leaves for the night. Al notices that history appears to be changing again and urges Sam to get out… Outside, Al directs Sam to the West Side, and Lilly – hiding in the shadows – follows him. Sam finds his way to a building with an open elevator shaft, from which a man is dangling, close to falling to his death. Sam tries to save him, while onlookers believe he may be trying to kill him. At the last moment, Sam rescues the young man, dragging him onto the top of the elevator. The only way to save him is to lower him down to the ground via a wire, which only gives onlookers (including the police) more reason to suspect The Avenger. When the young man is safe, Lilly shouts a warning to Sam, and runs after him as Al directs him back to the park where a girl is about to be raped in the next ten minutes. Sam races to the spot, where Al tells him he has an hour to stop the attack – history has changed again! Al directs him to Ninth Avenue, ten blocks away, where a boy is about to run over by a hit and run. Sam runs to help, and narrowly misses being hit by the car – driven by a familiar blonde woman. He finds the body that has been knocked down – not a boy, but Sadie! – and takes her to a hospital on Tenth, two blocks North. At the hospital, Sam and Al ponder who could be behind this – a Moriarty to a Sherlock. But is it Cooper’s Moriarty or Sam’s? Sam goes to leave, but Lilly approaches him. She offers to write an article setting the record straight on what a hero he is. Sam doesn’t feel like a hero though – Sadie has died. Sam takes Lilly back to his lair, where they discuss Cooper’s background in more detail and toy with some balls that release smoke. Sam asks Lilly to plant a story that the Avenger challenges the Central Park mugger to meet him on the roof of the Pratt building the following night, to flush him out. Lilly and Sam almost kiss, but then… Zoe arrives and admonishes Lilly – who is actually Alia – preventing her from sharing the kiss and revealing herself. Lilly/Alia dashes off to print the story Sam has asked for. On the way out, Zoe continues to express her frustration to Alia, as she risks their mission, to destroy Cooper. Back in the lair, Al advises that Cooper is still destined to die. The following night, despite Al’s warnings, Sam heads to the Pratt building. Alia is there, waiting with the police. She steps out of the shadows - Sam spots her, and tries to convince her to leave, but she refuses. Al tells him the police are there, and Sam realizes that ‘Lilly’ is his enemy. Alia begins to scream for help, so Sam grabs her – causing her to morph into Alia, who he immediately recognizes. She stops struggling, but Zoe is keen for both Cooper and Beckett to be killed – Alia refuses, but then on Zoe’s encouragement continues to scream. Sam grabs Alia to use as a hostage. In the confusion, Sam throws down his smoke bombs and runs away. Alia runs too, and tries to jump between two buildings, but ends up dangling to the side of one. Sam rescues her, as she assures him she would never have gone ahead with the plan if she’d known it was him. Al reports to Sam that Cooper and Lilly are both going to be OK, and as Sam prepares to leap, he grabs Alia. The blue quantum light engulfs them both, and they leap… …Sam leaps in. Whenever he is, he is alone, his arms are empty. Alia has leapt elsewhere. |
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| Review by Matt Dale: It’s naturally hard not to compare this to Return of the Evil Leaper, which features Alia, Zoey and also Sam leaping into a “superhero”. The stories are, however, very different, not least of all because Cooper is much more of a success, and more of a Bruce Wayne figure than the well-meaning Arnold Watkins. There are certainly elements of the leap story, with the greater focus on the tragedy of Cooper’s wife (Arnold’s parents in the later script), that work extremely well, although the notion of bulletproof suits and rich recluses living underground should really be left to Batman. The interaction with Alia is also fun, but lacks the tension of Return of the Evil Leaper, as Alia is still in her Deliver Us from Evil mode here, not having switched sides yet. If the season could have fit both stories in, this would have been a great bridge for showing Alia’s development (which jars somewhat as it is), but up against Return of the Evil Leaper, I’d take the broadcast episode in a heartbeat. |
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Al
Trivia: Al’s fraternity were The Delts. Al says an extra “oh boy” when Alia is revealed. |
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This unmade fifth season script was written
by Danielle Alexandra, creator of the television series My Two Dads, who had
contributed the story to It’s a Wonderful Leap and aimed
to return here for a second Quantum Leap commission.
Her only writing credit since was the 1997 movie G.I.
Jane. This episode had an alternate title, Midnight Avenger. The Pratt Building is presumably named for Deborah Pratt. If this story is assumed to be part of the Quantum Leap canon, it obviously takes place between Deliver Us from Evil and Return of the Evil Leaper, along with the stories Knights of the Morningstar and Second Childhood. Return of the Evil Leaper refers back to Sam’s witnessing of Alia’s being yanked out of her leap – although clearly intended to be a reference to Deliver Us from Evil, it could potentially refer to the end of this script (and certainly doesn’t marry up with the end of Knights of the Morningstar or Second Childhood) so must be the penultimate Evil Leaper story prior to Return of the Evil Leaper. Also, this script introduces the notion that Alia might have some sympathy for Sam’s quest – an element to her personality present in Return of the Evil Leaper but not in any of the prior stories. |
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| Guest
Stars: Carolyn Seymour as Zoey Renee Coleman as Alia |
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Renee Coleman as Alia: Born January 8, 1962. Coleman is known for her role in the 1992 box office hit, A League of Their Own (1992), as left-fielder and substitute catcher Alice Gaspers, and in Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), as kidnapping-victim Jennifer Downing. Coleman appeared in several more films through the mid-'90s, including Pentathlon (1994) (one of her last domestic roles), the Mexican film El jardín del Edén (1994), the Polish film Gracze (1995), and the Swiss film Waiting for Michelangelo (1995). In 1995, Coleman left the film business and returned to school, where she earned her Mythological Studies doctorate (with an emphasis on Depth Psychology) at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2002. She currently lives with her husband and their four children in Santa Clarita, California, where she works in a private practice as a certified DreamTender. In August 2012, Coleman's first book, Icons of a Dreaming Heart - The Art and Practice of Dream-Centered Living, was published. Carolyn Seymour as Zoey: A highly accomplished actress of stage and screen, with a long and impressive list of credits on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Buckinghamshire to an Estonian father with Russian descent and an Irish mother, Carolyn trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, before rising to fame with starring roles in Peter Barnes' much acclaimed THE RULING CLASS starring Peter O'Toole and directed by Peter Medak, Terry Nation's cult sci-fi television series SURVIVORS and the BBC's TAKE THREE GIRLS. Multiple film credits include GUMSHOE opposite Albert Finney for director Stephen Frears, STEPTOE & SON, MR. MUM with Michael Keaton, and CONGO for director Frank Marshall. Carolyn's extensive theatre work includes THE GREAT EXHIBITION written by Sir David Hare, for which Carolyn starred opposite David Warner and Penelope Wilton at The Hampstead Theatre. The production was directed by Sir Richard Eyre. Carolyn received critical praise for a role as Ophelia in HAMLET at The Gielgud (formerly The Globe Theatre), directed by Peter Coe and produced by Sam Wanamaker. ON APPROVAL saw Carolyn starring opposite Kenneth More and Moray Watson at The Vaudeville Theatre. In THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER Carolyn co-starred with Wilfred Hyde-White for the production at the Theatre Royal Brighton followed by a national tour, both directed by Roger Redfarn. HAY FEVER marked Carolyn's debut on Broadway playing Myra Arundel for director Brian Murray. SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL directed by Brian Bedford would follow at The Taper in Los Angeles. Carolyn made the effortless transition to American television during the 1980s, with celebrated performances in a multitude of hit, award-winning series including FAMILY TIES, HART TO HART, CAGNEY & LACEY, MAGNUM P.I., MURDER SHE WROTE, QUANTUM LEAP, L.A LAW and ER. Recurring guest appearances on the Emmy award-winning STAR TREK: The Next Generation and STAR TREK Voyager, like that of her work on SURVIVORS, have also drawn a strong and devoted fan-base. Carolyn is also a regular voice artist, recording audio adaptations of stage plays by Sir Alan Ayckbourn (TABLE MANNERS and LIVING TOGETHER), as well as TOP GIRLS by celebrated playwright Caryl Churchill. For Big Finish Productions, and by the demand of her loyal fans, Carolyn returned to her iconic role of Abby Grant in SURVIVORS, as well as guest-starring alongside the surviving DOCTOR WHO's. Over 5 decades in the industry, Carolyn has continued to adapt to the demands of the business including successfully transitioning into the world of video games, with multiple projects for the STAR WARS franchise amongst many others. Having resided in the United States and France for many years, Carolyn returns to her native England in Summer 2021 with plans to return to her roots - British stage and screen. Carolyn divides her personal time between her family, her love of art, and her passion for charitable work including animal activism and supporting the homeless.
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Guests
Who Appeared in Other QL Episodes: |
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Say What?
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“You make it sound so glamorous. There are no friends, no time for letting down your guard. It’s always there, and there’s always someone else who needs your help, so you can’t stop. You can’t sleep. You can’t find somewhere to rest your head or someone’s shoulder to rest it on. You’re alone and you’re always on the move. That’s what being a hero is.” |
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Written by: Danielle Alexandra |
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