Deeper friendship

Y

yhwhluver

Guest
I have seen many of the episodes many times and am currently watching through them again on DVD with my wife. She had never seen them so this is her first time. I picked up season 3 yesterday and we watched The Leap Home parts 1 & 2. My wife pointed out something I didn't quite catch before. In The Leap Home Part 2, Al led Sam back to Tom to kill the vietnamese (Tia Carrere). By doing this, Sam wasn't able to save Al (as a POW). What I didn't quite catch before was Al gave up his only chance (at the time) to be back with Beth. My wife actually wished Sam saved Al instead, but Al knew better. I wanted to tell my wife it didn't matter because Sam winds up telling Beth Al's alive so he would have a home to come home to, but alas, I did not. But of course, I just checked that this leap was April 7 & 8, 1970 and Beth remarried in June 1969, so that just kinda shoots it down. It is pretty neat that Sam and Al have sacrificed so much for each other.
 
That's one of the many great things about this series: there's more to the story if you read between the lines. Watching these episodes 10 years ago when I was much younger, I would have never noticed these background character arcs. I had never noticed the slight set up for "M.I.A." in "Sea Bride" where there's a reference to Al's past and Beth. It's great that Don Bellisario added depth to Sam's & Al's friendship and did it in such a way that you can follow it if you're looking for it.
 
And don't forget that Al added an extra two years to his "sentence" as a POW by saving Tom....in M.I.A. he came home in 1973, but when Sam realized Al was the POW in the picture, Al says, "I get repatriated in 5 years anyway." This is in 1970. Gives me goosebumps EVERY TIME!

Truly, "greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend."

And, of course, when Sam goes back at the end of Mirror Image to fix things for Al with Beth.... Oh my. :) :cry

I agree, DPB dropped so many small hints here and there about Sam and Al and their histories and friendships. So powerful and yet so subtle!
 
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My girlfriend had the same response as an earlier poster, "if he saved Al, couldn't he have fixed the entire MIA thing anyway?" But alas, it was 1970 and Beth married in 69.

I hadn't watched these three (MIA/LH/LH2) in order before, but having now, I think it may be one of the best three-episode story arc I've seen... despite the fact most don't see it as such...

For example:

MIA - Al tries to change own history, loses some trust of Sam.
LH - Sam tries to change own history, Al chews him out (and am I the only one who thought, especially after MIA, Sam was being really hypocritical about the whole leap?)
LH2 - Al "reedems" self (from MIA) by putting Sam over self. I think this really is what sets in motion the Mirror Image ending, at the end of the episode, Sam realizes that he probably should have helped Al, because Al would do ANYTHING to help him.

I dunno, just my thoughts.

- Wow
 
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Then, when you factor The Leap Back when they switch places, and the fact that Sam changed his own history to get Donna back after Star-Crossed....and that Al *knew* this during the whole M.I.A.-Leap Home saga.....

To say, no, you're not the only one....Sam even responds when Al points out that it's no different from the situation with Beth that it is. Al says, "why because it's you instead of me?" and Sam says, "yes!"

Notice, too, to Al's credit, all he ever tells Sam in response to the whole thing is that he thinks "it's damn fair" because he'd "give anything to be with [his] father and sister again, tell them how much [he loves] them..." He also refuses to let Sam feel guilty about the POW thing by saying "I was free. Up here I was always free."

:cry

Okay....and people wonder why I'm an Al-coholic? <g>
 
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as a new fan, I love seeing all the little references. I spoil the big surprises for myself, but then I get to see all the great hints leading up to it! One of my favorites is in the Americanization of Machiko, where Al makes the GREAT face after telling Sam he's not married. (I had to replay that little 'close call' face at least a dozon times!)

I've only gotten up to Boogiem*n in the 3rd season (darn school rules against DVD's!) but I LOVED the combination of MIA, LHI, and LHII. It made me feel for Al even more. It really shows the effort he puts in a friendship he believes in. Seeing Al pray in Leap of Faith is also another great moment....

I think this might be the beginning of the Al-Coholic symptoms....but I don't mind ;)
 
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In The Leap Home 2, Sam never knew Al was there until he saw the picture. So, Sam wasn't being selfish for going after Tom, but Al being selfless by leading Sam to Tom. I had always figured that Al was a POW for five years, two before MIA and three after (or three before TLH2, and two after). But maybe I'm just really screwed up because I guess he went MIA in 67, then was released in 73, which is 6 years. Man the intricacies. The point is, Sam was being hypocritical, but I think he realized his mistake when he saw the picture of Al. I can see how they would both get selfish to be able to change their own history, but it was wrong of them.
 
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Oh absolutely, there is no culpability on Sam at all for the events in LH:Vietnam. That was all Al's choice, and thus Al's sacrifice for a friend and to save a life (more than one, as the rest of the platoon would have been ambushed as well, not just Tom).

No, Sam's hypocritical attitude as I see it was in part 1. Although, he doesn't really remember Beth in this leap, so it's not a case of Sam really being cruel.

In the original history, Al was MIA/POW in 1967 through 1973, six years. In the post-LeapHome:Vietnam history, Al was MIA/POW 1967 through 1975, or eight years.
 
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I wonder if these extra two years were a mistake in the script or meant to be. If Al did sentence himself to two more years, do you think he'd be able to remember both histories like he does on any other leap? He didn't appear to on this one.
 
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How do we know he didn't appear to? All he said was "up here, I was always free."

What I know of Al, even if he did, he would never let on to Sam. He wouldn't want Sam to carry that guilt.

edited to add: Besides, at the time, he may not have been aware that he was adding two years to his sentence. You have to wonder what the addition of the photograph did to the timeline. The VC may have moved him yet again, which is what made it '75 instead of '73.

You know, that's not the first time I've heard the "script mistake" rationale for Al's sacrifice. Why is it that some don't want Al to have made such a sacrifice? Just curious, not flaming.
 
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I agree that Al wouldn't have told Sam even if he did remember both histories. And there is no way that he could have known that he'd add another two years to his time as a P.O.W. I think he did make the sacrifice, but in Al's mind, he thought he was passing up the opportunity to be rescued sooner.

In regards to wondering if it was a script error, I was just simply wondering because there is a chronology mistake on every season premier. (Leap-out on Season 1, date discrepancies, year discrepancies, etc.) Nothing to do with Al.
 
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I agree hun... the extra added time was no accident. This was a decision that Al made...

you can see the longing in Al's eyes a bit. He's sad, but also, knows his sacrifice was for the right thing. You could see it, when Sam asked where Tom was... the decision that Al made then. He KNEW he was going to be rescued.

Upon seeing the picture, Sam chokes back, crying when he says "But you could have been free!"

We have to remember, in the original history, Maggie Dawson never died.

Al was also going by the intel of his own memory as well as the archives knowing some POWs were going to be in this one area being marched to their new camp.
 
And remember he leaped into Al feeling like an *** in Leap back; he also forced himself not to forget Al when he was in Leap for Lisa; reminds me so much of my relationship with my best friend, my Al