Hawkins, General

QL Damsel

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Hawkins.jpg


Played by: David Ogden Steirs

Job: Former Presidential Liaison for P. Q. L.

First Appearance: VS Episode 1019, ?Guinea Pig? Current

Status: Deceased (died in VS Episode 1131, ?Give Me Death?)

When Hawkins first appeared on Q. L., he was a security guard for a government project in New Mexico in 1959. He suffered an injury in the line of duty in 1959 - a slight paralysis of his left arm and minor brain damage which affects his ability to see images in the Imaging Chamber. He was nicknamed Shockey by other cadets after the accident.*

He was convinced by Al Calavicci that Project Quantum Leap really works. The pushing to become Washington overseer of Project Quantum Leap meant that the government will have a say in Sam's missions as far as priorities are concerned. At one point, he was sent by Washington to shut down Project Quantum Leap.

General Hawkins died trying to save Project Quantum Leap.
 
Side Notes From The Character's Creator

"Throughout the entire saga of Sam's journey through time, he has encountered one nemesis after another - whether it be Zoe, Tala, Dr. Connors, or perhaps someone Sam hasn't encountered yet. Al, however, has seen action against a few enemies in his present, but never one that stayed around long enough. For that reason, I wanted someone that would give Al no rest, constant headaches, and most likely would never go away. The result was General Hawkins.

With Hawkins serving the government, more directly President Bush, it created a nemesis for Al that the Observer could not fight or defeat, and would constantly be an annoyance for our favorite Calavicci. With Hawkins now on board, it did not take long for him to learn that PQL worked and in turn our Commander-In-Chief now knew that Sam was in the past, meaning that at any time Sam's priorities from Ziggy could be discarded in favor of what the military needed Sam to do. Fortunately, the government has only stepped in a few times to dictate Sam's leaps because Dr. Beckett's leaps usually entail saving one person at a time, and not on a grand scale.

Whether or not Al ever shows any feelings towards the loss of Hawkins who risked his life to save PQL, the pompous arrogant General did his best to make the Observer's life a living hell. Time will tell if Hawkins' replacement as liason to the President will be much of an improvement.

To "cast" Hawkins in the Virtual Season, I had chosen David Ogeden Stiers, his most notable role being Charles Emerson Winchester III from the 70's/80's tv show M*A*S*H. However, it was another character that he plays so brilliantly that led me to "cast" him. At present, David Ogden Stiers can be seen on the USA Network tv show "Dead Zone" playing the role of Reverend Gene Purdy. It is that character that I modeled Hawkins after. It is a seamless blend of someone who can be bad (not evil) and then turn around and be a saint so fast that you wonder why you hated him at first. You never knew what side of the fence he was in, what his agenda was (and he always had ulterior motives). In what must be a weird moment for TV if it were ever to be filmed, I wrote an episode that briefly crossed over into the "Dead Zone", creating a scene where General Hawkins encounters psychic Johnny Smith and his "other" character Rev. Purdy is mentioned. How weird would that be to see D.O.S. playing both characters in the same scene together?"

- Greg
 
Possible name for Lieutenant Gen. Hawkins

LANE!!!!!!!!

General Lane Hawkins

Actors Lane Smith and Lane Davies(both of whom appeared coincidentally on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Layne Beamer from the QL pilot(no pun intended) Quantum Leap: Genesis. The latter had no spoken lines in the entire TV movie as USAF test pilot Capt. Thomas Stratton.