To begin I am going to revise some of my opinion on the revenge ending.
The hilarity of it was probably the main reason it was written (Personally I will never tire of Buddy shrieking like a girl when Sam begins to get the idea bothering him) but I must say I see how it was below Sam and unconvincing.
First of all he took a huge risk with Samantha's life by pulling that stunt, she could have easily been thrown in an institution just as Sam's mentally unstable version of her in
Shock Theater suggested or even had just made a laughing stalk of her, throwing away all respect anyone had or would later have for her. It was a stroke of luck which still fated Samantha to be highly successful despite.
One thing that has come to bother me is how he gender stereotypes with the baseball for two reasons.
1.) Perhaps it wasn't as common in '61 but a woman can have a strong arm. Take the film
inspired by a true story 'A League of Their Own' about the first woman's professional baseball league during world war II. One of the two lead characters had skill which probably could have rivaled a man's.
(This film also featured Renee Colemen who played the evil leaper, Alia).
2.) Sam is supposed to be above such suggestions as a woman not being able to be athletic and when it comes to his belief system he will never yield to his role.
In the sexual function areas "Samantha" could easily have been lying when he contradicted his knowledge coming from a brother, Buddy doesn't know her from Eve. He had nothing but her word in this whole event. Hypothetically had he known for a fact that she did not have a brother she could have had quite a few other sources such as a different male relative or an ex boyfriend.
Onto a new note, the whole issue with Al's and even the 1961 characters' attraction to Samantha doesn't completely work for me. The hilarity of it makes it enjoyable to watch but apologies, my best friend and I both do not find her very attractive. In fact in the scene where Sam is putting on the lipstick she has very manly arms as though they'd simply stuck her head onto Scott's reflection. Her prettiest shot was actually in
Shock Theater.
I quite love the ending portrayal of Samantha as a strong independent woman though, using her character to support single mothers and the ability of a woman to be somebody without a man with her fate that though she never marries she adopts a child and conquers what at the time was considered a male career.
Yes, in later episodes it's directly stated that Al sees Sam as Sam and not the leapee any more. It's believed that it's BECAUSE of this leap that Al and Gooshie tweaked the neuron-mason-link between Sam and Al so that Al would see Sam as Sam and never have this problem again.
This was what I had assumed as well, and I could have sworn it was actually mentioned but must have been mistaken.
