207 Thou Shalt Not...

I didn't like the seduction stuff at ALL, but I did like the family that was tearing itself apart over the death of their boy... very powerful. But the lecherous writer really makes the show HARD to watch. Not because he's being so bad, but because he's not believeable as an actor. I couldn't imagine any woman wanting to be with this guy!

I thought this was good. I liked how it was similar to "The Americanization of Machiko" with how bitter the leapee's brother was because of the loss of a family member(in this case) son.

~RayBeckett AKA RossBeckett
Global User

Great episode. It was emotional with the family being torn apart over their loss.

mstalanon said:

I didn't like the seduction stuff at ALL, but I did like the family that was tearing itself apart over the death of their boy... very powerful. But the lecherous writer really makes the show HARD to watch. Not because he's being so bad, but because he's not believeable as an actor. I couldn't imagine any woman wanting to be with this guy!

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i agree i hated Burt, he was as Al put it
"a real Slimeball!"

but other than that i loved it, and how Sam was so sweet with the mother, how he held her when she was upset with herself over Danny's death.

I liked this episode,but i had some problems,with it but i just can't decide what it were exactly. Maybe it was the casting for the role of Burt(the rest was O.k). maybe it was the story itself. it was interesting, entertaining and emotional, But it wasn't something ammm...unforgetable.we've seen it quite a lot in QL the only difference was the jewish angle,i guess. and maybe it was something else.
A good episode but not more...

This was the first QL episode that actually made me cry. I am still riveted each time I see the scene in the bedroom, where Irene asks, anguished, "Did [Danny] love me as his plane was crashing?" OMG, it gets me every time. The actress who played the daughter was amazing also; her crushed expression every time her father treated her like she was invisible was so painful to watch. This episode is one that moves me, although it leaves other people kind of "meh."

Yeah I cried too when I first saw it, but its such a great episode because the entire cast of the Basch family was wonderful especially the father. Because he was messed up the most and could hardly talk about it and was always serious and then at thend end when he lets everything out he does such an amazing job.

Two things I really liked about this episode:

1. You see Sam feeling a real attraction to a woman who's not a gorgeous babe. Most of the time on TV, only very beautiful women are presented as attractive and worth a man's attention. This woman doesn't fit that mold but Sam is really drawn to her.

2. A highlight of the season is Al dancing the hora. I just love it. For once he's not doing it for comedy, but for real, and the boy can dance.

Lol I loved the hora poor Sam was stumbling at first.
"I hope you don't leap in at the Rockette."
lol.

I thought Irene was pretty but I understand your point completely and you are right she doesn't fit that steriotype.

Snish said:

Two things I really liked about this episode:

1. You see Sam feeling a real attraction to a woman who's not a gorgeous babe. Most of the time on TV, only very beautiful women are presented as attractive and worth a man's attention. This woman doesn't fit that mold but Sam is really drawn to her.

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Are You talking about The actress that played Irene Basch?!

isz said:

Are You talking about The actress that played Irene Basch?!

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I'm not saying she's ugly by any means. But she doesn't look like the young, gorgeous model type. She looks like she could be the mom of a teenager, and moms aren't usually presented as sexy or attractive. Most of Sam's love interests are younger and more stylish and beautiful.

She doesn't looks like a model and she's not very young ,but...in my opinion she's a very good looking woman. prettier then the actress that played Sam's love of his life - Donna Elesee in "The leap back"...

I thought Mimi Kuzyk was kind of pretty but I agree that terri Hatcher is better. And Irene is the perfect model for the grieving mother kind of role. She did a very good job the way she sobbed to Sam in both the bedroom and cabin scene.

Snish said:

2. A highlight of the season is Al dancing the hora. I just love it. For once he's not doing it for comedy, but for real, and the boy can dance.

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Once again, I have to concur with you on this. I've tried dancing the hora, and Dean makes it look easy. (It isn't. At least not for me.)

I just watched this again last night. In the scene when Al and Sam are in the bedroom. They were taking about family and Al says something like "I never knew how important family was until (sounds like he says Hoki) left. Is that his Mother's name?
Bonnie

leaper1 said:

I'm pretty sure he says "Ruthie". Ruthie was his third wife - the Jewish one, hence it is appropriate that he thinks of her now in this leap.

Shameless plug... I actually took this line and turned it into the subplot of one of my stories {High Hopes at www.fanfiction.net plus the stories that follow it} in which I take this line to indicate that one of the reasons for this particular failed marriage is that Ruthie wanted kids and Al didn't. She couldn't have them, and couldn't accept that Al, rather than being disappointed was almost relieved by the fact. No disrepect to Al before the Al-coholics berate me. He was younger then.

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Ruthie! I could not remember her name!

I think your idea is entirely reasonable. Beth said very plainly that Al didn't want children so I expect he could feel a bit of relief if Ruthie was unable to have them--that way, being childless isn't his fault.

I also think it's reasonable that Al wouldn't want children (at least not until he sings little Teresa to sleep). With his disastrous family background, fatherhood could be a terrifying prospect. Plus, being in the military and working on time-intensive projects like QL, when does he ever spend time with kids?

So, no need for the asbestos jammies as far as I'm concerned.

You're right leaper1. I went and watched it again with the captioning on. He did say Ruthie.

I just watched this episode again after a long time and was so touched by this family.It broke my heart that Joe felt so along in his grief for his son.
Also I felt so heartbroken for his daughter Karen cause she was a loving and caring young girl who needed her Dad but he was still in such pain.
I felt for Irene and I understood why Sam reached out so lovingly to her not just as her Rabbi but as family and a human being. When they almost kissed I thought to myself even though it would of have been wrong cause Irene is married I wanted them to cause she would of felt affection and love from someone.
The season that stands out for me is where at the Batizmah Irene is standing there and had wanted to dance with Joe but he said no.
The look in her eyes was so tragic.
Adding a personal note I was glad to see a Jewish family protraited so tenderly and Jewish traditons shown so movingly especially the one at the cememtary. What a refreshing thing to see.:angel

marie1439 said:

You're right leaper1. I went and watched it again with the captioning on. He did say Ruthie.

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mstalanon said:

I didn't like the seduction stuff at ALL, but I did like the family that was tearing itself apart over the death of their boy... very powerful. But the lecherous writer really makes the show HARD to watch. Not because he's being so bad, but because he's not believeable as an actor. I couldn't imagine any woman wanting to be with this guy!

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I'm seconding you all the way. The seduction storyline could have been much better, I also didn't believe it working as it was. And the rest was really good.

First post, so hi everybody!

I really rate this episode because it shows the strength of the QL format. As the outsider looking from within through Sam we're able to experience the sheer heart-rending grief that a young death can cause in a family. I really struggle to think of any other primetime entertainment serial that touches QL for that sort of intimate portrayal of a very human and often misunderstood pain, and how the family bond can get us through the hardest of times. So seldom is this stuff genuinely tackled it's verges on the taboo, and yet QL went there.
Sure, Bob's character is a wee bit formulaic, but every other strength of the episode makes up for that. Superb acting throughout, and tender writing that kept everything believable.
It really is brilliant stuff.

Very dramatic and intense episode. Very serious on its tone, even when there were perhaps a couple of funny moments. It really makes you feel what the characters are feeling. An episode that deals with a lot of human emotions, and I think that most of the actors were great at portraying them, even the one who played Burt. I didn't find him so unbelievable. His strength were the words, and when women are as vulnerable as Irene was, they can fall for whoever offers them a solution or just tells them the right words they wanna hear. They can fall even for a man who looks like him, as abject as he was. The only character that was very cartoonish was the woman who told her sad story about her infidelity with Burt to Sam, but she was really not that important.

My favorite character is the girl (Karen, I believe). My favorite scene: At the end, when they're at the cemetery. Karen's father, don't remember his name right now, is standing over their son's grave, then he looks up, goes away, and he just stands there, looking at the far end. Sam looks at Karen, then goes and approaches him and tells him: "You lost a son... don't lose your daughter, too." Then the father turns around, looks at his daughter, goes to her and hugs her and then Irene joins and they all end up hugging each other while Sam and Al look at them, saying good-bye. Man, I had the tears on my lap, I tell you!!! Tears of joy. Something very uncommon in myself. No TV show ever provoked me that.

The scene that always cracks me up everytime I see it is at the beginning when they're dancing a Jewish dance. Sam is very preoccupied about him not knowing how to dance it so Al tells him how, and then it begins. But while they're dancing there's a random old man who is supposed to be Jewish and is supposed to know the dance very well and he can't even follow the steps properly. I think it's the guy who is actually holding Sam on his left side.

My rating: Excellent. An instant QL classic.

It's come to my attention that this is one episode of which I've actually never posted a full review. So here we go now.

This is one of those ones where nearly the entire 45 minutes was raw and powerful emotion and they always nail that amazingly. There was no was exception here.

The one thing that was off putting about the death in the family was the plane crash. This is an element used quite frequently in television which falsely portrays how common plane crashes actually are. An Airplane is actually one of the safest if not THE safest mode of travel, you're at least five times more likely to die in a car crash. I believe I've heard that you even have a better chance of being struck by lightning...or is that something else?

But the way the guilt and pain came across when Irene told the story was amazing and up until season 5's Trilogy episodes this might just be the strongest and most heartfelt response Sam has ever had to anyone other than Al. It was evident from his expression that he felt her pain, after all he's known loss and he's known his own mother deal with the loss of a son (which he hadn't yet changed at this point). Which brings me to this:

Snish said:

1. You see Sam feeling a real attraction to a woman who's not a gorgeous babe. Most of the time on TV, only very beautiful women are presented as attractive and worth a man's attention. This woman doesn't fit that mold but Sam is really drawn to her.

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I'm sorry Snish but while your point is valid, I don't believe he was attracted to her. Not because she's not "a gorgeous babe" as you put it, that I'll give you. Sam certainly wouldn't care about that, it just wasn't that kind of situation. She's a married woman whom GTFW felt it was important remained faithful. Sam was drawn to her pain and guilt as I pointed out already. There was a moment there yeah but I believe he'd been caught up in the emotion.

The way the husband and wife clashed and how it effected the daughter was performed amazingly. That's where we really get that raw emotion the most is from the husband who holds the son's death against the wife and has let his grief blind him to his daughter. He's by far the most powerful character in this episode.
Even in the end scene where he finally lets loose and sobs about how he still sees his son waving to him from the baseball field that was just so raw and powerful, I'm repeating words here but I just can't come up with any better. I mentioned in an older post having cried watching this episode, amusingly I have no memory of that now but I would bet everything that it was that performance that did it.

Burt Glasserman was an interesting scumbag. He had this inspirational and therapeutic idea for this book but then twisted the intention to take advantage of women. That's a complex use of the sexual predator type of character with some layers in there and I really liked the use of the blond female character to reveal him as Irene's fated lover.
I thought it was amazing when Irene starts slapping the sh** out of him upon Sam revealing him.

The Jewish theme is something to applaud because since the story didn't need a particular religion or culture to work it was clearly a choice to be diverse. The hora dance was indeed one of the highlights of it but what stood out about it to me was not so much Al's performance rather the older gentleman to Sam's right (left from the viewer's POV) who'd started doing it backwards after Sam got the hang of it. That was very amusing and ironic. Was it planned I wonder or was the actor actually struggling?

Overall an excellent episode.

Tidbits:
* This is one of few episodes where Sam remains in the same outfit throughout the entire leap. Season 5's Dr. Ruth is another example.
* Burt Glasserman is played by Russ Tamblyn, father of actress Amber Tamblyn who is known for roles such as Joan of Arcadia and the recent film adaption of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Sam Beckett Fan said:

The one thing that was off putting about the death in the family was the plane crash. This is an element used quite frequently in television which falsely portrays how common plane crashes actually are. An Airplane is actually one of the safest if not THE safest mode of travel, you're at least five times more likely to die in a car crash. I believe I've heard that you even have a better chance of being struck by lightning...or is that something else?

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This is what I've heard too -- it's just that when you're driving the car you feel like you have more control over things. Which is not necessarily true, since you have no control over what someone else on the road will do.

But this leap takes place on February 2, 1974, 40 years ago, and the crash would've happened a year or so before that (they're due to pick out a headstone for Danny and have the unveiling, which takes place a year after the person's death). So there may be a difference in quality of technology.

This site lists plane crashes in 1973: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1973/1973.htm

Nearly 10 of those crashes happened around a year before the leap date. The episode was likely not specifically referencing any of those crashes but they might have had one of them in mind to use as a guide.

This is one of my favorites of all QL episodes. Very powerful, great acting and the girl who played Karen was so good.

Interesting blue_enigma, ten crashes around the year of the leap? Dang.
Perhaps then I have heard wrong.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review was the line of Al's when Sam thought he'd finished the leap when he swore not to be Irene's lover. (Silly Sam XD)
"Try clicking your heels together three times and saying 'theres no place like home'"
It always crosses my mind hearing it how actually correct that joking statement was or at least according to Al the Bartender.

The first time I saw Mirror Image when ATB says "You could have gone home anytime you wanted" or something to that effect the first thing that came to my mind was the line of Al's in this episode.

alsplacebartender said:

Thou Shalt Not...
February 2, 1974

Los Angeles, California


As a rabbi, Sam must prevent a Jewish family from falling apart when the wife of his brother contemplates having an affair. Her husband is a bitter man due to the loss of their son and has stopped communicating with their daughter as well. Sam has to bring them all together and save the family.


Written by: Tammy Ader
Directed by: Randy Roberts


Rate and comment on this episode!

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My favorite scenes:

(1) At the very beginning, when Sam, instead of saying "Oh boy", instead says, "Oy vey, I'm the Rabbi!" LOL!

(2) When Sam performs the Heimlich maneuver, only to learn seconds later that he just saved "Dr. Heimlich" himself from choking to death.

I liked this episode, being Jewish myself . But there's always been one thing that's bothered me about it - the timeline.

Sam leaps in on 2/2/74, which is a Saturday when Bar/Bat Mitzvahs occur. So far so good.

Is the trip to the gas station still Saturday? Then when they're having dinner is that Saturday night? I mean they just had a big feast 10 episode minutes earlier. So the bake sale on Sunday?

Then next thing you know Irene wants to go away for the weekend. Did we suddenly fast forward five days??

Overall a great episode, though the ending was a little sappy and the timeline doesn't seem to make sense.

A very emotionally powerful episode, well played by everyone involved. You could tell from the get-go that something was eating this family up. You could see it in them at the Bat Mitzvah and the reception after - even before Irene's husband (sorry, I'm horrible with names) turned down her request to dance.

We learn a little bit more about Al in this one. He can dance! And he's okay with one-night stands - as long as the participants aren't married. Or did you quickly add that bit in for Sam, Al?

I think it worked out for the best that [the husband] thought it was his brother who was having an affair with his wife, and didn't find out about Burt the Slimeball, who I'm assuming just disappeared after Sam called him out on his lies.

The final scene in the cemetery was very powerful - just as powerful as the scene in the son's room. The whole episode was well-acted by all.

This one gets an Excellent in my book.

The first minor blip of season 2. This one is very, very forgettable to me. I used to remember it as the "Jewish episode" (largely because the best scene, in my opinion, is the insanely catchy hava nagila dance scene). In fact, it only makes an Average grade because the subject matter is interesting, and in some scenes the episode as a whole is very powerful. The death of a child is something I cannot imagine. I have known loss, but I can't dream how terrible and horrific it must be to lose your child.

Unfortunately, some things drag the episode down. First of all, it's very downbeat in tone. Yes, the subject matter is serious, but the whole air of this episode is just very dark. They could have done more to keep an even mix of tone. Also, Russ Tamblyn's character feels tacked on. As though the episode needed a villainous character so they cooked him up on short notice. Also, there's one really bad scene where Sam kisses the mother. It just feels wrong under the circumstances. I know it was to establish that Sam suspects his host is the one who she's going to cheat with, but it feels wrong that Sam goes along with the kiss at first.

My rating. Average. Not a bad episode, but too downbeat and with a few problems.