102 Star-Crossed

Star-Crossed

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Al's Place Bartender - Brian Greene
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Jul 10, 2002
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Star-Crossed
June 15, 1972

Lawrence College, Marion, Ohio


Sam leaps into Dr. Gerald Bryant, an English teacher who is having a fling with a student named Jamie.

Sam meets the woman who stood him up at the altar?Donna Elesee, but she has not yet met him in the future. Al tells Sam he is there to keep Dr. Bryant and Jamie Lee apart, but Sam thinks he is there to get another chance with Donna. He believes that if he can get Donna back together with her father, that she may marry Sam after all. But Al warns that she might marry the first guy she was engaged to instead, if he pulls it off.

While conflicting with Oscar, the boy wrestler who is in love with Jamie Lee...Sam, Donna, Oscar, and Jamie Lee all head to Washington to reunite Donna and her father at the Watergate hotel.


Written by: Deborah Pratt
Directed by: Mark Sobel


Rate and comment on this episode!
 
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I enjoyed the show for setting up the future... Donna.

However they changed so much in later shows (Donna for one, Al being dragged away and the people doing that not being visible, the way that Dr. Beeks was in "Shock Theater")

I also couldn't get over the whiny, overly dramatic, lovesick bimbo and her stereotypical b/f that thought with his fists... and the direct rip-off of "Cyrano de Bergerac" of telling the guy what to do to impress the girl...

And the professor himself... what a turd! LOL!

Matt
 
It was a great episode. It introduces Donna and you don't know if she marries Sam or not. Al knew the risks with giving Sam the information to find Donna's father, but he gives it to him anyway.
 
This episode offered us insight into Sam's past, something that I've always liked. And we begin to get a better look at just how close Sam and Al are; Al defies the rules to help Sam, even though the Project is under observation.

I don't see why the teacher Sam Leaped into was the object of so much female attention, though... I certainly wouldn't be lusting after a teacher like him.

This episode also kind of creeps me out in a way, too. The girl throwing herself at Sam is named Jamie Lee, and she's attending Lawrence College. Well, my name is Jamie Lee, and I'm from a town called Lawrence. Cue Twilight Zone music.
 
LadyKayoss said:
This episode offered us insight into Sam's past, something that I've always liked. And we begin to get a better look at just how close Sam and Al are; Al defies the rules to help Sam, even though the Project is under observation.

I don't see why the teacher Sam Leaped into was the object of so much female attention, though... I certainly wouldn't be lusting after a teacher like him.

This episode also kind of creeps me out in a way, too. The girl throwing herself at Sam is named Jamie Lee, and she's attending Lawrence College. Well, my name is Jamie Lee, and I'm from a town called Lawrence. Cue Twilight Zone music.
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i agree, my best friend and i like to joke about how Sam sees his host first on his drivers license and then later looks in the mirror and his eyes widen as if to say "Hey, i'm ugly, what happened to the guy on my drivers license" lol.

i also really liked Sam making Donna look in his eyes, every time it makes me wanna say "Sam you dork, shes not gonna know who you are even if she did see you, you leaped in twelve years too early like Al said!" lol. poor Sam.
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
i agree, my best friend and i like to joke about how Sam sees his host first on his drivers license and then later looks in the mirror and his eyes widen as if to say "Hey, i'm ugly, what happened to the guy on my drivers license" lol.

i also really liked Sam making Donna look in his eyes, every time it makes me wanna say "Sam you dork, shes not gonna know who you are even if she did see you, you leaped in twelve years too early like Al said!" lol. poor Sam.
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Yeah, I just love the line "You've got to be kinding!" :D
 
Good thing we could see Sam instead of the Prof. I wouldn't have gotten in a car to go anywhere with that guy...even with chaperones.
Teri Hatcher was perfect. Love Sam's scat & dance down the stairwell at the Watergate. Nose kisses!!!

But, I find it hard to believe that any woman would stand Sam up at their wedding. Marry him and deal with your issues later!!!!! Actually I find the moment when Sam remembers heart wrenching.

Cute the way they work in the Kiss with History.
 
Teri Hatcher was great - the one and only Donna Eleese.
Well written episode and It's always a pleasure to see personal episodes of Sam and Al. those "personal episodes" in the series are my fav...
Most entertaining scene in the episode - Al being dragged away after telling sam where to find Donna's father.
 
The Best Part: I loved the kiss with history here... watergate! It only took Sam 1 episode to involve himself with world history, and I thought it was awesooooome!
The Funniest Part: When Oscar punches him upon answering the door. This dumb lug was in love and couldn't find another way to show but crudeness and violence... gotta love it!
The Worst Part: At first I wanted to say all the special effects that changed eventually (thank God), but thinking about it more I think I don't like them using Terry Hatcher since they did not bring her back leading to disappointed high expectations when they brought in the new Donna. Love Terry, but wish they would never have teased us (or Sam!)

Not my favorite episode, but it was good.
 
Ok So I see I mentioned the thing about the Host that makes me and Kristen laugh so moving on. I love Sam's passion for his Donna and how he so desperately wants a second chance with her. One of my favorite lines is when Sam is sitting in the Rathskeller giving his order to Donna and he thinks
"I wanted to tell her who I was, that I was her Sam, the man she was going to love twelve years from now, and that I was doing what we dreamed of, traveling in time."

I think its so adorable how he calls himself 'her Sam' because he shows how much he charishes her and wants to be with her.

Another of my favorite lines is
"She knew, she knew how I liked my burger! Shove that up your gate curcits Ziggy!"
and then later he tells Al that she knew it was him because she knew how he liked his burger. And my last fav line is:
"And don't give me that Sick puppy look....Stop, I'll never scratch you behind the ears now stop it!"
Sam is just so adorable in this episode. And his determination to lead Donna into not being afraid to marry him is sooo sweet. If it had been twelve years later so that she knew who the heck Sam Beckett was, I would have to say that something in her did detect his presence.

One thing that confused me and watching the ep just now I was reminded of it was when they denied Donna entrance to the building to see the Colonel because she could not prove she was his daughter. I mean yes they can't just take her word for it but despite that he has a Do Not Destrub on his line, this is kind of a weird situation so he could have rung through anyway and said
"Hey Colonel there is a Donna Elisee out here who says she's your daughter, can you confirm this?"
and then he answers yes and bingo, there is your proof buddy. Although they wanted to put in the Kiss with history about the watergate so I guess for that purpose they had to do it the way they did. But still every time I see this episode I can't help but think about it.

I really love this episode and Teri Hatcher's performace as Donna was wonderful. I think this episode proves just how much Sam and Donna belong together. :) :dreaming
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
One thing that confused me and watching the ep just now I was reminded of it was when they denied Donna entrance to the building to see the Colonel because she could not prove she was his daughter. I mean yes they can't just take her word for it but despite that he has a Do Not Destrub on his line, this is kind of a weird situation so he could have rung through anyway and said
"Hey Colonel there is a Donna Elisee out here who says she's your daughter, can you confirm this?"
and then he answers yes and bingo, there is your proof buddy.
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If I'm not mistaken, the security desk is manned by military personnel...military personnel below the rank of Colonel. Calling up to him when he has a "DND" on his line would probably be akin to disobeying an order from a superior...you just don't do that without a really, really good reason...and even then your butt might end up in a sling for doing so.
 
Character names

In another thread somewhere (sorry, its late and I can't be bothered to track it down) there is a discussion as to how Don Belisario liked to use certain names, such as Tom and Lisa.

I got VisionQuest - Deborah Pratt's novel - this week, and it made me think about how people are influenced to name their characters (I know I do it all the time!)
In the dedications at the start of the book, Deborah mentions a Geraldine Bryant Pratt - remind you of anyone in this episode?

Of course, it could have been that he was named for Dr Bryant, the drunken professor in Educating Rita [played by Michael Caine - 1983]
 
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Now that the convention is over (and what a blast it was!), I spent the past couple of hours re-watching "Genesis" and "Star-Crossed". Not really going to go into too many details about the pros and cons of the episode, but I did want to mention a blooper:

When Sam looks at the college ID for Bryant, it lists his address as 12 Beodry Lane (Marion, OH). Later on when Sam is sending Jamie-Lee off (only to return "when the moon crests over the towers of Camelot"), the number on the house is 314.

... Mike.
 
MikeKraken said:
Now that the convention is over (and what a blast it was!), I spent the past couple of hours re-watching "Genesis" and "Star-Crossed". Not really going to go into too many details about the pros and cons of the episode, but I did want to mention a blooper:

When Sam looks at the college ID for Bryant, it lists his address as 12 Beodry Lane (Marion, OH). Later on when Sam is sending Jamie-Lee off (only to return "when the moon crests over the towers of Camelot"), the number on the house is 314.

... Mike.
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My, what sharp eyes you have!
In true DB PCR tradition, my rationalisation would be that 314 is the number on his rooms 'on campus', whereas 12 Beodry Lane is his 'home' address, where he spends the holidays. Will that do?
 
I found this one to be pretty "meh." It had its moments, but overall...not real high on my favorites list.

Honestly, I have nothing against Teri Hatcher, but I found her pretty unconvincing as a brilliant physics student. She usually plays the airhead, and her pouty tone of voice just didn't work here.

Poor Sam though...being right in front of the future love of his life who left him in the past (wait...what did I just say?) and not being able to do anything about it. But he certainly tries...and I like the little glimpse to the future that we get here.

I love that Al risked his career by helping Sam. He knew it was against the rules, but did it anyway. It shows how strong of a friendship they do have, even if Sam doesn't remember.

So Sam has six doctorates, eh? I adore a man with brains. GUH. These glimpses of Sam's life that we get in the first few episodes are what I found intriguing about his character. It's an interesting take on a character to have a genius scientist be a regular guy who grew up on a farm. They don't try to make him too much of a genius, you know? I like that.

There are some good funny moments in this episode. I love how Jamie Lee keeps popping up out of nowhere and attacking him with crazy poetry. And Al's comments on the contents of the cupboard!

I also enjoy Scientist Sam's disdain for English lit. As a former science major myself, I have to agree with him. The way he describes a science building and lab is so perfect, right down to the smell of bunsen burners. I always felt so at home in the science building in college. I always felt like an outsider in the humanities departments.
 
Siggy said:
I also enjoy Scientist Sam's disdain for English lit. As a former science major myself, I have to agree with him. The way he describes a science building and lab is so perfect, right down to the smell of bunsen burners. I always felt so at home in the science building in college. I always felt like an outsider in the humanities departments.
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I can empathize with Sam, but I am the absolute antithesis!
I'm an English Lit major, and a science building with the smell of bunsen burners is torture to me. I should know, I work in one, and I'm in the process of trying to get moved to an office in a different block, because the chemicals from the experiments and gas from the bunsens are severely aggravating my asthma.
 
This is the prelude to the Leap Back! It was in that episode that showed that Sam was single when he first leaped! Then we see him married to Donna in the Season 4 opener, we know this leap was successful!

So techincally Sam did not really cheat on Donna in his leaps as he was single when he really started!
 
A very funny and light-hearted episode. I thought the Watergate connection was very over-the-top funny. Not too crazy about all the "oh, how romantic this/that" reactions here and there, but some of them added to the funnyness of the play, and the point was gotten across. A classic, but still not one of my favorites.

My rating: Average.
 
TheLeaper said:
I find it hard to believe Sam never thinks to ask Al what happens to Donna.
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Almost everything in this episode is hard to swallow. But the reason that Sam doesn't need to ask Al at the end of the episode is because he 'just knew'.
 
TheLeaper said:
I find it hard to believe Sam never thinks to ask Al what happens to Donna.
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blue enigma said:
Almost everything in this episode is hard to swallow. But the reason that Sam doesn't need to ask Al at the end of the episode is because he 'just knew'.
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Didn't Sam leap out very quickly in this episode? Pretty much he leaves Donna with her father, speaks to Al (who tells him the Watergate is happening now), and at the same time the students in the car profess their love, and Sam leaps. I don't think Sam really had time to ask what happened to Donna...

Although, you are right, he can probably sense that she's going to be ok. Maybe he subconsciously sensed that his own history was changing - although he continued to be ignorant of their marriage.
 
Lightning McQueenie said:
Didn't Sam leap out very quickly in this episode? Pretty much he leaves Donna with her father, speaks to Al (who tells him the Watergate is happening now), and at the same time the students in the car profess their love, and Sam leaps. I don't think Sam really had time to ask what happened to Donna...

Although, you are right, he can probably sense that she's going to be ok. Maybe he subconsciously sensed that his own history was changing - although he continued to be ignorant of their marriage.
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In the stairwell, when Sam had just left Donna with her father and was dancing happily as he went down the stairs, Al said something along the lines of "now that you fixed things with her father she may marry the first guy she was engaged to". Sam said no, Al asked him how he knew and Sam said something like he knows or G/T/F/W is on his side, something like that (he looked/gestured skyward when he said it). Of course Al could've just consulted the hand link on his own -- he already did it in two earlier leaps without Sam asking. At any rate the entire discussion was centered on whether or not Sam got his way and Donna would now marry him. Through the whole episode neither of them really gave a damn whether Donna was 'okay' or not for her own sake regardless of what Sam might or might not get out of it personally.
 
blue enigma said:
. Through the whole episode neither of them really gave a damn whether Donna was 'okay' or not for her own sake regardless of what Sam might or might not get out of it personally.
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Now that you mention it, did we get any indication of how Donna's life turned out in the original history? Or was it just simply a case of "she left me at the altar, how do I prevent that?" Who is to say she wasn't happy living somewhere with a job she loves? He knew in the previous episode there was a possibility he would be bouncing around in time for the rest of his life. And he changes history to "She's cured of her abandonment issues!! I can abandon her for the rest of my life now!"
 
TheLeaper said:
Now that you mention it, did we get any indication of how Donna's life turned out in the original history? Or was it just simply a case of "she left me at the altar, how do I prevent that?"
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This is the exact point I've made elsewhere. It was just "she left me at the altar, how do I prevent that?" We have no idea what her life was like in the original history and Sam never bothers to ask. It was really all about him.

TheLeaper said:
Who is to say she wasn't happy living somewhere with a job she loves? He knew in the previous episode there was a possibility he would be bouncing around in time for the rest of his life. And he changes history to "She's cured of her abandonment issues!! I can abandon her for the rest of my life now!"
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Exactly. :)
 
Just watching the episode now. Obvious problem of playing episodes out of production order. Al claims they'll get Sam to leap out pretty quick this time. Considering his previous baseball leap was mere minutes, how can this leap be considered quick?
 
I haven't posted here for a while, I've been occupied. You make some valid points Blue Enigma, and you too Leaper. The idea is to make things right, but it's questionable in this case who is the one benefitting. Is Sam really helping Donna or is he simply not wanting to be left? Sam wasn't perfect or anything; he could be selfish (and we all have at least that capacity even if we don't act on it). I like Teri Hatcher, and I like that this is about Sam's past.
 
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Did anyone wonder what happened to Colonel Wojohowitz after he was shipped out? I thought he must have died, as in the original history, Donna was never later able to get over her daddy issues. Michael Gregory, who played Colonel Wojohowitz, seemed to believe the same thing, as he told us in his interview for the Quantum Leap Podcast. I was pleased to see that this was also mentioned in "Pulitzer" - one of the best novels I've read by the way.

As for the Star-Crossed episode itself, I did really enjoy it, and I have to disagree with many who have posted earlier. Sam would not have acted as he had if he didn't believe that Donna would end up better off from his actions - he must have subconsciously known that Donna getting over her issues would be the best way to ensure she gets some happiness later in life - even though he, you know, ended up doing exactly the same thing to her later on...
 
Just rewatched this episode, and even after several years, it's still just 'meh' to me. The professor/student dynamic creeps me out, and the whole story (yes, including the Donna angle) just didn't interest me at all. And I found it rather unbelievable that in the scene where Al was trying to convey info to Sam in front of observers who were inside the imaging chamber, it took them that long to realize that that was what he was doing. I vote "Average" for this episode.
 
I just watched this episode again, and a couple of thoughts crossed my mind...

First, I think it actually IS implied in this episode that Donna ended up marrying Sam. Almost immediately after Donna and her father reconcile, Al says that Ziggy is spitting microchips, having "never seen it coming". Al manages to pass this off as Sam causing the Watergate scandal, but in future episodes, Ziggy never has a problem with stating the changes to history. I think that Ziggy's meltodown must have been due to the fact that the change in timeline actually did affect the project this time.

Second, while this is a long shot and probably impossible, would you think it possible that Dr Bryant was actually the first person that Donna was supposed to marry? That would have been a funny twist :p
 
A great episode. The first to be written by Deborah Pratt. The only problem I have with it is I don’t think it feels like it should be the second episode. I don’t know where in the order this was filmed, but it feels like it should be somewhere towards the end of season 1 (maybe because the pressure at the project seems to have come about too quickly). Even so, this is a solid episode.

This is the first time that Sam has a chance to change his own life and personal history. I love Teri Hatcher in this episode. She’ll always be the best Donna in my eyes. The whole subplot with Jamie Lee and Oscar is very funny, as is the first brush with history regarding the Watergate break in. Best scene of the episode has to be Al with the hieroglyphics, desperately trying to send messages to Sam. It’s the first time we see a glimpse of that unbreakable bond between Sam and Al.

My rating. Good. A fun and touching episode.
 
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