Quantum Leap episode review — 4.19 — Moments to Live

Original air date: April 8, 1992
Director: Joe Napolitano
Writer: Tommy Thompson

Rating: 6/10

How this episode opens is really clever, and I sort of saw it coming after the stinger at the end of the last episode, but I still appreciate it. Sam is a surgeon working on a woman who dies, and while her husband blames him, he tries reviving her by giving her mouth to mouth, but then she starts making out with him and it’s revealed that he’s a soap opera actor who has just unwittingly ruined a scene.

He eventually meets a fan of his, played by Kathleen Wilhoite of Murphy’s Law, who kidnaps him along with her husband. They go on a road trip to take him to meet her mother, who’s as obsessed with him as her daughter is.

Sam has to figure out how to get out of this situation, and he quickly realizes that reasoning with her is impossible, so he tries to work his magic on her husband, and finds some success. He changes history, but has to change it again later on.

This episode is kind of an interesting look at a deranged fan. This is the kind of story that is easy to enjoy, but it takes some weird turns towards the end. Bakula’s performance is outstanding, but the episode overall falls flat in a few ways, keeping this from being one of the better episodes, though it’s not one of the worst. It’s also one of those episodes that seem to be becoming more common where the time travel aspect isn’t important.