I don't know what was going on here, but this episode is definitely creepy and is supposedly cursed. Maybe it is tempting fate to feature a supposed Evil One in a story? Ick. What were they thinking? This is all coming from someone who's not even superstitious!
In 'The Boogieman', Sam leaps into a horror writer on Halloween, around whom really creepy things are happening and people are beginning to die. Finally, with spoilers about to pop, it is revealed that the oddly acting Al is really someone far more diabolical, who has been stopping the real Al from zeroing in on Sam's time and place. Yes, after much spookiness and a snake (yikes!) incident, it all gets really weird, before being half-retconned into a vision while Sam is unconscious after an accident. Or was it a vision? Was it really El Diablo, foreshadowing the Evil Leaper incidents in the fifth season? The jury is out, but the implications are clear.
'The Boogieman' is a middling episode, but it does happily end the terribly bad opening run to to the third season of 'Quantum Leap', which has only had rare moments of the series at its best. This episode was just too strange to be enjoyable, though, and forms yet another example of the Dean Stockwell paradox: Why is this actor, who is excellent in this series, so out of place in practically any other role as an adult actor? I take that back a little; he was pretty good in a 'Columbo' in the 1970s, in the episode on the cruise ship. Otherwise, he seems to be permanently miscast as the villain or creep on every occasion. Here, he gets to play the biggest creep at all, but ends up tilting his head and looking like a robot instead. Sigh. With a red light shining in the eyes.
Yes, this episode is supposed to be cursed, to have a higher incidence of broadcast error and video recording defects than any other episode. My 'Quantum Leap' experiences have mostly involved never watching this one, if it could be helped, so it's not clear if it's cursed or not. It certainly is an episode that sits strangely in the series as a whole, not fitting into any of the previous types or following types of show. It's just... strange. On the other hand, Valerie Mahaffey was great, one of my favourite lesser-seen actresses. She must have worked the stage a lot instead of television.
Ultimately, 'The Boogieman' is okay as a novelty or a curiosity, but doesn't quite work. Roll on, the next episode! Season three is finally about to start properly.
O.
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