Does Sam Beckett stink??

[ED-209]

So on Quantum Leap Sams body is the waiting room, other people "souls" leap in there while he is in their body, the show ran for 5 years and he apparently kept leaping for many years, I'm guessing no one bothered to shower him while they were in his body so....Does Sam Beckett stink?? Or do other people come in and wash him between leaps?

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

So on Quantum Leap Sams body is the imaging chamber, other people "souls" leap in there while he is in their body, the show ran for 5 years and he apparently kept leaping for many years, I'm guessing no one bothered to shower him while they were in his body so....Does Sam Beckett stink?? Or do other people come in and wash him between leaps?

No, it’s not.
The show established that he is physically jumping into other people’s place, while they physically leap into his place.
He has some sort of quantum aura making him appear as those people.
He can see when he “is” a blind person, walk when he’s a double amputee, talk when he’s a chimp, not give birth when he is pregnant. Ample evidence.

 

[ED-209]

So you're saying he doesn't stink? To me his body (his tangible body) stays in the imaging chamber, so unless someone is taking care of his hygiene he'll well and truly honk.

 

[FPAlpha]

Al is such a good friend - he probably took care of any possible negative side effects

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I’ve seen him taking showers on the show.
I’ve also seen the people he swapped with up and about in his original time.
There is no body in a chamber vegetating and uncared for.
Pretty sure no one stinks.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

"Oh boy..."

 

[Tosk]

Or do other people come in and wash him between leaps?

Yes. And they give him haircuts from time to time too.

 

[Saul]

So you're saying he doesn't stink? To me his body (his tangible body) stays in the imaging chamber, so unless someone is taking care of his hygiene he'll well and truly honk.

If he can time travel i'm sure they've sorted that problem too. Whatever he is wearing keeps him clean etc He did come back to his own body at least once though so I'm sure he had a nice long bath then. He probably gets hosed down other times.

 

[diankra]

No, it’s not.
The show established that he is physically jumping into other people’s place, while they physically leap into his place.
He has some sort of quantum aura making him appear as those people.
He can see when he “is” a blind person, walk when he’s a double amputee, talk when he’s a chimp, not give birth when he is pregnant. Ample evidence.

It changes. In the early episodes his mind is in their bodies, their minds in his body back at Project QL. Later it's a physical swap.
Either way I imagine the person in the waiting room can eat, wash, and you-know. Five years without food and water would be a far bigger problem than body odours...

 

[ED-209]

Yeah, but it’s more believable people in the waiting room will take time to eat and drink than shower.

 

[Skipper]

He physically travels with own body, and I suppose that he takes regular showers.

 

[Ethros]

That's what annoys me about the show; they change the rules all the time. And I know in those days it probably wasn't a big deal and it's "just a TV show, who cares", but still..

Somtimes Al looks at him and he sees Scott Bakula, other times, like when he was a woman and in the bath, Al's like leering at him.
And I though the 'his body is leaping through time' is usually what they go by, it doesn't really make any sense. How do other people see him as the original, hear the old persons voice etc. But their eyelines are always looking at Scott Bakula's, even though the height of the person he's in should always change.
It would have made a lot more sense if it were just his mind leaping. Then it explains why he looks in the mirror and sees the original, as it's only Scott Bakula for our benefit (otherwise you'd need a different main actor every week.) And then why the people in the waiting room look in the mirror and see him, because they're in his body. Again, played by the orignal person to make it easier for audiuence.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I assume if the show would have been remade today, with a strict science advisory, they probably would go with that.
The basic science explanation should probably be quantum entanglement across space time.
Then even the title still makes sense.
In real world physics not so much, but good enough to stay grounded in real concepts.

 

[Tosk]

That's what annoys me about the show; they change the rules all the time. And I know in those days it probably wasn't a big deal and it's "just a TV show, who cares", but still..

I chalk it up to Sam making changes. Eventually one of those little ripples affects how things work at the Project.

 

[Ithekro]

I assume that to be the case, since there was at least one incident were he was basically all Sam for a night, and imparted his own genetic materials so that his daughter from a woman he slept with in the past would be working on the Project in his present (without knowing Sam was her father until maybe after the incident happens in Sam's timeline relative to Al's/Audiences)

 

[ToddKent]

How do other people see him as the original, hear the old persons voice etc. But their eyelines are always looking at Scott Bakula's, even though the height of the person he's in should always change.

It's the same technology that the universal translator in Star Trek uses to make it look like the alien characters' lips are moving correctly to produce the translated English it appears they are speaking.