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| Have I got something in my teeth? |
Last time, Sam had made a small but powerful change within an Alabama community in the 1950s. After that powerhouse of an episode, Sam Beckett leaped once more and found himself in the life of a teenage boy during a drag race.
Camikazi Kid picks up right where we left off, as all the episodes thus far have. Sam does some opening narration, telling us that Leaping requires you to expect the unexpected. Finding himself a pimply-faced dork, Sam gives his two word response to most things that unnerve him on this show. Sam checks his driver's license and learns that he's arrived in the life of one Cam Wilson and, through no fault of his own, suddenly has the urge to get a burger and a malt... which results in him being pummeled by some bullies and their fries as well as the introduction of Cheryl, Cam's sister, who is joining the Peace Corps with her future husband Bob... who is a complete dick.
While Cheryl is excited about going to Southeast Asia, the bullies are teasing a girl named Jill by playing keep away with her purse until Sam intervenes. Cheryl goes off to comfort Jill while Sam gets stripped by the bullies and thrown into a dumpster. Bob, meanwhile, watches on with a mocking smile and drinking from a flask.
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| "It's dark and I'm wearing sunglasses." |
Al arrives just in time to playfully mock Sam about his predicament as Sam pulls himself out of the trash. Jill comes back just in time to help Sam out. Jill is absolutely thrilled when she learns that Sam got pantsed because he stood up for her, Al teasing Sam about young love. He returns to his car to find that Cam's usual has been delivered for him to eat and Al tells him that he's in 1961 and they wax critical (in the case of Sam) or nostalgic (in the case of Al) about the era. Al tells him that Ziggy has worked out that Sam is here to stop the marriage of Cheryl and Bob, as Bob turns out to be a very mean drunk who hits her quite often. She never goes to the Peace Corps or does anything else with her life.
This hits home for Sam, remembering part of his own past. His sister got married to a man who drank a lot and was abusive, but she was too afraid to leave and too ashamed to tell anyone. Sam feels guilt for not having interceded, so by transference, he wants to make sure that Cheryl doesn't end up with Bob.
Later, Sam enters a house to find Leave It To Beaver having been left on on the television and gets slugged in the arm by Cam's father... and gets slugged in the other arm for his trouble. Sam has to confront Cam's mother not long after, who is apparently on the warpath according to Cam's father. The reason? The cleaning lady found a Playboy stuffed behind the hamper, which she is not pleased about. After wrangling a kiss good night out of him and then chiding him over his torn shirt, Sam goes to speak to Cheryl.
Cheryl makes Jill's crush on Cam blatantly obvious. Amidst some President Kennedy paraphernalia, Cheryl tells a story about their childhood and the conversation slowly turns toward the future. Sam tries to coax her toward the path away from Bob, but it seems he has an uphill battle with Cam apparently having thought Bob was great... or, at least, Cheryl thinks that Cam thinks that Bob is great.
Later, Sam and Jill are working on Cam's car and we get an interesting bit of lore. Sam knows of the problem that the car is having, but has no idea how to fix it. An effect of his Swiss cheese memory messing with him.
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| Al's re-imagined Cylon cosplay was not the hit he was hoping for. |
Al appears to perv after a lingerie party (much to Sam's chagrin) under the guise of confirming Ziggy's data. Much to the disappointment of their mother, Cheryl is putting on Bob's mother's wedding dress instead of hers. Cheryl feels at the end of her rope, frustrated by all the wedding shenanigans. When Sam starts to help her out of the dress, Cheryl has some bruises on her neck that Sam interrogates her about and she tells him to drop it. Bob arrives not long after, Cheryl fleeing because it's bad luck to see her in her wedding dress before the wedding.
Sam confronts Bob about his abuse. Bob, as you might expect, takes it well... throwing a bouquet of flowers at Sam before leaving, telling him that he'll be back to pick up Cheryl at six for the rehearsal. The rehearsal goes about as well as you might expect, Sam getting elbowed by one of the other groomsmen and Bob's father showing up late due to having to close some deals at his car dealership.
Sam finds himself, as Cam, having to sit at the children's table which he rightfully describes as humiliating. Bob's father makes an ass of himself at the dinner to the laughter of few and the grimace of many, many more (including Bob's mother). Sam getting progressively more and more irritated as time goes on, particularly through Bob's speech and his introduction of his gift to Cheryl - a color TV. Sam makes a toast himself, talking Cheryl up a bit and then taking the opportunity to take a swipe at Bob. Al arrives just in time to see Sam get humiliated with some butter to the face before they head off to talk.
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| It's a Quantum WOOOOO! |
Al gets brought up to speed on the situation. Then, we have a bizarre situation where Sam and a young black child in a tuxedo (apparently a performer)... do pantomine to Rockin' Robin, which smacks to me as "we needed to fill a few minutes here" and is probably the weirdest thing we've seen on the show thus far. By the way, the boy's name? "Michael". Just, something to note... granted, Michael Jackson was three in 1961, but it's a cutesy reference nonetheless if a little less overt than Buddy Holly a few episodes back.
After the bathroom dance number that goes nowhere, Sam ducks into one of the stalls as Bob and Bob's father come in and talk. Apparently, Bob is not planning to join the Peace Corps and is going to take a job at his dad's dealership while Bob's father buys them their first house.
Sam tells Cheryl, who is very upset indeed, and Bob tries to weasel his way out of the entrapment she is falling right into. Al gets Sam to work out a street race to solve this problem, reasoning that beating him in the race will make Cheryl see the ugly side of Bob. Al reasons that nitrous oxide will give Sam the edge he needs to win but, if they use too much, the car will explode. The next day, he and Jill get to work on the attachment to the car and fall prey to the laughing gas in a bit of comedy.
Then, the race comes. Jill and Sam have a moment before Sam questions Bob's masculinity and forces him to race without Cheryl in the car for her safety. The race goes on, and Bob takes an early lead. Al pops in to help Sam with advice, timing the right moment to hit the oxide and sending Sam's car flying far ahead and win the race!
Bob, frustrated, attempts to run Sam over and crashes his car into one of the support beams of the underpass. Cheryl, horrified at seeing the attempted murder of her brother, tosses Bob's ring to the ground. Bob attempts to grab Cheryl and gets decked for his trouble by Sam, who sails over the hood of the car to do so. Bob's life continues to disintegrate around him as even the other bullies refuse to help him, everyone leaving him behind.
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| You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. |
Cheryl heads off to join the Peace Corps. At the airport, she thanks Sam for saving her life, but he insists that she saved herself. Cheryl tells him to go to the shoeshine stand in the courtyard for a going away present. He meets Al there and they have the second musical number of the episode (part of one, anyway) and Al gets some quality perving in before telling Sam what happened to Cheryl - Cheryl and her husband (not Bob) joined the Peace Corps and are currently in Chad helping people out. The question becomes, however, why hasn't Sam leaped? Answer, Jill has been dolled up and Sam gives her her first kiss as Cam... and a bright light flashes, Sam Beckett has Leaped again.
This time, he finds himself in a nice suit over a dead body... and he's holding the gun that killed him.
Oh, boy indeed, Sam!
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