Quantum Leap (TV Series) How the Tess Was Won - August 5, 1956 (1989) User Reviews

How the Tess Was Won

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 19 January 2020]

It is only Episode 5 yet Sam is so used to leaping about that he does not even bother looking at the mirror to find out what his latest body looks like.

Then again I reckon most of the audience never thought of it as well.

Sam leaps into a body of a country veterinarian Dr Young and has to take part in a competition to win the heart of the tough as nails cowgirl Tess McGill . It is 1956 so a tomboy like Tess is expected to get married and she picks the shy vet to compete with rather than any of the ranch hands.

Of course Sam flusters when it comes working a ranch. Al has other things in his mind and Sam cannot figure out the name of the bespectacled teenage lad who helps him out at the vet's practice. He is always strumming his guitar and singing a song.

It is a good punning title but nowadays there would be several issues. Tess is expected to wear a dress and get married. The lot of a woman in the 1950s. Also Sam finally leaps when he figures out the name of his assistant. A future that would take this young man on a doomed plane journey.

Buddy Holly haha ok

[paulwattriley · 6/10 · 21 January 2021]

Now Buddy Holly was 20 in 1956. Buddy Holly did not write Peggy Sue so in all they end just makes no sense at all. Sam helped Buddy Holly who was 19 and not the age of that the kid was supposed to be in this episode and a song that was not written by Buddy Holly. It must have bene a lot harder to do proper research back then.

A little late

[tmorton-74422 · 6/10 · 27 April 2021]

Even though it was a minor sub-plot they should have done a little more research on Buddy Holly. By the time this story happened- Aug. 5. 1956- Holly was already signed to a contract and performing.

Fun, but sexist as hell

[BB02 · 8/10 · 12 May 2021]

Great atmosphere, fun episode, but the dialogue is often so sexist it just makes you cringe. Granted, it's Texas in the 50s, but they actually say it's unnatural for a women to live as a cowboy and not get married. Sam even suggests that there a some things women can do better than men ... "like having babies". However there are still a lot of nice moments in this episode, that make me put up with the annoyance. And I quite like the closing gag, as silly as it is.

More like a romcom

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 5 March 2020]

Sam's next adventure heads out west, where he plays a vet who has some memorable encounters with a cute piglet. However, the story is very slight this time around, involving him competing in a rodeo in order to win the heart of a cowgirl. The kind of plot I can take or leave, although the Buddy Holly subplot is pretty amusing.