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A Portrait for Troian is the 11th episode of Season 2 of Quantum Leap, also the 20th overall series episode. Written as a teleplay by series creator Donald P. Bellisario, and Scott Shepherd from an original story written by John Hill and Shepherd, the episode, which was directed by Michael Zinberg, originally aired on NBC-TV on December 13, 1989.

Summary[]

Sam leaps into parapsychologist Dr. Timothy Mintz (the leapee is played by series creator Donald P. Bellisario), currently employed by a woman named Troian Claridge (played by Deborah Pratt, who also voices Ziggy on the series). She claims to have heard the voice of her husband, Julian Claridge (the corpse is played by series co-producer Paul Brown), even though he died three years earlier. Complicating the investigation is Troian's skeptical brother, Jimmy Giovanni (Robert Torti). If that wasn't enough, Ziggy says that in three days, Troian will drown in the same lake that took her husband - unless Sam can save her.

Plot[]

February 7, 1971: In one of the creepiest scenarios to end up in, Sam has leapt into a cemetery, in the middle of the night, holding a torch, with dogs howling, just as a huge thunderstorm is about to break out. He is summoned to the Claridge Mausoleum by a beautiful woman. She claims to hear her husband, who has been dead for three years, calling her name “Troian” over and over. She asks Sam to look at a piece of machinery, believing that its output shows his voice prints.

The year is 1971 and Sam has fallen for Dr. Timothy Mintz, a parapsychologist hired by Troian Claridge to prove that her husband Julian is haunting her. When Sam and Troian return to Claridge Manor, which Troian inherited from her husband, they are soaked from the storm. Sam receive a cold welcome from Troian's housekeeper, Ms. Patricia Stoltz (Carolyn Seymour), and Troian's brother, Jimmy. Jimmy tells Troian that she is wasting her time and money, Julian is dead and not coming back. But Troian is adamant that she has been hearing him and now has proof. When Troian leaves to warm up with a hot bath, Jimmy then rips into Sam, believing his host is a quack who is only in it for the money and does not care about Troian's state of mind – she had a nervous breakdown after Julian's death, which is why he has power of attorney over her.

Ms. Stoltz returns with drinks for Sam and Troian. Jimmy takes Troian's drink to her, and Ms. Stoltz informs Sam that he is expected in town the next day to pick up newspaper clippings that he has requested from Mrs Little, who works at the local newspaper. Sam assumes Ms. Stoltz changed the arrangements because of the storm, but Ms Stoltz completely freaks out Al, who has just arrived, when she looks directly at him and says that it wasn't because of the storm, but because strangers aren't welcome. Al believes that Ms. Stoltz can see him, and tells Sam to be careful around her. He also informs Sam that he is there to prevent Troian, a successful artist and illustrator of the novels her husband had written, from drowning in the same lake as her husband in two days. Sam tells Al that he believes Timothy's "work" could drive Troian insane. But Al, who believes wholeheartedly in ghosts, tells Sam that Timothy's work is legitimate and that Timothy would do nothing to harm Troian because he is crazy about her.

In her room, Troian is awakened from sleep because she hears Julian's voice calling for her again. She is startled to see wet footprints leading away from her bed, and she follows them to Julian's study. A bloodcurdling scream from Troian prompts Sam and Jimmy to rush to her aid. She is in tears when they arrive, because a painting of hers that she had destroyed three years earlier by throwing it into the lake after Julian's death has returned completely intact.

The next day, Troian reminisces with Sam about Julian. On the day of his death, Julian had posed on a rowboat in the lake so Troian could paint him. He'd gotten bored and started messing around, falling into the lake. By the time Troian realized that Julian was drowning, it was too late. Unable to swim herself, there was nothing she could do to help. She says she only ever hears Julian's voice in and around the Claridge estate and wishes she could see him to tell him how much she loves and misses him, and to apologize for breaking her promise that they would grow old together. Sam comforts Troian, but since she can not bear the thought of Julian down there in the cold, she almost faints. Sam takes her back to the house.

Sam revisits the mausoleum, trying to make sense of everything that is going on. Al reluctantly joins him, even though he is spooked out by the dead bodies and “ghosts”, he believes that the entire Claridge estate has been haunted since Nathanial Claridge found out that his wife Priscilla and their butler had been having an affair, and as revenge, drowned them in the same lake Julian had drowned in over a hundred years later. Sam, however, insists that there must be a logical explanation behind everything that is going on, such as someone, probably Ms. Stoltz or Jimmy, trying to drive Troian insane. They are joined by Jimmy, who again insults Timothy's work, and everyone is shocked to find out that he can hear Al, prompting Al to leave.

Later, Troian hears Julian calling for her again, so she rushes to the mausoleum, desperately trying to figure out what he wants. The mausoleum starts shaking violently, so she thinks they are trying to kill her, but it's really just an earthquake. SSam saves Troian and they laugh about it. Back at the house, Jimmy is trying to fix an old TV. When asked if it worked before the earthquake, Ms. Stoltz replies that she does not know because she does not watch television. Some teasing from Sam prompts her to leave, and Sam asks Troian where she found her. It turns out that when Troian had advertised for a housekeeper after Julian's death, Ms. Stoltz was the only applicant, having worked there before. Happy that someone was willing to stay there, Troian hired her, and reveals that Ms. Stoltz is a good woman once you get past her melodramatic attitude. Jimmy fixes the TV and Troian praises him and how much of a genius he has always been with electronics, joking that he should invent a machine that detects earthquakes. Sam realizes that Timothy's machinery, detecting shifts in electromagnetic energy, had actually already done this, the output from the previous night being the detection of the earthquake.

Now realizing how sophisticated Timothy's equipment is, Sam returns to the mausoleum to use the equipment and find out the truth. When Al reappears, he realizes that the machinery picks up brainwave transmissions, and so was picking up Al, making it possible for others to hear him. It also picked up Sam's leap the night before. At the same time, Troian is in Julian's study, crying and trying to make sense of everything (she'd been upset by the revelation that the machinery hadn't picked up Julian's voice, as they’d already predicted). Sam and Al modify Tim's machine so that it can pick up low voltage battery emissions, and use it to locate a tape-recorder that was hidden in a crypt. When they play it, they can not hear anything, but the dogs start howling. They realize that it must be a voice recorded at such a high frequency that only dogs and some humans - mainly women - can hear it. They realize that it must be an electronic genius to accomplish this, and that it must be Jimmy trying to drive Troian insane. They also realize that since it is on a remote control, when they played it, it would have started playing any other tape recorders that were left lying around. As a result, Troian, hearing Julian's voice again, has another look at the painting and realizes that she has been added to it, dead at the bottom of the lake with Julian.

Troian rushes to the lake to find out what Julian wants, and Al centers in on her. Since another of Tim's machines that can pick up his voice was there, Al talks to Troian, pretending to be Julian, and tries to tell her to live and to go back home. She is confused, because from the painting it appeared that Julian wanted her to join him, and at the same time, Jimmy arrives and tells Troian that was because it's what he needed her to do. He'd been trying to drive her insane to get power of attorney, by making her hear voices and haunt her with the painting, but now that she was getting better, he needed to kill her so he could inherit all her money – he had a lot of gambling debts to pay off. Al stalls him by pretending to be Julian's ghost, but Jimmy sees through it, and throws the machinery into the lake, followed by Troian. Sam runs onto the pier, grabs Jimmy and jumps into the lake with him. Jimmy doesn't come back up, and Al helps Sam find Troian and bring her to the surface, saving her life.

After reporting Jimmy's death, the lake is surrounded by police and reporters. Troian does not think she can handle the fact that her brother tried to drive her insane and kill her, but Sam explains to her that Jimmy was sick and that she is a survivor. The police have not been able to find Jimmy's body, but have found three others that they believe must have been shaken loose by the earthquake. Because of the lake's freezing temperature, they are perfectly preserved. Troian identifies one of them as her husband, and Mrs. Little, from the newspaper, guesses that from their clothing, which looked to be over 100 years old, that the other two are Priscilla Claridge and her butler. When Troian suggests asking Ms. Stoltz to bring them some hot drinks, Mrs. Little says that it is quite a coincidence that Troin's housekeeper's name is Stoltz, since Priscilla Claridge's maiden name was also Stoltz. Sam and Troian look at the other two bodies, and Priscilla's dead body is the spitting image of the housekeeper. From an upstairs window, where she'd been watching, Ms. Stoltz fades away. As Mrs. Little comments that Sam looks like he'd just seen a ghost, Sam leaps...

"A Portrat For Troian" Full Cast & Crew[]

Cast (in credits order)[]

Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
  • Donald P. Bellisario as Dr. Timothy Mintz (leapee, uncredited)
  • Paul Brown as Julian Claridge's corpse (uncredited)

Production Team[]

  • David Bellisario - Associate Producer
  • Donald P. Bellisario - Executive Producer / Series creator
  • Jeff Gourson - Associate Producer
  • Deborah Pratt - Co-Producer
  • Scott Shepherd - Supervising Producer
  • Harker Wade - Producer

Music Department[]

Cinematography[]

  • Henry M. Lebo - Director of Photography (as Henry Lebo)

Film Editing[]

  • Ken Dennis - Film editor

Casting By[]

Ken Carlson - Casting

Art Direction[]

  • Cameron Birnie - Art Direction
  • Peg McClellan - Art Direction

Set Decoration[]

  • Robert L. Zilliox - Set Decoration

Costume Design[]

Production Management[]

  • Paul Cajero - Unit Production Manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director[]

  • James Dillon - Second Assistant Director
  • Robert Villar - First Assistant Director (as Roberto Villar)

Sound Department[]

  • Paul B. Clay - Supervising sound editor (as Paul Clay)
  • Mark Hopkins McNabb - Sound Mixer

Stunts[]

  • Diamond Farnsworth - Stunt Coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department[]

  • Mark Abbott - Gaffer
  • Peter Gulla - Assistant Camera
  • Ed Nielsen - Camera Operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department[]

  • David Rawley - Costume Supervisor
  • Donna Roberts - Costume Supervisor (as Donna Roberts-Orme)

Transportation Department[]

  • Dennis Junt - Transportation co-captain

Other Crew[]

  • Paul Brown - Executive Story editor
  • Greg Knapp - Set Medic
  • Winnie Rich - Script Supervisor

Actor notes[]

This episode features appearances from multiple producers and writers. When we see Dr. Mintz's reflection, he is played by show creator Donald P. Bellisario. Troian is played by writer and co-producer Deborah Pratt. Her character is named after Bellisario and Pratt's daughter, Troian Bellisario. Julian Claridge is played by writer and co-producer Paul Brown.

References[]

After saving Troian from the collapsing tomb, Sam jokes that he was acting like Indiana Jones.

Episode notes[]

This episode ends, oddly, with Sam leaping into Cam Wilson from the season one episode "Camikazi Kid". This is due to the fact that NBC re-ran "Camikazi Kid" during the holiday break. Similarly, the next original episode, "Animal Frat", originally aired with a recap of "Camikazi Kid".

Podcast[]

https://quantumleappodcast.com/episodes/season-two/019-a-portrait-for-troian

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