Quantum Leap (season 5)

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Quantum Leap Season 5
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 21
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 22, 1992 (1992-09-22) – May 5, 1993 (1993-05-05)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1 November 14, 2006 (2006-11-14)
Region 2 December 26, 2006 (2006-12-26)
Region 4 February 21, 2007 (2007-02-21)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 4
Next →

List of Quantum Leap episodes

An episode from the show's final season received another Creative Arts Emmy Award, this time for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production (episode "Lee Harvey Oswald").

Episodes [edit]

No. # Title Directed by Written by Leap date Location Original air date
76 1 "Lee Harvey Oswald" James Whitmore, Jr. Donald P. Bellisario March 21, 1963
October 5–6, 1957
January 6, 1959
October 21, 1959
April 10, 1963
October 21, 1963
November 21–22, 1963
Dallas
Atsugi
Tustin
Lubyanka in Moscow
New Orleans
September 22, 1992
Sam leaps into various points in the life of Lee Harvey Oswald (played by Willie Garson) in an effort to seemingly prevent him from killing President John F. Kennedy or find the truth about the events that day. However, the objective is made more complex by the fact that their minds are merging. Sam starts to believe he is Oswald. If Al can't bring Sam back, it will be Sam Beckett who pulls the trigger on Kennedy that fateful day in Dallas. In the end, Oswald is the lone assassin of JFK (Al speculating that people made up the idea of a conspiracy rather than face the idea that we are all still so vulnerable that one man could kill the President that easily). Sam makes a final leap into U.S. Secret Service agent Clint Hill who climbed on the back of the President's limousine during the assassination. In the episode dénouement, Al reveals that an alternate history had previously occurred where Jackie Kennedy (played by Karen Ingram) also died and Sam's actual mission was to save her. 
77 2 "Leaping of the Shrew" Alan J. Levi Robin Jill Bernheim & Richard C. Okie September 27, 1956 Somewhere in the
Aegean Sea
September 29, 1992
Sam finds his patience tested when he leaps into Nikos Stathatos (played by Socrates Alafouzos) in a lifeboat with a bratty, self-obsessed heiress Vanessa Foster (played by Brooke Shields) and end up stuck on an island from which they will not be rescued for nine years... 
78 3 "Nowhere to Run" Alan J. Levi Tommy Thompson August 10, 1968 San Diego, California October 6, 1992

Sam leaps into Ronald Miller (played by Michael Carpenter), a legless Vietnam vet in a veterans' hospital who must save the life of a quadriplegic soldier while still keeping his wife from leaving him so that his eldest son can save a tank troop in the Gulf War.

A pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston and pre-Spin City Michael Boatman (who coincidentally played a doctor called Sam Beckett in China Beach) guest star. Judith Hoag also guest stars. 
79 4 "Killin' Time" Michael Watkins Tommy Thompson June 18, 1958 Pine County, Oklahoma October 20, 1992

Sam leaps into Leon Stiles (played by Cameron Dye), a dangerous criminal who has taken a mother and her young daughter hostage. Meanwhile, Al must find the homicidal Stiles, who has escaped from the project waiting room, leaving Gushie to act as a temporary Observer.

NOTE: This episode provides a rare glimpse of the present world outside Project Quantum Leap. 
80 5 "Star Light, Star Bright" Christopher Hibler Richard C. Okie May 21, 1966 Charlemont, Massachusetts October 27, 1992

Sam is Maxwell Stoddard (played by Douglas Stark), an eccentric grandfather living with his son and his family. He must prevent his teenage grandson from running away and getting caught up in the drug culture while also preventing the grandfather from being sent to a mental institution for his wild stories about UFOs.

Anne Lockhart and Guy Boyd guest star. 
81 6 "Deliver Us From Evil" Bob Hulme Deborah Pratt, Robin Jill Bernheim & Tommy Thompson March 19, 1966 Oakland, California November 10, 1992
Sam leaps back into Jimmy LaMotta (played by Brad Silverman), but is perplexed when he finds that the happy future he supposedly ensured in his previous leap is not taking place, and his brother's marriage is falling apart. Shortly thereafter, Sam finds something he never expected. A female quantum leaper named Alia (played by Renee Coleman) is apparently there to "put wrong what once went right". 
82 7 "Trilogy (Part 1) – One Little Heart" James Whitmore, Jr. Deborah Pratt August 8, 1955 Potterville, Louisiana November 17, 1992

Sam leaps into a small Louisiana town as a sheriff named Clayton Fuller (played by James Whitmore, Jr.) who's also the father of young Abigail Fuller (played by Kimberly Cullum), a girl accused by a local townswoman named Leta Aider (played by Mary Gordon Murray) of killing her husband and daughter. Leta is the only surviving member of her deceased family and believes Abigail to be cursed.

Note: Clayton Fuller (Sam's mirror image in this episode) is played by episode director James Whitmore, Jr. This episode's leap date is the same as season one's "The Color Of Truth." 
83 8 "Trilogy (Part 2) – For Your Love" James Whitmore, Jr. Deborah Pratt June 14, 1966 Potterville, Louisiana November 24, 1992
Sam again leaps into the life of Abigail Fuller (Melora Hardin)... this time as her soon-to-be husband Will Kinman (played by Travis Fine). Sam begins to fall for her himself, but a lynch mob led by Leta Aider (played by Mary Gordon Murray) may hang her if Sam doesn't find the runaway child Abigail was babysitting. 
84 9 "Trilogy (Part 3) – The Last Door" James Whitmore, Jr. Deborah Pratt July 28, 1978 Baton Rouge, Louisiana November 24, 1992

Sam leaps into Larry Stanton (played by W.K. Stratton), a lawyer who defends Abigail (played by Melora Hardin) on trial for the murder of Leta Aider, the woman who accused her of killing her husband and daughter twenty-three years earlier. Secrets are revealed, the family history comes unraveled, and surprises are in store for Sam as he discovers the heritage behind Abigail's daughter, Samantha Jo Fuller (played by Kimberly Cullum).

Parley Baer also guest stars. 
85 10 "Promised Land" Scott Bakula Gillian Horvath & Tommy Thompson December 22, 1971 Elk Ridge, Indiana December 15, 1992
Sam leaps into his hometown as Willie Walters (played by Daniel Engstrom), one of three brothers who are robbing the town bank in order to pay off a loan. Sam must uncover the reason the bank lent money to these farmers who could not possibly pay it back, while trying to prevent the brothers from being killed when they try to escape. 
86 11 "A Tale of Two Sweeties" Christopher Hibler Robin Jill Bernheim February 25, 1958 Pompano Beach Airpark,
Florida
January 5, 1993
Sam finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place when he leaps into a bigamist named Martin "Marty" Ellroy (played by Michael Bellisario), with a 50% chance of picking the right family to stay with. 
87 12 "Liberation" Bob Hulme Chris Abbott & Deborah Pratt October 16, 1968 Connecticut January 12, 1993
Sam leaps into Margaret Sanders, a housewife who must convince her husband that the family can survive and even thrive with feminism. He must also persuade the daughter that advances for women must come about through nonviolent means and persuade a woman working in the husband's firm to be more assertive about her ideas for the company. 
88 13 "Dr. Ruth" Stuart Margolin Robin Jill Bernheim April 25, 1985 Manhattan, New York January 19, 1993

As the famous sex doctor Ruth Westheimer, Sam must help a woman stand up to the sexual harassment of her boss and get his coworkers together, while the real Dr. Ruth helps Al deal with his fear of abandonment and his inability to tell a woman that he loves her.

Note: This episode marks the only time that Sam has leaps into two women in a row and the only time the Leapee is seen being replaced in the waiting room at the conclusion of the episode. 
89 14 "Blood Moon" Alan J. Levi Tommy Thompson March 10, 1975 Outside of
London, England
February 9, 1993
Sam leaps into an eccentric artist named Lord Nigel Corrington who lives a strange, gothic lifestyle. He has only a few hours to save his wife from a grisly death, supposedly at the hands of a vampire, while dealing with Al's own conviction that his host actually is the walking dead. 
90 15 "Return of the Evil Leaper" Harvey Laidman Richard C. Okie October 8, 1956 North Falls, New York February 23, 1993

As a nerdy college kid who dresses up as a superhero named Arnold Watkins (played by Tristan Tait), Sam must stop a fraternity from holding chicken races as part of their initiation. While back in the waiting room, Al must convince Sam's host to give up his dangerous lifestyle and help him deal with the murder of his parents. However, the sudden return of the Evil Leaper Alia (played by Renee Coleman) makes the task significantly harder.

Neil Patrick Harris also guest stars. 
91 16 "Revenge of the Evil Leaper" Debbie Allen Deborah Pratt September 16, 1987 Mallard, Ohio February 23, 1993
Leaping into Elizabeth Tate (played by Cynthia Steele) in a women's prison (accompanied by Alia), Sam must keep the reformed Evil Leaper from being caught by her former Observer while also trying to keep his host from being executed for the murder of a fellow inmate. 
92 17 "Goodbye Norma Jean" Christopher Hibler Richard C. Okie April 4, 1960 Hollywood, California March 2, 1993

Sam is Dennis Boardman (played by Stephen Bowers), the chauffeur of Marilyn Monroe (played by Susan Griffiths) and must help the unhappy star stay alive to make one final movie.

Stephen Root also guest stars. 
93 18 "The Beast Within" Gus Trikonis John D'Aquino November 6, 1972 Washington March 16, 1993
Sam is Henry Adams (played by Mike Jolly), a Vietnam War veteran living in the forest with an epileptic fellow veteran who will die unless he gets his medicine. However, he is opposed in this task by the sheriff living in town, who served in the same unit and doesn't want to face his past. 
94 19 "The Leap Between The States" David Hemmings Richard C. Okie September 20, 1862 Mansfield County, Virginia March 30, 1993
Breaking all the rules of Quantum Leaping, Sam leaps along his genetic line and finds himself in the American Civil War as his great-grandfather, Captain John Beckett (played by Rob Hyland), of the Union Army. While helping the underground railroad smuggle a family to freedom, Sam must also win the heart of his great-grandmother, or he may be erased from existence. 
95 20 "Memphis Melody" James Whitmore, Jr. Robin Jill Bernheim July 3, 1954 Memphis, Tennessee April 20, 1993

As Elvis Presley (played by Michael St. Gerard), Sam must help a struggling female musician named Sue Anne Winters (played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), but at the same time must ensure that he doesn't prevent the king of rock 'n' roll from being discovered.

Gregory Itzin also guest stars. 
96 21 "Mirror Image" James Whitmore, Jr. Donald Bellisario August 8, 1953
April 3, 1969
Cokeburg, Pennsylvania
San Diego, California
May 5, 1993

In the Series Finale, Sam arrives at a mining town as himself on the date and exact hour he was born. Patrons of the town bar look familiar from past leaps, but with different names, other patrons seem to be leapers, and Al the bartender (played by Bruce McGill) implies that he might be God, Fate, or Time. While trying to figure things out, Sam has to help save some trapped miners, regain contact with Al, and learns that he can and has always been able to return home whenever he wants. He agrees to continue leaping, in exchange for the chance to go back to when he met Al's wife on a previous leap and tell her that Al is still alive. In the end, Al and his wife remain together and have four daughters while Sam never returns home.

Richard Herd, Stephen McHattie, and W. Morgan Sheppard also guest star.