The Best Episodes of Quantum Leap

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
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   8.6/10(5 votes)

   #1 - Mirror Image

   S5:E225/5/1993

   August 8, 1953: Sam lands in a not-so-ordinary bar in a coal-mining town, where strange things are happening and familiar people don't know him. With the help of another Al, he still has something to set right ... or is there more than one thing he needs to change?

   Director:James Whitmore Jr.

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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   Director:James Whitmore Jr.

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
2. 

   8.2/10(10 votes)

   #2 - So Help Me God

   S2:E911/29/1989

   July 29, 1957: Though he can't remember much more than habeas corpus, Sam finds himself the defense attorney for a young black woman accused of murdering the son of the most powerful man in a small Louisiana town.

   Director:Andy Cadiff

   Writer:Deborah Pratt

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   Director:Andy Cadiff

   Writer:Deborah Pratt
3. 

   8.2/10(5 votes)

   #3 - The Leap Home (1)

   S3:E19/28/1990

   November 25, 1969: As himself at the age of 16, Sam has the opportunity to both win the high school basketball championship and save his family from their sad fates.

   Director:Joe Napolitano

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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   Director:Joe Napolitano

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
4. 

   8.1/10(8 votes)

   #4 - M.I.A.

   S2:E225/9/1990

   April 1, 1969: When Sam leaps into the life of an undercover cop, Al explains that his mission is to convince a navy nurse that her MIA husband is still alive, and to prevent her from marrying a lawyer she meets on the day Sam leaps in. But a series of coincidences causes Sam to wonder about the true nature of his mission.

   Director:Michael Zinberg

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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   Director:Michael Zinberg

   Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
5. 

   7.9/10(13 votes)

   #5 - The Color of Truth

   S1:E65/3/1989

   August 8, 1955: Sam experiences racism firsthand when he leaps into the body of an elderly black man in the pre-civil rights South of 1955.

   Director:Michael Vejar

   Writer:Deborah Pratt

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   Director:Michael Vejar

   Writer:Deborah Pratt
6. 

   7.8/10(9 votes)

   #6 - Jimmy

   S2:E811/22/1989

   October 14, 1964: Since mainstreaming the mentally disabled is not yet a popular concept, Sam must help Jimmy LaMotta, the "slow" young man he's leaped into, get a job and gain his co-workers' acceptance, to prevent his brother from returning Jimmy to the institution.

   Director:James Whitmore Jr.

   Writers:Robert Wolterstorff, Paul M. Belous

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   Director:James Whitmore Jr.

   Writers:Robert Wolterstorff, Paul M. Belous
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7. 

   7.8/10(10 votes)

   #7 - Another Mother

   S2:E131/10/1990

   September 30, 1981: As a divorced mother of three, Sam's job of preventing his teenage son from running away, never to be seen again, is made more interesting by the fact that his youngest daughter can see both him and Al.

   Director:Joseph L. Scanlan

   Writer:Deborah Pratt

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   Director:Joseph L. Scanlan

   Writer:Deborah Pratt
8. 

   7.8/10(4 votes)

   #8 - Shock Theater

   S3:E225/22/1991

   October 3, 1954: Leaping into Sam Bederman, a mental patient who is suffering from acute depression, Sam receives an overloaded electroshock treatment, which causes his Swiss-cheesed memory to be replaced by personas from previous leaps. Al, finding himself visible to the mentally absent, must try to complete Sam's mission, and convince him to take another shock treatment, in order to leap Sam out before contact is lost forever.

   Director:Joe Napolitano

   Writer:Deborah Pratt

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   Director:Joe Napolitano

   Writer:Deborah Pratt
9. 

   7.8/10(4 votes)

   #9 - Justice

   S4:E410/9/1991

   May 11, 1965: Sam must don the robe of a Ku Klux Klansman in order to save the life of an ambitious young civil rights leader, who is trying to register black voters.

   Director:Rob Bowman

   Writer:Toni Graphia

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   Director:Rob Bowman

   Writer:Toni Graphia
10. 

    7.6/10(5 votes)

    #10 - A Hunting We Will Go

    S3:E184/17/1991

    June 18, 1976: It's the leap from hell as Sam, a bounty hunter handcuffed to a wily embezzler who will stop at nothing to get away from him, has to deal with his captive, as well as his attraction towards her, despite her countless attacks on him.

    Director:Andy Cadiff

    Writer:Beverly Bridges

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    Director:Andy Cadiff

    Writer:Beverly Bridges
11. 

    7.6/10(5 votes)

    #11 - Ghost Ship

    S4:E163/4/1992

    August 13, 1956: Flying over the Bermuda Triangle, Sam, as the co-pilot, must prevent the flight from returning to Virginia, to get a seriously ill passenger to a doctor before she dies. Flying through the triangle is riskier than it seems, and Sam, deprived of Al's help when the hologram fades out, must get them through alive.

    Director:Anita W. Addison

    Writers:Donald P. Bellisario, Paris Qualles

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    Director:Anita W. Addison

    Writers:Donald P. Bellisario, Paris Qualles
12. 

    7.5/10(21 votes)

    #12 - Genesis

    S1:E13/26/1989

    September 13, 1956: Sam Beckett wakes up in 1956, disoriented, suffering from amnesia, but he has the awful realization that he does not belong there...

    Director:David Hemmings

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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    Director:David Hemmings

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
13. 

    7.5/10(10 votes)

    #13 - Honeymoon Express

    S2:E19/20/1989

    April 27, 1960: As Tom McBride, a New York City cop on his honeymoon, Sam must save himself from a jealous, and sociopath, ex-husband. To make matters worse, the Project's funding will be cut off, stranding Sam alone in the past, unless he can prevent the U2 flight from being shot down over Russia.

    Director:Aaron Lipstadt

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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    Director:Aaron Lipstadt

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
14. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #14 - The Leap Home (2): Vietnam

    S3:E210/5/1990

    April 7, 1970: As a Navy SEAL in his own brother's squad, Sam must determine whether he is there to save Tom's life or ensure the success of the mission on which his brother was killed. Also Al from 1970 was a P.O.W.

    Director:Michael Zinberg

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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    Director:Michael Zinberg

    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario
15. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #15 - Miss Deep South

    S3:E611/2/1990

    June 7, 1958: As Darlene Monte, a contestant in the "Miss Deep South" beauty pageant, Sam must come to the aid of an innocent contender who faces disgrace when she poses for naughty pictures taken by a sleazy pageant photographer. As if things weren't bad enough, Sam must ensure that Darlene finishes third, so that she'll go on to become a doctor.

    Director:Christopher T. Welch

    Writer:Tommy Thompson

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    Director:Christopher T. Welch

    Writer:Tommy Thompson
16. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #16 - Black on White on Fire

    S3:E711/9/1990

    August 11, 1965: Sam leaps into a black med. student engaged to a white woman in order to ensure that he and his fiancée survive the Watts Riot together.

    Director:Joe Napolitano

    Writer:Deborah Pratt

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    Director:Joe Napolitano

    Writer:Deborah Pratt
17. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #17 - Rebel without a Clue

    S3:E911/30/1990

    September 1, 1958: As "Bones," a member of a motorcycle gang, Sam is an uneasy rider who has to prevent a Jack Kerouac-inspired young woman from meeting her death on the road.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Paul Brown

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    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Paul Brown
18. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #18 - Runaway

    S3:E111/4/1991

    July 4, 1964: On a cross-country car trip, Sam, as 13-year-old Butchie, must contend with a sadistic older sister and a mother on the verge of running away from an unfulfilling marriage, in search of the feminine mystique.

    Director:Michael Katleman

    Writer:Paul Brown

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    Director:Michael Katleman

    Writer:Paul Brown
19. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #19 - Future Boy

    S3:E133/13/1991

    October 6, 1957: Sam leaps Kenny Sharp, better known as "Future Boy," sidekick to Moe Stein, host of the kid's show, "Time Patrol," who also happens to be building a time machine in his basement. Unless Sam can prevent Moe's daughter from attempting to have her father committed, Moe is destined to be killed as he tries to hop a freight train.

    Director:Michael Switzer

    Writer:Tommy Thompson

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    Director:Michael Switzer

    Writer:Tommy Thompson
20. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #20 - Piano Man

    S3:E153/27/1991

    November 10, 1985: Joey Dinardo is a lounge lizard on the run from mob hitmen. When Sam leaps in, his ex-girlfriend, and former musical partner have found him, and now both are on a run for their lives from a killer who seems to know their every move.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Ed Scharlach

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    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Ed Scharlach
21. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #21 - Last Dance Before an Execution

    S3:E195/1/1991

    May 12, 1971: "Just think of someplace far away" is the advice Sam hears as he leaps into Jesus Ortega, a Cuban-American being strapped into an electric chair. A last second stay of execution gives Sam just forty-eight hours to either prove himself innocent or fulfill his mission so that he can leap before the Big Switch is pulled

    Director:Michael W. Watkins

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Michael W. Watkins

    Writer:Unknown
22. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #22 - Nuclear Family

    S3:E215/15/1991

    October 26, 1962: Sam finds himself the brother of a fallout shelter salesman during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he must defuse a potentially explosive situation as panic sets in on the night of John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Paul Brown

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    Director:James Whitmore Jr.

    Writer:Paul Brown
23. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #23 - Permanent Wave

    S4:E510/16/1991

    June 2, 1983: Sam leaps into Frank Bianca, a hairstylist in leather pants, to prevent the death of a young murder witness and his mother.

    Director:Scott Bakula

    Writer:Beverly Bridges

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    Director:Scott Bakula

    Writer:Beverly Bridges
24. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #24 - Raped

    S4:E610/30/1991

    June 20, 1980: It's up to Sam to try to bring a rapist to justice when he leaps into the perp's victim, a young woman who may have been unwilling to press charges against the young man - the son of the pillar of the community.

    Director:Michael Zinberg

    Writer:Beverly Bridges

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    Director:Michael Zinberg

    Writer:Beverly Bridges
25. 

    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #25 - Unchained

    S4:E1011/27/1991

    November 2, 1956: Sam and a fellow convict named Boone are the defiant ones when Sam has to rescue his companion from a fifteen-year sentence on a chain gang.

    Director:Michael W. Watkins

    Writer:Paris Qualles

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    Director:Michael W. Watkins

    Writer:Paris Qualles