"Lee Harvey Oswald"

Leap Dates:

March 21, 1963
October 5-6, 1957
January 6, 1959
October 21, 1959
April 10, 1963
October 21, 1963
November 21 & 22, 1963

Episode Adopted by: Steve <aka> RossBeckett

Synopsis:

For the first time ever, Sam leaps into a notable figure in history! He has leaped into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who supposedly murdered President John F. Kennedy. As Sam leaps back and forth several times throughout Oswald's life, his and Oswalds' minds become intertwined to the point that Sam finds himself about to pull the trigger from the Texas Schoolbook Depository window.

Audio from this episode
Watch the original television commercial

Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Songs
Music Artists
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Cast members who have passed away
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say what? (things in the episode that make no sense)
Quotable Quotes
Awards

Name of episode: "Lee Harvey Oswald"

Alternate titles: "Leap to Judgement" and "Leaping On A String"

Leap Dates: within October 5, 1957- November 22, 1963 starting with March 21, 1963.

PQL Dates:
February 14-16, 1999. Happy Valentines Day to the people at the project!

Places:
Project Quantum Leap @ Stallion's Gate New Mexico
Military base in Atsugi, Japan
A bar in Negashaia-Yamato, Japan
Military base in Tustin, California
KGB HQ in Moscow
Oswald's apartments in Russia and Dallas
Streets of New Orleans
Ruth Paine's house in Dallas
Streets of Dallas with scenes at the Texas schoolbook depository 

Name of leapee: Lee Harvey Oswald (aka Alik J. Hidell)

NBC Broadcast date: Tuesday, September 22, 1992 @ 8PM for 2 hours.

Songs/music in episode:
Quantum Leap theme by Mike Post and background music by Velton Ray Bunch.

Sam Trivia:
The first time Sam's mind merges with the leapee's mind and also the first time Sam leaps into a notable person in history.

Project Trivia:
When Al appears in the August 9, 1963 leap, he refers to Ziggy as a "he". In the episode right before this one, "A Leap For Lisa", also written by Don Bellisario, Ziggy was a "she".

Miscellaneous trivia:

One Planck length is equal to 10^-34 inches. "One Planck length" was mentioned in the episode by Willie Garson(Oswald) and I further researched the String theory which is known as the Superstring Theory.

-Don's middle name is Paul. Donald Paul Bellisario.

Written by: Donald P. Bellisario

Directed by: James Whitmore Jr.

Created and Executive produced by: Donald P.Bellisario

Co-Executive Producers:
Deborah Pratt
Chas. Floyd Johnson

Supervising Producers:
Harker Wade
Tommy Thompson
Richard C. Okie

Producer: Robin Jill Bernheim

Director of Photography: Michael Watkins A.S.C.

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Dr. Samuel Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Rear Admiral Al Calavicci

Guest Cast:

Reni Santoni(as Sgt. Lopez)

Willie Garson (as Lee Harvey Oswald aka Alik J. Hidell)

Natasha Pavlova (as Marina Oswald)

Elya Baskin (as Major Yuri Kosenko)

Donna Magnani (as Mariska)

Dennis Wolfberg (asGooshie)

Michael Rich (as Corporal McBride)

PhilipMcNiven (as PFC. Briggs)

Ward C. Boland (as Lt.Obrigowitz)

Rodney Kageyama (as Joda)

Patty Toy (as the bar girl)

James Medina (as Carlos)

Chris Kinkade (as New Orleans policeman)

Matthew Charles Nelson (as Sgt. Donald P. Bellisario)

Erika Amato (as Lt. Anna Guri)

Lazar (as guard)

Nathan Lisle (as Frazier)

Becky London (as Ruth Paine)

Karen Ingram (as Jackie Bouvier-Kennedy)

Interesting tidbits about guests:

-Natasha Pavlova guest-starred on "Wings" (NBC from 1990-1997) in the episode "Fools Russian" as Roy's mail order Russian fiance.

-Willie Garson played Ross's angry new neighbor, Steve, in "Friends" episode "The One With the girl who hits Joey".

-Reni Santoni played the character "Poppie" in 2 episodes of Seinfeld, one of which was the series finale.

Guests who have appeared on other QL episodes:

Willie Garson played Seymour in the first season finale "Play it again, Seymour".

-Dennis Wolfberg played the part of Gooshie in "Genesis", "The Leap Back", "Killin' Time", and "Mirror Image".

-Although not a guest in this episode, director James Whitmore Jr. has many directing credits for Quantum Leap and many other shows including "24", "Enterprise", and "Mister Sterling" in which his father played a recurring part as Bill Sterling Sr. That show was canned by NBC right after the first season.  

Guests who have passed on since airing of episode:
Dennis Wolfberg, who died in 1994 of Melanoma, a type of cancer.

Best Lines:

"I'm not like you Al! I don't have to sleep with every woman that I meet just because-Because she's there!"-Sam to Al in the bar.

"String theory?[pause] It closed the conceptual gulp between relativity and quantum mechanics. It postulates that subatomic particles are not points, but strings, about one planck length long. The rate at which strings vibrate can generate the properties of all known particles. Huh? How did I know that?" -Lee Oswald spouting out Sam's words

Best Scene:
Close to the end when Sam was about topull the trigger and Al comes in to try and reach him. He's successful after a while and Sam leaps out just
in time to save the President's wife.

Worst thing about this episode: The fact that Sam leaped into Oswald.

Best thing about this episode: But that's what made this so darn good!

Say What? (aka things that made no sense):
In "The Leap Back"(The 4th season premiere) the date at PQL is September 18, 1999, as mentioned by Al. However, "Lee Harvey Oswald" took place from February 14-16, 1999 - seven months earlier.

Personal Review:

Of all the controversial episodes of Quantum Leap, this one is my top favorite. The reason being is because of the suspenseful scenes between Scott (Sam, while he's Oswald) and Dean - and the waiting room scenes between Dean and Willie Garson(Oswald). I also really enjoyed the January 6, 1959 leap ever since I figured out that Matthew Charles Nelson was playing the role of the one and only QL creator Don Bellisario. To have Sam Beckett talking with Don is what I like to call a kiss with reality. It can also be called a kiss with history of course. Sam did not save the president, but he saved the first lady, which I thought was very touching! ***** out of 5!!

Quotable Quotes:

Sam (as Oswald): "Carlos, do you wanna hit me?"

Al: "He's doing exactly what Oswald did!"
Carlos: "With pleasure."(Is about to hit him when...)

New Orleans Policeman: "Y'all freeze! Hands up against the wall! Up against the wall! Shut up!"

Al: "Sam, can you hear me? It's the ninth of August of 1963. There's only three months until the Kennedy assassination Sam, and this leap is bringing you closer! If you leap into Dallas on November 22nd and Oswald is still in control, you won't be able to change anything Sam! You gotta fight him. Fight him Sam!"

Sam: "My name?"

Al: "DR. SAMUEL BECKETT!"

Sam (as Oswald): "My name is Lee Harvey Oswald."[Leaps out]

[Scene between Al and Gooshie walking in the PQL corridors]

Gooshie: "Ziggy computes the best option under the circumstances is to do nothing."

Al: "Well Ziggy doesn't want to make another mistake."

Gooshie: "Perhaps, but if Dr. Beckett leaped into Oswald to uncover the conspiracy, then doing nothing is an effective course of action."

Al: "How the hell do you figure that?"

Gooshie: "Whether Dr. Beckett is himself or Lee Harvey Oswald is immaterial. Either way, you'll be there to observe. To watch the sixth floor window, the grassy knoll, the railroad overpass. You'll see it all! You'll know the truth."

Al: "Yeah, but I won't be able to stop it!"

Gooshie: "I realize that Admiral, but you yourself said that's not what Dr. Beckett was leaped back to do."

Al: "Well, what if I was wrong? What if that's precisely the reason that Sam was leaped back?"

Gooshie: "Then Oswald would have to be the sole assassin."

Al: "That's right!"

Gooshie: "No conspiracy?"

Al: "No. Just one angry, envious man who wanted to propel himself into infamy!"

Gooshie: "One lone man!?!"

Al: "I know it's more comforting to believe in plots, because if Kennedy could be killed that easily, by one sicko, what hope is there for the rest of us?"

Gooshie: "Admiral, what are you gonna do?"

Al: "To try and find the truth."[He goes into the waiting room]

[Skip to waiting room scene with Willie Garson and Dean]

Oswald: "I admire the president very much!"

Al: "You admire him, but you're gonna kill him."

Oswald: "That's what this is about! You're secret service and you're detaining me because you think I'm going to shoot the president."

Al: "I know you're going to shoot the president. What I wanna know is are you acting alone?"

Oswald: "I don't even own a gun!"

Al: "You own a 6.5mm mannlicher-carcano rifle and an S+W .38 special. The rifle is wrapped in a blanket at Ruth Paine's house and the pistol is at your rooming house at 1026 North Beckley. You ordered both of these guns through the mail under the alias of Alex J. Hidell."

Oswald: "Marina! She told you these lies!"

Al: "Marina told me nothing. But, when questioned, she'll talk about the shot you took at General Walker. And she'll talk about locking you in the bathroom when Nixon come to Dallas because she was afraid that you were going to try and shoot him too!"

Oswald: "I want a lawyer!"

Al: "There's no lawyer here, there's just you and me and the truth!"

Oswald: "I know my rights. I'm a member of the ACLU and I have-"[Cut off by Al who grabs him by the shirt]

Al:[Getting very angry] "You're going to shoot the president from the sixth floor window of the Texas schoolbook depository!"

Oswald: "You're crazy!"

Al: "You're damn right I'm crazy.[Pulls a gun out of his back pocket] I'm crazy enough to blow your brains out through your ear if I don't get the truth!"[Now you see Oswald choking with fear]

Oswald: "I don't believe in killing someone just because I disagree with their politics!"

Al: "ARE you acting alone?"

Oswald: "I- I want a lawyer."[Al pulls the trigger right next to Oswald's ear. Remember, the only thing that's preventing Al from killing him is if he does, Dr. Beckett can never get back]

[Shot of Sam who looks like he heard the shot]

Oswald: "I'M DEAF! I'M DEAF!"

Al: "You're gonna be dead in a minute if you don't tell me the truth!"

Oswald: "Okay, Okay. Just don't hurt me. I'm not gonna shoot the president. But, I know who he is."

Al: "Who?"

Oswald: "Hidell. The guy who ordered the guns in the mail. He's the one who-[Cut off by Sam's words] I'm lying Al."

Al: "Sam!"

Sam: "There is no conspiracy. I'm acting alone and you have got to stop me."

Al: "I can't reach you Sam. He's taken over completely!"

Sam: "You have to. You have to. Or else it's gonna happen all over again. You have to find-[Cut off by Oswald's words] -Hidell. Find Alik J. Hidell. That's the man who's going to shoot the president."[With that, Al walks out of the waiting room and end of scene]