the "Mirror Image" alternate ending.

Sam Beckett Fan

Re-Writing Life
Jun 3, 2005
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the "Mirror Image" alternate ending.

no, i have not seen this episode yet, aas i have told before, i have to wait till the dvd comes out after season four, but i was naughty and watched the aternate ending video clip from the Al's Place forum, and i got confused, all it showed was Al's picture changing into him and Beth with four daughters, and i thought that happened anyway. and when i read the script for the aternate ending there was a whole lot more, like a conversation about Sam between Al and Beth in the year 2000. so why did the video clip not show that? i thought the Beth/photo thing happened anywaym so that's not really an alternate scene is it?
 
In the airing of Mirror Image, The picture is not in the background when they tell what happenes to Al and Sam. It's just a black screen

As far as the x-tra scene you are talking about, They didn't know wether or not QL would be renewed, so they wrote a cliff-hanger just in case. Sam would have lept into the future and the project would have lost Contact with him. So Al would have lept to Al's Place, talked to the bartender, and agreed to be a leaper himself
 
In the airing of Mirror Image, The picture is not in the background when they tell what happenes to Al and Sam. It's just a black screen

umm, i can be a little slow sometimes, so i do not get what you mean by the statement i quoted above.

but i do know what you are talking about with Al becoming a leaper, i read that alternate scene to my best friend not long ago after reading it myself. but there was also a cliffhanger alternate scene where Al and Beth are talking, it's the year 2000 and Al decided he wants to go after Sam and Beth agrees that, this is a good idea. he warns her that he may not come back but she says that anyone who can come back form vietman can come back from anywhere. then he kisses her and vanishes to end up in Al's place. that's what i read.
 
The "Script"

I personally don't believe the "alternate ending" script. I've seen the video (with the picture) which makes sense, but the script looks like it was written by an amateur. It's not even in proper screenwriting format.

Just my two cents.
 
Re: The "Script"

i never said i did eaither, i am just looking for facts. i am just asking about what i read. personally i believe that whatever the true ending is will be satisfying enough.:)
 
Re: The "Script"

They didn't know wether or not QL would be renewed, so they wrote a cliff-hanger just in case. Sam would have lept into the future and the project would have lost Contact with him. So Al would have lept to Al's Place, talked to the bartender, and agreed to be a leaper himself

After you finish Season 5, read the TVS...there are some episodes that expand on Mirror Image (and the unused ending)

:b
 
> Re: The "Script"

I personally don't believe the "alternate ending" script. I've seen the video (with the picture) which makes sense, but the script looks like it was written by an amateur. It's not even in proper screenwriting format.

Well, I don't know anything about how the proper screenwriting format is supposed to look, but maybe that was just a rough draft. News of the cancelation probably came soon after writing it and since there was no reason to film it, maybe there was no reason to change the format either.

The ending is actually the one thing I like about "Mirror Image." I always had mixed feelings about the episode, but what mainly annoys me is that it puts forth absurd circumstances and has no answers. It would be one thing if there were a clever explanation or two, but... The whole concept of "meeting" God, Fate or Time was interesting but I get the overall feeling that the episode is kind of a cop-out.

Having Sam never return home is tragic, frustrating and sad, but I think it makes the ending more effective and of course it left the story open. It's the whole "It just is" idea that I have trouble with. Yes, it turns out that the episode led to a great many good conversations but I would have never in a million years thought to end the series that way. Even with my theory on it, which is that Al's Place is a metaphoric mirror image of the real 1953 (Gooshie's reflection was someone completely different, just like Al's Place was to the "real" world), it throws away all of the facts established in the series without shame. I'm sure I'll be in the minority here as usual, but sometimes I feel like I don't even want to consider this episode canon.
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

The alternate ending scripts are completely real. Brian transcribed them from an actual script copy, if I remember correctly.

Personally, I love the long alternate, cliffhanger ending where Al ends up Leaping into the future to find Sam. That would have made for such an awesome sixth season!

Joy
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

I also have one filed away somewhere that a friend gave to me back in 1995. They're legit.
 
Re: The "Script"

I'm sure I'll be in the minority here as usual, but sometimes I feel like I don't even want to consider this episode canon.

I felt this way for years!
I wrote all my fanfic as pre-MI because I just wanted to pretend we hadn't got to that point yet - I ignored it in the hope it would go away!

There is still a part of me that screams "Noooooooooo" every time I see that horrid proclamation at the end, but thanks to some great debates here at Al's I am more forgiving of it now - even to the point of writing Virtual Seasons episodes (plug plug).
I guess it is a valid point that it is because of that final sentence that so many people have debated the series for so long and kept it alive. If it had been sewn up neat and tidy and with a happy reunion, it is more likely that a lot of people would have remembered it fondly and moved on.
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

Personally, I love the long alternate, cliffhanger ending where Al ends up Leaping into the future to find Sam. That would have made for such an awesome sixth season!

I liked the idea of Al going to see the bartender and then leaping forward to help Sam...I just wasn't big on going too far into the future that it lost some credibility...That's why I did a slightly different take on it in the VS...I thought that scenario could be used but in a near-future scenario instead...
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

Having Sam never return home is tragic, frustrating and sad

my feelings exactly. that annoyed me when i read that he never gets home. i wanted him to get home. so when i read that, it annoyed the crap outta me. but it would be worth it if do get to see his daughter become a leaper.


I liked the idea of Al going to see the bartender and then leaping forward to help Sam...I just wasn't big on going too far into the future that it lost some credibility..

i also agree with this as well. ilove how Al got histerical about the bartender saying that he was not needed and Al went off on a rampage about how he got Sam through many things that Sam would not have gotten through himself. and stuff like that.

i also however liked the one where Al is deciding with Beth by his side that he wanted to beocme a leaper and Beth agrees to the idea, and he warns her that he may not come back but she argues that anyone that can come back from vietnam can come back from anywhere.
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

In the airing of Mirror Image, The picture is not in the background when they tell what happenes to Al and Sam. It's just a black screen

What I meant was that after they show the leaping effects in the picture of Al, they just went to a black screen. There was no picture in the background.

Then, on a black screen, they put up the words

"Beth never remarried."


"She and Al have four daughters and will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary in June"



"Dr Sam Becket never returned home."


Then they followed that up with a pictue or Sam and Al standing together in front of the Al's Place window
 
Re: > Re: The "Script"

Hi all.

Are you saying there were alternate endings to Mirror Image?

Were they ever filmed? Or were they just scripted?

Does anyone have a copy of the transcripts of these alternate endings? And would anyone be willing to send me a copy? If so please send it to naggin_dragon_2001@hotmail.com


That ending that says Sam never returned home is sooooooooo sad. My theory is that he DIED when stepping into the QL accelerator in the first place, and that he is no different to Schtopper, except that he has contact with the project through his brainwave connection with Al. Since he's dead he can't be brought back to life and so can never go home.

But wait, I hear you ask... how did he leap home in THE LEAP BACK?
By leaping into Al. If we had seen Sam's reflection in that episode I bet we would have seen Al. So would everyone who works at PQL, but they know it's Sam because of the letter he sent to them.

I don't like the idea of him leaping into the future. It would mean Ziggy would be no help to him, and Sam would have NO pre-knowledge of what he is there to change, thus defeating the purpose of him leaping there.

What I find most confusing is that Sam originally met Al because of Al being an alcoholic and Sam saving him. Al became an alco because Beth left him. If Beth doesn't leave him, Al wouldn't be an alco, and they'd never meet. I guess GTF has other plans eh.

Also, in leaps after he gets Al and Beth back together, can Sam only leap into himself? If not, why can't the people running the project just find where he is through the person in the Waiting Room?


I hope these questions are answered in the movie, if it's ever made.
 
The "Script"

But wait, I hear you ask... how did he leap home in THE LEAP BACK? By leaping into Al. If we had seen Sam's reflection in that episode I bet we would have seen Al. So would everyone who works at PQL, but they know it's Sam because of the letter he sent to them.

Sam, Al and Tom Jarrett all switched places. Sam leaped into Al's position in the Imaging Chamber in his own time but with his OWN aura. Al leaped into Tom and inhabited HIS aura (as we saw when he looked at his reflection in the caf?), and this of course means that Tom has Al's reflection in the Waiting Room. Whoever is the one that inhabits an aura will have their counterpart inhabit their aura as well.

My theory is that he DIED when stepping into the QL accelerator in the first place, and that he is no different to Schtopper, except that he has contact with the project through his brainwave connection with Al. Since he's dead he can't be brought back to life and so can never go home.

It's been established later in the series that it is Sam's physical body that leaps through time, not his mind or soul. This wasn't clear up until some point in Season 2 or 3, though, where this was changed. An example to prove this is when he fathered his daughter, Sammy Jo, in one of the "Trilogy" episodes, "For Your Love."

What I find most confusing is that Sam originally met Al because of Al being an alcoholic and Sam saving him. Al became an alco because Beth left him. If Beth doesn't leave him, Al wouldn't be an alco, and they'd never meet. I guess GTF has other plans eh.

Don Bellisario has said himself a few times that Sam and Al are destined to meet no matter what, just as Sam is destined to travel through time. In the new timeline with Al being married to Beth, he still lost his sister, Trudy, and he was still a P.O.W. for an extra two years in the new timeline. His parents still divorced, his family destroyed, and he still grew up in an orphanage. He still had bitter feelings toward God and religion (as seen in "Leap Of Faith"), so Al still had all of that tragedy in his life. Being married to Beth and having four daughters certainly made him a happier man, but it doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't an alcoholic. The point is that he still harbored and disguised a lot of pain, and therefore would be as likely to solve his problems with a bottle.

Also, in leaps after he gets Al and Beth back together, can Sam only leap into himself? If not, why can't the people running the project just find where he is through the person in the Waiting Room?

Considering that Sam leaped as himself in "Mirror Image," and even after he leaped out of the bar and into Beth's house, yes, I believe he continued to leap as himself. This would be part of his "difficult new assignment" because it would be too difficult for the Project to maintain contact with him. Then of course is the whole alternate ending where Al leaps to the bar and becomes a leaper himself (if you choose to consider that canon). I know I have a problem considering the last episode as canon as it is. The whole scene where Al leaps back to the bar is only scripted and was never filmed because Don knew by that time that Quantum Leap had been canceled. The extent of the filmed alternate ending is simply a picture of Al, Beth and his four daughters after the leap effect. (Instead of the black screen and epilogue.) You can read the script on this site.
 
Re: The "Script"

We did manage to do a few "future" stories in the Virtual Seasons, but they aren't bright and cheery like Back to the Future II...Sam was "ahead of his time" for good reason in those stories...and you'd be surprised who helped Sam in the future... :b

(steps back in case Damon wants to elaborate since one of his stories is involved...) :lol
 
Just read them

I just read the alternate endings to Mirror Image...

I have to say I LOVE the ending where Al's talking to Beth saying he needs to become a leaper - I'd have much preferred seeing that than the horrible ending we got, but the one where he actually BECOMES a leaper is ridiculous.
 
The Endings

I agree, the "futuristic bar" ending is completely ridiculous in my opinion.

That being said, I'm going to backtrack a bit and say that I too was upset when I first saw the ending, but after giving it some though (quite a few years), I think the ending was perfect. Because, Sam's decision was that he knew deep down, he wanted to help people, not go home, that was the point. He could leap wherever he wanted to, and if he WANTED to go home he could, but he didn't. He was someone who wanted to right every wrong in history, and that's why he continued to leap. I think this makes Sam one of the greatest heroes in television, because he was so selfless.

I'd hate to see a future series or movie change that too, I think the ending should stay the way it was.
 
Re: The Endings

As I've said before, I like the ending, but I think the rest of the episode could qualify as the worst final? in television history. They might as well have had Sam be able to fly, too. Getting a better hint of just what exactly this "unknown force" was was an interesting idea, but everything else obviously didn't make sense. Don Bellisario spent the entire series building this completely original and interesting premise, and in some cases, took a few seasons to work out all of the loose ends just to ultimately throw it all away. I just think we Leapers deserved better.
 
Re: The Endings

I dunno. I rather like the ending where Al becomes a Leaper himself.

Many people think that if Sam Leaped into the future, he wouldn't have any foreknowledge of what to do....

Well, in my QL fanscript that I based off the alternate ending, I explained it where the future to Sam was the past to someone else, and that someone else was able to feed Sam information on what to do to help people.

If you went outside of Time and looked at all events from beginning to end, from the birth of life (at whichever point in time you believe) to the end of life (as a whole), you could see where the year 2009 would be the future to me sitting here at this particular moment, but could be the past for someone existing in the year 2014.

So, I think that even if Sam *had* Leaped into the future, he would have still received help from *someone* in terms of information on how to change people's lives.

Joy
 
Yeah, but...

You're forgetting one thing, and that is that nobody but the project (and Al the bar tender) would know about Sam being a leaper and trying to put right something that has gone wrong. Plus, noone in Sam's future can see into THEIR future, and so would be just as helpless as Sam. The only way I think that someone in Sam's future could help him is if they have also come from the future of THAT point, but that might defeat the purpose of Sam being there because the person who is helping Sam could do that task himself.

It was a lot less confusing when Sam only leapt into the past.
 
Light bulb now switched on

I just thought of someone who could help him if he leapt into the future...

His Guardian Angel Anhelita.

The only problem is when she was sent to help Sam the first time she wasn't told WHAT was going to happen, just that SOMETHING BAD was going to happen within the following day. If this was to happen again, she'd only be able to give moral support, or at best, be a human shield.
 
Re: Yeah, but...

I see it the way that Joy explained it too.

In my VS story, "Future's End," Sam leaped 30 years into his future (the year 2034) and found PQL in ruins, turned into a religious shrine where people worshipped him. He was temporarily retrieved from the time stream by his granddaughter, Isabella Fulton (Sammy Jo's daughter), who had perfected the retrieval program and "locked" onto Sam's signal somewhere in the past while he was in-between leaps, effectively pulling him forward in time to her present. Since Sam jumped forward, he went missing for 30 years: Al, Beth, Tina, Sammy Jo, and most everyone at the Project were long dead. Ziggy's program still existed, but went through 30 years of evolution. Sam arrived as himself and discovered that he "never returned home," just like the final episode said. But just because this was how history unfolded the "first time" around doesn't mean it has to happen the same way the "second time" around. Sam was ultimately sent back into the past with the knowledge that if he continues along the same path he's been following, his fate will remain unchanged. It doesn't go against what Don wrote in the finale, but still provides a way to change it from a different perspective. Even now in the VS, the events that led to that future timeline are no longer in effect... but even though that specific future no longer exists in its original form, certain elements are unfolding very similar to how they did the first time around (thanks in no small part to the stories that Greg wrote afterward). Darkness still seems to be destined for Sam's future unless he drastically changes his way of thinking.

So, technically, the way I wrote it, Sam didn't really leap into the future. He went "missing" for close to 30 years. He had no Observer because from PQL's perspective, Sam vanished off of the past/present timeline. They can't look into the future because it hasn't happened for them yet. Sam's present, however, can be someone else's past. ;)
 
Ahhhhhhh

THAT is a good explanation... I like it.

I don't like that Al, Beth, Tina, Gooshie and Sammy Jo are all dead though - surely at least one of them could have lived another 30 years.

I have a theory. Maybe once Sam leapt into the future, the Project kept going trying to perfect the retrieval program, and have someone run searches for Sam every few years. Once enough time has past so that the time the project is at has past the time Sam has leapt to, the event that Sam has been sent to change has already gone wrong, they'd know how Sam could prevent it, and hopefully will be able to contact him. To do this Al would have been cryogenically frozen, because he was their only link to Sam, and have him reanimated once they find him.

Once they contact Sam and Sam puts right the wrong, he leaps. If he leaps into the past then they can find him again. If he leaps into a time that is BEFORE the time that the project originally lost him, then they can leap Al back to his own time so he can live his life once more while still helping Sam. If Sam leaps into the future instead of the past, Al is frozen again and the project waits for enough time to pass so the event can happen, then the process is repeated.

If in the event that Sam has leapt into the future, the project has found him, the right has been put wrong, he leaps back to the past, Al is leapt back to his own time, then Sam leaps back into the future, since the project of the future (which has leapt Al) has perfected the retrieval program, they can simply retrieve Al so he can contact Sam again.
 
Re: Ahhhhhhh

The reason why they were all dead is because a disaster occurred in the "present" that destroyed PQL. A few people, like Dr. Beeks, Donna, Stephen (Sam and Donna's son), and Sammy Jo survived. Sammy Jo killed herself shortly after giving birth to her daughter because she believed herself to be responsible, when in fact, she was not (she attempted to step into the Accelerator to find her father when the Accelerator went kablooey)...which is part of what Sam had to put right that once went wrong. ;)