Cast and Sets
Teaser
Act
One
Act
Two
Act
Three
Act
Four
with alternate ending #1
Cliffhanger
alternate ending #2
EXEC. PRODUCER: Donald P. Bellisario
CO-EXEC. PRODUCERS: Deborah Pratt
Chas. Floyd Johnson
SUPERVISING PRODS: Harker Wade
Richard C. Okie
PRODUCER: Robin Jill Bernbeim
PROD. #68126
Feb. 12, 1993
Rev. 2/22/93
QUANTUM LEAP
MIRROR IMAGE
AUGUST 8. 1953
Written
by
Donald P. Bellisario
#68126
OUANTUM LEAP
MIRROR IMAGE
AUGUST 8, 1953
CAST
SAM BECKETT
AL/THE OBSERVER
1953:
AL, THE BARTENDER
BEARDED GUSHIE
STAWPAH
TONCHI
MINER ZIGGY
MUTTA
SKAGGS
KRUGER
MISTER COLLINS
POLICE CAPTAIN
PETE
EXTRAS:
TWO BOYS ON SCHWINNS
COAL MINERS
COMPANY DOCTOR
NURSE
TOWNS PEOPLE
1969 AND 2000:
BETH
2000:
GUSHIE
INTERIORS:
1953: AL’S PLACE
2000: PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP
WAITING ROOM
IMAGING CHAMBER/ CORRIDOR
CONTROL ROOM
EXTERIORS:
1953: AL’S PLACE
VEHICLES:
1953: AMBULANCE
STOCK:
COAL-MINING TOWN
MINE TIPPLE
“JIMMY”
“FUTURE BOY”
“QUANTUM LEAP PILOT”
“MIA”
EXT. PROJECT QUANTUM
LEAP
QUANTUM
LEAP
MIRROR IMAGE
AUGUST 8, 1953
TEASER
LEAP IN
INT. AL’S PLACE - DAY - CLOSE ON SAM
The electric blue shimmer of the leap dissipates to reveal
Sam with his back to a slowly-closing screen door. He’s
wearing a snap-brimmed straw hat, sport shirt, slacks and
loafers. To his right, venetian blinds dispel the worst of
summer sun penetrating the large glass window front. Beyond
these partially opened blinds, we can make out a small town
street lined with company houses. Two boys pedal past on
Schwinns with cards clattering in the wheel spokes. The
only other sound is a faint blues melody drifting on the hot
air with the dust motes.
ON AL THE BARTENDER
He stands softly in the cool shadows of the oak wood bar,
polishing a beer glass. A John Goodman look-alike, Al is in
his forties, sports a small moustache and sensitive blue
eyes. He wears a crisp sport shirt, slacks and a white
apron tied neatly around his Falstaffian belly. The ruby
ring on his right hand glints as he holds the glass to the
light to examine it for smudges. Satisfied, he sets it,
with a tinkle, beside a dozen others on a white cloth atop
the bar. He picks up another from the drainboard next to
the zinc sink and begins to polish it.
BACK ON SAM
The slow-turning floor fan momentarily propels a blast of
air in his direction and Sam removes his hat to let the
breeze ruffle his damp hair. He pulls a handkerchief from
his pocket and wipes the headband as he takes in the room.
SAM’S POV - THE
TAVERN
The tin ceiling tiles, oak bar and vertical fluorescent
light fixtures are typical of the 1930’s. While the red
leatherette and chrome chairs and bar stools,
Formica-topped-tables, jukebox and pinball machine are
strictly early fifties.
There’s a large 1949 RCA commercial television set in a
corner near the vertical floor fan that’s pushing air around
the room.
BACK ON SAM
He puts the hat back on his head and crosses to the bar,
taking a stool at the near end.
AL
What can I get you?
SAM
What’s on tap?
AL
Schlitz.
SAM
Schlitz?
AL
I’ve got Iron City, Duquesne or
Fort Pitt in bottles.
SAM
Schlitz’ll be fine.
Al picks up an 8-ounce glass and holds it next to the
12-ounce schooner he’s polishing.
AL
Regular or schooner?
SAM
Schooner.
Al brings the schooner to the tap, draws a beer with a nice
head of foam and slides it in front of Sam.
SAM
How much?
AL
Fifteen cents.
SAM
(smiles)
Fifteen cents.
He reaches into his pocket, finds a dime and a nickel and
drops the coins on the bar. Al turns his back to Sam and
punches the sale up on an old brass and nickel NCR cash
register. He drops the coins in the till and closes it with
a thrust from his belly before returning to wipe more
glasses.
ON SAM
He takes a deep sip, his eyes still absorbing the atmosphere
as he tries to decipher who and where he is. In the back,
beyond a sign announcing the “Tenth Annual Beer Barrel
Reunion,” he spots an....
OLD PHILCO RADIO
It’s yellow back-lit dial and cloth-covered speaker are
straight out of the 1930’s. Above it is a 1953 Pittsburgh
Pirate baseball schedule with wins and losses marked up to
August the 8th. From there he looks to a....
JAR OF PIG’S KNUCKLES
marinated with hard-boiled eggs in a reddish liquid.
BACK ON SAM
He makes a slight grimace and shifts his eyes to...A
COLLECTION OF WORLD WAR II PHOTOS. This homemade display
contains photos of all the men from this small town who went
to war. They range from backyard snaps to official boot
camp graduation photos. Young men, some shirtless, standing
next to planes, tanks, ships, buddies and lovers. A few are
half-tones, clipped from newspapers. All-in-all there are
nearly fifty photos in the display.
OMITTED
BACK ON SAM
He smiles at the photos, then turns his eyes to the back bar
with its stacked rows of Scotch, rye and whiskey bottles and
most importantly...its circular mirror. Curious as to who
he has leaped into, Sam takes another sip from the beer and
moves down the bar to take a peek at his reflection.
ON AL THE BARTENDER
watching Sam closely as he
polishes the glass.
CLOSE ON SAM
He moves in front of the
mirror and his eyes widen in
surprise. After a beat, we move to....
THE MIRROR
Of all the people Sam has leaped into, none could surprise
him more than this. The face in the mirror is his own!
SAM
Oh, boy.
SMASH CUT TO MAIN TITLE
CREDITS
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
FADE IN
INT. AL’S PLACE - DAY
We find Sam as we left him.... stunned as he stares at his
reflection in the mirror.
SAM’S VOICE OVER
No reflection could shock me more
than my own. It shattered all the
quantum truths I’d come to accept
as gospel. It was as if someone
told Einstein that E didn’t equal
MC squared.
AL
Something wrong?
SAM
(still awed)
That’s me in the mirror.
The bartender looks to the mirror and then back to Sam.
AL
A reasonably-close resemblance.
Realizing how foolish he must sound, Sam turns to the
bartender and sputters through a covering explanation.
SAM
I haven’t seen my reflection in a
while and it surprised me. I
mean, I could look in a mirror
more often if I wanted to, but I
haven’t wanted to.
AL
Neither do vampires.
SAM
I’m no vampire....
(remembering a past
leap)
...this time.
Sam turns back to the mirror.
SAM
Oh, my God!
AL
What?
SAM
My hair’s turned gray!
AL
Just a little. You really ought
to look in a mirror more often.
Sam is mesmerized by his reflection and who can blame him;
it’s been five years since he’s seen himself.
SAM
I’m starting to get crow’s feet.
AL
How long has it been since you’ve
taken a good look at yourself?
SAM
I guess it’s been a while.
AL
Let too much time go by and you’ll
lose touch with reality.
(beat)
‘Course, I shouldn’t talk. I
looked into this mirror every day
for years and still thought of
myself as a skinny kid.
Al walks over to the collection of World War II photos and
taps one.
AL
It took this picture to wake me
up.
CLOSE ON A PHOTO
Al is in civilian clothes, but wearing a German helmet. He
has a rifle on his shoulder and is sticking his belly out in
a crude caricature of Hitler and Mussolini rolled into one.
In the photo with him is a young army lieutenant.
SAM’S VOICE
(being kind)
You pushed your stomach out to
make it look fat.
BACK ON BOTH MEN
The bartender looks closely at the picture then turns back
to Sam.
AL
(straight)
No, I didn’t.
For a moment neither one speaks, then the bartender smiles
and Sam realizes he’s joking. It breaks the tension for Sam
and he reverts to his usual leap-in behavior, tactfully
trying to discover the date and who he is. He takes a look
at some of the other photos.
SAM
Those all from World War II?
AL
Everyone from Cokeburg who served
is up there.
SAM
Who’s in the photo with you?
AL
My brother, Joe. We took that
when I visited him at Camp Edwards
before he shipped to Europe.
(beat)
He’s a teacher now.
SAM
You haven’t changed much since
then.
AL
My hair’s thinned.
SAM
Not much considering it’s been
nearly....
Sam waits for the bartender to fill in the blanks and when
he doesn’t....
SAM
...some time.
(quickly)
Do you have today’s paper?
AL
I already tossed the
‘Post-Gazette.’ ‘The Press’ will
get here about six.
(remembers)
Wait... I may have saved the sports
page.
Al rummages under the bar and comes up with the sports
section. He hands it to Sam.
AL
Pirates lost, again. Never should
have traded Kiner to the Cubs.
SAM
Guess not.
ON “THE PITTSBURGH
POST-GAZETTE”
The headline reads “Half of Buc Staff Pitches; Braves Win,
9-2”. The date is August 8th, 1953.
FEATURE SAM
He looks up from the paper in surprise.
SAM
August the eighth, nineteen
fifty-three. It’s the day I was
born!
AL
Happy Birthday.
San looks to the clock.
SAM’S POV - LARGE CLOCK
with a Duquesne beer logo. It
indicates it’s 12:47.
SAM
I was born at twelve-thirty.
(beat)
Forty-three minutes from now in
Indiana.
AL
No. Actually, it was seventeen
minutes ago.
(beat)
Time’s a little funny here.
The town voted not to go on
Daylight Savings Time.
Twelve-thirty here is the same as
twelve-thirty in the Midwest.
SAM
Then I was born about the time I
walked through your door.
Al pours a shot of Seagram’s Seven and places it in front of
Sam.
AL
On the house. Happy Birthday.
Sam is still stunned at the realization that he was
literally just born. He picks up the shot glass, but before
he can sip it, an energetic little man of considerable age
bangs through the screen door and up to the bar.
FEATURE THE LITTLE MAN
This gnome-like creature wears a Russian peasant cap and
sports a tobacco-streaked white beard that extends to the
missing button above his belt. He slaps a half-dozen
letters on the bar and looks expectantly to Al who pours him
a shot of whiskey. He tosses down the whiskey in a single
gulp and releases a burp in Sam’s direction. The smell
sends Sam reeling. Then the little Russian is off the stool
and out the door without so much as a word. Al picks up the
mail and flips through it.
AL
Should have warned you. Gushie’s
got the worst breath in Cokeburg.
SAM
Gushie?
(beat)
His name is Gushie?
The bartender nods. Sam is off the stool and out the screen
door like a shot.
EXT. AL’S PLACE - DAY
Sam steps through the screen door and squints into a
surrealistically bright sun. Two boys are sitting on the
ground working on their bikes.
ON THE BOYS
They both look up with that look reserved for strangers.
ON SAM
There is something familiar about them, but he can’t quite
make the connection. He takes a deep breath and looks down
the street.
SAM’S POV - COAL MINING
TOWN - DAY - STOCK
A slate dump dominates the town, rising hundreds of feet
above the company houses. A tipple can be seen in the
distance and beyond it the softly rolling hills of Western
Pennsylvania.
SAM’S VOICE
Come on, Al. What’s taking you so
long?
BACK ON SAM
He turns to go back in and sees the name of the tavern
scrolled in red and gold across the window --AL’S PLACE.
INT. AL’S PLACE - DAY
Sam slowly reenters the tavern and crosses to the bar.
SAM
You said his name was Gushie?
AL
Un-huh.
Sam picks up the shot and
tosses it down. He shudders
slightly.
SAM
And your name’s Al?
AL
Albert. Alberto actually.
SAM
(hesitant)
Not.. .Calavicchi?
AL
No. Not Calavicchi.
Sam lets out a breath of
relief. He feels a bit foolish,
again.
SAM
I know a Gushie, which you have to
admit isn’t a household name, and
I know an Al.
AL
Al’s pretty common.
SAM
But Gushie isn’t, especially since
the Gushie I know and this Gushie
have the same horrid breath.
AL
Halitosis isn’t rare, especially
with the old timers.
SAM
Maybe not, but there are two boys
out front who look familiar, too.
AL
Don’t all boys look a bit alike?
SAM
It’s all a little too
coincidental, especially when I’m
me.
(pause)
I’ll bet that sounded strange.
AL
Just a little.
ON THE SCREEN DOOR
It squeaks open and a badly-hunchbacked man shuffles in and
takes a seat at a table nearest the door. Only in his
forties, his rheumatoid arthritis has given him the
immobility of a man in his nineties. His name is Stawpah.
ON AL
He pulls a 12-ounce bottle of Pepsi Cola from the cooler,
uncaps it and delivers it to Stawpah’s table.
ON STAWPAH
He pays Al the nickel and
suspiciously eyes Sam as he sips
from the tall bottle.
FEATURE SAM
as Al walks back behind the bar. (NOTE: Whethere due to
arthrisitis or an inability to look one in the eye, most of
the time Stawpah speaks to the floor.)
AL
His name’s Stawpah. Any Stawpahs
in your life?
SAM
Not that I can remember.
STAWPAH
(loudly, with a
Russian
accent)
You no miner.
SAM
No. I’m just passing through. My
name’s Sam.
STAWPAH
I was miner. Best damn loader in
Marianna.
(beat)
I load twenty-four ton a shift.
Twenty-four. Today sixteen is big
deal. My Bubba....
(sign of the Cross)
...could load sixteen ton.
Al rings the cash register, drops the nickel in and flips
the till shut with his belly.
SAM
(to Al)
Bubba?
AL
Grandmother.
Sam chuckles to himself, but Stawpah sees it.
STAWPAH
You think I lie!
AL
Easy Stawpah. Let the man enjoy
his beer.
STAWPAH
I know. How could a cripple load
twenty-four ton of coal? I no
always look like this. I was big.
Strong like bull.
SAM
I’m sure you were.
STAWPAH
Loading coal in water did this.
Soak my bones. Rust them.
(beat)
I be lucky to live to see fifty.
AL
I thought it was forty?
STAWPAH
I was forty in March.
He takes a sip of the Pepsi. Behind him another miner
enters through the screen door.
ON TONCHI
He’s wearing his mine cap, full work gear and toting a lunch
pail. He’s quite clean since he’s on his way to work.
(Tonchi is played by John D’Aquino.)
TONCHI
Al, give me a double shot of
whiskey and a can of snuff.
ON SAM
It’s time to be stunned, again. He recognizes Tonchi as
Frank La Matta.
SHUTTER CUT - SCENE FROM JIMMY
- STOCK
Sam, as Jimmy, hugging Frank and clowning around.
BACK ON SAM
He comes off the stool and
rushes Tonchi to hug him.
SAM
Frank!
TONCHI
(warning)
Hey.. .whoa.
Tonchi’s tone stops Sam in his tracks.
TONCHI
(wary)
Who the hell are you?
SAM
It’s me. Jimm....
He stops, realizing “Frank” had never seen him except as
Jimmy.
TONCHI
I don’t know you, Jim.
STAWPAH
(to Tonchi)
He tell me his name Sam.
Al hands Tonchi the snuff and pours him a shot of whiskey.
Tonchi dribbles a little of it into the snuff can to moisten
the tobacco.
TONCHI
Which is it?
SAM
Sam. Sam Beckett.
(beat)
But your name is Frank, isn’t it?
TONCHI
My name’s Tonchi.
SAM
Do you have a younger brother?
Tonchi tenses at the mention of his younger brother. He
takes a pinch of snuff and inserts it behind his lower lip.
TONCHI
What about him?
SAM
Was he born with Down’s Syndrome?
TONCHI
What the hell’s that?
SAM
A genetic disorder that causes
mental retardation.
TONCHI
(flaring)
You saying he was born stupid!
SAM
I’d never say that!
(softer)
I was asking if he was born with
a mental disability.
STAWPAH
That mean born stupid.
TONCHI
Pete may be a little slow, but he
ain’t stupid!
ANOTHER ANGLE
A long blast of the mine whistle echoes through the town.
Tonchi pockets the snuff and stands.
TONCHI
I got to go to work.
(pointing to Sam)
Don’t talk about my brother. Even
usin’ fancy words, don’t talk
about him.
(to Al)
Put it on my tab, Al.
STAWPAH
What if he State Liquor Control
Board?
SAM
State Liquor Control Board?
AL
Running a bar tab is illegal in
Pennsylvania. If you were from
the Liquor Control Board, I could
lose my license.
STAWPAH
Check his wallet!
TONCHI
You a revenue agent?
SAM
I don’t think so.
TONCHI
Let’s see your wallet.
CLOSE ON SAM
He pats his back pocket, feels a wallet and pulls it out.
Me recognizes it as his own. He tears open the Velcro strip
which, of course, evokes a surprised reaction from Tonchi
and Stawpah.
STAWPAH
What that?
SAM
Just a Velcro....
(realizing)
... a new kind of zipper.
Sam looks at the wallet.
SAM’S POV - HIS
DRIVER’S LICENSE
Issued by New Mexico, it has a holographic photo of him and
a bold expiration date of 1998.
BACK ON AL
Sam realizes he can’t show this to Tonchi. He closes the
wallet.
SAM
You know....who I am is really none
of your business.
STAWPAH
Take it, Tonchi!
Tonchi gets off his bar stool and moves toward Sam.
AL
You’ll be late for work, Tonch.
Tonchi stops and looks at Al,
who nods toward the door. He
eyes Sam for a beat, then turns back to the bar. He tosses
down the shot and walks toward the screen door.
ACROSS STAWPAH
as Tonchi pushes open the screen door.
STAWPAH
(a dig)
In old days, I take it from him.
TONCHI
Yeah, well, these aren’t the old
days, Stawp.
(softer)
I wish they were.
Tonchi pushes on through the door and Stawpah stares at the
bottle.
CLOSE ON SAM
He watches Tonchi exit, then opens his wallet and looks at
his license, again. After a moment, he looks up into the
mirror. As we move in on his reflection, we hear.....
OBSERVER’S VOICE
He had to leap into someone!
SMASH CUT TO
INT. PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP
WAITING ROOM
We move past the Observer and Gushie to reveal an empty room
and mirrored table.
GUSHIE
He didn’t. Ziggy even scanned
for ectoplasm on the remote
chance-that Doctor Beckett leaped
into a specter. It was negative.
(beat)
There’s no one here, not even a
ghost.
OBSERVER
That’s impossible, Gushie. The
only way no one could be here is
if Sam leaped into himself.
GUSHIE
Ziggy gives that a ninety-nine
point two percent probability.
OBSERVER
(stunned)
He’s somewhere in time as
himself?
GUSHIE
Apparently so.
OBSERVER
How in God’s name will Ziggy ever
find him?
GUSHIE
We don’t know that she can.
On their troubled expressions, we....
FADE OUT
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE IN
INT. AL’S PLACE - DAY - CLOSE ON THE BAR
The first shift at the colliery has let out and the bar is
lined with coal-dust blackened miners tossing down whiskies
with beer chasers. The cigarette smoke is thick; the
laughter loud. Stawpah kibitzes between a Pinochle game at
one table and a Hearts game at another, irritating everyone
within earshot, which is quite an accomplishment since the
melting pot of sound includes a blasting jukebox, pinging
pinball machine and chattering television, all of which is
punctuated by the ringing of the cash register. Over this,
through the magic of brilliant sound mixing, we hear Sam
spin his narrative. -
SAM’S VOICE OVER
It was August the eighth,
nineteen
fifty-three; literally the day I
was born. But instead of nursing
at my mother’s breast, I was
nursing my third beer in a vain
attempt to make sense out of this
bizarre leap.
(beat)
I had leaped into a coal-mining
tavern peopled with names and
faces both strange and familiar to
me. But the biggest surprise was
that I was me.
ON SAM
legs stretched out beneath the Formica table as he slumps in
the chair and nurses a beer. His eye line is slightly
upward.
SAM’S VOICE OVER
(continuing)
For the first time in years the
reflection in the mirror was mine,
gray hair, crow’s feet, and all.
(beat)
So why had I leaped here? What
wrong was I to put right? And
where in God’s name was Al?
(beat)
I was desperate for answers. So
desperate I was even looking for
them....
We pan from Sam to....
A 1949 RCA TELEVISION SET
CAPTAIN Z-RO, an early fifties Sci-Fi series, is playing on
this black and white commercial projection model.
SAM’S VOICE
...on TV.
ANNOUNCER’S VOICE
Captain Z-RO!
(beat)
In this secret location known only
to a few in the outside world,
Captain Z-RO and his associates
conduct experiments in time and
space, to learn from the past.. .to
plan for the future.
MINER’S VOICE
Wouldn’t it be great to travel in
time?
ON SAM AND THE MINER
who just spoke, as he pulls up a chair and sits at the
table.
STUTTER CUT - CAPTAIN GALAXY
Holding forth to a crowd of
kids.
ON SAM AND THE MINER
Even through his coal-dust blackened face, the miner is
recognizable as Captain Galaxy (Richard Herd).
SAM
Captain Galaxy!
MINER
(looking at TV)
He’s Captain Z-RO.
(to Sam)
Is there a Captain Galaxy, coo?
SAM
(still stunned)
There is.
MINER
He must be on canal eight. Al
don’t get canal eight too good.
Only now and then, late at night
when the iodine bounces the
signal.
SAM
Iodine?
MINER
I read about it in the ‘Post-
Gazette.’ This iodine layer
bounces TV signals hundreds of
miles. A station in Texas got
bounced clear to Canada by the
iodine.
SAM
Ionosphere. The signal gets
reflected by the ionosphere.
MINER
Yeah. That too.
SAM
Your name isn’t Moe Stein, is it?
MINER
(offers a hand)
I’m Ziggy.
SAM
(stunned)
Ziggy?
(beat)
Your name is Ziggy!
MINER ZIGGY
You heard of me?
SAM
I have a friend named Ziggy.
MINER ZIGGY
I never knew anyone named Ziggy.
What’s he do?
SAM
She figures things out.
MINER ZIGGY
She? This Ziggy is a girl?
SAM
Sort of.
MINER ZIGGY
Not much of a looker, huh?
SAM
I wouldn’t let her hear you say
that.
Stawpah, who’s passing the table, clenches his arthritic
hands as if firing a machine gun and makes a shooting sound
with his mouth- Miner Ziggy cringes.
MINER ZIGGY
(angrily)
How’d you like me to straighten
your back, Stawpah?
(to Sam)
He makes fun of me ‘cause I didn’t
qualify on the machine gun. I
failed the written test.
(beat)
You ever fire a machine gun, Sam?
SAM
I’m not sure.
MINER ZIGGY
You’d remember if you did.
There’s nothing in the world like
shootin’ a water-cooled fifty.
(romancing the
memory)
You squeeze the trigger and she
spits out a stream of red
tracers....
(brrrrrrap sound)
...empty cabbages fly everywhere.
SAM
You mean cartridges?
MINER ZIGGY
Them, too.
FEATURE STAWPAH
He bangs the bar with the empty Pepsi bottle.
STAWPAH
Gimme another, Al.
Al puts a fresh Pepsi on the counter in front of Stawpah and
picks up the nickel.
STAWPAH
(nodding toward Sam)
He ain’t what he pretend to be.
AL
What’s he pretending to be, Stawp?
STAWPAH
When I figure that out, I know
- why he here.
AL
Maybe he’s here for the same
reason you are....
Stawpah twists his stiff neck to shoot a look at Al.
AL
....to get a beer.
STAWPAH
I no drink beer, Al, you know
that.
AL
I forgot.
STAWPAH
You no forget nothing.
(beat)
I wonder what happen around here
if you did?
AL
Things might go a little... ka-ka.
ON SAM
He spins in his chair at the sound of “ka-ka.”
FLASHBACK - ON THE OBSERVER
Hung over and wearing his bathrobe as in the pilot episode,
he explains to Sam that something went wrong.
OBSERVER
It went a little.. .ka-ka.
BACK ON SAM
He stares at Al, the
bartender, sure there is some sort of
connection. Ziggy thinks he’s staring at Stawpah.
MINER ZIGGY
Don’t let Stawpah get your coat.
He don’t trust nobody. He forgets
this ain’t Russia where everybody
works for the BVD.
SAM
KGB?
MINER ZIGGY/SAM
Them, too.
Sam gets up and passes Stawpah who is walking back to his
table.
ON THE BAR
Sam steps up near Al, who’s pouring a shot for Mutta.
SAM
I know another Al who says
‘ka-ka.
AL
Common expression.
SAM
Not where I come from.
AL
You’re not where you come from.
SAM
So it’s just another coincidence?
AL
‘Ka-ka’s’ a pretty common
expression in Cokeburg since
nearly everyone comes from the old
country.
(beat)
Russians, Poles, Serbs,
Croatians....
(louder)
Mutta!
A miner looks up in time to catch the shot glass Al sends
sliding down the bar.
AL
(continuing)
they all say ‘ka-ka.’
SAM
Do you know where I come from, Al?
AL
You said Indiana.
S AM
I also said I was born in
nineteen fifty-three. Why doesn’t
that bother you?
AL
First rule of bartending is to
listen and nod, no matter what the
customer says.
SAM
You know why I’m here don’t you?
AL
Don’t you watch old Bogart films?
The second rule of bartending is
never to give away information for
nothing.
Al reaches for a punchboard.
AL
Like to take a chance? Only cost
you a quarter.
(beat)
You could hit the jackpot.
S A.M
(reading)
Fifty dollars.
AL
And the answer to your question.
SAM
You mean that?
AL
Yes.
Al hands the punchboard to Sam who tosses a quarter on the
bar and picks up the key punch.
CLOSE ON THE PUNCHBOARD
Sam’s hand slides back across the un-punched holes as he
waits for some sixth sense to tell him which is the jackpot.
Finally, his hand stops, retraces a few holes and punches
out the paper.
ON SAM AND AL
Sam takes the roll of paper from the back of the board and
slowly begins to unravel it.
SAM
Why am I here?
AL
You hit the jackpot?
SAM
(checking)
No.
AL
Then I guess you have to figure
that out for yourself, Sam.
They hold looks for a beat, then Al works his way down the
bar wiping water spots from the polished oak surface. On
Sam’s look, we....
CUT TO
EXT. PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP -
NIGHT - STOCK
The mountain is glowing with the energy Ziggy is using to
search for Sam.
OBSERVER’S VOICE
How long is this nano-search going
to take?
INT. IMAGING CHAMBER CORRIDOR
The Observer and Gushie are hurrying through the bright
white tunnel that leads to the Imaging Chamber.
GUSHIE
A little over a month.
OBSERVER
A month! I’m supposed to stand in
the Imaging Chamber for a month!
GUSHIE
Well, Ziggy estimates there’s an
eighty percent chance we could
acquire a neuron lock in as little
as two-and-a-half weeks....
(off Al’s look)
... give or take a day or two.
The Observer’s glowering look sends Gushie scurrying back to
the main control room. Al hits the handlink buttons and the
Imaging Chamber door opens.
INT. IMAGING CHAMBER - SFX
Al enters this deep blue room devoid of anything except two
silver disks. One in the floor and another floating eight
feet above it. He enters another code in the handlink and
the Chamber Door closes behind him.
CLOSER ON THE OBSERVER
He steps forward onto the silver disk. He touches the
handlink.
OBSERVER
Ready, Gushie?
GUSHIE’S VOICE
Affirmative, Admiral.
Al takes a breath and punches a button on the handlink.
WIDER ANGLE - SFX
Liquid light pours from the silver disk above the Observer’s
head. It’s a shower of light that begins to swirl and
solidify into kaleidoscoping images.
CLOSE ON THE OBSERVER - SFX
With images whirling faster and faster about him, Al seeks
a holographic lock across time with Sam’s mind..
OBSERVER
Come on, Sam. I know you’re out
there somewhere.
(beat)
Lock on to me, buddy. Lock on.
DISSOLVE TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - DAY
Sam is leaning against the wall watching Miner Gushie play
Hearts with three other miners. Stawpah is sitting at the
next table reading the “Pittsburgh Press.”
STAWPAH
Now Reds got H-Bomb!
MUTTA
So, they got the H-Bomb.
STAWPAH
What if they drop it on
Pittsburgh?
SAM
They won’t.
STAWPAH
How you know?
SAM
I’m a spy. Spies know everything.
STAWPAH
(sarcastic)
Ha. Ha. You make big joke. Very
funny.
MINER ZIGGY
Don’t worry, Stawpah. If the
Ruskies drop the bomb, we can hide
in the mine until the radiator
blows away.
GHEE
Radiation.
MINER ZIGGY
That too.
STAWPAH
‘That too.’ ‘That too.’ You so
damn dumb, you no know your own
name.
MINER ZIGGY
Simo. Simo Servonovich. Want me
to spell it?
STAWPAH
Da.
MINER ZIGGY
S-I-M-O.
STAWPAH
Last name. - Spell you last-name.
ANGLE FEATURING SAM
Miner Ziggy looks uncomfortable and Sam intervenes.
SAM
So Ziggy’s a nickname.
MINER ZIGGY
Yeah. (relieved)
S TAW PAN
He no can spell it.
SAM
How’d you get a nickname like
Ziggy?
GHEE
A donkey threw him into a steam
radiator.
SAM
What?
MUTTA
We were playing donkey basketball
in the school gym to raise money
for the town’s widows.
SAM
Doesn’t it tear up the gym floor?
MINER ZIGGY
We wear tennis shoes.
Sam takes that without a blink...he’s getting used to Zigqy.
MUTTA
After Ziggy got tossed into that
steam radiator, he zigged and
zagged for a week.
MINER ZIGGY
Al’s called me Ziggy ever since.
Sam turns to the bar.
SAM’S POV - AL, THE
BARTENDER
laughing and talking as he serves drinks. His eyes catch
Sam’s and seem to twinkle.
SAM’S VOICE
Does Al do all the nicknaming
around here?
MUTTA
Yeah. He’s good at it.
BACK FEATURING SAM
The miners continue to play cards as Sam turns back to then.
SAM
I’ll bet he is.
MUTTA
He nicknamed Baba. Ghee. Nuzo.
MINER ZIGGY
Kitty. Munja. Herky.
GHEE
Jughead. Snaggs. Mutta.
STAWPAH
Why you care what Al call us?
SAM
I need it for my KGB report.
The card players laugh and
Stawpah grumbles as he retreats
behind the newspaper.
SAM
What about Gushie? Did Al
nickname Gushie?
MINER ZIGGY
He must have. He nicknames
everybody.
STAWPAH
He no name me and he no name
Gushie! Gushie been Gushie since
day he was born.
(beat)
Al only name dummy like Ziggy.
SAM
I’m tired of hearing you call him
a dummy.
STAWPAH
Why?
SAM
How’d you like someone to call you
a cripple?
STAWPAH
(confused)
I am cripple.
SAM
Wouldn’t physically disabled be
a more humane way to describe your
affliction?
STAWPAH
what you call it, no gonna change it.
SAM
No. But it might change attitudes
toward you.
MINER ZIGGY
Only shutting Stawpah’s mouth
would do that.
The miners’ laughter is pierced by a series of sharp blasts
from the mine whistle. Everyone instantly sobers.
SAM
What is it?
ANOTHER ANGLE
The bar empties as everyone makes a mad dash for the door,
even Stawpah.
MINER ZIGGY
Trouble in the mine
He turns and rushes after the others, as we....
SMASH CUT TO
EXT. MINE TIPPLE - DAY - STOCK
Smoke is billowing out of the main shaft as men, women and
children come running from all parts of town.
CLOSER ANGLE
The water dripping cage surfaces through the dense smoke
with a load of gasping, choking miners. They stumble into
the clear air and the arms of the gathering crowd. Kruger,
a German foreman, drops to his knees coughing and gagging in
front of the only man in sight who’s wearing a suit...Mister
Collins, the Mine Superintendent.
KRUGER
Explosion in Butt 18.
COLLINS
How bad?
KUGER
Fire blew itself out, but we lost
about a hundred feet of tunnel.
(beat)
Two men are trapped.
COLLINS
Who?
KUGER
The Palermo Brothers. Tonchi and
Pete.
ON SAM
He’s run up from the others in the bar to have heard that.
As we move in for his reaction....
FADE OUT
END OF ACT TWO
ACT
THREE
FADE IN
EXT. COKEBURG TIPPLE - DAY
We move through drifting smoke east the company doctor and
nurse who are tending injured miners until we find a small
knot of men including Mine Superintendent Collins, Foreman
Kruger and Sam.
KRUGER
The bottom’s filling with gas.
We’ll have to ventilate before
anyone can go down.
MUTTA
Why? We’ve got air tanks.
KRUGER
Breathing isn’t our only problem.
One spark and the whole damn
mine’ll blow!
(to Mine Super)
We’d be a year putting out the
fire.
MINER ZIGGY
(fretting)
What about Frank and Pete?
COLLINS
They’ll have to wait.
SAM
What if they can’t? What if
they’re hurt?
COLLINS
Who are you?
STAWPAH
He State Safety Inspector.
COLLINS
(nervous surprise)
You’re from the Bureau of Mines?
SAM
How long will it take to ventilate
the mine?
The Superintendent exchanges a glance with Kruger and nods.
Kruger sighs and faces Sam.
KRUGER
Forty-eight hours.
MUTTA
In forty-eight hours, they’ll be
dead.
KRUGER
They’re probably already dead.
STAWPAH
They alive.
KRUGER
How do the hell do you know?
STAWPAH
(eerily)
I know.
COLLINS
(to Kruger)
Any chance they are alive?
KUGER
There’s always a chance, Mister
Collins. But they’d a had to
survive the blast, a hundred feet
of tunnel caving in and, wherever
they’re trapped, have good air
trapped with them.
GHEE
Good air ain’t gonna last
forty-eight hours.
MUTTA
Let us dig ‘em out, Mister
Collins. It’s our lives we’ll be
risking.
COLLINS
But I’m responsible for them.
(to Sam)
Isn’t that so, Mister....
SAM
Beckett.
MUTTA
Well, I for one relieve you of
that responsibility.
MINER ZIGGY
Me for two!
MUTTA
(yells out)
Who goin’ down with me?
ANOTHER ANGLE
Most of the miners loudly volunteer.
COLLINS
Nobody’s going down that shaft
until I say so!
(to Mutta)
I run this mine, Mutta, not you.
I’m not risking any more lives.
STAWPAH
(pointed)
You no worry about lives. You
worry about mine catchin’ fire.
The miners grumble their agreement and Collins angrily turns
on Stawpah.
COLLINS
You’ve got a big mouth, Stawpah.
Always have. Especially when it
isn’t your neck on the line.
STAWPAH
I risk my neck plenty. Work in
bottom since I twelve.
(beat)
How many time you work bottom,
Mister Collins?
COLLINS
This mine is closed.
(to Kruger)
Lock the cage and put guards on
the shaft.
KUGER
Yes, sir.
Kruger pushes through the men
and the Superintendent turns
to Sam.
COLLINS
I assume you’ll be investigating
this. Feel free to use my office.
He turns and forces the miners to part with his eyes. He
then slowly walks this gauntlet of angry, but silent men.
ON SAM
As the men disperse in groups of two and three, he turns to
Stawpah.
SAM
Why’d you tell him I was a Safety
Inspector?
STAWPAH
Company men like Collins make me
cripple... so I make them sweat.
SAM
Arthritis disabled you.
ON STAWPAH
The smoldering anger comes bursting out.
STAWPAH
Loadin’ coal in water company too
cheap to pump out cripple me!
SAM
Stawpah, you’ve got plenty to be
bitter about, but how’s sweating
Collins going to help Tonchi and
Pete?
The anger seems to drain from him at the mention of their
names and be replaced by a great sadness.
STAWPAH
You right.
(beat)
I need find way to get them out
this time.
Sam looks up sharply at that.
Stawpah hangs his head even
lower than usual and stares at the ground as if his eyes
are piercing six hundred feet of earth to where they are
trapped.
STAWPAH
They cold. Wet. Scared. Pete
real scared cause he no can see
his brother.
SAM
They have lamps.
STAWPAH
Carbide lamp burn air, so Tonchi
put it out.
(staring)
It black like coal down there.
But that not worse thing. Worse
thing is water. Pump no work in
bottom. Water already up to
Tonchi belt.
(looks to Sam)
We no get them out soon they no
come out.
SAM
How do you know all this?
Stawpah pushes his twisted hand through his black hair for
a moment and then looks to Sam with close to tears in his
eyes.
STAWPAH
I been there. Too many time...I
been there.
And then he hobbles away.
ON SAM
He doesn’t know if he’s witnessed a revelation or lunacy;
either way, he looks upon Stawpah with new respect.
SAM’S VOICE OVER
I’d thought Stawpah’s pain had
turned him bitter and blind to
anyone’s plight but his own.
(beat)
I was wrong. He needed to save
Tonchi and Pete as much as I
did.. .maybe more.
AL’S VOICE
You’re not here to save them.
SMASH CUT TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - DUSK.
The rays of the setting sun cast an orange glow as they
shaft through the venetian blinds. The bar is filled with
miners, but the earlier boisterousness has been replaced by
somber drinking. Sam, who has been staring out the window,
spins around to find Al standing behind him. The bartender
is wearing a fresh shirt and tie and has changed his ruby
ring to a diamond one.
SAM
How’d you know what I was
thinking?
AL
A good bartender is part
philosopher, part psychiatrist
and part psychic.
SAM
I’d like to talk to the
philosopher part.
AL
I stick to the basics.
SAM
To be or not to be. I think
therefore I am. That sort of
thing?
AL
Un-huh.
SAM
How about.. .why am I here?
AL
That, again.
SAM
And I’m not buying any more
chances on your punch board.
AL
(smiles)
Why do you think you’re here,
Sam?
SAM
Answering a question with a
question is the psychiatrist
part. We were talking
philosophy.
AL
That’s good, Sam.
SAM
Thank you. Why am I here?
AL
You’re beginning to think it’s to
save Tonchi and Pete.
SAM
But it isn’t.
AL
Not directly.
SAM
(hopeful)
How about indirectly?
AL
Who knows what Don Quixote can
accomplish.
Sam’s eyes narrow on Al.
SAM
Who are you?
AL
A bartender.
SAM
Who knows everything.
AL
Only God knows everything.
Sam stares at him until Al smiles.
AL
You don’t really think I’m God,
do you?
SAM
You’re not just a bartender.
AL
That’s true.
(walking away)
I own the place, too.
CLOSE ON SAM
watching Al walk away.
STAWPAH’S VOICE
You want help Tonchi and Pete?
Sam turns and crosses to....
STAWPAHS TABLE
The arthritic man takes a swig from his Pepsi as Sam pulls
up a chair.
SAM
I think that’s why I’m here.
STAWPAH
Me, too.
Hard to tell if Stawpah’s answer was referring to himself
or agreeing with Sam.
SAM
How dangerous would it be to go
down that shaft after them?
Stawpah flips a nickel into the air, catches it and slaps it
onto the back of his other hand. He looks to Sam.
SAM
Heads.
Stawpah uncovers the coin.
ON THE NICKEL
The Indian head is showing.
BACK ON THE TWO MEN
Stawpah nods as if it’s a talisman he likes.
STAWPAH
No danger.
SAM
And if it was tails?
STAWPAH
Boom.
Sam takes a deep breath.
SAM
What can I do?
STAWPAH
Be Safety Inspector.
On Sam’s reaction, we....
CUT TO
EXT. MINE TIPPLE - NIGHT
China lights eerily illuminate the cage beneath the tipple
where mine police stand guard, their uniforms rippled by
the rush of air being sucked into the mine. Sam and a dozen
miners, equipped with breathing apparatus, face the police
captain.
CAPTAIN
You heard Mister Collins, the
shaft’s closed until the mine’s
ventilated.
SAM
He changed his mind.
CAPTAIN
Mister Collins don’t change his
mind.
SAM
He does when the head of the
Bureau of Mines talks to him.
Sam pulls a paper from his pocket and holds it out.
SAM
I called my boss in Pittsburgh and
he spoke to Mister Collins,
convinced him to rescind his
order.
The captain reaches for the paper. Sam lets go and it
whooshes past the Captain’s outstretched hand and down the
shaft.
CAPTAIN
Damn.
SAM
You did that on purpose.
CAPTAIN
I did it on purpose! You were the
one who let go!
SAM
You’re trying to stall. Why?
(beat)
Is there something down there you
don’t want a Safety Inspector to
see?
CAPTAIN
How the hell would I know, I’m
just a company cop. I ain’t never
been down in the pit.
SAM
Then why’d you let those orders
slip through your hand?
CAPTAIN
I didn’t, you did!
(giving up)
Never mind. I’ll get Mister
Collins on the phone.
SAM
Do that. In the meantime, we’ll
load up.
The miners open the gate and begin stepping into the cage.
The other guards look to the Captain for direction. He’s
torn between stopping them and making the call. He opts for
the phone.
ON THE PHONE
The Captain picks it up and cranks the ringer. He clicks
the lever a couple of times and cranks again. As he’s
muttering and doing this, we move down the back of the post
the phone is mounted on to reveal the line has been cut.
ON THE CAGE
Sam is about to step into the
cage when Stawpah grabs him.
STAWPAH
You do your part, Sam.
Mutta closes the slated gate and latches it.
MUTTA
Stawpah’s right. No need to risk
your life.
SAM
I’m a doctor. If they’re
injured, I can help.
Mutta presses the button. A motor starts and a big wheel
high up in the tipple begins to turn. The cage begins to
lower and miners don their rescue masks.
SAM
Mutta.
MINER ZIGGY
You couldn’t come anyway, Sam. We
don’t have enough resurrectors.
GHEE
Resuscitators.
MINER ZIGGY
(lowering out of
sight)
That, too.
ON SAM AND STAWPAH
watching the cage disappear into the shaft. Stawpah puts an
arm on Sam’s shoulder.
STAWPAH
Now it’s up to Boszha.
SAM
Boszha?
STAWPAH
God.
Over their strained faces, we hear....
OBSERVER’S VOICE
This isn’t working, Gushie.
CUT TO
INT. IMAGING CHAMBER - SFX
Al is still standing between the silver disks with scenes
whirling around him at incredible speed.
OBSERVER
I’m getting dizzy.
INTERCUT WITH
INT. CONTROL ROOM
Gushie is at the console, working the controls.
GUSHIE
We’ve hardly begun, Admiral.
OBSERVER
I know we’ve hardly begun but I
feel like Ziggy’s got me on spin
dry!
GUSHIE
If we could only narrow the search.
CLOSE ON THE OBSERVER - SFX
He’s taking on a green pallor. His eyes roll slightly and
then he focuses on a thought.
OBSERVER
Sam’s birthday.
GUSHIE
What about it?
OBSERVER
Wherever he’s at, it’s his
birthday.
GUSHIE
How do you know?
OBSERVER
A feeling. A hunch. I don’t
know, just have Ziggy search his
birthdays!
GUSHIE
Starting where?
OBSERVER
With his first.
GUSHIE
August the eighth... nineteen
fifty-four.
(beat)
Hang on.
OBSERVER
To what?
WIDER ON AL
The whirling column of images reverses direction. Al groans
and tries to maintain his balance.
SAM’S VOICE
If I’m Don Quixote, Al’s my
Sancho.
CUT TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT
Al is polishing a glass. Sam sits on a stool across from
him, nursing a beer. In the background, Stawpah sits at his
table, sipping another Pepsi and waiting. They are the only
three people in the bar.
SAM
(continuing)
There isn’t anything he wouldn’t
do for me.
AL
Or you for him.
SAM
Or me for him.
(remembering)
That’s not true. He asked me to
do something for him once and I
didn’t.
AL
Something you could have done?
SAM
I could have tried.
AL
Why didn’t you?
SAM
Because I wasn’t there to save his
first marriage to Beth. I was
there to save an undercover cop
from being killed.
AL
Did you save him?
SAM
Yes.
(beat)
Yes, I did.
AL
And then?
We move into Sam’s face, and....
DISSOLVE TO
EXT. LA JOLLA STREET - NIGHT
Al stands before Sam with tears in his eyes, pleading for
Sam to somehow stop Beth from marrying Dirk. (NOTE: This is
a scene from MIA that has already been filmed.)
OBSERVER
(a wail of pain)
Sam, I love her!
(beat)
Beth’s the only woman I’ve ever
loved. The only one I ever wanted
to grow old with. That’s why none
of my other marriages lasted.
(plea)
Sam, if you’re lucky, life gives
one chance at true love. Beth was
mine. I lost her, but you, you
can give her back to me!
SAM
God, Al, I wish I could. But I
can’t...and no one knows that
better than you.
OBSERVER
I don’t know that!
SAM
In your heart, you do.
DISSOLVE TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT -
SAM’S FACE
We slowly pull back from Sam’s watering eyes.
AL’S VOICE
You played by the rules.
SAM
I always play by the rules.
AL
Even as a child?
SAM
What do you mean?
AL
Didn’t you ever test the limits?
SAM
Sure. What kid doesn’t. I
stepped over the line a few times
until Dad jerked me back.
(beat)
What are you trying to tell me?
At that moment, there is joyful singing and shouting in the
street. Sam and Al both turn to....
THE FRONT DOOR
The miners burst through the
door with Tonchi and Pete in
tow. (NOTE: Pete is played by the young man who was the
mirror image in JIMMY.)
SAM
They found ‘em! They found ‘em!
The men sweep to the bar like a wave and engulf Sam. He
grabs Pete.
SAM
Jimmy!
PETE
My name’s Pete.
SAM
(hugging him)
Of course, it is.
PETE
(confused)
Is he a friend, Tonch?
TONCHI
He’s a friend, Pete. A good
friend! Set ‘em up, Al. The
drinks are on me!
PETE
And me.
GHEE
We broke through the fall and
found them under a coal car in
Butt 18.
MUTTA
In water up to their necks.
Another few minutes and they’d a
drowned.
MINER ZIGGY
It’s a good thing you flaked out
the mine police, Sam.
SAM
(laughs)
That, too.
Everyone in the bar laughs. Someone puts a nickel in the
jukebox and the music blares out.
CLOSE ON SAM
who looks across the crowd to
Stawpah.
SAM
Only it wasn’t my idea to ‘flake’
them out...it was Stawpah’s.
ON STAWPAH - SFX
He lifts his bottle in a toast to Sam and, for the first
time, smiles. Then Stawpah is engulfed with the blue light
and tingling streaks of electricity and a beat later, he
vanishes leaving an empty chair at the table!
CLOSE ON SAM
On his astonished expression,
we....
FADE OUT
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
FADE IN
INT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT
Al is running the bottle from one shot glass to another as
Scaggs pours beers from the tap. The talk is loud and
boisterous. The music, rowdy. Everyone is having a hell of
a time, except Sam. He’s on the verge of losing it.
SAM
Where’d he go?
GHEE
Who?
SAM
Stawpah.
MUTTA
Steve?
SAM
Not Steve, Stawpah!
MINER ZIGGY
Stawpah is ‘Steve’ in Russian.
SAM
Stawpah, Steve, he was.....
(pointing)
...sitting at that table a moment
ago!
Everyone looks at the table.
ON THE TABLE
All that’s there is the
empty Pepsi bottle.
FEATURE SAM
The miners turn back to him,
looking confused.
SAM
He was there! He turned blue and
this electricity ran all through
him and then he...disappeared.
MUTTA
Whatever Sam’s drinking, I’ll
have one.
GHEE
Me, too.
MINER ZIGGY
Me, three.
The miners all laugh. Sam stares at the empty table and
begins to realize what he saw.
SAM
(to himself)
He leaped. That must be what it
looks like to leap.
(aloud)
Stawpah was a Leaper!
BEARDED GUSHIE’S VOICE
Stawpah was a Ukrainian.
They all turn to....
THE BEARDED GUSHIE
The little Russian pushes through the crowd to the bar and
looks to Al, who pours him a double. Gushie tosses it down
and slides the shot glass forward for another before
speaking.
BEARDED GUSHIE
(heavy Russian
accent)
I come over on boat with Stawpah.
We work Marianna mine together
till I move Cokeburg. He best
damn loader I ever see.
SAM
Right. He said he could load
twenty-four tons a day!
BEARDED GUSHIE
Nobody can load twenty-four ton,
not even Stawpah. But he come
close.
Al pours him another drink and he tosses it down.
BEARDED GUSHIE
Then Marianna mine blow up and
Stawpah only miner come out pit
alive. After that, people look
funny at him.
(beat)
It was stone on his back.
(aping Stawpah’s
posture)
Stoop him over.
Gushie tosses down the double and holds it out for another
refill.
SAM
A stone didn’t stoop him, he had
arthritis from loading coal in
water.
BEARDED GUSHIE
How you know Stawpah?
SAM
I met him here.. .today!
BEARDED GUSHIE
Not Stawpah. He die in
thirty-three.
On everyone’s reaction, we....
CUT TO
INT. IMAGING CHAMBER - SFX
The Observer is reeling as the images continue to swirl
around him.
OBSERVER
Gushie, I’m gonna Ralph.
GUSHIE’S VOICE
Ralph?
OBSERVER
Barf. Upchuck. Spew. Make like
Mount Helena.
GUSHIE’S VOICE
Oh, regurgitate.
OBSERVER
That’s it, I’m out of here.
The Observer steps off the
disk and the swirling images
dissolve and disappear. He takes a breath and enters a code
on the handlink and opens the Imaging Chamber door.
IMAGING CHAMBER CORRIDOR
The Observer emerges to be met
by Gushie.
GUSHIE
I was going to suggest a break
anyway, Admiral. We scanned all
of Doctor Beckett’s birthdays from
nineteen fifty-four to the end of
the twenty first century.
Wherever he is, it’s not his
birthday.
(realizing)
Unless, of course, you literally
meant his birthday.
OBSERVER
What?
GUSHIE
We started the search on his
first birthday, we never checked
the actual day he was born.
OBSERVER
Oh, my God.
Gushie spins and runs back to
the control room as Al punches
the handlink, reopening the Imaging Chamber door.
CUT TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT - CLOSE ON SAM’S MIRROR IMAGE
He is staring at himself in the mirror as, behind him, the
happy miners sing and celebrate the rescue. The jukebox and
pinball machine are both in action.
SAM’S VOICE OVER
My Leap had taken a quantum twist.
I no longer knew what was real and
what was imagined. And, if
imagined, whose mind was imagining
it...mine or someone else’s.
Al’s face appears in the mirror beside Sam.
SAM
You created all this, didn’t you.
AL
I built the bar if that’s what
you mean.
We move off the reflections to....
CLOSE ON SAM
facing Al across the oak wood bar as he polishes a glass.
SAM
This is more than just a bar.
AL
(looks around)
There is something special about
this place.
SAM
Dead men who save miners and then
vanish in an aura of blue light,
yeah, I’d say there was something
about this place.
AL
I was thinking of the camaraderie
these men have..
SAM
And not what just happened here?
AL
Books are full of stories of the
dead saving the living.
SAM
So Stawpah was here?
AL
I remember him.
SAM
Why don’t they?
AL
That’s the way it is.
SAM
(incredulous)
One moment he’s one of them and
the next, they have no memory of
him and all you can say is ‘That’s
the way it is?’
AL
‘That’s the way it is’ is
sometimes the best explanation.
SAM
Not for me.
AL
I’m not sure you’re ready for
more.
SAM
Try me.
Al stares at Sam a moment and then moves aside to lay the
polished glass on the bar. When he does, Sam looks into the
mirror.
SAM’S POV - THE MIRROR
Everyone in the bar is reflected in it except Ziggy, Gushie,
Tonchi and Pete.
ON SAM
He spins around. Behind him, Tonchi, Pete, Gushie and Ziggy
are trying to sing along with the song on the jukebox.
SAM’S POV - THE MIRROR
The four miners singing the song are men we have never seen
before.
FEATURE SAM
Al picks up another glass and
polishes it.
AL
Can you accept what you see as
reality?
SAM
Which reality do I accept?
(points to mirror)
That one?
(points to miners
behind him)
Or that one?
AL
Haven’t you accepted both looking
into all those mirrors?
SAM
You are the one who’s been leaping
me through time!
AL
I wouldn’t say that.
SAM
What would you say?
AL
(nods to mirror)
That he’s been leaping you
through time.
Sam looks to the mirror.
CLOSE ON SAM’S REFLECTION
He’s looking at himself.
SAM
No.. Oh, no, no, no, no.
(beat)
No way will I buy that.
CLOSE ON SAM AND AL
The bartender places the polished glass on the bar and
rinses another.
AL
Why did you create Project Quantum
Leap?
SAM
To travel in time.
AL
Why’d you want to travel in time?
SAM
To change the world.
AL
To make it a better place?
SAM
Of course.
AL
To put right what once went wrong?
SAM
Yes, but not one life at a time.
AL
(to himself)
I’ve got Mother Teresa here.
(to Sam)
Do you really believe that all
you’ve done is change a few lives?
SAM
Yes.
AL
At the risk of overinflating your
ego, Sam, you’ve done more. Much,
much more.
(beat)
The lives you touched, touched
others. And those lives, others.
(beat)
You’ve done a lot of good, Sam
Beckett and you can do a lot
more.
SAM
More? I don’t want more. I want
to go home.
AL
Then why haven’t you?
SAM
Because I don’t control my
future...you do!
AL
Ever ride with a cop, Sam?
SAM
I’ve been one, you know that.
AL
That’s right, you have.
(beat)
You know how they can’t turn it
off? The shift ends, but they
take one more call and then one
more and then....
SAM
(cutting in)
That’s not me.
AL
Sam, you’ll only do this as long
as you want to.
SAM
I can leap home anytime I want?
AL
Technically, yes.
SAM
Ah...technically. What’s the
catch?
AL
You have to accept that....
(pointing into the
mirror)
...you control your destiny.
We move slowly in on Sam’s reflection in the mirror.
CUT TO
INT. IMAGING CHAMBER - SFX
The Observer stands between the silver disks, enveloped in
swirling images. Suddenly, the images begin to slow and
expand.
GUSHIE’S VOICE
We’re getting a lock!
The image stops and Al is standing in the bar near the front
door. He spots Sam and yells out!
OBSERVER
Sam! Thank God!
ON SAM - SFX
He spots the Observer through the crowd.
SAM
Al!
Sam pushes through the miners toward Al who turns and takes
a step toward the front window.
EXT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT -
SFX
A red neon sign fizzles and casts a surrealistic glow over
the front of the bar as the Observer walks through the
window. Sam bursts through the screen door.
SAM
I thought you’d never get here!
OBSERVER
Where’s here?
Sam points to the sign.
SAM
It’s called ‘Al’s Place.’
OBSERVER
How about that. I always wanted
my own bar.
SAM
This is more than a bar, Al.
OBSERVER
(looks thru window)
Girls, too, huh.
SAM
No, not girls.
(excited)
Al, this is where it all started.
OBSERVER
Where what started?
SAM
Quantum Leap.
OBSERVER
(looking around)
This isn’t New Mexico.
SAM
Not the project. When I leaped
that first time and someone or
something grabbed me....
OBSERVER
(cautious)
Yeah.
SAM
(looking thru
window)
...he’s the someone...or
something.
ON THE OBSERVER
He looks at Sam as though he’s crazy, then peeks through the
screen door.
OBSERVER’S POV - AL, THE
BARTENDER
laughing and joking with the
miners.
SAM
That bartender’s been leaping me
around.
BACK ON SAM AND THE OBSERVER
The Observer looks at Sam as
if he’s lost his marbles.
SAM
He wants me to accept that it’s
me, but....
(not sure)
...it’s him.
(beat)
Have Ziggy...oh, by the way, one
of the miners is Moe Stein,
Captain Galaxy, only his name here
is Ziggy. And Frank and Jimmy La
Matta are here, too, only their
names are Tonchi and Pete. And
there’s a little guy with the
beard named Gushie who doesn’t
look like Gushie, but has bad
breath.
OBSERVER
We got to get you out of here,
Sam.
SAM
Every word I’ve said is true, Al.
OBSERVER
You’re not being leaped by God or
Time or Fate but by a bartender in
a coal mining town?
SAM
He’s not just a bartender.
(looking thru screen
door)
He is God or Time or Fate or
something we haven’t even thought
of.
OBSERVER
(punching handlink)
Gushie!
SAM
Al, when I leap, do I turn all
blue and tingle with electrical
energy?
OBSERVER
How would I know? When you leap,
I go back to the Imaging Chamber.
SAM
I’ll bet I turn blue and tingle
with electrical energy. That’s
what he did when he leaped.
(puzzled)
Only no one leaped back in, but
that was probably because he was
dead.
OBSERVER
(keying handlink)
That’s it! I’m out of here.
SAM
(realizing)
My God, Al, all those stories of
ghosts who have come back to warn
the living...what if they’re all
Leapers like Stawpah!
OBSERVER
Stawpah?
SAM
That was his name. It means
‘Steve’ in Russian.
OBSERVER
I know what it means. I have an
Uncle Stawpah.
SAM
(slowly)
Suffering from rheumatoid
arthritis?
OBSERVER
It’s got him twisted like a
pretzel.
FEATURE SAM
He laughs and sits on the bench. Al is very uncomfortable.
OBSERVER
It’s not funny.
SAM
Yes, it is.
OBSERVER
Why?
SAM
I don’t know.
OBSERVER
(concerned)
Sam, I want you to take it easy
until I can figure this out with
Ziggy.
CLOSE ON THE OBSERVER - SFX
He opens the Imaging Chamber
door and steps back into it.
OBSERVER
I’m going to get you out of this,
Sam.
(beat)
No matter what it takes. I’m
going to get you out of it.
He taps the handlink and the
door closes.
CLOSE ON SAM
He smiles and softly says to himself....
SAM
You always do, buddy.
The screen door squeaks open and Sam looks up.
TWO SHOT - SFX
Al, the bartender, exits the screen door and takes a seat
next to Sam.
SAM
(chuckles)
Al’s uncle.
AL
(smiles)
I’ve always found coincidence
amusing.
SAM
And you expect me to buy that I’m
leaping me?
AL
Sam, if you became a priest....
SAM
Been that.
AL
So you have.
(beat)
If the priesthood had been your
chosen life, even though the
Church might sent you from parish
to parish, don’t you have to
accept responsibility for the life
you lead?
SAM
Even priests can quit.
AL
(sad)
That’s true.
(beat)
They can also take sabbaticals,
especially before embarking on a
difficult new assignment.
SAM
The Leaps are going to get
tougher?
AL
Where would you like to go, Sam?
SAM
(remembering)
Home.
(beat)
I’d like to go home. But I can’t.
I’ve got a wrong to put right,
first.
(realizes)
You knew, didn’t you?
AL
(smiles)
God bless, Sam.
Sam begins to shimmer and....
QUANTUM LEAPS TO
INT. BETH’S LIVING ROOM -
NIGHT - SFX
The electricity and blue light subside to reveal Sam,
standing in the corner of the room. We hear the familiar
strains of “Georgia.”
CLOSE ON SAM
His eyes brim with excitement.
SAM’S POV - AL AND BETH
They are slow dancing and neither has seen him. (NOTE: This
footage was shot in MIA.
OBSERVER
(softly)
Beth...I want you to wait for me.
(beat)
Don’t give up. I’m alive out
there. I’m alive because of our
love. And someday...someday, I’m
coming home.
He puts his arms around her and gently kisses her lips.
There is a rush of wind and the bright blue light of a Leap
fills the room. Al vanishes and Beth opens her eyes.
BETH
(softly)
Al....
ON SAM
He steps out of the shadows.
SAM
Beth....
ON BOTH
Startled, she turns and gasps.
BETH
Who are you? How’d you get in
here?
SAM
I’m not here to harm you, Beth.
I’m here to help you. To help you
and Al.
BETH
Al.
(beat)
You’re a friend of Al’s?
SAM
Yes. I’m a friend of Al’s.
(beat)
Could we sit?
Beth is hesitant, but something about Sam’s warmth and smile
disarms her. Beth slowly sits on the sofa with Sam beside
her.
SAM
I’m going to tell you a story. A
story with a happy ending, but
only if you believe me.
BETH
And if I don’t?
SAM
You will. I swear you will.
(beat)
Instead of ‘Once upon a time,’
let’s start with the happy ending.
(beat)
Al’s alive and coming home.
CLOSE ON BETH
She catches her breath and tears flood her eyes as we move
to....
SILVER FRAMED PHOTO OF YOUNG
AL
sitting on the mantle. We hold for a beat and pull back
past another photo. This one is of Al, Beth and four older
children. Our move takes us past other family photos of
Beth and Al and their children. We continue until we reveal
that we are in....
AL’S DEN
in his home at Project Quantum Leap. It is the year 2000
but this room is a classic den with leather and wood and a
warm, comfortable look. Our move continues until we
find....
THE OBSERVER AND BETH
sitting in an overstuffed chair. He’s smoking a cigar and
staring at a silver framed photo in his hand. She’s sitting
half on the chair and half on him. Beth’s older and her
hair is streaked with gray, but she’s still the radiant
beauty...especially when she smiles.
OBSERVER
Wherever he’s leaped, Sam’s still
himself.
BETH
Because no one’s in the Waiting
Room?
OBSERVER
(nods)
We’re starting a nano-second
search in the morning but it will
take months and by then, Sam will
probably have leaped again.
BETH
Why months? It didn’t take you
months to find him.
OBSERVER
I made a lucky guess.
BETH
Luck, Admiral Calavicchi, had
nothing to do with it. The two of
you are so close, it makes me
envious.
(beat)
You’ll find him.
OBSERVER
How can you be so damn sure?
Beth looks to the photo in Al’s hands.
CLOSE ON THE PHOTO
of Sam and Al.
BETH’S VOICE
Because that’s what friends are
for.
FREEZE FRAME
END OF ACT FOUR
The
following scene is an example of how we could
cliffhang into the 1993/1994 season.
ALTERNATE ENDING
CLOSE ON BETH
She catches her breath and tears flood her eyes as we move
to....
SILVER FRAMED PHOTO OF YOUNG
AL
sitting on the mantle. We hold for a beat and pull back
past another photo. This one is of Al, Beth and four older
children, our move takes us past other family photos of
Beth and Al and their children. We continue until we reveal
that we are in....
AL’S DEN
in his home at Project Quantum Leap. It is the year 2000
but this room is a classic den with leather and wood and a
warm, comfortable look. Our move continues until we
find....
THE OBSERVER AND BETH
sitting man overstuffed chair. He’s smoking a cigar and
staring at a silver framed photo in his hand. She’s sitting
half on the chair and half on him. Beth’s older and her
hair is streaked with gray, but she’s still a radiant
beauty...especially when she smiles.
OBSERVER
Wherever he’s leaped, Sam's still
himself.
BETH
Because no one’s in the Waiting
Room?
OBSERVER
There’s no other explanation.
(beat)
Ziggy’s starting a nano-second
search in the morning but I got a
feeling Sam’s leaped beyond his
lifetime?
BETH
Into the past or future?
OBSERVER
(firmly)
The future. Don’t ask me how I
know, I just do.
(beat)
He’s in the future, way in the
future...far beyond his lifetime.
BETH
How’d he get there?
OBSERVER
The bartender sent him.
BETH
The bartender?
OBSERVER
Why not? Anyone who has the power
to leap Sam through time can be
anyone he wants to be.. .a
bartender, a train conductor...a
steambath attendant.
Beth takes a second to absorb that, then looks down at Al.
BETH
He’d know where Sam was in the
future.
OBSERVER
How do I ask him? As a hologram,
he couldn’t hear me.
BETH
If he’s God, I think he’ll hear
you.
OBSERVER
Good. But without Sam in that
bar, I can’t get there.
BETH
You could if you leaped.
CLOSER ON BOTH
The Observer looks slowly up to Beth, realizing she’s hit on
the solution.
OBSERVER
I might not come back.
BETH
You’ll come back. Anyone who came
back from Vietnam can come back
from anywhere.
OBSERVER
Thirty five years and you still
amaze me.
He pulls her into his arms and passionately kisses her.
Then, he’s out of the chair and gone.
CLOSE ON BETH
watching him go.
BETH
(to herself)
So do you.
Over her face, we hear the....
ANNOUNCER’S VOICE
Here’s the windup and the pitch.
CUT TO
INT. AL’S PLACE - NIGHT - CLOSE ON RADIO
The dial glows yellow from this old Philco model set in the
backroom of the bar. We hear the crack of a bat and the
roar of a crowd as the announcer Rosey Rosewell supplies the
color. We pull back from the radio.
ANNOUNCER’S VOICE
It’s a long fly ball to left
field.
(excited)
Open the window Aunt Minnie, here
she comes!
Our pull back reveals Ghee standing next to the Philco. The
miners at the bar stop their raucous celebration and turn to
the radio to hear the crash of broken glass that’s Rosey’s
sound effect for a Pirate home run. The miners cheer as the
Rosey continues.
GHEE
Do you believe this!
(beat)
They trade Kiner and now half the
team’s hitting home runs.
ANGLE ON THE BAR - SFX
Al smiles and slides a draft to Miner Ziggy and then picks
up Mutta’s glass to refill it.
MINER ZIGGY
Nobody on the Pirates will ever
break as many window canes as
Ralph Kiner did.
MUTTA
Panes not canes. Window panes.
MINER ZIGGY
I said panes.
MUTTA
You said canes.
A blue light materializes next to Miner Ziggy, coalesces
with electric, arcing into Al and dissipates. Mutta and
Ziggy seem oblivious to Al’s sudden appearance and speak to
him as if he’d been there all along.
MUTTA
(to Observer)
Didn’t Ziggy say canes? Window
canes?
OBSERVER
(swiss cheesed)
I don’t remember what she said?
MUTTA
She?
OBSERVER
Ziggy.
MINER ZIGGY
You must be a friend of Sam’s.
(explaining to
Mutta)
Sam knows a Ziggy who’s a woman,
an ugly woman.
Ghee joins them.
GHEE
He must have seen you in your
dress at the Beer Barrel Reunion.
OBSERVER
You cross-dress?
MINER ZIGGY
Cross-dress?
OBSERVER
Dress like the opposite sex.
GHEE
My Aunt Anna does that.
OBSERVER
Dresses like a man?
GHEE
No, like a woman.
Ghee slaps the bar and, laughing at having put one over on
the Observer, moves off with Mutta and Miner Ziggy.
FEATURING AL
He wipes the counter in front of the Observer who is now
slightly isolated from the miners.
AL
What’ll it be?
OBSERVER
Information.
Al shoves the punchboard to him.
AL
Twenty-five cents a punch. Hit
the jackpot and I’ll answer your
question.
OBSERVER
I got to gamble to get info from
God?
AL
Who said I was God?
OBSERVER
Sam did. He said you were God or
Time or Fate.
AL
(laughs)
Why not an alien while you’re at
it.
OBSERVER
(stunned)
Oh, my God....
AL
What?
OBSERVER
We didn’t think of that!
(realizing)
It makes sense. You could be a
higher intelligence from the outer
reaches of the universe!
AL
I’m afraid the only alien here is
you, Al.
OBSERVER
Why me?
AL
Because you’re the only one who
doesn’t belong here.
OBSERVER
What about Sam?
AL
He’s not here anymore...he’s on
the job.
OBSERVER
In the future, right?
AL
Right.
OBSERVER
(pissed)
Without me!
AL
I didn’t think you were needed.
OBSERVER
(incredulous)
You didn’t think I was needed!
(beat)
Who flew the X-2? Me! Who taught
him Elvis’ moves? Me! Who showed
him how to box, shoot pool, draw
a six-gun...kiss the girl!
AL
(amused)
You.
OBSERVER
You’re damn right, me!
(quickly adds)
If you’re God, excuse the
language.
AL
If I’m God, you’re excused.
OBSERVER
Sam wouldn’t have righted a single
wrong if it wasn’t for me.
AL
Well....
OBSERVER
Okay. Maybe one or two, but he
needs me. And more important...I
need him.
CLOSER ON BOTH
He thinks this over for a moment before speaking.
AL
The past has been mere prologue.
Where Sam has gone, there is great
danger.
OBSERVER
Cut the Star Wars dialogue! Are
you going to send me with him or
not?
AL
You’d no longer enjoy the safety
of a hologram.
OBSERVER
I was kinda hoping that would
continue.
AL
You’d be a Leaper, like Sam, with
all the inherent risks.
OBSERVER
I still want to join him.
AL
That’s all it takes.
OBSERVER
What do you mean?
AL
You just have to want to do it.
Al steps aside and the
Observer looks into the mirror.
THE OBSERVER’S POV - THE
MIRROR
Everything has changed. The bar, the miners, all have
leaped far into the future and are space warriors enjoying a
night at a space station bar. But the biggest shock of all
is the Observer...he’s a future version of a blonde
bombshell.
ON THE OBSERVER
He spins around on the stool to find himself in the space
station bar. Ghee, wearing the uniform of space pilot,
leans in next to him with a lecherous grin on his face.
GHEE’S VOICE
I’ve been in a hundred rec bars
from here to the Magellic Clouds
and believe me, you’ve got the
greatest set of cassabas I’ve ever
targeted.
OBSERVER
Oh, boy.
TO BE CONTINUED |
