Leap Date:
August 10, 1968

Episode Adopted by: Carol <aka> C_Dean n C_Al & Dave Korman
Additional info provided by: Carly Lappini and Brian Greene

Teaser:

Sam leaps into a soldier who has lost both legs in Vietnam. He is there to keep the soldier's marriage together and to prevent his angry roommate in the hospital from committing suicide.

Audio from this episode:

Al: Whatever it is that's jumping
us around in time cares.

TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Broadcast Date
Synopsis & Review
Music
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes
Best Scenes
Production Credits
Podcasts

Place:

San Diego, California – Veterans Hospital

Leap Date:

August 10, 1968

Broadcast Date:

October 6, 1992 - Tuesday

Synopsis & Review:

Sam leaps in, finding himself on a gurney wrapped in a blanket. He's accosted by someone claiming that Charlie is coming. An orderly intervenes and starts trying to restrain him in a violent manner. The orderly,Holt, is played by Gene Lythgo. During this, Al appears to tell Sam not to get up. But Sam wants to help, until he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

Al tells him he can't get up. "Sam! Don’t get up! Just don’t get up!" he points to the mirror above the gurney where he is laying in a hallway. "You can’t get up because you don’t have any legs." Sam looks up and sees the reflection of Ronald Miller who is a double amputee and says, "Oh Boy!"

After the opening credits, Al and Sam watch as Holt drags the patient off. Sam asks the usual question.. where is he? Al tells him he's in a veteran hospital named Ronald Miller. He doesn't know why he's there, but Al figured he better get there quick as it would be pretty strange if a guy without legs started walking around.

Al goes back to get more information, and Sam meets Kiki, who is volunteering at the hospital because her brother is MIA. Kiki is played By Jennifer Aniston. She offers Sam some juice. She’s very clever and witty. When passing out juice she tells Sam she has grape and she has grape. Sam says "I’ll have some grape", and she replies, "Excellent choice." Sam accepts and finds out that he currently is in the check-in process.

He gets called to have a conversation as part of the intake process with Commander Jame Hartig. The Commander asks him how he feels about losing his legs. Sam asks him how would he feel? It's A rhetorical question as Sam hasn't actually had his legs blown off but the commander reads it as hostility. He gently reminds Sam that he isn't the enemy. The commander declares him a lucky man. Sam is skeptical. The survival rate in world War 1 was 71 percent. Now it's 85 percent.

Sam asks what happens now. The commander replies that the healing part was done in Tokyo. Here the job Is to make him functional to live a relatively normal life. Sam repeats the phrase with skepticism. The commander says he knows he's questioning things right now but he thinks he will find the price worth paying. Sam doesn't think so.

Hartig calls for a wheelchair and tells Sam that although he's looking for someone to blame, he won't find that person there. He thinks things will look better when his wife arrives. He'll be notified as soon as she arrives. Hartig tells him that you would be surprised what a person can do when they have to.

Kiki pushes Sam down the hallway in his wheel chair. They bond and talk about his wife. She takes his palm to read. She notes that she has never seen a life line as long as this one. Enough for ten people. She tells him he's here to help someone. Sam takes her seriously and asks “Who?” She can't tell but the person is close. He's in a lot of pain but he isn't bitter. He's a searcher for truth. Sam, smiling, asks if she sees all of that in his palms. She replies, not all of It.

As they continue to Sam's room, she gets wolf whistled and when they arrive, they witness Sam's new roommate, Billy Johnson, having an argument with his wife. Billy is paralyzed from the neck down. It's clear that Billy is pushing her away. She's emotional, but eventually she gives up and leaves telling him if she leaves she isn't coming back. That seems to be what she wants. Kiki goes after his wife.

Al appears, to tell Sam that Billy is purposefully sabotaging his own life. It's easier to kill yourself if no one cares. They go into a supply closet to talk. In two days Billy's body is found at the bottom of the pool. Sam is shocked. Al tells him that a sniper shot him, causing the paralysis. Sam asks him how a guy who can't move get into a pool by himself? Al thinks that's a good question. Sam, annoyed, tells Al to ask Ziggy. And also his wife Julie is coming… a woman he doesn't know. Al points out it could be worse. He could be spending his entire life in that wheel chair. Sam decides it's time to stop hiding in a supply closet, and asks Al to check on Kiki's brother, Bobby Wilson.

Sam returns to his room and tries to talk to Billy. Billy reveals that he's counting the holes in the ceiling. Named them, in fact. Sam keeps the conversation going until Billy tells him to mind his own business. Kiki arrives, which just seems to annoy Billy more. Eventually Sam is told the commander wants to speak to him. His wife has arrived.

Sam, outside, talks to his wife Julie. Julie played by Judith Hoag. Sam makes awkward small talk. She doesn't look at him. She eventually breaks down crying and leaves saying she has to go back to the hotel. Al appears and says, "They told us the war was over when we left the jungle." Sam points out that she didn't even look at him. Al tells him to give her time.

Sam isn't sure she isn't going to come back. Al tells him he needs to go after her. Miller had three sons. One joined the marines and saved his entire crew. So he has to make his marriage work. Sam asks about Billy… Al's only advice Is to keep him away from the swimming pool.

But… Sam finds himself in the pool. Billy is lowered in, despite not wanting to be there. He's got a vest on to keep him floating. He drifts over to Sam and once again Sam tries to bond. Billy says he doesn't want to get to know him. Sam says that could get a little risky. If he gets to know him, He might like him than he'd have to figure out a way to run him off like he did to his wife. Billy asks him why is he so Interested In his life? Sam replies, “I think the real question is why aren't you?”

He asks to tell him about his wife. Sam points out he isn't going anywhere. They were high school Sweet hearts. They were going to get married at a cabin that they got to on foot after his tour of duty was over. But Billy says bitterly he doesn't think there any wheel chairs that can get over rocks. Sam says he's sure Billy's wife would understand … Billy says she shouldn't have to. He was the one that died over there, not her. Sam says there us one problem with his story. He isn't dead.

Just then there is some commotion. Someone almost drowns and has to be rescued. Billy looks on with interest. Al gives Sam a hard time for going near the pool. Sam points out he didn't have have a choice. Meanwhile he's preparing for a date with his wife. Sam argues he has to stay though to keep an eye on Billy. Al says he'll do it. If anything happens he will get Sam. Sam asks about Bobby Wilson, he was special forces which is why they can't find him. Al wishes Sam good luck and goes and checks on Billy. Robert Allen Wilson, ‘Bobby’, is in the Special Forces Unit that is attached to the CIA. He had something to do with political assassinations, propaganda and covert operations. He is ‘MIA’. She hasn’t heard from him for 2 years, in December.

Kiki gives Sam a massage, which is when Sam's wife comes in. Awkward, and neither Sam nor Kiki make it less awkward.

They go on their date at a restaurant/bar with a bunch of hippies. It's no less awkward. Sam starts to apologize… They are interrupted by someone knocking drinks into his lap. When the man realizes he has no legs he stares for a long time before saying, “Peace.” Sam keeps talking. Judith goes to the bathroom after Sam talks about children and raising a family.

Al talks to Billy, who can't hear him. Al says, "It’s all right to be angry, you know. Things happen to all of us … over there that … are hard to live with. We didn’t start this filthy war … we just fought it. That’s what’s so disappointing about this fight. I betcha think nobody cares, but that’s not true … because I care, Sam cares, whatever it is that’s jumping us around in time cares. They’re gonna build a wall … in Washington … they’re gonna carve all these names in it … of all the victims in this lousy war. Don’t add another one to it, huh? There’s so many … there’s too many."

Kiki enters with a surprise. It's an electric wheel chair. This does seem to make him happier. Because its the vehicle he will ride to his death. Al says, "Oh no. I think I’m going to be sick!"

Al relocates to Sam and tells him. Sam says he will be there as soon as he can. Al goes back to keep an eye on Billy. His wife comes out, and Sam tries to end the date but Julie tells him she met someone. She didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. She wants a divorce. Sam asks as she's about to leave if it would have made a difference if he still has his legs. She says she doesn't know and leaves.

We see Billy riding on his wheel chair. Others cheer him on, unaware of what he intends to do. Sam gets back to the hospital. Al tells him what took him so long, which just agitates Sam. Al says he needs to hurry because he thinks that Billy is about to take the plunge.

But… he runs into Holt. Holt tries to put him to bed. Which Sam doesn't have time for. Sam explains about Billy and tries to get Holt to check the pool. But he won't do so till morning.

Al tells Sam it's time for him to "rise to the occasion." While Holt's back is turned, Sam stands. When Holt turns back, it looks like Sam is floating. Taking advantage of Holt's shock, Sam punches him out. Sam almost rushes out of the room without his wheel chair, until Al points that out.

The Episode Climax:

Sam rushes to the pool...

SAM: "Pretty late for a swim? Isn’t it?"

Billy: "Go away Captain this doesn’t involve you."

SAM: "Yah … well … seein’ as … how I’m here … I guess it does."

Billy: "I should’ve died in that stupid jungle."

SAM: "Wars over Sergeant!"

Billy: "Over! Does this look like it’s over to you? I was an all-state half back in high school; I scored 15 touchdowns my senior year. My body was perfect and now I cant even feel it!"

SAM: "We … you still got your mind."

Billy: "Do I?"

AL: "Sam, I think you’re loosing him." [Al walks around and looks at Billy]

SAM: "You know … you’re not the only one hurtin’ around here! My wife just told me that she wants a divorce. She said she met someone else … that things aren’t the same anymore … she’s right … they’re not … we’re not … things will never be the same again. Nobody could go through what we … did and ever be the same. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t count!"

Billy: "You don’t get it, do you! This war don’t mean nothin’ … it never did! They gave us the prettiest guns and the biggest bombs … but they didn’t give us a chance … I lost everything … and in a few years … nobody will even remember Vietnam!"

SAM: "Well we have to remind them … we won’t let them forget … because every time they see us … they’ll have to remember!"

Billy: "At night … I close my eyes … an … and I’m back there … I see it all … it’s … it’s like a song that plays over and over again and you can’t get it out of your head … sometimes … it gets so loud … I think … my brain is going to explode!" [Michael now has tears streaming down his face … talk about emotion! Go Mike!] … "I just want it to be quiet." [He turns around and half looks at Scott] "How can I make it quiet?" [Scott has a peculiar look on his face … part is saying I can’t imagine what he’s gone through and half saying this guy is so full of self-pity it’s not funny]

SAM: "Maybe you’re right … maybe your way is the best way of doin’ things …"

AL: "WHAT?"

SAM: "And I’m gonna help you …"

AL: "Sam … this isn’t funny!"

SAM: "You’ve got nothin’ to live for right? Got rid of Carol … went out of your way to make sure nobody else around here gives a damn about you … what’s one more body bag!"

AL: "Don’t listen to him, kid. SAM! I don’t know what the hell you’re tryin’ to do, but I want you to stop it right now! YOU HEAR ME?"

SAM: "Go ahead … push it!"

AL: "SAM!"

Billy: "Don’t think I won’t?" [Breathing hard … grunting]

SAM: "It’s easy to die but …" [Sam wrinkles his forehead as if to say ‘go ahead and do it are you chicken?]

AL: "NO!!! I can’t believe I’m watching this! Have you completely lost your mind? He’s gonna drown! [duh Al! … LOL]

SAM: "If I had stopped him … would you say he wouldn’t have tried again tomorrow?"

AL: "Tomorrow? If you don’t save him there isn’t going to be any tomorrow for either one of you!"

SAM: "Al, don’t you get it? The only person who can save Billy is Billy!"

AL: "Sam, what the hell are you talkin’ about?" [Dean is waving his arms and contorting his face muscles]

SAM: "I’m talkin’ about death … he’s never going to be able to face life until he faces death."

AL: "Are we close?" [Dean now has an ‘I sure hope you’re right’ look on his face]

SAM: "I hope so." [Scott has a ‘Now I gotta jump in and drag him out’ look and jumps in to get Billy]

Billy: "Help me … help me!" [Sam is holding him]

SAM: "You got a second chance Billy … what’s it gonna be?"

<<Billy is on a stretcher and the nurse and orderly are pushing him out>>

Commander James Hartig: "It’s a good thing you showed up when you did."

Billy: "Thanks, Captain." [As he’s being pushed out and passes by Sam on the stretcher]

Commander James Hartig: "What the hell made you come down here anyway?"

SAM: "Well I don’t know I just … ahhh … well I … I just had a feeling that I should be here."

Commander James Hartig: "I still don’t see how you were able to pull him out with just your arms?"

SAM: "Well … you know … you’d be surprised what a person can do when they have to."

AL: "Well look who’s here … Florence Nightingale … this should be …" [Holt comes stumbling into the pool area with a bloody nose]

Commander James Hartig: "What’s this all about Mister?"

Holt: "HIM!" [Pointing at Sam] "I … I saw him do it!"

Commander James Hartig: "You saw him do what?"

Holt: "He walked!"

Commander James Hartig: "What did you say?"

AL: "Do you want to get the net or should I?"

Holt: "He got up … he … he floated across the room …"

AL: "Sure he did …" [Dean has a smug look on his face … he’s really pleased with himself now]

Commander James Hartig: "I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t have time to figure it out."

Holt: "I’m not crazy! I saw him do it! He got up and he hit me!"

Commander James Hartig: "Get this garbage outta here!"

Holt: "You gotta believe me! I saw him … he stood up … he was floating in mid air! He was flying’! I swear! You gotta believe me! [He’s screaming as he’s carried away by two guys who each have one arm]

Commander James Hartig: "Some people just cant handle the stress." [Watching as they drag Holt out of the pool area] 

Hartig takes his leave of Sam.

Sam tells Al that he blew it with the leapee's wife. Al checks and apparently everything is somehow the same with the kids.

Kiki enters. Al says he never bothered to check the mother's name. They realize that Kiki is really the mother of the leapee's son and that they didn't fail after all!

Kiki blames herself for Billy, but Sam asks, how could she know? She says she guesses he discovered his mission. They hold hands. But… she has a letter about her brother. She thinks its to say they found his body.

She gives it to Sam. He checks with Al, but he doesn't know. Kiki tears up and asks what she's going to do now? Sam suggests crying. And then she can make a cake. Her brother is coming home. Al celebrates. Kiki And Sam embrace and Sam says, “Yeah he's coming home,” with extra emotional meaning. Then, he leaps.

Synopsis by Dave Korman and Carol <aka> C_Dean n C_Al, and edited between 20 years by Brian Greene.

Personal Review by Carol <aka> C_Dean n C_Al:

Sam has it easy in this episode except one blow, and he says ‘that felt good’ … hehehe. Al is sincere and captivating, even with out the smart quips! Which proves what great actors they both are! Scott doesn’t have to be physical and Dean doesn’t have to be a wise cracker! Well, except for the end, it makes you say, ‘oh … okay … there’s the Al that we all know and love!’ :) This episode really made me think about how all the Vietnam Vets were treated when they came home, tho I didn’t know any personally. But as I got older I understood, tho I don’t agree at all … and it’s really a shame! Like the poster said in the ‘60’s: WAR IS NOT HEALTHY FOR CHILDREN AND OTHER LIVING THINGS … this is so true.

There is a song that always makes me think of the Vietnam War too …‘What’s Goin’ On’ by: Marvin Gaye.

Music:

"Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clocks

"The Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire (Covered by guitarist at the bar.)

‘Blowing In The Wind’ by Bob Dylan (Then this song is covered on the jukebox in the restaurant where Sam and Julie are eating dinner but it’s woman singing it.)

"Time Has Come Today" by The Chambers Brothers (Billy is zooming down the hall in the motorized wheelchair.)

Project Trivia:

Al can see Sam in this episode, fueling the debate over whether Al sees Sam or the Leapee. In "What Price, Gloria?" Al saw Samantha Stormer, and could only see Sam in the mirror. Perhaps the tuning of Sam and Al's mesons and neurons varies from Leap to Leap causing this adjustment? Or maybe the technology waas upgraded over time.

Al is seen coming out of the Imaging Chamber door. He uses his handlink to return to the Imaging Chamber.

The handlink is the ‘Gummy Bear’ type. Multi-colored little squares that flash, beep and squawk.

Ziggy is referred to as male in this episode.

Sam Trivia:

Sam is wearing a watch on his left wrist: Black band and bezel w/ white face and a gold wedding band: on his left ring finger. It’s unusual for hospital patients to be wearing jewelry.

Sam always puts his shirts on by biting the bottom and gathering up the body and putting it first over his head. He did this in "Dreams" and "The Play's The Thing."

He went bare foot through this whole episode as he did in "The Wrong Stuff."

Sam is narrating at the beginning of a scene. He is in the therapy pool and they are lowering Billy, who is protesting: "Destiny’s a funny thing. It seems like the harder you try to stop it the more determined it is to be fulfilled. I suddenly found myself right where I didn’t want to be and from the looks of things I wasn’t alone."

Al Trivia:

Al (Dean Stockwell) sounds kind of nasally, as if he was getting a cold or just getting over one.

Al popped in 5 times.

Al smoked 5 cigars.

Al's Women:

Al finds Carol appealing and says, "You don’t think anybody in their right mind would dump a woman like that do you?"

Al’s Outfits:

Grey suit with pinstripes and black shirt, silver squiggly tie and a silver pin on left side of jacket.

Miscellaneous Trivia:

The episode title is taken from the song "Nowhere to Run" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, which is surprisingly not used in the episode.

Writer Tommy Thompson wrote the script based on his own experiences. He was on crutches most of his life and witnessed many people in rehab feeling much like Billy does.

Guest Cast:

Guest Cast Notes:

Guests Who Appeared in Other Episodes of Quantum Leap:

Brian J. Williams was also an uncredited stunt double for Michael Kemmerling in "Another Mother", uncredited stunt double for J.C. Quin in "Unchained", and played Cadet #2 in "Running For Honor."

Say What?

When Al steps through the Imaging Chamber door the first time, he enters too soon before the door effect is completely open.

When Sam gets up to pop Holt, in the mirror you see that the legs of his pants are rolled up, but when Sam gets up, they are not.

Ziggy predicts Billy’s death within the next two days - why doesn't the hybrid computer know the exact date and roughly the time?

Quotable Quotes:

Kiki: "Be nice Sergeant! I might put your bedpan in the freezer again."

By the way, my wife - Miller's wife - is on her way here.
Julie Miller.
Julie, oh good, I know her first name, she probably knows mine.
I mean, just think of all the things we can talk about now.
Hey, it could be worse.
How?
You could spend your whole life in that thing.
You're right.
-- Sam and Al

Sam, I think it’s time you rise to the occasion. If you get my drift …
Say good night Gracie.
<Punch>
Ahhh, that felt good.
-- Sam and Al, as Sam hits the obnoxious orderly

I saw him do it, he walked!
Do you want to get the net or should I?
-- the obnoxious orderly and Al

Destiny is a funny thing - it seems like the harder you try to stop it, the more determined it is to be fulfilled.
-- Sam

This is incredible, I've never seen a lifeline this long, you've got enough here for two people.
Maybe more.
This isn't an accident that you're here, someone needs you.
-- Kiki and Sam

Best Scenes:

Kiki is pushing Sam in a wheelchair and they’re talking about Ron’s wife coming to visit.
SAM: "I’m not sure … I’m exactly what … she was expecting."
Kiki: "Give me your hand. Come on I won’t hurt you."
SAM: "Wait a second you read palms?"
Kiki: "A hundred year old gypsy king taught me. Well he was closer to eighty, but he was defiantly a king."
SAM: "How could you tell?" [Snickers]
Kiki: "He had a crown."
SAM: " ‘Course he did."
Kiki: "This in incredible!"
SAM: "What?"
Kiki: "Never seen a life line this long! Got enough here for two people!"
SAM: "Maybe more."
Kiki: "This isn’t an accident that you’re here. You’re on a mission. Someone needs you."
SAM: "Who?"
Kiki: "Well I can’t really tell, but they’re close. You’ve seen a lot of pain. But you’re not bitter. You’re a searcher, a seeker of truth."
SAM: "You see all that in my palm?"
Kiki: "Not all of it." [As they look into one another’s eyes]

-----

Al is watching over Billy while Sam is at dinner with Julie. Billy is looking at the pictures of him and his buddies in Vietnam and of Carol and him on the nightstand.

AL: "It’s all right to be angry, you know. Things happen to all of us … over there that … are hard to live with. We didn’t start this filthy war … we just fought it. That’s what’s so disappointing about this fight." [I think that’s what he said] "I betcha think nobody cares, but that’s not true … because I care, Sam cares, whatever it is that’s jumping us around in time cares. They’re gonna build a wall … in Washington … they’re gonna carve all these names in it … of all the victims in this lousy war. Don’t add another one to it, huh? There’s so many … there’s too many. Sigh …"

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Musical Score By: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Supervising Producers: Richard C. Okie, Harker Wade, Tommy Thompson
Produced by: Robin Jill Bernheim
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Tommy Thompson
Directed by: Alan J. Levi

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producers: Julie Bellisario, Scott Ejercito
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario
Director of Photography: Michael Watkins A.S.C.
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited by: Michael S. Stern
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: Ryan Gordon
Second Assistant Director: Brian Faul
Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, C.S.A.
Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisors: David Rawley, Katina Kerr
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
Make-up: Jeremy Swan
Hairstylist: Andrea Mizushima
Fashion Concepts: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Sound Editor: Greg Schorer
Music Editor: Bruce Frazier
Special Visual Effects: Roger Dorney, Denny Kelly

Panaflex ® Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ®

This motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Copyright © 1992 by Universal City Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Some of the characters portrayed in this motion picture are based upon actual persons. Although some of those events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes, otherwise the characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Bellisarius Productions and Universal Television, an MCA Company