Leap Date:
October 8, 1956

Teaser:

On a college campus dressed as a do-gooder calling himself the "Midnight Marauder", Sam again meets Alia, a time-traveler who sets wrong what once was right. Alia lets on that she feels trapped into her evil-doings by her own observer, Zoey, and the computer that controls her project, Lothos. Sam and the female leaper construct a plan to help Alia escape her evil controllers. But will she leap with Sam...or will Sam leap with Alia?

Audio from this episode:

Sam: Maybe we can leap together...

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

TV Guide Synopsis (Original, for the 2-hour movie special):

Sam leaps into a college nerd, who crosses a vengeful frat boy (Neil Patrick Harris). But Sam’s really crossed up when he encounters the “evil leaper” Alia, whom he attempts to deliver from the dark side in a “simo-leap” that lands them in a women’s prison.

TV Guide Synopsis (tvguide.com, for the 2-part episodes):

As a collegiate do-gooder, Sam crosses a vengeful frat boy (Neil Patrick Harris)---and crosses paths with "evil leaper" Alia. Part 1 of two. Alia: Renee Coleman. Zoey: Carolyn Seymour. Arnold: Tristan Tait. Sam: Scott Bakula.

Commercials:

Place:

North Falls, New York

Name of Person Leaped Into:

Arnold Watkins

Leap Date:

October 8, 1956

Broadcast Date:

February 23, 1993 - Tuesday

Evil Leaper I - Reprise:

Synopsis & Review:

Note: When first broadcast on NBC, Return and Revenge were presented as a 2-hour TV movie. It opened with the saga-sell and then went into a reprise of Deliver Us From Evil with Scott Bakula saying, "Here are some scenes from Evil Leaper: Part I. After the reprise scenes, a title card appears reading, "EVIL LEAPER II". As this title card fades, Sam leaps in here onto the hood of a racing car. Following Sam saying "Oh, Boy", the Quantum Leap theme is played. As the episode continues, the title "RETURN" is displayed, followed by "October 8, 1956." Credits for many of the cast and crew are displayed over the opening scene, including credits for the cast of Revenge. This segment and other deleted bits from both episodes can be seen as original aired in the Deleted Scenes video on this page. For most of this episode guide synopsis, we will use the two-part syndicated version as a guide.

Evil Leaper II:

After the saga-sell voiced by Ziggy (Deborah Pratt), Sam leaps into Arnold Watkins, where he finds himself hanging on to the hood of a moving car in a red cape and superhero hood. He is chicken racing with Mike Hammond, who drives a red vehicle. Sam holds on tight and yells, "Ohhhhhh Booooooy!"

The Quantum Leap theme music is played. As it ends in the normal fashion, a title card appears reading, "EVIL LEAPER I REPRISE". A short series of clips shows what happened during Deliver Us From Evil. Then another title card is revealed reading "EVIL LEAPER II."

A young man named Jerry Davies, who is driving the car, shouts, "Arnold, what are you doing? Get off!". In the other car, Mike can't believe what he is seeing. They approach a cliff at high speed with a group of college-age boys cheering. Mike pulls ahead of Jerry to win the race. The cars stop and Sam flies off, tumbling on the ground. A group of people surrounds him.

Mike is angry at the spectacle Sam has caused. Jerry realizes, "Don't you get it? He's the Midnight Marauder." Sam says he has to get going, but Mike grabs him and says, "You're not going anywhere, Arnold."  Sam asks how the boy knew who he was. "Everyone knows who you are."  He says he's the weenie who just screwed up a chi Kappa initiation and punches Sam. The boys all start to fight as a police car siren is heard and Officer Miller gets out to break it up.

Miller asks what's going on. He looks at Sam, dressed in superhero garb and asks, "Who might you be? A refugee from Joe McCarthy?" Sam tells on the group, "They were having a fraternity initiation. It's called a hazing. They were having a chicken--" Mike interrupts, "A picnic. A fried chicken box social. Right, everyone?" The boys all agree with the lie. Miller says he's thankful he didn't see the boys racing those crates, because otherwise they would all be bunking in jail tonight.

Miller says he has to get all their names for the Dean of Discipline. Miller asks Sam's name, and he replies, "Arnold." He doesn't know his last name, and Mike gladly offers it as Watkins.

At his dorm room, Sam struggles to get out of his costume as Al appears and says, "It's you." Sam says of course it's him. Al says, "No I mean the cape... it's you. Sam asks what took Al so long to get there. Al says he had to calm down Arnold in the Waiting Room. "The Midnight Marauder... defender of the faith... protector of the innocent. He's a wacko." Sam asks Al to get out so he can get some sleep but Al says he doesn't have time. In the original history, both Arnold and Jerry died in the race, but Sam corrected that. Sam asks, "Why didn't I leap as soon as the race ended?" Al says that's a good question. Sam is frustrated and says, "My hair hurts." He tells all to get Ziggy to figure it out or get of of there so he can get some sleep.

Another boy enters the dorm room and Al informs him, "This is your roommate, Jack Svensen. He's pledging the fraternity that you just... annoyed." Jack asks Sam where hes been, and Sam says he was at the library until it closed and then he went jogging. Jack asks, "What's that?" Sam says, "You know... running."

Jack picks up Sam's costume off the bed and says he knows what happened during the Chi Kappa Delta initiation. "Word has it that you broke it up, Mr. Midnight." Sam confesses he was there and Jack tells him that Mike called and said they may not want him as a pledge while he has a jerk for a roommate. Sam replies, "Why would you want to pledge a fraternity that's full of idiots in the first place? Jack doesn't like this and Al tells Sam that a whole history of Jack's family has pledged that same fraternity including his great-granddad, "who was a founding idiot."

Jack says it was funny at first and they all laughed at him in the cape. "But it's not funny anymore." Jack says he is going to get himself hurt, or worse... then leaves the room. Sam thinks he blew it, but Al says not to worry about it because Jack has been bullying Arnold all semester by copying his homework and making Arnold do his laundry. Al adds, "But don't lift your leg again on the family tree, please?"

Sam gets a look at his host in the mirror and is surprised it's just a geeky kid. Al says he's taking a double load of courses at college and must be smart. Sam turns and says, "Favorite course... astronomy." Al asks how he knew that. Sam stand a little taller and replies, "Because the Midnight Marauder knows all. See's all. Tell's nothing. Often times he--" Al interrupts and says, "Oh no...your mind is merging with the Midnight Avenger." Sam denies this and says after today's stunt, Arnold is lucky to be alive. Al agrees that he is amazing and reports that last week, Arnold ran in front of a speeding car. Sam jumps in with, "And save a fetching co-ed from certain death. Undaunted, he--" Al yells, Sam, quit it!" He says Arnold didn't get a scratch and was yelling at the driver for driving too fast. Sam says he hopes Arnold's luck holds out.

The next day, Sam is on his way to class when Jerry approaches and thanks him again for helping him and says he made sure Arnold got the credit. Sam says he was just doing what anyone else would do, but Jerry says he did what no one else would do. "I'm alive to prove it, and I'm really grateful."

Mike and his gang, along with a couple of young women approach Sam and Jerry. "Hey! Fruit Loop! Where are your tights? Sam says they are late for class. Mike shoves a paper at him and says, "Read it and weep, spaz." The paper notes that Chi Kappa Delta fraternity is now on probation after yesterday's events. Jerry wrote the article. Mike wants to punch Sam again, but his friend says not to because then Chi Kappa would be off-campus if they break probation.

One of the girls with Mike walks up to Sam and says, "I never met a real superhero before." She shakes his hand. "Hi, I'm Dawn Taylor." Sam nervously says his name is Arnold Watkins as he lets go of her hand. She asks, smiling, "Just how far was that speeding car going?" Sam answers, but is overshadowed by a sudden flash of streaming red light and sound that he can't see, because Alia has just leaped into Dawn! Sam notices that Dawn has a slightly confused look on her face now. He asks, "You ok?" Mike answers, "She's fine. The only problem is she's smelling your dirty socks, Arnold. Isn't that right, baby?" Alia answers, "Yeah right. What were you saying... Arnold?" Sam says nevermind and it is nice to meet her. Alia says it was nice meeting him too.

Sam and Jerry walk away as Alia tells Mike that Arnold is so modest it's cute. Mike shouts after Sam, "You got wheels, Arnold?" Jerry answers for Sam and says he has a Studebaker. The boys laugh. Mike says he's holding Arnold personally responsible for the situation. Sam says, "If you want to know who's responsible, take a look in the mirror." Jerry laughs as he and Sam walk on to class.Mike says, "I'm gonna kill him!" His friend Frank says they can't do anything because of the Dean or they will get expelled.

Nearby, an oval of multi-colored light appears and Zoey, Alia's holographic observer, steps through. She runs over to Alia. "Guess why we're here, darling? Lothos says we're dealing with some Woody Allen type. Perfect job for a homecoming queen." She notices Mike and Frank. "Frat boys.  My favorite
college subject."

Sam realizes that she is there to kill Arnold. Alia says that if Zoey sees them talking, she could tell Lothos. Sam comes up with a solution. He says that maybe this time they can leap out of there together. "Maybe if we're close... if we're holding on to each other when I leap, then just maybe because we're the same, maybe we can leap together, and you can leave Lothos behind forever!"

She says Zoey and Lothos will know. Sam assures her that Al is working with Arnold right now and as soon as he's done, he should leap. He asks Alia how she was supposed to kill Mike. She doesn't know yet, because Zoey doesn't trust her anymore, but she does know she is supposed to get him and Mike to drag race. Sam says he will play along for now until Al is done with Arnold. Alia asks how long that will take, but Sam doesn't know. "You have to trust me. I'll leap, and you'll go with me."

He kisses Alia's cheek and put an arms around her. Alia stops and asks, "What if I leap first?" Sam had not thought of that possibility, but says nothing. He keeps his arm around her and they walk off. Around the corner, Zoey has been secretly watching. She simply says, "Delicious."

Al arrives through the Imaging Chamber door as Sam puts on a leather jacket. Al notices it's not the Marauder cape this time. Al says he just had a session with Arnold and he thinks he's getting though to him. Al notices Sam is not looking him in the eye and asks if he's hiding something from him. Sam doesn't tell him about Alia and just says he's biding his time until he leaps out. Al checks with Ziggy through the handlink and says, "79.5% chance you'll leap, yeah." Sam asks him to go back and keep working on Arnold. Al knows something is up.

At the quarry, the frat boys and girls are all waiting for the chicken race between Arnold and Mike to begin. Alia and Sam pull up and Mike faces them. Alia says she is there to make sure everything is fair, "...in love and war." Mike goes to his car, and Alia says "This is insane! You'll die... I'll leap... It'll never work!" Alia hears Zoey's Imaging Chamber door open and whispers to Sam that Zoey is there. Sam walks away a bit.

Zoey says she has been watching Alia all day and, "You get a B+ for Mr. Fraternity over there." Zoey checks her handlink. "He gets caught cheating on a final, he gets expelled from college, and even his own Daddy won't employ him. Ah! Isn't that special. Makes you wonder what really happened. And now for the real target... Doctor Beckett.

Back in the Waiting Room, Al talks with Arnold. "His name was Leon Kanowski, that's the right name isn't it?" Arnold says he doesn't recognize it. He was a cop, he had nine kids, and got fired from his job and couldn't take the strain." Arnold says to Al that he promised he'd be returned to his own time and not harmed. Al says he is trying to help him so that when he goes back to his own time, he will stop taking chances that will get himself killed. Arnold says, "I protect the innocent." Arnold gets tears in his eyes.

Al says, "Arnold, you couldn't protect your parents when Kanowski opened fire. You were seven years old. You had gone out to the car to get your jacket when you heard the shots. By the time you came back in, it was just in time to see Kanowski use the last bullet on himself."

Arnold weeps. "I should have died too." Al comforts him, and puts an arm around him.

Sam and Mike prepare to race after exchanging insults. Zoey can't wait to see Sam die and relocates to the top of a hill to get a better look. Sam says the bet for the race is, if he wins, the Chi Kappas have to stop the races as part of the initiation. "We got a deal?" Mike says he has to ask his brothers. Sam comments that he thought Mike was capable of maying that decision on his own. Mike is offended and says they have a deal without further comment.

"You're not supposed to die. You weren't then, and you're not now", says Al to Arnold in the Waiting Room. He tells the boy that he doesn't have to risk his life to do good and that if he dies, who will protect the innocent? Al explains again that Arnold was seven years old, and "there's no way you could control what happened to your parents." He then asks Arnold if he thought his parents would have wanted their only son to die too. Arnold begins to understand.

Al arrives on the scene of the chicken race. Zoey oversees. Al tells Sam that he thinks he got through to Arnold as Alia gets into the car with them. Al's eyes widen. "Oh my God, it's her." Sam asks of Alia, "Say hello to Al." Alia says, "He's here, did he do it?" Al tells Sam, "You gotta leap out of here! I can't control things with her changing history!" Sam informs Al that he is taking Alia with her. "Sam, are you out of your mind?!"

Sam and Alia pull up to the starting line next to Mike and the race begins. Sam asks about Arnold. Al replies as they drive off, "Ziggy says the odds of Arnold getting killed in an accident have dropped below 10%, but your odds of getting killed are over 90%!" Alia asks what Al is saying.  Sam tells her that Al says everything is going to work out just fine. Al pleads with Sam to stop the car.  "I can't Al. If I do that, Zoey will  tell Lothos and they'll leap her out of here and I'll lose her forever." Al replies, "So lose her! She tried to kill you!" Sam exclaims, "She didn't! That's the whole point." Al asks, "What if she takes you with her?!"

They round a curve and Al shouts, "Things keep changing! They cut the brake lines!" Sam asks, "What are the odds of Arnold's survival, Al?" Al checks the handlink, "93%. 94...95... Sam there's a cliff coming up in about 200 yards!" Sam yells to the back seat, what are the odds now, Al? The hologram replies, "98.3% and holding!"

Sam says he needs 100%. He tells Alia as they get to the finish line that they have to jump because the brakes have failed. They bail out of the car just before it goes sailing over the edge of the cliff. Sam runs to Alia, who is laying on the ground. "Alia..." He grabs onto her and holds on.

Zoey hears him say her name and says to herself, "Beckett knows." She speaks into the air, "Lothos, pull Alia out now!" Alia immediately begins to glow in red energy.

Al keeps reading out the percentages. "99.4, Sam...point 5... point 6... fight back, Sam!" Sam begins to glow with blue electrical energy, while Alia's red energy mixes in around her.

Zoey says, "I will kill you myself, Alia!" Al continues, "...point 7... point 9! Bingo! 100%!" Al looks on as Sam's blue energy and Alia's red energy combine, and they leap!



Sam completes his leap and finds himself in dark space with small holes in the wall allowing a tiny amount of light inside. Sam immediately calls for Alia. She responds from her own cage of similar size in the dark. She asks nervously, "Sam, where are we?" Sam replies that he doesn't know. A voice they don't recognize answers back, "Good Lord, only a week in the box and you don't know where you are..."

A door opens and Alia is pulled out of her holding room. She yells for Sam. The female jailer named Masterson laughs, "Sam? If you're looking for a 3-letter savior, I suggest you make it start with 'G'" Sam is pulled from his holding room and slammed into the nearby jail bars, then thrown to the ground next to Alia.

Alia tells Sam they have to get out of there. Masterson says, "Well that's simple. All you have to do is tell me which one of you two did it." Sam looks up at Masterson. "Did what?" Masterson kicks Sam hard. "First you act like you don't know where you are and then act like you don't know why."

Alia cries, "We don't!" Masterson says they better figure it out of they're going back in the box. "Now ladies, which one of you murdered Carol Benning?"

Sam says, "Oh Boy."

Note: In syndication and on the DVD and Bluray versions, the episode continues another 2.5 minutes until Masterson leads Sam and Alia to a broom closet and tells Alia that the warden has plans for her. The episode strangely ends here with an abrupt "to be continued" instead of after Sam's initial, "Oh Boy." For our episode guide purposes, we will stop the synopsis here, as these opening couple of scenes are repeated in Evil Leaper Part III, Revenge of the Evil Leaper.

Synopsis by Brian Greene

Personal comments by Rindi:

This is a great episode. It’s very exciting and sweet because Sam helps Alia the Evil Leaper even though she had tried to kill him before. He saves her from herself revealing inner goodness.

Music:

"Oh Boy" by The Crickets plays when Sam puts on a tie.

Project Trivia:

Lothos, from the Evil Leaper Project, can initiate a leap-out, where Ziggy has been unsuccessful.

We see Alia leap with a red hue, as opposed to Sam's blue.

Sam Trivia:

Sam’s mind also merges frequently with his leapee in the episode Lee Harvey Oswald.

Al Trivia:

Al had a cigar for all six appearances.

Al’s Outfits Worn in the Episode:

1^st appearance (with Sam): Al was wearing a light blue jacket with metallic blue sleeves, collar and pockets, with a black button down shirt with rectangular metal down the center, an extravagant, dangly, metal broach on the left breast side, and light blue dress pants.

2^nd appearance (in waiting room): Al was wearing a light gray jacket with a white button down shirt with a cowboy like neck tie (a gold oval at the neck with one strings hanging) and a sweater vest over his shirt with many stripes with a mix of tan, black, white and red clay colors, an extravagant, dangly, metal and broach on the left breast side and light gray dress pants.

3^rd appearance (with Sam): Same as outfit #2.

4^th appearance (in waiting room): Same as outfit #2.

5^th appearance (with Sam): Al was wearing a dark orange jacket with a deep orange button down, a gold broach that looked like the Star Trek symbol of a triangle on a circle on the left breast side and a thin black tie.

6^th appearance (in waiting room): Same as outfit #5.

Zoey's Men:

Frat boys were Zoey's favorite college subject!

Miscellaneous Trivia:

The superhero Batman also lost his parents in a robbery, just like Arnold.

In the movie Rebel Without A Cause (1955), brake lines are cut as part of the plot, just as they are in this episode.

Michael Manasseri (Jerry) played Wyatt in "Weird Science." There is a spoof episode where Wyatt time travels! Watch below and visit our page dedicated to the episode here.

According to Neil Patrick Harris, Quantum Leap was one of his favorite shows. He filmed this episode while he was finishing up the final season of his own show, Doogie Howser, M.D.

After the first episode’s opening credits, a caption appears reading “Evil Leaper I Reprise”, followed by clips from Deliver Us from Evil. Then a further caption closes the montage, reading “Evil Leaper II” before returning to the action, with the episode title and guest stars as normal. Some have interpreted this to suggest that “Evil Leaper II” is part of the title, however this does not appear to be the case, as it is presented to bookend the caption at the start of the montage. Also, Revenge of the Evil Leaper, which is clearly intended to have a similar naming convention for the title, does not have a numerical prefix at all. Source

When Officer Miller makes a joke about Sam being a refugee from Joe McCarthy, he is referring to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who was a little-known junior senator from Wisconsin until February 1950 when he claimed to possess a list of 205 card-carrying Communists employed in the U.S. Department of State. From that moment Senator McCarthy became a tireless crusader against Communism in the early 1950s, a period that has been commonly referred to as the "Red Scare." Arnold is dressed in red, hence the reference.

When Zoey references Woody Allen, in the draft script she also makes the comment, "What a job you did on him..." Apparently they visited the real Woody Allen at some point. Sam also encountered a young Woody Allen in the episode, Play It Again, Seymour.

The Evil Leapers Return in this Novel:
"Knights of the Morningstar"

Read the novel in our Novels & Books section!

Deleted Scenes:

A compilation of clips from the originally televised movie-length version of Quantum Leap: Return and Revenge.

Edited when split into two parts for syndication (renamed Return of the Evil Leaper and Revenge of the Evil Leaper) and every home video release. The movie version was shown only once and was never released on physical media or made available to stream. Here are the missing pieces only seen in the 2-hour movie!

Regular Cast:

Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Al Calavicci

Guest Stars:

Guest Star Cast Notes:

Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes:

Renee Coleman appeared in:
"Deliver Us From Evil"
"Revenge of the Evil Leaper."

Carolyn Seymour appeared in:
"Deliver Us From Evil"
"Revenge of the Evil Leaper"
"A Portrait For Troian"

Elliott J. Brown (Stuart) played "Greaser" in "Memphis Melody."

Say What?

Why is Al left to counsel Arnold in the Waiting Room instead of Dr. Beeks?

The newspaper article has text about Bill Clinton dealing with issues in Israel.

Alia thinks she has hidden the fact that Sam is there from Zoey in the library, but soon after, Zoey definitely knows about Beckett, but there is no reveal of how she found out from Alia. In the script (but not shown onscreen), Alia tells Zoey that she is just setting Sam up, in so many words.

The leap date is in 1956, so there are several dating errors used throughout:

There is a Florida State University jacket in Arnold's room featuring the Seminole Indian logo. This logo in its' original incarnation wasn't introduced until 1971.

Arthur C. Clarke’s Prelude to Mars (1965), John Pfeiffer’s From Galaxies to Man, (1959), and Franklyn M. Branley’s The Nine Planets (1958) are all seen in the library, but the year niow is 1956!

As Sam gets ready for the date, "Oh Boy" by The Crickets - released in 1957 - is playing on the radio.

Alia is near similar books later: Daybreak by Frank G. Slaughter (1958), Thirty-Four East by Alfred Coppel (1974), and Biological Time Bomb by Gordon Rattray Taylor (1968).

Quotable Quotes:

"Do you think that your mom and dad would have wished that their only son die too?"
-- Al

"Oh my God it’s her!"
-- Al

"I can’t control things with her changing history."
– Al

"Are you out of your mind?"
-- Al

The midnight marauder, defender of the faith, protector of the innocent.  He's a wacko.
-- Al

The midnight marauder scoffs at the odds.
-- Sam

Frat boys - my favorite college subject.
-- Zoey

Best Line:

"How did a jerk like you get to be president of anything?" --Sam

Best Scene:

The best scene was when Sam first grabs Alia and sees that it’s her. He has no hard feelings from their last meeting. He wants to save her. He looks deep into her eyes and they hug sweetly. Alia is releaved at the chance to escape Hell and live her own life.

Script:

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Musical Score By: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Supervising Producer: Harker Wade
Supervising Producer: Richard C. Okie
Producer: Robin Jill Bernheim
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Richard C. Okie
Directed by: Harvey Laidman

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producers: Scott Ejercito, Julie Bellisario
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario
Director of Photography: Robert Primes, A.S.C.
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited by: Jon Koslowsky, A.C.E.
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: Jacqueline Saint Anne
Costume Supervisors: Jill Sheridan, Alice Daniels
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
Make-up: Jeremy Swan
Hairstylist: Andrea Mizushima
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 © 1993 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