Leap Date:
November 2, 1956

Episode Adopted by: MikeKraken & Stacie Wilcox
Additional info provided by: Brian Greene

Teaser:

Working on a chain gang in 1956, Sam and a wrongly accused black man named Jasper escape together in Alabama only to be recaptured again. Sam must find a way to prove Jasper's innocence to the corrupt warden as the string of robberies continue.

Audio from this episode:

Al: We've got to find a way for you to get the truth to the right people.

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

TV Guide Teaser:

Sam is a fugitive on a chain gang along with a prisoner (Basil Wallace) who's innocent of the robbery for which he's doing time. Cooley: J.C. Quinn. Wiles: Don Sarks. Capt. Elias: Claude Earl Jones. Sam: Scott Bakula. Al: Dean Stockwell.

Commercial:

Synopsis & Review:

Sam leaps into Chance Terence Cole (leapee played by Mark Kemble), inmate at Talawaga County Prison, in Mississippi, doing nine months for petty theft. He is on a truck, being carried somewhere. There are many prisoners in the truck, and he is handcuffed into a black man, Jasper "Jazz" Boone (played by Basil Wallace). An “Old Convict” tells them it’s safe to jump. They jump out of the back of the truck and hide under an overhanging tree limb. Jazz asks Sam which way. Oh Boy!

Sam and Jazz make their way through the woods, and Jazz is upset that Sam doesn’t know where they are, saying he lied to him. Dogs are in pursuit of them. Jazz says the only way they are going back is in a pine box. Jazz gets them both sprayed by a skunk on purpose to help mask their scent from the dogs. Sam pulls them down into some water and to a drain tunnel, but Jazz is claustrophobic and doesn’t want to hide there. Sam manages to keep him calm enough for the men with dogs to pass by.

Al arrives and tells Sam he is Chance Terrance Cole and that he is a local petty thief. He is doing 9 months for passing bad checks. Sam thinks he must be innocent, and here to prove he isn’t guilty. But Al says no. His buddy is Jasper Boone, doing 15 years for armed robbery of a jewelry store, and attempted murder. Al smells the skunk even though he is a hologram.

Jazz says he was raised by his native american grandmother after his parents died. He catches a fish with his hands but lets it go. He tells Sam that he didn’t break any laws. He says he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was born and raised outside, and can’t handle being shut in.

They make their way to an old barn and cut their handcuffs apart with an ax. Al returns, who tells Sam that he can’t let Jazz go. There is a 98.6% chance that Jazz is innocent. Five more jewelry store robberies have happened using the same M.O. during the two months that Jazz has been imprisoned. Sam observes his host in the mirror. Sam is worried that the innocent man will spend the next fifteen years on the Mississippi Chain Gang, but Al says that he is about to get shot dead when he leaves this barn.

Sam wants Al to find out who the real robber is so that he can pass on the information. He tells Jazz they have to wait here until dark, but Jazz is getting restless already and says he can’t make it that long. Al says there is going to be another robbery tonight.

Sam asks Al to get rid of the dogs. Al calls to the dogs, who of course can see him, and it turns the search party in the other direction. They then realize that Chance’s nine-month sentence started two years ago.

Jazz goes outside, and Sam tells him that they are going to kill him. At Al’s advice, Sam tries hitting him over the head with a stick. It doesn’t work, so Sam uses his self defense skills to kick him in the head instead. Sam puts the passed out Boone in the trunk of a car that is sitting there and gets in with him just as the men arrive. But Boone wakes up at the wrong moment and they get caught. Al says he’s going to go figure out how to catch the robber.

Jake, who is making a grocery delivery, says goodbye and tells Cooley he’ll see him tomorrow. Cooley has Sam call a coin toss. Sal called tails and the coin was heads, but Cooley lied and said it came up tails. They put Jazz in a small water filled pit in the ground. Sam is tasked with moving barrels from one side of the camp to the other. Then he’s told to return them where he got them from.

Al comes back after having staked out the robbery, and tells Sam the real robber is Jake Wiles, who puts makeup on his face to look like a black man. Sam tells Al that Jake was here today. Sam goes to tell Boone. Cooley has Monroe put Sam in the pit to join Boone.

By morning, we can see that Al stayed all night waiting by Sam’s side as they let the prisoners out. Jake comes, and Boone breaks his truck window trying to choke him. Sam breaks it up. Boone tells Jake to tell the warden that he is the one who robbed the store and shot the man. Sam backs him up, saying that Jake robbed a store in Kerville last night. The warden punches Sam.

Al says he is running scenarios to figure out how to get the truth to the right people, but Sam says they need to escape. As the men dig a ditch, Cooley says another five years is now added to Boone’s sentence, and another year to Sam’s.

Boone asks Sam about Al, who he hears him talking to last night. Sam says Al is a friend of his, and he is who told him about Jake. Jazz says he wants to find a place in the mountains, and Sam and Al can come visit.

At the end of the day, Al tells Sam he has nothing new. Boone joins in on the conversation. Ziggy suggests that Sam predicts Jake’s next robbery to make the warden believe him. But it won’t be for eight months.

Cooley meets with Jake, asking how Sam and Boone knew that he robbed the jewelry store last night. Cooley tells him they need to back off a little until things cool down.

The warden tells Cooley to take the men to help unstick a truck full of peanut oil. Al tells Sam his best bet is to bribe someone to get the information out. The men can’t figure out how to dig the truck out. Cooley “finds” Jake Wiles’ body in the trees. Boone punches Cooley and earns another night in the pit. Boone says he’ll rather take a cockfight with Sam. Al says that means they will fight to the death.

Al is confused that Jake was supposed to rob four more jewelry stores. Monroe finds a wad of money on Jake, and Cooley tells him to put it back to let the sheriff find it. Al and Sam try to figure out what he did to change the history and get Jake killed. Sam asks who would have the best reason to kill Jake, and Al wants to know if he has any ex wives. But Sam means a partner, who doesn’t trust him anymore. Al puts his money on Cooley and Sam agrees. Sam again says they have to escape.

Sam and Boone are put in waist deep water and bound together. Cooley reads the rules. Cooley remarks, "You two got any last words?", to which Sam replies, "Is that what you said to Jake Wiles before you shot him?" Cooley responds "Too bad you're not gonna live to regret what you just said, boy!" The men are each given a loose chain to use as a weapon against each other. Boone is willing to kill to stay out of the pit. Sam tells him they can escape. Sam grabs a snake in the water and throws it, diverting all of the men’s attention. By the time they turn back around, Sam and Boone are out of sight.

Sam and Boone wait nearby while everyone leaves to look for them. They light a truck on fire, then run. Fortunately, unknown to Cooley, the convicts have one thing to their advantage, Al. As a holographic guide, he is able to agitate the Cooley's search dog, which can see him, as he shouts, "Hey, you stupid mutt!" The dog lunges toward Al, causing Cooley to lose grip of the leash and his shotgun, which fires accidentally. He falls several feet into a nearby ditch, killing him instantly, which helps Sam and Boone to escape easily from the camp and over to the Louisiana border. Al says the state line is twenty miles upstream.

They get to the state line, and Al says all Boone has to do is cross into Louisiana and he is home free. Sam and Boone say goodbye. Al says that Boone disappears, but in three years a man matching his description is working for the forestry service in Washington State. Cole disappears too, and in a couple years they give up looking for both of them. This unit is shut down in three months.

Boone heads over a hilltop out of the state, but turns back for a moment. Boone says, "Tell Al goodbye for me." Sam tells him, "He can hear you." Boone says, "Thanks, Al," and then disappears over the hill as Sam leaps to his next mission. Synopsis by Stacie Wilcox with additions by Brian Greene.

Personal Review by MikeKraken:

It's not the first time that Sam has leaped into a criminal, and this time, he's dressed for the part as he jumps from a prison truck chained to Jazz Boon, a man who claims that he was framed for his crimes and is now doing fifteen years for armed robbery and attempted murder, recently charged with hitting a jewelery store in nearby Langston. Did Jazz really do the crime, or is Sam there to make sure he doesn't do the time?

Though this isn't one of my favourites, it's still a good episode. I like the story, though it doesn't have as much humour as some of the other episodes, which gives it a sort of dark feeling. It gives insight to the corruptness that probably existed (and maybe even still exists) in some prisons such as these remote ones, and the feeling of justice being served when Jazz becomes free.

Al Trivia:

Al is hanging around in the Imaging Chamber cross-legged (appearing to float) before Sam and Boone arrive.  This is unusual for him to do unless he's scoping out women or investigating something.

Al visits the local town to watch a robbery. This is unusual as well, since the distance from Sam would have been significant to project in the Imaging Chamber.

Chance grew up around Talawaga County.

Jazz's father "was a colored farmer from North Carolina" and his mother was a pure-blood Muskokee, and both of them died when he was very young, so he grew up with his maternal grandmother.

Louisiana is a bordering state with the county, but the state that they're in is never mentioned. The original script placed this episode in Arkansas.

This is the only Quantum Leap episode with a completely male cast.

Guest Cast Notes:

Basil Wallace as Jasper "Jazz" Boone: Basil Wallace immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, West Indies with his four siblings. They joined their parents in Brooklyn, New York where Basil went to elementary and junior high school. The family then moved to Long Island where he attended high school. It was while at Hempstead High School that Basil knew for sure that he wanted a life in the theater. He auditioned for a Broadway bound play, Front Page, starring Henry Fonda, Estelle Parsons, and Robert Ryan. He won the role. That experience sealed his future. He applied to Yale, New York University (NYU) and Harvard. He was accepted to both Yale and NYU, but chose NYU for both New York City and Lloyd Richards of famed A Raisin in the Sun, who was teaching there at the time. That same summer he was selected by Ellen Steward of La Mama ETC (Experimental Theatre Company) to become a member of her theater. He is now a lifetime member. He attended NYU for two years and while there he got his first off-Broadway play, The Pig Pen at the American Place Theatre. His life in the theatre had begun. For the next 20 years he worked as an actor, director and writer in the theater. With La Mama, he was director in residence for a year. As an actor, he also took 5 plays to the Italian Theatre Festival under La Mama. Throughout those years he worked off-Broadway, major regional theaters, and national tours. To keep his craft sharp he continued to take private lessons at places like the Negro Ensemble Company and The Players' Workshop where he eventually taught. Wallace also taught theater aesthetics' for Lincoln Center for ten years. He was the Director of Drama for school district 13 in the Bronx, NY, and Director of Mini-Mobile Theatre for two years. He was one of the founding members and artistic director for its first year of the Caribbean American Repertory Theatre. He was also director of the Yard Bird Players for three years. In 1990, Basil decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting in films. He auditioned for the film Marked for Death and got the leading role. He has been working in both film and television since then. Some movie credits to his name are Grand Canyon, The Wood, Free Willy 2, Return of the Living Dead 3, Caught Up, Deadlock, and Blood Diamond. For television, you've seen him in episodes of West Wing, Judging Amy, The Pretender, Any Day Now, and NYPD Blue. Since moving to "Hollywood," Basil has started JaCuBas Films for the development of new product.

J.C. Quinn as Boss Cooley: J.C. Quinn was born on November 30, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Maximum Overdrive (1986), The Abyss (1989) and Days of Thunder (1990). He died on February 10, 2004 in Mexico.

Claude Earl Jones as Captain Elias: Claude Earl Jones was born on April 29, 1933 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Miracle Mile (1988), Bride of Re-Animator (1990) and Battlestar Galactica (1978). He was married to Nancy Langdon. He died on November 25, 2019 in Claremont, California, USA.

Don Sparks as Jake Wiles: After playing in various rock bands in his teens, Don apprenticed for three years as an actor with the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, where he got his Equity card when he was twenty. He's had a long association with that Tony Award-winning theater and in 1994 was made an Associate Artist by then-Artistic Director, Jack O'Brien. In 2018 he created the role of "JD" in the Broadway musical, "Escape To Margaritaville," also doing the pre-Broadway tour and singing on the original cast album. He made his Broadway debut playing the "Skipper" in "Take Me Out," the Tony Award-winner for Best Play of 2003. Don has done over thirty leading roles with the Old Globe, as well as working at many of the top regional theaters including the Mark Taper Forum, Williamstown, the Long Wharf, the Geffen, Ariizona Theatre Company, South Coast Rep, Berkshire Theatre Festival, as well as many productions across Canada. Don is also a published songwriter who performs his own songs in clubs and coffee houses. His wife Claudia is a busy voice and dialect coach. They live in the Wallkill Valley in New York with their two dogs, Riley and Scout.

Robert V. Barron as Old Convict: Tall, gaunt, rawboned character actor with deep voice, reminiscent of John Carradine. Formal education at Morris Harvey College in Charleston, West Virginia and as Theater Arts major at UCLA. Professional training at American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and at Max Reinhardt Workshop in Los Angeles. Before attacking Hollywood, he spent several years working in regional theaters from one end of the US to the other, and had built an impressive resume of glowing reviews of his performances in such roles as "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", "Sir Thomas More" in "A Man For All Seasons", "Henry Drummond" in "Inherit The Wind", "Richard III" and the like, but he was never offered such lofty challenges in films or television. Still, he didn't languish, but instead relished every chance he was given to play for the camera, whether in a quality major studio production or the cheesiest of no-budget fly-by-night productions. When he wasn't acting, he uncovered his typewriter and cranked out teleplays and movie scripts. Perhaps his best-remembered television script was his first, a lighthearted comedy episode of the Bonanza (1959) series, titled Hoss and the Leprechauns (1963). As a writer, he drifted into adapting English-dubbing scripts of foreign films. American producers began buying successful Japanese animated series and dubbing them into English, and Barron was a pioneer in that industry, which grew rapidly and enormously. He became executive director and story editor for "Saban Productions", which in the course of five years became one of the largest producers of children's programming in the world, with such shows as X-Men: The Animated Series (1992) and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993). He played Abraham Lincoln in four different productions: Love and the Ghost/Love and the Out-of-Town Client/Love and the Secret Habit (1972), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Honest Evie (1989) and Psychic 2000 (1991).

Jed Mills as Monroe: Jed Mills was born on January 12, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Casino (1995), Twin Peaks (1990) and Quantum Leap (1989).

Mark Kemble as Chance Terrance Cole (Mirror Image): Mark Kemble was born on August 21, 1953 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Bad Hurt (2015), Race (1998) and The Hanoi Hilton (1987). He died on August 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Guests Who Appeared in Other Episodes of Quantum Leap:

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

Say What?

Boone’s mouth moves but he doesn't say anything after he and Sam escape the first time by the river.

How does Al smell skunk when he isn't physically in Sam's environment?

The wrong sound effect is used when Al leaves (the relocating effect).

Who would have the best reason to kill Jake?
Oh!  Does he have any ex-wives...
-- Sam and Al, "Unchained"

You know, it's funny, if I wasn't a hologram, I could swear I could smell skunk.
-- Al, "Unchained"

Gee Sam, it kind of looks like you're dressed up for hard time.
This is the latest thing in prison escapes.
It looks more like a chain gang.
Thank you, Dr. Watson.
-- Al and Sam, "Unchained"

You gotta find out who the real guy is then get me the information so I can get it to people who can do something about it.
Yah, and if I had blond hair and I could sing, I'd be Madonna.
-- Sam and Al, "Unchained"

Doggie, doggie, doggie... we got chicken flavor right this way!
-- Al, "Unchained"

If I'd have known I'd have to do this much running, I would have worn my cross training shoes.
-- Al, "Unchained"

Geez Sam, what are they giving you to eat here?  Road kill?
-- Al, "Unchained"

Unless we sprout wings, we're gonna die here now.
There's always a way.  We just need a little help, that's all.
You talkin' about Al?  I heard you talkin' to him last night.
-- Sam and Boone, "Unchained"

Do you think Al likes snow?
I don't remember, I don't think I ever asked him.
-- Boone and Sam, "Unchained"

...Find me some place with a lot of space--not too many people around, settle down.  Maybe you and Al could come and visit.
That'd be nice.  I'd like that.
-- Boone and Sam, "Unchained"

Sam--cock fight is Southern prison slang for a fight between two  prisoners.  To the *death*.
-- Al, "Unchained"

Hey, Cooley, look at this.  There's gotta be a couple of thousand dollars here.  I be damned if the grocery business isn't something  I otta look into.
-- Monroe, "Unchained"

I guess that rules out robbery.
Which leaves only 999 other motives, Al.
-- Al and Sam, "Unchained"

Hey, tell Al good bye for me.
He can hear ya!
Thanks Al!
-- Boone and Sam, "Unchained"

Sam, that was incredible, you made Houdini look like a piker.
-- Al, on Sam's underwater escape, "Unchained"

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Music by: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg
Supervising Producer: Harker Wade
Produced by: Jeff Gourson, Tommy Thompson
Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal, Paul Brown
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Paris Qualles
Directed by: Michael Watkins

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producers: Julie Bellisario, James S. Giritlian
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario
Director of Photography: Michael Watkins, A.S.C.
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited by: M. Edward Salier A.C.E., Jon Koslowsky, A.C.E.
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: Ryan Gordon
Second Assistant Director: Kate Yurka
Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky
Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisor: David Rawley
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
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 © 1991 by Universal City Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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, an MCA Company

Podcasts:

Cast off your shackles because it’s time for Unchained!

Listen as Quantum Leap Podcast hosts Allison Pregler, Matt Dale and Christopher DeFilippis do hard time with Sam, as he becomes a fugitive from a chain gang who must find justice for an innocent man.

Listen to The Quantum Leap Podcast on this episode here: