'The Leap Back' Story Code '67303' by Donald P. Bellisario

15th June 1945: Sam’s shock therapy during a thunderstorm has caused him to switch places with Al – so while Sam is overjoyed to find himself now a hologram, Al is less than pleased at leaping into the body of Captain Tom Jarret, a soldier who has returned home to Crown Point after spending three years as a P.O.W. With his memory ‘Swiss-cheesed’, Al wonders why his situation is familiar; Sam informs him that he suffered a similar experience after being declared M.I.A. in the Vietnam War. As Sam’s own memory begins to return, he realises that his body is standing in the Quantum Leap Imaging Chamber in the future; however, the lightning strike instigated a security clampdown, sealing the chamber to protect the base from what was perceived as a radiation leak – and with Al still holding his hand-link, there is no way for Sam to leave the chamber... After learning that Tom’s wife, Suzanne, is due to remarry, Al decides to grab some breakfast at a nearby café while he and Sam attempt to determine his mission. When Al then meets Suzanne he inadvertently proposes marriage; Suzanne happily accepts, much to the anger of her other fiancé, Clifford. Some time later, Sam recalls a ‘back-door’ he installed in Ziggy’s systems, and so he and Al send Gushi a letter to be post-delivered on 18th September 1999; the plan works, and Sam is finally able to exit the chamber and be reunited with his colleagues – as well as his wife, Donna. Meanwhile, back in 1945, Al learns that his mission is to prevent the deaths of Tom and Suzanne, who are destined to commit suicide that night, by driving off a cliff together…

Scott Bakula (Doctor Samuel ‘Sam’ Beckett), Dean Stockwell (Rear Admiral Albert ‘Al’ Calavicci), Amanda Wyss (Suzanne Elsinga), Mimi Kuzyk (Doctor Donna Elesee), Douglas Roberts (Mike), Robert Prescott (Clifford Brown), Jeanine Jackson (Kelly), Candy Ann Brown (Doctor Verbeena Beaks), Dennis Wolfberg (Gushie), Gigi Rice (Tina), Susan Ann Connor (Navy Admiral), Dean Denton (Captain Tom Jarret / Mirror), Deborah Pratt (Ziggy [Voice])

Directed by Michael Zinberg
Executive Producer Donald P. Bellisario

TX (US): 18th September 1991

Notes:
*Featuring Doctor Samuel ‘Sam’ Beckett and Rear Admiral Albert ‘Al’ Calavicci