Quantum Leap (1989–1993): Season 5, Episode 6 - Star Light, Star Bright - May 21, 1966 - full transcript
Sam leaps into a 79-year-old man who claims to have seen UFOs to save him from being committed and his grandson from dying of a drug overdose.
Theorizing that one could time travel
within his own lifetime,
Dr. Sam Beckett stepped
into the Quantum Leap accelerator...
and vanished.
He awoke to find himself
trapped in the past,
facing mirror images
that were not his own...
and driven by an unknown force
to change history for the better.
His only guide on this journey is Al,
an observer from his own time,
who appears in the form of a hologram
that only Sam can see and hear.
And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself
leaping from life to life,
striving to put right
what once went wrong...
and hoping each time
that his next leap...
will be the leap home.
Oh, my God.
Can you hear me?
Who are you?
Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
Who are you?
Who are you?
No!
No, come back!
Come back!
- Pop. Hey!
- No!
There you are.
Come back.
- Come on, Pop. Not again.
- Did you see that?
- Did you see them?
- Yeah.
Pop.
You had to have seen that.
It was incredible.
Oh, my God! Th-The lights, then the-the-the
spinning and then it whoosed like that.
- They got-- They gotta come back.
- Yeah. Yeah. Sure.
Come on, Pop. Come on.
If I don't get you back, they'll--
- Will you just come on before--
- Hold it right there, please.
Oh, major bummer.
Thank God.
Where were they?
I found 'em in the woods out by the
hospital. I guess I'll be on my way. Ma'am.
Thanks.
Well, you got a long way this time,
Dad, especially in your slippers.
Dad.
- Well, are you both all right?
- Of course.
Don't you talk to
your mother like that,
especially after
worrying us this way.
What about you, Dad? Don't you
have anything to say for yourself?
Uh, yeah. S-Sorry.
- Dad, get off his case.
- You get your butt up to bed.
I'll deal with you
in the morning.
Deal with me, what?
I-I just went out to find him.
Without telling us. What, so you could
sneak him up the back stairs again?
How many times you guys
gotten away with it?
Look, I'm-I'm sorry if
I've caused any trouble,
but maybe if we
all got some sleep--
Don't you want to tell
us about your little walk?
Little walk?
See anything... interesting?
A-As a matter of fact--
It was a beautiful night.
- Beautiful night?
- Yeah. It was a trip, Dad.
Bright stars, quarter moon.
Besides, who could blame him
for wanting to get out of here?
I thought I told
you to get up to bed.
John, look, Pop's right.
We're all gonna feel a lot better
after a good night's sleep.
Come on.
I won't.
Good goin', Pop.
You totally maintained.
Well, I lied to 'em, yeah.
Well, don't tell 'em anything
they don't want to hear.
Ah, you and Richard Nixon.
Old Tricky Dick?
He's history.
Right.
Look,
are you sure
that your dad-- my son--
Does he know what
happened out there?
Get a clue, Pop.
You haven't talked about anything but
saucers and spaceships for two months now.
Or are you losing
it for real this time?
No, I'm-I'm-I'm fine, I think.
- And you're sure you didn't see anything?
- A lot of trees, bushes.
I tripped on a boulder,
almost wasted my knee.
You know what I mean.
Yeah. I know.
Look, Pop, I wish I did see
your little green men.
I'm not talkin' about
little green men, all right?
I'm talkin' about the lights, about
the ship. You had to have seen the--
All right, all right. What
else have I been telling you?
Look, Pop, you're tired, okay?
Just get some rest.
But will you stay put, please?
'Cause I can't keep fishin'
you out of the woods,
or the old man is gonna
ground me until I'm your age.
So give it a rest, okay?
- Okay.
- All right.
- Tim?
- Hmm?
- You're a good kid.
- You too.
- Good night.
- Night.
I know you're out there.
Hmm.
What on earth was that?
Oh, my God.
"Photo by Maxwell Stoddard."
Oh, 1966. Great. When in 1966?
You're absolutely right, Sam.
It is 1966. It's May 21, to be exact, yes.
- Thank God you're here.
- Oh, good to see you.
- Um, I saw something.
- Oh, you did?
Yeah.
And it was incredible.
- I mean, the lights, the motion--
- Oh, not you too.
It started right
after I leaped in.
In fact, at first,
I thought it was a part of the leap-in,
or that maybe I was gonna leap
right back out again.
Only it kept on going
and it became more beautiful.
You'll never guess what it was.
- It was the most beautiful thing.
- You saw a flying saucer.
Well, no. It wasn't exactly a saucer,
see, because it wasn't that flat.
It was more like a bowl. Of course,
I was only seeing it from the--
- You know?
- Of course, I know.
Your name is Maxwell Stoddard,
you're 79 years old...
and you're convinced that
you've been seeing U.F.O.s.
I did see one.
Uh, yeah. But see,
that's what happens to you, Sam.
Ziggy says your memory is Swiss-cheesed
with the real Mr. Stoddard,
who, by the way right now,
is in the waiting room and he
thinks he's on his way to Venus.
- Guy must be terrified.
- Au contraire. He's in heaven.
He keeps fingering our clothes.
He wants to know what we eat.
You know what he says to me?
He says-- He says,
"Take me to your leader."
So I turned him over to Gooshie. Told him
he was the king of the planet Halitosis.
Al, I've got to find a way
to get back to those woods.
Because there has to be some
kind of physical evidence there--
That's exactly what
you should not do.
No, no, no, no. See,
you don't realize what I've discovered.
No, Sam, you don't realize that in
less than a week, your son, John,
is gonna have you committed
to the local mental hospital.
Just because I saw a U.F.O.?
No. Because Max saw-- Max
thinks he saw a U.F.O.
And he's been blabbing
about it to everybody,
including the parish
priest, the ice cream man--
Al, the man is no more
crazy than I am.
And if I can get back to those woods,
I can prove it to you.
That's all we need is for you to
go traipsing through the underbrush
in your long johns.
That'll get you into
the hospital even sooner.
Are you sure? I mean, is Ziggy
sure that that's why I'm here?
Uh, 78.1%.
What are the odds of me being here to
prove the existence of extraterrestrials?
- Uh, 73.3%. I win!
- Yeah, but it's very close.
This isn't horseshoes, Sam.
You know Ziggy. She'll come up
with one figure one minute...
and the next,
she'll have a whole new calculation.
Sam, you're not being objective.
I'm a scientist. Scientists are
objective. You're not being objective.
Are you kidding? If all scientists were
objective, we wouldn't have the lightbulb.
We never would have
even landed on the moon.
This is '66. You got three years
before you go to the moon.
And I would not be
traveling around in time.
You gotta have the dream
first, Al.
Great scientists
are never objective.
And that's why people always
think that they're loony.
Which is exactly
what they think about Max.
But don't you see--
I mean, don't you get it, Al?
You see, a discovery like this--
I mean, it could mean--
I feel the way I felt the first time I saw
my time-travel calculations working.
I'm so unbelievably lucky to-to
be there on the cutting edge
of solving one of
mankind's oldest riddles.
And now-- now I have a chance to solve
a second one in the same lifetime.
I mean-
Nobody gets that chance.
Nobody.
- Oh, God.
- John.
He's gotten worse. We just can't
give him the care that he needs.
He'll be miserable in a hospital.
We don't have a choice.
Oh.
I was up at dawn dying to prove
that what I'd seen in the
woods last night was real.
And then if I could reconcile
Tim and his dad in the process,
that would be the
icing on the cake.
Get it while it's hot.
- Morning.
- Morning, Pop.
- You hungry?
- I could eat a horse.
Well, I'm afraid you're
gonna have to settle
for bacon and eggs this morning.
Sit.
So then I'm supposed to go
Just because you want me to?
Because I know
what's right for you.
You don't even know who I am.
I mean, college isn't right for everyone.
Seventeen years old
and he thinks he knows everything.
Oh, okay. The older you
are, the smarter you are?
Fine. We'll ask Pop. He's older than
both of us, all of us, put together.
Oh, no. Don't put your
grandfather in the middle of this.
Why? Don't you respect
your own father's wisdom?
You're my son, not his.
Pop, you were a teenager
when you left Ireland, right?
He was trying to escape a potato famine,
not run away to Greenwich Village.
He wanted a better life,
which is exactly what I want.
I want to be a musician.
Or a long-haired hippie bum.
Dad, I have the talent.
I gotta at least try.
You can either go to City College
or come to work with me.
You know, uh, maybe--
- maybe there's a way you could do both.
- You stay out of this, Pop.
Wh-Why should he? He's been more of
a father to me than you ever have.
Look, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, uh, Son.
- Uh, he's young, you know?
- Don't make excuses.
- I'm not. I'm on your side on this one.
- That's a first.
Look, could you just
slow down for a second?
I'm sorry, Dad.
How's your hip doing?
It's good. It's good. It's, uh-- It's
feelin' good. I-I feel like I'm 40 today.
- Good. That's good, Sam.
- Great, Dad. I'll see you tonight.
- And you're sounding like your sane.
- I am sane.
Dad, I never said you were insane.
All right. Maybe that's, um--
that's too strong of a word.
But you think that
I'm losing touch, right?
Look, I-I know it can't be easy
living with someone... eccentric like me.
But don't underestimate Max Stoddard.
He's got plenty of good years left in him.
- Oh, he's got 20.
- Sure, you do.
- You believe that?
- Yeah.
- Then why are you giving up on me?
- Dad, I'm not giving up on you.
You're talking about
sending me to a sanitarium.
- Well, your hearing's still good.
- Yeah, it is. And so is my mind.
I don't care what you think,
I'm not crazy.
But a couple months in a psych ward and
I will be. Now, is that what you want?
- Dad, be fair.
- Fair?
I gave you more than
a few second chances
when you were a snot-nosed
little kid, right?
- More than a few.
- Then do the same for me.
I promise I won't let you down.
- All right.
- Thanks.
Uh, just promise me that you won't
head for the woods as soon as I leave.
Hmm. Promise.
Where are you goin'?
I'm goin' for a walk, okay?
We need to talk.
Max Stoddard's been keeping
detailed U.F.O. records for 50 years, Al.
I know he must have a theory.
And according to his diary, this town has
a long history of unexplained sightings.
I want you to get Ziggy to back-trace
all the data from the local newspapers
and see what she comes up with.
I can't help you with
that, Sam, because-
- Why not?
- Well, the local library burned down.
Ziggy can't access
that information.
When'd it burn down?
- When?
- Yeah.
Oh, September 7, 1968.
- So then it's still there.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- But seriously, Sam--
- Seriously what? Why don't you--
You don't wanna go--
Hey, look at that.
I had a paper route once.
It's stuffy in the library.
Look out.
- Hi, Max!
- Hey! Hey! He almost hit you!
But seriously, Sam. Now seriously.
You gotta-- Sam!
Come on. For Max's sake,
you've got to get off this U.F.O. stuff
and don't go to the library.
Why? I'm just gonna do
a little reading, okay?
- A little reading.
- Yes.
About flying saucers and little
aliens and-and "Beam me up, Scotty."
What happens if
John catches you?
He's at work. So's Eva.
Tim's at school, okay?
I promise you, I won't take anything
out of the library, all right?
- Sam. Sam.
- What?
Lookit, in a town like
this, everybody talks.
That old coot, Max,
is babbling to everybody,
and you're not helping anything.
- Don't call him an old coot.
- Okay, he's a young coot.
Sam, I don't mean
to frustrate you.
- Well, you are.
- It's just--
If you think that Max has got Alzheimer's
or somethin' like that, forget it.
No, I don't-
This guy has been into U.F.O.s,
according to his scrapbook,
since he was a pilot
in World War I.
Fascinating.
Absolutely fascinating.
The man talks to himself.
Any testimony he gives
us will be compromised.
Not necessarily.
Sigmund Freud
talked to himself constantly.
Ludwig van Beethoven carried on
entire conversations with thin air.
Yeah. But I don't think they thought
they were talking to spacemen.
Correct me if I'm wrong,
but wasn't 1966 the year
when there was a worldwide
increase in U.F.O. sightings?
- How come you remember that?
- Yes or no?
I don't know! Maybe!
And weren't there a significant number
of sightings in the northern U.S.?
- Sam, will you stop?
- Al, do you think that I'm crazy?
Do you think I'm irresponsible?
No.
Do you-- Do you think I'm
prone to hallucinations, huh?
Well, sometimes when you
psycho-synergize, like you did with Oswald.
Well, never mind. Okay.
If anything, you're too sane.
All right. Then listen to me.
I have spent my whole life
learning to be a trained observer.
So? So have I.
I'm an observer.
Al, I am telling you that what
I saw in those woods last night...
can only be
explained in one way.
But I am telling you
it doesn't matter.
You're still here to keep Max Stoddard
from dying in some state-run bedlam.
I know that. I know that.
But, Al, my God,
if I can prove
that U.F.O.s exist,
I mean, it's as equally as important
as Project Quantum Leap itself.
At the same time, I could prove that
Max isn't crazy. I want to do both.
But. Sam, you can't.
Why not?
If I give them irrefutable evidence--
But they'll refute it
no matter what it is.
People have been trying to prove that
U.F.O.s exist for hundreds of years.
They can't do it!
What makes you so special?
I don't know, Al.
But I know what I saw.
But it's too risky.
You go out your
bedroom window tonight,
you get as far as the corner
market, they pick you up.
What happens to Max?
What if they don't pick me up, huh?
What if I don't get caught?
I changed my mind.
You are crazy.
This is pointless.
The old man's coming unglued.
We don't know that for sure.
Come on.
When you're riding alone in a car,
don't you ever rehearse
conversations...
- or things you wish you'd said?
- Yeah. Sure I do.
But he's not in a car.
He's on a public dock.
And I usually don't wave my arms
and pace around like a caged animal.
Next thing you know,
he'll be foaming at the mouth.
Look, I don't try to play soldier.
Why don't you quit playing psychiatrist?
I say we classify him "Not Relevant"
and head back to D.C.
- We've got plenty of other subjects.
- Not who've kept notes like Stoddard,
or written articles.
Frankly, I find his theory of return U.F.O.
visitations in this area quite coherent.
Yeah. Alice In Wonderland
is coherent too.
That doesn't mean I believe
in grinning cats who disappear.
You give up too easily.
Are you seriously gonna put your
signature on a report about a man
whose own son wants
to have him committed?
Not unless I can verify
his testimony with other ways.
- You know I don't like those other ways.
- They work, Major.
I think maybe the state hospital
just might be the safest place
for Maxwell Stoddard after all.
Hey, Tim, I was think--
Going somewhere?
Uh, yeah, um,
camping with the guys.
Um, we're, you know, hanging out,
maybe catch some fish.
How come you're home early?
I thought you and I were supposed
to have a real, honest relationship.
We do.
You're not going camping.
Okay. Lanny's picking me up tonight,
we're goin' down to the Village.
- When are you coming back?
- I'm not, Pop.
You're running away?
In three months,
I'll be old enough to get drafted.
I'm old enough to
choose my own life.
I agree with that.
You do?
That's great, Pop.
You're also old enough to
know that this is a bad idea.
Oh, don't you start on me.
Look, how do you think
your dad's gonna feel
when he wakes up tomorrow
and you're not here?
- Relieved.
- No way. No way.
And neither is your mom.
Hey, I'll write
as soon as I'm settled.
Look, your dad wants you
to stay in school, right?
Right. Right. Community college.
The pits.
He just wants to keep me at home.
Maybe that's all he can afford.
They don't even have music classes.
You want to go sleep on
sidewalk in the Village?
No way. Lanny's got a van.
What if there was a way
you could do both?
I don't get it. Look, what if you went
to college in New York during the day...
and then you got a job at night
playing the guitar?
You take the money that you earn there
and you put it towards the extra tuition.
No. No. My dad
would never go for it.
Hey, look, you don't know that.
Besides, that depends on how
hard we try and sell him on it.
- We?
- Yeah. I'll help you.
I'm sure your mom will too.
- I don't know, Pop.
- Oh, come on now. Just--
Just think about it, okay?
It's a nice guitar.
Who's your favorite guy?
- Lead guy, you know?
- Chuck Berry. Keith Richards.
This new guy I haven't told you about--
uh, English guy, Clapton.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
You ever hear of Jimi Hendrix?
Who's he?
Some old big-band guy?
No, not actually.
If you ever get a chance
to hear him play, you--
Wait. You will actually,
within the year.
- Yeah? Where's he playing?
- Woodstock.
Oh, right. There's nothing up there but
farms, Pop. Who's gonna listen, the cows?
- Trust me on this, okay?
- What's he sound like?
Well, he-he kind of--
Plug that thing in.
Let me see if I can, uh-- It's been
a while but, uh-- Turn the radio off.
All right. Here we go.
Pop, Pop, be careful.
I just had it fixed.
What the hell is this?
Uh, just a little, uh,
dem-demonstration.
Of what?
A cat in a garbage disposal?
S-Sorry, I-I, uh--
That's okay.
Forget it, Pop.
I can't remember the last time
I had a meal this good.
Thank you, Max.
Tim, you, uh--
you want to talk about what
we discussed this afternoon?
Honey, are you all right?
You've hardly touched your food.
I'm fine.
Your mother worked hard
to put food on the table.
So that makes me
an eating machine?
You'll eat it and
be glad you have it.
I'm not three anymore, Dad.
It was about college.
Tim wants to play music.
You want him to go to school.
I don't see why
he can't do both.
Well, that sounds sensible.
I thought you said City College
didn't have a music department?
I-I-I don't want to study it, Dad.
I want to play it.
We were talking about using his talent
to help pay part of the tuition...
down in Manhattan.
We've been through this.
Uh, John, j-just wait a minute.
This sounds different.
People do it, Dad. I-I can play clubs
at night and go to school in the day.
And when do you study?
While you sleep?
I don't understand you,
honestly.
If Pop here had offered
to feed me and put me up
while I went to
college on his nickel,
don't you think I wouldn't
have jumped at the chance?
News flash, Dad: I'm not you!
Don't you ever use that
tone with me again.
Fine.
If that's the way you want it.
Tim Stoddard, get back--
- Tim--
- Where are you going?
- I'm goin' to bring him back.
- Don't bother.
John!
Well, look at 'em.
You see how they gang up on me?
It takes a gang
to get through to you.
Tim!
He went that way, Sam.
Down by the water.
Al, have Ziggy run a projection
on Timothy's future.
Well, h-he runs away to Manhattan.
And then he plays in a
couple of performances
with a small-time band
called River Wind.
And-- Uh-oh.
He winds up on a slab at Bellevue.
- What?
- Overdosed on heroin.
Sam?
Sam!
Tim?
Hey, Tim!
It's me, Pop!
I gotta talk to you.
Tim.
Tim? Tim!
Come on. It's just me!
Why is he such a jerk?
Well, that's-that's my son
you're talking about, you know.
I wanted to tell him.
I tried to tell him.
I was there.
And he treats us both like babies.
And you're pushing 80.
Doesn't that hack you off?
Yeah.
I just got to get out of that house.
Sam, check this out.
Given this new information,
Ziggy's projecting that
your secondary objective is Tim.
That you gotta prevent him
from O.D.'ing.
You get high, don't you?
Me? What does that
have to do with anything?
This is just
between you and me.
Yeah. I've smoked a
few joints in my time.
I-I use it for playing music
and for listening. It's great.
- No, it's not great.
- What, you've tried it?
No. No.
I-I'm just telling you that it's not
good, okay, for you or for your music.
I-I can't tell you
the number of-of musicians...
whose-whose lives
have been cut short bec--
Actually, I-I can.
You remember Jimi Hendrix?
I was telling you about him?
Yeah, what about him?
Okay. Remember his name.
And-And Janis Joplin?
- I never heard of her.
- Well, um, Jim Morrison.
Uh-Uh, Brian Jones.
- He's in the Stones.
- Was. Is. But-But not for long.
- Elvis.
- Right. And Elvis.
Oh, Pop, you're flippin' out
on me again.
No, I'm telling you,
listen to me.
Everyone of those people
I just told you about--
Their deaths are
all drug related.
I mean it!
Now-Now listen.
I know this doesn't
make a whole lot of sense,
but if you run off to New York
City-- whatever you're gonna do--
and I'm not around to help you,
I want you to remember
this conversation, okay,
and remember those
people's names.
And if you start getting' into
drugs, okay, not just grass,
but into heavy drugs
and stuff like that,
you look at those people,
you look what happened in their lives,
and you remember that
we had this talk.
This is brilliant.
His odds are improving.
You promise?
- I promise.
- Okay. Tell me their names again.
- Hendrix. Janet Joplin--
- Janis.
Whatever. Elvis, Brian Jones.
Too weird.
- Uh, Jim Morrison.
- Jim Morrison.
- That's it, Sam. He's-He's safe now.
- Thank God.
Pop, you are the original
space cadet.
If you only knew.
Come on. Let's go home.
Let's get out of here.
Mom, Dad.
- I'm sorry.
- Dad, this is Dr. Hardy.
- He's a psychiatrist.
- Uh-oh!
- Mr. Stoddard, so glad to meet you.
- Don't-Don't answer them.
- I don't understand.
- What's he doing here?
Pop's not crazy.
Nobody said he was, son. Major Irwin
Meadows, U.S. Air Force Intelligence.
Thank you for allowing us
into your home.
I don't know that I did.
You didn't.
Pop, these men are part of
a special government project.
Come on. Come sit down.
Yeah. Watergate was
a special project too.
What, uh, sort of
a government project?
We investigate unexplained events that
might have a bearing on national security.
What kind of events?
Flying saucers, Mr. Stoddard.
U.F.O.s.
You're rather well known in these
parts for your interest in the subject.
We thought we could talk.
Just don't say anything, Sam.
Well, you know, some people have
actually, uh, questioned my sanity--
Sam!
for claiming these things, so, uh, forgive
me if I have a little, uh, reluctance to--
Totally understandable.
A few crackpots have
poisoned the well
for anyone who's seriously
interested in the subject.
- And you two are seriously interested?
- Absolutely.
Well, what do you want me to do?
I mean, have you seen something
and you want me to confirm it?
- I want you to clam up.
- Not really.
The government just can't take chances,
what with the Cold War and all.
Our equipment can't see everything,
so we rely on citizens like yourself.
Well, what I saw,
or what I might have seen,
I don't think it had anything
to do with the Russians.
Oh, we believe that. But we have
to consider every possibility.
- You believe me?
- Yes, sir.
So you're saying that it's--
Well, that seeing something
unusual in the sky
doesn't necessarily
make a person crazy.
Have you seen a U.F.O.,
Mr. Stoddard?
Not one word. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
You know, uh,
I really would like to talk to you,
but I've-I've had a very busy day.
I'm surprised. Our sources told us that
you'd be more than willing to cooperate.
Sources? What-What sources?
- You've been checking up on me?
- We just want your cooperation.
- You do?
- Yes, sir.
That's what I want.
Your cooperation.
I'd like to know a little
something about Project Blue Book.
That's classified information,
Mr. Stoddard.
But if your testimony turns out
the way we expect it will,
we might be able to influence our superiors
to share a summary with you.
Oh, that'd be great.
See, I told you you could...
have faith in me.
Ziggy says don't trust 'em, Sam.
They're big-time nozzles.
Why don't we arrange to meet
tomorrow, somewhere comfortable,
given how much
you have to tell us.
I'm sure the government wouldn't
mind giving you the royal treatment.
Well, thank you.
I-I'm sure you'll find that my observations
will be very detailed and accurate.
- All right, Pop.
- Oh, Pop, we're proud of you.
- See you tomorrow.
- Okay. Thank you.
- I'll show you out.
- Ma'am.
Thanks a lot.
Let's talk.
Thank you very much.
You can't imagine our relief.
These situations are very
difficult to evaluate.
What time tomorrow do
you want to see him?
I don't think we really need
to speak to him, Mr. Stoddard.
But you said--
Dr. Hardy and I have interviewed
hundreds of these so-called witnesses.
We have yet to find a single one
whose facts make any sense at all.
He seems like a sweet old man.
Reminds me of my dad.
Then how the hell can you
lead him along that way?
We thought the appointment
idea might give you a chance
to take him to a care facility
without him struggling.
You told us you've
had trouble controlling him.
We'll be heading back to D.C.
in the morning.
Listen, be grateful
the hospital's so close.
It makes visitation
so much easier.
Good night.
Did you see their faces when
I said Project Blue Book?
- Uh, yeah.
- Did you see them?
- I mean, they were like--
- Yeah. Um--
Yeah, but I also saw Brando
in One-Eyed Jacks.
Never trust a face when
you can only see one side.
All right. Okay.
What does Ziggy say?
- What does Ziggy-- Oh.
- Yeah.
- Uh, "Data inconclusive."
- Huh?
"Data inconclusive"?
I got a bad feeling about this, Sam.
Like my second wife. You know? Uh-Uh-
- Al--
- What's her name?
- Yeah, yeah. Al. Al.
- The Hungarian one?
What about the data I
gave you from the library?
I gave you four very
specific activity periods.
Oh, okay.
Oh, yeah. Okay.
Well, in addition to
your alleged sighting,
Yeah.
there were two in '62,
and then there was one in June of '58.
- Just one?
- Yes.
Well, they could have
missed the second one.
And then there were two
on New Year's, January '55.
Of course,
that could have been champagne.
There's a pattern.
There's a pattern, Al.
Have Ziggy run a time-coordinated
collation of the sightings, okay?
- Okay. Okay.
- Hurry up.
Come on. Please be right.
Please be right.
- What?
- You're right, there's a pattern.
There's a sighting approximately
every 47.51 Earth months.
Yeah?
And then there's
a second sighting...
three or four days
after the first one.
Yes! Yes!
Don't you see? That's it!
They're coming back. They're coming back.
And it could happen any time.
I'm gonna be here to confirm their visit.
This is unbelievable!
Don't you understand
what I'm saying?
With everything we know
now, and with Ziggy--
I mean, if we can make
contact, right?
And you gotta presume that they have
some kind of a computer system, right?
If Ziggy can hook up into that,
the possibilities-- They're endless, right?
We can go-- I mean--
You see, Project Blue Book has
Washington's top priority U.F.O. research.
I can't wait to get a look
at what they must have.
I'll even bet they'll want to
include my information with it.
Boy, I can't wait
to tell those guys.
Huh? I mean, to see
their faces when I'll tell 'em.
They're gonna--
Charlemont State Hospital?
Wh-What's goin' on?
I thought we were goin'--
Dad.
- Aw, no. No!
- Dad, look, don't make it harder.
Don't! You're gonna get hurt.
Pop! You'll just make it worse!
- You're makin' a mistake!
- You're gonna be all right.
- You're making a terrible mistake!
- Please, Pop.
- Make it easy on yourself.
- Please!
Just let me go, plea-- Ah!
Let me go!
No, listen to me!
Come here!
This is all wrong. Look, I was invited
to meet a team of government officials,
not to come here.
But we are here.
Shall we get started?
I studied your service record,
Mr. Stoddard.
Most combat veterans would be eager
to help when their country called.
How about when their country
kidnaps them and ties 'em up in bed?
Please understand.
This is our job-- a government mission.
Uh, Sam? Ohh.
- Oh, Sam, I wouldn't let 'em do that.
- Do I have a choice?
- You made your choice last night.
- What's in the needle?
- What's in the needle?
- Sodium Pentothal.
A truth serum, widely used.
Short-acting, no lasting effects.
No. No, Sam, don't let 'em give you that.
There's no telling what you'll say.
Uh, you could change history.
You could even doom Quantum Leap.
Hold him down.
Look, h-how could you do this?
You're a doctor.
You know, he's got a point. I didn't
join the air force to harass old men.
- You joined it, so follow orders.
- Sam, say something!
Tell 'em anything!
Make it up if you have to!
But don't let 'em shoot
you with that junk!
All right, all right. Look.
I saw a self-illuminated elliptical orb...
roughly 15 meters on the long
axis, 10 on the short.
Record this.
This was three nights ago,
correct?
- May 21.
- Right. Right.
It hovered approximately
10 to 20 meters above the ground...
- with no apparent means of propulsion.
- Wow. Photographic memory?
He could be quoting from something he read.
Let's make sure.
- No! No!
- No! Hey! You bastards!
Gooshie, what am I gonna do now?
Oh, boy.
Could you believe
all those forms?
- Look, we had to do it.
- I know, I know.
Tim, don't blame me.
Some day you're gonna understand.
It's okay, Dad. I caught him
talking to himself last night.
Not just mumbling,
a whole conversation.
Yeah. I've seen him do that too. It's
almost like he's got some imaginary friend.
Maybe it runs in the family.
You had one when you were little.
Oh, I just hope I never
have to put you in here.
Hold on.
That's their car.
- Whose?
- Your government guys.
I thought you said they were
going back to Washington.
That's what they told me. It's a
blue sedan. It could be anybody's.
- With government plates?
- Let's go see.
We are going to ask you
a series of questions.
You will answer
all of them truthfully.
Do you understand?
Truthfully.
Let's start with something simple,
like your name.
- No, Sam.
- Sam.
- Louder, please.
- Dr. Samuel Beckett.
- No.
- Think you gave him too much?
- Do you know where you are?
- I'm in, uh, New Mexico.
What is the date?
May 1, 1999.
Gooshie, if I should suddenly,
pop out of existence,
I wanna leave everything
to my first wife, Beth.
Tell us about yourself,
Dr. Beckett.
- Born: 8/8/53.
- Terrific.
- He's 13 years old?
- Or 113.
Father's name:
John Samuel Beckett.
Mother's name:
Thelma Louise Beckett.
Social security number:
563-
86-
9801.
Department of Defense...
Umbra clearance number:
004-002-
02-016.
Did you hear that?
It's a coincidence.
He was in the service.
In World War I.
Umbra is an operative code.
- Why do you need a clearance?
- Hang in there, Sam. Hang in there.
Why do you need a
clearance, Dr. Beckett?
My project.
No!
What is your project?
Project... Quantum Leap.
No! No! No!
This project studies
unidentified flying objects?
Travel in time.
- What is it?
- Orderly. Medication.
This patient is
under private care.
Then can you sign my
orders, please?
- Just back off.
- Come on, Pop. Wake up.
- You're making a bad mistake, sir.
- I don't think so.
- Tim?
- Yeah. Let's go.
You don't know
what you're doing.
We're taking my father away from you.
What else do we need to know?
- Let's get out of here. Can you walk?
- I'll do my best.
Anybody sticks his
face out this door,
I swear to God I'll blow
it right off his head.
God, you're heavy.
- Hey, you!
- This way!
- Sam. Sam. That way.
- Pop, come on!
No. No.
This way.
- Let's just rest here.
- Pop, where are we goin'?
Over the guardrail.
- Pop! Wait!
- Dad, watch it. Be careful!
- Come on, Sam.
- God. Are we lost?
All right. Don't dawdle. You can't
dawdle. They're closing in on you.
There's a creek down there.
We can follow it out of here.
No. No, it-it-it's this way.
Pop, if Tim says the creek
is there, it's there.
Yeah. But we're not
supposed to go there.
- Dad!
- It's this way.
Where you been?
- This is it.
- Are you sure?
Yeah. I'm positive.
This is where they'll come.
Far out, Pop.
This is the spot from the other night.
This is exactly what this is.
Hey, hide!
You gotta hide! Hurry up!
Hide! Hide! Hide!
All right! Come on!
Come on! This way!
Mr. Stoddard.
Mr. Stoddard, we need to talk.
Well, Dr. Jekyll
and Major Hyde, huh?
Listen, try and find 'em,
you slime buckets.
You don't seriously plan on keeping
your father out here all night, do you?
You're interfering with an official U.S.
government investigation.
- That can be a felony.
- What do I do?
I don't know. We're way outside
the original history now.
You don't want to see your son and grandson
do time in a federal prison.
What are you doin'?
Over here.
You made the smart choice.
Come on, sir.
Let him go!
Put the shotgun down, Son.
Don't be stupid.
The shot pattern on that gun
will certainly kill your father too.
Yeah, like you care!
Let him go!
Well, I'll be, Dad.
You were right all along.
A self-illuminated elliptical orb...
approximately 15 meters
on the long axis,
10 on the short.
- Hop aboard, Sam.
- What?
There's a 98.6% chance the old coot
is gonna take a ride of his lifetime!
Hello!
Bye, Pop.
Hey! Hey! Hey!
What the hell you doin'?
Cut the engine!
Shut it down!
What, are you crazy?
You all right, Jimmy?
- Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry.
- Everybody all right?
Yeah. We're all right.
Get him off there.
Didn't I tell you to stay
away from the forklift?
You're not ready
to drive it yet.
Frank, is that you?
Of course it's me.
Did you hit your head?
No. No, I-- No. No, I didn't--
Jimmy.
Jimmy. I'm Jimmy.
I know you're Jimmy.
And I'm back. I'm back, Frank.
Ha! Look, I'm Jimmy!
Oh, boy.
within his own lifetime,
Dr. Sam Beckett stepped
into the Quantum Leap accelerator...
and vanished.
He awoke to find himself
trapped in the past,
facing mirror images
that were not his own...
and driven by an unknown force
to change history for the better.
His only guide on this journey is Al,
an observer from his own time,
who appears in the form of a hologram
that only Sam can see and hear.
And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself
leaping from life to life,
striving to put right
what once went wrong...
and hoping each time
that his next leap...
will be the leap home.
Oh, my God.
Can you hear me?
Who are you?
Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
Who are you?
Who are you?
No!
No, come back!
Come back!
- Pop. Hey!
- No!
There you are.
Come back.
- Come on, Pop. Not again.
- Did you see that?
- Did you see them?
- Yeah.
Pop.
You had to have seen that.
It was incredible.
Oh, my God! Th-The lights, then the-the-the
spinning and then it whoosed like that.
- They got-- They gotta come back.
- Yeah. Yeah. Sure.
Come on, Pop. Come on.
If I don't get you back, they'll--
- Will you just come on before--
- Hold it right there, please.
Oh, major bummer.
Thank God.
Where were they?
I found 'em in the woods out by the
hospital. I guess I'll be on my way. Ma'am.
Thanks.
Well, you got a long way this time,
Dad, especially in your slippers.
Dad.
- Well, are you both all right?
- Of course.
Don't you talk to
your mother like that,
especially after
worrying us this way.
What about you, Dad? Don't you
have anything to say for yourself?
Uh, yeah. S-Sorry.
- Dad, get off his case.
- You get your butt up to bed.
I'll deal with you
in the morning.
Deal with me, what?
I-I just went out to find him.
Without telling us. What, so you could
sneak him up the back stairs again?
How many times you guys
gotten away with it?
Look, I'm-I'm sorry if
I've caused any trouble,
but maybe if we
all got some sleep--
Don't you want to tell
us about your little walk?
Little walk?
See anything... interesting?
A-As a matter of fact--
It was a beautiful night.
- Beautiful night?
- Yeah. It was a trip, Dad.
Bright stars, quarter moon.
Besides, who could blame him
for wanting to get out of here?
I thought I told
you to get up to bed.
John, look, Pop's right.
We're all gonna feel a lot better
after a good night's sleep.
Come on.
I won't.
Good goin', Pop.
You totally maintained.
Well, I lied to 'em, yeah.
Well, don't tell 'em anything
they don't want to hear.
Ah, you and Richard Nixon.
Old Tricky Dick?
He's history.
Right.
Look,
are you sure
that your dad-- my son--
Does he know what
happened out there?
Get a clue, Pop.
You haven't talked about anything but
saucers and spaceships for two months now.
Or are you losing
it for real this time?
No, I'm-I'm-I'm fine, I think.
- And you're sure you didn't see anything?
- A lot of trees, bushes.
I tripped on a boulder,
almost wasted my knee.
You know what I mean.
Yeah. I know.
Look, Pop, I wish I did see
your little green men.
I'm not talkin' about
little green men, all right?
I'm talkin' about the lights, about
the ship. You had to have seen the--
All right, all right. What
else have I been telling you?
Look, Pop, you're tired, okay?
Just get some rest.
But will you stay put, please?
'Cause I can't keep fishin'
you out of the woods,
or the old man is gonna
ground me until I'm your age.
So give it a rest, okay?
- Okay.
- All right.
- Tim?
- Hmm?
- You're a good kid.
- You too.
- Good night.
- Night.
I know you're out there.
Hmm.
What on earth was that?
Oh, my God.
"Photo by Maxwell Stoddard."
Oh, 1966. Great. When in 1966?
You're absolutely right, Sam.
It is 1966. It's May 21, to be exact, yes.
- Thank God you're here.
- Oh, good to see you.
- Um, I saw something.
- Oh, you did?
Yeah.
And it was incredible.
- I mean, the lights, the motion--
- Oh, not you too.
It started right
after I leaped in.
In fact, at first,
I thought it was a part of the leap-in,
or that maybe I was gonna leap
right back out again.
Only it kept on going
and it became more beautiful.
You'll never guess what it was.
- It was the most beautiful thing.
- You saw a flying saucer.
Well, no. It wasn't exactly a saucer,
see, because it wasn't that flat.
It was more like a bowl. Of course,
I was only seeing it from the--
- You know?
- Of course, I know.
Your name is Maxwell Stoddard,
you're 79 years old...
and you're convinced that
you've been seeing U.F.O.s.
I did see one.
Uh, yeah. But see,
that's what happens to you, Sam.
Ziggy says your memory is Swiss-cheesed
with the real Mr. Stoddard,
who, by the way right now,
is in the waiting room and he
thinks he's on his way to Venus.
- Guy must be terrified.
- Au contraire. He's in heaven.
He keeps fingering our clothes.
He wants to know what we eat.
You know what he says to me?
He says-- He says,
"Take me to your leader."
So I turned him over to Gooshie. Told him
he was the king of the planet Halitosis.
Al, I've got to find a way
to get back to those woods.
Because there has to be some
kind of physical evidence there--
That's exactly what
you should not do.
No, no, no, no. See,
you don't realize what I've discovered.
No, Sam, you don't realize that in
less than a week, your son, John,
is gonna have you committed
to the local mental hospital.
Just because I saw a U.F.O.?
No. Because Max saw-- Max
thinks he saw a U.F.O.
And he's been blabbing
about it to everybody,
including the parish
priest, the ice cream man--
Al, the man is no more
crazy than I am.
And if I can get back to those woods,
I can prove it to you.
That's all we need is for you to
go traipsing through the underbrush
in your long johns.
That'll get you into
the hospital even sooner.
Are you sure? I mean, is Ziggy
sure that that's why I'm here?
Uh, 78.1%.
What are the odds of me being here to
prove the existence of extraterrestrials?
- Uh, 73.3%. I win!
- Yeah, but it's very close.
This isn't horseshoes, Sam.
You know Ziggy. She'll come up
with one figure one minute...
and the next,
she'll have a whole new calculation.
Sam, you're not being objective.
I'm a scientist. Scientists are
objective. You're not being objective.
Are you kidding? If all scientists were
objective, we wouldn't have the lightbulb.
We never would have
even landed on the moon.
This is '66. You got three years
before you go to the moon.
And I would not be
traveling around in time.
You gotta have the dream
first, Al.
Great scientists
are never objective.
And that's why people always
think that they're loony.
Which is exactly
what they think about Max.
But don't you see--
I mean, don't you get it, Al?
You see, a discovery like this--
I mean, it could mean--
I feel the way I felt the first time I saw
my time-travel calculations working.
I'm so unbelievably lucky to-to
be there on the cutting edge
of solving one of
mankind's oldest riddles.
And now-- now I have a chance to solve
a second one in the same lifetime.
I mean-
Nobody gets that chance.
Nobody.
- Oh, God.
- John.
He's gotten worse. We just can't
give him the care that he needs.
He'll be miserable in a hospital.
We don't have a choice.
Oh.
I was up at dawn dying to prove
that what I'd seen in the
woods last night was real.
And then if I could reconcile
Tim and his dad in the process,
that would be the
icing on the cake.
Get it while it's hot.
- Morning.
- Morning, Pop.
- You hungry?
- I could eat a horse.
Well, I'm afraid you're
gonna have to settle
for bacon and eggs this morning.
Sit.
So then I'm supposed to go
Just because you want me to?
Because I know
what's right for you.
You don't even know who I am.
I mean, college isn't right for everyone.
Seventeen years old
and he thinks he knows everything.
Oh, okay. The older you
are, the smarter you are?
Fine. We'll ask Pop. He's older than
both of us, all of us, put together.
Oh, no. Don't put your
grandfather in the middle of this.
Why? Don't you respect
your own father's wisdom?
You're my son, not his.
Pop, you were a teenager
when you left Ireland, right?
He was trying to escape a potato famine,
not run away to Greenwich Village.
He wanted a better life,
which is exactly what I want.
I want to be a musician.
Or a long-haired hippie bum.
Dad, I have the talent.
I gotta at least try.
You can either go to City College
or come to work with me.
You know, uh, maybe--
- maybe there's a way you could do both.
- You stay out of this, Pop.
Wh-Why should he? He's been more of
a father to me than you ever have.
Look, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, uh, Son.
- Uh, he's young, you know?
- Don't make excuses.
- I'm not. I'm on your side on this one.
- That's a first.
Look, could you just
slow down for a second?
I'm sorry, Dad.
How's your hip doing?
It's good. It's good. It's, uh-- It's
feelin' good. I-I feel like I'm 40 today.
- Good. That's good, Sam.
- Great, Dad. I'll see you tonight.
- And you're sounding like your sane.
- I am sane.
Dad, I never said you were insane.
All right. Maybe that's, um--
that's too strong of a word.
But you think that
I'm losing touch, right?
Look, I-I know it can't be easy
living with someone... eccentric like me.
But don't underestimate Max Stoddard.
He's got plenty of good years left in him.
- Oh, he's got 20.
- Sure, you do.
- You believe that?
- Yeah.
- Then why are you giving up on me?
- Dad, I'm not giving up on you.
You're talking about
sending me to a sanitarium.
- Well, your hearing's still good.
- Yeah, it is. And so is my mind.
I don't care what you think,
I'm not crazy.
But a couple months in a psych ward and
I will be. Now, is that what you want?
- Dad, be fair.
- Fair?
I gave you more than
a few second chances
when you were a snot-nosed
little kid, right?
- More than a few.
- Then do the same for me.
I promise I won't let you down.
- All right.
- Thanks.
Uh, just promise me that you won't
head for the woods as soon as I leave.
Hmm. Promise.
Where are you goin'?
I'm goin' for a walk, okay?
We need to talk.
Max Stoddard's been keeping
detailed U.F.O. records for 50 years, Al.
I know he must have a theory.
And according to his diary, this town has
a long history of unexplained sightings.
I want you to get Ziggy to back-trace
all the data from the local newspapers
and see what she comes up with.
I can't help you with
that, Sam, because-
- Why not?
- Well, the local library burned down.
Ziggy can't access
that information.
When'd it burn down?
- When?
- Yeah.
Oh, September 7, 1968.
- So then it's still there.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- But seriously, Sam--
- Seriously what? Why don't you--
You don't wanna go--
Hey, look at that.
I had a paper route once.
It's stuffy in the library.
Look out.
- Hi, Max!
- Hey! Hey! He almost hit you!
But seriously, Sam. Now seriously.
You gotta-- Sam!
Come on. For Max's sake,
you've got to get off this U.F.O. stuff
and don't go to the library.
Why? I'm just gonna do
a little reading, okay?
- A little reading.
- Yes.
About flying saucers and little
aliens and-and "Beam me up, Scotty."
What happens if
John catches you?
He's at work. So's Eva.
Tim's at school, okay?
I promise you, I won't take anything
out of the library, all right?
- Sam. Sam.
- What?
Lookit, in a town like
this, everybody talks.
That old coot, Max,
is babbling to everybody,
and you're not helping anything.
- Don't call him an old coot.
- Okay, he's a young coot.
Sam, I don't mean
to frustrate you.
- Well, you are.
- It's just--
If you think that Max has got Alzheimer's
or somethin' like that, forget it.
No, I don't-
This guy has been into U.F.O.s,
according to his scrapbook,
since he was a pilot
in World War I.
Fascinating.
Absolutely fascinating.
The man talks to himself.
Any testimony he gives
us will be compromised.
Not necessarily.
Sigmund Freud
talked to himself constantly.
Ludwig van Beethoven carried on
entire conversations with thin air.
Yeah. But I don't think they thought
they were talking to spacemen.
Correct me if I'm wrong,
but wasn't 1966 the year
when there was a worldwide
increase in U.F.O. sightings?
- How come you remember that?
- Yes or no?
I don't know! Maybe!
And weren't there a significant number
of sightings in the northern U.S.?
- Sam, will you stop?
- Al, do you think that I'm crazy?
Do you think I'm irresponsible?
No.
Do you-- Do you think I'm
prone to hallucinations, huh?
Well, sometimes when you
psycho-synergize, like you did with Oswald.
Well, never mind. Okay.
If anything, you're too sane.
All right. Then listen to me.
I have spent my whole life
learning to be a trained observer.
So? So have I.
I'm an observer.
Al, I am telling you that what
I saw in those woods last night...
can only be
explained in one way.
But I am telling you
it doesn't matter.
You're still here to keep Max Stoddard
from dying in some state-run bedlam.
I know that. I know that.
But, Al, my God,
if I can prove
that U.F.O.s exist,
I mean, it's as equally as important
as Project Quantum Leap itself.
At the same time, I could prove that
Max isn't crazy. I want to do both.
But. Sam, you can't.
Why not?
If I give them irrefutable evidence--
But they'll refute it
no matter what it is.
People have been trying to prove that
U.F.O.s exist for hundreds of years.
They can't do it!
What makes you so special?
I don't know, Al.
But I know what I saw.
But it's too risky.
You go out your
bedroom window tonight,
you get as far as the corner
market, they pick you up.
What happens to Max?
What if they don't pick me up, huh?
What if I don't get caught?
I changed my mind.
You are crazy.
This is pointless.
The old man's coming unglued.
We don't know that for sure.
Come on.
When you're riding alone in a car,
don't you ever rehearse
conversations...
- or things you wish you'd said?
- Yeah. Sure I do.
But he's not in a car.
He's on a public dock.
And I usually don't wave my arms
and pace around like a caged animal.
Next thing you know,
he'll be foaming at the mouth.
Look, I don't try to play soldier.
Why don't you quit playing psychiatrist?
I say we classify him "Not Relevant"
and head back to D.C.
- We've got plenty of other subjects.
- Not who've kept notes like Stoddard,
or written articles.
Frankly, I find his theory of return U.F.O.
visitations in this area quite coherent.
Yeah. Alice In Wonderland
is coherent too.
That doesn't mean I believe
in grinning cats who disappear.
You give up too easily.
Are you seriously gonna put your
signature on a report about a man
whose own son wants
to have him committed?
Not unless I can verify
his testimony with other ways.
- You know I don't like those other ways.
- They work, Major.
I think maybe the state hospital
just might be the safest place
for Maxwell Stoddard after all.
Hey, Tim, I was think--
Going somewhere?
Uh, yeah, um,
camping with the guys.
Um, we're, you know, hanging out,
maybe catch some fish.
How come you're home early?
I thought you and I were supposed
to have a real, honest relationship.
We do.
You're not going camping.
Okay. Lanny's picking me up tonight,
we're goin' down to the Village.
- When are you coming back?
- I'm not, Pop.
You're running away?
In three months,
I'll be old enough to get drafted.
I'm old enough to
choose my own life.
I agree with that.
You do?
That's great, Pop.
You're also old enough to
know that this is a bad idea.
Oh, don't you start on me.
Look, how do you think
your dad's gonna feel
when he wakes up tomorrow
and you're not here?
- Relieved.
- No way. No way.
And neither is your mom.
Hey, I'll write
as soon as I'm settled.
Look, your dad wants you
to stay in school, right?
Right. Right. Community college.
The pits.
He just wants to keep me at home.
Maybe that's all he can afford.
They don't even have music classes.
You want to go sleep on
sidewalk in the Village?
No way. Lanny's got a van.
What if there was a way
you could do both?
I don't get it. Look, what if you went
to college in New York during the day...
and then you got a job at night
playing the guitar?
You take the money that you earn there
and you put it towards the extra tuition.
No. No. My dad
would never go for it.
Hey, look, you don't know that.
Besides, that depends on how
hard we try and sell him on it.
- We?
- Yeah. I'll help you.
I'm sure your mom will too.
- I don't know, Pop.
- Oh, come on now. Just--
Just think about it, okay?
It's a nice guitar.
Who's your favorite guy?
- Lead guy, you know?
- Chuck Berry. Keith Richards.
This new guy I haven't told you about--
uh, English guy, Clapton.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
You ever hear of Jimi Hendrix?
Who's he?
Some old big-band guy?
No, not actually.
If you ever get a chance
to hear him play, you--
Wait. You will actually,
within the year.
- Yeah? Where's he playing?
- Woodstock.
Oh, right. There's nothing up there but
farms, Pop. Who's gonna listen, the cows?
- Trust me on this, okay?
- What's he sound like?
Well, he-he kind of--
Plug that thing in.
Let me see if I can, uh-- It's been
a while but, uh-- Turn the radio off.
All right. Here we go.
Pop, Pop, be careful.
I just had it fixed.
What the hell is this?
Uh, just a little, uh,
dem-demonstration.
Of what?
A cat in a garbage disposal?
S-Sorry, I-I, uh--
That's okay.
Forget it, Pop.
I can't remember the last time
I had a meal this good.
Thank you, Max.
Tim, you, uh--
you want to talk about what
we discussed this afternoon?
Honey, are you all right?
You've hardly touched your food.
I'm fine.
Your mother worked hard
to put food on the table.
So that makes me
an eating machine?
You'll eat it and
be glad you have it.
I'm not three anymore, Dad.
It was about college.
Tim wants to play music.
You want him to go to school.
I don't see why
he can't do both.
Well, that sounds sensible.
I thought you said City College
didn't have a music department?
I-I-I don't want to study it, Dad.
I want to play it.
We were talking about using his talent
to help pay part of the tuition...
down in Manhattan.
We've been through this.
Uh, John, j-just wait a minute.
This sounds different.
People do it, Dad. I-I can play clubs
at night and go to school in the day.
And when do you study?
While you sleep?
I don't understand you,
honestly.
If Pop here had offered
to feed me and put me up
while I went to
college on his nickel,
don't you think I wouldn't
have jumped at the chance?
News flash, Dad: I'm not you!
Don't you ever use that
tone with me again.
Fine.
If that's the way you want it.
Tim Stoddard, get back--
- Tim--
- Where are you going?
- I'm goin' to bring him back.
- Don't bother.
John!
Well, look at 'em.
You see how they gang up on me?
It takes a gang
to get through to you.
Tim!
He went that way, Sam.
Down by the water.
Al, have Ziggy run a projection
on Timothy's future.
Well, h-he runs away to Manhattan.
And then he plays in a
couple of performances
with a small-time band
called River Wind.
And-- Uh-oh.
He winds up on a slab at Bellevue.
- What?
- Overdosed on heroin.
Sam?
Sam!
Tim?
Hey, Tim!
It's me, Pop!
I gotta talk to you.
Tim.
Tim? Tim!
Come on. It's just me!
Why is he such a jerk?
Well, that's-that's my son
you're talking about, you know.
I wanted to tell him.
I tried to tell him.
I was there.
And he treats us both like babies.
And you're pushing 80.
Doesn't that hack you off?
Yeah.
I just got to get out of that house.
Sam, check this out.
Given this new information,
Ziggy's projecting that
your secondary objective is Tim.
That you gotta prevent him
from O.D.'ing.
You get high, don't you?
Me? What does that
have to do with anything?
This is just
between you and me.
Yeah. I've smoked a
few joints in my time.
I-I use it for playing music
and for listening. It's great.
- No, it's not great.
- What, you've tried it?
No. No.
I-I'm just telling you that it's not
good, okay, for you or for your music.
I-I can't tell you
the number of-of musicians...
whose-whose lives
have been cut short bec--
Actually, I-I can.
You remember Jimi Hendrix?
I was telling you about him?
Yeah, what about him?
Okay. Remember his name.
And-And Janis Joplin?
- I never heard of her.
- Well, um, Jim Morrison.
Uh-Uh, Brian Jones.
- He's in the Stones.
- Was. Is. But-But not for long.
- Elvis.
- Right. And Elvis.
Oh, Pop, you're flippin' out
on me again.
No, I'm telling you,
listen to me.
Everyone of those people
I just told you about--
Their deaths are
all drug related.
I mean it!
Now-Now listen.
I know this doesn't
make a whole lot of sense,
but if you run off to New York
City-- whatever you're gonna do--
and I'm not around to help you,
I want you to remember
this conversation, okay,
and remember those
people's names.
And if you start getting' into
drugs, okay, not just grass,
but into heavy drugs
and stuff like that,
you look at those people,
you look what happened in their lives,
and you remember that
we had this talk.
This is brilliant.
His odds are improving.
You promise?
- I promise.
- Okay. Tell me their names again.
- Hendrix. Janet Joplin--
- Janis.
Whatever. Elvis, Brian Jones.
Too weird.
- Uh, Jim Morrison.
- Jim Morrison.
- That's it, Sam. He's-He's safe now.
- Thank God.
Pop, you are the original
space cadet.
If you only knew.
Come on. Let's go home.
Let's get out of here.
Mom, Dad.
- I'm sorry.
- Dad, this is Dr. Hardy.
- He's a psychiatrist.
- Uh-oh!
- Mr. Stoddard, so glad to meet you.
- Don't-Don't answer them.
- I don't understand.
- What's he doing here?
Pop's not crazy.
Nobody said he was, son. Major Irwin
Meadows, U.S. Air Force Intelligence.
Thank you for allowing us
into your home.
I don't know that I did.
You didn't.
Pop, these men are part of
a special government project.
Come on. Come sit down.
Yeah. Watergate was
a special project too.
What, uh, sort of
a government project?
We investigate unexplained events that
might have a bearing on national security.
What kind of events?
Flying saucers, Mr. Stoddard.
U.F.O.s.
You're rather well known in these
parts for your interest in the subject.
We thought we could talk.
Just don't say anything, Sam.
Well, you know, some people have
actually, uh, questioned my sanity--
Sam!
for claiming these things, so, uh, forgive
me if I have a little, uh, reluctance to--
Totally understandable.
A few crackpots have
poisoned the well
for anyone who's seriously
interested in the subject.
- And you two are seriously interested?
- Absolutely.
Well, what do you want me to do?
I mean, have you seen something
and you want me to confirm it?
- I want you to clam up.
- Not really.
The government just can't take chances,
what with the Cold War and all.
Our equipment can't see everything,
so we rely on citizens like yourself.
Well, what I saw,
or what I might have seen,
I don't think it had anything
to do with the Russians.
Oh, we believe that. But we have
to consider every possibility.
- You believe me?
- Yes, sir.
So you're saying that it's--
Well, that seeing something
unusual in the sky
doesn't necessarily
make a person crazy.
Have you seen a U.F.O.,
Mr. Stoddard?
Not one word. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
You know, uh,
I really would like to talk to you,
but I've-I've had a very busy day.
I'm surprised. Our sources told us that
you'd be more than willing to cooperate.
Sources? What-What sources?
- You've been checking up on me?
- We just want your cooperation.
- You do?
- Yes, sir.
That's what I want.
Your cooperation.
I'd like to know a little
something about Project Blue Book.
That's classified information,
Mr. Stoddard.
But if your testimony turns out
the way we expect it will,
we might be able to influence our superiors
to share a summary with you.
Oh, that'd be great.
See, I told you you could...
have faith in me.
Ziggy says don't trust 'em, Sam.
They're big-time nozzles.
Why don't we arrange to meet
tomorrow, somewhere comfortable,
given how much
you have to tell us.
I'm sure the government wouldn't
mind giving you the royal treatment.
Well, thank you.
I-I'm sure you'll find that my observations
will be very detailed and accurate.
- All right, Pop.
- Oh, Pop, we're proud of you.
- See you tomorrow.
- Okay. Thank you.
- I'll show you out.
- Ma'am.
Thanks a lot.
Let's talk.
Thank you very much.
You can't imagine our relief.
These situations are very
difficult to evaluate.
What time tomorrow do
you want to see him?
I don't think we really need
to speak to him, Mr. Stoddard.
But you said--
Dr. Hardy and I have interviewed
hundreds of these so-called witnesses.
We have yet to find a single one
whose facts make any sense at all.
He seems like a sweet old man.
Reminds me of my dad.
Then how the hell can you
lead him along that way?
We thought the appointment
idea might give you a chance
to take him to a care facility
without him struggling.
You told us you've
had trouble controlling him.
We'll be heading back to D.C.
in the morning.
Listen, be grateful
the hospital's so close.
It makes visitation
so much easier.
Good night.
Did you see their faces when
I said Project Blue Book?
- Uh, yeah.
- Did you see them?
- I mean, they were like--
- Yeah. Um--
Yeah, but I also saw Brando
in One-Eyed Jacks.
Never trust a face when
you can only see one side.
All right. Okay.
What does Ziggy say?
- What does Ziggy-- Oh.
- Yeah.
- Uh, "Data inconclusive."
- Huh?
"Data inconclusive"?
I got a bad feeling about this, Sam.
Like my second wife. You know? Uh-Uh-
- Al--
- What's her name?
- Yeah, yeah. Al. Al.
- The Hungarian one?
What about the data I
gave you from the library?
I gave you four very
specific activity periods.
Oh, okay.
Oh, yeah. Okay.
Well, in addition to
your alleged sighting,
Yeah.
there were two in '62,
and then there was one in June of '58.
- Just one?
- Yes.
Well, they could have
missed the second one.
And then there were two
on New Year's, January '55.
Of course,
that could have been champagne.
There's a pattern.
There's a pattern, Al.
Have Ziggy run a time-coordinated
collation of the sightings, okay?
- Okay. Okay.
- Hurry up.
Come on. Please be right.
Please be right.
- What?
- You're right, there's a pattern.
There's a sighting approximately
every 47.51 Earth months.
Yeah?
And then there's
a second sighting...
three or four days
after the first one.
Yes! Yes!
Don't you see? That's it!
They're coming back. They're coming back.
And it could happen any time.
I'm gonna be here to confirm their visit.
This is unbelievable!
Don't you understand
what I'm saying?
With everything we know
now, and with Ziggy--
I mean, if we can make
contact, right?
And you gotta presume that they have
some kind of a computer system, right?
If Ziggy can hook up into that,
the possibilities-- They're endless, right?
We can go-- I mean--
You see, Project Blue Book has
Washington's top priority U.F.O. research.
I can't wait to get a look
at what they must have.
I'll even bet they'll want to
include my information with it.
Boy, I can't wait
to tell those guys.
Huh? I mean, to see
their faces when I'll tell 'em.
They're gonna--
Charlemont State Hospital?
Wh-What's goin' on?
I thought we were goin'--
Dad.
- Aw, no. No!
- Dad, look, don't make it harder.
Don't! You're gonna get hurt.
Pop! You'll just make it worse!
- You're makin' a mistake!
- You're gonna be all right.
- You're making a terrible mistake!
- Please, Pop.
- Make it easy on yourself.
- Please!
Just let me go, plea-- Ah!
Let me go!
No, listen to me!
Come here!
This is all wrong. Look, I was invited
to meet a team of government officials,
not to come here.
But we are here.
Shall we get started?
I studied your service record,
Mr. Stoddard.
Most combat veterans would be eager
to help when their country called.
How about when their country
kidnaps them and ties 'em up in bed?
Please understand.
This is our job-- a government mission.
Uh, Sam? Ohh.
- Oh, Sam, I wouldn't let 'em do that.
- Do I have a choice?
- You made your choice last night.
- What's in the needle?
- What's in the needle?
- Sodium Pentothal.
A truth serum, widely used.
Short-acting, no lasting effects.
No. No, Sam, don't let 'em give you that.
There's no telling what you'll say.
Uh, you could change history.
You could even doom Quantum Leap.
Hold him down.
Look, h-how could you do this?
You're a doctor.
You know, he's got a point. I didn't
join the air force to harass old men.
- You joined it, so follow orders.
- Sam, say something!
Tell 'em anything!
Make it up if you have to!
But don't let 'em shoot
you with that junk!
All right, all right. Look.
I saw a self-illuminated elliptical orb...
roughly 15 meters on the long
axis, 10 on the short.
Record this.
This was three nights ago,
correct?
- May 21.
- Right. Right.
It hovered approximately
10 to 20 meters above the ground...
- with no apparent means of propulsion.
- Wow. Photographic memory?
He could be quoting from something he read.
Let's make sure.
- No! No!
- No! Hey! You bastards!
Gooshie, what am I gonna do now?
Oh, boy.
Could you believe
all those forms?
- Look, we had to do it.
- I know, I know.
Tim, don't blame me.
Some day you're gonna understand.
It's okay, Dad. I caught him
talking to himself last night.
Not just mumbling,
a whole conversation.
Yeah. I've seen him do that too. It's
almost like he's got some imaginary friend.
Maybe it runs in the family.
You had one when you were little.
Oh, I just hope I never
have to put you in here.
Hold on.
That's their car.
- Whose?
- Your government guys.
I thought you said they were
going back to Washington.
That's what they told me. It's a
blue sedan. It could be anybody's.
- With government plates?
- Let's go see.
We are going to ask you
a series of questions.
You will answer
all of them truthfully.
Do you understand?
Truthfully.
Let's start with something simple,
like your name.
- No, Sam.
- Sam.
- Louder, please.
- Dr. Samuel Beckett.
- No.
- Think you gave him too much?
- Do you know where you are?
- I'm in, uh, New Mexico.
What is the date?
May 1, 1999.
Gooshie, if I should suddenly,
pop out of existence,
I wanna leave everything
to my first wife, Beth.
Tell us about yourself,
Dr. Beckett.
- Born: 8/8/53.
- Terrific.
- He's 13 years old?
- Or 113.
Father's name:
John Samuel Beckett.
Mother's name:
Thelma Louise Beckett.
Social security number:
563-
86-
9801.
Department of Defense...
Umbra clearance number:
004-002-
02-016.
Did you hear that?
It's a coincidence.
He was in the service.
In World War I.
Umbra is an operative code.
- Why do you need a clearance?
- Hang in there, Sam. Hang in there.
Why do you need a
clearance, Dr. Beckett?
My project.
No!
What is your project?
Project... Quantum Leap.
No! No! No!
This project studies
unidentified flying objects?
Travel in time.
- What is it?
- Orderly. Medication.
This patient is
under private care.
Then can you sign my
orders, please?
- Just back off.
- Come on, Pop. Wake up.
- You're making a bad mistake, sir.
- I don't think so.
- Tim?
- Yeah. Let's go.
You don't know
what you're doing.
We're taking my father away from you.
What else do we need to know?
- Let's get out of here. Can you walk?
- I'll do my best.
Anybody sticks his
face out this door,
I swear to God I'll blow
it right off his head.
God, you're heavy.
- Hey, you!
- This way!
- Sam. Sam. That way.
- Pop, come on!
No. No.
This way.
- Let's just rest here.
- Pop, where are we goin'?
Over the guardrail.
- Pop! Wait!
- Dad, watch it. Be careful!
- Come on, Sam.
- God. Are we lost?
All right. Don't dawdle. You can't
dawdle. They're closing in on you.
There's a creek down there.
We can follow it out of here.
No. No, it-it-it's this way.
Pop, if Tim says the creek
is there, it's there.
Yeah. But we're not
supposed to go there.
- Dad!
- It's this way.
Where you been?
- This is it.
- Are you sure?
Yeah. I'm positive.
This is where they'll come.
Far out, Pop.
This is the spot from the other night.
This is exactly what this is.
Hey, hide!
You gotta hide! Hurry up!
Hide! Hide! Hide!
All right! Come on!
Come on! This way!
Mr. Stoddard.
Mr. Stoddard, we need to talk.
Well, Dr. Jekyll
and Major Hyde, huh?
Listen, try and find 'em,
you slime buckets.
You don't seriously plan on keeping
your father out here all night, do you?
You're interfering with an official U.S.
government investigation.
- That can be a felony.
- What do I do?
I don't know. We're way outside
the original history now.
You don't want to see your son and grandson
do time in a federal prison.
What are you doin'?
Over here.
You made the smart choice.
Come on, sir.
Let him go!
Put the shotgun down, Son.
Don't be stupid.
The shot pattern on that gun
will certainly kill your father too.
Yeah, like you care!
Let him go!
Well, I'll be, Dad.
You were right all along.
A self-illuminated elliptical orb...
approximately 15 meters
on the long axis,
10 on the short.
- Hop aboard, Sam.
- What?
There's a 98.6% chance the old coot
is gonna take a ride of his lifetime!
Hello!
Bye, Pop.
Hey! Hey! Hey!
What the hell you doin'?
Cut the engine!
Shut it down!
What, are you crazy?
You all right, Jimmy?
- Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry.
- Everybody all right?
Yeah. We're all right.
Get him off there.
Didn't I tell you to stay
away from the forklift?
You're not ready
to drive it yet.
Frank, is that you?
Of course it's me.
Did you hit your head?
No. No, I-- No. No, I didn't--
Jimmy.
Jimmy. I'm Jimmy.
I know you're Jimmy.
And I'm back. I'm back, Frank.
Ha! Look, I'm Jimmy!
Oh, boy.