Leapee / Mirror Image :
Sam Beckett : Scott Bakula

Kiss With History : The bar is modelled on Donald's father's bar back in Cokesburg, Indiana right down to the pictures on the wall.

Awards : None.

Quote : "Sam, you will only do this as long as you want to" [Al the Bar Tender]

Quantum Leaping's Rating : *****

When Sam leaps in, he is standing in the doorway to a bar. He comes in and chats to the Bar Tender, who is aptly named Al. Sam tries to get the date out of "Al", but he is giving away no secrets. Sam orders and drinks and sits down at the bar. He looks in the mirror and gets the biggest shock of his life. He sees his own reflection showing back.

Back at Project Quantum Leap, Al and Gooshie are in a panic. There is nobody in the Waiting Room. They realise wherever Sam is, he is there as himself. They don't know if Sam can now be found. Ziggy states that if Al standing in the Imaging Chamber, she could perform a manual check for him. This could take two months. Al moans and gets into the Imaging Chamber to start the search for Sam.

After a wee discussion with "Al" about how time works in Cokesburg, Sam realises that the moment he leaped in, was the moment he was born. Sam was taken a back. Just then an old man called "Gooshie" came in and ordered a drink. Sam was distressed to fine that he had the same bad breath as the Gooshie he knew. Sam runs outsides and sees two children that he recognises from A Tale of Two Sweeties. Sam comes in again and tells "Al" about that. He claims all children look alike. A man called Stawpah is sitting in the corner and asks Sam what his name is. He says he is Sam Beckett. Then Frank from Jimmy and Deliver Us From Evil walks in and for a moment Sam forgets. He runs up and hugs him saying that he's Jimmy. Frank looks confused and Stawpah says that he said his name was Sam. Sam said that his name is Sam and asks Frank is he Frank. Frank says that his name is Tonchi. He gets angry when Sam asks him about Jimmy and storms out of the bar.

Meanwhile in the Imaging Chamber, Al and Gooshie are having no luck in finding Sam. Suddenly Al says that wherever Sam is, it is his birthday. Gooshie wonders how Al knows this and Al just says it's a feeling. So Gooshie starts searching from Sam's 1st birthday, 8th August 1954.

Whilst Sam is enjoying a drink in the bar, trying to figure out why he has leaped to this strange place. Just then Moe Stein from Future Boy walks in and starts a conversation with Sam about how it would be great to be able to time travel. Al asks him is he called Moe, he replies no his name is "Ziggy". Sam overhears "Al" say to Stawpah that things would do a little ca-ca if he forgot anything. This was the same expression Al Calavicci used in Genesis to describe what happened at Project Quantum Leap. Sam heads over to "Al" and asks him who he is and why he knows all. "Al" says that only God knows everything. Sam immediately thinks that "Al" is God and has been leaping Sam around time. "Al" laughs off the idea.

There is a disaster at the mines, which Sam heads down to. Sam pretends he is the "Safety Inspector", aided by Stawpah, in order to get the miners down the mine to save Tonchi and Pete who are trapped. "Al" tells Sam that this isn't why he is here, and that Sam will have to figure out on his why he has leaped here. Then Sam realises that "Al" is behind his leaping. "Al" denies this saying that the person who has been leaping Sam around time is himself. Sam refuses to believe this. Just then Tonchi and Pete, Jimmy from Jimmy come into the bar. They have been saved. With that, Stawpah turns Quantum Blue and leaps out. Sam asks where Stawpah is, but no one remembers him only for "Al".

Al is getting sick in the Imaging Chamber and requests. Whilst he is chatting to Gooshie about what to do next, Gooshie realises that he started searching from Sam's 1st birthday, not the actual day he was born. Al heads back into the Imaging Chamber to start searching again. Within minutes, he finds Sam and they head outside.

Sam is in a real panic telling Al about all the different people from previous leaps he has met on this leap. He tells that the "Al" the Bar Tender is in fact God, Time, Fate or Whatever and he has been leaping him around time. Al is worried for Sam and heads back through the Imaging Chamber door, promising Sam that he will help him.

What is happening in this episode? What is Sam here to do? Who was Stawpah? More importantly, who is "Al"? Find out in this, the most controversial episode of Quantum Leap ever!

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