Shockingly, Sam leaps into the body of his own great grandfather, a captain serving with the Union army in the American Civil War. He is wounded during battle and takes refuge with southern widow–his own great-grandmother. In this position he must help some runaway slaves escape capture, while preserving his own bloodline.

Written by Richard C. Okie. Directed by David Hemmings.

Previous Episode: The Beast Within • Next Episode:  Memphis Melody

Comments:
The Leap Between the States is one of those unusual episodes of the show which breaks away from the standard formula, something the show did more and more often in its latter days. In this case the show makes up some simple technobabble to justify Sam leaping outside of his own lifetime and into the American Civil War. This is exactly the sort of thing the show prided itself for not doing in its earlier days–instead of going to a different famous historical event each episode, the emphasis was on the ordinary people and their lives. The Leap Between the States still works in spite of this gimmick because the story works really well, and is still about the ordinary people and their lives.

Pretty much every element of the episode is good, but probably the greatest strength is the characterization of Olivia, and the way her relationship with Sam develops. Kate McNeil’s performance is excellent, as is her on-screen dynamic with Scott Bakula. It’s all pretty predictable, of course. We know that the initial suspicion and mistrust that Olivia has is going to soften, but it’s also believable, and even enjoyable to watch.

It’s also gratifying to see them take down the odiously creepy Lt. Montgomery and his men–it’s a victory that comes with the right amount of opposition and effort, allowing the episode to be satisfying in it’s plot as well as in its characters. Indeed, the whole episode is well-paced and consistently interesting.

The other notable aspect of the episode is of course its treatment of the topic of slavery. There is no doubt that the episode considers slavery bad, of course, but its critique is not as scathing as one might expect from something that were made today, over thirty years later. The presence of a character like Olivia Covington, a southern woman who is shown to be caring and kind to her last remaining slave, and is treated almost completely positively, is nigh-unthinkable in today’s media landscape. But I still liked her, and though the premise of Quantum Leap almost demands some degree of white saviorism, I think the episode overall does a good job with the setting and the issue.

Isaac is a strong character with a solid and dignified screen presence, even though his circumstances are hardly representative, one feels sure, of most actual slaves. And the plight of the runaway slaves feels real enough, although it might have been even stronger if there had been time to get to know them more fully as characters–as it is they hardly do or say anything. So there is nothing especially hard-hitting or ground-breaking here, but on the whole The Leap Between the States is successful at everything it’s trying to do.

Cast Notes:
• Kate McNeil (Olivia Barrett Covington) was in the Star Trek Enterprise episode Affliction, from that show’s 4th season.

• Geoffrey Lower (Lt. Richard Montgomery) played Reverend Timothy, a recurring character in a whole lot of episodes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and also has had a small role in the recent Star Wars series Skeleton Crew.

• Michael D. Roberts (Isaac King) previously appeared in the episode The Color of Truth, and has also guest starred in shows like The Incredible Hulk, Cagney & Lacey, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Parks and Recreation and Seinfeld. He had small roles in prestigious films Rain Man and A Star is Born (2018). And finally, he was a regular in the second season of Double Trouble, the 1980s sitcom starring fellow Quantum Leap alums Jean & Liz Sagal.

Who and Where is Dr. Sam Beckett?
Sam is Captain John Beckett, his own great-grandfather, at the home of Olivia Barrett Covington and at a nearby battlefield, somewhere in Virginia.

What does Sam have to do?
Sam has to help his host survive being trapped behind enemy lines, and ensure that he and his great-grandmother get together. He must also prevent Olivia’s trusted slave Isaac from being lynched. However, since Isaac is revealed to be the ancestor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sam’s great-grandparents did in fact meet and fall in love in the original history, none of this can be what Sam has changed. So presumably what he did allowed the unnamed family of runaway slaves that Isaac is trying to help at the start to escape? This is never made explicit.

What do we learn about Sam Beckett?
Sam’s great-grandfather is John Beckett, a captain serving in the Union Army in the Civil War. He was wounded in battle in Virginia and ended up taking refuge in the home of Olivia Barrett Covington, a widow who did not approve of slavery. They were married and had children, which eventually led to Sam being born. Sam’s father is named after Captain Beckett.

Sam can cook–he makes fried chicken, rice, gravy and vegetables. Although he doesn’t like okra.

Sam is a good ballroom dancer.

What do we know about Al?
We don’t get anything new about Al.

What about the experiment?
From the point of view of the project, Ziggy was tracking Sam after he leaped, and then Sam seemed to suddenly disappear out of the space-time continuum. Sam considers it impossible that he’d leap outside of his own life time.

Sam’s genetic similarity with his great-grandfather allows Sam to travel in time outside of his own lifetime in one of only two times this has explicitly occurred. Ziggy calls this a “genetic field transference.”

“Driven by an unknown force…” (God or Time or Something)
There is no particular reference to this this time around.

“Oh Boy”
Sam lets out a stressed “Oh boy…” right at the start, and there’s another one at the end when Sam sees himself in the mirror after his next leap.

Sam’s Complicated Love Life
Other than a dance, Sam does not engage in any romantic activity with Olivia, but she is obviously attracted to him.

The Many Loves of Al Calavicci
Al seems somewhat taken with Olivia’s beauty and spirit–he claims to have always had a thing for girls from the deep south.

Other Observations
• The opening battle scene brings out the insanity of war, with people lined up shooting muscats almost point blank at each other. Is it realistic? I have no idea–it comes across almost like a staged re-enactment one might watch at a history festival or something, but I don’t know, maybe that’s what it was like.

• Sam gets shot, but all things considered does pretty well.

• “I wouldn’t trust a word out of your stinkin’ Yankee mouth…if you told me that peaches were sweet in the summer.” Pretty funny line from Olivia.

• “Oh, that’s a hell of a woman,” says Al about Olivia. Sam replies, “Yeah. Well, hell is one word I would use.’

• Sam has a funny moment when Montgomery remarks tha this wound does not look too serious. Referencing Olivia’s medical treatment of him earlier, he says, “Well, it may not look that way, but I had a little blood poisoning–gangrene– set in. And then some half-wit medic tried to apply a mustard poultice. Darn thing nearly killed me.”

• Sam tells Isaac, “It’s truth. I swear it, Isaac. It’s gonna be a long, hard fight for schooling and other equality. But believe me. There will come a time when everyone will have the same rights. Everyone will be free.” Isaac replies, “That ain’t nothin’ but a dream,” to which Sam says, “Believe in it, Isaac.” It’s all very prescient considering who Isaac turns out to be.

• The whole relationship between Sam and Olivia is pretty obvious, but the sort of flirty interaction with the pump is particularly cringey..

• Sam tells Olivia that in the future, women will wear pants on a regular basis. She replies, “Oh indeed. And I suppose they’re gonna smoke tobacco too,” to which Sam responds, “If they want to. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”

• Olivia says about her piano: “Well, I can make music on that one….Anybody can…it’s a player piano.”

• Then Sam moves his great-grandfather’s romance with Olivia forward when he dances with her. “If you stop pumping the pedals,” Olivia asks, “there won’t be any music.” Sam responds, “Do you really think we need any?”

• Sam delivers a classic (and typical for this series) exhortation to Olivia: “I know you sympathize with the slaves and care a lot about Isaac. You’re loyal to Virginia, but you can’t stand how the South treats black people. You and I are on the same side here. It’s about time we start fighting for it together.”

• I like Isaac’s big line at the end and I think actor Michael D. Roberts delivers it well: “Well, sir, I’ve been thinking. Once I’m a free man, I’m gonna need a last name like everybody else….I considered Lincoln. Considered Covington, since I’ve been with y’all since I was a boy. I considered Beckett, to thank you for takin’ me with you, sir….Most of all, I like the way I feels about being a free man. Makes a man feel like a king. So, if it ain’t too uppity, I’d like to be called Isaac King.”

Sam Leaps To
Memphis Melody

Favorite Dialogue
My favorite line is Olivia’s response to Montgomery when he tells her that he thinks it was destiny that brought them so close to each other:,

Believe what you want, sir. But the man who wins my heart will need more than destiny on his side.

Special thanks, by the way, to this site for the episode transcriptions.

The Best Moment
The whole episode is pretty good but I’d probably say Sam’s final confrontation with Montgomery is the high point. I like that Olivia gets to help Sam defeat the guy.

Previous Episode: The Beast Within • Next Episode:  Memphis Melody