From The TV IV

Genesis (2) is the second episode of the first season of Quantum Leap, and the second episode overall.

Guest Stars: W.K. Stratton (Dr. Berger), Dennis Wolfberg (Gooshie), Jennifer Runyon (Peggy Stratton), John Allen Nelson (Captain "Bird Dog" Birdell), Newell Alexander (Young Sam), Lee De Broux (Coach), Larry Poindexter (Captain Tony LaMotta), Bruce McGill (Weird Ernie), Barbara Horan (Tina), Christian Van Dorn (Mikey Stratton), David Trent (Capt. Doug Walker), Hank Robinson (Umpire), James F. Dean (Dr. Blaustein), Patrick Cranshaw (Old Man), Brent Chalem (Bat Boy), Lela Ivey (Lucy), Adam Affonso (Young Sam), Lydia Cornell (Sally), Mike Greenwood (Matt), Christine Poor (Jeanie), Dave Duensing (Clyde), Kevin Johnson (Pepper), David Dawson (Barnes), Doug Cox (Sportscaster), Ken Martin (Tim Fox / Mirror), Layne Beamer (Tom Stratton / Mirror)

Contents 1 Plot Overview 2 Notes 3 Arc Advancement 3.1 Happenings 3.2 Characters 3.3 Referbacks 3.4 Kiss with History 4 Trivia 4.1 The Show 4.2 Behind the Scenes 4.3 Allusions and References 4.4 Memorable Moments 5 Quotes 6 Reviews

[edit] Plot Overview

Leap Date: September 13, 1956

Sam learns more about why he's there: he's part of a time-travel experiment that, as Al puts it, "went a little 'ca-ca.'" Originally, Tom Stratton died in the Mach-2 flight. So if Sam changes history so that Tom doesn't die, then in theory, Sam should "leap" out of Tom and back to his own time period and his own body.

With Al's help, Sam does successfully break Mach-2 without dying. However, instead of leaping back home, Sam leaps into a baseball player in the 1960s.

As for Al himself, he's from Sam's own time period, communicating to Sam through holographic projection (hence the walking through walls). He can't tell Sam anything he doesn't remember due to strict government regulation, but after much cajoling from Sam, he does reveal two important things: Sam's last name is Beckett, and Sam himself created Project Quantum Leap, so he is his own best chance for figuring out how to get back home.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

By the end of this episode, the audience knows about the time-travel initiative Project Quantum Leap, that it was invented by Sam Beckett and funded by the government, that God (or possibly Fate or Time or Whoever) has taken control of Sam's leaping and is using him to write certain wrongs in history, which Sam does in hopes that one of the leaps might take him home.

Also, in Sam's second leap, we learn that Al (as a hologram) doesn't reflect in mirrors, and that dogs can see Sam for who he is (as opposed to who he leaped into), and they can see Al as well.

[edit] Characters

By the end of the episode, Al has made reference to Ziggy, the "hybrid computer" who tries to figure out what wrong in history Sam needs to put right. Ziggy is not seen or heard, though, until the fourth-season episode The Leap Back.

[edit] Referbacks

[edit] Kiss with History

Often Sam will have "crosses with history," where he interacts with famous people and/or events in the past. In the second leap in this episode, for instance, Sam hits a ball pitched by a young Tom Seaver.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

[edit] Behind the Scenes

[edit] Allusions and References

[edit] Memorable Moments

[edit] Quotes

[edit] Reviews

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