Quantum Leap (TV Series)
Genesis: Part 2 - September 13, 1956 (1989)
Scott Bakula: Dr. Sam Beckett, Captain Tom Stratton, Tim Fox
Photos
Quotes
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[Al has just told Sam that he has to fly an experimental aircraft in order to leap]
Sam : There's got to be another way.
Al : The next one's only got a 52% chance of working.
Sam : I'll take it!
Al : It requires you to be at ground zero during an atomic detonation.
[Sam frowns]
Al : You asked.
Sam : What else have you got?
Al : This isn't a shopping list, you know.
[consults handlink]
Al : The odds drop into the low teens after that. Your best shot is freezing the brain until all electrical activity has ceased.
Sam : That's called *death*.
Al : I never said it would be easy. You want a sure thing? I got it for you. You don't do anything, you just live. Barring accidental death or a fatal disease, you'll be back in forty years. That's your safest option.
Sam : And Tom Stratton?
Al : He'll go on living forward from where he's at now. Technically, he could end up the oldest man alive.
Sam : Well, what about Peg and Mikey? I don't want to hurt them, but I can't go on pretending I'm Tom.
Al : Hey, they were going to lose him on Monday anyway. Of course, if you bust Mach 3 and survive, they could have him around for another thirty or forty years.
Sam : I can't fly!
Al : I'll be your co-pilot.
Sam : You're a hologram.
Al : I'm also an ex-astronaut. The hardest part about flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 does the first part of that for you. After that, you just fire a couple of rockets, hang onto the stick and ka-za-zoom! Mach 3.
Sam : And the second part?
Al : Landing?
[shakes head]
Al : You could *never* land the X-2, not even with my help. So, you don't.
Sam : I eject.
Al : [nods] X-2 does a crash and burn. You float back to earth on a pillow silk. The moment you touch down, you leap forward, Tom leaps back and the broad and I are gone to Las Vegas!
Sam : It could work.
Al : Of course it will work.
Sam : A minute ago, you said it was crap.
Al : That was before I thought it out.
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[On why they could not retrieve Sam from the past]
Sam : Ziggy's theory is really - it's a load of crap. You have to believe that God or time or something was just waiting for your quantum leap to correct a mistake.
Sam : A mistake in time?
Al : Something that happened in the life of Cpt. Tom Stratton in '56 since he's the one you bounce out. Once that's put right, you'll snap back like a pimp's suspenders.
Sam : Once what's put right?
Al : Tom Stratton was killed trying to break Mach 3 in the X-2. If Ziggy's right, all you have to do is break Mach 3 and live.
[Sam walks away]
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Sam : Where the hell were you?
Al : I was at the Laker game. It went into overtime.
Sam : A ball game? I nearly died because you were at a ball game?
Al : It wasn't just a ball game. It was a play-off game. At the party later, I met this dish named Martha.
Sam : I guess I can thank God you didn't spend the night with this Martha.
Al : Well, I did.
