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Season guide

Quantum Leap: Season 5

22 episodes Premiered Sep 22, 1992
Previously on Quantum Leap

Season 5 Lore Primer

Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.

  • Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Quantum Leap Season 4.
  • Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
  • Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
  • Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Season 5 Episodes

Episode Guide

🛡️ SPOILER SHIELD

Season 5 Progress Shield

Future titles & synopses blurred. Tap "Reveal" on any card to peek.
Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 5: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

Time Saved 0.8h Skipping 1 filler episode
18%
77%
Mytharc (4): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (17): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (1): Standalone / filler
S5·E1 Mytharc

Lee Harvey Oswald (1)

Sep 22, 1992

October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963: As a result of leaping again before he had a chance to complete his original mission, Sam finds himself leaping back and forth through the life

S5·E2 Core

Lee Harvey Oswald (2)

Sep 22, 1992

October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963: As a result of leaping again before he had a chance to complete his original mission, Sam finds himself leaping back and forth through the life

S5·E3 Filler

Leaping of the Shrew

Sep 29, 1992

September 27, 1956: It's Robinson Crusoe with a twist when Sam leaps into a Greek sailor stranded on a deserted island with a beautiful young rich woman who appears to be less than

S5·E4 Core

Nowhere to Run

Oct 6, 1992

August 10, 1968: As a Marine captain whose legs were amputated after a mishap in Vietnam, Sam finds himself in a veteran's hospital, where he must prevent the suicide of a fellow p

S5·E5 Core

Killin' Time

Oct 20, 1992

June 18, 1958: Sam leaps into a tricky situation as an escaped killer holed up in a house with a mother and daughter as hostages. Escape isn't going to be easy for either Sam or hi

S5·E6 Core

Star Light, Star Bright

Oct 27, 1992

May 21, 1966: Sam leaps into a 79-year-old man whose son wants to have him committed when he claims to have seen UFO's. Sam is kept busy as he tries to keep the family together, pr

S5·E7 Core

Deliver Us from Evil

Nov 10, 1992

March 19, 1966: Things are already on there way downhill when Sam leaps back into Jimmy LaMotta. Despite Sam's inaction, history continues to change for the worst. The cause is unk

S5·E8 Core

Trilogy (1)

Nov 17, 1992

August 8, 1955: A pair of unsolved murders marks just the tip of the iceberg when Sam leaps into a sheriff in a small Louisiana town. Rumors of a history of family insanity, the su

S5·E9 Core

Trilogy (2)

Nov 24, 1992

June 14, 1966: Finding himself back in the same small Louisiana town, in the arms of Abigail, now twenty-one, Sam must prevent an angry crowd of townspeople from lynching his fianc

S5·E10 Core

Trilogy (3)

Nov 24, 1992

July 28, 1978: Sam is an aging lawyer, recruited by Abigail, now thirty-three, to defend her when she is put on trial for the murder of Leta Aider, the woman whose daughter Abigail

S5·E11 Core

Promised Land

Dec 15, 1992

December 22, 1971: Sam leaps back to Elk Ridge, Indiana to help save the lives of the Walters boys as they try to save their farm from a banker with designs on getting rich from fo

S5·E12 Core

A Tale of Two Sweeties

Jan 5, 1993

February 25, 1958: As a horse-playing, traveling brush salesman, Sam finds himself with two wives and two families. Although Ziggy predicts that Sam's mission is to choose between

S5·E13 Core

Liberation

Jan 12, 1993

October 16, 1968: Leaping into a housewife and mother of two on the verge of women's lib, Sam must prevent the death of his daughter during a sit in, while convincing the girl's fa

S5·E14 Core

Dr. Ruth

Jan 19, 1993

April 25, 1985: While Sam is in 1985, running her radio talk show, playing matchmaker to her producers, and trying to help a young secretary who's being sexually harassed by her bo

S5·E15 Core

Blood Moon

Feb 9, 1993

March 10, 1975: As an eccentric, possibly vampiric, artist just outside of London, Sam must bear with Al's superstitions, while trying to prevent the death of his host's young wife

S5·E16 Core

Return of the Evil Leaper (1)

Feb 23, 1993

October 8, 1956: As Arnold Watkins, better known as The Midnight Marauder, Sam has to persuade a fraternity to stop using chicken races as a part of their hazing ceremonies, while

S5·E17 Mytharc

Revenge of the Evil Leaper (2)

Feb 23, 1993

September 16, 1987: Having simu-leaped, both Sam and Alia find themselves trapped in a women's prison, accused of murdering a fellow inmate. Their efforts to unmask the real killer

S5·E18 Core

Goodbye Norma Jean

Mar 2, 1993

April 4, 1960: As chauffeur to Marilyn Monroe, Sam must try to prevent Marilyn's tragic death. But when a well-meaning plan backfires, it could mean the end of Marilyn's career, ev

S5·E19 Core

The Beast Within

Mar 16, 1993

November 6, 1972: Sam leaps into Henry Adams, one of a trio of friends who fought in Vietnam and came home each with their own personal scars and the memory of a lost buddy. He has

S5·E20 Core

The Leap Between the States

Mar 30, 1993

September 20, 1862: In a bizarre twist of a genetic coil, Sam leaps into his great-grandfather, Captain John Beckett, during the Civil War. He must not interfere with his ancestor'

S5·E21 Mytharc

Memphis Melody

Apr 20, 1993

July 3, 1954: Sam swivels his hips into Elvis Presley, mere days before he is discovered. Along with making sure that Elvis does become the King, Sam must help Sue Anne, a local so

S5·E22 Mytharc

Mirror Image

May 5, 1993

August 8, 1953: Sam lands in a not-so-ordinary bar in a coal-mining town, where strange things are happening and familiar people don't know him. With the help of another Al, he sti