Quantum Leap Spoiler FAQL
               *** with spoilers, as the name suggests ***
                    *** Supplement to the QL FAQL ***

Other Quick Reference Documents:
	Information Roadmap
	FAQL
   	Episode Guide
	Primer


Created by: Robin C. Kwong (rck1@midway.uchicago.edu)
     5/1994
Based upon the original Quantum Leap FAQL, 
     which was created by: Quantum Buc (buc@world.std.com) and 
	        Debbie Brown (dmb7229@ultb.isc.rit.edu)

*Updated May 5, 1995
*     SP#21 completed

This is an occasional file that is meant to answer those questions most 
frequently asked about the US television program, Quantum Leap.  It also
attempts to catalog the information viewers have been able to glean from
individual stories and other, official and non-official sources.  Permission
is granted to distribute this file UNMODIFIED to other networks and BBSs.
Rights to modifications to this file is reserved by the updater(s).

   Note: you may freely copy and distribute this guide for personal use
   provided that it be distributed in its entirety, with all original
   author and copyright information intact.  Any sales of this document
   or use of it in a for-profit project are expressly forbidden,
   without the specific consent of the authors.

Passages borrowed from the original FAQL are credited by paragraph.


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Table of contents:


General Knowledge:

 1.  Why this FAQL?
 2.  Who controls the leaps?
 3.  When Al looks at Sam, what does he see?
 4.  Can anyone else at the project go into the Imaging Chamber and see 
     Sam?
 5.  What would happen if Sam failed to do what he was there to do?
 6.  There is still no number 6.
 7.  Why could Sam see when he "replaced" a blind man?  Would he be
     able to hear as a deaf person? In other words, is it Sam's
     mind that's leaping, or his body?
 8.  Can Sam hear the Imaging Chamber door, or the handlink?


Esoteric Knowledge:

 9.  What about "8 1/2 Months"? Doesn't that sound like it's
     Sam's mind that's leaping?
10.  What happened to Zoey and Alia at the end of "Revenge"?
11.  I notice that the ending of "MIA" is very similar to a certain 
     scene from the movie "Ghost"...
12.  In "Killin' Time," where did Stiles get the gun from in the IC?
13.  Is "Stand Up" the leap mentioned at the end of "The Leap Back"?
14.  Could Dr. Beeks see the images in the IC in "Shock Theater"?
15.  Does Al's marriage at the end of "Mirror Image" mean that he's 
     no longer on the Project? 
16.  Whatever became of the handlink left in 1945 in "The Leap Back"? 
     What about Sam's taped confession in "Starlight, Starbright"?
17.  Did two different actresses play Donna?
18.  What glitches/unexplained phenomena--in the episodes, that is--
     exist?
19.  How come in "Mirror Image," Al states that he has never seen
     Sam leap out?
20.  Why is "Beckett" spelled with only one T in the syndicated
     version of "Mirror Image"?
21.  Why does the present-day date given in "The Leap Back" conflict
     with the date given in "Lee Harvey Oswald"?
22.  Is the Tina that Al meets on the road in "Genesis" the same
     Tina that appears in "The Leap Back"?
23.  What happened in the last episode?  Did Sam ever come home?


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General Knowledge:

1.   Why this FAQL?

This list is intended as a supplement to the QL FAQL. The amount of 
explanation necessary to answer a specific question frequently can 
require much more evidence than can be given without spoilers. 
Therefore, this list was created--for those who have either seen 
the episodes or don't mind seeing spoilers--and who would like a 
little more detail in the answers.  Not all of the questions from 
the original FAQL are repeated here; merely the relevant ones.

2.   Who controls the leaps?

Nobody knows.  Sam and Al know that it's not Ziggy or anyone at Project 
Quantum Leap. Al told Sam in the pilot that Sam's leaps were out of the 
project's control, so Sam and Al hypothesize that it's Him  who is controlling things. [original FAQL]

In "Mirror Image," we get an ambiguous glimpse of the supposed 
controller, but the exact nature of this controller (and in fact of
this entire episode) is still under heavy debate. Sam is told that he 
controls his own leaps, but it's been pointed out that ("The Leap 
Back" being the one exception) he can't be actively choosing his own 
destinations, since he cannot possibly know of all these various 
people/situations ahead of time. One theory is that Sam "controls" 
his leaps only in the sense that he will leap for as long as he's 
willing to take on the responsibilities that come with it; and that 
once he decides he wants to quit (thereby making him unqualified for 
the job of putting right what once went wrong, so to speak), he'll 
get sent home.

3.   When Al looks at Sam, what does he see?

Initially, Al sees the leapee.  In the episode entitled "What Price, 
Gloria", Al was out of control at seeing Sam as the gorgeous 
secretary.  Al probably recognizes Sam because they are linked 
through their brainwave trans- missions, which is what is used by 
the project to locate Sam in time. [original FAQL] 

This changes through the seasons.

In the second-season episode, "What Price Gloria," it is shown
fairly explicitly that Al sees Sam as the leapee. An earlier mention
of this in "Genesis" consists of an open-ended statement which can
be interpreted both ways (i.e., Al only states that he sees the
leapee in the Waiting Room as Sam, but does not say who he sees Sam
as while in the Imaging Chamber). 

Later episodes begin to hint that Al sees Sam as Sam, and the
leapee in the Waiting Room as the leapee. Note Al's changed
reactions to seeing Sam when Sam leaps into a beauty contestant
("Miss Deep South")--Al is completely unaffected by her looks,
indicating that he sees only Sam. This is further supported by his
comments ("Don't tell me, let me guess--Scarlett O'Hara on
steroids"). In "Pool Hall Blues," Al states that he saw the leapee
in the Waiting Room.

Al does not react to the leapee's battered image in "Raped" when he 
looks at Sam, implying that he sees only Sam's (uninjured) image. 
Similarly, Al has no problems conversing with Sam in "The Wrong
Stuff."

By the fifth season there is no question that Al sees Sam as Sam. 
In "Nowhere to Run," Al states this fact explicitly. The fact that 
Al sees the leapee in the Waiting Room is again hinted at by Al's 
reactions (or lack thereof) in "Killin' Time" (could you be held at
gunpoint twice by someone in your best friend's image, and then
shoot him back with a tranquilizer dart in the neck, all without
batting an eye?). At the end of "Dr. Ruth," Al readily accepts a 
kiss on the cheek from Dr. Ruth in the Waiting Room--an unlikely 
occurrence if he sees her as Sam. In "Blood Moon," Al describes
Corrington's appearance based on what he saw of the leapee in the
WR ("I know it sounds strange, but you should see the guy in the
Waiting Room. He looks like a cross between Bela Lugosi and a sick
corpse"). In "Lee Harvey Oswald," Al deliberately looks into the 
mirror to converse with the "Sam" when Sam's personality breaks 
briefly through LHO's mind in the Waiting Room.

A possible theory is that, after the whole mess in "What Price
Gloria," Al had Gooshie re-configure the IC to show him Sam's image
only.

4.   Can anyone else at the project go into the Imaging Chamber and see 
     Sam?

Depends.  In one episode, (Star-Crossed), several committee members 
entered the chamber with Al, but for them, they were in an empty room 
with Al talking to thin air.  The others were not visible to Sam (or us).  
It becomes obvious in this episode that contact with Al's skin is 
necessary for Sam to see the object in question. [original FAQL]

In "Shock Theater," Sam is able to see (but not hear) Dr. Beeks when 
she takes Al's hand in the IC. Whether or not she can see him is 
another question see SP#14).

In "Raped," the IC is modified to allow Sam to hear the leapee. It is 
unknown whether or not he could see her, although it can be assumed 
since she appeared to be able to see as well as hear the courtroom. 
(Then again she could have been looking around at the Imaging
Chamber--no doubt she's never seen anything like it before,
either.) Since this procedure has never been used since, despite the 
tremendous benefits it offers, it is possible that the procedure 
only works with Katy McBain, in which case they were extremely lucky.
It's true the procedure takes an enormous amount of energy, but
the life-or-death situations that crop up in later leaps would seem
to warrant its use despite the energy cost.

In one other episode (Killin' Time), a quick jury-rigging job by Ziggy 
enabled Gooshie to contact Sam via the hologram/brain-wave process, 
but the image broke up a lot. Gooshie was also able to contact Al 
in that episode, since if he is linked to Sam, then he should also 
to some extent be linked to Al as well. However, the connection 
seemed to be weaker in that case, as Al could only hear Gooshie, 
but not see him. [origional FAQL]

5.  What would happen if Sam failed to do what he was there to do?

Again, nobody knows.  One theory that we have was that he would be
trapped in the past forever, replacing the host.  This, however, is
doubtful.  Another theory that we have had was that he would leap into
another's life to attempt again to fix "that which has gone wrong".
[original FAQL]

In "Genesis," the working theory is that Sam must accomplish his 
mission or else he will not leap out. Al suggests to Sam that he 
could very well do nothing and simply live as Tom Stratton and 
"barring accidental death, you'll be back in forty years." When Sam 
leaps again, into Fox, Al gives him Fox's future history and then 
tells him "but you won't have to be around for all that" if he does 
what Ziggy predicts.

In "Double Identity", Sam was pulled from the leapee without resolving
the problem he was there to fix.  He leaped immediately to replace
another body in the same room and in that SECOND body completed his
mission. [original FAQL]

In "Catch a Falling Star," Al acknowledges the possibility that Sam 
may leap out anyway even if he does nothing, but also suggests that 
Sam "go for the sure thing" by saving John anyway, implying that 
Sam may still wind up being stuck as Ray Hutton indefinitely.

In "Play Ball," when Sam balks at Al's method of pitching baseballs, 
Al asks him, "You want to stay here forever?" implying that Sam may 
not leap out if he doesn't accomplish his mission. In "The Wrong 
Stuff," Al asks a similar question.

Then, in "A Leap for Lisa," Sam states flat-out that success isn't a 
necessary factor in leaping. Qui sais?

At any rate, these statements only reflect the fact that PQL can 
merely *theorize* on the leaping process. It is possible that this 
question will not be answered satisfactorily simply because GTF will 
not leap Sam into situations which he cannot handle.

6.   There is still no number 6.

Ni!

7.   Why could Sam see when he "replaced" a blind man?  Would he be able to 
     hear as a deaf person? In other words, is it Sam's mind that's 
     leaping, or his body?

Sam is physically leaping through time, his mass being exchanged with
that of the leapee.  Sam, not sharing the handicap, will not exhibit
it. Sam's entire body and soul trades places with the leapee, although
the physical aura stays around. [original FAQL]

To quote The Source Himself (Don Bellisario): [original FAQL]

"...when Sam leaps in and bounces somebody out, I like to think of it
this way: ... if that person was hit by a car and they broke their leg
and hit the street and _then_ Sam leaped in, Sam would not have a
broken leg. But if Sam leaped in and was crossing the street and was
hit by the car, then Sam would have the broken leg." [original FAQL]

In other words: [original FAQL]

He does not share handicaps or injuries suffered by the leapee before 
his leap in, but will sustain injuries suffered while he is there.
[original FAQL]

Also, it is stated that Sam and Al are linked via their mesons and
neurons, which are physical entities. If Sam does not leap
physically, then this link would be lost. Further evidence of the
physical nature of leaping is given in "Lee Harvey Oswald" when
individual mesons and neurons are leaped via the Accelerator.

"What Price, Gloria": Sam was able to single-handedly rescue 
Gloria from the ledge, as well as demonstrate to Buddy that he 
"walked like a man" and threw a baseball--and a punch--the same 
way. However, the amount of physical strength necessary to save 
Gloria and KO Buddy, and the existence of Sam's masculine 
mannerisms, is debatable.

"The Wrong Stuff": Chimps aren't able to swim, but Sam can.

"Nowhere to Run": Sam very obviously has legs, whereas the leapee 
doesn't.

"Blind Faith": Unlike the pianist, Sam is not blind.

"Runaway": Sam is strong enough to resist the leapee's father and 
to suspend the leapee's older sister over an open well.

"Trilogy part 3": Sam fathers a child, Sammy Jo, who is quite 
apparently his--as opposed to that of his leapee's.

"Pool Hall Blues": Black Magic's eyesight is failing, while Sam's 
is, as Al points out, 20/20.

"The Color of Truth" & "Shock Theater": Jesse Tyler is revealed to 
suffer from rheumatism in "Shock Theater," which Sam gave no 
indication of being affected by in "Color."

"Shock Theater": Sam Bederman had, according to Al, "chemical 
problems." Since these "problems" were evident in the Waiting Room,
this chemical imbalance obviously stayed with Bederman and not with 
Beckett.

"Lee Harvey Oswald": Individual mesons and neurons are leaped via 
the Accelerator.

"The Last Gunfighter": Sam's quick reflexes are unaffected by the 
leapee's advanced age.

"Miss Deep South": Sam suspends the photographer out the window 
with apparently little effort. As usual, disclaimer about amount 
of strength necessary and presence of particular mannerisms 
applies.

"Another Mother": Sam manages to take out two assailants. 
Disclaimer applies here. Also, Troian can see Sam.

"Dr. Ruth": Sam executes a sprint over cartops. Disclaimer applies 
here.

"Raped": Sam takes Kevin out, no contest. Disclaimer applies here. 
Also, Sam appears unaffected by Katie's injuries at leap-in.

"A Song for the Soul": Sam is able to get rid of the men who 
badger them in the beginning. Disclaimer applies here.

8.  Can Sam hear the Imaging Chamber door, or the handlink?

Sam apparently can't hear the Chamber door opening/closing. In 
"The Great Spontini," Sam is startled enough by Al's voice to 
fumble the bottle of aftershave (although we hear the sound of the
Chamber door just before Al speaks). In "Piano Man," Sam nearly
spills his coffee in the diner when Al arrives (same situation as
"Spontini"). [ed. note: this second point will have to be
re-checked.] 

Sam can hear the handlink; in "Play Ball" when Al insists he can't
find the info on Chucky's father, the handlink throws a fit, which
starts to make Sam suspicious.


Esoteric Knowledge:

9.   What about "8 1/2 Months"? Doesn't that sound like it's Sam's
     mind that's leaping?

In fact, this episode is a strong supporter of the notion that it's
Sam's body that leaps.

Note that Sam does not immediately feel the effects of the
pregnancy. Only very gradually does he begin to acquire the
symptoms. Leaping into the body of a woman with a full-term
pregnancy would be immediately noticeable.

Sam and Al discuss the body-vs.-mind question and explicitly state
that it's Sam's body that leaps, and that he is surrounded by the
leapee's aura. The sensation of the baby kicking, felt by Dottie, 
is also part of this aura.

Al tells Sam that in the Waiting Room, the medical staff had to
work to halt Bille Jean's delivery. The baby, in the WR, is also
connecting with Sam's mood swings.

Sam's symptoms are nothing more than a manifestation of the
"brainwave-crossing" phenomena seen in later episodes (particularly
in the fifth season). However, since this is the first time that
Sam and Al have encountered this, they (and the viewers :-) are
naturally confused by it.

Near the end of the episode, Al reports that the baby has
disappeared from Billie Jean's womb--in the Waiting Room. This
clearly indicates that Billie Jean's body, and the baby, are in the
WR. The baby, about to become a separate entity of its own via its
birth, appears to be on its way back to its proper time. 

10.  What happened to Zoey and Alia at the end of "Revenge"?

The episode leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not Alia is shot. 
Individuals who have done frame-by-frame analysis say that the bullet 
passes through the space just after Alia leaps out, while there is no 
one there. This assumes that there is a moment during leaping in 
which a corporal body, either the leapee's or the leaper's, does not 
exist in that space. The leapee returns with no visible injury nor 
mark on her shirt.

Alia is surrounded by a blue leap effect, corroborating Al's 
statements that she is now "free" of Lothos. Whether she subsequently 
dies, continues to leap, winds up at PQL, or any number of things is 
unknown.

Zoey is most definitely struck by the bullet, but she is not dead at 
the time of her leap-out and it is possible that Thames and Lothos 
are able to pull her back in time and save her life.

11.  I notice that the ending of "MIA" is very similar to a certain 
     scene from the movie "Ghost"...

Yes, there are similarities, such as the song "Unchained Melody" and 
the nature of the whole situation, but lest you worry, "MIA" was 
aired before "Ghost" was released.

12.  In "Killin' Time," where did Stiles get the gun from in the WR?

If you look carefully in the first scene with Stiles and Al in the 
Waiting Room, you can see an unconscious guard on the floor as Stiles 
and Al leave the WR. Apparently, the scene with Stiles knocking out 
the guard and taking his gun was filmed, and actually used in the NBC 
promos, but was cut from the airing for reasons of time. The gun did 
not leap with Stiles.

Yep, that's where he got it from. They actually filmed that scene,
but when Don Bellisario saw it, he thought it played really dumb,
so he cut it out. [Sally Smith]

Side note: Sam has a gun in his hand when he leaps in; it is highly 
unlikely that Stiles was holding two guns when the leap occurred.

13.  Is "Stand Up" the leap mentioned at the end of "The Leap Back"?

No. "SU" takes place long after "TLB." At the end of "TLB," Al 
mentions that Sam's mission in that leap is to get a woman to fall in 
love with him...certainly not the case in "SU." That leap has never 
been seen.

14.  Could Dr. Beeks see the images in the IC in "Shock Theater"?

It seems unlikely that she could. Otherwise, the main difficulty with 
getting funding for the Project--to wit, trying to convince the 
government that Sam is actually in the past--would become trivial. 
You could just take anyone into the IC and show them. Beeks possibly 
merely watches Al to determine where she should look to "see" Sam. 
Note that she only seems to look wherever Al focuses on, and not at 
the rest of the surroundings (other beds, other patients, state of 
the hospital, etc.).

15.  Does Al's marriage at the end of "Mirror Image" mean that he's 
     no longer on the Project? 

This certainly seems like not an unreasonable consequence, since we 
know that Sam and Al met on StarBright and grew so close to each 
other largely on account of Al's state of mind at the time of their 
meeting ("You were the only person who believed in me when I gave up 
believing in myself" ("Shock Theater")) and it would seem that with 
Beth around, Al wouldn't have wound up like he did on StarBright. The 
experience of having one stable marriage and four daughters obviously 
produces radically different after-effects than going through five 
failed marriages and a drinking problem. 

Bellisario has in fact mentioned that Al would still be on PQL. 
However, since the after-effects of "MI" were never actually employed 
on the air, the relevance of his statements is debatable when it 
comes to speculating about the post-"Mirror Image" QL.

We do know that PQL would exist without Al--this is shown in "A Leap 
for Lisa," where, even though Al is executed as an ensign long 
before he ever meets Sam, we see that the Project is still there, 
albeit rather altered.

Questions like how a married Al would still be able to help Sam on 
those particular leaps where the helpful knowledge came from one of 
his other four marriages, etc. still remain.

Bellisario has stated that the leap effect surrounding Al's photo
at the end is only a dramatic effect, not meant to imply that Al
himself leaped.

16.  Whatever became of the handlink left in 1945 in "The Leap Back"?  
     What about Sam's taped confession in "Starlight, Starbright"?

We're never told what happened. Speculation has it that they were 
used by someone to create the Evil Project. 

17.  Did two different actresses play Donna?

Yes, In "Star-Crossed" it was Teri Hatcher (also seen on Lois and 
Clark) and in "The Leap Back" it was Mimi Kuzyk. [supplied by Mark D. 
Baushke]

18.  What glitches/unexplained phenomena--in the episodes, that is--
     exist?

These are probably glitches (in the script, not in the leaping process!)

In "How the Tess was Won," Sam does not have Doc's glasses, although 
his mirror image does.

In "Camikazi Kid," Sam doesn't have his mirror image's braces. 
Possibly they are considered part of the leapee's body since they 
are surrounded by organic matter (i.e. saliva) and so they go with 
the leapee to the Waiting Room.

In "8 1/2 Months," Sam's mirror image has her hair in a ponytail 
while eating radishes in the living room...and yet Sam clearly 
doesn't have anything in his hair. Beats me on this one.

Massive clothing glitches occur in "The Leap Back." I'm not even 
going to attempt to list them all here (unless requested). It is 
also questionable as to who is occupying whose aura at various 
points in the episode.

How Sam has his own clothes and wallet in "Mirror Image," with nothing 
remaining in the Waiting Room, is also unexplained.

Al is able to move up and down steps in "Catch a Falling Star,"
"Genesis," and "Last Dance Before an Execution," despite the fact 
that Al shouldn't be climbing steps while in the IC.

In "Nowhere to Run," Sam gets up from his wheelchair (just before
slugging the orderly). We see the leapee's reflection in the
mirror, floating above the floor, cut off at the knees. The pants
Sam is wearing, though, are full-length, which *should* appear as
such in the reflection, but don't.

Should we be seeing the smoke from Al's cigar? 

Bloopers: Some cases are very obviously bloopers, as in "Genesis"
when, during the baseball leap, Dean's hand comes into contact with
the baseball glove in Scott's back pocket. A similar incident occurs
in "Ghost Ship" when, as they're conversing in the galley, Dean
accidentally bumps Scott's shoulder with his elbow. In "Another
Mother," the second kidnapper (after Sam knocks him out) falls
directly into Dean's path, causing Dean to stumble slightly as he steps
over him.  Undoubtedly it costs too much to reshoot the scene for 
quick, minor accidents like these.

19.  How come in "Mirror Image," Al states that he has never seen
     Sam leap out?

This does appear to conflict with Al's statements in at least two
other episodes. In "Animal Frat," Al describes a leap-out, complete
with sound effects. In "Good Morning Peoria," when Al steps too
close to the antenna, his image begins to glow blue--causing him to
exclaim, "I'm gonna leap!" Apparently Al has both seen and heard the 
leap effect before. Why he says he hasn't in "MI" is anyone's guess
(there is a theory this is a tip-off that perhaps the events of 
"MI" only existed in Sam's mind).

20.  Why is "Beckett" spelled with only one T in the syndicated
     version of "Mirror Image"?

No one knows. In the final card of "Mirror Image," "Beckett" is
spelled with two T's in the original NBC version. For reasons
unknown, the syndicated version leaves off the ending T.

It has been pretty concretely established that "Beckett" is
is spelled with a double T, so there isn't much of a controversy
over which is the correct version. For in-series evidence, note
that Sam's great-grandfather's name is also spelled with two T's in
"Leap Between the States." Sam's driver's license in "MI," too,
spells "Beckett" with two T's.

21.  Why does the present-day date given in "The Leap Back" conflict
     with the date given in "Lee Harvey Oswald"?

PQL's present-day date in "TLB" is given as September 18, 1999 while
in "LHO" is February 1, 1999, although "LHO" takes place long after
"TLB." No reason is given why this is so. Theories range anywhere from
simple oversight on Bellisario's part to speculation that maybe some
of Sam's later leaps erased the events in "The Leap Back."

22.  Is the Tina that Al meets on the road in "Genesis" the same
     Tina that appears in "The Leap Back"?

In terms of mannerism, voice, appearance, etc. the Tinas we see in
both episodes don't resemble each other. In "How the Tess was Won,"
Al tells Sam that he met Tina at a poker game...which seems to
contradict the meeting depicted in "Genesis."

Possibly they are two different women, Tina being not an uncommon
name; this is unknown. There's also theories that Tina and Al
already knew each other and were simply playing a game of sorts in
"Genesis," or perhaps that Sam's later leaps changed the events in
that episode, or any number of other options.

In "A Leap for Lisa," Tina is described as the "pulse-
communications technician" by St. John, and is also married to
Gooshie. However, there may or may not be much of a connection
between this altered reality and the original Project history.

23. What happened in the last episode?  Did Sam ever come home?

The last episode, called "Mirror Image", had Sam leap into a bar 
in a coal-mining town on August 8, 1953 (his date of birth).  The 
first real surprise was that he had leaped as himself.  In the 
bar, Sam meets all sorts of interesting characters including an 
old man with bad breath named Gooshi, a miner who looked exactly 
like Moe Stein (from "Future Boy") named Ziggy, two other miners 
who looked like Frank and Jimmy LaMotta (from "Jimmy" and "Deliver 
Us from Evil"), and an old miner named Shtopah who had the same 
rheumatory arthritis as one of Al's uncles (who also just happened 
to be named Shtopah).  This is all in addition to the bar's 
mysterious keeper, Al.  Al the bartender seems to know who Sam is, 
where he comes from, and why he's been leaping through time.  He 
tries to convince Sam that it's *Sam* who's been leaping him 
through time.  Sam isn't convinced, though, and begins to believe 
that this mysterious bartender is actually God, Time, Fate, or 
Whatever has been leaping him for five years. [Finifter]

According to the last frame of the episode, "Dr. Beckett never 
returned home."  BUT, "never" is a very transient thing when it 
comes to time travel, and, according to Don Bellisario, just 
because he didn't come home now, doesn't mean he won't come home 
later. [Finifter]