05x02 - Lee Harvey Oswald - Oct 5, 1957-Nov 22, 1963: Part 2

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Quantum Leap" Aired: March 26, 1989 – May 5, 1993.*
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Former scientist Sam is trapped in time due to an experiment gone awry, leaping into different bodies each week.
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05x02 - Lee Harvey Oswald - Oct 5, 1957-Nov 22, 1963: Part 2

Post by bunniefuu »

Theorizing that one could time travel
within his own lifetime,

Dr. Sam Beckett stepped
into the Quantum Leap accelerator...

and vanished.

He awoke to find himself
trapped in the past,

facing mirror images
that were not his own...

and driven by an unknown force
to change history for the better.

His only guide on this journey is Al,
an observer from his own time,

who appears in the form of a hologram
that only Sam can see and hear.

And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself
leaping from life to life,

striving to put right
what once went wrong...

and hoping each time
that his next leap...

will be the leap home.

So you got a little Lee
Harvey Oswald in you.

You can handle that.

What if I got a lot of
Lee Harvey Oswald in me?

What if I assassinate
the president?

You're not gonna assassinate
the president. This is '57.

That doesn't happen
for another six years.

Fifteen minutes ago, it
was six years from now.

And who's to say that's
not gonna happen again...

Were you ever approached
by a foreign agent in Japan?

Are you a foreign agent, Al?

That's your name.

How-How did I know your name?

Wait. You didn't mention the Russians.
They were behind the assassination?

That's one theory.

Another one is that Oswald was just
pretending to be with the K.G.B.

He was really with the C.I.A.
or the F.B.I.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Why was the K.G.B.
even interested in Oswald?

Oswald was a radar operator
with Macs-1.

He knew all the frequencies,
all the codes, the intercept procedures.

He's taking over my mind.

Well, that's impossible.
He-He can't take over your mind.

I'm reacting like him. I'm-I'm talking
like him. I'm thinking like him.

I don't know where
he stops and I start, Al.

When you told our consulate
that you wanted to defect, you said...

"I am willing to share
all knowledge I acquired

"in the United States
Marine Corps.

"I do this to repudiate
my former country...

"and to demonstrate
my loyalty to the Soviet Union."

My first duty assignment
was with Macs-1 in Atsugi, Japan.

I still don't get how you do this.

Well, it-it-it is a little
difficult to explain.

You think I'm too stupid
to understand?

Well, nobody understands it,
except Dr. Beckett.

Try me.

Try you. Okay.

Let's start with the string theory.
What's the string theory?

String theory?

It helped close the conceptual gulf
between relativity and quantum mechanics.

It postulates that subatomic
particles are not points,

but strings,
about one Planck length long.

The rate at which strings
vibrate can generate

the properties of
all known particles.

Hmm? How did I know that?

Most of our time, we spent watching
for bogies out of China or North Korea.

However, occasionally we would run a plot
for, uh, Race Car.

- Have you seen Race Car?
- Many times.

Landings, taking off.

It had long and droopy wings.

The tips sagged...

so that when it landed,
it sparked the runway.

What is Race Car's
official designation?

U-2.

The "U" stands for utility.

Our officers told us
it was a weather plane,

but scuttlebutt
had it that it was a...

a secret spy plane flying missions
over China and Russia.

Is this Race Car?

Yes.

- Where'd you get this?
- From a friend.

You have friends, don't you?

No. Not really.

- Not a girlfriend?
- Not anymore.

We'll have to do something about
it, Lieutenant Guri, eh?

Da.

How high Race Car flew over,
uh, these missions?

We estimated around angels 9-0.

Oh, that's 30,000 meters.

- And the range?
- I don't know that.

It would stay out at least 12 hours,
sometimes more.

But, of course, it could have landed
before returning to Atsugi,

but I don't think so.

Can you tell us about Race
Car radar-jamming equipment?

Didn't know it had any.

Photographic equipment?

So you know nothing about Race
Car defensive capabilities?

Uh, Sam?
Now Oswald is you.

Can you give me any
performance figures on U-2?

- I mean, he's not completely you.
- It had a short takeoff...

But when I asked him
if he understood--

around... 500 feet, no more.

- Sam?
- He climbed out at about 45 degrees...

through angels 4-5,
which was as high as our MPS-11 tracked.

- What are you telling them?
- Anything else?

- Code names and frequencies.
- No!

We were Coffee Mill, and of
course, the U-2 was Race Car.

Sam, zip it!

We usually used 218.5
as our main channel.

Now, Comrade Oswald.

God! Now you're him and he's you.
Holy mackerel!

Why don't you write all this
technical data down for us.

No. No.
This evening after dinner.

Eh, you stay at the Hotel
Berlin, are you not?

I believe so.

Yeah.
The food there is inedible.

Why don't you ask your intourist guide,
uh, what's her name?

Rimma Shirokova.

Yeah. Tell Rimma Shirokova
to take you to Najinski's.

They serve this wonderful venison with
a-with a mushroom stew. You would love it.

And now, you would be so kind and
wait in the other room for a moment.

Sam, I know Oswald is influencing
you, but this is ridiculous.

- Al?
- Oh, it's about time.

Hey, you gotta control
this Oswald stuff

before you give away every
secret in the government.

It just came out, okay?

I think I could have stopped,
but some part of me that didn't want to.

And you know about that part.

Uh, I was just thinking out loud.

How bad is it?

It depends on how
much you told them.

I think I told them everything
Oswald knew about the U-2.

Gary Powers.

The Russians sh**t him
down next May.

And that incident extends
the Cold w*r for years.

That must be why I leaped in
here, Al.

To stop the Soviets from
getting U-2 data from Oswald.

Oh, no. Ziggy doesn't think so.

There's a 96% probability that you didn't
give the Soviets anything on the U-2...

that they didn't already have.

But they sh**t Powers
down, right?

Yeah. It was just a lucky sh*t
with a Sam-2. A 100-to-1 sh*t.

It had nothing to do with anything
you-- uh, Oswald told them.

Thank God.

Well, then why am I here in Russia?

Ziggy's working on it.
I personally think it had some--

You think it has something
to do with the conspiracy?

Yeah.

Why don't you change that record, okay?
Well, I still believe it.

Al, in all of these leaps so far,
we haven't uncovered any conspiracy,

and we have not proven
that Oswald was not the assassin.

Well, maybe this one will.

Yeah. But I can't keep wandering
around leap after leap like this.

We gotta-- We gotta take
the initiative somehow!

Right!
Well, what do we do?

Oh, you're not becoming
Oswald again, are you?

I don't actually... become Oswald.

I just sort of drift along next to him
and his thoughts come out.

Oh, you're not drifting, are you?

No. I'm theorizing.
Or trying to.

- Oh, sorry.
- That's okay.

I was just thinking though,

what if I prematurely exited
that first leap into Oswald?

The one where Marina
took your picture?

Yeah. What if I leaped
out before I had a chance

to put right what
once went wrong?

Well, success doesn't have
anything to do with leaping.

I said before I had a chance
to undo the wrong?

Why would you leap before
you had the chance?

If I knew that, I'd know how
to get off this leaping yo-yo

so I could do whatever it
was I was supposed to do.

- Which is stop the assassination.
- Well, let's hope that's it.

Sam, Ziggy says
you're on the right track.

It's just gonna take time
to test your hypothesis,

but you should continue
and play this scenario out.

- Like I got a big choice.
- I didn't finish.

But you gotta play it out just the
way Oswald did. No changing history.

- So tell me what I'm supposed to do.
- You go to your hotel room.

Yeah.

And then before you have dinner
with your intourist guide...

you commit su1c1de.

- I don't like this, Al.
- I don't like it either.

But Ziggy insists that you continue
doing exactly what Oswald did...

on October 21, 1959.

Which means that
in a couple of minutes,

you have to slash your left wrist
with a razor blade.

Yeah. Well, maybe we
should just skip that part.

- What are you afraid of?
- What am I afraid of?

Well, you're not gonna die.

- How can you be so sure?
- Because Oswald didn't.

- Olga saved him.
- Olga? Who's Olga?

Your intourist guide.

Wait a second. I thought that, uh,
Major Kosenko said that somebody--

that her name was
Rimma something, right?

- Shirokova.
- Shirokova something.

Yeah, but Oswald called
her Olga in his diaries,

and maybe that was his
nickname for Rimma.

And maybe I've already
altered history

and nobody named Olga or Rimma
or-or any name like that...

is gonna come through that
door after I slash my wrist!

Okay. Well, maybe not.

For all we know you may be here to
stop Oswald from slashing his wrist.

- Let's see.
- Exactly.

Uh, okay,

if Oswald doesn't attempt su1c1de,
the Russians kick him out of the country.

He never meets Marina--

Wait a second. Wait a second.
Wait a second.

The Russians kick him
out of the country?

Yeah. Oswald's six-day
visa expires tonight...

and the Russians
won't extend it.

Maybe that's why
he attempted su1c1de.

Doesn't that kinda blow
your K.G.B. conspiracy theory?

Well, maybe.
But it reinforces my C.I.A. theory.

Because if Oswald was C.I.A., the
Russians wouldn't want him in the country.

So that's why he commits su1c1de, right?
Because it's in the C.I.A. manual.

- What difference does it make?
- What difference does it make?

We're talkin' about trying
to find the truth out here.

And what if the truth is that at age 19,
Oswald was not a C.I.A. agent,

he was not a K.G.B. agent.

Maybe he was just some-some
frustrated loser, right,

who was trying to get
recognition any way he could.

Maybe he thought the best
way to do that was by defecting.

But then when the Soviets
didn't want him,

he didn't have anybody
else, so he slit his wrists.

No. Uh-uh. No, no.

See, the Russians wanted
defectors in '59.

I cannot believe that the
Russians had Lee Harvey Oswald

on an "A" list for defectors.

I mean, he was a kid, right?

If I remember correctly,
he never even graduated high school.

- Not exactly the kind...
- Sam.

of disillusioned
American intellectual or scientist,

that the Soviets like to parade
in front of the world press, right?

- Sam.
- He's not anything like that at all.

- Sam, it's time.
- What? Time--

to commit su1c1de?

No, not commit su1c1de.
Attempt su1c1de! Attempt! Attempt!

Now all we have to do
is follow Oswald's diary.

Let's see. October 21.

Okay. Um,

"I must leave country
at 8:00 p.m. tonight...

"as visa has 'expird.'"

He spells "expire"
without the "E." Hmm.

"I am shocked!
My dreams!

"I retire to my room.
I have $100 left.

"I have waited for two year
to be accepted.

"My 'fondis', F-O-N-D-I-S,
uh, dreams are shattered...

"because of a petty official,
because of bad planning,"

uh, "I have planned so much.

"7:00 p.m.
I decide to end it.

"Slash 'rist' R-I-S-T."

I don't care how he spells it.
I'm not gonna do it.

- Oh, well, you have to.
- I'm not.

Uh, "soak 'rist' in cold water
to numb the pain.

"Then slash my left 'rist.'

"Then I 'plaug.' Plaug? Plaug?
What the hell is a plaug?

Who cares what it is?
Al, I'm not gonna do it.

Okay. All right. Wait a minute.
"Plaug rist into bathtub of hot water.

"I think when Olga comes at 8:00
to find me dead will be a big shock.

"Somewhere... a violin plays."

Easy, fella.

Marina?

"If I am alive and they have captured me,

"I believe that the embassy
will come to your assistance."

Well, you don't need this, do you?

The administration increased its crackdown
on Cuban exile hit-and-run raids.

The raids based from Mexico, the Caribbean
and the southern United States...

are a stumbling block-

I sh*t a man.

I don't know if I hit him or not.

It should be on the news.

General Walker.

That-That must be why I-I
left you that note.

In case they caught me.

But they didn't.

I'm too smart for them.

He was a fascist, like h*tler.

Don't you see?

If someone had k*lled h*tler
before he came to power,

millions of lives
would have been saved.

Yes, you can.

He lived alone.

I'm listening to the radio!

Sam. Sam, it worked.
It worked.

It... almost worked.
It's April 10, 1963.

And that's only a month after
your original leap into Oswald.

If I k*lled him, there should be
something on the radio.

k*lled him?

- I buried it.
- k*lled who?

Wrapped it in that
raincoat and I buried it.

Gooshie!

What the hell's he talking about?

Holy mackerel!
Sam, you leaped into Oswald...

just seconds after he tried to blow
General Edwin Walker's head off.

- Tried? Tried? I missed?
- Not you. Oswald!

The b*llet splintered the window
and then punched into the wall

just inches above Walker's head.

It was an easy sh*t.

He was just sitting there
working at his desk.

How could I miss?

You didn't miss him, Sam!
Oswald did!

You don't have to yell, Al.
I can hear you.

Oh! Oh.

Well, that's better.
Sam, you're scaring the hell out of me.

Uh, you were acting--

you were acting like Oswald's
mind was still merged into yours.

President Kennedy's popularity
slipping from the high it showed...

during the Cuban m*ssile Crisis.

- The White House confirmed plans--
- It is.

- No, it can't be.
- Only this time it's different.

No, but Ziggy said it
would be gone.

Yeah? Why would it be gone?

Well, Ziggy computed that the
reason that you were leaping

back and forth in
Oswald's life...

was because the part of
your mind that's in him

and the part of his mind that's in
you were trying to, uh, reunite.

- So, what did you do?
- I didn't do-- I didn't-- Nothin'.

Ziggy is-- Well, Ziggy figured that
if we could reconnect your minds,

then we could get the leap
back on track.

So through, uh, D.N.A. typing,

Ziggy identified, you know, the little
mesons and neurons in Oswald's brain...

that biologically matched yours,
and then we put Oswald in the accelerator

and we leaped those
little things back to you.

You can't leap isolated
mesons and neurons

without drawing other
neural energy with it.

- More neural energy?
- Yeah.

Sucking up more
of Oswald's mind.

That's why this leap is different.
There's more of him in me.

More?

There's more?

I can't destroy this.

- This is my plan.
- Oh, no, Sam.

I planned this like
a m*llitary operation.

Reconnaissance photos,
time tables, escape routes.

Even my political justification
for the execution.

- Sam. Sam, look at me.
- It should have worked.

Sam, look at me!

My aim was perfect.

It was an accident that I missed.

He dropped his head at the last second,
or he'd be dead.

He'd be dead,

and the world would remember
Lee Harvey Oswald...

as the man who ex*cuted
General Edwin Walker.

"Hands off Cuba."

Hands off Cuba. Hands off Cuba!

Hands off Cuba!

Hands off Cuba!

Oh, I don't truck with
communist propaganda.

What makes you think this
is communist propaganda?

Oh, because everybody know
that Castro is a communist.

I'm not Castro.

No. But y'all are supportin'
him, aren't you?

No. I'm supporting Cuba.

Although,
I must admit that I admire him...

the same way I admire
George Washington.

Ellie, we only have a half hour.

Y'all are comparing Fidel Castro
to George Washington?

Uh-huh. Castro is doing
what Washington did,

leading his country
in a revolution.

- It's not the same.
- No?

- No!
- Well, why not?

I don't know.

- It's just not the same.
- Ellie!

- I'll be right there.
- I'll order you a salad.

Gee, I don't want you
to miss your lunch.

Oh, it'll be good for my figure.

Uh, so how do you equate the
American Revolution with,

uh, the communist
takeover in Cuba?

We kicked out King George.

Castro kicked out Batiste.
It seems the same to me.

- But it's not. Castro is a communist.
- Hands off Cuba.

Well, whatever he is,
Castro just wants Cuba to have...

the same opportunity
for self-determination that we did.

- Hands off Cuba.
- Y'all sound like you know him.

We've had the same teacher.

Would you like to join
the Fair Play for Cuba Committee?

I'm secretary of
the New Orleans chapter.

I could sign you up right now
for only a dollar and a quarter.

Y'all have social functions?

Well, now, we don't.
But that is an awful good idea.

More folks will come to a dance
than will come to a political meeting.

Course, once you got 'em in there--

You are something, Ellie.
You are really something.

Hey, you know my name,
but I don't know yours.

I only know half your name.

The other half's La Forge.
Ellie La Forge.

Ellie La Forge.

Hidell. Alex Hidell.

- Y'all are married.
- Yes. My wife lives in Dallas.

Y'all didn't tell me
y'all were married.

Fair play for Cuba!

Fair play for Cuba!

Fair play for Cuba!

Fair play for Cuba!

- Traitor! Traitor!
- Fair play for Cuba!

You see this fellow.
He is a communist.

- Fair play for Cuba!
- Communist!

And he wants to do to your country
what he did to us in Cuba!

- Fair play for Cuba!
- Communist!

Gooshie, you got a lock on him?
Now just hold it there-- Uh-oh!

A couple of days ago,
he tried to join us.

He said he wanted to fight for Cuba!
To bring down Castro!

- Liar!
- Okay, Carlos.

If you want to hit me, hit me.

- He's doing exactly what Oswald did!
- With pleasure.

Freeze!
Up against the wall and spread 'em!

He's a communist!

- Up against the wall and shut up!
- Sam, can you hear me?

It's the 9th of August, 1963.

There's only three months until
the Kennedy assassination,

Sam, and each leap is
putting you closer.

If you leap into Dallas on November 22
and Oswald is still in control,

you won't be able to
change anything, Sam!

You've got to fight him!
Fight him, Sam!

What's your name, boy?

- My name?
- Dr. Samuel Beckett!

My name is Lee Harvey Oswald.

Three years ago, I said that, uh,

introduced myself in Paris
by saying that I was the man...

who had accompanied,
uh, Mrs. Kennedy to Paris.

I'm getting, uh,
somewhat that same sensation,

uh, as I travel
around, uh, Texas.

Nobody wonders
what Lyndon and I wear.

I'm glad to be here in,
uh, Jim Wright's city.

About, uh, 35, uh--

I appreciate your being
here this morning.

Mrs. Kennedy is
organizing herself.

It takes longer.

That's because she looks
better than we do.

Looks like it's gonna rain.

What's in the package?

Curtain rods.

Ziggy computes the best option under
the circumstances is to do nothing.

Well, Ziggy doesn't want to
make another mistake.

Perhaps. But if Dr. Beckett leaped
into Oswald to uncover the conspiracy,

then doing nothing is an
effective course of action.

How the hell do you figure that?

Whether Dr. Beckett is himself
or Lee Harvey Oswald is immaterial.

Either way, you'll be there to observe,
to watch the sixth floor window,

the grassy knoll,
the railroad overpass.

You'll see it all.
You'll know the truth.

But I won't be able to stop it.

I realize that, Admiral,
but you yourself said that wasn't what

Dr. Beckett was
leaped back to do.

Well, what if I was wrong?

What if that's precisely the
reason that Sam was leaped back?

Then Oswald would have
to be the sole assassin.

That's right.

No conspiracy?
No!

Just one angry, envious man who--
who wanted to propel himself into infamy.

But one lone man?

I know it's more comforting
to believe in plots.

Because if Kennedy could be
k*lled that easily by one sicko,

what hope is there
for the rest of us?

Admiral, what are you gonna do?

I'm gonna try and find the truth.

Hey, Lee.

What's the hurry?

The morning overcast
has given way to blue skies...

and the local democratic
party is predicting

a record-breaking
big "D" turnout...

for President Kennedy
and his first lady.

Mrs. Kennedy has been given
a large bouquet of roses...

by admirers here in Love Field...

as she and the president
stopped to greet this crowd,

which is completely
covering the airport fence.

This motorcade will
get off to a late start.

There are just too many people
here in an amazing display

of goodwill to the Kennedys.

I think I'm gonna go down there
and catch some of that parade.

I admire the
president very much.

You admire him,
but you're going to k*ll him.

That's what this is about. You're Secret
Service and you're detaining me...

because you think I'm going to
sh**t the president!

I know you're gonna
sh**t the president.

What I want to know is:
Are you acting alone?

I don't even own a g*n!

You own a 6.5 millimeter
Mannlicher-Carcano r*fle

and an S&W .38 Special.

The r*fle is wrapped in a blanket
at Ruth Paine's house...

and the p*stol is at your rooming house
at 1026 North Beckley!

You ordered both of these g*ns through the
mail under the alias of Alex J. Hidell.

- Marina. She told you these lies.
- Marina told me nothing.

But when questioned, she'll talk about
the sh*t you took at General Walker,

and she'll talk about locking you in the
bathroom when Nixon came to Dallas...

'cause she was afraid you were
gonna try and sh**t him too.

I want a lawyer.

There's no lawyer here.
There's just me and you and the truth.

I know my rights.
I'm a member of the A.C.L.U., and I have--

You're going to sh**t the president
from the sixth-floor window

of the Texas School
Book Depository.

- You're crazy!
- Yeah, you're damn right I'm crazy.

I'm crazy enough to blow your brains out
your ear if I don't get the truth.

A large police escort is now--

What color is her suit?

And now ticker tape is beginning
to flow from the windows

and engulf the whole motorcade.

Here comes the first car
with the police chief,

and here is the president
of the United States.

The crowd is going absolutely wild.

This is a friendly crowd
in downtown Dallas...

as the president
and the first lady pass by.

There were some fears of demonstrations
here in downtown Dallas,

but this crowd is radiating love
to the president.

Dallas Police Department
is working with some force

to ensure that an
unfortunate incident,

similar to those that accompanied U.N.
Ambassador Adlai Stevenson

do not occur on this trip.

I don't believe in k*lling someone just
because I disagree with their politics.

Are you acting alone?

I want a lawyer--

I'm deaf! I'm deaf!

You're going to be dead in a minute
if you don't tell me the truth!

Okay. Okay.
Don't hurt me.

I'm not gonna sh**t the president.

- But... I know who is.
- Who?

Hidell.

The guy who ordered the g*ns
through the mail.

He's the one who--

- I'm lying, Al.
- Sam.

There is no conspiracy.

I'm acting alone,
and you've got to stop me.

But I can't reach you, Sam.

- He's taken over completely.
- You have to.

You have to or it's gonna
happen all over again.

You have to find...

Hidell.

Find Alex J. Hidell.

That's the man who's gonna
sh**t the president.

Sam!
Sam, listen to me! Sam!

I've got to reach you, Sam!

Sam, what are the four
fundamental forces

of interactions in
quantum physics?

Sam.

Sam, explain
the Pauli exclusion principle.

Sam, what is supersymmetry?
And how does it apply--

This is never gonna work.
It's all happening again.

It's November 22, 1963,
and it's all happening again!

Sam! Sam!
It's November 22, 1963!

Sam, and your dad is still alive!
He's teaching you to drive a tractor, Sam.

It's-It's Elkridge, Indiana.
You're 10 years old,

and your dad is teaching
you to drive a tractor.

At this very moment,
your dad is still alive

and he's teaching you
to drive a tractor, Sam!

On the farm in Indiana!

He's still alive!

Dad.

No!

Just now we have received
reports here at Parkland...

that Governor Connelly
was sh*t in the upper left chest...

and the first unconfirmed reports
say the president was hit in the head.

I repeat, an unconfirmed report
that the president was hit in the head.

The president's wife, Jackie Kennedy,
was not hurt. She walked into the hospital.

Thanks, Al.

If you hadn't reached me,

I would have sh*t--

No, it wouldn't have been you pulling
that trigger, Sam. Not really.

And then when I...

I had a chance to save him,
I leaped.

Why, Al? Why?

Oswald's mind
finally reconnected.

And when it did, he leaped back

and you leaped into the nearest person
that could accomplish your mission.

- But I didn't accomplish it.
- Well, maybe you did.

I didn't save him.

No. But it doesn't look like
that's what you were here to do.

Ziggy thinks you
were here to save her.

Your Swiss-cheesed mind probably
doesn't remember, but the first time...

Oswald k*lled Jackie too.
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