Quantum Leap: The 10 Best Time-Travel Episodes

Quantum Leap is a show that offers many mind-blowing moments and there is a fantastic one here in Future Boy. I had to have this as one of the 10 best Quantum Leap episodes as when I watched it as a kid, it left me completely shocked! Al leaps into the body of a TV host called Future Boy.

Future Boy is part of a 50s sci-fi show that is led by Captain Galaxy. Captain Galaxy is played by a man called Moe and Al thinks that he and Sam are there to help get Moe into a mental facility before he accidentally ends up killing himself. Sam, though, feels that there is more to the story than that and he really connects with Moe on a personal level and realizes he is a good man who was doing what he was doing for his family. I loved the fact that this had a 50s sci-fi TV show as the backdrop, but it was the way that the events of this episode linked back to Sam when he was a child that truly blew my mind!

M.I.A was one of my most anticipated Quantum Leap episodes! The week before, we saw that Sam had leaped into the body of a woman, or at least that was what we thought! In this episode, Sam finds himself as an undercover cop.

Al tells Sam that the reason he has come here is that he needs to help a young woman to not give up on her POW husband, as she is about to and fall in love with someone else. Sam gets a feeling that there is something off with Al and we soon find out that this is a very personal mission for Al. This is just great stuff and it also has an ending that manages to be uplifting and heartbreaking at the very same time. The back and forth with Al and Sam in this episode is some of the best in the series in my opinion.

The Wrong Stuff from Season 4 was an episode that gave me mixed emotions when I first saw it as a kid. Even now, this is an episode that really does make you think. This time Sam does not leap into a person, he leaps into a chimpanzee! Taking place in 1961, Bobo the chimp is part of the space program and one of the chimps that is going to be used to test space travel.

The thing is, Sam needs to help a fellow chimp before one of the tests that is done on him costs him his life! The way that animals were treated and used (and still are in some cases) is disgusting and while we have some monkey shenanigans here that will make you smile, this episode does not shy away from the horrific animal testing that used to be deemed OK! Seeing Scott Bakula pretend to be a chimp is hilarious, but as I said, this episode also has some dark and brutal stuff in it as well.

Jimmy 100 percent has to be one of the best Quantum Leap episodes. Not only that, Jimmy is one of the best and most iconic characters that Sam leaps into during the entire five-season run of the show. Jimmy is a young man with down syndrome and he is such a lovable and likable guy. He has a job down at the docks, but Sam needs to help prove that Jimmy can keep this job or he will end up in an institution!

The stakes in this episode feel massive as you really do love Jimmy. Plus, this episode also gives us a bit more of a connection with Al as we find out more about his family. This does have some brutal stuff in it with the way some people treat Jimmy (including Mr. Blonde, Michael Madsen) which probably would not be in a TV show these days. Still, the heart of Jimmy shines through and he is without a doubt one of the most popular and memorable characters in the show.

Things get a bit weird here as The Leap Back takes place right after Shock Theatre which, spoiler alert, is the next episode on my list. What is neat about this Season 4 Opener is that Al and Sam switch places!

There is an accident and this sends Al into the body of a World War II veteran who is returning home to save his girlfriend and sends Sam back to the Quantum Leap headquarters in the futuristic time of 1999! At the time, this was thrilling stuff and you truly wondered how Sam was going to get out of this mess. Yet, it also has a lot of high moments as Sam gets to reunite with his love for a short period of time! This is so great to see, but in typical Quantum Leap fashion, you get hit with a real gut punch and Sam does not get his happy ending. Another aspect of this episode that I really like is that we get to see just how smart Sam is here as he comes up with a plan to get him and Al out of their sticky situation.

Most people who love this show will have Shock Theatre on their list of the best Quantum Leap episodes! This one is pretty “shocking” as Sam leaps into the body of a man who is in a psychiatric ward in the 50s. He is being mistreated by a mean member of staff who blasts him with a way too high a dose of electroshock therapy.

This causes chaos as it messes with Sam, not just the person he has leaped into. Sam ends up bringing back various personalities that he has leaped into over the years. Scott Bakula does a phenomenal job here in flipping between different characters! However, Al also gets his time to shine here as Al has to help a young patient with Down syndrome in order to complete he and Sam’s mission. For such a serious episode, we get one of the funniest moments in the show with Al rapping!

I am sure that How the Tess Was Won is probably not on many other people the best 10 Quantum Leap episodes, but this is one that I always have a lot of fun with when I watch it. Set in 1956, Sam leaps and finds himself standing in a pig pen holding a screaming pig! He has leaped into the body of a veterinarian called Doc.

Doc has a thing for a cowgirl called Tess and he has to win a cowboy contest against her. The episode plays out like Sam and Al are trying to do all they can to help Doc and Tess get together as if it is some kind of big love story. However, How the Tess Was Won has one of my favorite Quantum Leap twists and that is Sam was actually here to help a young Buddy Holly come up with the lyrics to his hit “Peggy Sue.” The way Sam leaps here once he has completed is awesome and it is something I appreciate much more as an adult.

I was all in on the “Evil Leaper” storyline that was introduced in the last season of the show and this was the episode where they were introduced. This episode starts off great as Sam leaps into Jimmy, a young man with Down syndrome whom he leaped into before. Realizing that he is there to save the marriage of Connie and Frank, who he grew close with last time, he leaped into Jimmy.

The great twist that this episode has is that Sam and Al realize that something is not right here and that is where we are introduced to the Evil Leapers who are there to cause chaos! I just loved this when I first saw it as a kid, it blew my mind. I feel that now, this premise still holds up and I kind of wish they went a bit more in with it. Also, seeing Sam as Jimmy again and coming back to this family was great stuff. This was one of those episodes where you were just praying that Sam and Al would save the day!

Yes, I am kind of cheating here as this is a two-parter, but hey, this is my top 10 best Quantum Leap episodes list and I make the rules! The Leap Home is epic in every sense of the word. Sam leaps into his own body! Well, himself as a 16-year-old.

He needs to help his teenage self win a basketball game, and also help his family with the various problems that they have. The second part sees Sam end up in Vietnam where he is part of his brother’s platoon. Sam has some very brutal decisions to make in this two-parter! What these episodes do really well is show that Sam could use his situation for his own benefit, but he knows that while it would help him and his family, he has to consider if that is for the greater good. Quantum Leap was a super fun show, but it was also a show that could really make you think and this season 3 two-parter opener is a great example of that.

Ok, so I probably need to do some explaining as to why Heart of a Champion from season 3 is the best Quantum Leap episode. I am a massive wrestling fan and this mixed wrestling with Quantum Leap, two things that I love.

In this episode, Sam finds himself traveling back to the 50s where he leaps into the body of Terry Sammis, who is a pro wrestler. He needs to convince Terry’s brother, Ronny, to not compete in a big match that is the big break that could really take their career to the next level. If you love pro wrestling, you will love this episode, it even stars wrestling legend Terry Funk which is awesome! While the wrestling stuff is great, it is a very “human” story about two brothers who love each other.