Quantum Leap (TV Series)

Nuclear Family - October 26, 1962 (1991)

Scott Bakula: Dr. Sam Beckett, Eddie Elroy

Photos 

Quotes 

• Dr. Sam Beckett : [pitching an atom bomb shelter]  There you have it: the, er... Ellroy Super-Deluxe, designed to let you sit back, relax and... survive in style. So, er... what do you think?

  Mrs. Klingman : I think your pitch needs work.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Yeah, well... I'm not really much of a salesman. It's kind of my first day here.

  Mrs. Klingman : No, we don't need so much space. It's only me and my husband. We only have so much from his pension and what I make teaching piano.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Mrs. Klingman... you don't have to worry, they're not going to attack us.

  [she shudders and moans] 

  Dr. Sam Beckett : What? What is it? Here, s... sit down, sit down. What's wrong? You okay?

  [Sam sees a serial number tattooed on her forearm] 

  Dr. Sam Beckett : I'm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...

  Mrs. Klingman : [shrugs]  It was a long time ago.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Whatever I said to upset you, I'm really sorry.

  Mrs. Klingman : No, no, no, no, no. No, it was the words. "Don't worry. They're not going to attack us." I heard those words before. I believed, and look at what happened. Dachau, Buchenwald... Now it is happening all over again. And this time, there will be no survivors.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Then why waste your money on a shelter?

  Mrs. Klingman : [laughing]  You're right. You're not much of a salesman!

• [Sam - as Eddie - describes to Mac the effects of a nuclear winter] 

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Everything would die.

  Mac Ellroy : No. Not everything. We'd survive, Eddie. Just like we survived Cimarron County in '35.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : The dust bowl?

  Mac Ellroy : You see, you don't, you weren't even born yet. You don't, you don't remember what it was like. I'll never forget. That afternoon, there was no wind. It was sunny, and still. Er... Me and Pa were walking a team of horses home, when thousands of these birds came flying by from the north. We looked back, and we seein' it comin' - this huge, rollin' tidal wave of earth spread across the sky. It drifted in like, like, like dark snow, blacking out the sun, making day darker than night. It was like the end of the Earth. Pa grabbed me. We held on to his horse's bit. We weren't more than a hundred yards off, we still could not find our way home. It covered the farm in dust. Everything we worked for died. And, I remember seeing the look in Pa's face. Somethin' in him died that day too. You never knew what he was really like. God.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : No, I, I didn't, Mac.

  Mac Ellroy : Well... we survived that. And we're gonna survive this.

• Stevie Ellroy : Hey, Uncle Eddie!

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Hey.

  Stevie Ellroy : What you doin'?

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Nuthin'. What're you doin'?

  Stevie Ellroy : Nuthin'. Wanna join me?

• Dr. Sam Beckett : Have you ever been this scared before?

  Stevie Ellroy : Yeah, I guess. When my mom was in the hospital for an operation, I was afraid she might die.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : If you look back on that time now, you can see that you were worried about something bad that didn't happen, right?

  Stevie Ellroy : Yeah.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Well, let's... let's just pretend that you can travel into the future, and look back on this time right now. Now, you'll see that the Russians never hurt you or your family. And you'll see that you were spending a lot of your time and energy being afraid of something bad that never happened.

  Stevie Ellroy : So being afraid is stupid?

  Dr. Sam Beckett : No. No. There's nothing wrong with being afraid. Sometimes, it just doesn't do you any good. So, come on, what do you say? Let's pretend that we've traveled into the future. And everything back here is OK. And then you're not scared anymore.

  Stevie Ellroy : OK.

• Dr. Sam Beckett : Do you have to sneak up on me?

  Admiral Al Calavicci : Well, I'm sorry. You expect a hologram to knock?

• Dr. Sam Beckett : How long have you been here?

  Admiral Al Calavicci : Long enough to see that you are a real Mensch.

  Dr. Sam Beckett : Mensch?

  Admiral Al Calavicci : Mensch. Means... good guy. It's a word that my fourth wife... third, fourth - third or fourth wife, Ruthie, used to use. She never used it about me, though.