The BEST episodes of Quantum Leap season 3

Every episode of Quantum Leap season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Quantum Leap season 3!

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke 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.

Last Updated: 12/11/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
The Leap Home (2): Vietnam
star
8.44
449 votes

#1 - The Leap Home (2): Vietnam

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/5/1990

April 7, 1970: As a Navy SEAL in his own brother's squad, Sam must determine whether he is there to save Tom's life or ensure the success of the mission on which his brother was killed. Also Al from 1970 was a P.O.W.

Directors: Michael Zinberg
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The Leap Home (1)
star
8.31
498 votes

#2 - The Leap Home (1)

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1990

November 25, 1969: As himself at the age of 16, Sam has the opportunity to both win the high school basketball championship and save his family from their sad fates.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
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Glitter Rock
star
8.27
220 votes

#3 - Glitter Rock

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/10/1991

April 12, 1974: Sam is a glitter rock star in danger of being stabbed to death after a performance, unless Sam can determine who, from a growing list of people, the real killer is.

Directors: Andy Cadiff
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Private Dancer
star
8.10
272 votes

#4 - Private Dancer

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/20/1991

October 6, 1979: An aspiring dancer working as a waitress in a strip club is in danger of being led into a life of prostitution unless Sam, as "Rod the Bod," can convince her to audition for a spot in a professional dance group. But, since she's deaf, the choreographer doesn't believe she has the time to give the young lady the attention she'll need.

Directors: Debbie Allen
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Shock Theater
star
8.10
280 votes

#5 - Shock Theater

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/22/1991

October 3, 1954: Leaping into Sam Bederman, a mental patient who is suffering from acute depression, Sam receives an overloaded electroshock treatment, which causes his Swiss-cheesed memory to be replaced by personas from previous leaps. Al, finding himself visible to the mentally absent, must try to complete Sam's mission, and convince him to take another shock treatment, in order to leap Sam out before contact is lost forever.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
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A Hunting We Will Go
star
8.07
296 votes

#6 - A Hunting We Will Go

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/18/1991

June 18, 1976: It's the leap from hell as Sam, a bounty hunter handcuffed to a wily embezzler who will stop at nothing to get away from him, has to deal with his captive, as well as his attraction towards her, despite her countless attacks on him.

Directors: Andy Cadiff
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A Little Miracle
star
8.05
361 votes

#7 - A Little Miracle

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/21/1990

December 24, 1962: On Christmas Eve, Sam leap into Reginald Pierson, valet to a wealthy contractor, who is in danger of losing his soul in an attempt to demolish a Salvation Army mission, so he can build his "Blake's Plaza." Seeing a similarity to the Dickens's character, Sam and Al decide to "Scrooge" the greed out of the man.

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Nuclear Family
star
7.99
242 votes

#8 - Nuclear Family

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/15/1991

October 26, 1962: Sam finds himself the brother of a fallout shelter salesman during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he must defuse a potentially explosive situation as panic sets in on the night of John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation.

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The Boogieman
star
7.88
358 votes

#9 - The Boogieman

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1990

October 31, 1964: Things do more than go bump in the night when Sam leaps into Joshua Raye, a horror novelist on Halloween. Although Ziggy claims he's there to prevent the death of a church deacon, things get even stranger when two more people die without warning.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
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Black on White on Fire
star
7.81
340 votes

#10 - Black on White on Fire

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1990

August 11, 1965: Sam leaps into a black med. student engaged to a white woman in order to ensure that he and his fiancée survive the Watts Riot together.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
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Future Boy
star
7.80
275 votes

#11 - Future Boy

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/13/1991

October 6, 1957: Sam leaps Kenny Sharp, better known as "Future Boy," sidekick to Moe Stein, host of the kid's show, "Time Patrol," who also happens to be building a time machine in his basement. Unless Sam can prevent Moe's daughter from attempting to have her father committed, Moe is destined to be killed as he tries to hop a freight train.

Directors: Michael Switzer
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Southern Comforts
star
7.75
323 votes

#12 - Southern Comforts

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/3/1991

August 4, 1961: It's the best little cathouse in New Orleans. No, it's the Gilbert Labonte Sewin' & Quiltin' Academy. As the proprietor of this worthy establishment, Sam must prevent the mysterious death of a resident who doesn't belong there.

Directors: Chris Ruppenthal
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One Strobe Over the Line
star
7.72
346 votes

#13 - One Strobe Over the Line

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1990

June 15, 1965: Sam is a photographer who must protect a fashion model from a growing dependency on amphetamines and a predatory manager's ambitions.

Directors: Michael Zinberg
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Runaway
star
7.66
319 votes

#14 - Runaway

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/4/1991

July 4, 1964: On a cross-country car trip, Sam, as 13-year-old Butchie, must contend with a sadistic older sister and a mother on the verge of running away from an unfulfilling marriage, in search of the feminine mystique.

Directors: Michael Katelman
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Rebel Without a Clue
star
7.65
326 votes

#15 - Rebel Without a Clue

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1990

September 1, 1958: As "Bones," a member of a motorcycle gang, Sam is an uneasy rider who has to prevent a Jack Kerouac-inspired young woman from meeting her death on the road.

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Miss Deep South
star
7.64
338 votes

#16 - Miss Deep South

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1990

June 7, 1958: As Darlene Monte, a contestant in the "Miss Deep South" beauty pageant, Sam must come to the aid of an innocent contender who faces disgrace when she poses for naughty pictures taken by a sleazy pageant photographer. As if things weren't bad enough, Sam must ensure that Darlene finishes third, so that she'll go on to become a doctor.

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The Great Spontini
star
7.63
307 votes

#17 - The Great Spontini

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1990

May 9, 1974: Leaping into magician Harry Spontini, Sam has to prevent his estranged wife from taking their daughter away from him as she files for divorce, so she can marry her sleazy divorce attorney.

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Heart of a Champion
star
7.56
264 votes

#18 - Heart of a Champion

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/8/1991

July 23, 1955: The heart of a champion belongs to Ronnie, a professional wrestler, who will die if he competes in the title match. Sam, as his brother and new partner Terry, must convince him of his hidden health problem, while avoiding his own health problem - the jealous wrestler-husband of a woman who has taken an amorous interest in Sam.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
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Last Dance Before an Execution
star
7.50
288 votes

#19 - Last Dance Before an Execution

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/1/1991

May 12, 1971: "Just think of someplace far away" is the advice Sam hears as he leaps into Jesus Ortega, a Cuban-American being strapped into an electric chair. A last second stay of execution gives Sam just forty-eight hours to either prove himself innocent or fulfill his mission so that he can leap before the Big Switch is pulled.

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Leap of Faith
star
7.42
337 votes

#20 - Leap of Faith

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1990

August 19, 1963: Sam finds himself in one holy mess as a priest in Philadelphia, trying to help an alcoholic priest deal with a killer and the death of a young parishioner.

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8 1/2 Months
star
7.35
293 votes

#21 - 8 1/2 Months

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/6/1991

November 15, 1955: Billie Jean Crockett is a pregnant teenager who will make the second biggest mistake of her life - giving her baby up for adoption - unless Sam, as Billie Jean, can convince someone to help her raise her child... before he goes into labor himself.

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Piano Man
star
7.11
269 votes

#22 - Piano Man

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/27/1991

November 10, 1985: Joey Dinardo is a lounge lizard on the run from mob hitmen. When Sam leaps in, his ex-girlfriend, and former musical partner have found him, and now both are on a run for their lives from a killer who seems to know their every move.

Writer: Ed Scharlach
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