"Last Dance Before an
Execution"
Leap
Date:
May
12, 1971
Episode
adopted by: Rebekka E.
Additional info
provided by: Brian Greene
Synopsis:
As
he leaps in, Sam finds himself strapped in an electric chair for a
murder his host may not have committed. But as he is granted a sudden
48-hour stay of execution, he must quickly dig through legal papers and
barriers to find the truth before he goes back to the chair again.

Audio from this
episode
TV
Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date
Name of the
Person Leaped Into Project Trivia
Sam Trivia Al Trivia Al's
Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous
Trivia
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes
Production
# 66423
TV Guide Synopsis:
Sam
leaps onto death row, where his life depends upon learning the truth
about the murder that put him there. Tearsa: Jenny Gago. Moody: James
Sloyan. Raul: Julio Oscar Mechoso. Ripley: Christopher Allport. Tia:
Irene Olga Lopez. Sam: Scott Bakula. 
Place:
Tallahassee,
Florida
Name of the Person
Leaped Into:
Jesus Ortega
Leap Date:
May
12, 1971
Broadcast Date:
May
1, 1991 (Wednesday)
Project Trivia:
It is not always easy to find Sam after he leaps. The handlink can be converted so that it can detect a lead bullet in a
hologram scenario.
Sam Trivia:
Sam remembers Dr. Beeks. He says "Oh, God" instead of "Oh, boy" in this episode due to the circumstances of his leap-in. Sam once again tells someone (Tearsa) he is not who they think he is.
Al Trivia: Once again, a child can see Al. He uses this to communicate with Tearsa and help Sam uncover evidence.
Al’s
Outfits Worn in the Episode:
Al’s first outfit is a ruby, silk, striped, circle shirt with a black
rhinestone vest and black rhinestone pants. The second outfit is blue
jeans a purple and gold leather jacket, and a salmon colored shirt.
Miscellaneous
Trivia:
Al appears in the episode eight times. The imaging chamber door opens two
times. Sam looks in the mirror once.
Regular
Cast:
Scott Bakula
Dean Stockwell
Guest Stars:
Jenny Gago as Tearsa Margerita Lorrea
Julio Oscar Mechoso as Raul Casta
Christopher Allport as Alan Ripley
James Sloyan as Theodore Wallace Moody
Leonard C. Lightfoot as Officer Little
Jack Jozefson as Officer Hudson
Michael Holden as Herb Stein
Krista Muscare as Maria
Charles Woolf as Father Raftery
Irene Olga Lopez as Tia
A.J. Freeman as Bart Manners
Wendy Jill Gordon as Reporter
Andrew Almador as Reporter
Harry Fleer as Older Man in Jail
Neil Barton as Black man in Jail
Stephen Domingas as Jesus Ortega
Guest Cast Notes:
Julio Oscar Mechoso plays Joaquin on the WB show Greetings
from Tuscon and Martin on Coach.
Jenny
Gago played Ms. Anaya on The Agency.
Christopher
Allport played Dominic Webb on Felicity and Jesse
Atkinson on Dynasty.
Crew:
Writers:
Teleplay:
Deborah Pratt
Story:
Bill Bigelow
Donald P. Bellisario
Deborah Pratt
Director:
Michael
Watkins
Producers:
Chris
Ruppenthal
Best Line:
"Are you going to dance before your execution, Jesus? Oh, it’s an old
prison saying, that a man on his final walk to the chair, the stinch of
fear chokes him and he panics. Struggling in the arms of his captor for
one more moment of freedom. Some people say it looks like a dance. The
last dance before death. Romantic, don’t you think?"
Best Scene:
The best scene is when Al is in the church looking for the bullet and
he talks to the little girl. He has the little girl help the "angel"
tell Tearsa where to find the bullet.
Personal Review:
I really like this one, because Sam almost dies and doesn’t "put right
what once went wrong" until the very end! This is one of my favorite
episodes.
Say What? The clock on the wall in the first scene stays at 7:00 the entire scene. The headline on the autopsy report reads, "Description of gunshot wound perforating the head" but the picture shows wounds to the stomach and left chest area. Sam can hear Al through the telephone? Raul had to have known what happened in all this. You can see the light pen Dean Stockwell is holding under the handlink when he is looking for the bullet fairly clearly. 
Quotable Quotes:
"Just try to think of someplace far away."
"You
can’t live with 2000 volts of electricity running through your body."
"It’s
hard to be loyal to the devil."
"To
make right, what the times have made wrong."
It's not like you're lost in a mall, you're lost in
time!
-- Al, "Last Dance Before an Execution"
I never knew there were lawyers with morals.
-- Al, "Last Dance Before an Execution"
What have you got, an angel on retainer?
-- Tearsa, "Last Dance Before an Execution"
Are you an angel?
-- the little girl in the church, to Al, "Last Dance Before an
Execution"
I sure hope Al's your guardian angel.
-- guard, "Last Dance Before an Execution"
Where the hell have you been? I almost died in the electric
chair.
Sam, it's not always so easy to find you... it's not like you're lost
in a mall - you're lost in time.
-- Sam and Al, "Last Dance Before An Execution"
You can't just dump a bucket of water over his head and say 'Hey, hey
get up, you're not really dead, you're just 25 years in the future.'!
-- Al, "Last Dance Before An Execution"
If I'd had an attorney like that when I was in court, I'd still be in
court!
-- Al, "Last Dance Before An Execution"
Al:
Sam, you're going to die on May 14th. That's in two days.
Sam: I know that Al! Why?
Al: Why? Well, probably because you can't live with two thousand volts
of electricity going through your body! "Last Dance Before An Execution"
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