"Last Dance Before an Execution"

Leap Date:

May 12, 1971

Episode adopted by: Rebekka E.

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

Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Songs
Music Artists
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Cast members who have passed away
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say what? (things in the episode that make no sense)
Quotable Quotes
Awards

Title: Last Dance Before an Execution

Place: Tallahassee, Florida

Name of the Person Leaped Into: Jesus Ortega

Leap Date: May 12, 1971

Broadcast Date: May 1, 1991

Sam Trivia:
Sam remembers who Dr. Beeks is.

Project Trivia:
It is not always easy to find Sam after he leaps. The people at the project convert the handlink so that it can detect the lead bullet in a hologram.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
Al appears in the episode 8 times. The imaging chamber door opens 2 times. Sam looks in the mirror once.

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 green and purple scale shape shirt.

Writers:
Teleplay: Deborah Pratt
Story: Bill Bigelow, Donald P. Bellisario, and Deborah Pratt

Director: Michael Watkins

Producers: Chris Ruppenthal

Regular Cast: Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell

Guest Stars:
Jenny Gago (Margerita Lorrea Tearsa)
Julio Oscar Mechoso (Raul Casta)
Christopher Allport (Alan Ripley)
James Sloyan (Theodore Moody)
Leonard C. Lightfoot (Officer Little)
Jack Jozefson (Officer Hudson)
Michael Holden (Herb Stein)
Krista Muscare (Maria)
Charles Woolf (Father Raftery)
Irene Olga Lopez (Tia)
A.J. Freeman (Bart Manners)
Wendy Jill Gordon (Reporter)
Andrew Almador (Reporter)
Harry Fleer (Older Man in Jail)
Neil Barton (Black man in Jail)
Stephen Domingas (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.

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.

Quotable Quotes:
"Just try to think of someplace far away."

"He’s terrific…for somebody who just got his chain ripped off the grim reaper’s door. Ain’t that right, Ortega?"

"Herb, you don’t get punished for not wasting the tax payers money."

"You can’t live with 2000 volts of electricity running through your body."

"They can’t try someone on inconclusive evidence."

"You’re different again."

"We’re gonna die for six dollars."

"He’s gonna break you into a million pieces and walk away with the governorship and let two innocent men die in the chair. I just hope Sam Beckett’s not one of them."

"Something over here!"

"Are you an angel? No. I’m not, I wish I were. Not you, him."

"All the angel needs is for you to go tell that lady to stop."

"I’m not that man."

"It’s hard to be loyal to the devil."

"To make right, what the times have made wrong."

"And you can quote the hell out of me on that one."

"If I had an attorney like that in court, when I was in court, I’d still be in court."

Personal Review:
I really like this one, because he almost dies and doesn’t put back, what once went wrong, until the very end! This is one of my favorite episodes. It reminds me of a movie that Scott Bakula was in.