Episode
Adopted by: Becky
Additional info provided by: Brian
Greene
Synopsis:
When
Sam leaps into a newly inducted member of the Ku Klux Klan, he must
find a way to prevent the lynching of a black community activist. But
due to his moral upbringing, it becomes very difficult to act like the
person he has leaped into to avoid his own lynching.
TV Guide
Synopsis: Sam leaps
into a member of the KKK who's struggling against a group of good old
boys to save the life of a civil-rights leader. Gene: Noble Willingham.
Nathaniel: Michael Beach. Lilly: Lisa Waltz. Tom: Dirk Blocker. Ada:
Fran Bennett. Sam: Scott Bakula.
May 11, 1965 -
Alabama, Sam leaps into Clyde (Glenn Edden) just as he is finishing his
initiation into the KKK. He is horrified but knows that he has to play
along until Al comes along and tells him what's going on. He's even
more shocked when the initiation is over and the members start behaving
as if it is a social gathering. One of the members couldn't make it
because he needed to work on his farm and it didn't seem like he'd get
all the work done in time so they decide to go over there on Sunday
after church and help him out. When Al arrives and Sam goes over to
talk to him, the leader of that chapter of the KKK follow him. It turns
out that this man is Gene (Noble Willingham), his father-in-law, and he
tells Sam how proud he is of his decision to join and how he is like a
son to him. Al orders
Sam to take the man's
proffered hand.
Sam then runs into the
forest so he can freak out in peace. The KKK is
deeply offensive to him as it goes against everythin
g that his parents
taught him when he was younger. Al doesn't have any data for him yet
but wanted to make sure that he was alright after Clyde popped up
reciting the oath of the KKK. Al tells Sam that he must continue to
pretend to be one of them because he's probably there to stop them from
carrying out a violent act and he won't know what he's supposed to do
and when if he's not in on their meetings.
Sam's father-in-law drives him home and his wife Lilly (Lisa Waltz)
talks about their ‘hunting club.’ Clyde's son is playing with a gun and
when Sam chastises it for him he says that his grandfather said that
there were black people in the woods (though that wasn't the word he
used). Their black maid, Ada Simpson (Fran Bennett), is right there and
a horrified Sam makes his son apologize even if the son doesn't really
understand. Lilly is more annoyed than anything because she thought him
joining the KKK meant that he was past that.
Sam works at a government job that oversees voter registration. Black
activist Nathaniel Simpson (Michael Beach), Ada's son, has brought his
father to register to vote. Sam's all ready to get the paperwork but
his boss insists on giving him a literacy test. Despite the fact that
the man knew the nineteenth president and the eighth amendment
(Rutherford B. Hayes and no excessive bail or cruel and unusual
punishment respectively), he wasn't able to read the preamble to the
constitution fast enough. The boss claimed the man was reading at
twelve words a minute and had to be reading at thirty words a minute.
Sam initially sides with Nathaniel, but Al pressures him to stay in
character so that he can do what he needs to do, and so, Sam
reluctantly sides with his racist boss.
When Sam walks Nathaniel and his father to the car, he tries to
apologize but Nathaniel isn't hearing any of it. Apparently the two
were friends in college and Clyde wrote him a lot of letters about how
skin color doesn't matter. He was even the one who urged him to come to
register and Nathaniel thinks he set him up. He said that it doesn't
matter if Clyde really meant it because he still said it and angrily
drives off. According to Al, this is the man that Sam had come to save
and the KKK is going to lynch him soon.
When Sam gets back after a long day of being forced to reject all black
people who wanted to register to vote, he volunteers to help Ada with
dinner. Sam again tries to apologize for what his son said that morning
but Ada isn't upset by that because she knows he doesn't mean it and is
just parroting his grandfather. She is extremely proud of her son and
says she's going to try to register to vote tomorrow. Sam promises to
help her but wants her to talk Nathaniel out of protesting and getting
himself killed. Ada says that nothing can change Nathaniel's mind once
it's made up and, offended, walks away from him.
The son goes out pretending to be a ghost with the KKK hood on his
head. Angrily, Sam takes it away from him and the son doesn't
understand because his friend's father lets him play with his all the
time. Sam takes him out to the backyard to teach him to shoot (though
the kid is better with the gun than Sam is) and gives him a lesson
about tolerance and how skin color doesn't matter. Lilly overhears this
and is growing even more frustrated with what she sees as her husband's
regression.
Then Sam is taken out by the KKK for some important business and Al
says that this must be when they grab Nathaniel after he tries to lead
a peaceful protest for voting rights. It turns out that they are
actually having a party to celebrate Clyde's initiation. Sam is fine
with this, though, since that means that they aren’t out killing
Nathaniel. In the middle of the celebration, they get word of
Nathaniel's planned march and go out to ambush him. Sam hurriedly
drives down to the church to stop Nathaniel. Nathaniel accuses Sam of
being a member of the KKK and Sam admits it, begging Nathaniel to
reconsider and save his own life. Nathaniel is reluctant but ultimately
agrees to stop...just for that night. He warns that he will march again
and that he will ultimately win and Sam sincerely agrees with both of
those statements.
When Sam gets home, he makes the mistake of trying to talk Lilly over
to the side of racial equality while KKK members are in the area
listening. They knew that someone had warned Nathaniel and they believe
that Clyde joined to spy for the federal government or just for the
black community and so they decide to make them pay. They take Sam down
to KKK headquarters and tie him up and plant a bomb in the church. Ada,
another adult, and fifteen children are there for choir practice. One
of the members threatens to kill Sam when the church was destroyed for
lacking proper white pride. Sam tries to plead with his father-in-law
to reconsider, saying that he'll go to jail for the church and if Sam
is killed then no one will be able to take care of Lilly and the kid.
The father-in-law insists he's just trying to protect his way of life
and that if Sam thinks he would kill him then he doesn't know him at
all. Sam says he doesn't know any man who would kill innocent people.
Sam tries to break glass to cut his ropes but he is running out of time
so he sends Al to the church to warn the children. Unfortunately, the
children can't decide what Al is and start running around once he tells
them to leave. Sam isn't having much luck escaping but then his son
shows up and frees him. The pair race down to the church just in time
to see it explode. The KKK slowly approach the church and Sam is
devastated until he sees Ada leading the children towards safety; Al
was able to get through to them after all.
Nathaniel shows up, furious, and charges at the KKK. They respond by
putting a noose over his neck and attaching the other end to a truck.
They are about to lynch him after all when Sam announces that he agrees
with his father-in-law and place a noose around his own neck and stands
neck to Nathaniel. He gives a stirring speech about how they may die
but the old way of the KKK will die as well and that no one present
will ever forget what they’d seen. He tells his son to remember to not
be racist. One of the KKK members is eager enough to kill Sam as a
traitor but his father-in-law punches the man out. He takes off his
hood and frees both Sam and Nathaniel, saying that he already lost one
son and wasn't about to lose another.
Sam, and the son reunite as do Ada and Nathaniel. Nathaniel, who goes
on to be the first black mayor in Alabama, laughs and hugs Sam. Source
Personal Review by Becky:
I
think this is a very serious episode and educational. It makes you want
to learn about the USA's past. It is both disturbing and interesting to
see the KKK characters portrayed as normal everyday folks living normal
everyday lives while belonging to a hate group. How you are raised
definitely shapes your beliefs, right or wrong.
Music: "Oh Who Do You Call the
Wonderful Counsellor" plays at church and during the end credits.
Sam Trivia:
Sam’s parents taught to fight against people like the Klu Klux Klan
when he was a kid.
Sam said this is the
most confusing person he has
ever leaped into.
Sam’s parents were
farmers, simple people that cared
about their families and each other.
Sam doesn’t have
very good aim
with a rifle.
Sam remembers that
little kids can see Al.
Al
Trivia:
In this episode Al blows smoke, from his cigar, into the KKK leader’s
face. You can see the smoke, even though Al is not touching it, so
supposedly you should not see it.
Al’s
Outfits Worn in the Episode:
A green hat, with a creamy pin striped blazer and a green dress shirt
and a green thin tie with a diamond shaped green tie clip. Also wears a
badge with a watch design.
Miscellaneous
Trivia:
Al only uses the imaging chamber twice in this episode. Al appears ten
times, on the other hand.
Cody is the name of
Scott Bakula's son.
During the filming
of the church explosion, the gas inside built up so much that when the
explosion came, it knocked down Diamond Farnsworth (Scott Bakula's
stunt double) and burned the hair on the back of his legs!
This episode is the
only time we do not learn the last name of the Leapee.
Kiss
With History: Ku Klux
Klan, either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that employed
terror in pursuit of their white
supremacist agenda. One group was founded immediately after
the Civil War and lasted until the 1870s. The other began in
1915 and has continued to the present.
Regular
Cast: Scott Bakula
Dean Stockwell
Guest Stars:
Dirk Blocker as Tom
Fran Bennett as Ada Simpson
Glenn Morshower as Grady
Lee
Weaver as
Mr.Thomson
Jacob
Gelman as Cody
Lisa Waltz as Lilly
Michael
Beach as Nathaniel Simpson
Noble Willingham as Gene/Grand Dragon
Steve
Blackwood as Leon
Charlie Holiday as Sheriff Otis
Michael Craig
Patterson as Jim
Glenn Edden as Clyde (Mirror image)
Jullian Roy Doster as 1st
child
Ashley Woolfolk as 2nd child
Jesshaye
Callier as 3rd child
Guest
Cast Notes:
Dirk Blocker as Tom: Dirk
began working in film and television while he was still in high school
and didn't look back until the early 2000's when he took some time off
from his career and fulfilled a long held promise to his father to
obtain his college degree. His dad, who passed away when Dirk was 14,
valued an education, and often counseled Dirk as he grew up to, "do
what you want with your life, but get a liberal arts education no
matter what else you do." Dirk took a few acting jobs during this
period when his academic studies allowed, but didn't actively pursue a
return to work until he obtained his degree in Liberal Arts at Antioch
University 2010.
Fran Bennett as Ada Simpson: Fran
Bennett graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an M.A. and
subsequently spent twelve years acting and as voice and movement
director with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Her Broadway debut
was a leading role in the short-lived play Mandingo at the Lyceum
Theater in 1961. Thereafter, Bennett concentrated on stage acting and
education, serving for many years on the faculty of the California
Institute of the Arts, latterly as head of acting and director of
performance at the CalArts School of Theater (1996-2003). Her
credentials included a teaching spell at the London Academy of Music
and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and voice production workshops at several
American universities. As an ensemble member of the Los Angeles Women's
Shakespeare Company, her dramatis personae tended to be powerful
individuals (Othello, King Lear, Oberon, and others). Bennett's screen
work has likewise shown a predilection towards sober, resolute
authority figures: doctors, judges, head nurses, community leaders and
family matriarchs, even a Fleet Admiral on Star Trek: The Next
Generation (1987). Her TV debut was as early as 1952 but she did not
become prolific in that medium until the late 70s. From then on, she
regularly guest-starred in episodes of popular fare, ranging from
soapies (The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), Dynasty (1981)) to crime
drama (Simon & Simon (1981), Crossing Jordan (2001), NCIS (2003))
and science fiction (The Twilight Zone (1985), Quantum Leap (1989)).
The Arkansas native was a 2005 inductee into Arkansas Black Hall of
Fame. Her honours have included an NAACP Theatre Award and the
inaugural AEA/AFTRA/SAG Diversity Award.
Glenn Morshower as Grady: Glenn
Morshower was born on April 24, 1959 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is an
actor and producer, known for The Resident (2018), Bloodline (2015) and
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). He has been married to Carolyn
Elizabeth Lindsley since December 30, 1978. They have two children. As
an actor he has played the role of no less than 53 different law
enforcement/military personnel: 22 police/law enforcement officers; 21
military personnel; and 10 government agents. Recently, he has played
the role of quite a few Secret Service agents. Other than Jack Bauer
(Kiefer Sutherland), Morshower's character (Agent Aaron Pierce) is the
only one to appear in all seven of the first seasons of 24 (2001). Has
played characters who have served two of television's most famous
fictional Presidents: President Jed Bartlet on The West Wing (1999),
and President David Palmer on 24 (2001). He started his acting career
in 1975 with the leading role in the movie Drive-In (1976).
Michael
Beach as Nathaniel Simpson: Born
and raised in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood, by a single mom with four
children, Beach was an athlete who never expected to be an actor. After
performing in a few plays at Noble and Greenough School, he auditioned
for, got accepted to and later graduated from the prestigious Juilliard
School Of Drama in NYC. For the past forty years, Beach has worked with
many acclaimed actors, producers and directors on over 70 feature films
and hundreds of hours of television. He continues to love his job and
is grateful to still be doing it after all these years.
2022 interview with Michael Beach:
Lee
Weaver as
Mr.Thomson: Lee Weaver is known for Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Quantum Leap (1989) and Our Summer of Song.
Jacob
Gelman as Cody: Jacob Gelman is known for Uncle Buck (1990), Quantum Leap (1989) and I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989).
Lisa Waltz as Lilly: Lisa
Waltz was born on August 31, 1961 in Limerick, Pennsylvania, USA. She
is an actress, known for Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Fear the
Walking Dead: Flight 462 (2015) and 2016 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy
Awards (2016). She has been married to Mark Morocco since 1986.
Noble Willingham as Gene/Grand Dragon: Noble
Willingham appeared in more than 30 feature films, including Up Close
& Personal (1996), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Chinatown
(1974), City Slickers (1991), and The Distinguished Gentleman (1992). He
was born in the small town of Mineola, Texas, east of Dallas. After
graduating from North Texas State College in 1953, he earned a master's
degree in educational psychology from Baylor University. Willingham was
a teacher before following his long-time dream of becoming an actor.
Willingham auditioned for a part in the Academy Award-winning film The
Last Picture Show (1971), which was filmed in Texas. He won the role,
which led to another, in the Academy Award-winning comedy Paper Moon
(1973). On television, he had
recurring roles on Home Improvement (1991) and Walker, Texas Ranger
(1993), and appeared as a guest star on other television series,
including Matlock (1986), L.A. Law (1986), Quantum Leap (1989), Murder,
She Wrote (1984), and Northern Exposure (1990), as well as such films
and made-for-television movies as Men Don't Tell (1993), Woman with a
Past (1992), The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987), and Unconquered
(1989). Died on January 17, 2004 in Palm Springs, California, USA.
Watch Noble in these clips from the movie Good Morning, Vietnam!
Steve
Blackwood as Leon: Steve
Blackwood was born on May 13, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is an
actor and writer, known for Stuck (2020), Private (2022) and Meet the
Author (2018).
Charlie Holiday as Sheriff Otis: In
addition to his more than 50 movie and television credits, Charlie has
appeared in dozens of National and Regional Commercials. Charlie has
also appeared in over two dozen live theatre productions. They range
from wacky British farces like Ray Cooney's "Run for Your Wife" and
"Chase Me Comrade," to the works of Sean O'Casey and William Saroyan.
Although he and his wife Holly now live in the Sacramento, California,
suburb of Rancho Cordova, he continues his career in motion pictures
and television, returning as needed to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Charlie also owns and operates the Mosaic Acting Studio, where he
teaches the Mosaic Acting System and his popular "Acting for Camera and
Theatre Workshops" as well as training and certifying other Mosaic
Acting instructors. He also taught acting and directing at the Academy
of Art College in San Francisco for several years, and works as a
dialog/acting coach for the BBC and films.
Jullian Roy Doster as 1st
child: Jullian Roy Doster is known for Menace II Society (1993), Quantum Leap (1989) and Out All Night (1992).
Ashley Woolfolk as 2nd child: Ashley Woolfolk is known for Quantum Leap (1989), Delta (1992) and Camp Wilder (1992).
Jesshaye
Callier as 3rd child: Jesshaye Callier is known for Quantum Leap (1989) and Dutch (1991).
Say What? Lilly is seen in
the background before she leaves the house.
When Al talks
about the Voting Rights Act in 1965, he says it was August 6th. It was
actually August 3rd.
Quotable Quotes: Yours
is just one voice in a hurricane. Sometimes
one is all it takes. - Aida
and Sam, "Justice"
It's
an angel! Not in
those clothes! -
Children in choir practice upon seeing Al, "Justice"
I
don't want to live in a world where fear and hate hide behind a call
for justice.This is not justice. This is merely a desperate attempt to
hang onto the past - a shameful past that can never and should never be
restored. --
Sam, "Justice"
Yours
is just one voice speaking in a hurricane. Sometimes
one voice is all it takes. --
Aida and Sam, "Justice"
This
stands for everything my parents taught me to fight against. --
Sam, about the KKK, "Justice"
There's
a ghost! It's
NOT a ghost, it's an angel. No
way, not with those clothes! --
little kids at choir practice, about Al, "Justice"
It's
the Lord! No,
I'm not the Lord! It's
Abraham Lincoln. No,
he's got a beard, that's some crazy white man. --
little kids at choir practice and Al, "Justice"
I
don't know a man who would dynamite a church. --
Sam, "Justice"
Best
Line:
"Worms, yeah, worms, I could never stand worms even if I was using them
for bait."
Best
Scene:
When Al goes to the church and all the little kids can see him and can
talk to him:
"That’s
right, that’s right, that’s right, they’re kids, God bless the
children."
"There’s
a ghost!
It’s
not a ghost, it’s an angel.
No
way not with those clothes."
"It’s
the Lord,
What???????
No,
No, No, No I’m not the Lord.
It’s
Abraham Lincoln!
No
it’s not he has a beard.
That’s
some crazy white man."
"Listen,
I may be crazy but you got to tell the big ones that you got to get out
of the church, out of the church."
Production Credits:
Theme by: Mike Post Music by: Velton Ray Bunch Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg Supervising Producer: Harker Wade Produced by: Jeff Gourson, Tommy Thompson Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal, Paul Brown Created by: Donald P. Bellisario Written by:Toni Graphia Directed by:Rob Bowman
Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario Associate Producer:James S. Giritlian Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario Story Editor: Paris Qualles Director of Photography:Michael Watkins, A.S.C. Production Designer: Cameron Birnie Edited by:Michael S. Stern Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow First Assistant Director:R. John Slosser Second Assistant Director:Kate Yurka Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac Costume Supervisor: David Rawley Art Director:Ellen Dambros-Williams Sound Mixer:Barry D. Thomas Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth Sound Editor:Greg Schorer Music Editor: Bruce Frazier
Panaflex ® Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ®
This
motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other
countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may
result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
The
characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Bellisarius Productions and Universal, an MCA Company
Podcasts:
Quantum Leap Podcast - Justice
Listen to The Quantum Leap Podcast
on this episode here:
It’s a Leap for Justice!
Join Quantum Leap Podcast hosts Allison Pregler, Matt Dale and
Christopher DeFilippis as they discuss this racially charged episode in
which Sam leaps into a member of the Ku Klux Klan and must prevent the
lynching of a young black man.
In these divided times, the show’s message is more important than ever.
Then stick around as we answer one listener’s burning question, and totally geek out over Quantum Leap novel covers.
Let us know what you think!
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