S5.E1

Lee Harvey Oswald - October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963: Part 1

Episode aired Nov 22, 1993
TV-PG
47m

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Scott Bakula and Natasha Pavlovich in Code Quantum (1989)

Sam's leap takes a dramatic turn when he begins leaping randomly throughout the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Matters are complicated further when... Read allSam's leap takes a dramatic turn when he begins leaping randomly throughout the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Matters are complicated further when Sam's mind becomes tangled with Oswald's.Sam's leap takes a dramatic turn when he begins leaping randomly throughout the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Matters are complicated further when Sam's mind becomes tangled with Oswald's.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

527

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast25

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Scott Bakula

Dr. Sam Beckett…

Dean Stockwell

Reni Santoni

Sgt. Lopez

Willie Garson

Alik Idell…

Natasha Pavlovich

Marina Oswald
(as Natasha Pavlova)

Elya Baskin

Major Yuri Kosenko

Donna Magnani

Mariska

Dennis Wolfberg

Irving 'Gooshie' Gushman
(credit only)

Michael Lopez

Cpl. McBride
(as Michael Rich)

Philip McNiven

PFC Briggs

Ward C. Boland

Lt. Obrigowitz

Rodney Kageyama

Joda

Patty Toy

Bar Girl

James Medina

Carlos
(credit only)

Chris Kinkade

New Orleans Policeman
(credit only)

Matthew Charles Nelson

Sgt. Bellisario

Erika Amato

Lt. Anna Guri

Max Lazar

Guard
(as Lazar)

User reviews4

Featured review

4/10

Going with. a. GRIM.FAIRY TALE

This is the only Quantum Leap episode I absolutely hated. Keep in mind that I'm from Massachusetts, and someone who not only followed the history of the Kennedy family but a part of it. On four different occasions, I met Ted Kennedy, even worked on his presidential campaign and etc members of his family. In addition to that, I have been educating myself for years about the Kennedy assassination, and I know that Mr. Bellasario wrote this in answer to the movie JFK which has more facts than this one does.

The whole cartoonish picture of Lee Harvey Oswald is ridiculous and it is even likely that Oswald wasn't even in the Texas School Book Depository when the shots were fired.

But this is not about a history lesson or even rehashing that horrible day. This is just substandard writing and acting and direction for this series. It's best to pretend it never happened.

I felt that it was a waste of my time as it further backs up the Warren Commission's grim fairy tale of a lone assassin.

And the fact that Oswald was killed before the full truth could be told.says volumes here.

jwpeel-1
May 24, 2015
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Trivia
Donald P. Bellisario, series creator and writer of this episode, actually served in the Marine Corps with Lee Harvey Oswald. The scene where Sergeant Bellisario confronts Oswald about his possession of communist literature is based on his own recollections of his first encounter with Oswald.

Goofs
While on the rifle range, the Sergeant hands Lee Harvey Oswald (Dr. Sam Beckett) a clip of blank ammunition (red wadding). When Oswald then loads his rifle, the clip of ammunition resembles live ammunition.

Quotes
Al: You're not a prisoner of war.
Oswald: All members of the proletariat are prisoners in the class struggle.
Al: I thought you were a member of the Marine Corps.
Oswald: My status as a marine does not alter my membership in the exploited and oppressed class into which I was born.
Al: I was joking.
Oswald: I was not!
Al: Take it easy, kid. I'm on your side.
Oswald: Then I'm free to leave?
Al: Uh, no. Not exactly.
Oswald: Then I'm a prisoner.
Al: Okay, all right. You're a prisoner of the proletariat and...
Oswald: I'm a prisoner of the bourgeois and a *member* of the proletariat. You don't know your Marx, do you?
Al: [coldly] After six years in the Hanoi Hilton, I tend to repress it.
Oswald: Where?
Al: That's where I was held as a prisoner of war, and where they didn't give a damn about the Geneva Convention.

Alternate versions
Originally, the Lee Harvey Oswald episodes were aired as a single two hour special event, and included several additional scenes and extra dialogue. The most significant of these is the scene in KGB headquarters, in which Sam realizes he is becoming Oswald and refuses to help the KGB. The KGB officer then relates a somewhat lengthy story about how he was abused by his father as boy, yet still loved him to the end, and how this equates to loving a home country that has betrayed you. This story then kicks Sam into becoming Oswald, and he begins relating data about the U2 spy plane.