After taking part in a time-travel experiment, Dr. Sam Beckett wakes up in 1956 as a test pilot who is about to fly an experimental craft at a world record speed.

Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a brilliant scientist, takes part in the Quantum Leap experiment which lands him in 1956 as a test pilot. With the help of his holographic "Observer" (Dean Stockwell), Sam remembers the experiment and learns that his fate is to "quantum leap" back and forth in time with the hope of returning to his own present in the conclusion of the premiere episode written by series executive producer Donald P. Bellisario and directed by David Hemmings. Part 2 of 2.

Sam leaps into the persona of a womanizing college professor in 1972, encounters his lost love and attempts to reshape the past.

Sam transmigrates into a boxer whose past fights were fixed by gangsters but whose present contract is held by nuns.

Sam becomes a 1965 hit man whose romance with the godfather's (guest star Michael Genovese) girlfriend (guest star Terri Garber) places him in danger.