Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

A Little Miracle

• Sam leaps into a man named Pearson who is sitting on the floor holding the underwear of a naked man who impatiently reminds him that he forgot the talc.
• He then helps the naked man step into the underwear.
• That is not a job I would want to have.
• Clearly, Sam is this guy’s butler.
• I’m sorry, but I don’t care if I gain enough wealth to purchase my own state, I would never want someone else to dress me.
• December 24, 1962
• According to some sycophant, the rich guy’s name is Mr. Blake.
• Al arrives while Sam is in search of Blake’s newspaper and explains that Pearson has been picking up after Michael Blake for the last three years.
• While Blake reads his paper, Sam answers the intercom and is told that a Captain Downey is in the lobby to see Mr. Blake.
• The sycophant explains that it’s the Salvation Army and Blake tells Sam to get rid of them.
• But he had already agreed to have them sent up.
• Captain Downey explains to Sam that she’s there to see Blake about his intention of tearing down the 4th Street Mission.
• Sam tries to be positive by saying he’s sure Blake wouldn’t tear down the mission… but then Blake walks in and says he wants it torn down to make room for Blake Plaza.
• When Al calls Blake a grouch, we see that Blake can hear and see Al.
• Al manages to have Ziggy make a quick adjustment so just Sam can communicate with Al, but there must be something with Blake’s brain that puts him on a similar wavelength to Sam.
• Sam then assumes he’s there to save the 4th Street Mission, but Al says that he’s there to save Blake.
• But Sam asks what a guy like Blake needs saving for… Al says Sam needs to save his soul.
• After snooping around the apartment a little, Sam gets the idea of pulling a “Scrooge” on Blake.
• Sam goes by the mission to talk to Downey about getting her help in taking on Blake.
• Later, Sam sneakily replaces Blake’s chauffer and leaves a bunch of old family photos in the back for Blake to come across.
• At first it seems like it will be a good thing reminding Blake of his mother, then he gets angry about how she died on her hands and knees, cleaning someone else’s bathroom.
• The next part of the plan involves Sam stopping in a not so great neighborhood while a kid from the mission lets the air out of one of the tires.
• This is apparently the neighborhood where Blake grew up and he is flooded with childhood memories.
• Captain Downey arrives and he begins reminiscing and even buys roasted chestnuts for the three of them.
• Max, the chestnut salesman, just happens to be a friend from the old days.
• Blake asks about another kid they knew, Charlie, and Max is forced to tell Blake that Charlie was killed four years ago when he drunkenly wandered in front of a bus.
• Apparently his life took a bad turn when he got laid off from a bakery that Blake bought and automated a few years ago.
• Back at home, Sam tries to cheer Blake up by turning on the Christmas tree lights, but Blake just tells him to turn them back off while he drinks himself stupid.
• Al arrives and encourages Sam by saying that reminding Blake of his past jogged something in him.
• Now it’s time to show Blake his present.
• Sam brings back another drink and tells Blake he feels sorry for him.
• Blake has no idea why his valet would feel sorry for him, and Sam even agrees that Blake has everything that money could buy.
• Sam then takes Blake to the location where Blake Plaza will one day be located to remind him that even if he has the building, he won’t have love.
• Blake just insists that people disappoint him… they walk away… they die… but his buildings never well.
• Angrily, Blake is ready to leave, then Sam points out the sound of caroling coming from the 4th Street Mission.
• Blake accidentally lets slip that he is attracted to Captain Downey.
• She approaches him, hoping that he’s changed his mind and has good news, but he still insists that this building needs to come down because he has everything riding on the Plaza.
• Downey surprises Blake by wishing him well in the endeavor and then talks him into staying and singing “Joy to the World” with them.
• He winds up staying and having dessert with Downey and really seems like he wants to get to know her better.
• But it all backfires when a homeless kid gives Blake a toy horse named Sheldon.
• Al sees the odds dropping dramatically, just as a group of neighborhood kids come storming in.
• Blake then turns on Downey, thinking that she was using the homeless kids to change his mind.
• He demands that Sam take him home and tells him he won’t be needed anymore tonight.
• Sam says he wasn’t trying to trick Blake, but Blake doesn’t believe him and says he better hope that he doesn’t still want to fire him tomorrow morning.
• When Al returns, Sam realizes that since they’ve been “Scrooging” Blake, they just need to keep at it by showing him the Ghost of Christmas Future.
• All it takes is Al readjusting Ziggy’s settings and allowing Blake to see and hear him again.
• But Blake doesn’t believe Al is a ghost, thinking that Sam put him up to this, but Blake begins to believe when he passes right through him.
• Blake even calls Sam in and he pretends not to see Al.
• Al tells Blake to get his coat because they’re going out for a while.
• Sam drives Blake back to the future location of the Blake Plaza because Al insisted they meet there.
• Al is able to holographically project a life-size image of Blake Plaza, which excites Blake.
• Then Al pulls up a news report from 1975, which reports Blake filing for bankruptcy.
• Al warns Blake that he wanted it all and in the end wound up with nothing, even losing Blake Plaza.
• Blake says he’s seen enough and asks Sam to make the ghost go away, even though Sam still claims he can’t see the ghost.
• Al wraps things up by showing him his own gravestone, revealing that Blake threw himself off a building and died alone.
• Blake breaks down in sobs, admitting that he’s a horrible man who doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
• But he doesn’t want to go out like that… hated, forgotten, and alone.
• Sam tells him he still has time to change things.
• Then Blake looks up and sees something akin to the Christmas star shining down on the 4th Street Mission.
• He approaches and is greeted by Downey and asks if she has room for one more lost soul.
• Sam asks Al what happens to him and Al reveals that in six months, Blake and Downey get married and eventually have three kids.
• Blake goes on to complete the Blake Plaza, but puts the mission on the first floor.
• Sam says he wonders what would have happened if Al hadn’t put the star there, but Al just says he didn’t put the star up there…
• They wish each other a merry Christmas and Sam leaps…
• Back into another rerun… this time he’s back on the Queen Mary and has to stop his ex from marrying a gangster.
• Oh boy.