Dr. Sam Beckett, having come unstuck in time, spent five seasons leaping into the bodies of others and helping them improve their own lives in the process, hoping each time that the next leap would be the one that would bring him home. Annnnnnd… nope. Sam did learn that he himself was the one behind the time displacement, and that he had been in control of his leaps all along. Sam takes this knowledge and leaps not to his own life but to tell the wife of his holographic pal Al that her husband is still alive. And then, fade to black.
Reportedly, series creator Donald Bellisario wanted to build some ambiguity into the episode in case NBC renewed the show for a sixth season. It did not, but in lieu of closure, all fans got at the end was a hastily-added title card that read. “Dr. Sam Becket never returned home.” That abrupt dismissal of fans’ hopes was pretty cruel, with the cherry on top being the misspelling of the character’s last name.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GM_UvGWbCw]