The episode ends with the famous and bittersweet title card: "Dr. Sam Becket [sic] never returned home" .
Watch the emotional opening of the finale where Sam discovers he has leaped into himself: Mirror Image - August 8, 1953 Quantum Leap YouTube• Jan 19, 2015 [S5E22] Mirror Image - August 8, 1953
Sam meets Al the Bartender (Bruce McGill), who seems to possess an omniscient understanding of Sam’s journey. The episode ends with the famous and bittersweet
In this surreal and emotional series finale, Dr. Sam Beckett leaps into a tavern in Cokeburg, Pennsylvania—on the exact day and time of his own birth. For the first time in the series, Sam looks in the mirror and sees his own reflection instead of a host. 1953 Quantum Leap YouTube• Jan 19