Leaping of the Shrew - September 27, 1956 - S5-E3
Question: Shortly after Sam throws some items off the life raft, Al appears and tells him that because of what Sam had done, neither he nor Vanessa would be saved for quite a while. If Sam had not done anything, both of them would have been rescued within an hour. I might be wrong about this next part so further verification will help. Al also said that because of Sam throwing stuff into the ocean, that somehow, instead if only being stranded in the lifeboat for a few minutes, four whole hours have passed. How could tossing anything into the ocean have made time move so rapidly?
Mirror Image - August 8, 1953 - S5-E22
Question: Why would Sam need to warn Beth that Al would return and that he was an MIA? During the Vietnam episode the Pulitzer prize journalist took a picture of Al as a prisoner, so she already knew he was a prisoner.
Answer: In the finale, Sam leaps back to the episode "M.I.A." which is set in 1969. Originally, he failed to stop Beth from remarrying. However, the episode you're talking about, "The Leap Home", takes place in 1970. At the end of that episode, Al tells Sam that Maggie, the woman who took the picture of Al, finally got her Pulitzer Prize posthumously. But there's no indication when the picture of Al becomes public, or if Beth even saw the picture. However, if Beth did see the picture, or is aware Al is a POW, she's already moved on.
Mirror Image - August 8, 1953 - S5-E22
Question: I believe in the final episode, Al the bartender asked Sam where he would like to go and Sam said home. He then said he couldn't because he had a wrong to put right for his hologram friend Al, which he did. After telling Al's wife that Al is alive he leaps. I think it said after that that Sam never makes it home. So does he continue leaping forever or is he stuck in the last person he leaps into? I know he lost his memory but what happened after that?
Chosen answer: Per the Quantum leap page at http://www.scifi.com/quantum/episodes/season5.html. 8 August 1953: An enigmatic leap lands Sam in a Pennsylvania tavern, as his own grown self on the day of his birth. As Al and Gushie work frantically to locate him, Sam befriends a wise bartender (popular character actor McGill, who'd appeared in a different role in the very first "leap") and a group of coal miners. As a host of familiar-looking faces pass through the bar - with different identities than Sam remembers - Sam ponders his life of leaping with Al the bartender, who tells Sam he controls his own destiny. Pressed for more, Al the bartender simply shrugs and says, "Sometimes, 'that's the way it is' is the best explanation." Sam realizes he must right at least one more wrong before he can go home, and leaps back to tell Al Calvavicci's wife Beth (from "M.I.A.") to wait for Al, who will survive Vietnam and come home to her. The closing title cards state that Beth and Al have four daughters and will shortly celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary ... and that Sam Beckett never returned home.
The Leap Between The States - September 20, 1862 - S5-E20
Question: Is this the only episode where Sam leaps to a time outside the 20th century?
Answer: Yes. He can only leap within his own lifetime (per the 'rules' of quantum time travel). This episode was an exception, as an anamoly allowed him to make the jump into the life of a distant, but genetic, relative.
Answer: Sam threw items off the raft to lighten the load, so it wouldn't sink, in doing so he made the raft less heavy. Which made easier to float with the currents, if it was heavy the raft would have moved slower and not moved so far.
Except that Al said that immediately after throwing stuff out of the boat four hours passed and it was shown that they didn't really move from where they were. They were still in the same spot. Forgot to ask this too. When Sam and Vanessa are stranded on the island, one of them, can't remember who, did something and when Al appears, he tells them that because of it, time had suddenly skipped several more hours and if the event hadn't been interrupted, they would have been rescued by a boat. So, what happened on the island that once again caused time to speed up? It seems kind of strange that time could move so quickly on the island, especially since it was still day time and it never showed any sort of changes like the sun or clouds moving.