03x15 - Piano Man - November 10, 1985

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Quantum Leap" Aired: March 26, 1989 – May 5, 1993.*
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Former scientist Sam is trapped in time due to an experiment gone awry, leaping into different bodies each week.
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03x15 - Piano Man - November 10, 1985

Post by bunniefuu »

Theorizing that one could
time-travel within his own lifetime,

Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into
the Quantum Leap Accelerator

and vanished.

He woke 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.

Thank you.

Thank you.
Thank you.

That's one of, uh,
favorite songs of mine

and I'm sure one of yours
and that's

Feelings.
Feelings.

Yes, well, about now
would probably be a good time

to take a little pause for the old
cause, so, ahhh...

Play Somewhere for me.

Hmm.
Wh-wh-where?

Well, you can play it
back at my place.

But I don't have a piano.

Oh!

Song.
She's talking about a song...

Your song. The one you wrote.

Come on, Chuck.

Do it for me.

Oh, boy.

Thank you.

I need another drink. Frank!

Uh, that was a song for all
of you lovers out there,

who have lost some love.

And, uh, here's another one.

You put lyrics to it.

Uh, well...

Uh, yeah, I mean,
I figured that if I was gonna sing it,

it'd probably be better with
lyrics, so I wrote a couple.

And I thought I was
the lyricist in the act.

But I guess a lot changes
after three years.

This was a mistake.

I'll be right back, folks.

I just want to know
why you walked out.

It's not important now.

Yes, it is. No, it isn't.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Watch it. Careful, careful,
don't touch it.

- It's all right. It's okay.
- I'm sorry.

- I've been looking for you for months.
- It's... it's okay.

Why don't you shut up
and let him play?

Because I need to talk to him.

He's a piano player,
not a shrink.

- You're dead.
- Excuse me.

I'm gonna take a little...
little break right now.

Okay?
And I'll be back in a minute.

Excuse me.
Excuse me.

Here you go.

Don't mind Janelle.
She gets real territorial when she drinks.

So, what'll it be, Chuck?

Um, coffee?

That'd be fine.

Two.

The whole time I was driving,
I kept telling myself:

"Lorraine, turn the car around.
Just turn around."

Oh, oh.

I'm so sorry.

Don't worry about it.

A quick skin graft,
it'll be good as new.

- It's okay.
- I'm such a klutz.

No, no, no, you're not.

Not really.

Thanks.

Yeah.

Why didn't you say goodbye?

Why did you just
walk out of my life?

You slimy lounge lizard.

You've been working on
the Z circuit for five minutes

- and you've got her in tears.
- It's not what you think.

Isn't it?

Your name is Chuck Danner,
lounge lizard extraordinaire.

I think three years ago
you didn't want to marry me.

And that's why I ran away?

I haven't got the foggiest...

- What else could I think?
- Well, uh,

No birth certificate,
no social security, no draft card...

Why else would you disappear?

Why else would you
change your name?

Ah, that's it.
You changed your name.

We gotta get
your real name, Sam.

I need some answers,
so I can get on with my life,

because I've met someone else.

It took her three years?

Someone else?

His name is Carl Morgan
and he's very successful,

and he doesn't live on the road.

And most important,
he loves me very much.

I wonder why she's sitting on
a barstool next to you.

Good point.

Good point?

If you love him
why are you here?

Carl wanted to be sure
there weren't any ghosts.

That's Carl's first mistake.

He said we couldn't start our new life
until we were both sure that it was over.

So is it?

Well, I, uh,

I think that answers it.

I just want to know why you
didn't even say goodbye.

Look, we should talk about that.

Eh, But...

But?

But I've got another set to do.

So if you could just wait here, then,
when I'm done, we'll talk, okay?

Okay, but I promised
Carl that I'd call him

and let him know
that I'm all right.

All right.

Maybe I'm here to put
this couple back together.

Yeah. Could be, or maybe
break them up so that

she and Carl can
live happily ever after.

I don't think so. But we won't know
anything until we find out who I am.

Now, all we know is you're Chuck
Danner, whom you're not,

and you're entertaining in a
lounge in Tularosa, New Mexico,

November 10, 1985.

What's the guy saying
in the waiting room?

He still insists that he's Chuck
Danner, lounge lizard extraordinaire.

It's all right. I found him.

He's playing a place
called the Roadside Rendezvous

near Tularosa, New Mexico.

So what's happened?

Nothing's happened.

We're waiting to talk.

Three years and he's still
got you waiting?

He has to finish his set first.

He's been very nice.

How nice?

Just nice.
Carl, please don't worry.

Look, this was a mistake.
I want you to come home.

But this was your idea.

I know,

but I just think that
you should come home now.

I will.
Now stop worrying, okay?

It's hard when you're with a guy
that you were crazy in love with.

That was a long time ago.

You have to trust me.

Okay. Okay.

Just get him out of your
system and come back to me.

I want this whole thing
finished so we can get married.

Me, too.

You fly good tomorrow.

Come home, and I'll fly better.

I love you.

I think.

Play it again, Sam.

I've always wanted to say that.

Thank you and good night.

You know, if you'd stayed in
town you'd have been recording.

- You think?
- Yes.

You would have signed that deal
and we would have gotten married.

Oh, take your sh*t, Sam.

And that would
have made you Mrs...

- DeNardo.
- DeNardo.

That's one out of two.

It's a lot better than Danner.

Why did you change it?

It's kind of a long story.

You know how hard
it was to find you?

Uh, yeah, well, I can imagine.

But I knew you'd never
give up your music.

So I thought,
where would you never go?

And then I remembered how
much you hated these lounges.

So I gave it a sh*t.

Chuck, I need a big favor.

Um, Janelle wants me to take her
home, so, uh,

how about I borrow your wheels
for a few hours?

Uh, yeah, o-okay.

Here you go.

Thanks.

- Where are you parked?
- Outside.

Well, that narrows it down.

See you in the morning.

Joey, you never used to
let anybody touch your car.

Joey. Bingo!

It's been a long time since
anybody's called me by that name.

Okay, Joey DeNardo was born

in Chicago in December, 1950,

a-and he d*ed when,

When his car was bombed in a
parking lot in Tularosa, New Mexico.

Oh, my God.

That was meant for you.

Someone's trying to k*ll me.

My guess is that's him.

Ugh.
Sam.

- Oh, God, you've been sh*t!
- Oh, no.

Get out of here.

I won't leave you.

Go get your car.

Go.

Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

- Is it bad?
- I don't think so.

It looks like the b*llet passed
clean through the lateral quadricep.

The what?

Give me your scarf.

You okay?

Yes. But those people...

those people are dead.

Those people
could've been you two.

You changed history, Sam.

Because the guy
you leapt into...

- Joey.
- Yeah, that guy.

He... he was originally
k*lled by that car b*mb.

This is all my fault.

No, it isn't.

Is it?

- Yes.
- No.

Joey DeNardo and Lorraine were
a hot lounge act in Chicago,

until you disappeared
three years ago.

- Why?
- Because I'm a jinx.

Because you saw
someone get whacked.

I saw somebody get m*rder*d?

I know, it was horrible.
That poor bartender, that poor girl.

Even though she was really mean.

No, not them.
Some mustache named Ponti.

Now get this, Sam.

You and this Ponti
and a guy named Nick Bellini

all grew up together
in the same neighborhood.

They went into the mob
and you went into music.

Then later on,
they had a falling-out

and, uh, this Nick used you
to set up Ponti.

So I saw Ponti get k*lled.

And you've been
running ever since.

You saw Ponti m*rder*d
three years ago?

That's why you ran away.

I guess so.

It wasn't because of me!

I guess not.
Joey.

I'm sorry!

Tell her to say
she's sorry later on.

Ziggy says Nicky's 90 seconds
behind us

and the two of you are gonna get
k*lled when we pass milepost 257.

Oh, Joey, I'm so relieved
that it wasn't me.

I mean,
that you were running from.

All these years
I thought that it was me.

After all, I'm a terrible klutz.

What?

Nothing.
Just keep driving.

Oh, God! I almost forgot.

- Is he still behind us?
- Yeah, and he's gaining.

What's wrong?

Oh, God, not again!

- What?
- What?

I think I'm running out of gas.

That worked just like
in a Western movie.

Okay, come on.

Now we gotta figure out
some way to get some gasoline.

How the hell did you
get out of the ditch?

- Well, we got lucky, Sheriff.
- Coffee?

Two cowboys came along
and pulled us out.

They even had
a t*nk full of gas.

All right.
You stay there at Thelma's.

Thelma's?
I thought this was Polly's.

- Thelma owns it.
- Oh, okay.

I'll be there in 20 minutes.

Uh, yeah, all right.
We'll be here, Sheriff.

Thanks.

I am so sorry.
I guess I'm a bit nervous.

It happens to my little
granddaughter all the time.

H-how much do we owe you?

Four early bird specials with
two pieces of cherry pie. $6.50.

Well, here.

You still carry this?

Teach it to me.

What?

Your song.

Oh, that was real pretty.

But I wanna know,
can you cut loose?

Hell, you two are good!

You should get yourself an act.

Did I say something?

No. No, we, um,

we had an act
about three years ago.

Oh!

Well, you ought to
put it back together.

Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, thanks.

Lorraine.

Come on.

Listen,
everything's gonna be okay.

I called the Sheriff,
he's gonna pick up Nicky... Nicky?

Nicky Bellini, the guy
who's trying to k*ll me.

It won't make any difference.

Of course, it will.

No, I'm a jinx.

No, you're not.

Remember all the terrible things that
happened to you when we started dating?

Uh...

Well, uh...

No, not really.

How could you forget the ornament
I bought you for your tree?

The ornament?

The arson investigator said
it started the whole thing.

And the time
we went to California.

That was a great trip.

Except your luggage
went to Iran.

Well, you know,
there's a good side to that.

I mean,
I... I could've gone with it.

And how about our ski trip?

You broke both legs.

Well, it was my fault.
I... I shouldn't have fallen.

You wouldn't have fallen
if I hadn't skied into you.

Come on now,
you didn't do it on purpose.

I'm a jinx
and I'm gonna get you k*lled.

- Lorraine, come on...
- I have to call Carl.

And here comes Davy Jones
in his last qualifying heat.

The big race is tomorrow.

Were you hurt?

No, I'm fine. We got away.

That's it, Lorraine.
I want you home.

Maybe you're right.

You're damn right,
I'm right. I mean, really!

I mean,
mobsters trying to k*ll you!

Not me. Joey.

Well, who you're with.

Carl, I said that I'm all right.

Where are you now?

A little diner
outside of Vadito.

All right,
I'll call the Sheriff.

Joey already did.

Then there's no reason
for you to stay.

I have to wait for the Sheriff.

Damn it, Lorraine, I love you,
and I can't stand the thought of you

being with a man that doesn't
care whether you live or die.

He saved my life.

He saved his own life.

Look, if Joey really
cared about you,

he'd get you as far away
from that mess as possible.

Every minute you're there,
your life's in danger.

But Joey said...

Joey is the cause
of all your grief.

This isn't his fault.

Then whose is it?

Mine, I guess.

Yours?

I'm a jinx, Carl.
I've always been a jinx.

Not for me.

When have you ever been
a jinx for me?

Never, I guess.

I want you to
come home, Lorraine.

Lorraine.

I need a little more time.

All right. How much time?

Until I know that Joey's safe.

You're not his mother, Lorraine.

All right, when the Sheriff
comes, I'll leave.

You promise?

Promise.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Sam, you gotta get out of here.

Al, would you just relax,
okay? Darn it!

Everything's fine.
I called the Sheriff.

He's gonna be here in
10 minutes.

You're gonna be dead in 8.
Both of you.

You both get k*lled.

What do you mean,
we both get k*lled?

What do you mean?
I mean, you get k*lled.

As in dead, morte, kaput,
finito, the big sleep.

But Ziggy said that was supposed
to happen around milepost 257.

Well, now it happens here.

You changed history,
now it's coming back to bite you in the...

But the Sheriff is coming...

He's coming to clean up
Nicky's mess.

What's this guy got?
A police radio or something?

I don't know.
Your guess is as good as mine.

Okay, so from now on,
no more police.

Al, we need a plan.

Ziggy says to get
the hell out of Dodge!

That's not a plan.

I had a fencing teacher once that
said the best defense was distance.

So get some distance
and then we'll make a plan.

All right.
All right.

Lorraine.

- Lorraine, we got to get going.
- The Sheriff's coming.

Come on, we can't wait for him.

Why not?

Because I got this
sixth sense. Thank you.

Uh, it's telling me the Sheriff
isn't gonna get here in time.

It's telling you
to get out of here.

How do you know?

Because we've been sh*t at,
nearly blown up, ran out of gas,

and barely escaped capture by a
lunatic, who wants us dead.

- Now listen...
- I'll catch up with you later.

Is that reason enough?

But where are we going?

Somewhere Nicki can't find us.

Do you think we lost him?

Yeah, I hope so.

It's funny. You think
about so many things in life

and I never thought about this.

About dying.

Not like this.
I mean, d-did you?

We're not gonna die.

You wouldn't have yanked me out of
that diner if you didn't think so.

Well, I... I just felt that

distance was our best defense.

Yeah, right.

You know,
I always wish we'd gone to Hawaii.

They've got some
great lounges there.

We could've found one,
settled down,

bought a little place
on the beach.

Paid a zillion dollars for it.

And lived happily,
in debt, ever after.

At least we'd be off the road.

That's one thing
that I wouldn't miss.

Would you?

Well, no. Actually,
I wouldn't miss the road at all.

In fact, I wouldn't mind
having a place

that I could call home
for a while.

I could wear a grass skirt.

Yeah. Yeah.
And, um,

I could bring you fresh
coconut milk for breakfast.

And we could lie on the beach in
the sun all day, writing songs.

Poring over our million-dollar
recording contracts.

We would never have
to do anything

we didn't wanna do
for the rest of our lives.

I'll buy that.

Oh, boy!

This is all my fault.
Now he's gonna k*ll us here.

No, he won't. We'll just get
the tire changed

and then we'll be
out of here in no time.

Tire?

I've been meaning
to fix that tire.

It's flat. The tire's...

I know. I know,
you're sorry.

But I really am sorry.

- I'll be right back.
- Okay.

Looks like
you've got yourself a flat.

I need to get a new tire.
How much?

Why didn't you
just put on the spare?

Well, 'cause the spare
is flat, too.

You gotta watch that.

I could patch that one up for you
until you get yourself a new wheel,

'cause that one's sh*t.

There's no time to fix it.

I... I gotta get out
of here right away.

See, ah...

Um, I'm late for, uh, a wedding.

I'm the... I'm the best man,
and... and my girlfriend...

I fell down while I was
trying to change the tire...

Okay. Okay.

I'm sure I have something that will
work, but it will cost you.

- $80.
- $80?

You're free to shop
the competition.

Okay, all right.
Okay.

Uh...

Let's do it. I'll help you.

Let's move it.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,
to the Midwest...

Lorraine,
you said you were coming.

You said you were coming home
when the Sheriff got there.

He didn't get there.

What?

Well, we sort of left early.

What do you mean you left?

Joey thought we were in danger.

What, so he took you
back out on the road?

We had no choice.

That's it, Lorraine.

I can't put up with this anymore.
Where are you?

I don't know.
Some gas station.

Where?

I guess it's after Taos.

Okay, okay, okay,
now listen to me.

There's a little airport
north of Taos called Sedona.

- It's about...
- Carl.

Just listen to me, please.

I want Joey to drive you to
the airport as fast as he can.

- I'll meet you there.
- What about your race?

Screw the race. I don't want you
getting hurt, you understand?

No. You've been preparing
for this race for months.

I... I won't let you
ruin your chances.

And I won't let you
ruin our lives.

Lorraine,
promise you'll meet me there.

Lorraine?

What?

Promise to meet me
at the airport.

Sam, it's not going to work.
We had Ziggy run the numbers

and you can't hide
in the mountains.

Why not?

Because he'll find you there.

I'll just have to
face him, I guess.

No, you only have
a 3 percent chance of winning.

I can't run
from him forever, Al.

The only way
you're gonna get out of this

is you gotta get rid
of Miss Lucky Charm, here.

How's it going?

Uh, pretty good.
I think he's almost done.

How's Carl?

- He's a little upset.
- Yeah.

He wants us to meet up
at some little airport.

- It's just...
- That's perfect.

That's a great...
that's a great idea.

- It is?
- Yeah. Yeah, listen.

I've been thinking that maybe it
would be better if we split up,

you know,
until everything's okay. Okay?

No, it's not okay.

I don't want to leave you.

The only way to
get rid of this one

is to play hardball, Sam.
Pick a fight.

Don't squirm on me, Sam.

You've got to do
it to save her life.

Lorraine.

Be tough. Tough.

This isn't working out.

That's tough.

What are you saying?

She doesn't mean
a thing to you, Sam.

It was just a fling.

I... I need some time
to think things over.

I understand that.

I just stroll into your life
after three years.

You need a little time
to figure things out.

Yeah.

But that doesn't mean
we have to be apart.

Ditch her, Sam.

She's ready to go.

Okay, thanks.

- Keep in mind...
- We'll be over in a second.

...her last three boyfriends all
d*ed under bizarre circumstances.

- What?
- Yes.

- What?
- Ask about Judd.

What happened to Judd?

Well,

you can... you can lose perspective
looking through a camera,

and he didn't really notice

that he'd actually stepped
into the alligator pit.

Alligator pit?

- How about Michael?
- And Michael?

Now, that wasn't my fault.

Not really.

I didn't tell him to
go to the Dodgers game.

Who knew he was gonna try and catch
a foul ball from the second deck?

Now, let's not forget...

Let's not forget...

Would you stop it.

If you don't want to
be with me, just say it.

Oh, say it, Sam.
Say it!

Lorraine,

I don't want to be
with you anymore.

You said it.

I can't believe
you actually said it.

That's just fine.
That's...

Lorraine.

Now I can get on with
my life without you!

That's fine.
That's good. That's great.

It's for the best, Sam.

You did the right thing.

I know.

Sam!

No!

Stop!

Damn it!
She still gets k*lled.

A witness says that she was run off
the road by a guy driving a camper.

Damn it!
He never gets caught.

You've got to get
there before he does.

Go! Go!

Stop! Stop!

Come on.

Wake up, Lorraine,
it's not worth dying over.

No!

Come on.

Well, that's the end of Nicky.

- Joey doesn't die, right?
- No, Joey doesn't die

and the truck driver
in there's fine, too.

Ziggy said he was belted in.

- Uh-oh!
- What?

Lorraine still dies.

My God, those people
got b*rned to death.

And Joey got sh*t.

At the gas station?

No, after the expl*si*n.

He's okay, though.

So you both got away safe?

- This guy, he kept...
- The guy in the camper?

Did Joey know who it was?

Some guy named Nicky.

He was the one that
k*lled Joey's friend, Ponti.

That's why Joey left Chicago.

He saw the m*rder.

So where's this Nicky now?

I don't know. We lost him.

You mean he never caught Joey?

No.

I don't think so.

I don't know.

We had this horrible fight
and I left.

Joey didn't come with you?

Okay! Okay!

There's a fork in
the road up ahead,

And when we get to it,
you're gonna...

What do you mean,
you don't know which way we go?

You haven't told me yet.

No, I'm talking to Gushie.

Gushie, center me on her.

Al, just tell me which way
to the airport, okay?

No, we don't know.

According to Ziggy,
her body was found in the desert,

midway between Taos and Sedona.

How? Who k*lled her?

We don't know that, either.

This is crazy.
Nicky's dead, right?

He's a French fry.

Well, if he's dead
then who kills Lorraine?

I told you, Ziggy's got nothing.

Maybe it was
another accident then.

- She is accident-prone...
- Oh, sure.

She accidentally sh*t a two-inch
hole in the back of her head

and then dumped herself out
in the wilderness.

Why can't Ziggy just center in on her?
What's the problem?

Because he can't.
She's one of those people

that's got some little synapses
connections in her brain missing.

What?

She's dizzy,
and she's hard to get a lock on.

Well, he's got to.
How much time is left?

Uh.

According to the autopsy report,
we got about 7 minutes...

Almost 8 minutes.

Oh, there's the fork, right there!
Now, uh,

62 percent chance
that whoever k*lled her

met her in Taos.
So take a left.

No, take a, a left.

Sam, take a left. That's not a left,
that's a right. What's the matter with you?

What are you doing?

I'm following my gut.

Hope you got good guts.

So do I.

Where did you
leave Joey, Lorraine?

At the gas station.

- Did he say where he was going?
- No.

Where could he have gone?

I don't know and I don't care.

I'm with you now.

Damn it, Lorraine, think!

Where could he have gone?

Carl,
why are you acting like this?

I don't understand.

I do.

Joey, what are you doing?

Saving your life.

Something I should've done
3 years ago.

What?

Joey, Joey, Joey.

- How you doing?
- You know each other?

You could say that.

Nicky and I go way back.

Nicky?

Nicky Bellini.

He's been using you, Lorraine.

Using you to find me.

No. You're wrong.

We're engaged to be married.
Tell him, Carl.

Oh, God.

Sam, he's got a g*n.

Put your hands on your head.

Come on.

You were using me?

You were using me to find him?

H-hey!

You used me to find Joey, too, Lorraine.
Or, at least, my money.

I'm just sorry it took so long.

And everything you said,
you didn't mean any of it?

It looks like
you didn't, neither.

You would have let me just
die in that expl*si*n.

Face it, Lorraine,
nobody wants a jinx.

You bastard!

No, no, no, no!

Go ahead and I'll break it.

You should've sh*t him.

Come on, let her go.

Put the r*fle down first.

He's gonna break her neck.

Okay.

Okay. Just don't hurt her,
all right?

Now my g*n.

Now back off.

Get ready to take off.

Go, now.

Carl, no!

So you've known the deceased
for some time?

Yeah.

I'd like to say you did it, Sam,

but I think this one,
we've got to give it all to Lorraine.

What happens to her?

Uh, she marries Joey.

Then he's still alive?

No.

Yes.

Poor Carl.
I mean, Nicky.

I always thought
he'd die in a plane crash.

So what happens to us?

I don't know.

What do you want to do?

You get your lounge act
back together.

As a matter of fact,
you're still performing nightly

at the Freaky Tiki in Waikiki.

We go to Hawaii?

I would love to.

Ugh.

Sorry.

It's okay.

It's okay.

Well, you gonna blow

or wait till
the whole house burns down?

Blow?

Yeah, the candles.

Surprise!

We don't wanna wear him out before
I can give him my gift, do we?

Oh, boy!
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