03x05 - The Boogieman - October 31, 1964

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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03x05 - The Boogieman - October 31, 1964

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.

Witchcraft in America...

by the Reverend
John T. Immendorf, Boston.

1879.

1879?

That's not possible.

Hello?
Hello?

Anybody here?

Josh. Josh, are you okay?

Josh, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

I'm sorry, Mr. Rey. I...
I didn't mean to scare you like that.

It's okay. Really.

Oh, oh, man, look at the time.
It's almost 12:15.

Um, is it all right if I go?

I still gotta peel those
grapes for the bowl of eyeballs.

Yeah... yeah, i-it's fine.

Hey, do you need any more
gopher guts or anything?

Uh, no.

No, I think we got
enough gopher guts.

You sure?

Well, maybe not.

Okay, I'll... I'll pick up
some more spaghetti and liver.

And I think we've got
enough pumpkins.

Assuming we ever
finish carving them.

Yeah, well...

You know me, I mean,

"Have Kn*fe,
will carve pumpkins."

You know, Josh,
sometimes you are very scary.

That's why I can't wait
till we get married.

It burns! It burns!
Renfield, my coffin!

And you think I'm scary.

One of these days
I'm gonna write

the scariest book in
the whole wide world.

Except, then nobody
would probably buy it.

We would, wouldn't we?

Uh, a-as long as we're in it.

Yeah.

Hey, Mary, is it okay if I come by
around 5:00 to pick up my costume?

That is, assuming that
my car doesn't break down.

Ask Josh.

I'm in charge of maiming
overgrown vegetables.

He's in charge of
disturbing wardrobes.

Uh, 5:00 would be perfect.

If we're not here,
we'll leave it on the porch.

Great!

Bye, Stevie.

Is this gonna be the best haunted
house we ever had, or what?

Great scarecrow.

Yeah, it is.

The problem with Quantum Leaping is that
it often left me feeling like a scarecrow.

With my head all full of stuffing,
and no idea as to why I was really there.

Josh, yoo-hoo.

I-I'm sorry. W-what were you saying?
I was thinking of something else.

I could tell.

You're worried about how
to k*ll him, aren't you?

I know it's a problem.

I... I... I don't want
to k*ll anybody.

Well, if you don't, I don't
know what you're going to do.

Unless you rewrite
the whole book.

And you don't want to do that.

So I guess you'll just
have to k*ll him.

Right! Right,
I mean... I mean,

how else could I end the book?

Maybe you could burn him at the
stake, like Alice what's-her-name,

who used to live here
before she moved to Salem.

Uh,

weren't the Salem witch trials
in 1690...

- '92. I know.
- '92. Right.

I think it's cool
to k*ll a guy in 1964,

the same way they used to
hundreds of years ago.

Then his ghost can come back
and haunt everyone,

the way Alice's is supposed
to haunt this place.

I don't think she likes
that idea too much.

Tully, could you bang
a little louder, please?

He said he'd have those
windows finished by noon.

Maybe you could go up
and talk to him.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I'll go talk
to him right now.

Unbelievable.

I've leaped into
The Addams Family.

Worm Dancer, Joshua Rey.

Skull Party, Joshua Rey.

The Blood Witch, Joshua Rey.

Burning Fires.
Aye... aye... aye.

"An eel of smoke

"slowly slithered through the
sockets of the moldy skull,

an evil from
the beginning of time."

Oh, brother.

An evil that you'd be doing
well enough to let alone.

You know what
they say, don't you?

Wh-what do they say,

Tully?

Them that dance with the Devil
are bound to get scorched.

Yeah, well, uh...

Real nice job you're doing
on the windows out here.

Alice McHorner danced with him.

b*rned her at the stake.

You're talking like it
happened just yesterday.

What's time to Old Scratch?

Yesterday's tomorrow for him.

Mark my words, you want
no part of his business

because there's only one thing
he's selling, and that's...

Josh! Josh, what's the matter?
What's going on?

He's dead.

I think his... his neck
is broken.

One minute he was just
talking to me, and then

the goat, he yanked on the rag

a-and the ladder
slipped, and... and

that was it.

Goat?

Yeah, the goat.

Can you describe it?

It was a goat.

It looked like any other goat.

It was white, and it had horns.

Josh, you don't have a goat.

It was right there.

Maybe, it was
somebody else's goat.

Yeah, yeah, maybe it was somebody
else's goat. I don't know.

Next farm's 20 miles.

Are you saying
that I pushed him?

'Cause that's crazy.
It was the goat.

Sam, you don't think
maybe unintentionally...

- It was an accident.
- Of course it was.

- Of course.
- Of course.

Mary, I'd like to get your
statement down, too, before I go.

Sure, Ben.
Could we do it inside?

Between the rush
for the spook house,

and now this,
my head's kind of...

- I'd like to sit down.
- Certainly.

Speaking of which,

maybe we should
cancel the spook house.

Well, that's something
to think about.

But if you do, there's gonna be a lot
of people who're gonna be disappointed.

And the truth of the times
is that, well,

some people die
and the rest of us

go on.

I just thought I'd bring it up.

Of course.

Mary.

Excuse me.

I could have saved him, Al,
if I had a little warning.

Don't blame me or Ziggy.
We knew nothing about this.

I'm sorry, Al, I just...

If I wasn't here to save
Tully, what am I doing here?

Well, let's see.
Uh,

it's October 31, 1964,
your name is...

- Joshua Rey.
- Uh-huh.

You're kind of a second-rate
H.P. Lovecraft.

You live in Coventry, Maine, and
you're engaged to Mary Greeley,

who's the organist for the
Coventry Presbyterian Church.

She's also your part-time
research assistant, and...

Tonight at midnight,

she's found strangled

in the church spook house,

which is right there.

Al, Ziggy doesn't think
that I...

That... that Joshua Rey
k*lled her, does he?

No.

That is, uh, probably not.

Probably?

Yeah, well, you were
the logical suspect,

but there was never enough
evidence to justify your arrest.

Look,

if I leap into
a m*rder*r's life,

then I, Sam Beckett,

I'm not gonna k*ll
an innocent person.

So then I've accomplished what I'm
here for, and I should leap, right?

Right. Unless
she wasn't innocent.

This is getting too weird, Al.

I don't understand why Ziggy
didn't pick up on Tully's death.

I mean, he should have
spotted that.

Ziggy swears
he didn't have a clue.

I- It just kind of happened.

Al, somebody made a mistake
and a man is dead.

Do you know what kind
of snake that is?

- What?
- That's a black mamba.

That's one of the
deadliest snakes...

Al, I want you
to run a check on Ziggy.

I don't want to miss
anything else, okay?

I thought I'd close the window.

Uh, thanks, Mary.

Would you like me to get it?

No, I'll get it.

Let's go to my office.

Sam, this isn't an office,
this is a crypt.

You're telling me.

His parents must've read him stories by
Edgar Allan Poe when they put him to sleep.

Al, listen to this:

"A second later,
the goat tugged at the rag.

"Tully toppled off the ladder
and crashed to the ground.

"He never got up again."

This wasn't here before.

Then there's someone with a very
sick sense of humor wandering around.

But the only one
who could've done it...

Josh,
that was Dorothy on the phone.

Maybe she did more
than close the window.

Yes?

She wants to stop by
and bring over

some candlesticks
for the spook house.

I didn't tell her about Tully.

I thought we should
do that in person.

Uh, Ziggy says she's talking about
Dorothy Yeager, the town gossip.

Yeah, s-sure. That's
usually the best way.

Don't worry, Sam.

We're gonna figure out
what's going on.

I'm gonna get Ziggy
on it right away.

You do that.

I will.
And in the meantime,

I'd keep my eye on you-know-who,
if you know what I mean.

I'm here to help her.

I know.
All I'm saying is,

that letter didn't type itself.

I always told him he was too
old to be playing handyman.

But he had a head
harder than a frozen pipe.

Do you remember the time
he put his back out

trying to cement
your root cellar?

Yeah, that was painful.

Or the time
he was going to install

your dishwasher in your kitchen?

You were knee-deep in water before
anybody could say apricot jelly.

I was so mad, I could k*ll.

Oh, I wonder if you could
lend me a hand.

I left the candlesticks in
the car. They were so heavy.

I'd forgotten how much
silver weighed.

No, no, no, you stay here.
I'll get them.

You're a very lucky young man.

She's very special.

You don't get a girl like that
without making some enemies, do you?

Oh, my gracious, no.

We're all only human.

No, I thought Ben Masters
was fixing to pitch a fit,

but I think the best man won.

Thanks.

And thanks, Dorothy. We'll
get these back to you tomorrow.

No rush. I haven't
used them in ages.

Would you like
some more apple cider?

Only if I can get you some.

Thank goodness I'm still not
too old to carry a pitcher.

It's on the counter next to the
stove, buried between some pumpkins.

I'll find it.

Well, now all we have to do is finish
carving those pumpkins and we'll be set.

Sam, you don't have anything
to worry about.

That's great.

Ziggy's run a complete check
on the probability matrix

of everyone you've come in
contact with, or are likely to.

And Mary is definitely
the one you're here for.

You know, Mary,

on... on second thought,
maybe we really should

cancel the spook house.

I- It doesn't seem right.

Josh,

Tully was an accident,
that's all.

It's not like this is
one of your books.

I know, but I just...

Dorothy!

She's dead!

No. No.

It went down there
and disappeared.

I want to know what's going on,
Al, and I want to know right now.

Run another check
on the Sheriff.

Tear Ziggy apart if you have to,
but I want to find out

who put that black mamba
in the kitchen!

I just can't believe
two deaths in one day.

It's incredible.

And they were both so bizarre.

Then all those questions.

I feel like
I'm going to throw up.

Police questioning
has a way of doing that.

Tell you what.
Why don't you, uh,

go inside and... and
make us some tea and, uh,

I'll see if I can find
something for your stomach, okay?

Mmm.

There is
a logical explanation, Sam.

No.

I told you, Al, she didn't
do it. She couldn't have.

Just look at her eyes.

Maybe she's wearing
contact lenses.

Maybe she's a great
poker player.

I knew a guy, you could look
him in the eye and couldn't tell

whether he had four of a kind or a
busted flush. You're a scientist, Sam,

you gotta explore
all possibilities.

She's not one of them.

What'd she do, Al? Teach the goat to
pull a rag out from underneath a ladder?

Well, that's if
there was a goat.

She could've pushed the ladder
from a lower window

and you didn't see it.

I saw the goat.

Well,
she could've k*lled Dorothy.

She could've put the snake on
the counter next to the pitcher.

What about Masters?

- What did you find on him?
- The Sheriff?

We've run every test
we could think of.

Ziggy checks out perfectly.

Sam, there's something hinky
going on around here.

Come on, there's a logical
explanation for everything.

Now, you know that.
We just...

We just haven't found it yet.

Well, we have,
but you won't admit it.

No!
Yes!

No! Look.

"A second after Dorothy moved
aside the pumpkin, the snake struck.

"It was hard to say
which k*lled her first,

"the venom or the heart att*ck.

Either way, she was dead."

Where is Mary now?

She's downstairs in the kitchen.

Probably sharpening knives.

What are you telling me, she's
some sort of a demented psychopath?

Did she do anything
strange today?

- Anything at all?
- No!

How about before
Dorothy came over?

No, she... she stayed
in the kitchen,

carving pumpkins.

Who are you talking to?

Uh, n-no,

I was just trying to think
of some dialogue for my book.

You called me
a demented psychopath.

No, I didn't.

Maybe she's a schizophrenic.

Maybe she forgot about grabbing
the snake and typing this.

Mary, a lot of strange things
have been happening

around here,
a-and they're sort of...

Well, they're unexplainable.

You think I'm the explanation?

You think I k*lled Tully?

- No.
- Yes!

- And Dorothy?
- No!

Yes! How could you think that of me?

If you don't want to get married,
why don't you come out and say it

instead of hiding behind some insane
accusation that I committed m*rder!

- How do I know it wasn't you?
- Mary.

Because you're
the one who did it.

I'm just trying to eliminate
all the possibilities.

- I... I... I really don't think...
- Yes, you do!

You're calling me a m*rder*r.

Sam, I don't like things
that fly around without wings.

I don't know what you're
doing, but it's not funny.

I didn't do anything!

She's a witch.

It didn't fly across
the room by itself.

She's like, what's-her-name,
the one that used to live here.

I'm telling you, I didn't...

Uh-oh!

This is like The Exorcist.
She's possessed!

She's having a seizure, Al.
She's epileptic.

What about the skull?

Forget about the damned skull!

We've gotta get her
to a hospital!

If we don't get her there
quick, she could die.

Ziggy's never said anything
about her being epileptic.

Ziggy hadn't said
a lot of things.

But that would
explain the skull.

What?

Psychokinesis is very real, Al.

The brain works
on a chemo-electrical level.

Epilepsy is a sort of
crossing of the wires.

So that maybe when her
neurons short-circuited,

maybe it stimulated
her psychokinetic energy.

But that still doesn't explain
Tully and Dorothy.

No. But you don't k*ll someone
without a motive.

Unless you're a psychopath.

- What's her motive?
- Uh...

Only if there's a motive
is there a connection.

Well, the way to find out
about that is...

Or disprove it.

Or disprove it,
is to go to where she lives, which is

966 Salem Avenue.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Uh, women and holograms first.

It's only a house, Sam.

Sam!

All right.
Right. Okay.

What do you call
all this weird stuff, Sam?

It's probably just research
material for Joshua's book.

Yeah. And Tully and Dorothy were
probably just a field experiment.

What have you got against her?

When she's around, people die.

- How's that for starters?
- Coincidence.

Well, it's a kind that Ziggy's
never seen before.

Second, she can make things fly.

We settled all that, Al.

Maybe you did, not me.

She's probably got a broomstick
hidden around here somewhere.

And third, she's in the hospital,
and you haven't leaped yet.

Okay. Okay,
but that means

that she still gets k*lled,

which makes her a victim,
not a m*rder*r.

Unless her intended victim
k*lled her in self-defense.

No, then I'm here to help a
m*rder*r, which is ridiculous.

But...

Take a look at this, Al.

It's the church bulletin
for Coventry Presbyterian.

Look at the Board of Deacons.

Mary Greeley, Tully
Maltin, Dorothy Yeager.

Who would want to k*ll
all the Board of Deacons?

How about a schizophrenic
horror novelist?

Um, Mary asked me to come by

and... and, uh, pick up
some of her things.

Really?

Yeah.

That's interesting.

Particularly since I just came
from the hospital

and they said she still hadn't
recovered consciousness yet.

Well, she asked me
before she had

her episode.

How convenient.

Sam.

That's an unusual
tattoo, Sheriff.

Okay, you caught me.

I'm really a warlock, and
that's the sign of my coven.

- I knew it.
- And I k*lled Dorothy and Tully

because they were
about to expose me.

Grab him, Sam!

"That's interesting,"
to quote a sheriff I know.

Isn't it?

Unless, of course, the real story is
I got drunk one night on shore leave

and almost had an Air
Force tattoo put on my arm.

Pretty embarrassing
for a guy in the Navy.

I'll say.

So what's the real story
for you being here?

Same as yours.

- m*rder.
- Discovering clues

or eliminating them?

Sheriff, you know, you were in
the kitchen before Dorothy d*ed.

- You could've put the snake there.
- But I didn't.

I found a broken wooden match
on the floor near her legs.

You got a gas stove. You
light gas stoves with matches.

Sam,

I'm going to go back and have Gushie
run some more things by, uh, Ziggy

because maybe he can
come up with something new.

Sheriff, if I were you,
I would be, uh,

looking for a connection
to the Board of Deacons.

If I were you, I'd be
looking for a good lawyer.

Sheriffs need lawyers, too.

Not this one.

I think I owe you an apology.

How you feeling?

Nothing a six-month honeymoon
in the Bahamas couldn't cure.

We'll see what we can do
about that. Here.

Mary,

is there anybody in town

that you know that... that
might want to hurt you?

Hurt, as in dead?

Yeah.

No.

Two deacons are dead. I
don't want there to be three.

Neither do I.

You know,

somehow,

you seem more decisive,
more confident.

Well, believe me, the last
thing I am is confident.

You go back to sleep, okay, and, um,
I'll be back to check on you later.

Promise?

Cross my heart and hope

to limbo.

- The Bahamas.
- Oh, goody.

The rational mind will tell you
that things happen for a reason,

but so far, I couldn't find one.

And the scary thing was,
time was running out

and I knew that somewhere out
there, a k*ller was coming.

A k*ller, perhaps with a badge.

Where'd you come from?

What, did you sneak in
while I was leaving the house?

Hey! Hey!

Hey! Mr. Rey.

Hey! Mr. Rey,
a-are you all right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think so.

Oh, God, I'm sorry, Mr. Rey.

I didn't mean to scare you. I... It's
just that my... my car broke down again

and I... I was walking toward town
and I was trying to flag you down.

I guess that you thought...

I know.
Oh, I know. I know.

It wasn't your fault, okay?

I jerked the wheel
to avoid the goat.

And then, when I saw you,

I overreacted,
and the cat jumped

in my face.

And then,

I tried to stay on the road,

but the car, I don't know,

it... it was just like in Christine,
it... it had a... a mind of its own,

and I... I crashed.

Christine?

Never mind.

Mr. Rey, I didn't...
I didn't see any goat.

I saw a goat.

It was the same goat I saw this
morning at the house, at my house!

Mr. Rey, you don't have any cats.

Stevie, this cat.

My cat.

666?

Them that dance with the Devil
are bound to get scorched.

Al!

Well, next time, I'll knock.

But all this stuff going on
around here has got me jumpy, too.

Did Ziggy find anything?

Zippo. He still thinks
you're here to save Mary.

It's gotta be the Sheriff, Al.

He's the only one who could
have k*lled Tully and Dorothy.

What, with a trained goat
and a snake?

This is a sheriff,
not Ringling Bros.

Nobody else could have done it.

Maybe the boogieman.

Look, I found his matchstick
on the floor in the kitchen.

Now, he had plenty of time when
he was taking Mary's statement

to... to grab the snake
and then type the note.

That doesn't explain the goat.

Well, I don't know how he did it, Al,
I just... I just know that he did it.

Well, then you've gotta find him

and stop him,
no matter what it takes.

Operator.

Operator, uh, yeah, yeah,
uh, give me the Sheriff.

It's an emergency.

Moment, please.

Coventry Sheriff's Department.

Hello, this is Joshua Rey.

Uh, I need to talk
to the Sheriff, please.

So do we.

We've been looking for him
for half an hour ourselves.

Operator.

Yeah, operator,
get me the hospital.

They can't find the Sheriff.
He's been gone for half an hour.

Yes, Mary Greeley's room, please.

I'm sorry,
she's already checked out.

What?

She's outside
waiting for the Sheriff.

Well, don't let her go with him.
No, you tell her I'll be right there.

Jo-Joshua Rey.

The Sheriff called. He's on
his way over to give her a lift.

Gushie, center me on Mary, now!

I told you it was the Sheriff!

Sheriff!

Sheriff!

Sheriff?

No!

When I was growing up, Halloween was
always one of my favorite holidays.

Trick or treat, we used to say.

Of course, back then,
we always expected a treat

and if we did play a trick, it
was always funny and harmless.

But tonight,
there were no treats.

There were no tricks.

There was only death.

Stevie,
the Sheriff and Mary inside?

Yeah, they just got here
a minute ago.

Good.

Good, you can go home now.

Hey, Mr. Rey, I got this idea for my book.

- It's about this...
- I said, you can go home now.

Oh.

Okay.

See you, Mr. Rey.

Mary?

Josh?

Mary,

Ben is dead.

No, he isn't.
He's in the kitchen.

Well,

it's about time.

Oh, my God!

Mary, run!

Advanced psychokinesis?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

And Mary,

she was never in danger.

She is now.

And Tully and the others?

The fun part was
that it was a pattern

that seemed to add up,
but it didn't.

But it did.

You quoted Tully's line to me about
"them who dance with the Devil."

I never told you that.

You never walked through
anything in this leap

or used
the imaging chamber door.

And when we were upstairs, and you
left to find Mary, you disappeared

without using your handlink
to Ziggy. But most important,

you were the only other person
around when Dorothy and Tully d*ed.

Personally, my favorite
part was watching your face

when you read the messages
in the typewriter.

That was priceless.

You know how this story's
going to end, don't you?

I know how you want it to.

Yes, I believe you do.

I'm sorry I'm late, but something
was goofing Ziggy up and...

Oh, Sam, this is not good.

No, it isn't.

Sam, uh, you, uh, you better
get out of here quick-quick.

We can't, Al.
He's locked us in.

He's already k*lled three
people, and he intends to k*ll us.

Something long overdue.

Sam, uh, Ziggy says that there's
definitely something there.

That's more than I can
say for you.

Who are you?

Yin and yang,

good and bad,

God...

The Devil.

In the flesh, so to speak.

This isn't possible.

Come on, Al,
tell me he's not real.

He's real, Sam, he's very real.

What is happening?

Why are you doing this?

To put an end to your meddling.

Who gave you the right
to go bungling around in time,

putting right what I made wrong?

I'm just trying to get home.

Well, you're not
going to make it!

Sam, if you can touch him,
you can hurt him!

Sam!
Sam!

Hang in there, Sam,
hang in there!

Sam!

Sam!

Josh!

Josh! Josh, are you okay?

Josh, what's the matter?

No-No-Nothing.

I'm fine.

Sort of.

Thank God,
you scared me for a minute.

You had me scared, too, Sam.

We completely lost you there
for a couple of minutes.

What happened?

For a while, there were...

two of you

and one of you
was trying to k*ll me.

- I was trying to k*ll you?
- I was trying to k*ll you?

Cool. What a neat idea.

You must've been dreaming.
Your name is, uh, Joshua Rey,

you're a second-rate
horror novelist,

and you're here to save a person

named Tully...

Josh!

Tully!

Sam!

Sam, this is incredible!

You knew what to do
before I even told you.

Thank you, Mr. Rey.

You really saved my neck.

Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?

Glad you're okay.

God, look at the time.
It's almost 12:15.

I got to scram.

I still gotta peel those
grapes for the bowl of eyeballs.

Al, it was the goat...

I don't see any goat.

What else did I do
while you were unconscious?

Uh,

well, you got angry at me,

and made a skull
fly across the room.

It could have been worse. It
could have been kitchen knives.

Wow! What a neat idea!

- Hi, Mrs. King!
- Hi, Mom!

Stevie?

King.

Hey, Cujo!

Kitchen knives?
Christine?

Oh, my God, I just gave him...

What?

Bye-bye, Sam.

Open the window!

I wish I could go with you, honey,
but your daddy would go crazy

if I left him here
alone with the twins.

I'm just so danged proud of you.

Oh!

Wait. Oh, tarnation,
I almost forgot.

Come get this stuff.
Open that door!

Yoo-hoo!

If you had forgotten this,

you would look pretty foolish.

These are my favorite
earbobs.

It wouldn't do for my baby girl

to go off to the biggest
beauty contest in the South

without her crown

and her sash, now, would it?

Oh!

Oh, boy.
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