“Play It Again, Seymour – April 14, 1953” is episode nine of season one of Quantum Leap and the season finale.
At the end of the previous episode, “Camikazi Kid – June 6, 1961”, Sam leaped into a man standing over a dead body and holding a gun. The cops come in, and one addresses him by name. Sam assumes from a comment he’s in LA, but he’s in New York.
In a cell, Sam has found out he’s a private detective called Nick Allen and the dead man on the floor was his partner. Sam is also looking in the mirror at his reflection. Al arrives and Sam asks if he’s Bogart. No, but the resemblance is amazing.
Al thinks Sam is probably there to find the killer. Nick probably didn’t do it; his partner, Phil Grimsley, specialised in seedy divorce cases and would have more than one irate person. Sam says he’s going to be set free. Any minute now a bald detective smoking a cigar will come through a door and says the bullets weren’t from Nick’s gun. Which is exactly what happens.
Back at the building where Nick’s office is, Sam thinks he’s going to be approached by someone in publishing called Seymour. There are three people; a lift operator, the building manager and Seymour, the boy at the newsstand, and Sam knows them all. Seymour has heard word that Nick’s partner was killed by a dropper called Klapper; Seymour talks like he’s in a hard-boiled novel. The lift operator takes Nick to his floor and asks about inviting Alison, Grimsley’s newly-minted widow, to a game. Too soon?
As Sam enters the offices, he has deja vu over again. Someone dangerous is in his office. It’s a young woman. Allison Grimsley. She was afraid the police would find out about them; it would give Nick motive to kill her husband. She checks that he didn’t. She couldn’t love a man who killed her husband. It seems Phil had a nightmare about a dropper called Klapper. Allison is scared and wants to stay at Nick’s place. They’ve been waiting so long.
After Allison has gone, Sam starts reading a manuscript Nick is writing; it’s a real-life story of Nick’s life. When Al appears, Sam tells him he’s read this book; that’s why things seem familiar. Nick and Allison loved each other but were too loyal to Phil to do anything, and Sam thinks he’s there so he and Allison can live happily ever after. Al asks if he doesn’t mean Allison and Nick. Er, yes. Sam doesn’t think Allison could be the killer. Al doesn’t think the book was published under the working title. Sam can’t remember how it ended. Al doubts it was with Nick and Allison living happily ever after, else why would Sam be there?
Sam heads out and Seymour tells him that there’s a rumour that Klapper will be at the Blue Island that night. Then Sam nearly falls down the lift shaft. When he climbs back out, Seymour is unconscious.
It seems the safety latch was broken. Seymour asks Sam if he thinks Klapper is responsible. No, because Klapper is a pro. Allison meets them downstairs; she doesn’t want Nick to go to the Blue Island as that’s where Phil went the night he was killed.
Al thinks Allison is a viable suspect. Sam does not, but he seems under her influence. Al also finds the book Nick was working on. The reason Sam doesn’t remember the ending is there wasn’t one. It was published to see if the public could solve the murders in it. Murders, plural, because Nick was killed too. Tonight.
The ending leading into season two has Sam facing something unsuspected.