108 Play It Again, Seymour

This was a good episode. It was filled with mystery and suspense.

Not a bad episode.Claudia Christian is sizzling.

Eh... Ijust thought this one was ok...

This is my favorite from Season 1, barring the pilot. It has an almost magical quality that the series never achieved again. It's as though Sam has leaped into a fictional character. All the film references are great fun, along with the silly gumshoe slang. Besides, Al was to die for in that white suit.

On the DVD for season 1, Scott tells a great story about that episode. He and Dean had to work all night filming promos for the show because Sunday evening was the only time they could schedule it. Then they both had to go to the set to film all day Monday, doing the ballroom scene. So both of them were completely exhausted, but I don't think you'll find any flaws in their performances because of it.

I really like this Episode as well, it just goes to show how great Scott and Dean are as actor's and not just collapse on set, and the general quality of their skill shines right through.

I particularly like the elevator scene, but surely Scott hurt himself a bit there? Poor guy.

Also, it reminds me of the ST:TNG episode 'The Long Goodbye'. Which is always good.

I loved this episode. Reasons for I don't know, but there was just something about it. I liked that it appeared to be poking a little bit of fun at those old detective movies. I also agree with Snish's comment.

Why do I treasure this episode???? Because it was filmed in the Bradbury Mansion for one, for another Scott looks gorgeous, Dean was exquisite as Al and the interplay between them locked Sam and Al in my heart forever.
Terri

I loved the spat that Al and Sam had at the bar. But then Sam says sorry at the end. Awww.

It was cool to see Willie Garson. He looks younger with that cap on!

But the main reason I like this episode is because Scott looks so hot!!!

I love the scene when he and Claudia are kissing in the rain - ooooooooo - hot!

Does anyone else find it interesting that Sam lights up several times in the series, including in this episode, but calls smoking a "nasty habit" several other times?

Good Episode but all the "gumshoe slang" really ruined it for me,because it seems to me like if you're not an American and familier with that old detective slang and fiction it hard to follow the dialogues. thanks god i've seen it with translation...

I'm curious, isz - where are you from? That genre (the Phillip Marlowe/Sam Spade detective story) would require some familiarity with American cultural references. Don't feel bad, though, some of it was gibberish to me, too.

I'm from Israel.

:dreaming The Best Part: I was never a fan of this genre, so finding a best part in it is a "few and far between" issue with me. I'm actually having to think about it. Hmm. I guess when Sam thought he Leaped into Humphrey Bogart at first. He sure looked like him.

:lol The Funniest Part: When Al told the cop he should (not quoting) trim his mustache... it had some junk in it and it was yucky. I died laughing!

:realmad The Worst Part: All that slang... and I'm an American who understood every word of it!

This episode: SO-SO :hmm

Gee, everyone's complaining about the slang being hard to follow. I'm from australia and I found it a breeze. Just goes to show how influenzed we are over here by America. I did enjoy this ep, i really do enjoy the ones that have a lot of comedy and fun in them. This is one of those ones that have the 'stereo types' that we can have a giggle at. I think as the series progressed they were got few and far between. The fun eps that is.

Ok, there goes my opinion:

I'm not complaining for the slang, and it kinda helped to increase the vocabulary. But I had a hard time trying to understanding it at first without the spanish subtitles (for the english practice, you know, and I remember watchin' this episode with spanish dubbing first when I was a kid). Of course, with the spanish dubbing, you lose half of the slang in the adaptation, but it was a decent adaptation.

It's kinda funny how Seymour sticks at Nick/Sam's side, like a chewing gum on a shoe and tries to emulate the attitude (in his own way) of Nick/Sam. Anyway, as we all know, after all the kidnapping and shooting, Seymour limits the detective adventures to writing stories...

Best Regards

Joe Quarterback

Forgettable episode...

Snish said:

It has an almost magical quality that the series never achieved again. It's as though Sam has leaped into a fictional character.

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The first time I watched this episode I actually thought for a while that Sam was dreaming the leap. There really is a magical, unreal, dream-like quality to the whole episode that was wonderful.

I also loved the way they integrated the friendship theme in the episode, with Sam's lashing out at Al and then at Seymour, and then it resolves beautifully in both instances. It's done in a subtle, touching way. One of the best in Season 1.

Right up there with the episode "Stand-Up" (which I'll get to sometime soon), this is one of the episodes I always try to skip or at least leave it to the very end after watching all the other episodes first. Loved the beginning and the end of this episode, especially the "start of a wonderful friendship" stuff, but everything that is in the middle is rather boring to me. It actually captures its point very well at recreating that sort of detective story and its very peculiar style, but it's just not of my liking.

My rating: Fair.

Overall, not my favorite season, but definitely the one that carries most of the gems of variation.

This is actually in my Top 10 list. It took me a while to warm up to it, but it was creatively done, the whole film noir angle (even having Sam talking like a 1940s private eye). Despite not having a clear mission, there was a good plot and I thought well-acted.

Though Sam seemed "off" in this episode, his treatment of Seymour and smoking a cigarette!

We never really knew what Sam's real objective was here, but it was one of those "on the lighter side" episodes (well except for the guy shooting at him at Laguardia).

Bexter said:

Gee, everyone's complaining about the slang being hard to follow. I'm from australia and I found it a breeze.

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The slang was a neat angle, I could usually figure it out from context. Strange episode, but good anyway.

Allison had to be klapper

When Sam left Gotham Towers for Laguardia, we saw someone get into the cab with Allison, someone she was expecting. If that was Lionel, how could they not have been in it together? Perhaps it wasn't Allison's intention for Lionel to kill Phil, but would she then have had Nick killed to get him out of the way?

Also, I was wondering about that "Who Killed Grimsley and Allen" part. Who wrote it if Nick and Phil were both killed? I'm not familiar with those contest books but did they write them about real events hoping that a reader found the killer? And what did Al mean about "if the cops could prove it...", did he mean the real cops or what? :|

leaper1 said:

I always took it that she hadn't actually looked, and was assuming it was Sam in the cab.

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Exactly. She's looking in the mirror and putting on lipstick, not at who got in the car. She assumed it was Sam/Nick coming back.

This episode is kinda "meh" for me. The costumes and sets are wonderful, but the storyline and dialogue just don't reach out and grab me. Maybe I'm just not a fan of old noir murder mysteries.

Though the look that Al gives when Lionel shoots through him did make me snicker.

This episode gets an "Average" rating from me.

Astonished to see that I voted average for this one 6 years ago. Either I was drunk or half asleep. I would never probably vote any episode of Quantum Leap as poor, as I don't think any episode truly is... But this one pushes me close. In fact, just for the sake of saying I will have used every ranking at least once, I'm going to class this one as poor. I can overlook badly written or uninteresting stories, and end up classing them as fair. But when an episode messes Sam up without reason, it becomes poor.

There are so many, many things I dislike about this episode. I hate the slang. I just can't stand it. The way that Seymour speaks is especially grating. I have never been a fan of film noir, so this episode was probably never going to appeal to me. The reason for the leap is again poor. Just to launch Seymour's career? Really? It just feels all wrong. Unfortunately, though, I haven't got to the worst part yet... And that's the way Sam's character is butchered.

From the moment he looks at Allison...he's hooked. Within the first few seconds of seeing her we just sense that he wants to get his leg over, basically. Lol. Throughout the episode he's acting like Al, and it's just not like him at all. I mean, as a straight guy, I can understand a man falling for her. Allison is one of the hottest female characters in the entire series. But Sam is often surrounded by a bevy of beauties, and he never acts like this. Snapping at Al and desperately trying to board the plane at the end just comes across like a different character. The way he treats Seymour towards the end is also unlike him. Thankfully, he does apologise to both Al and Seymour, but on the whole he just doesn't seem like Sam Beckett throughout this episode. And no mind merging is ever mentioned, so we're just supposed to believe this is how he would react in such a situation... Anyway, rant over.

As always, though, this episode is not a total loss (as no episode of this glorious show ever is). Some of the humour does work occasionally, and the apology scene in the cab with Sam and Al is a nice little scene.

My rating. Poor (despite already voting average 6 years ago for some insane reason). The worst episode of the entire series, IMO. A bad way to end the first season.

chris-oates said:

But Sam is often surrounded by a bevy of beauties, and he never acts like this. Snapping at Al and desperately trying to board the plane at the end just comes across like a different character. The way he treats Seymour towards the end is also unlike him. Thankfully, he does apologise to both Al and Seymour, but on the whole he just doesn't seem like Sam Beckett throughout this episode. And no mind merging is ever mentioned, so we're just supposed to believe this is how he would react in such a situation...

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This episode did seem very un-Sam-like. You also didn't mention the fact he was smoking a cigarette! And as far as the lingo goes, that's what made this episode uniquely entertaining for me, even though I don't normally like that kind of film-noir type piece it made for a good episode. And it was early in the series, I think the writers (and Bakula himself) were still trying to figure out who Sam is.


I remember in the pilot episode, all those crazy answers Sam gave to the questionnaire, like being expelled from college for streaking... The first season was definitely not the best but considering that, there were a few gems, like this one and How the Tess Was Won.