"The Last Door"     Trilogy Part III

Leap Date:

July 18, 1978

Episode Adopted by: M. J. Cogburn
Additional info provided by: Deborah Hendryx

Synopsis:

In the final installment of a three-part saga, Sam leaps into Larry Stanton, a lawyer who defends Abagail on trial for the  murder of Leta Aider. Secrets are revealed, the family history comes unraveled, and surprises are in store for Sam as he discovers the heritage behind Abagail's daughter, Samantha Jo Fuller.

Audio from this episode

Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Songs
Music Artists
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Cast members who have passed away
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say what? (things in the episode that make no sense)
Quotable Quotes
Awards

AIRING DATE: November 24, 1992

PLACE: Baton Rouge, Louisiana / Potterville, Louisiana

DATE: July 28, 1978

LEAPEE: Lawrence Stanton III

GUEST CAST:

W.K. Stratton – Lawrence "Larry" Stanton III / Mirror

Diana Bellamy – Cheryln Stanton

Fran Bennett – Marie Beth Billings

Melora Hardin – Abagail Fuller

Kimberly Cullum – Samantha Josephine "Sammy Jo" Fuller

Stephen Lee – Bo Loman

James Greene – Denton Waters

Max Wright – Doctor Kinman

Mary Gordon Murry – Leta Aider

Heather Lauren Olsen – Violet Aider

Parley Baer – Judge Shiner

Lanier Edwards -- Bailiff

SPECIAL GUEST:
Meg Foster – Laura Fuller

GUESTS WHO APPEARED IN OTHER QUANTUM LEAP EPISODES
W.K. Stratton also appeared in the episodes "Genesis", "Good Night, Dear Heart," and the trilogy episodes "One Little Heart" and "For Your Love."

SONGS
Mockingbird (A lullaby) – depending on the time in the show, it can be anywhere from sweet and calming to eerie and odd.

MISCELLANEOUS TRIVIA OF OTHER CHARACTERS:

Leta Aider:
Her daughter, Violet was presumed dead in 1953 and her husband was killed two years later, and Leta believed Abagail Fuller was responsible for both deaths.

Eleven years later she led a lunch mob that tried to kill Abagail after a local boy turned up missing. The boy was eventually found safe.

New: In 1978, her daughter’s bones were found at the bottom of a well. Leta went to an attorney, but he told her that they couldn’t prosecute Abagail because she was a juvenile when the murder took place. Leta was later found in Abagail’s kitchen, dead, and Abagail was arrested for the murder. In the trial it came out that Leta had committed suicide, but called the sheriff just before then to report screams in the house in order to set up Abagail.

Violet Aider:
Next to Abagail fuller, she was the prettiest girl in the parish in 1953, but she vanished after the two girls had an argument over a locket. The entire parish searched for her until they found hre bloody sweater and decided a pack of wild dogs roaming in the area must have killed her. They destroyed the dogs and Sheriff Clayton Fuller closed the case.

Violet’s mother believed Abagail Fuller had murdered her daughter.

New: The child’s bones were discovered in 1978 when the town well was unsealed for renovations.

Abagail Fuller:
The whole town believed this little girl was cursed crazy because her mother and grandmother were "touched". When Sam leaped into her father Clayton, Abagail had just found the body of Bart Aider, father of Violet, a girl Abagail had been accused of murdering two years before. The girls had gotten into a fight over a locket, and Abagail said Violet had run off and that was the last she had seen of her. Violet’s body was never found, but her bloody sweater was. Clayton was the sheriff, and he closed the case, saying a pack of wild dogs must have killed the girl. Violet’s mother Leta never stopped haranguing Abagail, insisting she killed Violet. And when her husband Bart died under mysterious circumstances, she believed Abagail killed him, too. Leta tried to get Abagail to admit she killed Violet, and then set the Fuller house on fire, hoping to kill Abagail. Sam rescued Abagail and Leaped just before Clayton was killed.

Cut to 1966: Twenty-one-year-old Abagail was preparing to marry Will Kinman, the local deputy. Sam leaped into Will the night before the wedding, and she later told him that making love seemed wrong, and then in a "magic flash" it was as though their bodies were made for each other. Sam was equally attracted to Abagail, practically becoming obsessed with her. When Tavis Perkins, a boy she had been baby-sitting, disappeared, the town – at Leta’s instigation – blamed her and formed a lunch mob. Sam kept Abagail from being shot and helped the town find the missing boy.

New: Cut to 1978. Violet Aider’s bones were found at the bottom of the town well during restoration work. Leta went to an attorney, who told her they couldn’t prosecute because Abagail was a minor when the crime occurred. Later, Leta’s body was found on Abagail’s kitchen floor. Abagail was arrested and in the original history, died in the electric chair on June 30, 1984. Sam leaped into Larry Stanton, a former local attorney who had moved to Shreveport. The Fuller family housekeeper asked Sam to take the case, and he did. Sam was surprised to meet Sammie Jo, Abagail’s daughter by Will Kinman. She and Will never married, and she raised the child on her own. Al reported that Sammie JO was conceived while Sam was Will Kinman. Sam proved Abagail’s innocence by showing that Leta Aider had called the police before committing suicide in the kitchen. Sammie Jo then confirmed the evidence when she screamed from the audience in the courtroom that she had seen everything. Abagail eventually married, moved to Chicago, and is happy to this day.

Laura Blanchette Fuller:
Clayton Fuller’s wife. After Sam leaped into Clayton, he was under the impression that Laura was dead., but saw a "vision" of her when a gust of wind blew closed his bedroom door. He found out from Abagail that the night Violet Aider died, Laura and Clayton had a terrible argument and she left. Sam found out that she had been committed to Peach Hill Home fore the Mentally Ill that night. He visited and found her uncommunicative, rocking in a chair and staring into space, though she did seem to notice Al.

When Sam visited her eleven years later as Will Kinman, Laura had bandages on her head and one arm. She was more communicative, but talked about her mother, who had killed all of her brothers and sisters because there was no food. Laura had escaped death because she had fallen under the bed. She saw Sam as himself and believed he would keep her daughter safe.

New: In 1978 when Abagail was being held in Leta Aider’s murder, Sam went back to visit Laura as Larry Stanton. The bandages were gone, revealing a head and arm that had been severely burned. Her doctor said she was staying at the hospital of her own accord and was free to come and go as she pleased. Laura remembered him as Sam, and said that Clayton told her he would come, and now she would tell the whole truth about Violet Aider’s death. She had seen Violet after the fight, and the girl backed away and fell into a well. Laura tried to catch her, but was only able to grab the locket, which she had secretly kept all these years. Since Laura wasn’t at the hospital against her will, her testimony on Abagail’s behalf was accepted in court to the disconcertment of Mr. Waters.

Reta Blanchette:
Laura Fuller’s mother killed all of her children except Laura after she lost her husband and her money. Then she cut her own throat. The local story was that she preferred to kill her babies than to see them starve. Mr. Devareaux, who found the carnage, said she’d lost her mind. The local legend had it that the family had one cursed child every generation. First Reta, then Laura, now Abagail. Later it came out the reason Laura wasn’t killed was that she had slipped down between the beds and was not seen by her mother.

Marie Beth Billings:
She worked as the housekeeper for the Fuller family for thirty years. In 1978, Marie went to Larry Stanton/Sam and asked him to defend Abagail Fuller for the murder of Leta Airder. Stanton originally didn’t take the case.

Willis Gunerson Kinman:
Will Kinman was the son of a local doctor, and spoke with a stutter.

He seemed to like Abagail Fuller, and eventually proposed to her. Sam leaped into Will the night before their wedding just after the pair had made love. Will was now twenty-seven and deputy sheriff. Sam found himself falling for Abagail bit time. He had picked up Will’s stutter, but after they made love, he lost the stutter completely. Sam saved Abagail from a lynch mob and leaped.

New: Will and Abagail never married. He moved out west to write a book. On the night Sam and Abagail made love, they conceived a daughter, Sammie Jo.

Bo Loman:
Clayton Fuller’s deputy became sheriff on his death in 1955 and was still holding that position when Sam returned in 1966 and 1978.

Denton Waters:
Leta Aider tried to retain this high-powered attorney to prosecute Abagail Fuller in the death of her daughter. Denton explained that he couldn’t take the case because Abagail was a juvenile at the time of the murder, so she couldn’t be tried as an adult. Leta was then found on the floor of Abagail’s kitchen with her throat slashed, and Denton was the prosecuting attorney in Abagail’s trial on charges of murdering Leta Aider.

Doc Kinman:
Doctor in a small Louisiana town where Sam found himself as sheriff. He couldn’t determine the cause of death of Bart Aider, and had to have the coroner from Shreveport come in. His son is Will Kinman.

Lawrence (Larry) Stanton III:
Larry is a small town Louisiana lawyer who stepped into the lynch mob to help save Abagail Fuller from dying.

New: He left town after Abigail Fuller was nearly lynched because she didn’t want his children to grow up in an atmosphere of prejudice and hate. He was living in Shreveport in 1978 when Marie Billings came to ask him to defend Abagail fuller on charges of murdering Leta Aider. Originally, he didn’t, but Sam was now there and took the case. Stanton had a heart condition, and Sam had "inherited" it along with the physical aura, and he had to take nitroglycerin pills to keep going sometimes.

Cheryln Stanton:
By 1978 she had been married to Larry Stanton for 28 years, and loved to play bedroom games on Saturday nights,. Larry was her second husband. The first one died of a heart attack when she was seventeen and he was seventy-seven. Al said Larry Stanton will meet the same fate, and believe she killed both of her husbands. She didn’t want her husband to take on defending Abagail Fuller because it was her black housekeeper Marie who showed up to ask him to take the case. She called Marie "nigger trash." Larry/Sam apologized to Marie for Cherlyn’s actions.

Judge Shiner:
Presided over Abagail Fuller’s murder trial.

SAM TRIVIA:
He finds out that he has a daughter!

AL TRIVIA:
Al reveals a little about two of his divorce lawyers.

AL'S OUTFITS
1) Red jacket
White and black shirt
White pants
Black talisman string tie

2) Blue with white pen striped suit
White shirt
White Talisman on Lapel
White tie

3) Light Tan Suit
Multicolored shirt
Matching Tie 

SAM'S ATTIRE
1) Tan business suit
White shirt
Tan bow tie

2) Brown business suit
White shirt
Stripped brown bow tie

PERSONAL REVIEW:
The third part of the Trilogy is even more wrapped up in the mess! And finding out that you have a daughter is something even more intriguing! And finding out how Leta died… even better! Perfect ending to a three part episode.

SAM’S FIRST THOUGHTS OF THE LEAP:
Baton Rouge Gazette, July 28, 1978… Louisiana… It wasn’t over. My memory was fading but in my soul I knew it wasn’t over. I was still in the south and somehow Abigail summoned me back but for what and as who? Larry Stanton?

SAM'S BEST LINES/AL'S BEST LINES:

Al’s Best Line(s):
Ziggy hasn’t the slightest idea why you’re here. I suggest you open the door and see what drifts in.

Don’t look at me, I don’t make up these assignments!

Sam’s Best Line(s):
With all my heart. I came from very far away and I don’t think that I would have been brought here if I couldn’t do the job. SO, why don’t ‘you dry those pretty eyes and let’s not worry about this a bit.

I have a daughter, Al!

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Cherlyn Stanton: Hello Sweet cheeks! Come on over here you hot-blooded southern rebel and melt me down! Tonight, Lawrence Stanton the third, I am Jane Fonda in Butterfield 8!

***

Al: Ziggy hasn’t the slightest idea why you’re here. I suggest you open the door and see what drifts in.

***

Al: Don’t look at me, I don’t make up these assignments!

***

Sam: I have a daughter, Al!

***

Sam: Does she know that I’m her father?

Al: No. And Ziggy says after this leap you won’t know either.

Sam: I’ll know, Al. I’ll always know.

***

Sammie Jo: I’ll never forget you!

Sam: I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Cherlyn: After 28 years of marriage, I know every feeling you got!

Sam: I’m your husband.

Cherlyn: Well, of course you’re my husband. Unless you want to be that evil black beard again.

Sam: Why am I here?

Cherlyn: Oh ho you don’t! Don’t you start that!

Sam: Start what?

Cherlyn: That… that craziness about hearing voices. Not another word.

Sam: I heard voices?

Cherlyn: I said not another word.

Sam: But what do you mean?

Cherlyn: That is it! That is it. You have gone and done it. You have ruined everything. I am no longer in the mood so you can hang up your holsters until next Saturday night. (long pause) Aren’t you gonna stop me?

Sam: Stop you?

Cherlyn: I’m gonna call my mother!!!

Sam: OHHHH BOY!

Al: You’re not going to believe this yo-yo in the Waiting Room.

Sam: Larry Stanton?

Al: Lawrence Stanton the third, actually. You’ve have a lucrative law practice in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and your counterpart in the Waiting Room thinks he’s dead.

Sam: What?

Al: He thinks that I’m St. Peter and that I’m going to send him to hell for over-charging his hours. Reminds me of my last two divorce lawyers.

Sam: Do you remember Larry Stanton? I remember… uh… there was a hanging and a lot of people and he was hurt, I think he tried to save her.

Al: Who… her?

Sam: No no no. Not her. That’s Mrs. Larry Stanton – she wants to melt me down!

Sammie Jo: Come to save her? Are you gonna save my mommy?

Sam: Abagail?

Sammie Jo: Abigail is mother.

Sam: You’re mother? But she said that Will…

Sammie Jo: Marie Beth said you came to help her. Marie Beth said that the judge was going to take her to jail and they were gonna…

Sam: Nobody is gonna let anyone hurt your mother.

Sammie Jo: Marie Beth said that they were gonna…

Sam: No. I don’t care what Marie Beth said. I’m not about to let anyone hurt your mother.

Sammie Jo: You mean that?

Sam: With all my heart. I came from very far away and I don’t think that I would have been brought here if I couldn’t do the job. SO, why don’t ‘you dry those pretty eyes and let’s not worry about this a bit.

Sammie Jo: What’s your name?

Sam: Sam… Larry Stanton. What’s yours?

Sammie Jo: Sammie Jo.

Al: Samantha Josephine Fuller.

Sammie Jo: I’m very glad you’re here, Mr. Sam Larry Stanton.

Al: Ziggy says that your not just here to save Abagail. You’re here to save Sammie Jo. There’s a 91.9 percent chance that Sammie Jo Fuller is your daughter. According to Ziggy, she has an IQ of 194 so she’s got her brains from her father but that the tragedy in all of this is that she is so traumatized by the death of her mother that she drops out. She’s living alone in Mobile, right now. She’s writing computer manuals for some rinky-dink little company.

Sammie Jo: Do you believe in miracles, Mr. Stanton?

Sam: Miracles?

Sammie Jo: Someone if they really love somebody could go back in time and be a part of their lives.

Sam: If that is a miracle, then yes, I believe in miracles.

Sammie Jo: I wanna go back in time someday.

Sam: You do?

Sammie Jo: I wanna meet my daddy. I wanna tell him...

Sam: Tell him what?

Sammie Jo: Doesn’t matter.

Sam: Sure it does... it matters.

Sammie Jo: Just that I love him. But he knows. My Grandmama Fuller says so. She knows everything.

Sam: Laura…

Sammie Jo: What’s the matter?

Sam: Sammy Jo Fuller, I love you and I want you to know that everything will be okay.

Laura: I remember you. You were here a very long time ago. You were gonna marry my Abagail, but you didn’t. You broke her heart, you know?

Sam: I think you have me mistaken with somebody else.

Laura: No. I’ve been waiting for you a very long time – a very long time. Clayton said that you’d come and then I’d have to tell about Violet.

Al: Bingo!

Laura: Clayton… he knew that. (pause) She wanted that locket so much… so very very much. Clayton wouldn’t let her have it but I kept it. I kept it and all of its secrets.

Sam: Are they going to be all right, Al?

Al: Yeah. Ziggy says that since Sammy Jo is carrying your genes and now that you’ve cleared Abagail, the curse is broken. Abagail gets married in two years to a wonderful guy and they move to Chicago and she’s happy, Sam. She’s really happy.

Sam: How do you know all this?

Al: Sammie Jo told me.

Sam: Sammie Jo?

Al: Sammie Jo is working with us on Project Quantum Leap, Sam.

Sam: What?

Al: Yes, and a matter of fact she has a theory on how to bring you back home.  

Executive Producer:
Donald P. Bellisario

Written By:
Deborah Pratt

Directed By:
James Whitmore, Jr.

Theme by:
Mike Post

Music By:
Velton Ray Bunch

Co-Executive Producers:
Deborah Pratt
Chas. Floyd Johnson


Supervising Producer:
Richard C. Okie
Harker Wade
Tommy Thompson


Produced By:
Robin Jill Bernheim

Production Designer:
Cameron Birnie

Set Decorator:
Robert L. Zilliox

Art Director:
Ellen Dambros-Williams

Costume Designers:
Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Jacqueline Saint Anne