Good Night, Dear Heart

Good Night, Dear Heart is the LGBT-themed episode of Quantum Leap. Lead character Sam Beckett "leaps" (travels through time) to 1957, into the body of a mortician investigating the death of a young German immigrant woman. What at first appears to be a suicide by drowning turns out to be foul play. The episode, the 17th of season 2, was written by Paul Brown and directed by Christopher T. Welch. It aired originally on March 7, 1990.

Paul Brown won an Edgar Award for Best Episode in a TV Series for writing "Good Night, Dear Heart". The character Stephanie Heywood was later featured in an issue of the Quantum Leap comic book series.

Plot
It is November 9, 1957, and Sam Beckett has "leaped" into the body of Melvin Spooner, a mortician in Riven Rock, Massachusetts, who also serves as the coroner. He looks down at the body of Hilla Doehner, a young German immigrant. Although it initially appears that she drowned herself, Sam determines that she was in fact murdered. He realizes that he is there to solve her murder, but grows obsessed with her.

Upon learning that Hilla was pregnant, Sam first comes to believe that Greg Truesdale, the young man who loved her, killed her. When he finds out that Greg's father Roger tried to get Hilla to have an abortion, he then tries to convince Lyle, the chief of police, to arrest Roger. Lyle persuades Sam that no prosecutor would take Roger to trial and convinces him to bury Hilla. As Sam prepares Hilla for burial he realizes who the killer is. Hilla was accidentally killed by Stephanie Heywood. Stephanie and Hilla were romantically involved and planned to move to New York together, where Hilla would model and Stephanie would become a photographer. Then Hilla fell in love with Greg and became pregnant. When she tried to break it off with Stephanie, Stephanie struck her in the head with a shoe, causing her death.