The Haunted Sonata

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"The Haunted Sonata"
Episode no.	H00616-94042
Airdate	March 18, 1997
Chief locations	Prague, Czech Republic 14.02E, 50.06N (5,475 miles)
Vehicle(s)	Dragonfly Jet
Writer(s)	Glenn Leopold
Guest roles	Frank Welker (Josef) B.J. Ward (Iris the Computer) Darleen Carr (President Stasny) Tara Charendoff (Irina Kafka) Don Harvey (Milos Duncek)
Episode sequence	The Edge of Yesterday <--> General Winter
Other episodes

Jonny and Jessie attend a recital of Franz Dunček's work in Prague, where a possessed piano crashes through the audience. A lost sonata is found in the palace's catacombs soon after, but those halls hold a much darker secret...

Plot Summary

Teaser

Alena Stasny, President of the Czech Republic, has invited Jonny Quest and Jessie Bannon to the recital of pianist Irina Kafka. Jonny seems to nod off while Jessie eyes Miloš Dunček, the last living relative of Jessie's favorite composer, Franz Dunček—author of the "Prague Sonata", played here on its two-hundredth anniversary. The president rises following the performance to introduce Irina and Miloš; during her speech, the piano resonates with a bright yellow color and moves towards the audience.

Act One

Shock as the piano moves

The president, Miloš, Jonny and Jessie dash out of the way as the piano crashes into a wall. A strange entity materializes from it and flies into the ceiling out of sight. Jonny helps the president and Irina, while Jessie tends to Miloš. Jonny thanks Irina for the concert; she notes that she felt a coldness under her feet during the performance and a rush of cold air before the piano was possessed. Jonny knocks on the hardwood floor and produces a hollow echo; he asks the president what lies beneath. She promises to bring blueprints in the morning, and Miloš tells the team that his driver will take them to the hotel. Jonny asks Irina if she'd like to come along to be taken home. The next morning, Jessie visits Miloš's house, and expresses wonderment at being near the piano where he composed his music. The clock strikes eight, and she remembers that she was supposed to meet Jonny at the palace. Miloš sends his butler to escort her there.

In the company of the president, Jonny scans the blueprints to his watch while she reminisces about Dr. Quest. Jessie arrives and Jonny tells her that the palace was built on ancient catacombs and is full of secret passages. The president opens one up for them behind a bookcase, and they retrieve flashlights and start exploring. Bandit gets a whiff of something sinister and takes off with the duo close behind. Jonny busts down a locked door to find the old music conservatory. Suddenly, the piano turns yellow and rams itself into a wall, knocking down a panel to reveal a secret passage. The force of the hit splinters ceiling beams above, which threaten to fall on Jonny.

Act Two

Jonny, Irina, and the sonata

Jessie knocks him out of the way, and Jonny jokingly thanks her by making another jab at her supposed crush on Miloš. Bandit retrieves a scroll on the ground; it appears to be a lost sonata of Franz Dunček. Above, the president and two guards investigate from the hole in the ceiling, noting that the ballroom (above the conservatory) fell in. The team take the composition to Miloš's house, where Kafka plays it and Jessie verifies its authenticity with her laptop. The team think that the ghost was merely trying to get the sonata found, and can now rest. Miloš is pleased and suggests that Irina record the sonata. He gives it to Jozef to be put in the safe, and thanks Jessie for finding it before Jonny interrupts and points out that credit is owed to Bandit. Miloš invites the entire party to a celebratory dinner the next night; Jonny agrees on the condition that Bandit be invited (to Jessie's nadir). Before dinner, the team theorize about the ghost; Jonny wonders why Franz's alleged ghost rolled the piano at them after his own music was played at the sonata. He asks Iris to compare handwriting and notation, and Iris pegs the new sonata as a fraud, though the sonata is definitely old and reminiscent of Dunček's style. Jessie calls Miloš to warn him, and the team go back to the palace to explore.

Anna falls to her death as Franz watches

As soon as they enter the catacombs, the ghost grabs Jessie and deposits her in a new room. Bandit sniffs the wall, and Jonny chips it away to reveal a skeleton of a woman with a letter in her clothing. As Jessie wonders who she is, Miloš arrives and proclaims she is Anna Kafka, the one who made Franz Dunček and his family famous. Dunček was a composer who lost his inspiration before achieving grandeur until he heard Anna's work. He gave her money in exchange for releasing her music to the world, and soon she wanted rightful recognition. She rejected more money and was about to leave his palatial estate when she fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Miloš learned of the account through his ancestor's diary, and none of his predecessors could face the shame of exposing the truth. He draws a gun on the team as Jessie notes that the ghost was throwing the piano at Miloš after being unable to stand hearing her sonata played at such a grand venue. Jozef enters with Irina, and the two evil men prepare to shoot the three and bury them with Anna. Her ghost then emerges from her eyes and kills Jozef; it then grabs Miloš by the neck, throws him in with her skeleton, and seals up the wall before torturing him to insanity. The next day, Jonny, Jessie, and the president listen to Irina play the forgotten sonata. She regrets that it is unfinished; the rest of the page magically appears upon her admission. She finishes the sonata as the ghost of Anna sits down with her and plays over her hands. Irina tells her afterwards that the president will rebury her with honor and give the Kafka family the wealth it deserves. Anna departs in peace, and Irina suggests he and Jonny get breakfeast; he decides then and there that he likes classical music.

Notes

Quotes

• Jonny - "Interested in the man, or the music?"

~

• Jessie - "Sorry..."
• Miloš - "For what? Saving my life? The pleasure was all mine."
• Jonny - "Tch, yeah right."

~

• Jonny - "Thanks. Does this mean I get to take you to breakfast too?"
• Jessie - "Oh, you're incorrigible, Jonny Quest!"

~

• Miloš (to Jessie) - "How fitting that you should find the lost masterpiece."
• Jonny - "Actually, it was my dog."
• Miloš - "I really don't know how to thank you."
• Jonny - "Ooh, I feel another breakfast coming on!"

~

• Jonny - "Who are you calling?"
• Jessie - "Miloš of course. I wouldn't want him embarrassed by announcing to the world that the lost sonata is just an old fake."
• Jonny - "Oh, of course we wouldn't want poor Miloš to be embarrassed."

~

• Jonny - "C'mon, boy. It's time to earn your biscuits!"

~

• Miloš - "They could not face the shame."
• Jonny - "You mean they couldn't face the music—or give up the money."

Goofs

• Jessie apparently didn't check the authenticity of the sonata very thoroughly, as a quick scan by Iris reveals that it's a fraud.
• When Irina plays the new sonata, the sheet music disappears from the piano in one shot.
• If Anna hid the letter with the sonata in her clothes before confronting Franz, how does Bandit get it without breaking through the wall?
• Anna is not buried with the letter sticking out in its present-day position.

Trivia

• Jonny Quest is full of one-liners and comedic gold in his constant ribbing of Jessie and Miloš.
• Franz Kurath did the Quest Byte concept, a deviation from Michael Ryan's usual writing. Jonny loads a program which Hadji had warned contains a few bugs. Several insects of all varieties storm a chipboard and change a Questworld logo to read "BUGS ROOL".

From: Episodes