For years, I’ve wondered what it would be like to be a person that Sam leaped into – would you recall much, if anything about it? What would you recall? How would you know that Sam had come in and changed things?
After thirty years, we get an answer to that question, with Magic sharing that Sam leaped into him at a younger age and changed his and others’ personal history.
While I like the explanation and the scene itself, I do find myself wondering about a few other things. One is that Magic says that Sam saved his life (and that of Tom) during the time he was away. I can’t help but wonder how Magic knows if and how Sam altered history. Would history instantly shift around Magic and those around him? Another was, did Magic know what Al gave up to that Sam could save his brother and Magic? Or was what Sam did for Al something that was kept under deeper wraps?
When you reference one of my favorite episodes of television, “The Leap Home,” it brings up a lot of questions and implications.
In its fourth installment, Quantum Leap has found its footing, though. The current-day threads have enough time to keep things interesting and thanks to Magic’s connection, I was a lot more invested than I have been. I do like the growing sense of frustration that Addison has with Ben and his keeping things from her.
But where this episode really shone was in the past, with Ben leaping into a woman (took Sam until season two to get there) and possibly derailing the woman’s life because he’s unaware of how to respond to a marriage proposal. The leap itself had the feel of one from the original series where the data and our understanding of things keep changing as Sam struggles to find out what he needs to put right. In this case, it’s the circumstances surrounding the woman our bounty-hunting duo is supposed to bring in and why.
I will admit a frustration has started to raise its head a bit, though. Yes, Ben went into the accelerator for some reason and there is a goal in mind. And yes, that provides some momentum and a through-line to the show. That said, it never quite feels like Ben inhabits the person he’s leapt into as much as Sam did. Thinking about to the original “What Price Gloria?” where Sam is a woman, there was a great deal of humor and insight gleaned from Sam having to inhabit and convince the world he’s a woman. I feel like the new series gets in a rush to have Ben complete the mission so he can leap that it’s overlooking this step.
I am also intrigued to see just how Ben’s getting his memory back about who Addison is will impact things. I seem to recall that Sam could recall certain things on certain leaps and not on others, so I wonder if Ben will recall the truth about Addison going forward or if it will be a hit-or-miss kind of thing?
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/13/2022 10:08:00 AM |
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