Creators: Donald P. Bellisario, Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt
Starring: Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee, Ernie Hudson, Susan Diol, Georgina Reilly, Walter Perez
Original Airdate: 2022-23
**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers For Both The Original And New Versions of 'Quantum Leap'**
★★★ (out of ★★★★)
If there's a film or TV series you hold in the highest regard, just the mere mention of a potential reboot or sequel is unsettling. Often these feelings are tied to a formative viewing experience, the memories leaving as lasting an impression as the actual entertainment itself. Even in a pop culture landscape where everything's on the table for reinterpretation, telling fresh stories off the backs of widely beloved
characters and plots still triggers immediate
cynicism. But even sometimes against our better judgment, we need to find out. So now, after decades of false starts, unsubstantiated rumors and conflicted feelings of dread and anticipation, a new Quantum Leap finally arrives.
On May 5, 1993 the original series aired its polarizing finale, "Mirror Image." And something seemed different when Sam entered that mysterious bar and saw his own reflection.What few realized then, but many have come to appreciate since, is just how perfect an ending it was.
Sending the time traveling Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) home would have been so easy, providing closure for the selfless hero leaping to "put right what once went wrong." But creator Donald P. Bellisario had other plans. Such an ending may have satisfied fans, but it would have been a fleeting high. Instead, he crafted a piece of art that's continued to inspire debate and analysis in the decades since.
When the title card appeared on screen informing us of Sam's fate, it was an emotional gut punch, but also the most fitting send-off a series could get. It was about sacrifice and he still had one left to make for his
friend Al (Dean Stockwell), who got his own richly deserved ending. Bakula and Stockwell would never act together again in a QL-related project and it's a testament to the episode's impact that you can strangely feel that in the closing minutes. While the door was intentionally left ajar, a follow-up never came and any chances of a continuation suddenly seemed impossible following Stockwell's 2021 passing. Even if Bakula could be coaxed into returning, discussion soon shifted to whether it was still worth doing anymore.
NBC's announcement of a new series was met with understandable skepticism and disbelief well before cameras even started rolling. But roll they did, with an announced cast, a change in showrunning duties (with Martin Gero stepping in for Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, who stayed on as executive producers alongside Dean Georgaris and the returning Deborah Pratt), a reconfigured pilot and no Bakula, who many fans assumed would at least be partially involved. It's disappointing, but regardless of what factored into that decision, he's more than earned the right to make it after all he's done for the franchise.
This airing on NBC rather than Peacock was seen as another red flag, with increased worries that network tinkering would compromise what made the series special, abandoning the original blueprint in favor of attracting more casual viewers. But it turns out there was no need to hit the panic button. Even if the jury's still out on whether all the kinks can be worked out, it's a safe bet no one expected the show to dig this deeply into the time travel mythology, escaping the confines of a network procedural to appeal to hard sci-fi fans.
It's been thirty years since Dr. Sam Beckett vanished into the Quantum Leap accelerator and now the time travel project has been restarted with a new team attempting to unravel its inner workings. But when lead physicist Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) inexplicably decides to enter the accelerator early after uploading a new program code, he gets stuck in the past, leaping into others. Guiding Ben along the way is fiancée and co-worker, Addison Augustine (Caitlin Bassett) who appears in the form of a hologram that only he can see and hear, just as Al did for Sam.
Helping to retrieve Ben are the project's head, Herbert "Magic" Williams (Ernie Hudson), chief programmer Ian (Mason Alexander Park) and head of security Jenn (Nanrisa Lee). Recently deceased Al's daughter, Janis Calavicci (Georgina Reilly), is also involved, possessing valuable intel about why Ben leaped, her secrecy potentially stemming from lingering resentment over being shut out of the project. With each new leap Ben changes people's lives, but when an unexpected complication arises, he realizes there's far more at stake than him being permanently lost in time.
While bringing Sam home was a main objective in the classic series, the stories were more character-driven, spending the entire length of its episodes on the leap at hand. Him returning wasn't the focal point so it was rarely essential to watch episodes in chronological order. Here, there's a long mystery arc doled out over the course of the season that's splitting screen time with the actual leaps. Because of this, there's a large present day focus on the new headquarters (now relocated from New Mexico to L.A.) with an expanded cast of regulars.
Whether it was partially due to budgetary concerns, getting only occasional glimpses of the project itself did sure work out well for the original, at least story-wise. But with the emphasis on serialized drama these days, there was little chance we'd see that again, or have a lead called upon to appear in each minute of every scene in all the episodes, as Bakula did. It's just a lot for any actor to take on without the support of an ensemble, so this project-heavy approach makes sense from a practical standpoint.
Fears about this change aren't immediately alleviated, as the show does take some time finding its legs. With nearly every network series being a procedural of some sort, the pressure's on to stand out in other ways and you sense that as the leaps and HQ scenes awkwardly battle for prominence early on. There's a ways to go before those feel seamlessly interconnected, but once we're past the background exposition to catch viewers up, a gradual uptick in quality is noticeable.
Ben and Addison as an engaged couple represents such a seismic shift in the leaper-observer dynamic that you almost have to believe it was a network decision. Yet it's easy to see why they did it as a way to raise the stakes and maybe eliminate the complication of our protagonist becoming romantically involved with supporting characters while physically occupying other people. Elements that worked with Sam just won't fly as well today so it's not difficult to believe this was a consideration. I initially groaned at the notion of them being a couple, but after seeing it executed, it's almost impossible to imagine a version of the script without their relationship, especially considering the whole series revolves around it.
The idea of Ben leaping through time with a Swiss cheese memory (a carryover from the original) with Addison advising him does provide a hook. In the dark as to why he left, she can't completely trust him, and he can't fully believe in himself, at least until the amnesia wears off The only character who does is the rebellious Janis, who provides the show's the most vital, sustaining link to the original. Denied the opportunity to help fulfill her dad's dying wish to find Sam, she's grown to resents mom Beth (guest star Susan Diol, reprising her classic role) and Magic for cutting her off from the project.
We know Janis can't be an outright villain, but she has answers, refusing to reveal the intricacies of Ben's motivations to the team. Whereas the original series saw Sam indiscriminately flung from year-to-year, Ben's journey is more coordinated, with a specific path mapped out before stepping into that accelerator. The entire season hinges on what that is, with a leap order that fits together to form pieces of a larger puzzle.
Doing away with the infamous HQ "waiting room" that temporarily held those being leaped into likely resulted from a desire to streamline the process for new viewers. Its presence could have infused the project scenes with an urgency more closely tied to the leaps, but the team dealing with that in an already jam packed forty minutes is still a big ask. That this is a new project with more advanced technology probably supplied the writers enough headcanon to justify not addressing it. We'll just have to chalk this up to the tough compromises made in trying to please two audiences.
You see that juggling act in the pilot ("July 13th, 1985"), where Ben leaps into an undercover cop thwarting an attempt to steal the Hope Diamond. In an extremely compressed time frame, the writers need to introduce the premise and its characters, provide a project history lesson and establish the present-day scenario at HQ. The episode was reportedly stitched together with a later one, but the potential is still evident. In an effort to grab viewers right away with action and adventure, the biggest worry would be foregoing the human element that made the classic series so unique.
Those concerns begin dissipating in the third episode ("Somebody Up There Likes Ben"), which not only calls back to Sam's leap into a boxer in "The Right Hand of God," but returns the show to its roots in dealing with serious issues like PTSD. And we see those themes emerge throughout, with Ben stepping into the shoes of those struggling with divorce ("What A Disaster!"), child abuse ("Stand By Ben") medical malpractice ("Paging Dr. Song"), discrimination ("Let Them Play," "Family Style") and even mental illness ("Ben, Interrupted"). Of course, that's an oversimplification of what actually unfolds in these leaps, which revolve around strong guest star performances from Jon Chaffin, Justin Hartley, Sofia Parnas, Jewel Staite, Deborah Ann Woll and Brandon Routh. And that's just to name a few.
If there's a recurring quibble it's that the episodes share a similar look from week to week, at times appearing visually indistinguishable aside from certain costuming and soundtrack choices. To be fair, the classic series frequently had the advantage of covering an earlier era that offered more opportunities in this regard. But even the episodes where Ben leaps out of his own lifetime do tend to more closely resemble how the past looks from a 2022-23 perspective. Since most of this could be budget related, it's worth keeping an eye on next season.
Give the producers credit for realizing the leaper and hologram need to be two different personalities from what we previously got. But they've definitely found the right guy in Raymond Lee, who you can't help but positively compare to Bakula because there are certain
similarities. Charismatic and believable when in reluctant action hero
mode, he also brings that much needed vulnerability to the season's more
dramatic arcs, with a performance that steadily grows and impresses
with each new revelation about Ben's history with Addison and his
ultimate purpose.
Lee doesn't miss a beat, and if it seemed like a huge comedic event on the rare occasion Sam leaped into a woman, Ben frequently does this like nobody's business. That the gender swap isn't mined for laughs or treated any differently reflects current times, but also demonstrates how certain details of this premise have been retooled in ways you may not consciously stop to consider.
In her television acting debut, Caitlin Bassett brings a playfully direct, no-nonsense energy to Addison, with the actress's own military background likely coming in handy while playing a character who's also a vet. As the only cast member consistently appearing in both the past and present, she has to do some heavy lifting, frequently functioning as the glue that holds these two timelines together. Not completely sure she can trust Ben's reasons for leaping and emotionally fractured by his memory loss, their relationship is fraught with obstacles. Clearly, her greatest fear is that he's destined to become
another Sam Beckett and never return home, or possibly worse.
Sam is referenced often enough you'd be fooled into thinking Ben stepped into the accelerator to find him, and while Janis' presence only seems to lend further credence to that, this is all about Ben and Addison, as it should be. But that's not to say proper reverence isn't shown toward the original, since it's sometimes shocking just how far down the rabbit hole this goes.
Having already experienced his own brush with Dr. Beckett in the classic 1990 episode "The Leap Home (Part 2-Vietnam)," that Magic's now leading this team speaks to the impact Sam leaping into him had. As expected, Hudson's phenomenal as the show's firm, stabilizing moral center, still shaken by that event decades ago, tough as it may be to fully articulate. We see it through his relationships with Janis and Beth, at headquarters, and in his dedication to not letting history repeat itself with Ben.
The cutting between Ben's leaps and the project takes some getting used to before hitting its stride at the season's midway point, and once the big mystery is revealed, all bets are off. During this and throughout these 18 episodes, the performances of Mason Alexander Park and Nanrisa Lee become exceedingly crucial. The former brings some well-timed sarcastic humor and heart to even the tensest moments as Ian, operator of the project's supercomputer Ziggy, who's either more or less important than in the original, depending on your perspective.
The writers wisely acknowledge that the internet sort of stole Ziggy's thunder, as Ian's increasing reliance on Reddit groups and Wikipedia conveys. Being slightly aloof and harboring a checkered past, Jenn at first seems to have more in common with Janis than the rest of the team. But Nanrisa Lee lands her character in a more relatable place, eventually emerging as an undeniable fan favorite.
The possibility we'd ever see "evil leapers" again seemed unfathomable, but that's kind of exactly what occurs. There's a twist to the concept, but it isn't long after Ben's memory partially returns that the mysterious "Leaper X"/Richard Martinez (Walter Perez) makes his first appearance.
A solider with one goal in mind, Martinez sees himself as the true hero, with motivations that are surprisingly timely. Crossing paths with Ben multiple times, their conflict reaches its crescendo in the final stretch, with our protagonist laying it all on the line to save Addison and potentially everyone involved with the project itself. It's here where things go a little caca, but not so much that audiences can't divorce themselves from the minutiae of every detail and just enjoy.
Time travel fanatics will be dissecting this until their brains hurt, but it's really just a relief to have a major network series that doesn't insult the intelligence of its viewers, regardless of whether it all completely holds up. Just imagine Doc Brown's
Back to the Future Part II chalkboard explanation on steroids, with leapers leaping into leapers, multiple timelines and even different versions of the same characters sharing scenes together. It's also tough to remember Sam ever being in the physical jeopardy Ben is in the season's pulse-pounding penultimate episode.
The sinking sense Ben may not actually survive doesn't let up in the finale ("Judgment Day"), temporarily causing us to forget there's another season to get to. It's fair to call this one particular story closed, with potentially larger issues still ripe for exploration. Unlike the original, Ben returning isn't out of the question, but it's even less difficult imagining a scenario where he'd somehow need to step into the accelerator again if he did. Since Addison already leaped in the original history, it's also conceivable any of the other characters could too, should the situation demand. And having already seen them all as observers in the finale, the floodgates have really opened in terms of how the writers want to shake this up.
When promos and commercials for the revival aired showing clips of watershed events like 9/11, the Berlin Wall falling
and the O.J. Bronco chase, you see the untapped potential that can still be mined from one of television's most inventive premises. But regardless of whether we do get any of those teased "kisses with history," I'd still put money on Bakula appearing. If only even for a
couple of minutes, seeing him and Raymond
Lee bounce off each other would be something else. With this many episodes under its belt and a story already well underway, the encounter might make more sense now than it initially did.
With many more viewing options now than when the original aired, it's somewhat ironic this returns as the traditional network model struggles to
maintain relevance. As fun as it is to imagine the potential of a tight, higher budgeted 10-episode season on a streamer like Peacock, this is what we have, with the cast and crew doing an admirable
job working within that creative sandbox. And any worries about the show finding an audience were unfounded, as
the series was able to see its multi-episode arc through while setting the stage
for more.
While fans shouldn't feel obligated to warmly embrace everything about the new Quantum Leap out of franchise loyalty, prematurely disregarding this solely on the basis it exists seems equally unfair. A weight's definitely been lifted by getting it, and
whatever issues
need ironing out have nothing to do with the original, which isn't going anywhere. Far from a desecration, it's a sequel that takes the story in a different direction that mostly works, making it easier to judge this for what it is rather than whatever we envisioned it would be.
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