Quantum Leap: The Outsider

On this leap, Dr. Ben Song encounters a true rarity: a journalist who is actually humbled by her past failings. Weirdly, instead of trying to replicate this phenomenon, he attempts to rebuild her confidence in “The Outsider,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow on NBC.

Song quickly learns he has leaped into the body of the new cameraman and producer working with Connie Davis (energetically portrayed by Nadine Ellis), who was once a hotshot New York reporter, but now she is chasing giant pumpkin stories for a Denver affiliate. Song’s host has a hot-tip regarding a toxic pesticide story, but the company is trying to scare him off. He figures he needs Davis to take on the story before he can leap, but she is decidedly gun-shy.

Did you know 50% of Denver was farmland? Apparently so, according to “The Outsider.”  Having grown up there around the time of this leap, I would more likely believe that was true for the state of Colorado, but, heck, when you are leaping through time, you don’t have time for those details. You need to keep things big picture.

Song’s leap is a decent, only-modestly-self-serving Woodward & Bernstein-style expose in the general Lou Grant TV-tradition. It should be, considering how often it invokes the Watergate journalists’ names. This episode does not feature a lot time travel-specific elements, beyond the usual business of the leap itself, but there is some serious business going on back at Quantum Leap headquarters.

Unfortunately, Tom Westfall is in a very uncomfortable position. Song’s ex and on-again-holographic guide Addison Augustine just broke off their engagement. Now, he must terminate a member of the Quantum Leap team to placate a shady tech titan. As usual, Ian Wright will be protected, since the character is always immune from criticism, but seriously, the computer whiz’s conduct during Westfall’s interview is stunningly unprofessional and just plain annoying.

Quantum Leap: The Family Treasure

It is the 1950s, so it is a little late for Indiana Jones-style adventures, as the franchise itself proved. However, Dr. Ben Song finds himself in the middle of an unlikely treasure hunt. He is determined to find a way to warn Hannah Carson to have her husband’s fatal heart defect diagnosed in time, but he probably will not have the opportunity in “The Family Treasure,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow on NBC.

Evidently, Song leaped into the least annoying of three sisters. Sarah is the martyr-ishly responsible one, married to a soul-crushing husband, while Dean/Adina is the one who will eventually teach viewers an “important lesson” in nonbinary acceptance. Together, they must work together to find their wastrel father’s treasure hidden somewhere in Mexico.

Most of the episode focuses on the reasonably entertaining treasure hunt. The clues are clever and the somewhat cheap-looking sets are kind of fun, in a throwback kind of way. However, the “serious drama” quickly grows tiresome. Throughout the entire episode, Song’s holographic guide and former fiancée Addison Augustine keeps wringing her hands over how to tell him about her impending marriage to Tom Westfall, the Quantum Leap’s project’s DOD guy. Plus, we all know a big teaching moment is coming.

At least “The Family Treasure” still gives viewers an adventure. In contrast, the previous comparable social issue-themed episode, “Let Them Play” was all lecture and no story. This time around, the nonbinary sermon is still heavy-handed, but it is relatively self-contained, so most viewers can just tune it out or fast-forward.

Quantum Leap: Off the Cuff

It is hard to believe Dr. Ben Song has leaped into 1970 to save a slimy lawyer like Kevin Zatt. Even Zatt describes himself as immoral pond scum. At least, as lawyers go, he is an honest one—except maybe when he embezzled from his clients, including a powerful arms dealer. Fortunately, Song had previously leaped into another bounty hunter, so he is somewhat prepared for “Off the Cuff,” the latest episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow night on NBC.

Zatt is a fast-talker, who never stops talking. Song’s new bounty hunter host was not a talkative sort, but, of course, Song engages more. However, he is still not very trusting, having learned from “A Decent Proposal.” Nevertheless, as the bad guys keep ambushing them, Song and Zatt form an alliance on their Midnight Run-like trek across Jersey.

Eventually, the odd couple take shelter with Zatt’s grown foster-brother, who made-good, becoming a doctor. Meanwhile, back at Quantum Leap HQ, the team ponders the discovery of a piece of potentially game-changing but-not-ready-for-primetime code from a mysterious DARPA project. The hanging question is where is Hannah Carson, the woman Song is apparently “entangled with,” through love (or something like it)?

“Off the Cuff” is a solidly entertaining bickering buddy episode in the Stephen J. Cannel tradition (as if Song were Rockford and Zatt was Angel). It moves along nicely and also advances the overall storyline more than just a bit (of course, the big secret news drops right at the end, because that is how it always works).

Quantum Leap: Nomad

Dr. Ben Song is a self-professed pacifist, but this season, he has fought the good fight, against the Communists, in the Cold War. In the season opener, Song leaped into an Air Force Airman, on a clandestine mission somewhere in Soviet territory. This time, he is about to leap into a CIA officer, posted to the den of spies that was early 1960s Egypt, which was supposed to be a “non-aligned” nation, but it has been a comfortable home for the East German Stasi agent known as “Nomad.” If Song can facilitate her defection, it will definitely change history for the better in this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow night on NBC.

Song’s latest host is sort of an early Jack Ryan. He has a background as a desk analyst, not a field operative, but somehow, he figured out Nomad was interested in a meeting. The local station chief Shepherd Barnes (a very CIA-sounding name), does not have much confidence in him, which was warranted in the original time-line. However, with Addison Augustine back as his holographic guide, Song makes his host much more resourceful this time around. Indeed, he quickly discovers Nomad is a native Egyptologist, who used her travel to archaeological sites throughout the Middle East as a cover.

Having grown disillusioned with the Stasi, she wishes to defect. Unfortunately, once he identifies the mole in the embassy, Barnes is reluctant spend the local capital necessary to save her, so it will be up to Song.

How did Song get all the way to Egypt this time? Maybe it had something to do with Hannah Carson, his kind of-sort of new girlfriend, with whom he is possibly “entangled.” She too is in Cairo for a scientific conference. Even though it has been several years from her perspective, they immediately pick up where they left off.

The developing relationship between Song is Carson has turned out to be surprisingly well-written. It is romantic, but it is driven by the circumstances of time-travel, sort of like Somewhere in Time, but without the sentimentality. On the other hand, the Song-Augustine melodrama is getting a little tiresome.

Quantum Leap: A Little Magic

Ironically, Dr. Ben Song will be spending a leap in “drag,” when he time-travels to a late 1600’s Puritan community. Obviously, this leap is way outside his comfort zone for many reasons, beyond the fact that this is by far his longest leap backwards in time. Finding himself in a town between Salem and Boston primed for an outbreak of witch-trial hysteria, Song tries to counter with some modern scientific humanism. It is going to be a rocky leap in “A Little Magic,” the next episode of Quantum Leap, airing tomorrow on NBC.

“Goody” Smith’s husband has died, succumbing to a mysterious illness sweeping the town. Song would know Goody means “Goodwife” if he read Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” recently, but since Brown’s wife might have been a witch secretly consorting with the Devil (the story leaves it intentionally ambiguous), maybe it is just as well he hasn’t. Regardless, Goody Smith is about to face such accusations.

As Goody’s domestic, Ziggy figures it is Song’s job to save her. However, his 21^st Century righteous indignation lands him (or rather his host) in the soup along with Goody. Before long, Morgan McKenna, the town’s only free-thinking woman is behind bars with them, awaiting their fiery execution at nightfall.

This episode lays on the Crucible-esque elements awfully heavily. However, it does a nice job exploring the clash between Song’s modern sensibility and the worldview of everyone else around him. This is definitely a leap in which the time-travel themes are front-and-center.

Quantum Leap: Secret History

When it comes to time-travel, timing is everything. Poor Dr. Ben Song is understandably disappointed when he leaps into 1955 Princeton, a few weeks after the death of his idol, Albert Einstein. It is also ironic that this episode features villainous Nazis, who are usually the safest possible choice for bad guys, right when so-called “peace protesters” keep praising Hitler at their street rallies. We need Dr. Ben Song to fix our own current history and somehow prevent this wave of jew-hatred, but first he must work out why he is in 1955, but he gets some unexpected help in “Secret History,” the latest episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow night on NBC.

Obviously, Song will be more comfortable during this leap, especially since he leaped into the body of one of Einstein’s close physicist friends, who also happens to be a D-Day veteran. Shockingly to everyone back at Quantum Leap, Song also meets an “old friend” of his “own,” Hannah Carson, who he encouraged to apply for the physics program at Princeton, with a little bit of coaching from his historical perspective, back during “Closure Encounters. Song definitely recognizes her, but he cannot help wondering if she is getting any déjà vu vibes from him.

Regardless, Song and Carson must work together to find Einstein’s lost notebooks, which just might hold the secret of cold fusion, or something similar. Of course, the same people who killed the friend of Song’s host at the top of the show (not Einstein, but another physicist, who were apparently dropping like flies at Princeton in 1955) are also looking. At first, they assume it is the Soviets, but then their suspicions fall on Nazis. In this case, organized sleeper agents admitted under Operation Paperclip.

For those currently studying at Princeton, the Nazis were actually bad people. They wanted to exterminate the Jews, homosexuals, and the Romani people, which was evil. That is what genocide really means—and it is Hamas who are now trying to commit genocidal crimes.

Everyone on the same page now? That cannot be said for the team at Quantum Leap this episode. Things get so chaotic, Tom Westfall, Addison Augustine’s new romantic interest, must step in as Song’s holographic guide. It is super-awkward, but as a Princeton grad, he knows his way around the place. Song will also break one of the cardinal rules of leaping, but it is for the sake of setting up a potentially interesting ongoing subplot.

Ernie Hudson’s Magic Williams had this leap off, but Peter Gadiot has his best episode thus far, as Westfall. Any fans still resenting him out of loyalty to Song will feel a real pendulum shift in their sympathies this episode. He is also a veteran, like Williams and Augustine, which makes him more likable than Song, when you think about it.

Quantum Leap: One Night in Koreatown

Riots do not just damage cities physically. They leave emotional trauma that never fully heals. The riots the burned Los Angeles’s Koreatown neighborhood were a case in point. Unfortunately, Dr. Ben Song must re-learn that lesson through the eyes of an 18-year-old Korean American teen in “One Night in Koreatown,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow on NBC.

As soon as he realizes what day it is, Song understands the catastrophe heading towards Jin Park’s shoe store. At least his Korean fluency will come in handy. He wants to close early and get out while the getting is good, but the old man is too stubborn. Consequently, they will have to dig-in and barricade the store as best they can. This will be a real baptism of fire for Magic Williams, who takes over from Addison Augustine as Song’s holographic guide, because it brings back painful memories. In fact, it might just re-awaken some of Williams’ old demons.

This will be a tough leap for everyone, including the writers who labor like pack-mules to put the “right” spin on the looting of Koreatown. The episode mentions Reginald Denny in passing, but, not surprisingly, the police are portraying as more villainous than his attackers or other rioters.

Yet, perhaps in spite of intentions, we feel acutely Park’s fear of losing everything he had worked so hard to build for his family. C.S. Lee is terrific as the Park family patriarch, even when his character is poorly served by some stilted writing.

Quantum Leap: Lonely Hearts Club

Neither Dr. Ben Song or Sam Beckett before him really got to take advantage of time travel. For instance, they never get a chance to hear John Coltrane or Lee Morgan in a jazz club. Finally, Song gets a cool leap, when he finds himself in the body of his favorite actor’s new assistant. It turns out Neal Russell is even more fun than he hoped. Unfortunately, he is about to become the late Neal Russell in “Lonely Hearts Club,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow on NBC.

As Song tells his holographic guide (and his ex, rather suddenly so, from his perspective), Addison Augustine, Russell’s stories are hilarious. He should tell them to the Chin on The Tonight Show that evening, but for some reason, Russell bails, perishing in a freak sailing accident. Augustine keeps telling Song to get Russell to the studio on time, but instead, he agrees to help the actor win back his ex-wife.

No, Song and Augustine are not communicating well in this episode, but of course, the super-cool Magic Williams always is. He has the team “reading between the lines” of Russell’s memoir to glean insights into its author, which is a cool bit of business. Also, Ian Wright might have really messed up again, but as usual, Jenn Chou lets him off easy.

Quantum Leap: Closure Encounters

When you are a time-traveler, it is a little harder to automatically dismiss UFO reports. Suddenly, Dr. Ben Song finds himself investigating those claims, as a Special Agent attached to Project Blue Book’s predecessor program. Frankly, Dr. Song would rather chase flying saucers than deal with his ex-fiancée and designated holographic guide Addison Augustine in “Closure Encounters,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which premieres tomorrow night on NBC.

For Song, no time passed since his season one finale jump. For Augustine and the rest of the team, it has been three years. During that elapsed time, Augustine grieved, had a funeral for Song, and started seeing Tom Westfall, from DOD, who is now jointly overseeing the Quantum Leap project with “Magic” Williams (who is still totally cool). Song has not met Westfall yet, but he quickly deduced Augustine had moved on.

Normally, he would be more Scully than Mulder, but Song rather recklessly charges into this leap. He sympathizes with Carrie Baker, who claims her car was driven off the road by a UFO. Unfortunately, she will be railroaded for the mysterious injuries that rendered her friend and passenger, Melanie Hunt, comatose. He also likes her grandfather, Sheriff Woodrow Morgan, whose hands are largely tied by Hunt’s wealthy land-owning father.

Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett always had solid chemistry throughout the first season, so it is sad to see Song and Augustine on the outs, but their drama is very believable, given the extraordinary circumstances. Frankly, it is nice to see the goody-two-shoes Song start to develop a few cowboy tendencies. Louis Hertham is also a terrific guest-star, appealingly balancing sensitivity and manliness as Sheriff Morgan.

Quantum Leap: Ben & Teller

One excessively indulgent hostage negotiator can create unrealistic expectations for the next negotiator. There is no way these bank robbers are getting a helicopter, even though some Fed out in Arizona apparently rustled one up the week before. Obviously, this hostage standoff ends badly, because Ben Song leaps into it in “Ben & Teller,” tonight’s episode of Quantum Leap.

After three years of silence, Ian Wright finally picked up Song again, but from the leaper’s perspective, no time had passed since the season one finale. To support Song, Wright gets all the old gang back together, including the eternally cool Herbert “Magic” Williams, who is supposedly retired now, but the showrunners’ statements to the media assure us he isn’t going anywhere. Addison Augustine is also back, sort of. Its complicated, for reasons involving this week’s embargoed character.

Regardless, the pressing issue will be guiding Song through this leap, since the clock is quickly ticking down. Emotions are perilously high, because one of the armed robbers is the screw-up younger brother of assistant branch manager Rebecca Egan, who lost patience with his self-pitying loser behavior long ago.

Quantum Leap: This Took Too Long (Season Premiere)

History got the end of the Cold War right, but that was not necessarily the case with every battle and maybe one of the related wars. Fortunately, Dr. Ben Song can help fix a clandestine Air Force mission that went wrong in 1978. Not so fortunately for him, though. He thought his leap in the season one finale would be his last, but his show was renewed for a second season, so here he is. For reasons not yet clear to him or viewers, Song must take this leap solo, without the help of his holographic support team in “This Took Too Long,” the season premiere of showrunner Martin Gero’s Quantum Leap continuation series, which premieres tomorrow on NBC.

Apparently, a lot of embargoed stuff happened since the previous episode, but the upshot is Song must navigate this leap on his own. He finds himself part of a team of Air Force foul-ups and their commander, Lt. Ellen Grier, who is trying to prove herself to her sexist superior officers. Their orders are to escort a crate (which looks like it could hold the Ark of the Covenant) through Soviet airspace, to India. (India was closer to the USSR during the Cold War, but whatever.)

Indeed, theirs is not to wonder why, but a little context might be helpful when they are shot down. Song has leaped into their comms specialist, so they are probably getting a serious upgrade in skills. He also remembers a lot of the military insights he gleaned from his fiancée, Addison Augustine, a veteran, whose words he frequently revisits via flashbacks. Although he previously self-described as a “pacifist,” to survive this leap Dr. Song will have to fight Commies, which makes up for sulky Sgt. Curtis Bailey’s “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” backstory.

This episode raises all kinds of questions, but provides very few answers—more like none. Yet, this is still one of the better written self-contained leaps. There is a good deal of old school Cold War action to which Song constructively applies his brainy problem-solving skills. Fans who remember when the original series was new will most likely appreciate Song’s results.

Quantum Leap: Judgment Day

For a time travel show, Quantum Leap has been remarkably unconcerned with time paradoxes, until now. To make up for it, the season finale literally turns back the clock, leaping whole-heartedly into potential butterfly effects and time distortions. Dr. Ben Song is still trying to save his fiancée, Addison Augustine, but he will jeopardize the space-time continuum to do so in “Judgment Day,” which premieres tonight on NBC.

Everybody could be in very big trouble, because Song is about to leap into the future—and it does not look good. He cannot stay long, for technical reasons, but future Ian Wright has something important to tell him. Unfortunately, Song isn’t sure he gets it. Initially, the next leap should be easier, since he is familiar with his new host—himself. However, changing things will create paradoxes, since he would remember the original timeline. Nevertheless, he might just do so anyway.

Some of this season’s lesser episodes almost forgot about the time travel making each leap possible, focusing instead on social justice lectures or some pleasant but small stakes family drama. With “Judgment Day,” they compensate for lost opportunities. It also involves the full regular cast and the recurring Janis Calavicci and Richard Martinez (a.k.a. “Leaper X”), all of whom have key roles to play.

This episode was written by series story editor Margarita Matthews as was “Leap, Die, Repeat,” which was the only previous episode to really tackle time paradoxes and it that case, time loops. They are definitely the two episodes of the first season that most directly explore the theoretical dangers of time travel. “Judgment Day” is also the only episode to have action in more than two time periods.

Quantum Leap: Friendly Skies

In the 1970s, criminals seeking to escape justice, like the mastermind of the Fountain Valley mass murders, not infrequently hijacked flights to Cuba, where they were sheltered by Castro’s Communist regime. Unfortunately, Dr. Ben Song suddenly finds himself serving as a flight attendant aboard one such hijacked flight, but their destination is a watery doom. Obviously, Song needs to save the passengers, but he must do so without the help of Ziggy, the project’s AI in “Friendly Skies,” the latest episode of Quantum Leap, premiering tonight on NBC.

In the previous episode, Janis Calavicci finally figured out the source of the Quantum Leap project’s leak: Ziggy, their AI. Despite Ian Wright’s whining, Magic Williams takes Ziggy offline, insisting they rely on the rest of the vast computing power at their disposal. That might slow the team down a bit, but it is pretty easy to figure out what Song is supposed to do.

His flight went down somewhere in the Atlantic, while in a dead spot for communications. At first, there are several possibilities, but again, the hijackers make it rather easy to figure out once the hijackers reveal themselves.

It turns out passenger attitudes towards flight attendants were not particularly enlightened in 1971. However, there is more to this episode than gender issues. The hijackers, who will potentially kill every soul onboard, are explicitly motivated by class warfare rhetoric. In fact, they have expressly chosen this flight because the airline owner’s son is among the passengers. Initially, Song assumes he is a spoiled brat, but he slowly learns there is more to the awkward teen than he realized.

Quantum Leap: Ben, Interrupted

In the original Quantum Leap series, Dr. Sam Beckett encountered “evil leapers,” who were trying to set wrong events that had gone right. Dr. Ben Song’s rival, Richard Martinez, a.k.a. “Leaper X,” insists he is not one of them, but he would say that, wouldn’t he? Regardless, Song finds himself reluctantly working with his presumed antagonist in “Ben, Interrupted,” tonight’s episode of Quantum Leap.

This time around, Song’s host is a private detective going undercover in a notorious 1950s mental asylum, sort of like Nelly Bly did, but without a good exit strategy in place. Fortunately, Song has the Quantum Leap team and their AI, Ziggy, to help guide him. His mission is to rescue his client’s sister, who was committed by her husband, for the sake of a quick and easy divorce. However, Song probably won’t be able to leap if one or both of them is lobotomized.

As a further complication, Martinez leaps into the body of one of the thuggish orderly-enforcers. He claims he wants to help, but Song is understandably wary. Nevertheless, he does not have a lot of options.

This is the first episode in a while that really digs into the “Leaper X” subplot. In addition, there is also more intrigue and drama involving Janis Calavicci, who apparently assisted Song make his unsanctioned leap. That means this episode really involves time travel, rather than mere small-bore family melodrama. The stakes are also huge, at least for Song.

Quantum Leap: Ben Song for the Defense

1989 was a great year, except maybe here in New York. The city was about to descend into a period of chaos, ended by Giuliani’s election in 1993. Dr. Ben Song will not do anything to prevent that this leap. Instead, as a public defender, he scrambles to save a young man who will be wrongly imprisoned for manslaughter in “Ben Song for the Defense,” tomorrow night’s episode of Quantum Leap.

The clever thing about this episode is it breaks format slightly, without really breaking format. Since Addison Augustine’s military background was so helpful to Song in the previous episode, she hands the holographic baton over to her Quantum Leap Project colleague Jenn Chu, because of her knowledge of the legal system. Chu got her legal degree while serving time, so the former hacker certainly has some insights.

Unfortunately, Song’s host is so overworked, because crime in New York is starting to explode, she hardly has the time to give Camilo Diaz’s case the attention it deserves. No, that is not how the series’ writers room spins things. Regardless, Song has to get Diaz off, so he can save his younger brother from the gangs trying to get their hooks into him.

There is some decent courtroom drama in “For the Defense,” which harkens back to classic episodes of the original series, such as “So Help Me God.” However, the writers cannot help including little digs at the 1980s, which leads to some credibility issues, like Song’s host being in a romantic same-sex relationship with the second chair Assistant DA on her case.

Quantum Leap: S.O.S.

In The Final Countdown, the entire U.S.S. Nimitz is sent through a time warp. In this case, it is just Dr. Ben Song time-traveling. This Naval-themed leap will be extremely personal for Addison Augustine, his fiancé and holographic guide—not just because she is a veteran. She was actually Army, but her estranged father is the Executive Officer on the American battleship Song leaps aboard in “S.O.S.,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap premiering Monday on NBC.

Awkwardly, Augustine knows exactly what went wrong during these 1989 war game exercises. Her father ignored a garbled distress call from an American sub, resulting in the loss of all souls aboard her—except he doesn’t. It is XO Alexander Augustine’s mentor and legendary commanding officer, who is convinced the S.O.S. is a Chinese ruse (not completely without cause). Unfortunately, there is a bit of a Caine Mutiny situation going on, but in this case the captain is a little too decisive.

After a bit of a rough patch, the new Quantum Leap continuation series returns to its early form. There is a lot of smart writing this time around, especially when the holographic Addison explains the cold hard truth about military chain of command to Song. He might not like his commanding officer’s decision, but he has to accept it, at least in the short term.

The truth about the incident turns out to involve questionable Chinese tactics that spiraled out of control. Even though Quantum Leap project director Admiral “Magic” Williams has a friendly “reach out” to his Chinese contact, the implications of this episode will likely get it banned by the CCP. It also applies finally time travel complications to big macro events, like a potential war that never originally happened. As a result, the stakes in this episode are considerably greater than mere family melodrama.

Quantum Leap: Family Style

Usually, it takes Dr. Ben Song a few beats to figure out the relationship dynamics of a new leap, but he catches on almost immediately when he finds himself amid an immigrant Indian restaurant-owning family. His host’s mother reminds him a lot of his own late mother, so he is determined to prevent their restaurant from burning down in “Family Style,” tonight’s episode of Quantum Leap.

Fortunately, Song has watched enough cooking shows to avoid embarrassing himself in Sonali Prasad’s kitchen. However, he knows the matriarch will potentially die from a heart attack in a few weeks, after the loss of the family restaurant. It is not hard to identify potential causes, starting with their landlady, Kathy Tanner, whose thugs pull a gun on Song, demanding their back rent with interest.

This is probably Song’s most recent year yet, going all the back to the distant year of 2009. Way back then, Song hatches a plan to generate business and buzz using Groupon. Wow, remember them? At least there is some high stakes tension supplied by Tanner’s thugs. However, like the previous episode, “Family Style” leans heavily into dysfunctional family drama.

This episode is still a vast improvement over the previous installment, because it forgoes the preachy messaging. However, the writers’ room would be well advised to add in more genre elements going forward, be they science fiction, capers, or general criminal shenanigans of some sort. Frankly, time travel fans deserve another “Leap, Die, Repeat” or “Salvation or Bust,” which really explored the sub-genre’s potential.

Quantum Leap: Let Them Play

Star Trek was remarkably clever in the ways it addressed current social issues of its time in a science fiction context, without seeming to. That was almost sixty years ago, but a lot of TV writers working today can clearly still learn lessons from that show. In contrast, almost every line of dialogue blatantly tries to teach viewers a lesson in “Let Them Play,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which airs tonight on NBC.

Quantum Leap: Leap, Die, Repeat

In many ways, JFK was the “Nuclear President.” He was partly elected due to the supposed “missile gap.” He also mentioned the potential of nuclear energy in his “We choose to go to the moon” speech. That is exactly the day Dr. Ben Song leaps to, finding himself in an experimental reactor about to have an accident requiring a major government cover-up in “Leap, Die, Repeat,” tonight’s episode of the new Quantum Leap, which airs tonight on NBC.

Initially, Dr. Song feels like he is in his element, with science geeks like Dr. Edwin Woolsey. However, his enthusiasm dampens when the entire place explodes. Ordinarily, that would be that, but he and the Quantum Leap team are somewhat relieved to discover he is actually in a time loop, but only somewhat. To save everyone and leap on, he will have to figure out who sabotaged the facility.

“Leap, Die, Repeat” is a clever way to break format without really breaking format. Instead of simply riffing on Groundhog Day and other similar films, it offers a fresh take on time-looping. However, this episode has a terrible sense of the era’s history. Song and his holographic guide, Addison Augustine, roll their eyes when Col. Parker tells him his job is to guard the facility against Communists, but the Cuban Missile Crisis would happen just one month and four days after JFK’s “Moon Speech,” so it was a totally valid concern. Also, the janitor says he reads science fiction novels like Solaris, but Lem’s classic Polish sf novel was not published in English until 1970 (secret plot twist, maybe?).

Quantum Leap: Paging Dr. Song

You don't see a lot of hospitals in science fiction, aside from James White’s Sector General novels. Dr. Ben Song would have preferred to keep it that way. He is a theoretical physicist (time travel scientist) rather than a medical doctor. However, he will have to practice as best he can when he leaps into a first-year resident’s body in “Paging Dr. Song,” this week’s episode of Quantum Leap, which airs tonight on NBC.

It turns out delivering the baby in the cold-open will be the easiest task presented to him, while he inhabits the good doctor. Somehow, this leap involves three patients, who have not checked in yet. He finds Eli Jackson rather quickly, but the retired corporate lawyer wants to check out immediately, rather than transfer to oncology for the cancer treatment he urgently needs. Song will have to convince him, but he will need help from Jackson’s estranged daughter, who happens to be his host’s mentor, third-year resident Dr. Sandra Turk.

“Paging” builds to a climax involving a subplot in which an experimental drug the hospital is testing will cause the death of one of Song’s patients. It is your basic Big Pharma demonization, but it feels rather dated in the era of Covid vaccine controversies. Seriously, do the writers want to encourage greater skepticism and distrust of the pharmaceutical industry at a time when only 68% of the United States is fully vaccinated?

On the plus side, this episode again draws on the military background of Song’s fiancée and holographic guide, Addison Augustine, who helps coach Song before breaking some hard news to a patient. Caitlin Bassett is terrific delivering the second-best speech of the series so far, right behind Magic Williams’ explanation of his experience as one of Sam Beckett’s original Quantum Leaps.