The new Quantum Leap

[kingaliencracker]

I should add it's not Addison because she would be way too young and his daughter's name was Sammy Jo.

[Jokerz79]

Yeah Sammy Jo works for or at least did work for Project Quantum Leap but she'd be in her 50's by 2022.

Also it would be interesting to see Sam's brother again just as a old Vietnam War buddy of Magic's.

[kingaliencracker]

Yeah Sammy Jo works for or at least did work for Project Quantum Leap but she'd be in her 50's by 2022.

Also it would be interesting to see Sam's brother again just as a old Vietnam War buddy of Magic's.

Yep, 56. Incidentally just 13 years younger than Sam.

[80sbaby]

Sammy Jo could easily be Addison's grandmother.

[Jokerz79]

Sammy Jo could easily be Addison's grandmother.

Mother not Grandma the actress who plays Addison was born in 88 and Sammy Jo would have been in her early 20's then.

[kingaliencracker]

Mother not Grandma the actress who plays Addison was born in 88 and Sammy Jo would have been in her early 20's then.

I also recall an episode where Addison describes her family life as less than ideal. I may be misremembering but if that's the case it doesn't fit with Sammy Jo being her mom.

[CaptCleghorn]

Yeah Sammy Jo works for or at least did work for Project Quantum Leap but she'd be in her 50's by 2022.

Sammy Jo is a character that has been said may NOT know who her father was, but did work for the project. With the degree of security on the project, her parentage may be a highly classified fact. Certainly her DNA would have been checked against Sam's. In any case, if Sammy Jo knew who her biological father was, I'd imagine she'd be fairly intent of pursuing her theory. Same goes for Donna as well.

Also it would be interesting to see Sam's brother again just as a old Vietnam War buddy of Magic's.

This is an interesting situation. Is Magic's position that classified? Does Tom even know what happened to Sam? With Sam's family situation it's possible he could have faded from them and just ended up in some government project. A simple old buddy from his Vietnam days might be the best way to go about it, but the tendency to drop information and details in this show would make Tom Beckett's appearance a much bigger event.

[kingaliencracker]

Looks like we got an early renewal...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadlin...235197219/amp/

[CaptCleghorn]

Looks like we got an early renewal...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadlin...235197219/amp/

A second season and knowing about it this early allows the show to head towards a season ending cliffhanger and not have to worry about it being a series finale.

That being said, the second half of the season hasn't differed that much from the first. The leapee stories are short and very basic. Each episode gives us too many plates being juggled between Ben's situation, the Ben and Addison relationship, any happenings at QLHQ, and the carefully measured clues and hints that are dropped each week regarding the overall story arc.

The present day drama is an understandable result of 21st century television. Overreaching arcs are the way and Ben's situation is a major part of the project's direction. I am disappointed that Magic and Janis did not have that "We're both alive because of Sam Beckett" moment, but I'm not writing the show. Janis' slow drip of information appears to be leading to a season end show where she dies or becomes regular cast for season 2.

I'm still hoping for a Bruce McGill appearance this season.

And, for a great bit of trivia, the child born in Genesis is named Samantha Stratton. The woman Astronaut Ben meets in Atlantis is named Samantha Stratton. I refuse to believe this wasn't planned and suspect (well, hope) that QL fanatics would scour old shows to find links between Sam's and Ben's leaps.

[CaptCleghorn]

That was as close to a "very special" episode of Quantum Leap as this season has produced. And that's a good thing. The show's premise originally was to show us recent history with its wonders and problems. This new sequel series should be no different except to add a few decades to the equation. I am sure there are those who are far more knowledgeable than I about people who are transexual who can speak to that more intelligently, but I thought it was a great leap episode. Also, it seemed there was a lot more attention paid to this leap relative to the modern day project story, probably due to the topic which still qualifies as special today.

As to the project story, there's a major development which if it wasn't last night's episode I'd go into detail of how that could possibly work. spoilers:

Ian leapt/will leap. If it's future Ian, how does Dotty know about it now when Ian hasn't leapt yet. Also, if Ian has leapt already, he probably should tell someone how he got back.

end of spoilers

[mortari]

That was as close to a "very special" episode of Quantum Leap as this season has produced. And that's a good thing. The show's premise originally was to show us recent history with its wonders and problems. This new sequel series should be no different except to add a few decades to the equation. I am sure there are those who are far more knowledgeable than I about people who are transexual who can speak to that more intelligently, but I thought it was a great leap episode. Also, it seemed there was a lot more attention paid to this leap relative to the modern day project story, probably due to the topic which still qualifies as special today.

As to the project story, there's a major development which if it wasn't last night's episode I'd go into detail of how that could possibly work. spoilers:

Ian leapt/will leap. If it's future Ian, how does Dotty know about it now when Ian hasn't leapt yet. Also, if Ian has leapt already, he probably should tell someone how he got back.

end of spoilers

My head cannon is that these 2 future leapers that we know of Ian and the soldier from earlier are from the recent future and have yet to leap. Maybe end of season 2 we'll see them tie it together and we'll see the project evolve to let anyone who wants to leap. I want them to show the waiting room. I can't imagine that it's not there at the project but we know there's a 2nd active imaging chamber out there NOW, so maybe that's where the waiting room is?

[CaptCleghorn]

My head cannon is that these 2 future leapers that we know of Ian and the soldier from earlier are from the recent future and have yet to leap. Maybe end of season 2 we'll see them tie it together and we'll see the project evolve to let anyone who wants to leap.

What bothers me about future leapers is that I don't understand how people in the present would have an idea of their effects yet. Taking Ben's latest leap into account. Before he leapt, Gia hadn't played in a game and anyone looking at records would have seen that up until the time Ben's lap is as fixed by Addison's time frame. Before 6 Feb 2023, no record Gia court time, after 6 Feb 2023, her playing is historical record as told by Ian to Addison. If the soldier leaper hasn't leapt yet, how are 2022/2023 Addison and Ben seeing him? That's what bothers me.

I want them to show the waiting room. I can't imagine that it's not there at the project but we know there's a 2nd active imaging chamber out there NOW, so maybe that's where the waiting room is?

I can not believe the waiting room isn't a point or even worth a mention. Magic (who spent time in the waiting room (although he doesn't remember it) not even mentioning or handling it is weird. I also imagine (yes, head canon) that Al would have been extensively debriefed after the OGQL's "Leap for Lisa" considering his extensive role in that leap. I doubt the second imaging chamber has a waiting room as Janis' setup only looks like it sends a hologram of her back. If she had a waiting room where leapees went, that would be an issue that couldn't be ignored.

[j9ac9k]

The trans episode got preachy and pedantic, (that's usually what the drama is for) but that's not surprising. Original QL veered into that territory plenty of times, though they don't usually bring out charts and graphs.

I will forgive them though since they used Katy Perry's "Firework" to great effect - as overplayed as it became, it absolutely fit the time period they were in and I genuinely love that song for all the cheesy, on-the-nose reasons.

[Deathstroke]

I've given up on Quantum Leap but I wanted to check out the most recent episode since it had a tie to basketball. While the main plot hit all the expected story points of "A Very Special Episode Of...", I wasn't expecting it to do anything but. So that's not surprising.

What annoyed me is that in almost none of the basketball action sequences did any of the actresses look like they knew what the hell they were doing. I coached basketball for 25 years and between barely being able to dribble, bad passing and terrible shooting form, I was aghast that they don't even try to make the stuff look credible. Yes, I know it isn't the point but it drew me out of the story. The only time things looked right was when Gia and her friend were waiting for her parents to come and her friend actually looked like she had good shooting form. ARGH!

[CaptCleghorn]

I've given up on Quantum Leap but I wanted to check out the most recent episode since it had a tie to basketball. While the main plot hit all the expected story points of "A Very Special Episode Of...", I wasn't expecting it to do anything but. So that's not surprising.

What annoyed me is that in almost none of the basketball action sequences did any of the actresses look like they knew what the hell they were doing. I coached basketball for 25 years and between barely being able to dribble, bad passing and terrible shooting form, I was aghast that they don't even try to make the stuff look credible. Yes, I know it isn't the point but it drew me out of the story. The only time things looked right was when Gia and her friend were waiting for her parents to come and her friend actually looked like she had good shooting form. ARGH!

The car washing scenes were well done, though.

As to the latest episode (Thank Rao for DVRs), this seemed like mostly filler. There were some aspects which were helpful, but nothing which really moved anything forward.

Ian's a hopeless workaholic. I almost expected to see Captain Obvious leap in to tell us this. His conclusion at the end of his part of the episode was another "no $#!+" revelation as well.

The leap was meh. We got as lot of Ben's mother issues and his love for cooking but the result fell short for me. A part I really enjoyed about OGQL was that the result usually led to the leapee and their family/associates doing good things. Or as Al the Bartender said, "At the risk of over-inflating your ego, Sam, you've done more. The lives you've touched, touched others. And those lives, others! You've done a lot of good, Sam Beckett." And yes, I am applying my own expectations onto the show, but this was a purely a Ben getting emotional support for his feelings about his mother.

Now as for Ian, his leap seems to be from the future. Hence him getting back isn't clear. That Ian could still be leaping. However, pinpointing the leap so they could talk to Ben is something I think was only done in the last Evil Leaper episode. We also don't know what happened to Alia or Zoey. Could Ian have been (or will be) working for the other QL project? If so (and this is a big if), did they think the project was legit, or are they working undercover.

If the "evil leaper" project is what's been referenced, then hopefully Renée Coleman or Carolyn Seymour makes at least a cameo.