I finally got caught up on the new show last night. I'll preface my review by saying I am a HUGE fan of the original Quantum Leap and any continuation or reboot of the series, especially one that didn't include Sam or Al as the main characters, was going to have an uphill battle with me from the start.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
The original Quantum Leap was developed as a recap of the second half of the 20th century from the most human perspective possible. Bellisario could have allowed for Sam to go all the way back to the dawn of time, all the way to the end of times, and everywhere in between. But he kept the show confined to a 40 year period (more or less), some because of budget but mostly because he wanted to provide commentary of that most recent period of human history. It's also the reason why there were only a handful of episodes that depicted Sam's originating time period. Showing where Sam came from wasn't really relevant to the purpose of the show. Now, I fully understand had Quantum Leap continued, we likely would have seen Sam leap into the future and further back in the past. But that would have been done to maintain sagging ratings, not to stay in line with its original premise. Science fiction was always a McGuffin with Quantum Leap.
With the new show, I feel like the social commentary is completely missing and it's all about the Sci-Fi. That's not terrible per se but with 30 years of time since the original was canceled, I would think you'd have quite a bit for which to comment. The closest I felt we got to social commentary with the new show was the boxing episode and the very brief PTSD plot element. Otherwise, it feels like the leaps are the McGuffin and the main plot/mystery with the Project, Al's daughter, and Ben's motivations for leaping are more important.
I HATE that they made the leaper/hologram dynamic a romantic one, and then compounded it by having Ben remember their relationship before any real conflict could arise. My only hope is that the show is moving towards Janice taking over as Ben's guide and removing the romantic subplot. It doesn't help that I don't think there's any real chemistry between Ben and Madison, although both work well as characters separate from each other.
I also don't understand why they removed the host/waiting room element and established it's Ben's mind leaping but not his body. If that's the case, where the hell is Ben's body in the present? It was very clear in the original show that Sam's entire body was leaping, and it was an aura or whatever of the leapee that surrounded him. Al even told Sam their ability to locate him was dependent upon the leapee jumping forward to the waiting room (hence why they almost didn't find Sam when he leaped into himself in the final episode). If this was the direction they were going, and especially with the lack of social commentary and "fish out of water" experience, I don't understand why they didn't just have Ben leap into the past as himself.
Having said all that, the show isn't terrible by any stretch but I could also see why Scott Bakula didn't have an interest to return based on these scripts. I'll ride it out, if nothing else than to see if they resolve some of the mystery before the end of the season. I'm hearing it may be it's only season based on its ratings.