*****SPACETIME SPOILERS!*****
The Reboot
With its second season ending on an intriguing cliffhanger, NBC has made the decision not to renew its previously on-the-bubble TV series “Quantum Leap” (QL), which was a soft-reboot/sequel to the original series (1989-1993), featuring a new cast who continue in the time-traveling footsteps of Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) and his holographic observer, Al Calavicci (the late Dean Stockwell). The pilot of the new series is where we saw Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) take his first leap into the ‘quantum leap accelerator’ with a complex plan to save the life of his fiancée and holographic observer, Addison Augustine (Caitlin Bassett), only to become trapped in time himself.
Addison (Caitlin Bassett) and Ben (Raymond Lee) take off in the first reboot episode, “July 13th, 1985.”
Readers of this column are probably aware that I am a fan of this earnest reboot, which expanded the mythology of the original by focusing as much on the team behind the QL project as with Ben and Addison. The support team included QL director Admiral Herbert “Magic” Williams (Ernie Hudson), a legacy character from the original series mythology (recast with Hudson). Magic was a former Navy SEAL whose life was saved in Vietnam due to Sam’s time-traveling intervention in 1970. Overseeing the resurrected supercomputer-A.I “Ziggy” was Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), a young computer genius who is forced to make some dangerous alliances and compromises to locate missing time-traveler Ben Song.
The classified QL project’s security expert was an ex-con hacker named Jenn Chu (Nanrisa Lee), who was hired by Magic in an act of faith and redemption. The late Al’s daughter, Janis (Georgina Reilly), was a recurring character and formidable hacker herself, who clandestinely worked with Ben, and later allied herself with the rest of the team. Janis’s mother and Al’s widow, Beth (Susan Diol) is the only legacy character to be played by the same actress from the original series.
While the original QL was largely a duet between Sam and his hologram observer Al, the new series broadened its focus, much in the same way that “Star Trek: The Next Generation” went from the troika of Kirk, Spock and McCoy to become an ensemble, who each got their own spotlight episodes now and then. Both bucking and embracing the current TV/streaming trend of serialization, the new QL featured a ‘leap of the week,’ but with recurring storylines that stretched across the season as well. The best of both.
Pushing the Envelope
The second season opener pushed the series mythology ahead with a time-jump (excuse the pun), where Ben is shocked to learn the project had been shut down, and that three years had passed since he last saw holographic Addison. During that interim, Magic lapsed into alcoholism, finding the strength to recover in Beth Calavicci’s arms. Ian clandestinely kept the search for Ben going by making dangerous deals with a ruthless competitor. Most dramatically, a grieving Addison—who assumed Ben was dead—found love with a powerful new government operative named Tom Westfall (Peter Gadiot), whose influence took the QL project out of mothballs.
Bitter at the loss of his engagement to Addison, the heartbroken Ben rebounded by falling in love with a genius from the past named Hannah (Eliza Taylor), whom he crossed paths with during multiple leaps. Ian’s deal with the devil eventually put the entire project (and the world) in jeopardy when that competitor turned out to be a bitter, middle-aged tech billionaire named Gideon Ridge (James Frain), who took over QL (and time-travel technology) for his own means. Turns out Gideon blamed time-traveler Ben for the accidental death of his father, after finding a secret letter from Ben to his mother, Hannah.
The season/series resolved its arcs, save for the mystery of what happened to Sam Beckett, and, of course, bringing Ben home. Addison and Ben, having each said farewell to their respective significant others, realized they still had feelings for each other. The final episode saw Addison going back in time herself in an effort to bring Ben home. Addison was the original ‘designated leaper’ before Ben impulsively took her place to save her life. The series ended with Addison and Ben finally reunited, both in corporeal form, but trapped together in Europe during the deadly height of World War 2. That cliffhanger left a dramatic angle for a third season, with two leapers now working in tandem.
Post-Mortem
Not quite as solid as its freshman year, Season 2 arguably made a few missteps; the prime of which was breaking up Ben and Addison, whose love acted as Ben’s compass (and raison d’être) for the first season. Even shelving it temporarily, the show felt a little lost, since neither Addison nor Ben’s new significant others truly filled their respective voids. Another misstep was that the leaps themselves began to feel secondary, as the challenges to the QL team became more interesting. The 1692 Salem witchcraft episode, “A Kind of Magic,” seemed particularly chintzy, with surprisingly bad period feel that felt as authentic as a Spirit Halloween store. In fairness, the original series also had its share of clunkers (anyone else remember “the Evil Leaper”?). Occasional lapses in quality were certainly not unique to the reboot. From its beginnings, QL was more a pulp concept than top-tier sci-fi, which perfectly suited its ambitions.
On the plus side, Magic’s alcoholism and PTSD, as explored in “One Night in Koreatown,” were intriguing character additions. These flaws made Magic more relatable and human than the one-note fatherly figure seen in the first season. Jenn’s role was beefed up a bit too, when she took a turn as observer after Ben had issues dealing with Addison. She also had a shocking moment in the final episode. Programming wizard Ian had many bits of business throughout the season, as well; I witnessed the popularity of the character firsthand at WonderCon 2023, where fans expressed their love of the character during the QL panel’s Q & A session. Overall, this was a most promising ensemble, whose potential was barely tapped before this cancellation.
Last year, for the first time ever, broadcast and cable offerings accounted for less than half of all US TV viewership. So airing QL on NBC first (the night before it streamed on Peacock) made it as ratings-reliant as any other broadcast TV show. This was a serious and perhaps fatal mistake. The rebooted QL might’ve been better off as a streaming-only series, with entire seasons offered at once, instead of week-by-week streams which relied on NBC’s broadcasting schedule. This strategy may have taxed the patience of forward-thinking sci-fi fans. Broadcast television has long been a killer of embryonic future sci-fi classics, going back to the late 1960s with TOS Star Trek (which also began on NBC).
Network TV and science fiction (with few exceptions, like “The X-Files”) have rarely yielded lasting partnerships (“Firefly,” “The Orville,” etc). This is odd, given that the science fiction genre is wildly popular with movies and streaming (Disney+ is awash in sci-fi/fantasy offerings). In the decades since “Star Wars” changed the entertainment landscape forever, network TV audiences—an increasingly obsolete demographic—still seem to prefer sci-fi/fantasy offerings as one night stands rather than committed relationships.
The Future
Clockwise from upper right: Series producer Deborah Pratt (also the voice of “Ziggy” in the original show), and “Magic”, actor Ernie Hudson. Ernie Hudson listens as Raymond Lee (“Ben Song”) talks about his preference to being surprised by whatever challenges the scripts have in store. Mason Alexander Park (“Ian”) and Nanrisa Lee (“Jenn”) listen to audience questions. Raymond Lee listens as Caitlin Bassett talks about her career in the Army, and in Intelligence. Her own background was successfully incorporated into her character, as well; acting was her dream career.
In the meantime, a terrific ensemble of characters and charming actors are left homeless, as the series’ plug was unceremoniously pulled. Series lead Raymond Lee made for a great anchor, and it was refreshing to have a major sci-fi series led by a Korean-American actor, since Asian-American representation in US TV and movies is still shockingly sparse. Here’s hoping similar opportunities will arise for Lee in the future, and for his (unrelated) costar Nanrisa Lee.
It’s safe to say that actor veteran actor Ernie Hudson’s career will be buoyed by the ongoing “Ghostbusters” movie franchise, and the talented nonbinary actor Mason Alexander Park recently had roles in Netflix’s “The Sandman” adaptation (where my wife first became a fan of theirs), and as ‘The Emcee’ in a London stage revival of “Cabaret.”
Here’s hoping combat veteran Caitlin Bassett, who served a long stint with the US Army, gets another acting job soon.
There’s also costar Caitlin Bassett, who, after a long career with the US Army (with tours in Afghanistan and Iraq), enrolled in Disney’s new talent program for veterans called Heroes Work Here. “Quantum Leap” was her first series acting job, and she was quite good, too. I could easily see her taking point in one of Disney+’s many Star Wars spinoffs someday. After two seasons and 31 episodes of QL, her sci-fi cred is assured.
Having met both Caitlin Bassett and Mason Alexander Park at WonderCon 2023, I was amazed by their humble generosity with their fans. Both actors stayed to sign autographs and pose for selfies after their panel had ended, and had to be nearly shooed off the stage by event organizers (!). Personally, I wish all the best for the entire QL reboot cast and showrunner Martin Gero, who really helped give this reboot an identity apart from the original series.
Staying after the panel for a few minutes were cast members Mason Alexander Park and Caitlin Bassett, who were using what few minutes they had before the next panel to sign autographs and pose for fans’ selfies. I managed to get their autographs as well.
Perhaps, someday, we may see a Peacock TV-movie sequel that wraps up the nail-biting cliffhanger ending of Season 2. If enough “Leapers” (Quantum Leap’s “Trekkies”) band together with strong grassroots petitioning on social media, this could happen. One hopes. At the very least, I’d be happy just to see this prematurely ended series get a proper final act, allowing Ben and Addison to finally make “the leap home.”
Was a fin rode whilst it lasted. I appreciated the fact it tried a little of what recent Trek did in the soft reboot/continuation spirit, bringing in elements like Beth and her daughter whilst expanding on new characters. Personally I felt it was a bit of a misstep taking the focus away from the ‘Leaps’ themselves to such a degree, so much of what made the original run so memorable was the dynamic between Sam and Al and how most episodes always felt a hairs width away from disaster. Personally that sense of peril didn’t translate in this run.. Sad to see it this version of QL cancelled without a real conclusion.
Agreed, though I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe, if enough Leapers organize, we might see a TV movie finale one day? Crazier things have happened.
Thanks for your comment Charles. 👍
Alas, it’s another sad example of how a series with so much potential and positive feedback can be cut short by either circumstances or the powers that be. I agree that there can still be a closure for a TV movie somewhere down the line. I’m still hoping for one for Dark Matter as well. Sometimes we must really take a moment to appreciate how the most loyal sci-fi fans can keep something like Quantum Leap alive in their hearts despite whatever forced endings they’re given in TV Land. It’s been a worthy reboot effort for sure. Thank you for this article.
Appreciated as always.
And yes, I’m still holding out hope for a possible continuation. Maybe…?
Such a great cast. So much potential. 😕