I haven't been watching much TV since the Wuflu outbreak of 2020 broke all our routines but one show I did endeavor to check out the reboot of Quantum Leap that kicked off on NBC and wrapped up the first half of its first season in 2022. It's live ratings were pretty poor but someone was satisfied enough over there to give it a full season order and then renew it. The second half began on January 2nd.
Is it worth catching up on? More after the jump.
I was never really a watcher of the original
Quantum Leap, it aired not only pre-Internet but before I was able to independently choose my own entertainment. So I would catch a few reruns here or there, enough to know Scott Bakula was a good ol' guy when he showed up at the head of
Enterprise, but never enough to really be invested in any way. All of which to say while there has been a recent epidemic of studios taking existing IPs and totally ruining them, I have no frame of reference for what the original
Quantum Leap was in comparison to this modern version.
They do exist in the same universe - it's as much a sequel as a reboot as Dr Sam Beckett, Bakula's lead character from the 1989 series is referenced as having disappeared. The Quantum Leap project which sent him hurtling through time remains in existence but our new hero is Dr Ben Seong, played by azn brother Raymond Lee which drew me to the show - producers often wield it in terrible, damaging ways but representation does matter.
Seong is partnered by Addison, his guide back in 2022 who only appears to him as a hologram. In the present day, Ben and Addison are engaged to be married but when he leaps back in time, he loses his memory not only of her but also his motivation for his unsanctioned time travelling. Bassett looked familiar to me but I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before - the answer is nowhere, though she does bear a resemblance to Jennifer Carpenter of
Dexter fame.
Every other character on this show is incidental. Youtuber Disparu remarked that this show reminded him of one you'd see on the CW and I think that about nails it - like many of the Arrowverse shows, the central hero is surrounded by a team including one love interest and a whole lot of useless people no one cares about and who just distract from the main plot. In particular azn sister Nanrisa Lee plays Jen and after watching eight episodes of this show I still don't understand what her job is or why I'm supposed to care that she has a shady background.
The show follows a typical network episodic adventure of the week format - each week, Dr Ben is vaulted into a person's consciousness in a new location and different time period and he must solve his host's problems in order to trigger the next leap. Addison, who only he can see, provides him with context and information to aid him and each time he recovers a little piece of his memory. Having not watched much of the original series, I have to rely on the assertion that in those days, stories wrapped up just as neatly and glowingly as they do today, that's to say it's not enough that Ben's actions save the life of his host, thanks to his intervention, they also develop a cure for cancer, open a shelter for abandoned puppies and help Nancy Pelosi get re-elected safeguarding women's rights for all.
Yes, unfortunately this show has the disease - it doesn't rear its ugly head for the first few episodes beyond the intentional casting and standard factory setting attitudes but in episode four, Ben leaps into a woman and is immediately harassed by a gross, drunk man. Mason, the flamboyantly non-binary member of the team makes a crack about him having a "gender-creative" experience.
They are able to keep a lid on the absurdity by leaning more on comedy than messaging but it takes a step back in episode five when he finds himself in the body of an ageing gunslinger in the Old West - a time period immediately derided by Mason as over-romanticized while the town is racially segregated in a very unsubtle way as the townsfolk attempting to forge a new, peaceful life are all cowboys and girls of color while the outlaw gang threatening their lives are all white.
The ham continues to pile up in subsequent episodes in inverse proportion to the quality of entertainment, culminating in the embarrassing mid-season finale "
Stand By Ben", an homage (?) to cult 80s classic movie
Stand By Me. Much worse than any inserted moralizing is the haphazard plotting and the idiot ball being juggled by everyone as they bumble from one dumbass, illogical, out of character decision to another.
After a passable start, I have to say I was vert dissatisfied with the show at this point. The only thing that would lead me back is wanting to support an azn brother - I can't imagine the average viewer would have the same purpose. He's been ok, fine - nothing particularly memorable or inspiring. With the break and the failing ratings we can but hope that this show will see a course correction but as of yet in 2023 I haven't seen much improvement. In the latest few episodes, Janice Calavicci, daughter of the original series' Al Calavicci has been a regular feature. The character is meant to be an integral part of the lore, the key to unlocking several ongoing mysteries. But like the show she's a part of she so far has not been interesting enough and I'm sorry, the actress who portrays her is not good enough.
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