Audio from this episode:

Why I leapt in the first place
Leap Effect

TV Guide Synopsis:

Ben leaps into a 16-year-old boy’s body and finds himself among a group of outcast teens on the run.

This episode we see Ben leap to a 16yr old teenager, in the midsts of a foot chase, who we find out is named Ben as well.

Ben starts to run with some other young people, and instinctively gets into a car, that speeds off from Sierra Youth Academy in the year 1996.

As the gaggle of youth speed off and the adrenaline still flowing, we learn just a bit more about the youth. They are excited that they “escaped” that “school”.

They all had a part in the escape, tires slashed, stolen keys, distraction, driving… all in on this. But what was that school? (We won’t find out till later on).

The discussion continues on what their future plans are: Vegas as a Blackjack dealer, deep woods of Alaska, going back to family (which was heavily argued as they don’t accept you). But as we get into it…. BOOM, a blown tire and now an out of control vehicle goes off the road into the woods.

We find that all the youth are not harmed from the crash, physically, but now in a panic mode as their get-away has been interrupted and they have to figure something out quick. Addison appears just at that time, to see what is going on. Addison informs Ben that he is a youth named Ben aka Klepto. (Because apparently he is really good at swiping things), and these kids were reported lost/dead from hiking in the woods. Ben surmises that this doesn’t look to be a causal hiking accident.

We start to learn just a bit more about the youth, and that this was not your standard school for the gifted, this was a school for kids that had “issues” and problems. And they start to show. Anger and distrust and a lack of experience is showing. Stacy is the defect leader, mostly because of her age, but she also comes across as the one that had the full plan to get out. Leia is the youngest of the bunch, but we will find out soon she is really really smart. Roy is very smart as well, but has flunked out of school, and turned to drugs and possible suicide attempt.

Ben tries to get the group focused a bit, to get them on the go and moving…. But with Addison’s help, not the original direction from history, Stacy then talks about a cabin, a place they go and sleep for the night, before a long hike to the next close city. Tempers flare a bit, but the group does ultimate figure out their supplies, and get on the move. As Addison returns she confirms that this was an apparent cover-up by the school, they didn’t just get lost Hiking, but we still don’t know why.

Ben is “busted” earlier in the episode for talking to his imaginary girlfriend, and the entire group is now in on it. So him chatting with Addison really doesn’t draw much attention other than the occasional comment like “is she hot?”. Ben learns more about the youth, and is still trying to figure out why the leap, it can’t be as simple as just saving their lives, he and Addison both agree there is more too it.

As the hot day burns on them, the hike is slower than they thought it would be. The single bottle of water is running out. Out of frustration and pestering, Stacy relents and agrees it is time to camp for the night. A small fire is started, and they sit around, only to be approached by a group of wolves. Leia comes up quickly with the plan to be bigger and louder than the wolves, and as a group, they scare them off, and it is a bonding moment for the group. They take shifts sleeping, and Ben seems to be the first up to watch out for the group. Roy can’t sleep, and we find more about his drug addiction, and Ben really gets to him about the pills. We find out more about the school and its techniques to keep kids in line, physical abuse aka “the box”.

We then fade into sometime the next day, and you can tell the group has been hiking for a while.. heat exhaustion is starting to set in, but Stacy is focused on finding this cabin. No more water, anger is setting in… and then Leia steps into a snake hole, and really messes up her ankle, breaking it. Addison helps navigate Ben to make a splint for this ankle out of what they have, Roy offers his pain medication to Leia, and the group comes up with a new plan.. Water is most important, and there is a stream. That is where they are headed.

They find the stream, but it is totally dried up, nothing left. Ben looses it, he starts to yell out “this can’t be the leap”, and the group just thinks he has snapped. He then sees a pipe, an unnatural item… and that leads them to the cabin they had been looking for. This is not just run of the mill cabin, this is someone’s home. Big, full of food and water, and just what the group needed to survive. Leia uses the phone to try to call her Uncle who is near by and on TV. They let themselves in, setup some candles, eat, drink, and rest… but then a van shows up. It is the school.

As the group panics to put out all the candles, the two men get out of the van and figure out the kids are there (or were there). They start to search the cabin, as they are outside… Leia sacrifices herself for the group, because of her Ankle being broken the two adults buy it, and take her away. The group can’t leave her alone, they come up with a plan. Leia’s uncle. As we see the two adults ready to put Leia (who still hasn’t been treated for her injury) into the box.. a news van shows up, and cameras start to role… it’s her uncle, and the three other youth are there…. Leia is saved, history has been changed, and the school ultimately is shutdown. Her Uncle finds more schools like it, and gets them shut down. The 4 youth go on to healthy lives, and stay friend for ever.

Ben has a flashback, he knows why he leapt…. It was to save Addison, and we fade off into the leap before we learn more….

Back in Project QL HQ:

Addison reports to the team, that Ben saw Janice when they lost contact with him in the last leap. The team concludes that Janice must have her own imaging chamber, and using the stolen hand link that belonged to her Dad. But why? All that Ben reported was that Janis was trying to warn Ben of something, but they don’t know what.

Jenn figures out how to find Janis, by looking at the power grid and the draw. They located her. Jenn and Magic head off to get Janis, but as they are leaving: Full lock down of the facility, Janis triggered it remotely. Locks everything down. We get a panicked Ian who is the only team lead out on the floor, trying to reverse what Janis did, and get Jenn and Magic out of the elevator. Addison has to stay focused on Ben and the leap.

We learn a bit more about Jenn and her situation, that her Dad was a con-artist and that she is really mad at him still, and has been blocking him out for years. Magic talks to her, and gets her to think about it. And about herself, and the trust that magic has in her. Ultimately Jenn does reach out to her dad by the end of the episode to get some dim sum.

Addison after the leap, comes to help, gets Magic and Jen out of the elevator, and the system lock down is over, but Janis is gone in the wind again.

Personal Review by Earl Bonovich:

We find out that we won’t get another episode for about 6 weeks (January 2nd).
but the previews look intense, and we know that is just from the original 5 episodes filmed, not the 6 more that were green lit recently.

We see Janice being arrested and brought into Project QL.
We see Ben get seriously injured.
We see Addison in trouble, and the team rushing around.
A lot to unpack there, but with out much context… where is the story going to go…. We have at least 11 more episodes to find out.

Overall, this was not my favorite episode of the season so far. Just way too many head scratching things. I did like the progress in the story, Ben remembering more. Figuring out that he is there to save Addison (not Sam, at least not yet). I think the story with Youth, was very important for the time in 1996, I personally would have been just a few years older then Stacy, so I felt like I could understand some of the things they were struggling with.

What I didn’t like:

The car flip, and not a single significant injury? Not a chance. Especially since I don’t think any of them had a seatbelt on.

The cabin, that was off the grid… was WAY TOO NICE and decked out, for 1996. That is more of an off-the grid in 2022, not 1996.

And the fact that NO ONE ELSE thought of helping Jenn and Magic out of the elevator by the emergency door, until Addison showed up? Come-on.

For the episode: This was a 5 out of 10. Not great, not terrible, just there. I found the last 1 minute of the show and the previews for the 2nd half of the season to be more exciting than the rest of it.

Overall opinion of the first portion of the season.I do really enjoy the series so far, it is entertaining and something fun to watch.

I am intrigued that the writers are going a very different direction than most of us thought going in, this isn’t just a save Sam story.

So we get the rest of the original 13 episodes, and then hopefully that gets right into the extension of 6 more. I think if NBC promotes this more, and Peacock viewing numbers over the next 6 weeks, the ratings will go up for the 2nd half. (no competition from MNF, more buzz about the show, and having the Night Court series starting as a lead in, may just help more people tune in).

QUANTUM LEAP – SERIES REGULARS


Dr. Ben Song (Portrayed by Raymond Lee) – Ben is a first-generation American, a world-renowned physicist, and a man of faith. He’s also working on Quantum Leap, a time travel project. But when he uses the project on himself, he’s transported back in time with a bout of amnesia – forgetting what made him time travel in the first place.

Addison Augustine (Portrayed by Caitlin Bassett) – Addison is a smart, witty, fearless ex-military operative who now serves as Project Observer at Quantum Leap HQ. She’s in charge of the technology they use to communicate with the past, and tries to rescue her fiancee, Ben, from his time-flung existence.

Ian Wright (Portrayed by Mason Alexander Park) – Quantum Leap’s nonbinary chief architect of the AI program.

Herbert “Magic” Williams (Portrayed by Ernie Hudson) – A Vietnam vet and current head of the time travel project at Quantum Leap. Herbert “Magic” Williams tries to keep the Pentagon at bay while the team tries to rescue Ben. Doctor Sam Beckett leaped into Magic during his Vietnam tour.

Jenn Chu (Portrayed by Nanrisa Lee) – Head of security at Quantum Leap HQ. Quirky but formidable, she makes it her mission to figure out why Ben erased all evidence of why he Leaped.