"Fellow Travelers"

Leap Date: April 24, 1979


Synopsis:

Ben lands in 1979 Chicago as Jack Armstrong, a devoted security guard to talented pop singer Carly Farmer. During Carly’s prep for a big concert, it quickly becomes clear her life is in danger and Ben must determine who is trying to kill her and why.

Audio from this episode:
Traveler (intro)
Ben explains what he remembers
Handlink mute sound

 

TV Guide Synopsis
Broadcast Date
Leap Date
Leap Location
Name of Leapee
Project Trivia
Ben Trivia
Addison Trivia
Ian's Outfit Worn in the Episode
Kiss With History
Miscellaneous Trivia
Props - Screen Used
Guest Cast
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Characters who appeared in Classic Series episodes
Songs & Music
Say What? 
Quotable Quotes
Personal Review
Production Photos
Production Videos
Production Credits






Poster by J.J. Lendl



 

 

Commercial for this episode:



TV Guide Synopsis:
Ben lands in 1979 Chicago as Jack Armstrong, a devoted security guard to talented pop singer Carly Farmer. During Carly’s prep for a big concert, it quickly becomes clear her life is in danger and Ben must determine who is trying to kill her and why.



Broadcast Date:
Monday, January 2, 2023 - 10pm on NBC



Leap Date:
April 24, 1979



Leap Location:
Chicago, Illinois



Name of Leapee:
Jack Armstrong



Project Trivia:
Jenn's father was a gambler with a drinking problem.

Ian loves true crime stories and realized their gender identity around the age of eight.

Addison seems to be able to linger for a few moments after Ben leaps. This also happened at the end of Atlantis. This must be a project upgrade from the original series where Al would "go back into the Imaging Chamber" after the Leaper departed.



Ben Trivia:
Ben has remembered that he leaped to save Addison, but still does not remember from what or when.



Addison Trivia:
Addison is hurt when she finds out that Ben leaped to save her and didn't tell her.


Ian's Outfits Worn in the Episode:
Blue blazer with gray turtleneck



Kiss With History:
Elton John is at the Drake Hotel



Miscellaneous Trivia:
We get alot more hologram action in this episode than in previous ones both from Addison and her handlink. The roll-in effects looked great! Would still like to see her walk through things more often.

Drew Lindo, writer of this episode says he has never seen the original series episode "Glitter Rock." However, it seems to mirror that episode quite a bit. The murder of a band member with money being the main cause, a song about travelling that can be compared to the Leapers' journey, and even a falling light nearly causing a death.

A writers room scheduling board done during production of this episode (click to enlarge):







Props - Screen used:

This prop record album was created for the episode. Only about six were made. Drew Lindo sent this to Albert Mark Burdge as a gift. His daughter, Serenity, is pictured with it below.





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 withProps - Screen used 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.



Guest Cast:
Georgina Reilly as Janis Calavicci
Deborah Ann Woll as Carly Farmer
Daniel Bonjour as Trevor
Tate Moore as Loretta
Karissa Lee Staples as Jamie Farmer
Zach Sowers as Jack (credited as Frank) Armstrong (Mirror Image)
Tristen Macdonald as Stage Manager Amanda
Alexis Zollicoffer as Dionne
Lizet Upia as Cherise
Roze JC Zepeda as Dante
Mike Schiff as Papparrazo
Angela Sprinkle as TV Interviewer
Angel Dillemuth as Restless Fan
Christine Gonzalez as Concert Goer
Sofia Pernas as Carla from archive footage
John "Jack" Doerer III as Paparazzo
Brendon Garber as Fan
Johnny Rossa as Elton John
Guerrin Gardner as Pregnant Woman
Wes Armstrong as Husband
Jessica Ramirez as Orderly







Guest Cast Notes:

Deborah Ann Woll (Carly Farmer) was born in 1985, in Brooklyn, New York, from Irish and German heritage. She took acting, piano and dance classes. She went to high school at Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from the BFA program at the USC School of Theatre at the University of Southern California. Deborah started to work as an actress on television and her breakout was in the highly-acclaimed HBO vampire drama, True Blood (2008), as a young and fierce vampire girl, "Jessica Hamby". From that moment, she gained roles in such films as Mother's Day (2010), Seven Days in  Utopia (2011), Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011), Catch .44 (2011), opposite Bruce Willis and Forest Whitaker, and Ruby Sparks (2012). Woll's boyfriend, Edward E.J. Scott, is a comedian and his family are afflicted with choroideremia, which is a condition that slowly blinds its victim. She uses her celebrity status to help advocate for them and others with the disease. She has been quoted as saying that her boyfriend's bravery in fighting his disability has inspired her own battle with Celiac disease, which makes her body intolerant to foods containing gluten.

Daniel Bonjour (Trevor) was born on September 28, 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an actor and writer, known for The Walking Dead (2010), iZombie (2015) and Frequency (2016). He has been married to Jelly Howie since July 19, 2014. They have one child.

Tate Moore (Loretta) is known for Adopted (2021), Woman Up (2019) and With Love (2021).

Karissa Lee Staples (Jamie Farmer) is best known for her series regular roles as Paloma Madsen in USA Network's "Necessary Roughness" and Victoria Jagger in the Gemini nominated sitcom, "What's Up Warthogs". Staples currently has recurring roles as Sarah Dinsey in the Hulu comedy series, "Everyone is Doing Great" and Bonnie in the CBS drama, "S.W.A.T.".

Zach Sowers (Jack) is known for Criminal Minds (2005), Star Trek: Picard (2020) and Good Mourning (2022).

Tristen MacDonald (Stage Manager Amanda) was born in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Tristen is known for Grey's Anatomy (2005), Henry Danger (2014) and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003).

Alexis Zollicoffer (Dionne) is known for Sympathy for the Devil, Color (2022) and Never Goin' Back (2018).

Lizet Upia (Cherise) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Felix and Maria Upia as the youngest of four. Both of her parents are originally from the Dominican Republic making for a very unique upbringing as first generation in New York City. At the age of 8, Lizet discovered her passion for singing and the performing arts. Here she sang, danced and performed in various productions. By age 15, Lizet joined the prestigious John Robert Powers Modeling and Acting school in New York City. There she learned about various acting techniques that would continue to guide her further into her flourishing talents and gifts in the performance arts. By age 24, an entrepreneurial makeup business created the perfect opportunity for Lizet to relocate to Los Angeles, CA to pursue her dreams. She's modeled for Beauty Blender campaign and was featured in Sephora amongst other well-known campaigns. She's landed roles in film and TV such as Hello Romance and A Dance Story. Most recently Lizet was in the in the Feature Film Mal de Amores. This film was selected to be in the Hola Mexico film festival. This is the tip of the iceberg for Lizet's ambitious nature and ever evolving career.

Roze JC Zepeda (Dante) is a queer, gender-nonconforming, Latinx artist and writer on a journey to create a stronger and safer world through storytelling. On-screen they can be seen on shows like Fox's "I Can See Your Voice" or Netflix's "Lucifer." Off-screen JC is busy writing uplifting stories of underrepresented demographics. The recently completed half-hour pilot, "Inheritxd," tells the story of JC's coming out as gay and psychic as a middle-schooler, while their Latina airline pilot mother, sex-working step-dad, disabled sister, and undocumented nanny pursue the American Dream in suburban Phoenix. Toward the end of their six-year career as a globe-trotting flight attendant, JC graduated from the Sanford Meisner Center acting conservatory, enrolled in a TV Writing Certificate program at UCLA Extension, and co-founded the Anti-Racist Movie Club, a virtual activist film club. JC Zepeda is currently theatrically and commercially represented by Aqua Talent and is independently developing "The Healer's Journey," a podcast where writers workshop material using Tarot cards and an original TikTok sitcom based on their non-binary experience in Hollywood.

Mike Schiff (Papparrazo) is known for The Neighborhood (2018), Shameless (2011) and NCIS (2003).

Angela Sprinkle (TV Interviewer) is known for Hotel Artemis (2018), Carpe Millennium (2010) and Happily Ever After (2015).

Angel Dillemuth (Restless Fan) is a New York based actor, director, and screenwriter from the Bronx.
Angel has appeared on many shows including Almost Family, Luke Cage, Person of Interest, The Blacklist and more. Angel has had the pleasure of working with established veterans Jim Caviezel, Michael Ealy, Tim Guinee, and Academy Award Winner - Natalie Portman, to name a few.
Angel received his M.F.A. from The Actor's Studio Drama School and completed the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer in Oxford Program, (BADA MIO18). Angel is currently studying with Tony Greco. As a Director/Screenwriter his first short, "Night Runners", Co-Directed by Nectarios Leonidas, has had a number of nominations and a couple of wins including; A Silver Award from the Spotlight Horror Film Awards '17 and third place at the Miami Fear Fest '17.

Guerrin Gardner (Pregnant Woman) is an actress and writer originally from Tallahassee, Florida. Film and TV credits include: Escape at Dannemora, Ray Donovan, Grey's Anatomy, New Girl, Suburgatory, A to Z, Law and Order and God Bless America. Sandy the Dandy and Charlie McGee, the modern vaudeville she co-wrote and also starred in, premiered at the NY International Fringe Festival and subsequently had a three year New York run. The show was a critic's top pick in Time Out New York, A.V Club, Backstage, and NYTheatre.com. Her web series Where's This Party? (co-created with Chris Candy) has been a featured series on Funny or Die and was a top pick by Paper Magazine. Guerrin has performed comedy, sketch and improv at UCB, The PIT, IO West, Caroline's on Broadway and Comedy Central Stages. As a writer, she has contributed to Realsimple.com, Apartment Therapy, Very Short List and worked at Time Inc and Real Simple Magazine. She recently finished writing, producing and starring in the short film Michael Peterson (World Premiere at Palm Springs International Shortfest 2017, Remi Winner at Houston Shortfest 2017, Winner of Best Director at Los Angeles TV, Script & Film Festival 2017)

Wes Armstrong (Husband) is known for Jane the Virgin (2014), Zoe Valentine (2019) and Party Down (2009).

Christine Gonzalez (Concert Goer) is known for Retina (2017).

Jessica Ramirez (Orderly) is known for Snowfall (2017) and The Dagger (2017).




Guests Who Appeared in Other Quantum Leap Episodes:
Georgina Reilly returns as recurring character Janis Calavicci.




Characters who appeared in Classic Series episodes:
None




Songs & Music:
"I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan plays at the Leap-in

"Traveling On", an original song from the episode written by Dean Georgaris's friend Jamie Jackson plays near the opening of the episode during the sound check scene.

"Best Of My Love" by The Emotions plays at the party.

"Hold On" by Terry Weiss plays when Carly hits on Ben.

"Sunny Side Up" by Petrina Smith and Andrew Kinglow plays in Belize with Janis and Jenn.

"Raise Your Heart" by The Mellophonics plays at the bar.

"Black Betty" by Ram Jam plays before the concert house opens about halfway through the episode.

"Traveing On", an original song from the episode sung in duet form plays near the end of the episode.




Say What?
Jenn finds Janis extremely quickly, and at one of the many bars in town, after guessing correctly that she's in Belize.

Why does Ben think talking into his wrist will hide the fact that he's talking to Addison. Watches like that would not have been invented in the 1970's, except when Michael Knight used one on "Knight Rider!"

The evidence file shows several pieces that are identical.

When Ben shouts to Carly to wait, the phone cord disappears, showing him holding the handset to his face with no possible connection.

After Ben leaps out, Addison seems to remain at the concert for a moment. The background is blurred and it could be that she is simply in the Imaging Chamber.

For an episode that brings us back from the holiday hiatus, we learn very little more than has already been told of the Project storyline.

While addressed in the episode briefly, we learned earlier that Ben thinks the reason he leaped is "bigger than all of us", but says that he leaped to save Addison.

During the credits, the character Jack Armstrong is credited as Frank Armstrong.




Quotable Quotes:

"The longer you're gone, the harder it gets."
-Ben

"Most killers don't seem like killers, Ben. That's why they're successful."
-Addison

"He was a hero. Using QL technology to save countless lives, while making some pretty questionable fashion choices."
-Jenn to Janice about Al Calavicci

"From now on, we face everything together."
-Ben to Addison




Personal Review & Detailed Synopsis by Earl Bonovich:

Synopsis:

This episode we see Ben leap away from helping young teenagers escape a horrible and abusive “school”, and reveal to Addison that he got into the Accelerator to help her.
We find Ben, all dressed in a nice suit, outside a limo with camera’s flashing all around catching him off guard…. It is an event!! A big event.
But it isn’t for the person Ben leaped into, it is for Carly Farmer’s 1979 tour, In Chicago, Illinois.

Carly is starting off the day with a sound check, and we find that Ben is in the body of Jack Armstrong, and we soon find out he is head of security for her and Tour.
We also meet Trevor, which just oozes the stereotypical manger role, and is already bumping heads with Carly right out of the gate.

Addison makes her appearance, and we get the expected continuation from last episode, her trying to get more information from Ben about what he meant, and Ben simply not knowing anymore than what he shared.
Addison is mad at Ben, very mad.. And Ben understands she is mad, he just wished he knew the answer to the question of why. This undertone, will be throughout the episode.

We then get back to the reason why Ben is there…. And, it is happing in just a few seconds: Carly is going to die on stage, right now, from a falling light.
Ben rushes to the stage, knocks her out of the way just in time. Great… Leap solved, where to next? Not so fast.

This episode pulls from classic QL story telling, that it isn’t just an EVENT that has to be stopped, there is a bigger issue. So Ben is still inside of Jack.
But lucky for Ben, Addison has all the historical details, and well…. Carly is going to die, later that night on Lakeshore drive.

Ben pulls up a cuff, and starts to talk into it, like he is a secret service agent. But it is convent, because he can talk to Addison at a full party of people, and works.
But now they need to figure out who wants Carly dead. But we go back to the Ben / Addison troubles, and that Addison is very much against Ben keeping Carly in the dark about what he knows.

Now for the next twist; While Ben (Jack) is comforting Carly out on the patio, she kisses him… deeply. And we find that there is something between Jack and Carly.
Ben pushes her away because he is surprised, Carly apologizes, everything seems okay… but then there is a knock at the patio door, there is a security issue that Jack needs to take care of.

It’s Carly’s sister, Jammie. We find out from the backup dancers, that Carly has issues. Junkie, Addict, and jack it told to get rid of her.
He heads out to confront Janice, expecting something very different than what he finds…. A calm and collected person, that has an invitation to the event, from what appears to be from Carly herself.

Ben (Jack) has to rely on what he was told by the other people, that Jammie is not to be there… and Addison pops in with update information: Jammie is convicted of killing her sister that night.
Ben does convince Jammie to leave, with no scene that it was a mistake (that the invitation was sent).

Addison digs into the story with the help of Ian, and things are “too perfect”. True Crime conspiracy perfect. The drive on the notion, that Jamie was framed and some of the evidence backs that up.
They find out that Trevor has some rights to Addison’s songs, and will stand to 10’s of millions of dollars if she dies. So time to go down that path. Ben confronts Trevor, Trevor shoes him some “letters” he has that apparently are from Jammie, threatening her sister…. Ben then pulls up the invitation and compares the Typograph on it (If you recall from other classic shoes of the time, Manual Typewriters almost had a signature similar to that of a fingerprint), and Ben believes they are all from the same typewriter. Trevor is a bit taken back by the presence of the invitation, and takes it and throws it out.

Ben has to do something, so he convinces Carly that it isn’t safe for to take a walk, he tells her he thinks there is a serious risk, while not directly stating that it could be her sister.

The 10pm death of Carly is avoided: Great time to leap, no.. doesn’t happen. Ben and Carly go for a walk, and talk, and Ben tells Carly he believes Trevor faked all those letters. And tricked Carly, to push her sister away (she was her song writer), so He (Trevor) could get more of the cash. Ben addresses Carly, about Trust. How he trust her, and she trusts him. While it is “Jack” saying that to Carly, we know that it is Ben saying that to Addison, who is just on the other side of Carly. Right after that moment… someone tries to run them over…. Avoided, but they didn’t see who.

They get back to the hotel, and figure out that no way it could be Trevor based on timing, but… none the less. Carly fires Trevor, he storms out and says it isn’t finished.

Great, Carly is saved…. Time to leap, no… Addison comes in and tells Ben that Carly is going to die tomorrow, backstage, and this time… they find the knife directly on her sister.

Ben needs to figure this out, someone really wants Carly dead.
They are at the show the next day…. Ben has a thought, who else had access to that typewriter. He finds a payphone, and luckily, change in the return.
He calls Trevor… at the same time, the crowd is let in, with Carly and her sister right in the lobby…. Carly and Jamie rush off, Ben pressuring Trevor for an answer: Loretta, the backup singer.
We then find Loretta telling Carly that her sister needs her right now. Ben is running, against the crowd… and just in time, gets in the way of the knife that Loretta is plunging at Carly.
Getting cut, saving Carly and Jamie…. Loretta was in love with Trevor, and hated Carly for everything she was doing to him.

We get a loving duet with Jamie and Carly, a few more words between Ben and Addison… and we leap; Ben has leaped into a Doctor, that is on the street, with a person about to go into risky labor.

—

Back in Project QL HQ:

While we only got about 5 minutes of HQ time, it was a packed few minutes.

The team is still trying to figure out what is Ben saving Addison from. They presume it is something in the future, but they have no idea of what/when/where, nothing.
Ian has been busy though, he repurposed Ziggy to figure out where Janice Calavicci is…. He came up with multiple possibilities, but Jenn says it is Belize. Off she goes.
And sure enough, Janice is there. Jenn quickly presses to ask her directly on what Ben is saving her from, but Janice flips the conversation…. Ask Jenn, why did Ben work with her (Janice), and not the people at QL to save Addison?

We wrap our time with Project QL HQ, with Jenn flipping the tables on Janice now. She paid off her body guards, so instead of protecting her, they basically arrest her on behalf of Jenn.
We next see Janice confronting Magic, back at Project QL HQ

And there you have it S1 E9: Fellow Travelers.


Review:

Welcome back leapers, and what a way to start of 2023, and the second half of Season 1.

Let’s first take a moment to recognize some things that happened at the end of 2022 with the show.First we got an extension of 6 more episodes for Season 1, bring the total to 19. Awesome. Then, we got the news during the hiatus, that Season 2 has been announced, and we are going to get even more QL.Exciting news, and can’t wait to see where the show goes. Now on to my thoughts on this episode.

My opinion, this is probably the best episode we have gotten yet. Having thought about since the viewing last night, I concur with several others that this is the best episode.Great writing, good flow in the show, using one of the best structures classic QL had (multiple events, to find out the real reason).

We got even more growth out of Ben and Addison. Their chemistry is growing week by week.


The acting by Deborah Ann Wool as Carly, was absolutely fabulous. You almost got to know Carly nearly immediately in the first minute or so, and who she was…Deborah did an amazing job keeping Carly a warm and caring person, in the 1979 Singer tour world.. The interaction between Ben and Carly, was natural and honest… which is going to be a trait that Ben needs to have going forward, jumping from lifetime to lifetime.He is going to have to adjust quickly, and be that person he leaped into deeply, and he is getting better at it.

The Project QL: HQ story line is also moving along quickly.We now have full immersion into what is Janice’s involvement…. I like the nod to Al’s clothing fashion being a little questionable.

But we still don’t know why Ben engaged with Janice, Janice just poses a question on why her and not them. We don’t know yet, if it was Ben’s idea… did ben really not trust the Project QL team. Or could he have been manipulated.

He was told that Allison was in danger in the future, and that working with Janice was the only way to save her (the presumption to this point).We haven’t been shown anyway that Janice would have insight into Alison’s future, or any way to understand how Ben knows what is going to happen.

We still have Leaper X out there, and his words… and we pretty sure his leaps are triggered from a future date….

There is still a lot to figure out, and now we get at least 20ish more episodes for that to continue.






 
Production Photos:

 
 
   
 
  

Production Videos:
Coming Soon




Production Credits:

Consulting Producer: Moira Kirland
Producer: Tim Scanlan
Producer: Meg Fister
Co-Executive Producers: Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes
Co-Executive Producer: Drew Lindo
Co-Executive Producer:  Aadrita Mukerji
Produced by: Marc Bienstock
Executive Producers: Steven Lilien & Bryan Wyndrandt
Executive Producer: Chris Grismer
Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Executive Producer: Dean Georgaris
Executive Producer: Martin Gero
Developed by: Steven Lilien & Bryan Wyndrandt
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Teleplay by: Drew Lindo
Story by: Drew Lindo and Dean Georgaris
Directed by: David Grossman

Associate Producer: Ethan Henderson
Story Editor: Margarita Matthews
Casting by: Jennifer Cooper, CSA
Casting Director: Kamala A. Thomas
Director of Photography: Christopher Duddy
Production Designer: Mayling Cheng
Edited by: Piper Kroeze
Music by: Daniel James Chan
Unit Production Manager: Melanie J. Elin
Unit Production Manager: Marc Bienstock
First Assistant Director: Ben Scissors
Second Assistant Director: Athena Alexander
Costume Designer: Genevieve Tyrrell
A Camera Operator:  Dave Hirschman
B Camera/Steadycam Operator: Justin Browne
Production Sound Mixer: Beau Hodges
Chief Lighting Technician: Donna Vega
Key Grip: Peter Chrimes
Art Directors: Danny Cistone & Liz Kloczkowski
Set Director: Tim Stepeck
Costume Supervisor: Mark A. Sumner
Property Master: Erik Grasteit
Construction Coordinator: Matt Sazzman
Department Head Hair: Amy Marie Wilson
Department Head Makeup: Julia Lallas
Leadman: David Napoli
Stunt Coordinator: Jeff Barnett
Location Manager: Dan Milner
Transportation Coordinator: Sandra Ninham-Gallardo
Production Office Coordinator: Sofie Johanna "Bubbles" Dejus
Assistant Production Office Coordinator: Brendan Hickey
Production Accountant: Natalie Chiengkul
Script Supervisor: Heather Pollock
Script Coordinator: Sue Palmer
Casting Accociates: Lindsay Jameyson & Mia Cascio
Post Production Coordinator: Gabriella Scudieri
Music Supervisor: Season Kent
Music Co-Supervisor: Leah Harrison
Music Editor: Zed Starkovich
Assistant Editor: Catherine Goohs
Online Editor: Richard Wells
Colorist: Chris Boyer
Visual Effects Supervisor: Trent Smith
Visual Effects Editor: Aaron Merrill
Supervising Sound Editor: Kelly Cabral
Co-Supervising Sound Editor: Kevin Zimmerman
Re-Recording Mixer: Yuri Reese & Sean Madsen
A Camera 1st AC: Erik Emerson
B Camera 1st AC: Steve Bellen
DIT: Justin Steptoe
2nd 2nd AD: Graham Geraghty
Additional 2nd AD (Base): Tim Deal

The State of California and the California Film Commision, California Soundstage Filming Tax Credit Program

Copyright 2023 Universal Television LLC All Right Reserved

Dean Georgaris Entertainment
Quinn's House
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