Leap Date:
May 2, 1989

Audio from this episode:

Handlink opening sound
Handlink ting sound
Hologram sound - soft fade
Full Leap effect

TV Guide Synopsis
Broadcast Date
Leap Date
Leap Location
Name of Leapee
Synopsis & Personal Review
Project Trivia
Ben Trivia
Addison Trivia
Ian's Outfit Worn in the Episode
Kiss With History
Miscellaneous Trivia
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
Production Photos
Production Videos
Production Credits
Podcasts

TV Guide Synopsis:

When Ben leaps onto a naval battleship during war games in 1989, he must not only navigate a dangerous rescue mission but also contend with his commanding officer, XO Alexander Augustine, otherwise known as Addison’s father.

Ben leaps onto the Naval Battleship USS Montana in 1989 in the midst of battle! He soon discovers it was a readiness drill. A Chinese sub has been shadowing them, wanting a front row seat to exercises with the South Koreans and Australians.

Addison arrives and says Ziggy's running slow, which Ben thinks would be a great name for a band. As captain Bill Drake makes a speech to the crew over the loudspeaker system, Addison realizes they are about a ship that her own father served on, and rushes out to see him (XO Alexander Augustine, played by Brandon Routh).

At PQL, Magic and Jenn are astounded that Ben has Leaped so close to a family member of Addison. Ian tells them that they have no way of targeting a specific place in time, but perhaps Ben figured it out.

Addison tells Ben that he is the Operations Officer and is third in command. She begins to tell Ben why he is there. The scene passes back and forth between Addison telling it, and Magic recounting the same events from back at PQL. The ship picked up a distress signal, but her father decided not to pursue it. The distress signal was from the USS Tampa and no one knew the sub was there. Because the signal was ignored, the entire crew of the Tampa perished. Addison's father's reputation was destroyed in the process. Addison adds that her father left her and her mother and she harbors ill feelings towards her father due to this.

Following this revelation, Captain Drake discovers that the Chinese sub is still following them, and orders the crew to train the fire control radar on the sub. This is considered hostile, and Commander Augustine convinces Drake to drop the order. The Master Chief lets on that Drake is becoming worse, but Augustine puts him off. The distress call Addison warned Ben about earlier comes in. Her father immediately tells the crew that they will answer the distress call. This surprises Addison, because in the original history, she understood that he was the one who ignored it. We quickly find out that it was actually Drake who forced the ship to ignore the call, believing it to be a fake from the Chinese, and Augustine covered it up out of respect for his long-time commander.

At PQL, Ian has tasked Ziggy with finding a way to prove that the distress call was authentic. Jenn suggests that the explosion that happened on the Tampa was caused by something, so in order to find the truth, she asks Magic to meet with his old friend who was with the Chinese Navy at the time of Ben's Leap.

Ben calls Lieutenant Walker via radio, who is in charge of communications. He asks Walker to compare the wavelength of the distress signal with that of the Chinese. Doing this could prove the distress call authentic. Walker radios back that is was indeed one of our ships and the Captain agrees to speed to their location. At the same time, however, the Captain has fired a warning shot at the Chinese sub, causing the rest of the crew to panic and doubt the rational motives of Drake. The Chinese sub leaves, avoiding war, for now.

Magic visits with Liu Wei, a friend from the Chinese Navy. He asks Wei to offer any information. Wei explains that they came close to something very bad.

Ben and XO Augustine speak about Addison briefly, as Ben and Addison notice toddler photos of her on Alexander's wall. Augustine warns Ben that he will not tolerate insubordinate talk about Drake's mental status, as he is a great man who the XO had served under Drake for 20 years. Addison's father then tells Ben about his own family and speaks about how his father beat his mother and him. As a younger man, Augustine nearly killed his own father one night due to the drinking and beating of his mother. He enlisted in the Navy the next day and it was Drake who got him into the Naval Academy and taught him how to be something other than angry. He vows to keep Drake in check and dismisses Ben.

On the desk, Addison wonders why her father was so cold to him. She then gets a message from Ziggy saying that the crew of the Tampa still perishes. Immediately, there is an explosion from a detonation on the port side of the ship! Drake suspects that the Chinese sub fired a torpedo at them. Augustine secretly enlists Ben to find out what really happened before Drake starts a war with the Chinese.

Liu Wei tells Magic that a mine sunk the Tampa submarine in 1989. He explains that the Chinese knew the Americans were testing the territorial limits of the waters, so they laid mines along the coast. However, a bad storm released about 50 mines into the ocean towards the US war games. One of the mines sunk the Tampa and luckily no other ships were around. Magic calls Jenn and tells her that Ben is sailing into a minefield.

Hearing of the mine situation, Ben asks Addison to help him locate other mines to prove what really happened with the explosion. Ben calls Walker via radio again and asks him to use sonar to find the other mines. This plan works and mines appear all around them on the sonar screen. Augustine calls Drake and informs them that it wasn't the Chinese after all. However, Drake suspects the worst and orders the crew to fire at the Chinese sub anyway, thinking the sub must have laid the mines. Augustine runs out and says he has to stop Drake. He drops the anchor to stop the ship from moving further. Drake then confines Augustine to his quarters and threatens to send him to Leavenworth prison. Ziggy says that if Drake fires on the Chinese, they will go to war.

At PQL, Jenn warns Magic that these events are about to have global impact. Magic gives a great short speech here: "I don't believe the Leaps are random. I don't believe it's all just a roll of the dice. The moral arc of the universe is long... but it bends toward justice. That's what I think we are... what Quantum Leap is. Part of whatever mysterious force, bends that arc... for the better."

A clear distress call comes in from the Tampa. The helicopter rescue can only hold 10 men at a time, but Drake won't give up hunting the Chinese sub. Addison tells Ben that there is only one man on the ship that may be able to talk sense into Drake. Ben goes to Addison's father and reveals that he believes if he leaves his wife and daughter, that they will be happier in their own lives. Ben tells Augustine that he must do what needs to be done and save Drake from himself. Ben helps Augustine escape from his holding quarters to get to Drake in time to prevent the mistake.

On the bridge, Augustine and the rest of the officers help Drake understand that he is making a severe error. Drake catches a glimpse of himself in a reflection during the height of his rage and stands down. He gives Augustine command of the rescue mission and retires to his quarters. Addison gets the detonation codes of the mines from Ziggy and they safely make it to the distressed sub and complete the mission, saving the entire crew. Addison gets to share a moment with her father alone and tells him that whatever problems his dad had, it stops with Alexander. She tells him everything is going to be okay, and although he can't hear his holographic future daughter, he says to himself, "Everything's gonna be okay."

Back on the main deck of the ship, Walker approaches Ben and thanks him for saving them. We then realize Walker is actually Richard Martinez... Leaper X! Martinez says he isn't sure he could have "pulled this off" from where he was sitting today without Ben's help. Ben tells Martinez that he doesn't understand. Martinez replies, "I know. And that's why I'm going to win." Martinez then Leaps and is replaced by the real Walker, who is very confused about how he got there.

Ben tells Walker that he is confused too, and then Leaps.

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.