stingermck

I see why Bakula passed on this.

GoldenJCJ

I liked how they used a generic headshot of Bakula as a hologram when she was talking about Sam.

Superman07

This was okay. I like the lead and didn’t dislike the new Al. However,

• They broke a lot of the original rules without even stating they were rules.
• So much of what Addison told him was pure exposition.
• There was entirely too much present time after Ben jumped.
• The plot with Al’s daughter could be intriguing, but will have to see how it plays out.

I agree they need more time for Ben to be by himself and figure things out. Also, more than anything Al helped serve as a counsel to Sam. More of them they weren’t sure why Sam was there and Al had to talk him through staying calm to figure things out.

Also interesting this was not the first episode. I’ll be curious to see how they rework that and split into the narrative. Also interesting Addison was recruited to be a jumper, like some
special agent.

I’ll keep watching buy my expectations have bee tempered.

stingermck

Xiroteus

Oh, this fits into all modern shows that have a huge team of a dozen people.

DJariya

I thought the first episode was okay. It did feel small and it really looked like it was shot on a studio lot vs actual locations. I’ll support this because there aren’t many Primetime shows with an Asian American as the lead. The material they gave Raymond Lee though I felt lacked some depth. I also felt Ben and Addison didn’t really have great chemistry to start. I didn’t really feel like these characters were in love.

I wasn’t a huge watcher of the original series. I watched an episode here and there. So I don’t have the frame of reference of a hardcore fan of the original.

By the way, I noticed Donald Bellisario was credited as an EP and created by. But he hasn’t worked in many years since he got fired from NCIS. He must have an iron clad contract where he must get the credits and get paid for IPs he created or developed.

JeffTheAlpaca

Hope this is a success or a moderate success and NBC thinks twice about cutting the 10pm slot from their programming

Cellar Door

I was hoping for much better. If it doesn't improve after a couple more episodes, I'm out.

Superman07

I thought episode 2 was okay, perhaps a bit stronger than episode 1. The future scenes worked a little better, although the private eye and server fire was a bit eye rolling. However, the theme of working as a group was a good angle.

I will say I don’t get the sense of super top secret project though. Just seems like some IT start up.

I liked the parallel between Ben’s (as David) situation and Addison’s present day situation. That said, no where near enough time spent on on Ben’s story or with him trying to figure that out.

Deftones

Yeah it was ok. This is very average. Some of the acting is cringe worthy.

DJariya

I thought the 2nd episode was a little better than the 1st. The space story about saving that astronaut was interesting. It was nice to see Carly Pope guest star, I do like Raymond Lee. I think he does have some charm as Ben. I am not crazy about his love interest and guide Addison. I think they lack chemistry. And go figure, she's not a very experienced actress, this is her 1st big role.

And I didn't notice this in the pilot, but Ernie Hudson's name is "Magic"?

I know most of you probably won't stick with this as network TV sci-fi is pretty hit and miss with this forum. I want to try to continue to support this and hope it gets better as there aren't too many shows with Asian American leads.

emachine12

Hudson is playing the same character Sam leapt into in The Leap Home episodes of the original series. Herbert “Magic” Williams is the one who continues the Quantum Leap project via the US military.

Superman07

During this episodes, Ben had a few scenes with the female astronaut. I actually thought to myself she would have been a better Addison. The actress cast isn’t bad, but you can tell she’s green. Many of her scenes feel stiff.

Correct. What I can’t tell is if his character knows Sam leapt into him. Maybe logs, but I wonder if those are sealed.

Inhumans99

I felt the 2nd episode was much more enjoyable than the first. Carly Pope played the female astronaut and has even been in the Iron Man films, big fan of hers. I did not watch the following show, but I believe she was on the beloved CW show Popular. If eps continue to be as okay as the 2nd one I shall continue to watch.

GoldenJCJ

I wonder about that too. Is the backstory of Magic something the audience is already supposed to know or is it going to end up being a big reveal at some point in this new series?

It seems like kind of an obscure reference if the audience is already supposed to know.

I’m still not sure about this new series. The complaints I had about the first episode are still present. Addison is around Ben way too much. He needs more time to experience his leap by himself, the side story in present day disrupts the dramatic flow of the time travel story. And now the team in the present can watch video of Ben time traveling?! The fuck…?!

ben12

The problem is that this show is charmless. We are barely with Ben at all, so we don't really get to bond with him or feel what he's feeling. They spend way too much time in the present on this awful NCIS-reject plot. I don't care why Ben went into the Quantum Leap accelerator. What I care about is whose life he's in and how he needs to help them. They don't even show the leaping effect. They just zoom out of his eye like every other TV show has done a million other times.

ben12

This was the best episode so far. Felt like the plot of an original series episode. Very few scenes in the present, which I liked.

I have to admit, I'm a little curious what they're doing with Al Jr., though. Would be neat if she turned out to be the evil leaper. Sam made out with her once, didn't he?

Obi-Wanma

I'm excited to see Ben leap into a female character in the next episode. Those were some of my favorite episodes of the original series (and in hindsight, there are obvious reasons for that, lol)

Superman07

I came to post the same thing. This episode definitely ramped up the plot wit the ending.

The episode itself was quite good. I appreciated Ben figured out why he was there himself and Ziggy didn’t have all the answers. Also, the actor said playing the brother/coach was quite good too.

The memory Ben saw while knocked out also seemed older. Like he was near stained glass too. Not his apartment with Addison.

I will say Al’s daughter was giving off major villain / evil leaped vibes. However, I think her plan (also via hacking into Ziggy) is to actually use the control to port in and talk to Ben separately from Addison. I just hope the two can see each other at the same time.

Also, seemed like a throw away line, but they established Ben’s jumping outside his timeline!

I do have a theory about this destination. I haven’t read spoilers, but will spoiler regardless:

ViewAskewbian

I remember as a kid watching the first ep where Sam leapt into a woman (What Price, Gloria?) and how baffled my mother was when I asked her who Christine Jorgensen was? :P

Cellar Door

In the original series, the person that Sam replaces ends up somehow temporarily transported to Sam's lab where they are held in a room by Al and company until Sam leaps again. Have they mentioned anything about that in this new series?

ben12

Nope.

I may be remembering wrong, but I also thought in the original, Sam's body physically leaps through time. So he's actually there, but the Quantum Leap machine or whatever creates a hologram or something around himself to look like whoever he is. It didn't really make a lot of sense (and again, I could be wrong here). This was one of those scifi concepts that works best the less you know about how the sausage is made.

ben12

I don't want to criticize the show for not being the show I would've written, but I also think they missed an easy opportunity to develop the Addison character. She's still a pretty blank slate. All we know about her is that she loves Ben. Can't say I blame her for that. Bens are great.

In the episode, Ben had to box, and she said she didn't know anything about boxing so she was going to go look up how to box. Besides the fact that this makes no sense, why not have her know a little about boxing already? Maybe her dad or mom used to box and trained her a bit when she was a kid. Something like that would actually give some life to the character and could've made those training scenes even more fun.

TheBang

That's correct. The mechanics of the leaping are explained in the old Quantum Leap FAQ: https://gcalvarez.tripod.com/qlfaql.html

ViewAskewbian

While I don't recall any specific talk of a hologram being simulated around Sam of the leapee (as I don't think the project would have time to create one from the person who has appeared in the waiting room with the leap being instantanious), yes, from the old QL message board (one I was part of even before this place...I'm old ):

WHY COULD SAM SEE WHEN HE "REPLACED" A BLIND MAN? WOULD HE BE ABLE TO
HEAR AS A DEAF PERSON? IN OTHER WORDS, IS IT SAM'S MIND THAT'S LEAPING, OR
HIS BODY?

Sam is physically leaping through time, his mass being exchanged with
that of the leapee. Sam, not sharing the handicap, will not exhibit
it. Sam's entire body and soul trades places with the leapee, although
the physical aura stays around.

To quote The Source Himself (Don Bellisario):

"...when Sam leaps in and bounces somebody out, I like to think of it
this way: ... if that person was hit by a car and they broke their leg
and hit the street and then Sam leaped in, Sam would not have a broken
leg. But if Sam leaped in and was crossing the street and was hit by
the car, then Sam would have the broken leg."

In other words:

He does not share handicaps or injuries suffered by the leapee before
his leap in, but will sustain injuries suffered while he is there.

The fact that it is Sam's entire body that is leaping is supported by
a great number of episodes: "The Wrong Stuff," "Nowhere to Run,"
"Blind Faith," "Runaway," "Trilogy part 3," "Pool Hall Blues," "The
Color of Truth" (Jesse Tyler was revealed to suffer from rheumatism in
"Shock Theater," which Sam gave no indication of being affected by in
this ep), and probably any episode in which he is a woman and does
things beyond her normal physical strength. (Yes, this even includes
"8 1/2 Months" (see SP#8).) This is also supported by the fact that
Sam sees himself unless he looks in a mirror. [Kwong]

Also, it is stated that Sam and Al are linked via their mesons and
neurons, which are physical entities. If Sam does not leap physically,
then this link would be lost. [Kwong]

The fact that certain individuals--including himself--can see Sam
indicates that there is something behind the aura for them to see.

* * *

In regards to what Al sees:
Al sees the leapee, initially. In the episode entitled "What Price,
Gloria", Al was out of control at seeing Sam as the gorgeous
secretary. Al probably recognizes Sam because they are linked through
their brainwave transmissions, which is what is used by the project to
locate Sam in time.

This then appears to change through the seasons. Later episodes begin
to hint that Al sees Sam as Sam. By the fifth season, this is stated
explicitly to be the case. A possible theory is that, after the whole
mess in "What Price Gloria," Al had Gooshie re-configure the IC to

And in the Waiting Room:


To everyone at the Project (with the possible exception
of Al (see #2), the leapee looks like Sam. The waiting room has been
described by Don Bellisario as being a sterile, hospital-like room
where the leapee is examined by the Project's medical staff. We've
seen it a few times and it's big and blue, and located at the end of
an isolated ocrridor. Once we got to see (and HEAR) the leapee when
she entered the imaging chamber with Al, and she looked to us like the
image Sam saw in the mirror. This is probably due to the same
mechanism that allows us to see Sam as Sam [Bellisario's rules ].

The leapee is occupying Sam's aura, not his body (see #8). The
audience sees the leapee in the WR.

Finally, who else saw Sam as Sam:


Small children, the "mentally absent", animals and people near death
can see him [And pretty blondes with very low IQs, if Dean Stockwell
got his way :-)]. Al has explained that children and animals see
things as they really are because they exist in a natural alpha state.
Also, if a person's brainwaves were sufficiently in tune with Sam's,
that person would be able to see and hear Al too.