matt_zimmer | Quantum Leap: First 2 Episodes Of Season 2 Reviews (Spoilers) (Reply)

Quantum Leap "This Took Too Long!"

I love that whenever Ben says weird too-knowing, spacey things, people call him on it. For Sam, it always brushed by them. I feel like this show is more credible / grounded for bystanders calling Ben on his crap.

Oh, yes, Ben speaks Russian! Handy! Remind me again why ADDISON was originally picked to be the Leaper while he can do that.

Him cutting open the case to reveal the bricks was a GOOD dramatic moment. It said everything about his character, how the other characters viewed him, their female commander, and the entire damn mission without a single word. You can't BUY wordless drama that good usually. How did that show make it so damn effortless?

Man, that ending. I was not sure how they were going to resolve the cliffhanger of season 1, and if they couldn't get Bakula, at least not right away, it makes sense to keep it an open question / mystery. My question is how many episodes of the season were completed before the actor's strike? Will filming resume once the strike has resolved or will the season just be short and unfinished? I'll look up those answers on Wikipedia later. As of now, I don't want to spoil the next episode.

That was great. ****1/2

Quantum Leap "Ben And Teller"

The Leap Of The Week was solid (if totally sappy), but for the first time ever I have real misgivings.

Tom's role reminds me unpleasantly of Lauren's on Alias. Exact same role. And even if Tom doesn't become a doublecrossing evil agent, his entire arc and indeed reason for being is to be between Addison and Ben. This is why I believe love triangles are harmful to fiction. None more-so that when the third party is introduced later as an obstacle.

If I wind up disliking Tom, I don't want it to be because he wrecked my 'ship. I want to feel that way because he's earned it. And as caring and wonderful as they have portrayed him, I of course, dislike him. And because it's television and run by the same guy who drove Blindspot into the ground, I don't trust him, or the show's intentions about him.

Tom is the first major misstep the relaunch has taken. It's such a huge one, it feels like Lauren was: An actual shark jump. I don't see this show being hamfisted enough to have Addison say to him after a grand betrayal, "I hate you. I love Ben," before shooting him in the head, but J.J. Abrams has always been a special level of hack, and that should not be the freaking bar for third wheels.

As it stands, I dislike and distrust Tom for manufactured, unreal reasons the show expected me to have without it having to put in any real dramatic work. It is true the OG series was beyond manipulative at points. This feels like the first time the relaunch has done us so dirty. And it feels REAL dirty. Worst of all, unlike every time the original series angered me and / or creeped me out, this serialized narrative structure means this is occurring week in and week out, and will effect the entire show the way the terrible episodes of OG Leap never did once they were forgotten the next week.

Quantum Leap tropes to notice: They forgot to give Ben the strength of a little old lady. The fact that he has his own strength is a plothole. I also bemoaned the inexplicable lack of a Waiting Room last season, but with the idea that Ben has disappeared for three years, it not being brought up ONCE feels like the series is simply ignoring and retconning one of the most important parts of the original show's canon. I'm not okay with that.

I did not care for that. Not because the episode itself was bad per se, but I think the triangle is going to make the show much worse and more awkward going forward. Somebody is going to have to get hurt for essentially no reason and that pisses me off. That's not actual drama. That's throwing crap at a wall and seeing what will stick. Most TV can't make that distinction, but if you had said that was true of this show last year I might have said you were wrong. But no, this show is just as shady, predictable, and annoying as everything else I watch, obsess over, and invariably bash. Why can't every show be Twin Peaks, Justice League Unlimited, or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? If they were, we wouldn't have these kinds of problems. *1/2.