Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hello, leapers, and fellow travelers. Welcome to Fateswide Wheel. I'm your host, Sam Fane, and this week I am going to be doing a quick midseason recap, talk about the first eight episodes of season two of Quantum Leap. I'm really, really, really excited about what's to come, but I figured now was a perfect time to look back just a little bit. It'll be a solo episode, no interviews, nothing like that this week, although I've got some cool stuff brewing. So hopefully next week you'll be able to see an interview, perhaps. And JJ and I are hoping to get something done very soon as well. In fact, he might even get that before the holidays. We'll see. So maybe this will be a two episode week, but before I get to all of that, I want to talk about a few other things.
[00:00:48] It has been a very busy time for me, and there's been a lot going on in a show. Rehearsing a show, doing the podcast, organizing stuff, trying to keep my head above water when it comes to the holidays and family and kids and everything else that life brings our way. But for the most part, I'm doing all right.
[00:01:15] That said, there have certainly been a lot of things, I think, weighing on me over the past few weeks. The past week in particular has been really interesting, and I know that there are some of you out there that have remarked before about how you've appreciated my openness and frankness when it comes to talking about sobriety and just my journey through mental health in general. And I'm grateful for that. I'm glad that we've been able to connect in that way.
[00:01:50] I feel like the walls are pretty thin between where I sit right now in sobriety and the other side, and not because I feel like I'm on the verge of taking a drink or doing anything.
[00:02:06] I think I'm just seeing the other side a lot more clearly right now than I have in a long time, and there's a multitude of reasons for that.
[00:02:15] Both of the shows that I'm in right now have their moments where they deal with substance abuse and alcoholism specifically, and the damage wrought by that.
[00:02:29] The show that I'm in rehearsals for right now, there was some stuff last night that was pretty raw, and it certainly, I think, made me feel even more vulnerable than I already was, which is a good thing. I don't think there's anything wrong with being vulnerable. I think it's one of our greatest strengths. I mean, certainly as an actor, I think vulnerability is incredibly important, if not the most important thing, quite frankly. And in that moment of vulnerability, I was reminded about how trauma and the pain inflicted. It never goes away.
[00:03:19] It can heal.
[00:03:22] You can cope with it.
[00:03:24] You can go on about your day for many, many days in a row and not even feel it.
[00:03:36] But sometimes it doesn't take much for it to come rushing right back and you're reminded that it's there, that it's always there, that it always will be there.
[00:03:48] Oddly enough, there's some strength in that, there's some comfort in that.
[00:03:53] But there is also hurt and fear and sadness.
[00:03:59] It's interesting the way that those things play out, feed into one another. And I certainly find myself thinking about the way that certain questions and feelings rattle around in the wake of that nerve being pressed.
[00:04:19] Especially when you're on your own journey of sobriety and you realize that the demons that your own parents or those close to you struggled with and the way that they impacted you cause you to ask certain questions that you can intellectually answer, that you can intellectually disqualify as a valid question.
[00:04:47] But emotionally, it still pulls on you and weighs on you.
[00:04:54] Why wasn't I good enough for them to make a different choice?
[00:05:00] And I know that it's not about that. I know through the benefits of therapy and my own journey, I know that it wasn't about me, that it was about them and what they couldn't do for themselves.
[00:05:18] But that question still kind of rattles around and it echoes, and all sorts of things come to play. Self doubt, insecurity, vulnerability.
[00:05:36] And I think that when you see that vulnerability as a superpower, when you see that particular aspect of who you are as an opportunity, it can take you a lot farther than the insecurity and the doubt and the pain.
[00:06:00] And when you open yourself up to all of these questions that for ages you were trying to silence, that I was trying to silence, I think I find a little bit more understanding, and not just for myself, but for others, for my parents, for my father specifically, and not in a way that necessarily forgives everything, because I don't necessarily know that that's what I'm here to do.
[00:06:45] It doesn't make it okay. It doesn't mean that the trauma and the pain go away, but it helps to embrace certain aspects of it in ways that when I was not sober, I could not do.
[00:07:10] And the ability to hear that echo and not feel driven to silence it by any means necessary, that's a good feeling.
[00:07:35] There's some not so great feelings associated with it. Sure. Because as much as you intellectualize your way out of it.
[00:07:43] It still hurts.
[00:07:49] And there's things that trigger you. And you find yourself looking at this just thin membrane between parallel universes.
[00:08:02] And you can walk to the other side so easily when at times, it's felt like it's been a brick wall, a six inch steel wall between universes. You couldn't even see the other side. But now you can see it. You can smell it. You can almost taste it.
[00:08:28] But again, it's almost powerful to stand on the other side and look through and see that and still not walk through.
[00:08:42] And it's hard.
[00:08:44] It's so hard.
[00:08:47] It's scary. And it's lonely.
[00:08:51] It's so lonely.
[00:08:58] And this time of year, it feels a little bit more lonely.
[00:09:04] And that doesn't mean that you're alone.
[00:09:08] I'm not alone. You are not alone.
[00:09:12] There are people out there like me. There are people out there like you.
[00:09:19] There's a connective tissue between all of us that struggle with this.
[00:09:26] And everyone has their own path. No one way is right for anybody.
[00:09:38] It's what you make of it.
[00:09:42] Mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
[00:09:46] It belongs to you.
[00:09:49] And I know for me, that it's helpful to talk about it, that it's helpful to hear from other people that have been there.
[00:10:09] You know, it's like that story on the episode of the west wing when the guy's down in the hole and he keeps seeing people walk by and he's asking for help and nobody can help him. Then finally he sees his friend, and he's like, hey, can you help me out of here? The friend jumps down. He says, what are you doing? Now we're both stuck in here. The friend looks at him and says, yeah, it's okay. I've been down here before, and I know the way out.
[00:10:43] It. The value in hearing from people that know the way out is immeasurable.
[00:10:50] And I'm not saying that I do.
[00:10:54] I'd like to think I'm getting there, though.
[00:11:05] I see a lot of dialogue in fandoms about the way things should be, about the way things work or don't work.
[00:11:27] Approaching situations with an openness in order to receive what's happening, whether it's a trans character or a character having to deal with trauma or a story taking an unexpected turn or piece of art that you're not thrilled with.
[00:12:07] I think that there's a kindness and a compassion to approach those situations that can be born out of that openness and that vulnerability, that desire to not want to see anyone fail, that desire to not have to be right.
[00:12:32] The ability to see past a kind of discourse that leads us to a path that says, I'm right, you're wrong, and that means I'm better.
[00:12:41] And it's hard.
[00:12:44] I don't always pass the test, but I bring it up because you never know what someone else is dealing with on the outside of all of that.
[00:13:05] And sometimes people latch onto something, whether it's a tv show or a series fandom, a game, whatever the case may be, and that becomes their thing, their outlet. And if it disappoints them, if it fails them in some way, it's hard not to be angry.
[00:13:27] I get that sometimes doing the hard thing is the best thing.
[00:13:34] And so trying to stay open and vulnerable and kind and compassionate, there's a value to that that really is immeasurable.
[00:13:49] And so, as I think about my sobriety and my mental health, and the state of quantum leap, or doctor who or Star wars or whatever, I'm reminded that it's important to have space for yourself and space for others.
[00:14:22] It's okay to be disappointed.
[00:14:25] It's okay to not like something. It's okay for something to not be for you.
[00:14:32] But there are a lot of people working really hard to make something, make art.
[00:14:40] And even if it's not for you, maybe it's for someone else, and even a podcast, maybe it's not for you, might be for someone else.
[00:15:07] But the people that are putting themselves into these projects, their heart, their soul, their passion, their blood, sweat and tears, even if it's not for you, maybe they still deserve a little bit of kindness and compassion.
[00:15:25] And maybe, under the pressure cooker of it all, if they say something that might not be okay for whatever reason, maybe we can find a way to not give them a pass. Not saying to give anyone a pass, I don't believe in giving passes, but I do believe in trying to understand, in trying to allow for. I understand where you're coming from, but I think maybe this would be a more positive way to put it, or something to that nature, to that effective. It's hard enough.
[00:16:13] Life is hard enough.
[00:16:18] So I'm going to choose kindness, and I'm going to choose happiness, and I'm going to choose joy, and I'm going to choose compassion. As hard as it is, as much as it hurts sometimes, as much as you run that well until it's dry and you realize, I don't know if I have anything left for myself now, you keep scratching at the bottom, and I imagine there'll be something else there. And there'll be a storm that comes along and refills that well until you are overflowing again.
[00:16:49] I know it can happen.
[00:16:55] It's happened to me.
[00:17:00] Here's all the hurt and all the pain and all the trauma. It can create more space for yourself, for others.
[00:17:20] U so as we approach a new year on the eve of winter solstice, holiday season, Christmas, make space for yourself.
[00:17:41] Take care of yourself.
[00:17:45] It's okay to make space for others, too.
[00:17:48] And it's okay to make space for yourself.
[00:18:01] You might be wondering, why would they do that right off the bat?
[00:18:06] Why not save that to the end?
[00:18:10] That's just where I am right now.
[00:18:13] That's just where I am right now.
[00:18:17] And I wanted to share. I feel like that there are people that need to hear it. I need to hear it. I needed to say it.
[00:18:28] I'm not afraid to share it with you.
[00:18:32] Maybe a little afraid, okay, maybe even very afraid, but I'm going to do it anyway.
[00:18:48] Sometimes that's what you have to do.
[00:18:52] Be afraid, but do it anyway.
[00:19:02] It gets easier.
[00:19:04] It does, but it never gets easy.
[00:19:08] And that's okay, too.
[00:19:10] That's why it's okay to take a break sometimes this time of year, especially if you are fortunate enough to be in a position where work is ending for a few days or more, take it.
[00:19:29] And if you're not in a position where that happens and you just need to have a few hours where you don't do anything, do it all right. That's my spiel. I love people. I love all of you people.
[00:19:56] When Eliza was so kind and generous to ask what inspires me, I left one thing out.
[00:20:06] People inspire me. People inspire me.
[00:20:10] See it every day.
[00:20:12] I see it in the rehearsal room.
[00:20:15] I see it in a target. When I'm shopping with my son, I see it across the dinner table, see it on tv, I see it on this screen sometimes with people like Eliza or Caitlin or Dean or Drew. Orissa's awesome, y'all.
[00:20:46] The number of people I've been fortunate enough to speak to it, and I think that people are. People are where it's at.
[00:21:08] People just got to love one another, that's all.
[00:21:20] So, with that said, might I direct you to some of my favorite charities, like the Trevor project and Doctors Without Borders? If you are looking to give this time of year, those are two charities that I love dearly and I think are deserving of support, without a doubt. But I would even say before you give to them, if you're in the position to do so look around your community and see if there's a way that you can help. And it doesn't even have to be money. It could be donating time, donating some of the canned goods that are taking up pantry space, that you're just sort of like, I need more space.
[00:21:59] As long as it's not expired. Maybe donate it if you're not going to use it.
[00:22:06] Maybe it's a phone call to someone you haven't talked to in a while.
[00:22:11] Maybe it's that really difficult phone call. Right? A difficult phone call to somebody that you know for a fact is going through a hard time, but you think it's not your place to call them, right? They must have other people.
[00:22:24] Give them a call anyway. Maybe they do have other people. Maybe they'll be like, oh, yeah, it's good to hear from you. I hope you're doing well. Merry Christmas. Peace out. That'll be the call. But maybe not.
[00:22:35] Maybe not.
[00:22:40] So, yeah, give back if you can. It's a good time to do it. It's always a good time to do it. I think it's not possible. Sometimes you're busy. You might be looking at the screen right now or listening to this in your earbuds and thinking like, sam, I do not have the time. I do not have the space. And that's okay, too, because you want to know something else you can do is give yourself a little something.
[00:23:03] That's what I think.
[00:23:06] That is what I think.
[00:23:15] There are a lot of wrongs out there.
[00:23:18] A lot of wrongs. And I think if we come together, we can at least make some of them right.
[00:23:32] And for a podcast that likes to talk about a television show like Quantum Leap, I think that's a decent enough message.
[00:23:43] Well, we are at the midseason break of Quantum Leap.
[00:23:49] I don't know if that was the most awkward smooth segue or the smoothest awkward segue, but let's dive into it. Let's talk about Quantum Leap, episode eight, nomad, which we discussed, or nomads, which is Dean's preference, but it was not the official title, if you will. Or maybe that is the official title, but it was called Nomad. Anyway, point is, in the wake of that episode, we now have a wait ahead of us for the next five. We don't know exactly how long it's going to be, although I'm still holding to the late January, early February, which Dean reinforced when he was on the show.
[00:24:30] I'm hoping that that is what happens. It would be lovely to have the show back by then.
[00:24:36] We don't know. A day and time, obviously, but we'll just have to kind of wait and see. I think we'll probably hear sooner rather than later. Honestly, I think episode nine is done, or close to being done. Obviously, it's already been shot. I think they filmed eleven this past week.
[00:25:01] I think they're done.
[00:25:04] They could be working up until this weekend, but I know that quite a few of the actors have wrapped for the year.
[00:25:16] We'll see how soon they can come back, but I'm guessing that nine might be done. Done. Ten might be close to being done. And obviously eleven is being filmed and we'll enter that post production process soon.
[00:25:31] So it could be sooner rather than later. We could certainly see some clips or a trailer or something like that. Obviously, we did get a couple of clips at the end of Nomad, just a couple of new ones, not a bunch of new ones, but there was definitely some new stuff in there. I'm not going to really talk about it much. Mainly, I don't want to do spoilers, and also, I saw it once.
[00:25:55] It's funny, I did not see a lot of the season two promotional stuff where some of the things were kind of not spoiled necessarily, but there were little things that were spoiled here and there. And so I'm kind of trying to stay away from a lot of that promotional material, which might seem like a little counterintuitive for a podcast that talks about the show, but I'd rather just talk about the show. And, yeah, I mean, there are certain little things here or there that I learn or that I know or whatever or have known learned prior to an episode airing and that sort of thing. So I'm not trying to say I'm staying spoiler free, but in this instance, I've just really enjoyed kind of allowing the episodes to come to me when they can, how they can.
[00:26:38] But I would love to talk about the first eight episodes. And I don't know that I'll do necessarily like a ranking. I'm not going to give you my eight episode rundown in a ranking order or anything like that, but I will be a little more frank, perhaps, in my overall assessment of each episode than I had been in my individual reviews of the episode. Again, in the individual reviews, I'm always trying to find the positives and what did I enjoy, what did I like? And certainly I talk about the things that might not have been working for me as much, but I'm not here to just tear something down or tear something up or whatever. Because I think there's so much great about the show. I'd rather talk about that than anything that I might see as not working, although I'm happy to talk about those things when they come across and have done in the past and will continue to do. But the overall tone of the individual episode reviews tends to be a little bit more positive. So in this, I think I'll be a little bit more frank in my assessment of the individual episodes, just for Brevity's sake. But I would encourage folks, if they've not actually heard the individual episode reviews, to go back and listen to those because you'll get a little bit of a broader picture of my thoughts on the episodes as a whole. So I'm not trying to give short shift to any of the episodes, writers, directors, actors, or anybody involved, but certainly just want to give kind of a frank opinion of each individual episode. The other thing that I wanted to talk about is just kind of give a brief overview of my thoughts on the whole.
[00:27:58] So let's do it. First eight the first eight episodes of Quantum Leap, season two, what did, I think, fantastic.
[00:28:08] Better than season one in almost every single way. No, in every single way. Everything about the writing, the acting, the choice of leaps, everything was just superb. We had some excellent episodes in season one and some really good leaps as well.
[00:28:28] There were some great stuff, especially like on the back end, like fellow travelers, Ben Song for the defense. Both of those were really strong episodes that I enjoyed quite a bit. And the choices that were made, getting to see different actors kind of in the imaging chamber, in particular, Jen and Ben song for the defense, stuff like that was wonderful and I really enjoyed it. Deborah Ann Wall as the guest star and fellow travelers was superb. Fantastic. But that said, I just think that overall, and there were plenty of other great episodes in season one as well. But I think overall, I just feel like these first eight almost, with a few exceptions, almost better than anything we saw in season one. And I think that's the way that it should be. I don't think that season one of quantum leap struggled in the same way that season one of, say, like Star Trek the Next Generation struggled. I don't think that at all. I thought that season one did have a number of incredibly strong episodes. Somebody up there likes Ben being another one. Oh, you have little faith. There were a lot of really strong episodes in season one that told good stories, were unique, had excellent guest stars. Somebody up there likes Ben, John Chaffin. I mean, gosh, I said this before, but sometimes you see an episode, and it's like, oh, I wish they could bring that person back. That's certainly one of them. But, yeah, saying that is not a dig at season one so much as it is recognizing the jump in kind of the leveling up of the show. And I think that that is exactly what should happen.
[00:29:56] I think the three year time jump, we've talked about it before, was a superb idea. Brilliant. Changed things up a great deal. The way that it was handled, for the most part, I think, was stellar. Everything with Ben and Addison has worked incredibly well for me.
[00:30:11] Again, just the richness of the character development where these people are, the way that the actors were able to kind of adapt to that time jump, the writing, keeping pace with all of that was fantastic. And we got a number of incredible episodes that kind of spun out of that and dealt with what was happening with these characters in wonderful ways.
[00:30:29] The addition of our new recurring actors. I mean, Eliza Taylor as Hannah is just phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. She's been wonderful. The writing for the character has been out of this world good. And I don't know that I've heard one bad thing about her, quite frankly. Genuinely, in everything I've seen, almost everything is overwhelmingly positive about Hannah. I'm sure you could find it out there. I'm not going to go looking for just what a wonderful idea. When I first heard about the addition of a love interest for Ben, it was earlier than I probably should have found out. But I found out about it, and when I did, I was intrigued. Right know, and here's the funny thing. I didn't think of Doctor who with River Song. I did not think of the time traveler's wife. The first place my brain went, actually, was journeyman, which is a show that we've discussed before on fates wide wheel. And just remembering the fact that he had someone that he had been in love with, that he was running into on his leaps, so to speak.
[00:31:40] And she kind of turned out to be a time traveler as well. And so that's kind of what I was picturing in my head, but obviously it went away from that.
[00:31:49] I just love the way that it's been dealt with thus far. I will say that the new thing in my head where I've kind of gone, and I mentioned this in the interview with Eliza, is I've started to kind of think of it not as anything like River Song, not as time Traveler's wife, not as the journeyman thing, nothing like that. I've really started to think of it more as Steve Rogers. And you know, Captain America and Agent Carter in the MCU and this idea, know one of them is basically out of know. When Captain America gets the agent Carter lives her life like her life moves on and his does not. And then that aspect of time travel which came into play in Endgame and having him see her anyway until the very end, when they see each other, that idea of somebody's life progressing while someone else is kind of stuck. And in particular, the scene that stands out to me the most is in winter Soldier, when he goes to visit her in the nursing home. And that image is burned into my brain. I'm not saying that's what we're going to see with Ben and Hannah by any stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens, quite frankly.
[00:33:09] So that's where my brain has been lately when it comes to viewing their relationship, because it's not time traveler's wife, it's not Riversong. She's not the impossible girl, which is actually Clara, and not Riversong, but that's neither here nor there.
[00:33:23] All said, the addition of Hannah's been fantastic. Tom, look again, I want to be frank. Not sold on the character at first at all. Not sold on the actor at first at all. Was really having a hard time with it and thinking, like, oh, God, is this going to work? I don't know about this. Never once did I think that Tom was going to be a villain.
[00:33:45] He could still turn out to be. I don't know. I don't think that that's going to happen. I still don't think that's going to. But, like, yeah, I just was not sold on the character of the actor. No disrespect, meant it just wasn't working for me.
[00:34:00] And then something started to happen. He started to have these lines, these ideas. And the first, of course, was that notion of the nature of quantum leap being sacrificed, that it's a one way ticket.
[00:34:14] That appealed to me so much, and that was mostly the writing. Right.
[00:34:18] But I thought Peter's approach to it as an actor, the writing, everything about it, it really started to make sense. And all of a sudden, I was appreciating the character and the actor a great deal more. And then secret history happened, and seeing him in the imaging chamber as the observer, as Ben's hologram, and the interactions between the two of them and the deepening of Tom's character, learning more about the relationship with his wife, who passed due to cancer, all of this sort of stuff started to really show me a character and show me a performance by an actor that I was connecting with, and I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, all right. Now I'm in.
[00:34:57] In some ways, it took six episodes.
[00:35:00] In other ways, it only took six episodes. So I think that, yeah, I'm definitely on board with Tom. And by the time we got to nomad and seeing him in the situation that he was in and Addison thinking that perhaps he was going to propose to her, all of that sort of stuff, him coming back with the hard drive at the end of the episode, I'm very, very intrigued now to see where they go. I am much more confident with the character and with the actor.
[00:35:26] Yeah, it's pleasing, to say the least.
[00:35:29] And now I'm on board and I think that that's great. Right? That's the way it happens. Sometimes not everything is going to just click right away. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time. And the fact that it did, in a way, only take six episodes, I think is pretty cool. And really, he didn't even have six episodes. Right. Like, he was only in, like, three of those. So again, kudos to the writers. Kudos to Peter, kudos to really. It ended up working really well, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.
[00:35:56] That's kind of my overall impression just of the season.
[00:36:01] The boss with the chip and the stuff with Ziggy and Ian and Rachel and Jen obviously being involved with that as well is interesting to me, but it is not the focus of the season. I don't think this season needs to have a big bad. I was actually talking about this on Reddit earlier today. This is not a season about a villain. This is not a season about a villain of the week. This is not a season about some sort of meta plot myth arc big bad that has to be defeated by the end of the season. To me, this is a season about love. This is a season about love. And we're seeing it from so many different angles. We're seeing it, obviously, with Ben and Hannah. We're seeing it with Ben and Addison. We're seeing it with Addison and Tom. We're seeing it with Ian and Rachel, magic and Beth. So love to me has been really the theme of this story more than anything. Obviously that sort of know humanity versus technology is certainly something at play this season as well. The number of times we've seen the crew have to use kind of like old school forms of research versus Ziggy in order to find something is interesting as well.
[00:37:05] But of course, the boss with the chip is going to come back into play at some point, I think that that will be a part of it, but I don't think that's what this season is about. In the same way that season one kind of revolved around Martinez and what was happening with that and why Ben left, et cetera, that's not what this season is, and I think it is better for it.
[00:37:27] So there you have it. That's my overall impression of season two as we hit the midseason finale. Now let's talk a little bit about individual episodes. So let's start with this took too long. I thought this took too long. Was a great episode. It was a perfect season premiere. It was a wonderful way to get back into the show or even get into the show. I'm not saying that watching this took too long, as your very first episode is the perfect way to start this iteration of quantum leap. Whereas I do think that you could have started with Honeymoon express in the classic series and been fine, I do think that this is the type of series that watching that as your first episode, you probably would eventually want to go back and catch up on some of season one, if not all of season one. But that said, if it was your first episode, I don't think there'd be a problem with it.
[00:38:14] That's how strong it was. That's how the individual story itself played out. I loved the guest ensemble. I thought everyone did a wonderful job. The characters were intriguing. And at the time the episode aired, I was like, this is just one of the best episodes I've ever had. How funny it is that now it almost pales in comparison to some of the episodes we've gotten since.
[00:38:35] I do think it sets the stage in so many ways. I thought it was wonderfully written. I thought it was expertly directed. The performances were great. I mean, Ray was phenomenal, has been phenomenal the whole season. But specifically to that episode, did a wonderful, wonderful job seeing Ian come in at the end, getting the information that it's been three years.
[00:38:56] It was a great, great moment for this series. So, yeah, episode one was just wonderful and a perfect season premiere. Then we get Ben and Teller. Episode two, Ben and Teller might be the weakest episode of the whole season.
[00:39:11] I think that the leap story did not.
[00:39:15] It just didn't play for me. I did not think the guest cast was nearly as strong as the other guest casts we've seen throughout the rest of the season.
[00:39:23] The writing was fine.
[00:39:26] I think that it just didn't work. Some of the stuff happening back at the project felt a little.
[00:39:33] It was convenient. It was know it needed to happen so that we could advance the plot. I get that. I'm willing to kind of just be like, all right, fine. But overall, I think it was probably the weakest episode of the season. However, we also had some absolutely wonderful moments between Ian and Ben, as Ian is the hologram and we got what is, for my money, one of the best moments of acting in the series. And I include the classic series when I say this, and I am fine going on to the limb and saying it. When Ben realizes that Addison has moved on, that moment from Ray is spectacular. It is. Just go back and watch just his eyes. Just watch his eyes and then just watch his mouth and then watch his whole face.
[00:40:18] That's what you do. That is what you do as far as I'm concerned. And it was lovely. So in an episode that might be the weakest of the season, you also have one of the highest points as well.
[00:40:29] That's how it happens. Then we get closure encounters. Closure encounters. I loved thought it was fantastic. I will say that. I think overall, looking back on it now in the tapestry of the season, it is interesting to place the leap story. Like, if I'm ranking leap stories, which I'm not going to do, but if I were, I don't necessarily know how high it would end up actually being. And that's weird because at the time I was like, oh, closure encounters might be my favorite episode so far. And the introduction of Hannah was beautiful. Getting Hannah's theme. That music, oh, my God, I love that music so much. I can't wait to hear it again, which I think we're going to hear in episode nine because I'm pretty sure she's in episode nine. So I cannot wait to hear that again. And then the leap story itself was a lot of fun. There were some really great moments. The resolution was a little easy. It's also 45 minutes on network television, so it worked for me.
[00:41:32] But that wasn't the draw of the episode, in a way. The draw of the episode is we had wonderful storyline overall. We had the incredible, impactful, just out of this world, wonderful stuff with Ben and Addison and seeing where their relationship was, seeing how upset Ben is, hurt Ben is, you know, where it's driving him and what he's doing with that energy, how difficult it is for Addison to kind of handle that, how she's kind of, like, almost willing to be his punching bag in a way, but she's clearly frustrated because it's like, you're not listening to me. And I am trying to help you, and your life is on the line. These people's lives are on the line. The leap is on the.
[00:42:22] Was the. That was the best part of the episode. We also had Lewis Hurtham as Sheriff Morgan, who was wonderful. And again, another one of those cases where it's just sort of got to. I wish he got to come know, but that's neither here nor, uh. Again, it was just a really strong episode, and I enjoyed a lot. And then we get lonely hearts club. And I have to say that this episode continues to kind of almost grow in esteem for me, mainly because of the way that it subverts so much of what Quantum Leap 2022 has been. Up until this point, nearly every leap has had some sort of.
[00:43:08] There's been kind of. Some sort of adventure, some sort of, like, action. There's been something driving the plot that seems to be.
[00:43:21] I don't know, it just felt very different in a very positive way. And for an episode that kind of gets referred to as the rom.com episode, it doesn't really feel very much like a rom.com.
[00:43:35] If anything, it feels like I said it much better in the episode review, and I'm kind of blanking, but it was so well done. So well. Matheson was just. Was wonderful piece of guest casting.
[00:43:53] I thought that the dynamic between Ben and Addison in the episode was just stellar, exactly what it needed to be. We learned so much about what had happened in the intervening three years. So, yeah, so it was great. I loved it. One of my favorites of the season. Easily advanced things and moved us forward in some wonderful, wonderful know, seeing the scene between Ian and Rachel as well. Love having Alice Krimlberg back. And now that she's been back for a few, just, I mean, wonderful stuff. And shout out to Erica gimple, because I feel like I didn't mention her nearly enough. But she is phenomenal as Laura. Just absolutely adored her hearts club. Yeah, great episode one night in Koreatown. That's probably the most difficult episode for me to talk about. In a lot of ways. There are things I deeply, deeply loved about this episode, and then there are other things that I did think were a little flawed. It felt a little uneven to me. In some ways, I really appreciated pretty much everything that happened at the project, everything that happened with magic, seeing Beth again, all of that was wonderful. The end of the episode, magic, asking for help, saying you needed know so much of the episode, it resonated with me. And I thought that taking a look at a historical event, knowing that Raymond Lee this is something he had specifically been interested in seeing two talented writers like Benjamin Rabb and, you know, Derek Hughes, who, of know, black and asian and what he was able to bring to the script. I mean, there's definitely a veracity to it, but it just felt a little uneven at times. And I think my initial impression was, I'm not so sure about this one. And then upon rewatch, I was like, oh, yeah, no, I see it. I get it now.
[00:45:55] But it just felt like maybe it was missing a little something. And again, 45 minutes. To cram all of that into to tell that story is incredibly difficult. And so I appreciate the episode a great deal, but I do think that measured up against some of the others that maybe. I would probably say it was a little weaker overall. But again, some incredible, incredible stuff as well. So it's hard to not appreciate it and love it for everything that it is.
[00:46:27] So, yeah, I think that one night in Koreatown is an interesting episode in that respect.
[00:46:34] And I loved a lot about.
[00:46:38] Yeah, then we get secret history. Secret history is phenomenal. I could just stop there. It is an incredible episode. Drew Lindo knocked it out of the frickin'park. Eliza as Hannah in this episode is just five stars across the board. Amazing.
[00:46:54] Ray is fantastic as Ben. Seeing the interactions between Ben and Tom, just magnificent. Know, seeing kind of the way that Addison's feeling stifled, seeing her relationship with Tom, seeing some of her stuff with mean. The episode had so many wonderful moments, had so many incredible set pieces, the intrigue of it all, the history of it all, the setting, one of the finest hours of quantum leap, period, like, just loved it. Then we get a kind of magic look.
[00:47:33] I worked hard, quite frankly, to appreciate a kind of magic.
[00:47:41] I think it's one of the weaker episodes overall. I think that there were definitely some things that did not achieve nearly as much as some of the others. I think sandwiched in between secret history and nomads is an unenviable position for it to be in because I think that some of the weaker elements are brought more into the spotlight because it is between two great episodes. I liked a lot about it. I loved the setting. I have absolutely no problem with Ben traveling outside of his lifetime, as anyone who listens to his podcast knows. I think that the conceit was done away with. It's done, it's over with. There's literally no point in talking about it anymore. And when I see posts about it, I don't understand.
[00:48:22] The quibbles make no sense to me.
[00:48:25] It's science. Fiction. It's made up. It's a fantasy story anyway.
[00:48:30] You can choose not to go with it, and that's entirely up to you. But I don't think leveling criticisms at it makes any sense to me.
[00:48:38] The show is what the show is, and if it's not for you and you don't like it, that's okay. That's totally justifiable. But it doesn't seem like a valid criticism of the show anymore.
[00:48:49] It really just doesn't, because the notion that anyone knows how Quantum leap works more than the people writing Quantum Leap doesn't make sense, especially considering that when you look at the classic series, any rule that you thought existed was broken, usually more than once. There was no one way that Quantum leaping worked.
[00:49:09] Sam was outside of his own lifetime on two separate occasions, so maybe three.
[00:49:18] Anyway, yeah, it happened, and yes, they explained it away in the Civil War episode, whose name escapes me right now, but it was between the states anyway.
[00:49:34] It was something that they were already playing with and already toying with, going into the possibility of season six. So I think it makes sense. I have no problem with it. I loved it. I thought it was great. I love that aspect of the episode. I loved a lot of the stuff that happened, but the storyline just seemed to kind of move along in a way that felt it just moved in a. Again, it's 45 minutes. You're divided between that and some of the stuff that's happening at the project. I get it. It's totally fine. There were some incredible moments. The scene between magic and Addison was absolutely wonderful. Caitlin did some phenomenal work there. Ernie was that, and that stands true for the whole season. I mean, Caitlin has just been absolutely incredible, stellar, matching the stuff that Ray has done step for step, and seeing the evolution of the two characters along the way has been wonderful. So I've really enjoyed that. But I think a kind of magic, I'm not saying that it certainly wasn't. Ben and Teller is the weakest episode, without a doubt. A kind of magic had a lot going for it, but it didn't necessarily hit the highs of some of the episodes from the rest of the season. And then we have nomad. And I think that I've seen it three times, and the first time I saw it, the only thing that I didn't connect with was, odly enough, was Barnes, Lou Diamond Phillips. I was having a little difficulty, and then I rewatched it and I got it and I was just sort of like, oh, that's what he's doing. I get it that works. I love it. Moving on. But I loved the episode. I loved everything about it. I thought that it was just, again, nomad and secret history are superb.
[00:51:15] The best hours of this iteration of quantum leap, without a doubt, so far. I cannot wait to see where they go next. And I'm not going to speculate about that at this point. But I do think that obviously the love story between Ben and Hannah will be vital to the rest of the story. I think it's going to go some interesting places. I think that it will probably not go where anyone thinks it's going to go.
[00:51:37] And I think that it's definitely a situation where go for the ride. Go for the ride.
[00:51:47] And if it's not working for you, it's not for you. That's okay, too. It really is.
[00:51:55] And you can voice those opinions, too. I'm not trying to say, like, if you don't like it, shut up. And I definitely not.
[00:52:01] Some of it just doesn't necessarily compute with me for whatever reason. Anyway, so there you have it. That's my view on the first half of, well, not first half really, but the first eight of season two. I'm really looking forward to seeing where we go next, and hopefully we won't have to wait too long for that. You might be hearing a cat right now wandering in.
[00:52:29] So I will wrap that up. I'll wrap this episode up, actually, and just kind of take it back to what I talked about at the beginning.
[00:52:38] I know that this time of year especially can be difficult for a lot of people. And make space for yourself.
[00:52:44] Allow yourself to take care of yourself, to nurture yourself, to give yourself what you need.
[00:52:50] Because if you're struggling for whatever reason, in whatever way, most likely you're struggling because there's something that you didn't get that you needed or you're not getting that you do need. So try to find a way to give yourself what you need.
[00:53:04] And I think it starts with kindness and compassion for yourself. For yourself. And you have that for yourself. You have kindness and compassion and patience for yourself ripples out, and then all of a sudden, you find yourself having it for other people. So I think that's what the world needs, and I think it does. It starts from within.
[00:53:24] Starts from within.
[00:53:26] Smile at someone if you want to.
[00:53:30] Sometimes just. That can spark something, right?
[00:53:36] Anyway, take care of yourselves. Take care of one another. Stay safe out there.
[00:53:44] If you want to support the show, you can head over to patreon.com slash fateswide wheel.
[00:53:49] Any level will get you access to the behind the scenes videos with JJ Lindell. You can also head over to jjlindall.com slash FWW shop for exclusive posters and clothing and other merchandise related to fates wide wheel and quantum leap, and other shows, including Doctor who. There'll be more to come very soon.
[00:54:11] Have a very happy holiday season, happy, happy new year, and be good to one another, be good to yourselves, and remember to always, always leap responsibly.
[00:54:26] Bye.
