SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6 OF THE QUANTUM LEAP REBOOT!!!

(Man, if they named any episode this earlier, this would’ve been too perfect.)

I was excited for this episode because, if you recall last week, it ended on a somewhat cliffhanger where Ben encountered another leaper, who threatened him. Ben leapt before figuring out what that was about but we didn’t see where he leapt to. So this show finally has me excited and I think that’s a good thing.

We get a recap of the whole “other leaper” thing but this time we see where Ben landed, which aggravatingly enough, the show still DOES NOT GIVE US THE DATES HE LEAPS TO! Nor do they seem to mention it! They do the whole “let’s reference a famous event” to date it (previously it was Diana’s wedding) and this time it’s the Earthquake that hit San Francisco and Oakland prior to the world series. And some googling tells me that’s October 17^th, 1989. How hard is that, Quantum Leap, how hard is that?

Ben is in the body of a guy named John and he’s talking to John’s wife Naomi and she wants a divorce. Before Ben can process this, he realizes that the Earthquake is about to happen and he tries to warn everybody about it. He gets everyone out of the bar and after the Earthquake, he runs to get some help for some hurt people. While getting help, Addison shows up and they talk about the other leaper and are trying to figure out what the hell that was about. But Addison tell Ben he needs to focus on this leap otherwise he won’t get to move on.

Ben finds out he’s there to save the life of John and Naomi’s son Jason…yeah his name is Jason. Thankfully, he’s not a douchebag or a serial killer. He’s just a kid named Jason. Jason ended up going to their old apartment building in Oakland and later that night, the building is going to collapse, killing Jason. So Ben and Naomi must get to Oakland to save him.

While on the way, Ben saves some more people who are trapped due to the Earthquake and Naomi gets an electric shock from a falling power line. She’s fine but needs to go to the hospital so Ben must go find Jason alone. They’ve decided the sentimental thing this episode will focus on is mommy issues. Jason finds out his parents are getting divorced and blames Naomi because she made the family move to San Francisco and he is miserable there. And now the parents are getting divorced, so he hates her even more and just wants to go back to Oakland.

Meanwhile, Ben’s memory is starting to return to him and all this mommy stuff made him remember his mom. Apparently she died when he was a teenager and the last time he said to her was a bunch of angry stuff cause they were having an argument. Ben has had this regret in him every since and this was the reason why when he found out about Project Quantum Leap, he jumped into it feet first. A chance to go back in time and help people fix their regrets? Hell yeah!

After Ben works out through his mommy issues, Ben arrives in Oakland (I forgot he had to walk there and take a underground tunnel so it was a journey) and finds Jason. The reason Jason died originally was he went into the apartment building to get a very confused old man out before he died. Ben decides to be the one to go in. And finally, FINALLY, FUCKING FINALLY, Addison uses her hologram skills and walks through the apartment door to check if the guy was still alive. Why did it take so long?

Ben breaks in, convinces the old guy to leave, but another rumble causes a beam to knock Ben out. The old guy leaves to get help and Jason rushes in. Thanks to Jason’s help, Ben is able to free himself and they both get out before the building collapses. Ben doesn’t leap and they figure out he has to fix the bond between Jason and Naomi, which they do. Jason ends up growing up and helping make buildings stronger during Earthquakes. And before Ben leaps, he decides to call his mom, since she’s still alive and he only gets to hear her voice before he leaps.

In 2022, it’s all about figuring out who this other leaper, that Ian has nicknamed Leaper X cause it sounds cool, is supposed to be and how he’s leaping. Ian has determined that it’s possible Leaper X is actually from the FUTURE and is using Project Quantum Leap to leap around in time. And it’s because of this, we finally get an answer to a question us life long fans have wondered.

They tell us that the imaging chamber that Addison uses is programmed to show her (and them at the project) Ben’s actual image instead of the body he is inhabiting. This is true for any other leaper there might be. So the dude we saw was the actual dude who was leaping around in time. They run his face through a database and it lands on a guy named Martinez, a former military solider. Magic and Jen pays Martinez a visit and find that he’s the most nicest guy on the face of the planet, he loves his country, and will do anything for it. Also, he hasn’t leaped yet. Which means he will…sometime in the future.

Ian ponders if maybe Martinez starts leaping BECAUSE they dug around and looked for him and paid him a visit, which is a GREAT FUCKING POINT! I know they wanted to know what was up with him but they could’ve maybe staked his house out to see if he PRESENTLY was leaping. Saw that he wasn’t, and then maybe have this thought and leave him alone. But nope, he somehow starts leaping around. And this leads the team to wonder if Ben found out about him and decided to go after him himself. I still don’t know how Janice figures into this and they seemed to have forgotten all about her. That was basically it for the 2022 stuff, which was interesting but now I wonder what that payoff is going to be.

Back to Ben, he leaps in and finds himself standing on a porch. He looks around and sees Halloween decorations and kids trick-or-treating and….HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS WE’RE GONNA GET A HALLOWEEN EPISODE!! THE NEXT EPISODE AIRS ON HALLOWEEN!!! YES!!!!!!

OK, I’m back to liking this show. This is a good trend. It was a rough start for sure, but yeah I’m into it now. I’m actually excited for this show and I’m glad they extended the season. I haven’t heard yet if there’s gonna be a season 2, which I know is probably normal, but considering some shows don’t even START before getting a season 2 announced, it’s weird.

My only gripes are honestly just the date thing. Why don’t they tell us the date? It’s a TIME TRAVEL SHOW! Tell us the date already!! Everything else was fine. There were some more comedic moments in the 2022 parts which I appreciate. I think Ian is going to be everyone’s favorite character and I’m happy for them.

You guys, a Halloween episode! I’m so excited!

-Jason