kirkola

Okay, have finished the series. On the whole, I liked it alot. But I suspect it helps to have not seen it live. It was a great show to binge, and knowing about alot of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans helped keep expectations reasonable. There are certainly episodes I will never watching again. But I will revisit this from time to time when I need a dose of laughter and romance. This is not to say that I don't think they made a lot of missteps along the way. I still think it would have worked with a baby. I wasn't satisfied with David and cousin Annie. It felt out of character. Of course, I felt Maddie running to Chicago in season 4 to be out of character. In both cases, it was clear the writers needed to solve a problem, but there were better ways to handle it. Make one of Maddie's parents sick or have Maddie break a leg. But again, I really liked this series. Even if it was occasionally clunky.

I did a double take. Doyle has always looked and sounded like Willis. I am watching the series for the first time...so all the way through. Am almost done with season 5. And I can say I am glad I ignored it when I was a kid. (I was 10 when it started & hated Addison's casual sexism even though I didn't quite get it. I just knew it was awful!!) On the other hand, as a full fledged adult, I can see the charm of the series. And other than a few episodes, I don't exactly hate seasons 4 & 5. I am disappointed with how Hayes is written, but I do understand their predicament. I sort of wish they had kept the kid storyline, because these two "detectives" trying to solve cases around a baby or toddler schedule would be funny. And plenty of arguments about parenting choices. But I am determined to finish Season 5 & will probably rewatch the whole thing again when I need a pick-me-up. Just never again will I watch season 5, episode 1 again. That one was the worst!!!!

The original was intentionally vague and often contradictory. And the grand finale was even more vague, which is why alot of fans hated it. Sam assumed the Bartender was God/fate/whatever directing his leaps. All of this lack of continuity leaves the reboot with the chance to grow in new directions. Which they are attempting to do. Whether they will succeed, is,anyone's guess. As for the characters in this episode, a huge part of the 1992 LA Riots had do with police brutality. At least it was the match point. But Asian & African American tensions were already at a boiling point. I was an East Coast teenager who was neither Asian or African American, so I don't know much about the why. It might have had something to do with Asians buying up properties & opening storefronts in predominantly African American neighborhoods. Regardless it would have been common for the Shop Owner, Jin Park, to be distrustful of Dwain, an African American kid who is always hanging out and doesn't buy anything. However, once the white cops showed up, the regular "us vs them" tensions between Jin & Dwain would have shifted to Jin & Dwain vs cops.

I'm just gonna say it. This plot was dumb. Like really, really dumb. Probably 100 other ways the bad guy could have solved his problem and yet, he picked the cartoon villain solution. Loved seeing Paul Blackthorne, just wish there had been a better plot. And honestly I'm only still here for Rick and TC.

My distrust of David began with his opening sermon & the little girl crying. He seemed annoyed that she was interrupting him. And Mom seemed to want to get her to be quiet rather than genuinely trying to comfort her. However, because I spent the entire episode with Joel's brother waiting for the evil to appear, I kept waiting to see. That said, Bella Ramsey has just been incredible. I was expecting Pedro Pascal to be awesome, and I liked Bella Ramsey in GoT. But just wow!

One of the things I like about this particular show, and most of them in the genre, is that you get to think about society as a whole. There's what we consider morally acceptable in today's world with all our modern trappings, and there's what are more basic morals. Sure "thou shall not kill", but in a fungi-led apocalypse, where is that line. Shooting someone who has just been infected, like we saw with Henry & Sam, feels acceptable, even though in a modern world, the Henry would most definitely end up arrested. And yet no one wanted to see Henry punished. So yeah, we might not, in 2023 find it acceptable to see a middle aged man traveling alone with a 14-year-old. But it's not our 2023. It's a 2023 where Joel has been tasked with delivering a package to some doctors on the other side of America in hopes that Ellie can save the world. And Joel has two options, continue the quest as given to him, or leave a defenseless 14 year old to make the journey herself. Alone. And we have spent 5 episodes getting to know them. Joel is starting to think of Ellie less as a package and more of a daughter. And the acting by both of them was excellent in this episode. I could feel Ellie's heartbreak when Joel was dumping her with Tommy. And I could feel Joe's heartbreak at the thought of Joel not being able to protect her.

It makes sense. I know I have never worked for a boss who allowed employees to unilaterally change major companies just by announcing it to the old company in a group meeting. It had a very "let's wrap the episode up quickly" vibe.

That was always my favorite part of the show--those small changes. And honestly, I love it about both versions. All these small changes eventually add up to a better world. A world better than Sam/Ben found it. It was a concept my late teen/early 20s brain was just beginning to realize. Episodes like this weeks helped me see the world outside my own small bubble. Now there are definitely things I wish were a little tighter here...mostly stuff in "present day" and not Ben's leaps. And it still drives me nuts that Ben just talks to Addison in public and very few people call him out on this weirdness. But, as long as the show keeps giving Ben the chance to make small impacts in these character's lives, I'm all in.

Well this reminds me of my other favorite "cop who sees the world differently" show, Life, so I'm all in. I had Mark-Paul Gosselaar pegged from the minute he started whining to his wife. Jennifer Morrison took a little longer. Then I was confused as to why use relatively recognizable actors for the "case of the week". Good thing is not the case of the week. Jake McLaughlin was also fairly recognizable as "hey it's that guy from that thing". I had to look him up. Thing was Quantico and also Believe. Weird that he has the same haircut in all three. The only thing I disliked was that the introductions felt rushed. I may have to watch again to figure out who people are.

I couldn't decide if the the writers intended for Ben to see the demon & smoke first or not. I mean it could be them trying to hedge bets on whether she was really possessed. Or just a mistake. The original series did that kind of "was it real or not" stuff from time to time, leading Sam to say "God, the universe, or whomever".

The only time I remember Sam failing at a mission was the Oswald/Kennedy thing where Sam leaped into someone else to finish the job. And he wasn't stuck....just moved to a person who was in a better position to solve it. And I am pretty sure, but it's hazy, that one time Sam didn't want to do the mission so he could stay.

I don't think an episode of Quantum Leap will help them. Most of them had the option of watching the original & they didn't learn anything. I cringe when politicians try to claim that a popular thing from when I was a kid wasn't "woke" or have an agenda. It's like they missed the entire point. I want this version to explore those original themes more indepth, but I know I have manage my expectations. There's what Ben learns, and then what the audience learns. And I learned a lot about other people & how the world sees them from Quantum Leap. Call it the earliest moments of realizing not everyone is treated equally.

I too thought it was a gay bar, then was disappointed to see Ben was a girl. OG Quantum Leap didn't have the freedom to do something that scandalous (for the late 80s/early90s). But leaping into a woman has been done and I don't know what else can be explored there. It's not like Ben needs to learn something about the plight of women in society. But I also know that they are still trying to find their footing. And Ben may yet end up in some awesome situations.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do bring up Sam's daughter. I had the random thought that Madison might be Sam's kid, only she doesn't know it. Ben figured it out, with help from Janice, and wants to bring Sam home before the wedding. Otherwise it's kind of a dick move to leave your party & your fiance to jump into a time machine to rescue some relative stranger, even if he's your childhood hero. That being said, I really like Ben. He's a good version of Sam, here.

We met Magic one time, in the original. Sam leaped into him to try & save Tom, Sam's brother. He would've been a throw away character, like the rest, if they hadn't given him a role in the sequel. My curiosity is, by giving us a former leap-ee, what did that experience do for Magic, if anything. Maybe he doesn't remember. Maybe he remembers it as a weird dream. It's a mystery that hasn't been explored. And if we are gonna show more of QL Headquarters, I wanna know what he brings to the table.