S02.E01: This Took Too Long!

[AnimeMania]

Instead of leaping home as expected, Ben finds himself in 1978 aboard a top-secret military flight, transporting mysterious cargo. When the flight comes under attack, Ben and the crew discover the sobering truth behind their mission.

Premiere Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023   NBC   9pm  
Melissa Roxburgh as Lt. Ellen Grier
Francois Arnaud as Master Sergeant Curtis Bailey
Aaron Abrams as Sgt. Ronny Abrams
P.J. Byrne as Sgt. Enock Abrams
Roshan Maloney as Parminder

[KaveDweller]

I thought this was a really good episode, it was nice that it was mostly Ben in the leap and having no help with how to help everyone. I found all the characters really compelling and it totally worked with Ben figuring out what to do with no knowledge about what happens other than his instincts. 

Did not expect the twist at the end with 3 years passing for people in the present. I thought Addison was going to show up at the end and reveal that LT was some known person in the present who inspired her as a woman in the military. I guess this could make things interesting with the project QL scenes, but honestly, I think focusing on the leap is the way to go. They don't need the future scenes to be all dramatic. And I don't need angst between Ben and Addison because it's been three years for her and not for him. Just keep the future scenes short and light like in this episode.

I do want to know how Ian found Ben if PQL was shut down.

I did LOL at Michaela from Manifest showing up and instantly being in a plane crash.

[Trini]

Well that was an exciting premiere! It was a little weird that to have no help from a hologram buddy, but I do like that they show that Ben is smart and can handle himself when dropped into these crazy situations.

I had re-watched the Season 1 finale right before watching this, so the flashbacks were easier to follow. Every time they referenced Ben + Addison's romance I thought, "yeah, I'm never going to be on board with this relationship". So my first thought when Ian showed up and said it had been three years was, "She thought he was dead, and she moved on, yay!" But then again, they could still make that into a messy 'love' triangle, but I'm going to be hopeful for now.

Anyway, intriguing start to the new season!

[AnimeMania]

26 minutes ago, Trini said:

So my first thought when Ian showed up and said it had been three years was, "She thought he was dead, and she moved on, yay!" But then again, they could still make that into a messy 'love' triangle, but I'm going to be hopeful for now.

This should be marked with a spoiler tag.

[Trini]

3 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

This should be marked with a spoiler tag.

That was from my own speculation, not any previews, etc.

[Irlandesa]

I had heard they planned on being a little more back to basics by focusing on the leaps and less focus on modern-day serialized stories.  I guess time will tell but this premiere was a good start. 

I do think having fewer modern day scenes helped but I also think they worked to give a personality/character to the supporting players.  Many times they were underdeveloped last season. I am curious about the betrayal the one guy was talking about.  And maybe I'd think one of the guys would have at least a second of negative reaction to learning the other soldier's lost lover was a guy to be a little more realistic.  But those are small nits to pick.  

I was excited to see Ian. I was hoping they were the new hologram but it's probably to keep up the mystery of Addison.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Irlandesa

[Starchild]

9 hours ago, Trini said:

That was from my own speculation, not any previews, etc.

Though it will probably happen lol

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not surprised Ben didn't leap back, but I was hoping he did and Addison would be the leaper this season. 

I really liked that Ben was on his own for so long and tried to keep it together. And being snippy about them calling him on MacGuyver. 

I enjoyed the flashbacks, but I think they took a little bit away from Ben flying without a net. 

The A-Team did an episode where someone stepped on a land mine!

22 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I do want to know how Ian found Ben if PQL was shut down.

Didn't Janice have a holo chamber?

[Cress]

I liked the episode, but for some reason my Tivo labeled it as part of season 1, not season 2.

Edited October 6, 2023 by Cress

[DoctorAtomic]

I do agree that the show is stronger with less HQ scenes and focusing on the leap, but I do like those characters. 

I would like to see what happened in that ensuing three years. Especially Magic. He must be devastated. 

I don't get how Ben just leaped but there's been a time delay. I'd like to see if they try to explain. 

 

[iMonrey]

I barely remember how last season ended. I remember Ben leaped into the future and it turned out that Project Quantum Leap had somehow caused the apocalypse, so then he leaped back into the past, into his own past self, and changed something? Can't remember what. Also, the other leaper, can't remember what his deal was or what happened to him. The "previouslies" didn't do much to help.

I agree it's better to focus on the leap itself rather than the constant cutting back to HQ, but it looks like they might compensate for that by doing flashbacks instead so the HQ characters have something to do. I'm not sure that's much of an improvement. 

Then there's the fact that the hologram, assuming it's still Addison, is really an anchor on this show. The character just doesn't bring anything to the table in terms of humor or intrigue.

[DoctorAtomic]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I barely remember how last season ended. I remember Ben leaped into the future and it turned out that Project Quantum Leap had somehow caused the apocalypse, so then he leaped back into the past, into his own past self, and changed something?

When he was in his past self, he had to convince QL that it was future-Ben, but their adversary leapt into Magic and they put Ben in the brig. Then the holograms for the future told Ben to write Jenn's "password" to "past Jenn", so they believed him. Then Ben and the other guy went into the chamber and they both kept leaping around from the past leaps of the season into different people until the brothel owner shot the other guy. Ben leaped after that; they cut to the present-QL with the chamber shimmering, and that was the end. I think. 

I would guess the glitch is that Ben leaped into his past self, who then leaped into the chamber. There had to have been some separation at some point with past-Ben returning to his time since that Ben wouldn't have leaped in the first place. 

Now I'm going to have a drink.

 

[KaveDweller]

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I do agree that the show is stronger with less HQ scenes and focusing on the leap, but I do like those characters. 

I would like to see what happened in that ensuing three years. Especially Magic. He must be devastated. 

I don't get how Ben just leaped but there's been a time delay. I'd like to see if they try to explain. 

 

They may try and explain it, but I see it is more that it took them three years to find Ben. Ben leapt instantly from his last season 1 leap to 1978. But Ziggy couldn't find him for whatever reason, so they couldn't contact him. Then somehow in 2026, Ziggy or Ian figures out where Ben leaped 3 years ago and are able to make contact with him in 1978. They are time travelling, so it doesn't always have to be the same amount of time for each of them.

Except.....wasn't Ben's body in a chamber in the future/present? I wonder what they did with his body if they thought he was lost? And if they disposed of his body, can he never come home? It is just his soul or whatever that will always have to inhabit someone else's body (but still look like his old body)?

I did read an interesting theory that if Ben was missing for 3 years, Sam Beckett may be out there somewhere not knowing 20 years passed for everyone else.

[DoctorAtomic]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Except.....wasn't Ben's body in a chamber in the future/present?

No, Ben leaped into the accelerator, and vanished from the first leap. There's no waiting room anymore. 

I suppose it depends if Ian has access to Ziggy or not. Ian is smart enough to program Ziggy to track changes in history to find anomalies where it would look like Ben leaped to. It's just odd it took them 3 years, when they were able to find him hour by hour. The only difference is that he leaped into himself and then went through the accelerator. It could be as simple as Ziggy tracked the Ben that Ben leaped into, and that Ben returned to the right time so he could then do the first leap. The leaping-Ben then became untrackable. 

It also would be cool if the QL team was largely reassigned and Ian and Janice were running some rogue QL operation. 

 

 

[iMonrey]

16 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Except.....wasn't Ben's body in a chamber in the future/present? I wonder what they did with his body if they thought he was lost? And if they disposed of his body, can he never come home?

This is the trouble with the reboot's concept of leaping. They really don't explain what the heck is going on here but apparently Ben is actually possessing the bodies of those he leaps into, which begs the question of where his own body is. In the original series, Sam was just switching places with the people whose lives he leaped into. He went back in time, they came forward and sat in the "waiting room." But you're right to question where Ben's body is because this version of the show hasn't explained it and it raises all kinds of disturbing questions.

[KaveDweller]

15 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

No, Ben leaped into the accelerator, and vanished from the first leap. There's no waiting room anymore.

There is no waiting room, but there was an episode where they were monitoring Ben's vitals and it looked like they were looking at some chamber where his body was. It was the one where he kept leaping into a different person at the same place. They were very clear last season that Ben was taking over these peoples bodies (which is different from the original), so where is his body if not in the present? Sam's body was travelling with him.

But as iMonrey said, they haven't really explained it

[DoctorAtomic]

I think you meant that the other way. Ben's body is wherever he is because there's no waiting room. Sam's body didn't travel with him. He swapped with the leapee. "Sam" was always in the waiting room until the finale. 

 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think you meant that the other way. Ben's body is wherever he is because there's no waiting room. Sam's body didn't travel with him. He swapped with the leapee. "Sam" was always in the waiting room until the finale. 

 

No, I definitely didn't mean the other way. Sam's body DID travel with him. The waiting room was where the body of the person he leapt into went. This is how Sam was the biological father of someone he conceived while leaping and why he could walk when he leapt into someone who had both legs amputated. Everyone saw him as the person he leapt into but it was actually his body. And everyone saw the person in the waiting room as Sam, but it was actually their body. It was also why Sam couldn't give birth when he leapt into a pregnant woman and why it would have been very bad if she gave birth in the waiting room. 

With Ben it was different. They specifically said he was inhabiting the bodies of the people he leapt into. They didn't specifically say where his body went though.

Now does this make any sense? Probably not, but it's TV.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think so, but someone else might want to weigh in. I think we can agree that the show now has been deliberately vague on what's actually going on. I think Ben was gone when he leaped. So when he leaped into himself, and then went into accelerator Ziggy lost track of him because that leaped-into Ben leaped back to where he should be. 

[possibilities]

I thought the leaper's body stayed behind in the chamber and the spirit of the leaper/their consciousness traveled. It's been described that the person the leaper leaps into feels the push, gives assent, and that allows the leaper to use the leapee's body.

My interpretation is that either the leapee's spirit goes into the leaper's body (a switch-places deal of its own kind), which is still in the chamber but in a state of suspension (like a coma, maybe) or it stays put in its own body and is in suspension, maybe watching as a bystander, as the leaper takes control of their body.

Edited October 8, 2023 by possibilities
edited because I said "body" when I meant "spirit" when that really changes the meaning of my post

[QuantumMechanic]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:54 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

The A-Team did an episode where someone stepped on a land mine!

So did the Fourth Doctor.

[Trini]

1 hour ago, QuantumMechanic said:

On 10/5/2023 at 9:54 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

The A-Team did an episode where someone stepped on a land mine!

So did the Fourth Doctor.

And Prison Break!

[DoctorAtomic]

When did they do it in Prison Break? 

[iMonrey]

18 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

No, I definitely didn't mean the other way. Sam's body DID travel with him. The waiting room was where the body of the person he leapt into went. This is how Sam was the biological father of someone he conceived while leaping and why he could walk when he leapt into someone who had both legs amputated.

And when he was a monkey!

[Trini]

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

When did they do it in Prison Break? 

Season 4, episode 10.

[Nerfect Drifty]

On 10/6/2023 at 8:25 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

I do agree that the show is stronger with less HQ scenes and focusing on the leap, but I do like those characters. 

I would like to see what happened in that ensuing three years. Especially Magic. He must be devastated. 

I don't get how Ben just leaped but there's been a time delay. I'd like to see if they try to explain. 

 

This happened in the original series too, but it wasn't as drastic and it was just a footnote.  Between Sam's first and second leap, something like 2 weeks passed in the present when it was just an instant for him.  Also, the present year in the original series started at 1995, then abruptly jumped to 1999 at some time.

I don't think there's any explanation that would be satisfying or not sound like a lot of weird sci-fi mumbo-jumbo.

[Nerfect Drifty]

A lot of talk about the series in general here, but not a lot about the episode itself.  It seemed like there were an awful lot of plot holes.  Primarily, why was the Air Force flying something so important through hostile Soviet airspace in the first place?  They were flying from Germany to India.  Today, a flight from Berlin to New Delhi doesn't go through Russia, although back in 1978 it did go through some of the Soviet satellite countries.  Still, for something this important they could have taken a longer flight path.  Maybe go down through Italy, over the Mediterranean, and through the Mideast?

Then those 4 Soviet soldiers showed up at the crash site.  The gang subdued them and stole their guns but didn't restrain them or anything.  So what were the Russians doing while the Americans were having their little confab?  Just waiting patiently?  They were too polite to counter attack or leave or anything?

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought they were tied up. 

They deliberately flew that route as a decoy for the real cargo on another flight. Whomever issued the order for them to fly with the fake cargo was expecting the Soviets to shoot them down. 

[Nerfect Drifty]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I thought they were tied up. 

They deliberately flew that route as a decoy for the real cargo on another flight. Whomever issued the order for them to fly with the fake cargo was expecting the Soviets to shoot them down. 

But if they didn't fly through hostile airspace, they would not have needed decoys in the first place.

[DoctorAtomic]

Only the decoys were in this hostile space, no? 

[QuantumMechanic]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:28 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Only the decoys were in this hostile space, no? 

Apparently not, given that the scooby gang had to blow up the SAM site to prevent the real plane from being shot down by that same SAM site.