S02.E03: Closure Encounters

[secnarf]

Quote

Now a government agent, Ben investigates unexplained extraterrestrial activity. After a mysterious incident in New Mexico, two young girls' lives are on the line. Ben meets Hannah Carson, who may be more than she appears.

Original air date: Oct 18 2023

[edhopper]

Someone remind me of the wrap up to Ben jumped to save Addison story line?

[AnimeMania]

Louis Herthum as Sheriff Woodrow Morgan
Alison Thornton as Carrie Baker
David Grant Wright as Russell Hunt
William DeVry as General Austin Murray
Ryan G. Dunkin as Farmer
Trenton Rostedt as Thug #1
Ashlee Grubbs as Melanie

[North of Eden]

I say this as someone who thinks this is a fine continuation of the original series and am enjoying it. During the original some of my favorite episodes were when we got to see what was going on back at Project Quantum Leap, so I have no issues with the "back home" segments.

But it is time to face reality. The ratings for the first two episodes were anemic in a time where there is a shortage of fresh programming due to the strike and I expect the ratings for this episode to be as well.

In short there will be no third season so....

It's time for NBC, the producers...whoever to back up the Brinx truck to Scott Bakula's house and pay him whatever he wants to appear in a two-part series finale by plying him with the cash but more importantly....to do it for the fans who want proper closure to Sam's story which ends with him coming home and reunited with his wife and daughter.

With the writing on the wall now is the time to start planning for the cancellation and to give the Quantum Leap saga the conclusion it always deserved...Sam coming home.

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I say this as someone who thinks this is a fine continuation of the original series and am enjoying it. During the original some of my favorite episodes were when we got to see what was going on back at Project Quantum Leap, so I have no issues with the "back home" segments.

But it is time to face reality. The ratings for the first two episodes were anemic in a time where there is a shortage of fresh programming due to the strike and I expect the ratings for this episode to be as well.

In short there will be no third season so....

It's time for NBC, the producers...whoever to back up the Brinx truck to Scott Bakula's house and pay him whatever he wants to appear in a two-part series finale by plying him with the cash but more importantly....to do it for the fans who want proper closure to Sam's story which ends with him coming home and reunited with his wife and daughter.

With the writing on the wall now is the time to start planning for the cancellation and to give the Quantum Leap saga the conclusion it always deserved...Sam coming home.

I hate to admit it as I was so excited for this show but I have lost interest. The one spark for me was Ian and they should have been the hologram from the start. Too much with Addison, their relationship.... I just wanted to see some interesting leaps. They really aren't and I find them lacking in humor as well. 

I'm with you, lets have a proper ending for Sam. 

[edhopper]

They moved the day and time and didn't tell anyone. I saw no promotion for the return and only saw it because my DVR is set to record new episodes.

[Lisa418722]

I enjoyed the first episode, but they need to leave Addison behind. Let Ian be the hologram. They are so much more interesting than the Addison and Ben's story.  For me personally, this episode had too much Addison. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Lisa418722

[libgirl2]

41 minutes ago, edhopper said:

They moved the day and time and didn't tell anyone. I saw no promotion for the return and only saw it because my DVR is set to record new episodes.

I was waiting for it to come back on Mondays and hadn't seen any ads for it. Then my friend asked me if I watched it! Now, its on the night I work. 

I think this change bodes poorly for the show. 

25 minutes ago, Lisa418722 said:

I enjoyed the first episode, but they need to leave Addison behind. Let Ian be the hologram. They are so much more interesting than the Addison and Ben's story.  For me personally, this episode had too much Addison. 

I think they lost the point that the appeal of the original, in addition to the leaps and  the humor, was the friendship/love between Al and Sam. I loved their banter.  It didn't translate into a romantic couple very well. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by libgirl2

[nx74defiant]

I want to join in the Ian love. If this survives we need less Addison and more Ian.

[libgirl2]

18 minutes ago, nx74defiant said:

I want to join in the Ian love. If this survives we need less Addison and more Ian.

Ian is pretty wonderful. As we have said on here before, imagine if they were the hologram instead. Ian has personality, something I think Addison is lacking. 

[iMonrey]

The writing has seemed very sloppy this season. They didn't even mention what year it was until halfway through this episode, and they don't really have any kind of backstory for whoever Ben leaps into. It could literally be anyone. And why would he leap 300 miles away from where he was supposed to be? So he and Addison could have a long, awkward car trip there?

Also, I know it probably costs money to CGI out backgrounds but this was supposed to take place in New Mexico and there were lush, green hills clearly visible behind them. Are they banking on the hope that nobody knows what New Mexico looks like, or do they just not care?

The waitress also mentioned trying to explain yo-yo's to someone from the 1800s as an analogy, but yo-yo's have been around since ancient times. If I can Google that in two seconds, why can't the writers?

1 hour ago, Lisa418722 said:

For me personally, this episode had too much Addison. 

They all have too much Addision. That's been the problem all along, the focus has been on Ben and Addison's star-crossed relationship rather than the leaps themselves. 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

The writing has seemed very sloppy this season. They didn't even mention what year it was until halfway through this episode, and they don't really have any kind of backstory for whoever Ben leaps into. It could literally be anyone. And why would he leap 300 miles away from where he was supposed to be? So he and Addison could have a long, awkward car trip there?

Also, I know it probably costs money to CGI out backgrounds but this was supposed to take place in New Mexico and there were lush, green hills clearly visible behind them. Are they banking on the hope that nobody knows what New Mexico looks like, or do they just not care?

The waitress also mentioned trying to explain yo-yo's to someone from the 1800s as an analogy, but yo-yo's have been around since ancient times. If I can Google that in two seconds, why can't the writers?

They all have too much Addision. That's been the problem all along, the focus has been on Ben and Addison's star-crossed relationship rather than the leaps themselves. 

Yes. I get that they didn't want to do a remake but this should have been more in the spirit of the original.  

[possibilities]

Ben and Addison as romantic partners could have been okay if they didn't infuse it with angst. I don't understand why so many shows think angst is enjoyable to watch and couples need to be unhappy. Two people who love each other working as a team, having an adventure, being in synch-- that's where the real fun is!

Addison seems to grimace more than she smiles, and that was also true last season, and can't be blamed on the "oops he's not dead" reveal this season.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Ben and Addison as romantic partners could have been okay if they didn't infuse it with angst. I don't understand why so many shows think angst is enjoyable to watch and couples need to be unhappy. Two people who love each other working as a team, having an adventure, being in synch-- that's where the real fun is!

Addison seems to grimace more than she smiles, and that was also true last season, and can't be blamed on the "oops he's not dead" reveal this season.

Maybe it could have worked that way, especially if they had chemistry and played it fun with witty banter. 

[KaveDweller]

Addison aside, I did enjoy this episode more than last week. I thought the leap story was more interesting. I liked that the Sheriff was not what I thought he was going to be - a strict by the book guy that didn't care about protecting the granddaughter. He had more layers.

The only thing I didn't get, is if the coma girl's father was leasing out his land to the military for shady experiments, wouldn't he know they were responsible for what happened? Why was he so insistent on punishing the other girl?

[secnarf]

11 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Addison aside, I did enjoy this episode more than last week. I thought the leap story was more interesting. I liked that the Sheriff was not what I thought he was going to be - a strict by the book guy that didn't care about protecting the granddaughter. He had more layers.

The only thing I didn't get, is if the coma girl's father was leasing out his land to the military for shady experiments, wouldn't he know they were responsible for what happened? Why was he so insistent on punishing the other girl?

I really liked that the Sheriff and the girl had similar piercing blue eyes. I thought it was good casting, and I noticed it before we knew that he was her grandfather.

I don't know that the guy leasing out the land necessarily knew what the military was doing on it, but even if he had an inkling that they could be involved, he was probably motivated to find an alternate explanation so they would keep paying him for the use of the land. Once Ben exposed the military, the Sheriff forced them out. Presumably that means no more money being paid for the section of land they were leasing from the father.

[Cthulhudrew]

Did Ian just triangulate an area with only two coordinates (girls' accident and Ben's sighting)?

NGL, when I saw Tim Matheson at the end I was hoping that Ben leapt into Michael "Burn Notice" Westen when he and Dead Larry were still spies together. 

What a great hook that would be for this incarnation of QL: Ben leaps into other characters in the NBCUniversal realm:

• Ben leaps into Jim Rockford
• Ben leaps into The Bionic Woman
• Ben leaps into Thomas Magnum, P. I.
• Ben leaps into Law & Order's Lennie Briscoe
• Ben leaps into Rachel Maddow

And of course, the series finale...

• Ben leaps into... Quantum Leap's Sam Beckett! "Oh, boy..."

Edited October 20, 2023 by Cthulhudrew

[KaveDweller]

21 hours ago, secnarf said:

I don't know that the guy leasing out the land necessarily knew what the military was doing on it, but even if he had an inkling that they could be involved, he was probably motivated to find an alternate explanation so they would keep paying him for the use of the land. Once Ben exposed the military, the Sheriff forced them out. Presumably that means no more money being paid for the section of land they were leasing from the father.

I guess he cared more about the money than his daughter. Real nice guy.

[DoctorAtomic]

QL certainly got up and running fast as soon as they found Ben. I might have liked another episode of Ben winging it. This would have been a good episode for that to bookend Ben's halloween episode from last year. In both leaps, it wasn't anything supernatural, but Ben was able to figure out.

I did like that the sheriff came off as typical but then was actually the tip. 

I think it's Magic's call on who the hologram should be. Maybe pulling Addison out for a run might have been a good option. Not entirely fair on Ben's part for saying they 'gave up on him.' They tried. Which says maybe Addison shouldn't be the hologram right now. Although, I don't think she's at fault.

It was interesting that they didn't have a 'Ziggy says you need to do _____ to leap'. It looked like to me it was for Hannah.

On 10/19/2023 at 7:44 PM, KaveDweller said:

The only thing I didn't get, is if the coma girl's father was leasing out his land to the military for shady experiments, wouldn't he know they were responsible for what happened? Why was he so insistent on punishing the other girl?

I think that's precisely why. He needed to pin it on the other girl so no one would find out the secret military project.

Did Ben just low-key invent Area 51? 

[Driad]

The episode description said "young girls" but the girls were probably at least 16 since one of them was driving.  "Young girls" to me are less than about 10 years old.

[iMonrey]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:01 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

QL certainly got up and running fast as soon as they found Ben.

I noticed that too. The facility was fully staffed - where did all the employees come from? This is supposed to be a top secret government operation, were all of them there before they shut the project down? Or did Magic just pull up Zip Recruiter and hire a bunch of randos? 

I don't get what all those staffers are even doing anyway. Maybe they're all working on a way to figure out how to bring Ben home, but how many people do they need to do that?

[DoctorAtomic]

In terms of programming a large scale AI, I would say a lot. Different groups could be running simulations and scenarios, etc. Jenn would likely have her own security team.

[Irlandesa]

So far, I think this season has been handling the balance of leap to HQ much better.  In fact, I thought this episode had more of feel of the original than most of last season.  There was a mystery solved.  A good guy.  A bad guy to vanquish.  But it also had cute little things like Ben telling the waitress about the Yale program (and promoting women in STEM which may have been harder to discover back then) and the nod/wink the show used to do by having Ben suggest Area 51 as a potential new location.

So I enjoyed it and I wonder if they threw in Addison's difficulties as a reason to have others do the leaps instead of all her.

On 10/19/2023 at 10:47 AM, North of Eden said:

But it is time to face reality. The ratings for the first two episodes were anemic in a time where there is a shortage of fresh programming due to the strike and I expect the ratings for this episode to be as well.

I don't think we know what success is for this show.  Looking at ratings numbers, they're basically on par with last season (a bit lower in the demo but higher in viewer totals) based on live numbers.  Delayed numbers haven't been released yet, and we don't get any info about Peacock's viewing numbers. 

And we don't know why they renewed this series last season.  Was it because they were happy with the numbers across all their platforms or was it because they suspected the strike was going to happen and wanted to get a head start in production so they'd have these new episodes available?

 

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/20/2023 at 9:01 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Did Ben just low-key invent Area 51? 

I looked up the history of Groom Lake on Wiki, and there was an Army Air Force runway out there as early as 1942, but the CIA didn't start investing heavily on the base until the mid 50s.  

[lavenderblue]

I was expecting more discussion of Hannah here but I may have been the only one to get these vibes... (no spoilers, purely what was in the ep)

But in any case, not only did I think Ben had more chemistry with her in a few scenes than he's ever had with Addison, but I also wondered if we're meant to connect her with something bigger, like the research necessary for QL's development. Caveat that I prefer mythos to love triangle angst so I may have been projecting an interesting storyline that wasn't really there, lol.

[Irlandesa]

34 minutes ago, lavenderblue said:

But in any case, not only did I think Ben had more chemistry with her in a few scenes than he's ever had with Addison, but I also wondered if we're meant to connect her with something bigger, like the research necessary for QL's development.

I definitely got a vibe/good chemistry from them but I'm not sure we're meant to think she plays a bigger part in QL--although that could possibly come later in the season. 

[redpencil]

33 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I definitely got a vibe/good chemistry from them but I'm not sure we're meant to think she plays a bigger part in QL--although that could possibly come later in the season. 

I thought for sure there would be some twist related to her at the end of the episode, given the episode description ("Ben meets Hannah Carson, who may be more than she appears."). I really interpreted that to mean something beyond just this leap. So I was really disappointed that's all it was (at least as far as we know so far). I know episode descriptions aren't always written by those who actually write the show, but that felt really misleading to me. So I'm really hoping she comes up again at some point.

[DoctorAtomic]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Delayed numbers haven't been released yet, and we don't get any info about Peacock's viewing numbers. 

I watch on Peacock 99% of the time. There could be better numbers 5 to 7 days later, for example. I didn't watch the show until Friday night this time.

8 hours ago, redpencil said:

I thought for sure there would be some twist related to her at the end of the episode, given the episode description ("Ben meets Hannah Carson, who may be more than she appears."). I really interpreted that to mean something beyond just this leap. So I was really disappointed that's all it was (at least as far as we know so far). I know episode descriptions aren't always written by those who actually write the show, but that felt really misleading to me. So I'm really hoping she comes up again at some point.

She didn't necessarily have to influence QL. A lot of times on the show, Sam was helping people in a small orbit; he got the older sister away from an abusive boyfriend. That was it. 

I thought the whole reason for the leap was for Ben to get her to go to college. He leaped right after. Addison said that Ziggy didn't know why he was there. 

Why wouldn't he have leaped after they made the deal with the general? 

[Commando Cody]

i spent most of the is episode thinking "F you, Addison".

"Only I can help him". 

"I can't leave him in there alone".

Why are you still on this show Addison? 

They gave us no closure on Hanna's future. Did she contact the university? Was she a pioneer in her field? Did she just have a fulfilling life not being a waitress?

 

[iMonrey]

Just now, Commando Cody said:

They gave us no closure on Hanna's future. Did she contact the university? Was she a pioneer in her field? Did she just have a fulfilling life not being a waitress?

That's another problem with this reboot. With few exceptions we never get any follow-up to the people Ben has helped. I mean . . . that's the whole reason for the leap. To "put right what once went wrong." Al always used to fill Sam in on what happened to the person he helped and what became of them. They haven't bothered doing that here because they aren't really that invested in the leap story. It's just sort of the vehicle that propels the larger arc they're more interested in. They've got the whole thing backwards.

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/19/2023 at 7:36 PM, Cthulhudrew said:

What a great hook that would be for this incarnation of QL: Ben leaps into other characters in the NBCUniversal realm:

I'm not sure if it's NBC, or if they'd loan him out, but I can think of several characters in the area of downtown LA, say, around the La Brea pits, that could use some serious assistance.  Or at least a good boxing of their ears.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Commando Cody said:

They gave us no closure on Hanna's future. Did she contact the university? Was she a pioneer in her field?

I didn't need this spelled out for me.  I assumed that she did since she had originally intended to do it. Especially since Hannah was a tertiary character.

[Trini]

So this was the 'halloween' episode, I guess.

Thought it was a good episode and the sheriff character was good and good working with Ben.

Yes, Addison is still a charisma vortex, but at least they're not pretending that she and Ben have any romantantic chemistry, so I can deal with it. Them being awkward - perfect excuse for others to step in as the hologram.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Trini

[KaveDweller]

18 hours ago, redpencil said:

I thought for sure there would be some twist related to her at the end of the episode, given the episode description ("Ben meets Hannah Carson, who may be more than she appears."). I really interpreted that to mean something beyond just this leap. So I was really disappointed that's all it was (at least as far as we know so far). I know episode descriptions aren't always written by those who actually write the show, but that felt really misleading to me. So I'm really hoping she comes up again at some point.

Spoiler

The actress playing Hannah is a regular this season, so she is definitely going to come up again. Not sure how, unless she is supposed to be another leaper or something.

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I watch on Peacock 99% of the time. There could be better numbers 5 to 7 days later, for example. I didn't watch the show until Friday night this time.

She didn't necessarily have to influence QL. A lot of times on the show, Sam was helping people in a small orbit; he got the older sister away from an abusive boyfriend. That was it. 

I thought the whole reason for the leap was for Ben to get her to go to college. He leaped right after. Addison said that Ziggy didn't know why he was there. 

Why wouldn't he have leaped after they made the deal with the general? 

In the original, Sam rarely leaped right after helping someone. He stayed long enough for Al to come in and give updates about what happened to everyone. He only leaped immediately when drama called for it or if it was really obvious how he changed things.

But I do think it was key that he helped her. But it is odd Ziggy wouldn't know why Ben was there. Isn't that the whole point of Ziggy?

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I didn't need this spelled out for me.  I assumed that she did since she had originally intended to do it. Especially since Hannah was a tertiary character.

It wouldn't be worth it to just say she went to college and was a pioneer, but if she did something unexpected with the degree, that would be interesting to hear about. Like she started a program for other woman who went on to do something interesting.

[iMonrey]

On 10/23/2023 at 12:45 PM, Irlandesa said:

I didn't need this spelled out for me.  I assumed that she did since she had originally intended to do it. Especially since Hannah was a tertiary character.

It isn't so much that it "needs" to be spelled out. It's that the whole point of the leaps is to fix something that went wrong in the past. If we don't get an update on what happened after Ben changed something for someone, we don't actually know if he changed anything. 

Also, in the original, sometimes it turned out that Sam was there to help someone other than who he originally thought. Like at the start of the leap, Al would say "Ziggy says there's a 85% chance you're here to do so-and-so." And by the end of the episode, it would turn out that Sam was actually there to help some other character. And we only find that out at the end when Al updates Sam on that character. That's what made the show interesting, and fun.

Here? Not so much. They just aren't really putting the writing effort into the leaps, they're still way too focused on Ben/Addison drama and QL HQ. The leap stories are just sort of obligatory and lazy.

[possibilities]

49 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

They just aren't really putting the writing effort into the leaps, they're still way too focused on Ben/Addison drama and QL HQ. The leap stories are just sort of obligatory and lazy.

I think this is really the issue.

[Guest]

I noticed that Eliza Taylor (Hannah) was credited with the main cast so I spent a good chunk of her scenes waiting for a twist. Guess that’s still to come. I’m intrigued and liking this season much more than last season. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Are you thinking she's going to show up on another leap? 

[lh25]

On 10/28/2023 at 11:27 PM, Dani said:

I noticed that Eliza Taylor (Hannah) was credited with the main cast so I spent a good chunk of her scenes waiting for a twist. Guess that’s still to come. I’m intrigued and liking this season much more than last season. 

Maybe she'll show up as the one to figure out how to bring Ben home after she gets her education?  :)

[waaay2muchTV]

On 10/19/2023 at 3:40 PM, edhopper said:

They moved the day and time and didn't tell anyone. I saw no promotion for the return and only saw it because my DVR is set to record new episodes.

Same here, showed up in my recorded queue.  Otherwise I'd seen no promos about new season airing, or maybe I missed them because I've been straight up streaming for months now with the strike on and no new programming....