S02.E04: The Lonely Hearts Club

[secnarf]

Quote

Ben leaps into the body of an ambitious Hollywood assistant whose famous client, Neal Russell, is in danger. As Ben realizes that Neal's circumstances may shed light on his own, his working relationship with Addison reaches an inflection point.

Original air date: Oct 25 2023

[AnimeMania]

Tim Matheson as Neal Russell
Alice Kremelberg as Rachel
Erica Gimpel as Laura Evans
Vincent Duvall as Michael Stevens
Michael Broderick as Officer Jackson
Joseph Aviel as Arnold Impersonator
Denzel Johnson as Security Guard
Natasha Makin as Craft Services Woman
Tracey Kaplan as Tourist Woman
Adrian Dev as Person on the Lot

[secnarf]

Always enjoy seeing Erica Gimpel.

Last season I was fairly lukewarm towards Addison - I didn't mind her, but had no strong feelings. I am liking her more this season - she feels more relatable maybe? Or understandable where she is coming from and how conflicted she is. As I am liking Addison more, I am starting to really not like the storyline. I do feel for both her and Ben. It's just a bad situation all around. And I hate that none of their conversations are ever private - I couldn't imagine.

As always, I feel we need more Ian. Was their girlfriend the same ex that we had met last season?

[KaveDweller]

Ben's speech to Addison about how he would have waited for her made me think of the first episode of Alias season 3. But Sydney's speech was better. I actually think Ben and Addison both are totally valid in their feelings here. Too bad I don't care about their relationship at all, because if I did it would be very good angsty drama. It makes sense for Ben to not want her as the hologram.

I don't like Addison's new boyfriend though. 

Isn't Quantum Leap a top secret government project? Is Ian allowed to be telling their girlfriend Ben is back? Also, who is the girlfriend's boss? It was very awkward how they kept referring to him as "your boss" instead of his name, so it must be someone important. They could have used a name and still worked in exposition explaining who he was. Sounds like Ian did something shady with this guy to get a new computer chip, and that is how they finally found Ben. If they didn't, I wonder if Ben would have leapt without a hologram like he did in the premiere?

I did like the leap story, even if it was totally obvious Ben was projecting and Tim Matheson's ex wasn't going to take him back. 

 

 

[Trini]

18 hours ago, secnarf said:

As always, I feel we need more Ian. Was their girlfriend the same ex that we had met last season?

Yes; which is why I'm upset that they brought her back just for one scene to break up with Ian, and we never even saw or heard of that relationship until now. Seriously?!

18 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't like Addison's new boyfriend though. 

Not that I want him to be a bad guy, but he seems a little too perfect so far.

 

The ramifications of the security breach with the chip sounds like a way more interesting season arc.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Trini
spelling, d'oh!

[CeeBeeGee]

52 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't like Addison's new boyfriend though. 

You mean the guy who's a dead ringer (albeit non-Asian) ringer for Ben? She sure has a type.

[Irlandesa]

One thing they haven't answered is why everyone was so sure Ben was dead just because they lost contact with him when the whole premise of restarting the QL Project is to find Sam who has been MIA for 10x longer than Ben had been.

But I'm glad the Addison story likely means we're going to get other holograms. 

Tim was a great guest actor.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

As always, I feel we need more Ian. Was their girlfriend the same ex that we had met last season?

Yes, the same person.

[libgirl2]

12 hours ago, secnarf said:

As always, I feel we need more Ian. Was their girlfriend the same ex that we had met last season?

I have always felt we needed more Ian. 

[nx74defiant]

I found Addison more likeable this time. Now that she is not trying to act like she is love with Ben she comes off more natural. I'm glad they are not getting back together and we will be seeing others act as Hologram.

[Starchild]

15 hours ago, CeeBeeGee said:

You mean the guy who's a dead ringer (albeit non-Asian) ringer for Ben? She sure has a type.

One difference is she has more chemistry with the new guy, she's different with him, less annoying.

 

15 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Yes, the same person.

And still no chemistry with them.

 

54 minutes ago, nx74defiant said:

I'm glad they are not getting back together

Don't count your chickens before they've hatched.

[iMonrey]

I hate to say it, but if this show was cancelled tomorrow I wouldn't miss it one bit. And this episode was a perfect example of what's wrong with this show. It's like the leap doesn't even matter anymore, it's just a metaphor for Ben and Addison's relationship drama. 

Now maybe, just maybe, Addison will take a back seat to the story with Ben asking for someone else to be the hologram. The problem is I don't think they would bring in a whole new character to be her new boyfriend if they were going to reduce her part in the show or the story. It's just as I feared: instead of fixing what's wrong with this show, they're doubling down on it.

7 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I have always felt we needed more Ian. 

I get that there's an audience for Ian. In fact I get the impression Ian may be the one and only reason some people watch this show. And that's fine. But "more Ian" isn't going to fix what's inherently wrong with the show. In fact Ian, along with Addison, Jen, Tom and Magic are precisely the problem. The focus is on the wrong thing. 

I also hate to say it but Raymond Lee just doesn't have the same charisma as Scott Bakula. He is very low-key, and without the balance of a strong personality like Al, everything just feels very flat and low stakes. And there is currently no character that can serve to bring that balance. Not even Ian.

Edited October 26, 2023 by iMonrey

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Starchild said:

Don't count your chickens before they've hatched.

Nope! Already counted!

;-)

[Starchild]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I also hate to say it but Raymond Lee just doesn't have the same charisma as Scott Bakula. He is very low-key, and without the balance of a strong personality like Al, everything just feels very flat and low stakes. And there is currently no character that can serve to bring that balance. Not even Ian.

Now, if Ian became the leaper...

[Rose Quartz]

3 hours ago, nx74defiant said:

I found Addison more likeable this time. Now that she is not trying to act like she is love with Ben she comes off more natural. I'm glad they are not getting back together and we will be seeing others act as Hologram.

You're more of an optimist than me.  😄  As soon as Ben said that he didn't want Addison as his hologram anymore, I figured that within the next episode or two Ben'll run into a situation where only Addison has the knowledge/skills to save him.  That'll force them to work together and work through their issues enough that by the end of the episode Addison will be back as the hologram and we'll be stuck with an angst-filled love triangle between her, Ben, and her new boyfriend. 🙄

[DoctorAtomic]

So we're all assuming that Tom has an ulterior motive for restarting QL? He's too charming. It's interesting that they restarted it just to find Ben because the whole point of the original was to actually go back and fix things. Al had to go to senate hearings. 

I don't know if I like "modern times" leaps because it's too easy to access everything about everything. 

I was hoping the power spikes were going to be Janis related.
That is why you don't trust an air gap though!

I'm surprised QL would let anyone outside of the project know what it is; even if there's one per person, no way should they be talking in public. 

Magic's idea of actually *reading* the book was a smart move too. However, it's interesting that the this one and the last one, Ziggy missed the leap. 

I didn't really need Ben and Addison to have it out. He was coming around to the estranged daughter, and maybe focus on getting out of there instead of being stuck there. She did wait two years. Come on. 

Although all the more reason to not have Addison jump right back in as the hologram. I take what the show was trying to do, so maybe they're just ripping the band aid off and we don't have to keep dealing with it. 

Hey! They did a follow up! 

 

[secnarf]

23 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Ben's speech to Addison about how he would have waited for her made me think of the first episode of Alias season 3. But Sydney's speech was better. I actually think Ben and Addison both are totally valid in their feelings here. Too bad I don't care about their relationship at all, because if I did it would be very good angsty drama. It makes sense for Ben to not want her as the hologram.

I had not consciously made that connection, but now that you have pointed it out, I think my subconscious was all over it, and it is really colouring how I feel about QL now. I somehow feel like rooting for Ben/Addison, when I have never felt that way before and the rationale part of me doesn't think they should be endgame. I think it's probably emotional bleed-over from Alias.

They also slipped in that Tom is a widower. I feel like that is set up for later on when he tells Addison how if his wife was suddenly back, he's not sure what he would do/might go back to her, and he understands if Addison wants to go back to Ben (that is purely spec on my part). I think it'll either be that, or Tom will be evil, thus clearing the way for Ben and Addison to get back together.

[KaveDweller]

19 minutes ago, secnarf said:

They also slipped in that Tom is a widower. I feel like that is set up for later on when he tells Addison how if his wife was suddenly back, he's not sure what he would do/might go back to her, and he understands if Addison wants to go back to Ben (that is purely spec on my part). 

Or maybe that is a set up for his wife actually coming back. Ben could change something that stops her death and then suddenly a love triangle becomes a square. That actually makes me think of Timeless.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Rose Quartz said:

You're more of an optimist than me.  😄  As soon as Ben said that he didn't want Addison as his hologram anymore, I figured that within the next episode or two Ben'll run into a situation where only Addison has the knowledge/skills to save him. 

I'm more optimistic than others about this season because I personally do think they've responded to a lot of the complaints from last season.

I get others disagree but I think the leaps this season have been far superior to last season. Last season I felt like I barely knew many of the main characters of the leaps but this season I've been moved by at least one in each episode. 

There has also been more Ian.  Perhaps there was too much Addison/Ben drama in this episode but I do think there's less mythology than less season so they're going to want to involve the characters in the story in other ways.  I suspect we may get others acting as the hologram. 

Now, I do think Addison will act as a hologram again but I'd be surprised if she's the only one.

[Commando Cody]

I like Tim Matheson, it was good to see him on TV. Aside from that, this episode just dragged. It was almost excruciatingly slow.  

Tom is the bad guy. Or will be at some point.

Holy crap Tom is boring. They put the two least interesting people together on this show. Addison and Tom. The Boringsons. 

I was glad to see Ben dump Addison's ass. He's right. It needs to be remembered that it has been 3 years for Addison and just a couple of leaps for Ben. It's a very fresh wound. 

Otherwise, I don't always know who these people are talking about. 

 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I get others disagree but I think the leaps this season have been far superior to last season.

I didn't care for this one because I just prefer more leaps into the past, but I liked the others. I would have liked to see another one with no hologram for Ben. 

Or maybe now, the hologram will be sporadic. Ian can't be dealing with programming and research and also always in the imaging chamber. 

 

[Chit Chat]

20 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

So we're all assuming that Tom has an ulterior motive for restarting QL?

I don't trust him just yet.  He seems too good to be true!

18 hours ago, Commando Cody said:

I was glad to see Ben dump Addison's ass. He's right. It needs to be remembered that it has been 3 years for Addison and just a couple of leaps for Ben. It's a very fresh wound.

Amen!  He shouldn't have apologized to Addison. He has every right to be upset at this moment.  One moment he's remembering more things about Addison and they're really connecting, then the next moment he's supposedly dead and she's moved on.  Jeez!  That would take more than a few leaps for him to process and come to terms with.  

I hate that they wrote the show this way.  I don't think that Addison would've given up on Ben, ever!!  That's my main gripe.    

[DoctorAtomic]

I think he was more apologizing for snapping at her. He also didn't know that she tried to throw herself into the accelerator either. However, she wasn't forthcoming about Tom watching the leap either. 

This required more of a terse conversation on the sidewalk, but I don't know how you do that with the constant leaps. Again, Magic is in charge, and he needs to make executive decisions that are going to keep Ben focused and moving forward, leap by leap. 

I did like the point Tom made that maybe the actual technology of leaping is always going to be a one way trip. 

[Starchild]

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Ian can't be dealing with programming and research and also always in the imaging chamber. 

Sadly, true.

As much as I find Addison annoying, she does have a wide range of knowledge and skills that she can advise Ben on. So if Ben doesn't want her there, the only other equivalent option is Tom, but obviously that's also less than ideal.

So maybe someone new comes in?

[DoctorAtomic]

They could platoon with Ian and Jenn. In both QLs, the hologram had an established relationship with the leaper. How would you interview for that? 

Magic could be the hologram. He is a calming influence. 

Or even bring back Janis. 

[KaveDweller]

On 10/27/2023 at 11:48 PM, Starchild said:

Sadly, true.

As much as I find Addison annoying, she does have a wide range of knowledge and skills that she can advise Ben on. So if Ben doesn't want her there, the only other equivalent option is Tom, but obviously that's also less than ideal.

So maybe someone new comes in?

But the hologram doesn't really need a wide range of knowledge and skills. They have Ziggy and can look anything up in an instant. There may be some situations where knowledge is useful, like when Ben was a lawyer and needed quick advise on legal process (and Jen swapped in). Having them rotate is actually useful because then if a leap does call for specific knowledge, they can bring in the person with knowledge in that area.

It is the leaper that really needs a wide range of knowledge and skills, because they have to adapt on the spot.

[DoctorAtomic]

I think it's both. The original certainly had Sam with mad skills, but Al wasn't just parroting data from Ziggy either.