Ben arrives aboard the shuttle Atlantis…

Apparently the weekly paradigm, Quantum Leap ping-pongs between the series’ overarching metaplot and the episode’s specific conundrum.

Alas, neither impresses.

In the episode’s conundrum, as the preview revealed, Ben fights to survive a literal trip to outer space on the shuttle Atlantis. Even the fantastic visuals – who at some point hasn’t dreamed of flying in space? – and the good guest cast can’t give this outing the needed spark. Not awful in the least, just not particularly gripping either. Even seeing the fantastic visit by not just Ben but Addison to orbit doesn’t elevate this outing.

This show faces the challenge that the viewers know Ben survives. (Should the writers ever pull a cast change and throw the curve that he doesn’t survive: epic fail; I can’t emphasize that enough.) The suspense will never be ‘if’ but rather ‘how’ he comes through. Difficult to work with, perhaps, but not insurmountable, as many examples – including the original show – prove. So far, this iteration falls short on building any real suspense.

Even more problematic, the metaplot attempts to contrast a conspiracy (between Ben, Janice, and who else?) with promoting the whole theme of family, working together, trust, etc. among the Quantum Leap team. Instead of succeeding, the conflict looks artificial and contrived. Mercifully the intra-team rift resolves by the conclusion of the hour which makes for some nice character moments. My issue (yes, my bias) is that conspiracies are inherently dumb, dull, uninteresting and self-destructing.

We get further confirmation that Ben does have a plan that for whatever reason he shared only (so far as we know) with Janice. We also get some nice groundwork for why the show won’t end any time soon. Seeing those working to get Ben back still adds a nice slant to the series, although hopefully they will ditch, er, solve the conspiracy/mystery ASAP. It adds nothing and indeed detracts big time from the overall story.

The new cast continues to charm, and I look forward to seeing more of them. The mystery of finding Sam suffices just fine without flinging wayward conspiracies into the mix. Major points for the brief appearance of Beth portrayed by the same actress as previously.

Verdict: The series meanders so far but shows great potential and remains worth watching. 6/10

Rigel Ailur