Ben leaps into a racecar driver who must save the life of his father. He must also race to save the entire Quantum Leap project.

Full disclosure here: for a series finale, nothing less will satisfy me than Ben returning home and sending Sam back to before his first leap – memories intact – to reunite with Donna and Al.

That doesn’t happen in this episode. (Not a huge shock, I know.)

As the producers have said they’d love the show to return – although no news as of this moment – I’ll assert wishful thinking and consider this the season finale.

The two plot threads are nicely intertwined. Returning to assist are Magic (as expected, and makes his previous exit make more sense) and Janis Calavicci (not expected, but a majorly welcome surprise). Beth Calavicci also returns. Their presence makes perfect sense, and it’s good the show brought them both back.

So much to unpack here.

So difficult to do without major spoilers, which I’ll nonetheless avoid. Hopefully the review won’t be too frustratingly vague.

Gideon’s arc: completely and satisfyingly resolved. Likewise for the Home Base arc regarding the project itself, and Hannah’s and Jeffrey’s arcs both of which were set up in the previous episode and play out here. Some nice humorous moments come out of these resolutions.

The episode does a good job of ping-ponging back and forth between Ben needing to save his host’s dad, and needing to save the project itself. The suspense remains high on both counts, and the cast does its usual great job.

Without giving away the ending, I can say that it 1,000% embodies the themes of this show, and its predecessor.

Quantum Leap epitomizes doing not just the right thing, but the good thing, no matter how difficult. It’s about trusting not just the family and friends around you, but also trusting karma or fate or God (although they danced around that quite carefully) or whatever higher power one chooses to come down on the side of good. The show advocates empathy and compassion, and helping others even when it is difficult and even counterintuitive, including helping one’s enemies and people one thinks don’t deserve it.

All in all, great closure and a very satisfying episode. Not quite perfect, but fantastic regardless. Not perfect because I dislike (huge understatement) cliffhangers. Fantastic because, to be fair, this episode did not end on a cliffhanger, but rather on a teaser. Not the same thing. Here’s hoping we get to see what’s next.

Verdict: As a season ender, very nice job. 8/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com