Back in contact with the rest of the team, Ben struggles to deal with the three-year time difference and keep a robbery from turning tragic.

Quantum Leap excels at playing with tropes, normally twisting and/or subverting them into something new. The writing or the performances – or both – almost always lift the show above the usual. This time, alas, not so much. The cast remains as wonderful as always, yet doesn’t have the usual sparkling script to work with.

Ben leaps into a bank teller, naturally immediately before bank robbers strike. Ben must ensure the standoff ends without loss of life. We get the requisite connection between a bank worker and one of the robbers (siblings). The thieves fight among themselves – not much, but enough to check off that trope box. Obnoxious police negotiator Reynolds checks off that trope of creating even more conflict and serving as the requisite ‘government bad guy’. One of them. More on that later.

Back at Home Base we see the bombshell situation that Ian referred to at the end of the preceding episode. Illustrating the elasticity of any time travel concept, although virtually no time passed for Ben, over three years have gone by for the rest of the team. Ian alerts the others, and they reassemble. We get glimpses of Magic, Jenn, and Addison as they get the news. This includes our introduction to Thomas, not just a fellow soldier but also the man in Addison’s life.

Thomas embodies another trope: the super-nice guy caught in the middle of a tough situation. Not an overly complex role – yet, at least – but so far the charming and appealing Peter Gadiot makes do as best he can. Which brings us to the other ‘Government Bad Guys’ who do not approve upon learning about the suddenly-reactivated Quantum Leap Project. They show up to arrest everyone at Home Base. In a bit of nicely-done timing, Addison and Thomas save the day. We also see that Thomas can wield some incredibly impressive influence.

An exchange between Jenn and Ian at the end of the episode shows that Ian needs to confess some seriously major indiscretion regarding how they located Ben. More on that in upcoming episodes, no doubt.

In the final scene between Addison and Thomas, the series finally returns to form: powerful and emotional. Full disclosure that love triangles count among my least favorite tropes. Time will tell if Quantum Leap pulls it off or not. I look forward to finding out.

Verdict Quantum Leap improves, albeit marginally so far, but plants plenty of intriguing seeds. 6/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com