Minor spoilers

Ben becomes a bounty hunter once again…

Quantum Leap continues to stumble just a bit, as if throwing everything against the wall and waiting to see what sticks. Not terrible, but not at the same level where it was. The thing about having so many excellent episodes, is that the misfires that would be average for most other shows look especially bad in comparison within the series.

In tonight’s episode, Ben is again a bounty hunter who this time has already apprehended his target. Needless to say, complications ensue. We get a “charmingly” annoying “bad” guy – who’s neither – as they flee across the countryside and barely stay ahead of their pursuers. Yawn for a boring car chase. They could have done better.

Back at Home Base, we get follow-up to the possibility that the team might now be able to bring Ben home. Their biggest dilemma at the moment: do they or don’t they tell Ben? The rest of the team defers to Addison, saying she knows him the best. She decides, no, not yet. She doesn’t want to keep yanking the rug of hope out from under him. In and of itself, that makes sense. Yet it also flies in the face of the previous epiphany she and Ben reached about no more secrets, and being honest with each other.

Another holdover from the previous episode: will or won’t Tom propose? Between that and her dilemma regarding Ben, we get a very moody Addison yawn. Yawn for that as well. It does, however, give Ian a chance to be insightful while attempting to comfort her so at least we get that nice character bit.

Predictably, worse bad guys than the ones before continue the pursuit. The whole episode is a not-especially-skillful buddies-on-the-lam trope. Naturally, the classic “estranged brother” also shows up. Hannah also returns. Without major spoilers, all I can say is that despite some nice moments, overall she’s very ill-used in this episode for any number of reasons, including especially a particular throwaway line near the end. I hope I’m mistaken about it, but I don’t believe I am. We also get some macho sexism from the brother that seems to serve no purpose at all, expect perhaps to emphasize this is 1970. Considering that he quickly sees the light, I’m not sure why they bothered.

Verdict: The good news: this episodes picks up pretty much all the myriad dangling threads from the last one. The bad news: there’s no motion, let alone resolution, to any of them. 6/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com