Quantum Leap Reboot (spoilers allowed)

Aeson · Sep 23, 2022

Rabulias said:
With only $6 million to work with, they get a guy with a bionic thumb. Every episode ends with a thumb wrestling match.

But the thumb will have Bluetooth and sync with an app on your phone. Maybe it'll be detachable and you can use it to cheat at chess.

Ryujin · Sep 23, 2022

Aeson said:
But the thumb will have Bluetooth and sync with an app on your phone. Maybe it'll be detachable and you can use it to cheat at chess.

Which immediately brings to mind a song by King Missile, that cannot be mentioned here.

Umbran · Sep 23, 2022

Bedrockgames said:
I would certainly love some optimistic science fiction, especially something as open to religious themes as Quantum leap.

In today's context, though, I would not be surprised if they stepped back from the religious element, because they become problematic if you look at them too closely.

Umbran · Sep 23, 2022

GreyLord said:
As I a non-fan of Quantum Leap, how did this work?

So, in essence...

Sam jumps into a Pennsylvania barroom in 1953 - on his own birthday. In the mirror, he sees not the reflection of whoever he has jumped into, but himself - it appears to be the first jump he makes as himself, instead of into someone else.

The bartender, and the people in the bar all look like people from his past adventures. The bartender, for example, is played by an actor from the pilot episode. They imply uncanny knowledge of what Sam has been doing. Sam gets the idea that the Bartender is really the one who has been directing his leaps - that the Bartender is actually God. Overall, the Bartender tells Sam that he's really been leaping by the force of his own will all these years. He can go home at any time.

Sam doesn't fully believe that , but it gives him the resolve to fix a wrong he himself had committed. Al is well known for his philandering and womanizing through the series - this is in large part because of how his first marriage ended. Al was a POW in Vietnam. And, not knowing that he was still alive, his wife moved on, with tragic emotional consequences for Al when he did finally get home. Sam had already had one opportunity to tell her Al wasn't dead in the series, but chose not to, to protect the timeline - if Al's marriage was saved, he might not have been there to help Sam help all these people....

But now Sam takes another leap, has the opportunity to tell her, and does so. We get the usual leaping effect...

The episode ends not with talk, but with a black title card with white writing, informing us that Al and his wife stay together, and have four daughters. And we are then told that Sam never returned home.

Many people find this ending underwhelming. I find it darned near perfect. like it or not, though, canonically, it was established that Sam never returned home.

There exists a rough-cut alternate ending they were going to use, if the show was given a sixth season, in which instead of that message, we are given Al and his wife Beth, discussing Al going into the Quantum Leap Accelerator himself to bring Sam home.

Ryujin · Sep 23, 2022

Umbran said:
So, in essence...

Sam jumps into a Pennsylvania barroom in 1953 - on his own birthday. In the mirror, he sees not the reflection of whoever he has jumped into, but himself - it appears to be the first jump he makes as himself, instead of into someone else.

The bartender, and the people in the bar all look like people from his past adventures. The bartender, for example, is played by an actor from the pilot episode. They imply uncanny knowledge of what Sam has been doing. Sam gets the idea that the Bartender is really the one who has been directing his leaps - that the Bartender is actually God. Overall, the Bartender tells Sam that he's really been leaping by the force of his own will all these years. He can go home at any time.

Sam doesn't fully believe that , but it gives him the resolve to fix a wrong he himself had committed. Al is well known for his philandering and womanizing through the series - this is in large part because of how his first marriage ended. Al was a POW in Vietnam. And, not knowing that he was still alive, his wife moved on, with tragic emotional consequences for Al when he did finally get home. Sam had already had one opportunity to tell her Al wasn't dead in the series, but chose not to, to protect the timeline - if Al's marriage was saved, he might not have been there to help Sam help all these people....

But now Sam takes another leap, has the opportunity to tell her, and does so. We get the usual leaping effect...

The episode ends not with talk, but with a black title card with white writing, informing us that Al and his wife stay together, and have four daughters. And we are then told that Sam never returned home.

Many people find this ending underwhelming. I find it darned near perfect. like it or not, though, canonically, it was established that Sam never returned home.

There exists a rough-cut alternate ending they were going to use, if the show was given a sixth season, in which instead of that message, we are given Al and his wife Beth, discussing Al going into the Quantum Leap Accelerator himself to bring Sam home.

I agree with you; the finale was as close to perfect as you could get. The lives of the characters don't necessarily end when a series does and there's nothing wrong in acknowledging that.

payn · Sep 23, 2022

Ryujin said:
I agree with you; the finale was as close to perfect as you could get. The lives of the characters don't necessarily end when a series does and there's nothing wrong in acknowledging that.

A lot of folks hate open endings.

Bedrockgames · Sep 23, 2022

Umbran said:
In today's context, though, I would not be surprised if they stepped back from the religious element, because they become problematic if you look at them too closely.

It is possible they might. I don't watch too many current shows so I am not terribly aware of how these things are getting handled presently. Personally I've always been a fan of shows that can do religious themes well (Babylon Five would be another show that really impressed me with how it handled religion). I think it depends on how it's done, how well it serves the show, etc. Whether it is done from a theistic or non-theistic standpoint, I just find it makes for compelling programing for me.