Quantum Leap

Episode Reviews

Oct. 7, 2023 – S2, Ep1: “This Took Too Long!”

Expecting to teleport home, Ben is surprised to find himself on a military mission in the late 1970s—just before his plane is shot out of the sky.

People argue about whether a crate contains a supernatural device or alien equipment. A man crosses himself. When someone asks if Ben was talking to himself, he lies that he was just praying. “Praying?” The other man says. “I thought you were an atheist!”

A plane is shot out of the sky, resulting in one offscreen death. One man is pinned under the plane’s wheel, and it’s lifted off of him. (Despite a bit of blood, the man is no worse for wear.) Men punch and choke each other. A missile blows up a building.

When one soldier thinks he’s going to die, he admits to being in love with another man, explaining that that’s why the military put him in this new squad.

“H—” is used five times, and “a–” and “p-ss” are both used once. God’s name is used in vain four times.

Feb. 6, 2023 – S1, Ep12: “Let Them Play”

Ben jumps into the body of a high school basketball coach and finds himself in hot water when he allows a transgender athlete to play in the game.

This episode unambiguously tells viewers that transgender people should be allowed to play on whatever team they want. When a couple characters bring up their reservations because they think it’s unfair to the girls on the team, they’re all but told to be quiet, and their concerns are never addressed. Eventually, every character who was against the decision has a change of heart and supports it. We’re told that the desire to “protect girls basketball” is a “threat” to transgender youth. (Ironically, when the transgender child, Gia, does get permission to play with the team, the player dominates all the girls on the other team…which may prove the point of the people who were against such an action.)

Gia says that the transition occurred in the fifth grade. We’re told that one in five transgender children attempt suicide, and the episode tells us that the best way to combat that is utter affirmation (an unproven claim disputed by many studies which can be found through this article). Someone alleges that Gia may have been doping, giving the child an unfair advantage. At the start of the episode, Gia is not allowed to change in the girl’s locker room, but the student (who, at this age, would still have biologically male components) is allowed to change with the girls by the end. We also hear words like “cisgender.”

We’re told that in the original timeline, Gia runs away and dies in the woods, and the reason why they never find the body is because police “misgender” Gia by identifying the student as a boy. The family goes to a transgender support group full of children who identify as transgender and led by a transgender woman. One parent says that he doesn’t see the harm in transgender expression. “But I do see the harm in trying to block it,” he says. Allison references a transgender ban in the military that she feels bad about not speaking up against. We also meet a transgender poet.

People hold up signs in support of and against Gia. One sign says “God created male and female,” and plenty of supporters wave LGBT flags. When a woman is criticized for her church’s support of transgender youth, the parent appeals to scripture, citing a passage about Jesus desiring children to hear the gospel as well as one about loving your neighbor.

Girls talk in a locker room; all are clothed. The team volunteers at a school car wash fundraiser, where girls (and Gia) are seen in crop tops or bikini tops, and boys are seen shirtless. Women wear shirts that reveal cleavage.

A boy throws eggs at Gia, and Gia throws a squeegee at the boy, cracking a car window. We hear a reference to other times Gia has been harassed.

“A–” is used once. We also couple uses of “d–n.”

Oct. 31, 2022 – S1, Ep7: “O Ye of Little Faith”

Ben jumps into the body of a Catholic priest in the 1930s just as he’s about to perform an exorcism.

The situation is awkward for Ben, since he’s not religious and doesn’t believe in demons, exorcism or possession. However, Allison points out a flaw in Ben’s logic.

“Ben, you are literally possessing that guy’s body right now,” she says.

The subject in question is an 18-year-old girl with a face covered in scratches who, because of the “demon” inside of her, is tied to the bed. In the original timeline, we’re told that the priest was unable to successfully remove the demon, and the girl died as a result. It should be noted that the girl is a Christian. She and the demon, who we can distinguish by when her voice drops in pitch, verbally spar by citing various passages out of Revelation. Likewise, we see the girl’s body lift off her bed, and we see the demon: a smoky figure with a creepy face.

Allison guides Ben through the “three steps to exorcise a demon,” which include bringing forth the demon through a Latin incantation which invokes the name of Christ; doing battle with the demon (whatever that means); and the demon leaving. When Ben tries this, Allison’s connection with him is severed, leading others to wonder if something supernatural really is going on. “Sam Beckett believed that God was guiding the Quantum Accelerator,” one person says.

The family members blame each other for the demon’s presence, bringing up past sins that they think may have caused it, and Ben tells the family to say a few “Hail Mary’s.” As for the girl, she alleges that her father believes that God turned His back on the family when they stopped going to church. But she believes God “sent an angel to help Joan (of Arc) win her battle, and God sent [Ben] to help me.”

Ben pulls a crucifix out to protect himself from the demon when it emerges from the girl. After Ben steps into the building, the last number in its 669 address flips so that it reads “666.” A doctor is frustrated with the family since they’ve been depriving the girl medical treatment due to their religious beliefs, and he says that Ben, as the Catholic priest, is a part of the problem. It’s revealed that a Jewish maid has hidden a rotting fish below the girl’s bed, as Jewish tradition dictates that fish protect from evil spirits like a “dybbuk.” Someone references making a vision board, since “if you believe in something, it helps make it true.” And they use quantum physics to support their point.

Eventually, Ben realizes that there is no demon at all; it is instead the result of a powerful drug that causes hallucinations, among other things. He, along with the girl, have been drugged. One such hallucination helps Ben realize who has been drugging the girl and why. Following this, he hatches a plan to catch the man by pretending that the girl has died. With a blanket covering her body, he prays over her “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

It is at this point where Ben takes it further. “Do you hear that? The Holy Spirit! It brings us a message. It says the demon is still here,” he lies. He has the girl then sit up and point at her would-be killer, since the “demon” apparently wants justice for whoever killed the girl. Following the killer’s confession, a person asks for forgiveness, and Ben responds by saying that he doesn’t have the authority to do so. However, the girl forgives the person, since it’s “just what I believe in.”

But even though the girl was apparently not possessed, there are unexplained elements of supernatural happenings. For instance, the girl’s “demon” (which she apparently gives a gravely voice just for show, since it’s not real?) makes a reference that indicates its knowledge that Ben is a time traveler. The girl is somehow able to physically snap out of her restraints. The girl also tells Ben that she believed him to be an angel because when she looked at him, she didn’t see the Catholic priest’s face, but his.

A woman wonders if the demon is her fault since she got pregnant out of wedlock. Someone makes a passing reference to sex. Ben kisses a woman while hallucinating.

Ben sees a hallucination of a woman bleeding from her eyes. A woman is found dead on top of an armoire following an intense unseen struggle. Ben is attacked and knocked out by the “demon.” People drink alcohol.

God’s name is used in vain five times.

Sept. 19, 2022–S1, Ep1: “July 13th, 1985”

Physicist Ben Song gets thrown into the past through the Quantum Leap Accelerator, and his friends and fiance attempt to bring him back. 

Ben attempts to stop a robbery but is punched, threatened at gunpoint and told that he will be killed. Ben stops an explosive from killing hundreds of innocent bystanders. 

Ben and Addison kiss one another multiple times and talk about sneaking off to do more. A few women sport cleavage-baring dresses. A trans character makes a joke dismissing monogamy. 

Men and women consume hard liquor and champagne. A man jokes about taking a “mushroom trip.” God’s name is misused twice. Other profanity includes a few utterances each of “h—” and “a–es.”