Quantum Leap episode 10 is filled with bombshell reveals by Janis Calavicci about the Quantum Leap project!
Last week’s episode 9 of Quantum Leap involved the apprehension of Janice Calavicci. This week, she actually spills minor details about the workings of Quantum Leap.
This week’s episode deviates from the other episodes in several ways. First of all, Ben isn’t helping just 1 person but 3. Also, Ben isn’t the main story. Yes, as always he helps those around him during the leap but the real story is more about the interrogation of Janis Calavicci.
Ben Song is a female doctor
Ben leaps into the body of a young doctor named Alex Tomlinson who is doing her residency at a local hospital in Seattle in 1994. She’s talented but rash. But she is also very factual.
When one of the senior members, doctor Harper, wants to use medication that has devastating results for people with an underlying condition, Ben calls him out for it.
Both Ben and his mentor, Dr. Sandra Turk, risk their careers when they change the chart with the recommendation of the dangerous medicine to the medication that is safer. And Doctor Harper calls them out for it and tells them that they are going to have a long conversation after the emergency surgery because a train accident has just happened in Seattle and wounded people are coming in by the dozen.
Instead of listening, Doctor Harper replies with arrogance saying that he’s the doctor and Ben’s just there for his residency. Of course, the whole reason is sophistry. Just because you are the senior, doesn’t mean you are correct. You could at least take a look at the charts and check if the patient has an underlying condition before you start surgery. This man surely fails his Hippocratic oath.
After doing a background check, it is revealed that the hospital has just signed a lucrative contract to use the bad medication and is willing to ignore the deadly side effects. It’s all about the money then and the hospital is taking a big risk because if this news leaks then they could be sued for malpractice.
Which is what Ben is trying to prevent at the risk of Alex’s career. Because when Ben leaps she gets back into her body and potentially deals with all the damage Ben has caused if he fails.
Out of the three storylines of this week, this is the most exciting one. This entire plot deals with the politics within a hospital, the arrogance of a doctor, and fighting for what’s right instead of letting it go. It shows that Ben has the determination and persuasive power to convince people to do the right thing, it shows how charismatic Ben can be when the stakes are incredibly high.
The stakes are high because if the hospital continues to use the bad medication, it means that many more people could die because the medication can’t be used when people have underlying conditions. Which could also lead to, as said before, the hospital getting sued for malpractice.
The other interesting thing about this plotline is the fact that the hospital just closed off the contract and used the words FDA approval, which means official approval from the board of medicine in the USA, to back their decision to use the medication. And the manufacturer paid the hospital big bucks to use it. And there is a parallel here with real life, where hospitals would just use bad medication and get sued for malpractice.
It also shows the mess the US healthcare system really is.
Father and daughter reconciliation
The 2nd storyline in this week’s Quantum Leap is about Ben trying to get his mentor back together with her dad, Eli Jackson. Doctor Turk reveals in a conversation that she became a doctor to help people after she watched her father defend criminals egregiously.
She decided that she wouldn’t turn into her father and instead shows empathy by helping those in need. Like a doctor should!
Eli has been diagnosed with cancer but Ben keeps that a secret. Until he can’t anymore and asks her to reconcile with Eli. She refuses at first referring to the conversation she had earlier with Ben. But when Ben tells her how bad it is and that he may only have little time left on this earth unless she convinces him to visit the oncology department. And even if the visit to the oncology is successful, he may only have 14 to 16 months. But that’s better than a few weeks, I suppose.
She manages to have Eli visit the oncology department. This is a tough moment. Her father is at peace with his incoming death. His only regret is that he messed up his relationship with his daughter. Which is where Dr. Turk comes in. She wants to reconcile and she wants to enjoy the company of her father a little while longer.
I guess the advantage of being a doctor and having access to diagnoses and stuff makes it easy to explain to your father what happens if he does go to oncology.
The best part of the reconciliation is that her father wanted to help her with the contract that was signed by the hospital. He really wanted to atone for what he did in the past. This means that Sandra gets her wish and finally reunites with her Eli.
Hearts filled with love touches the core of Quantum Leap
The third storyline of this week in Quantum Leap deals with more of the fallout of the train accident. An old Asian man, by the name of Louis Tann, is brought in and he has a piece of the train stuck in his skull.
Louis’s wife is in the hospital and she is declared brain dead. But Louis holds out hope that she will one day wake up and so he visits her as often as he can and hopes for a sign of life. Sadly, that day will never come.
The third storyline was emotional. It deals with pre-grief, you are letting go before it happens rather than afterward except he keeps postponing that moment, and thus his life is passing by rather than living it. Except Louis never lets go of his wife. Until he meets Ben of course who convinces him to do so and asks him if his wife can be the donor of someone in need.
Her heart was given to someone and so Louis’s wife lives on while Louis gets to pick up his life once more.
And this is exactly what I mean by Quantum Leap being about human interest stories rather than being a full action-packed show. Of course, there is action but, in my opinion, there needn’t be a seasonal arc with an enemy at the end. Or even worse spread over multiple seasons.
The Quantum Leap project entails so much more
This week’s episode has the Janis Calavicci interrogation full stop. She’s interviewed by Magic and Jennifer. And every time she slips up a little. We find out that the Quantum Leaps go through a certain pattern. And that there are more Quantum Leapers or Reapers as the fans call them. We know at least one of them who was in episode 5 of Quantum Leap and muttered the words:
“You made a serious miscalculation coming here, Ben,” the stranger spat. “I know everything about you, Dr. Ben Song from the year 2022. I know what you’re doing, but if you value your life, you need to stop following me. Do you understand?”
What Janis tells you is that you can’t trust anyone. Not the ones you leap into. Not the ones you talk to through hologram because whatever you say, the others, she doesn’t make clear who will hear it too. The only way to keep things a secret is to never tell anyone.
I have to say that the moment Calavicci says that there are patterns to leaps, I fell of my chair. All this time? Would they include Sam Beckett’s leaps as well? I mean Magic is one of the people who was taken over by Beckett. Does he play a key role, I mean at a different level than just running Team Quantum Leap? Like a higher purpose, not divine, but just below that.
And what of the Reapers? It begs the question of who else has access to Quantum Leap technology and what are their intents and purposes. The very thought of having a seasonal arc that involves an enema is very appealing BUT at the same time, it doesn’t.
Yes, it is appealing because the story of the show will work towards a common goal that will need both Team Quantum Leap and Ben Song and Janis Calavicci to work together.
And no, because it takes away the charm of what the original show was. Which was a science fiction show that relied heavily on human interest stories. Stories about making sure you make the right choice so you get to live and tell your grandkids about the time that a stranger performed a random act of kindness by helping you doing the right thing. Which in the original show could be anything.
It ranged from getting married to one another. Making sure you don’t take that plane because it crashed. Or dealing with deep grief and meeting the right person to help you work through it. Which is why I fell in love with Quantum Leap in the first place.
I am not sure if adding more action to the show is the right thing to do here. I understand the need for innovation but having a seasonal arc fighting an enemy feels a bit dogmatic since it has all been done before.
I am hoping for more reveals at the hand of Janis Calavicci. And I am hoping that the enemy will show themselves sooner rather than later.
This week’s episode was really good in terms of story. Ben’s part were ok this week. But the Quantum Leap interrogation was wow. So many bombshells that laid out a path for season 1b.
