Quantum Leap episode 14 “SOS” deals with a marine ship in trouble. Ben has Quantum Leaped into an Ops officer and is trying to prevent a dishonorable discharge by none other than Addison’s father.
Addison gets closure in SOS
With only 4 episodes left to go, it is like the show is giving the two main characters, Ben and Addison, closure. Of course, we also saw Ian last week, but that was more to set up his character as a future leaper.
Last week, Ben was given closure over the loss of his mother and the powerlessness that came with it. He found consolation and his unresolved issues are gone. It makes Ben more serene in his acting. I wonder where it would lead to.
This week it is Addison’s turn for closure when Ben leaps into the Ops officer who is on deck alongside Addison’s father, Alexander Augustine, played by none other than Brandon Routh. A brilliant casting might I add.
USS Montana’s SOS
When Ben leaps into an adventure of the USS Montana, the ship just sent out an SOS. They think they are under attack by the Chinese and send out an SOS.
When Addison arrives to assist Ben on his leap she hears a very familiar speech. It’s the same speech she’s heard her entire life from her father and she runs to the control room to see who it is who’s using the same words. She finds Captain Drake motivating his crew. And next to Drake is her dad, Alexander Augustine. But he’s not the man Addison remembers. Alexander Augustine has a warm personality with a heart for the navy cause. And for years Alexander blamed himself for the lives lost on the USS Montana.
It’s not actually the Chinese navy that attacks the USS Montana but mines that are laid around that area. Plus the mines are made of a new sort of metal that is hard to detect by the scanners of that area. But with the help of Ian and Team Quantum Leap, they manage to get the scanners fixed and able to navigate through the minefield.
At the end of the episode, we see our Quantum Reaper who was on the USS Montana and followed the entire SOS from a distance while in a different body. Ben asked questions but Ramirez leaped away before he could even get substantial answers.
I have to say that I am quite surprised to see the Quantum Reaper. The plotline so far of the Quantum Reapers hasn’t gotten much screen time yet. Except for a few teases here and there, we don’t know anything at all about them. And with only 4 episodes left this season, I doubt that we will see much more of them until the second season.
Addison’s father was the hero of USS Montana’s SOS
Meanwhile, Addison, is wondering who her dad was before she grew up with him. In her memory he treated her badly, often giving her the cold shoulder. The opposite is true, however. Her dad is wondering what angel entrusted her with a guy like him. This completely changes Addison’s perspective on her father.
On top of that, the official files of the incident that night noted that her dad did nothing and it was all his fault but the opposite is true of that as well. Her father did everything to prevent an all-out war by looking for peaceful solutions. It was Captain Drake who waged a war and came close if her dad hadn’t intervened.
Addison’s view of her dad is a bit screwed but his actions on the USS Montana, with the help of Ben of course, have changed all that.
This storyline of SOS was very necessary for the show. Addison as a character has barely evolved since the start. All we know is that she is part of Team Quantum Leap, she was a former soldier and she was engaged to Ben.
At this point, I would say that Addison was merely a damsel-in-distress instead of a 2D character. She should be a 3D character instead, with the amount of screen time she gets.
Also, it makes sense that Addison would also have some closure on the issues she had with her father. It seems to me that the show is slowly moving to a climax with Ben using his momentum, as speculated by Janis Calavicci in several episodes, to make one giant leap. Of course, we still have no idea where the ultimate leap heads.
And the show hasn’t hinted anything as to where Ben is heading to. But it seems to me that you need some serenity and you can’t do that when you hold grudges.
The Quantum Reapers are not forgotten
The Quantum Reapers make an appearance in the SOS episode. But they let Ben do his thing rather than frustrate him. When Ben asks why it is implied that the Reaper knows but Ben doesn’t.
This makes me wonder what kind of Quantum computer the Quantum Reapers are using. Is it that advanced that you can leap using knowledge of where they go to? If so then they have a lot more control than the Quantum Leap project has ever had. Not even Sam Beckett could predict where he was going for the next leap.
The question remains: What organization is behind the Quantum Reapers? Who funds it? And most of all: what are their motivations?
As I said before, the show has only focussed on establishing Ben’s character mostly. His motivations, his analytical capabilities, his empathy, and so forth. We have barely seen character development of Team Quantum Leap, bar Ian who has gone through the most in the past couple of episodes. And we have watched Magic contact his higher-ups in Washington in the previous episodes and in this episode, the Chinese.
If they are going to make characters redundant then I would say Jennifer would be top of my list since nothing is being done with that character anyway.
What did you think of this episode? Liked it? Loved it? Leave a line in the comments.
