It’s the Quantum Leap season 1 finale and you could call it Judgment Day, which is also the title of this week’s episode.
Will we find out what Janis Calavicci’s role was? Why is Ben in the future? Read on and you will see!
Judgment Day: A Quantum Leap season finale
The last time we saw Ben, he was in the future in a Nuclear Winter to talk to Ian. Ian is the last surviving member of Team Quantum Leap. And he has waited years for Ben and he has also worked on a code to be inserted into Ziggy to defeat Leaper X.
The Quantum Accelerator however doesn’t like it when you travel to the future and tries its hardest to pull Ben back to the past. Before he leaps, Ben gets the message from Ian to work together and Ben memorizes the mathematics Ian has worked on while waiting for Ben. Just when Ian wants to tell him what the code is for Ben is pulled back to the past.
The Quantum Accelerator has pulled Ben back to 2018. It is the day when Ben and Addison go on their first date. And there are some differences or rather this part of the episode acts like a prelude to the events that occurred during season 1.
For example, the role of Janis Calavicci was to have Ben jump to this exact moment. It was the time when the Quantum Leap project was about to start. Addison was supposed to be the leaper and not Ben.
Addison received training for it and she was going to see what happens during the leaping. I have to say that I enjoyed the mention of Admiral Al Calavicci. Magic was going to butter him up using contraband Cuban cigars. Highly illegal, but if you are buttering up someone then you might as well go all out, am I right?
When Ben and Addison stare each in the eyes, Team Quantum Leap quickly notices that there is more going on between the two of them than just friends. They are dressed as if they are going on a date right after work. And the team is happy for them. I guess Judgment Day is superfluous when you consider that 2 people falling in love is the best moment. But of course, it is not.
With Ben back in 2018, he has to be very careful to not upset anything too much or there will be a paradox. And the worst-case scenario, Ben and Addison never fall in love. Which is kind of the backbone of the entire show.
Leaper X is Judgment Day
The explanation of Team Leaper X is that it is a government-controlled project. When they found out that Quantum Leaping means that you can alter time, they wanted to control time. They recruited Leaper X and tried to alter the events and put people in power who would have otherwise led a completely different life.
But this time Leaper X is on a mission. He is not just trying to disrupt the future couple’s first date. He is actively trying to neutralize the entire team. Is this Judgment Day happening?
Ben takes Past Addison back to the Quantum Leap headquarters. He tries to explain that he is a Quantum Leaper but Past Addison doesn’t believe him, in fact, she thinks Ben is nuts. Especially when he tries to talk to Hologram Addison because she is invisible to a non-Quantum Leaper.
The heat is on and Past Addison shoots Ben in his arm to incapacitate him. After that, Ben is put in a holding cell.
Ben also fails to convince the team of his identity by answering simple personal questions. Even when he explains his memory loss as a side effect of Quantum Leaping. Ben quickly finds out that Leaper X has taken over Magic’s body and tries to kill Ben and the rest of the team that way.
However Future Magic uses the holo-comm to contact Ben in his cell. He has a chat with Ben about how having a weakness for someone isn’t a bad thing at all. After all, Magic has tried to get Sam Beckett home for ages. Magic ends the chat with a message from Future Jenn who tells Ben to write Turtle Time on the wall.
Leaper X talks to Ben in the holding cell and Ben manages to steal a pen of his. Ben writes Turtle Time in his cell and hopes that past Jenn sees it. And she does and she rushes down to talk to Ben.
Ben explains that only she would understand that reference. It is a reference to Real Housewives and Jenn being a closet fan is now outed to at least Ian.
It is also the part where Leaper X reveals his evil plan. He wants to destroy the Quantum Accelerator as well as the rest of Team Quantum Leap. Talk about a planned Judgment Day!
The best is yet to come!
Leaper X versus Ben: A fight to behold!
Ben and Leaper X are fighting in the Quantum Accelerator Room and then Ben is transported. He ends up in 1954, back in the mental asylum. He is followed by Leaper X and the 2 start a fistfight. Leaper X almost kills Ben who is then transported to the USS Montana.
Ben tries to get the other crew members to apprehend Leaper X aboard the USS Montana. However, they are taken down with great ease by Leaper X, who is a trained marine.
Ben tries to use his past boxing experience and he manages to get a punch into the face of Leaper X. But it is not enough. Just when Leaper X is about to kill Ben, he has transported again.
He’s now back in the late 1800s and only Leaper X has a gun. Sherrif Ben doesn’t have one. They fight again but Ben again can’t win, Leaper X is too well-trained.
With Ben on the ground and Leaper X holding the gun, he starts ranting about everything. But when he tries to pull the trigger, Leaper X is shot by Frankie, the owner of the saloon from episode 5. With Leaper X gone, Ben can now safely leap anywhere he wants to go.
Past Ian finally figures out what the code is for. The code is used like a cheat code. But when he enters the code, it gives an error. So Addison and Ian try to come up with a solution.
Then they remember Future Ian’s words that they need to work together but how would they contact Future Ian and past Ian? And have them all work together? Addison goes: Quantum Entanglement is when 2 particles have a shared experience.
And Ian figures out that Past Ian, Present Ian, and Future Ian are all shared. Realizing that Team Ian enters the code and it brings back Ben to the start of the day. Except, with Leaper X dead he can’t disrupt anything anymore.
Instead of waiting for the date, Ben kisses Addison in front of the entire crew to start off his day. That’s changed now and I guess, Ben realized what he could lose, he just wanted to secure his future life.
The last scene is that of the Quantum Accelerator bringing home something or someone. Whether or not it is Ben, we will have to see. Judgment Day was a worthy finale.
What I liked about the episode
I liked Judgment Day for several reasons. We finally figure out the reason why Janis Calavicci helped Ben to leap in the first place. We know what happens in the future. Leaper X ran all the scripts and there is always one of Team Quantum Leap who survives in the future.
Of course, Ben and Addison going on their first date. We have been teased with that all season and now we saw it happen for real.
Other stuff I liked was Jenn being a closet Real Housewives fan and of course the mention of Al Calavicci.
Past Ian, Present Ian, and Future Ian. We need more Quantum entanglements!
What I didn’t like about the episode
The episode has some hardcore science fiction writing, like the code of Ian and the Quantum Entanglement. Realizing that they are all connected was a bit weird. But as a concept, it is interesting and I hope they will delve more into that.
In quantum physics, we all exist at the same time at the same moment. And Quantum Leap is the perfect show to make it interesting.
The mention of a branch within the government that tries to control time, why haven’t we seen any of that throughout the season? Or is it to set up the second season?
I also didn’t like Leaper X much. His character wasn’t really fleshed out over the season. The focus was everywhere but this character. That he is the one trying to take down Team Quantum Leap was predictable.
My hunch is that there are more Leaper Xs. The writing room is going to have a hard time finding new names for them. Leaper Y, Leaper Z, and so forth.
Too bad we will never really get to know what his motivations were, how he was recruited, and why him. I guess, it is something to do with soldiers following orders and not questioning them.
