Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Secret History

In this week’s Quantum Leap, Ben has traveled to 1955 to unravel the mystery of nuclear energy before the Nazis get their hands on it.

Ben’s Murder Mystery Tour

When we last saw Ben, he leaped into the body of a colonel who saw his best friend die right in front of him. The last words were Path… Finder. Now you may think that this is about Huey, Lewis, and Duey Duck but this is serious business.

It turns out that the professor who died was murdered by an unknown assailant whose only clear trait was ice-cold blue eyes. There isn’t much to go on and the police officers who ask Ben questions about the murder urge him to stay in town.

The way they question him, it sounds like he is a suspect. But his name is cleared and he has to stay as a witness in case the police find something suspect.

The actual reason Ben is there is a good one: He is there to examine the work of Albert Einstein, Jenn however tells him that Einstein died a month before his arrival. This is too bad because it would have been great to see 2 great minds think alike.

Instead, a secret operation doing research into nuclear fusion knocks on Ben’s door to see if he can figure out Einstein’s work. The only thing Ben has are the words Pathfinder. The best part of this episode is that Hannah is in it since the episode is set at Princeton. And according to Ben, this is the age of important discoveries.

Ben and Hannah quickly reconnect with the help of Jenn, who is Ben’s hologram for the week. Although Hannah has no idea that Ben once leaped into the body of Robert Cooke from the episode Closure Encounters, she feels a deep connection to Ben somehow.

Secret History of Albert Einstein

With the knowledge that Einstein has a secret note and that that could lead to a discovery in the field of nuclear physics both Ben and Hannah go to the apartment of his dead friend.

Among the old photos where it noted that the colonel once saved the passed away man’s life, there aren’t many clues. That is until they find there is a note hidden behind the photo frame. It shows something that looks like a wheel but turns out to be the clock that is set in Princeton Library.

The 2 rush over to the library to find the clock. They can’t find it until Tom, who replaced Jenn, appears to Ben as a hologram.

Ben would have none of it since he views Tom as the man who ruined his relationship with Addison but Tom is persuasive and talks about a secret door inside the library.

Ben manages to solve the riddle by asking for the time. It is 16.30 / 04.30 PM but the clock indicates it is 16.33 / 04.33 PM so Ben sets the clock at 16.30 / 04.30 PM and a hidden door behind the clock opens.

In it is a desk and Einstein’s notes, the 2 take the notes but not before the unknown assailant comes in and tries to kill them 2 and steal the notes.

Since Tom warns Ben right beforehand, the attacker is subdued but during the fight, a midnight lamp falls on the floor and sets the secret room on fire. Good thing, Ben and Hannah saved the notes.

Deciphering Albert Einstein’s notes

The two are enthused about the notes and try to decipher them. It turns out that Einstein wrote them in code and while they have a go, Hannah mentions that she has a photographic memory and that she only has to read something once and she will never forget.

Just as they crack the code, Tom reappears as a hologram and tells Ben to knock it off because the notes are not a discovery for nuclear fusion but a nuclear bomb.

Ben then convinces Hannah to stop the decoding and the 2 get into a heated argument. Instead of trying to convince Hannah the regular way, Ben breaks protocol and tells her who he is: A time traveler who is trying to get home.

He explains that he is a leaper and that he was in the body of Robert Cooke. She tells him that she felt a deep connection from the start and the 2 agree that it would cost many lives, and she burns the important part of the notes.

Just as they want to celebrate their victory, 2 people rush into the room to kidnap them. It turns out that the head of the secret nuclear project, named Donovan, is a Nazi.

See, back in the 1940s, after World War 2, the Americans recruited the top German scientists and offered them jobs while they stayed under US control. But what the USA didn’t notice is that these people hadn’t left behind their Nazi sympathies and they tried to revolt using nuclear weapons.

But Hannah’s quick thinking and Ben’s resourcefulness led them to victory against the Nazis real quickly.

Ben promised Hannah that she would get full credit for her thesis on nuclear physics and she does. Which, in 1955, was a huge deal because no woman would get credit. You can also see it as a comment to show how far the rights of women have gotten in the past 60 / 70 years. Before Ben leaps, Hannah and Ben share a kiss.

Personal thoughts on the episode

The main thing of “Secret History” is of course that Ben broke protocol to prevent Hannah from decoding the formula for the nuclear bomb. He told her his whole deal, that he is from the future and that he is leaping from life to life to change things for the better.

Hannah is not even curious about the future however, the only thing she really wants to know is what his real name is and he replies with Ben…Ben Song.

And that kiss at the end…is Ben already looking for new love after Addison moved on? I get the idea that Ben and Hannah’s feelings for one another are genuine. If you remember the episode “Closure Encounters”, the 2 had great chemistry right from the get-go. This episode expands on that and the 2 share a passionate kiss.

But what does that mean anyway? That Ben is over Addison? It sure looks like another long-distance relationship, except this one is even more torturous because Ben doesn’t control his leaps. If so, then how horrible is that for him? First Addison and now Hannah.

I don’t think that the leap was a coincidence and I also think, that now that Hannah gets full credit for her work she can make a name for herself, and as she stated in the episode: It would open ALL doors!

I still think that my theory is correct and that Hannah will end up in the Quantum Leap program or is the founder of it.

All in all, the episode is one of the best so far this season.

Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode Reviews

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