Quantum Leap

[Cutter De Blanc]

Why the f*ck did I not know about this until just today!? This was one of my favorite shows ever growing up, the new series is apparently a continuation of the old one and dude is looking for Sam Beckett

 

 

Hope Scott Bakula is in it at some point

[your best pal]

looks nice and all, but it ain't got THAT vibe I'm afraid. indeed a classic!

 

[Cutter De Blanc]

6 hours ago, your best pal said:

looks nice and all, but it ain't got THAT vibe I'm afraid. indeed a classic!

 

Donald Bellisario is one of the producers, so I am at least hopeful it will be halfway decent 

 

The original series was amazing though and had a hell of an ending, it will be hard to top for sure

Edited September 14 by Cutter De Blanc

[DexMacLeod]

Yeah, I'm trying to keep my expectations low but I'm pretty hopeful for this show. 

 

Apparently, Scott Bakula was written into the Pilot but he turned them down and says he's not involved with the show in any way. I assume that means he's not likely to appear in at least the first season, if ever.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Well the first episode was pretty good, charming in it's own way. Definitely not the same though. Ben is definitely no Sam Beckett, that's for sure. I thought I'd be annoyed by the scenes at Quantum Leap HQ but they were interesting too. Doesn't hurt that Ernie Hudson is the boss of the project, I like that guy in everything I've seen him in. We'll see how this goes, next episode is on a spaceship

Edited September 21 by Cutter De Blanc

[DexMacLeod]

For me, I liked all of the traditional Quantum Leap stuff. Ben stuck in the past trying to solve a mystery so he can get home was all pretty solid. They even added a fair bit of mystery to it all that made the main character considerably more interesting than he otherwise would have been and lends itself to a more serialized approach to the classic formula. That half was all good and I hope that's where they focus their attention.

 

The other portion of the episode was just a generic procedural with a team of people in a poorly lit office spouting science-fiction nonsense and over explaining the real plot. 

[Cutter De Blanc]

I didn't really like this second episode very much, the 2022 parts were just really annoying with terrible expository writing and I didn't care what was going on.

 

On the other hand, I like Ben and find him to be the most interesting character on the show. Addison however is as flat as a peice of wood. The woman they cast as her just really can't act very well.

 

I really hope they find their footing and spend a lot less time in the present day going forward. The old school Quantum Leap stuff is so much more interesting than the procedural drama crap they've got going on

Edited September 28 by Cutter De Blanc

[Cutter De Blanc]

The newest episode had a lot more focus on Ben in the past. I just really don't like the actress who plays Addison,  or the character for that matter, very flat, very wooden. No personality. I like the character of Janice a whole lot more, I hope they do more with her. I'm still rolling my eyes everytime they cut to the scenes in the present though and the characters stand around talking about their feelings. Ernie Hudson is just kind of a stick in the mud at this point.

[DexMacLeod]

I fell behind a bit and just finished episode 3. I'm conflicted about the 2022 stuff. On one hand, I really dislike the team. They're all just sort of empty shells defined more by their function on the team than any real personal traits or, you know, characteristics. On the other hand I really don't want them to spend time fleshing any of these people out because that just means less time with Ben in the past. On the other other hand I really like the whole mystery behind why Ben started leaping in the first place to the point I think that's the primary reason I'm still watching.

 

In the end, I think I'm fine with the 2022 stuff so long as it keeps its focus on the Ben mystery. They've kind of established that the mystery is going to be resolved before the season's over so I'm pretty curious to see what they do beyond that. I'm also curious as to when they solve that mystery now that NBC's ordered more episodes.

 

EDIT: I'm watching episode 4 now and I totally take back what I said about the team's backstories. If they can all find a way to be as good and connected as Ernie Hudson's I'm down for more of them.

Edited October 12 by DexMacLeod

[Cutter De Blanc]

I think this newest episode was the best one so far, and only had like two or three scenes in the present day. I still really don't like Addison though, she's just kind of there being bland and insipid. Ben's love for her is the most interesting part about the character and that's more to do with Ben than her. She's very one note. Her chemistry on screen with the other characters is very stiff and not believable, especially with the Asian woman. I like the Ian character, his charisma is growing on me and Ernie Hudson's character got fleshed out a bit more this episode and he's not being such a stodgy old fuddy duddy boss. Interesting to find that the whole project and wanting to get Sam back was motivated by him as much as anything. 

The adventure in the past was fun but they keep going all high-stakes with the woman he's trying to catch being some sort of badass cartel leader, and I remember in the original series Sam had a lot of more quiet adventures where he's just trying to help out regular folks do regular things, and I miss that. It's like the writers think we're stupid and we need to see a lot of action and gunfire or we're going to lose interest. I liked Ben's B-plot where he's trying to set up Eva and Jake because he believes in love. That part was very sweet and very old school Quantum Leap. The next episode seems to be set in the old west so I'm sure there's gonna be more high stakes action and shootouts, but it might be fairly interesting to see their take on that era.

Edited October 12 by Cutter De Blanc

[Cutter De Blanc]

The old west adventure was kinda cheesy and predictable but still fun. Another high stakes adventure where Ben ends up saving an entire town from a legendary outlaw though. Addison also once again not being able to act, taking me out of some of the scenes. Why was she sitting in a chair with Ben at the table at the Saloon, isn't she supposed to be a hologram? The exposition parts in 2022 seemed rather heavy handed this episode, some fabricated drama so that the 2022 team had something to do. It also has to be said that the woman who plays the security chick was just so cringey in her scene with the senator lady,  awful terrible acting/writing. I was intrigued by the plot twist at the end of the episode though. Who was that guy? Maybe one of the Evil Leapers? Don't like not knowing where Ben is going next week, I read the next episode was originally written as the pilot though. 

Edited October 19 by Cutter De Blanc

[Cutter De Blanc]

I didn't really like the latest episode very much. 

 

Also I think my problem with the woman who plays Addison is, like, she doesn't act unless she's directed to, like one of the other characters will be saying their lines and she'll just stand there with a blank expression on her face not reacting to the words that are coming out of their mouths at all as though she's just waiting to say her line of dialogue. 

 

Contrast her with the woman who plays Jen who seems to overact and constantly chews the scenery in every scene she's in

Edited yesterday at 12:48 AM by Cutter De Blanc