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Next: Quantum Leap 2022 S 2 E 4 The Lonely Hearts Club
Quantum Leap (2022)
Season 2, Episode 3:
Closure Encounters
Written by Romy Loor
Directed by Chris Grismer
Original air date: 10/18/2023
August 16, 1949
Ben leaps into Robert Cook, a government agent with Project Sign
. He's there to investigate a UFO incident in New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Ben and Addison hash out their new working relationship now that Ben is three years out of sync with the project and Addison is eight months into a romantic relationship with Tom.
Tropes:
- Anger Born of Worry: Addison begs Ben not to go through with his plan to investigate the installation on Hunt's land, yelling that she already buried him once. Ben immediately calls her out for giving up on him after only two years.
- Been There, Shaped History: Possibly; Ben tells General Murray that he should set up his secret aircraft testing facility at an abandoned airfield near Groom Lake, Nevada called Area 51.
- Being Good Sucks: Ben is not happy that he spent the entire first season working to save Addison, only to get uncontrollably stuck as a leaper with everyone else in his life moving on. During his rant to Addison, Ben says that he has to spend the rest of his life dealing with the fallout of the Time Skip, adding, "Whatever kind of life this is."
- Black Site: Hunt is leasing his land to the military, who have a secret aircraft testing installation set up.
- Call-Back: When the Imaging Chamber's connection with Ben is cut off, Addison storms out and asks if it's Janis again, like "O Ye of Little Faith." It's not.
- Captain Obvious: Lampshaded by Sheriff Morgan, who points out that Ben is just stating obvious things.
- If Jesus, Then Aliens: Discussed. Magic says that being a former Sam Beckett leapee has opened him up to the possibility of things like other life in the universe.
- Impeded Communication: The Imaging Chamber's connection to Ben is cut off. However, unlike the earlier incident with Janis, the jamming comes from Ben's side of the connection.
- Internal Homage: To "Star Light, Star Bright," in that there's an undercurrent of UFO investigations with a grandfather/grandchild element. The town is even called Starlight!
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Hannah the waitress gushes to Ben about how exciting it would be to explain 1940s technology to people in the past, and Ben nods that he knows what it's like.
- One Dose Fits All: Averted. Melanie Hunt is in a coma because the military gave her the same tranquilizer dose as they went on to use on Ben/Robert Cook.
- Put on a Bus: Ian mentions that Janis now works for the NSA in Hawaii.
- Rage Breaking Point: Granted, Ben had just injected himself with adrenaline and was feeling things very powerfully, but he doesn't take kindly to Addison saying that she already buried him once.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Russell Hunt owns most of the county and sends goons to follow and intimidate Ben and Sheriff Morgan. The sheriff warns Ben that Hunt will have Ben killed if Ben proves Carrie innocent for Melanie's injury, and Hunt later has the sheriff suspended.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: "I Only Have Eyes for You" plays on the radio during the road trip to New Mexico while Ben and Addison have an uncomfortable conversation about the state of things.
- That Man Is Dead: Downplayed. When Addison points out that Ben has gotten reckless and isn't being himself, Ben says that he doesn't think they can get that man back now that things have changed without him, and that saving Carrie and Sheriff Morgan is the only thing keeping him going.
- Time Travel for Fun and Profit: At the end, Ben recognizes Hannah's interest in physics, and gives her the name of a physics professor at Princeton who is starting a program for women so that she can build herself a better life.
- Too Annoyed to Be Afraid: Played almost to the point of deconstruction. Ben keeps acting unusually reckless throughout the leap as he's bitterly coping with the ramifications of the Time Skip at the Project, and shows next to no fear when he confronts Hunt's goons or storms the Black Site.
- Tranquil Fury: Ben calmly expresses his bitterness over being screwed over by the Time Skip by telling Sheriff Morgan that he recently lost his fiancee, adding that it's nobody's fault but perhaps his own, and calmly explaining that the lack of a bad guy in the situation really makes him angry.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After Addison begs Ben not to go investigating the Black Site, saying that she already buried him once, Ben calls her out for it.Ben: No one made you do that! No one made you bury me after two years, but you did! And now, I have to live with whatever that means for the rest of my life! Whatever kind of life this is. Now, I'm doing this. And if you aren't with me as my hologram, this will not work. So, please, don't give up on me. Again.
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: Discussed. Addison tells Ben that he's not the same Ben he was three years ago. Ben bitterly reminds her that it's only been three days from his point of view.
