Quantum Leap (2022)
Season 2, Episode 10:
The Family Treasure
Written by Shakina
Directed by Jude Weng
Original air date: 2/6/2024
1953
Ben leaps into Nadia, one of three siblings who have just lost their father. The episode begins with a will reading. The siblings complain that their dad has nothing of value, as he wasted all his money on fruitless treasure hunting. The dad’s will has bequeathed them gifts that appear to be little knick-knacks, but actually contain pieces of a Treasure Map. They put their pieces together, and decide to go on a treasure hunt.
Meanwhile, Addison and Tom discuss their future and the possibility of marriage.
Tropes:
- Aesop: Talk openly and honestly with your loved ones. Accept yourself and your family members as they truly are.
- Amoral Attorney: The siblings' late father's lawyer covertly sent them out on the treasure hunt so that he could steal it once they located it.
- Gender Reveal: The episode starts with a character stating their name is Dean, not Dina. Eventually that character states that they don’t really feel like a man or a woman. They also reveal their chest-binder. Ben talks about his friend being non-binary. The siblings accept this terminology.
- Historical In-Joke: Apparently Ben invented the term "non-binary" early by telling Dean about it.
- It's the Journey That Counts: The siblings' father set up the treasure hunt for the three of them specifically for this reason, as the hidden treasure turns out to be a note lamenting his absence from home and telling them that "the real treasure is at home, with family". Though that also turns out to be the last clue to where the actual treasure was really hidden.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: The entire episode revolves around three siblings finding a lost treasure in Mexico, using their father’s Treasure Map.
- Worthless Treasure Twist: Ben, Dean and Sarah find the supposedly lost treasure but it turns out to just be a note from their father lamenting his absences from home and reminding them that the "real treasure is at home, with family". Then subverted later when Ben realizes that the note was the final clue: their father had already found the treasure before his death and hid it at home behind a family portrait.
- Write Back to the Future: As he was unable to inform Hannah of Josh's impending demise from a heart condition before leaping in the previous episode, Ben opts to write a letter to be sent to her before it can happen, leaving it in Sarah's care with instructions to mail it after Hannah marries but before Josh dies.
