Brief Story Line
Story was set around thirty years after the Quantum Leap project where Dr. Sam Beckett, the person who went into the Quantum Accelerator back then, never returned home and a new team led by Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee - Kevin Can F**k Himself TV series etc) tried to revive this project. One night, despite the machine did not seem to be ready yet, Ben somehow went into the accelerator and leapt into someone else's body just like Sam did in the past.
Now, Addison (Caitlin Basset) who was also Ben's fiancée had to assist Ben by becoming the observer and appeared as a hologram during these leaps until he could return home. The team also consisted of the AI chief engineer Dr. Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park - The Sandman TV series etc), the chief of security Jen Chou (Nanrisa Lee) and the head of the project, Admiral Williams nicknamed Magic (Ernie Hudson - L. A's Finest TV series, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle etc).
So why did Ben went to the accelerator in the first place and what would happen to him and the team? You can find out in the first season of this series.
End of Brief Story Line
As I said above, I had my doubts when watching this series since I was fond of the original and frankly Scott Bakula and the late Dean Stockwell really nailed it portraying the roles of Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci respectively. So it was a really good thing that this new series did not try to replace both of them but instead continue after the events from the ending of the original. Sadly I never got the chance to watch the finale back in 1993, not sure if it was because it never aired on our local TV or I missed out completely. Anyway, because the story was set after that event and this new team really honoring the original cast, there was no reason for me to do a deep comparison & I could enjoy the series better.
The pilot episode was pretty standard with the introduction of the people and familiarizing with the characters in the series, as well as getting used to seeing Dr. Ben Song leaping to another person and trying his best to help the character so he could leap forward. After 2 or 3 episodes, I remember again why I liked the original series a lot, because of the odd condition Ben jumped into and how he had to adapt with the new environment and people surrounding him. What surprised me though was episode 4 and 5 where they both had scenes that blew my mind and made me look at the series with better appreciation. Subsequently, it felt more livelier and there was a bit of intensity as well.
This first season only consisted of 8 episodes where each would lead to a new "case" (if you want to call it that way) for Ben and team to solve so he could leap again and get him closer to home. My most favorite episode would definitely be the 7th titled "O Ye of Little Faith" which managed to combine element of mystery and horror. I also liked episode 6 titled "What a Disaster!" which was pretty emotional and also the finale. It has an ending that made me look forward to a second season with high anticipation. And I really hope they would continue, otherwise it would be too cruel for us who had invested our time and emotion, especially since the series actually got better as it progressed.
Now I was not familiar with Raymond Lee, even if I had seen him more than once in minor roles of other movies, but I think he was pretty decent playing a genius physicist with strong emotions. There was really no need to compare him with Sam Becket as they were two completely different characters. Caitlin Basset and Nanrisa Lee were unfamiliar to me but they were OK in their roles, while Mason Alexander Park were good enough as the AI engineer who provided brief humorous moments. Ernie Hudson was the one whom I had seen occasionally and he seemed suitable with this role. There were few people who appeared more than once and possibly one of them might be upgraded to series regular in second season (at least that's what I thought).
For a sci-fi series, this one did not rely too much on visual effects since it's actually a bit character driven and dramatic (sometimes emotional). There was not a lot of action either. But that's not the main attraction as it focused more on how Ben adapting and solve the matters at hand, while trying his best not to look too weird (though few times he was unsuccessful). I like the way the story develop here and the series certainly brought a lot of nostalgic feeling, not to mention that the leap was done to various period in the past (1980s in particular was always my personal favorite). However, I did feel that the problem resolving was a bit too easily done, especially the first few episodes (like how could you be so expert in doing things that would take years to master). Although to be fair, I think even the original series was quite similar in this (I might not be so fussy about this part either back then).
Overall, to me this is an interesting drama sci-fi series that has plenty of charm to make us wanting for more. The event that happened in the 5th episode and also the finale certainly made me excited for second season. Despite the adaptations by Ben Song in certain areas seemed to be too easy/smooth, but mostly the dramatic effects would still be strong enough to cover that part. I myself did enjoy this series which I felt grew better gradually and hopefully would be even better in subsequent seasons (should NBC decide to renew it, as by the time I wrote this post, no information yet about the renewal). So if you are fans of the original, you can give this a try and enjoy the similar kind of story of changing people's fates. But if you have never seen it before, then you might be confused or not able to appreciate the references, though you could probably still be entertained by it. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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