Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 7 Review: A Kind Of Magic
Diana Keng
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We are all Ian Wright in that we collectively want Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 7 to provide some resolution to THAT KISS.
But delayed gratification is in the cards as Ben and the team have their hands full, keeping Middle Towne, Massachusetts, from lighting its citizens on fire in a drought-induced haze of fear and suspicion.
To be fair, Ben gets kissed himself near the end of this outing, so maybe it's becoming his "Oh Boy" routine.
Keeping in mind that this leap takes Ben beyond the establishment of the United States of America and into colonial Massachusetts, can we all agree that we don't watch this show (or any time travel fiction for that matter -- Doctor Who, I'm looking at you) for historical accuracy?
So, we will NOT nitpick the clothes or hairstyles or the when and where certain nursery rhymes originated.
Just enjoy the adventure, friends.
Looking beyond the trees to the forest of thematic splendor, a strong message of acceptance and cooperation is woven through the dual plotlines.
Ian: Dorothy? Can you hear us? We can’t hear you.
Jenn: Sounds like a bad Zoom.
Ian: Okay, all right. This dismissive attitude is exactly what started the witch trials in the first place. What was it that Ben said? That magic is just science that we don’t understand yet. I mean, have we learned nothing since 1692? Everyone just needs to stop judging people for doing things that they don’t understand.
Whether it's the fear and prejudice running rampant through Middle Towne or Jenn's skepticism about supernatural phenomena, it takes someone speaking out to turn the tide on a bad situation.
And while we're also not going to get bogged down with how a 17th-century town would never listen to a pontificating servant-girl, there are several moments here where we are left to fill in the thoughts of the townsfolk as Ben administers CPR or spouts off about hydrogen sulfide, and it's genuinely amusing to imagine.
After all, what *is* colonial Massachusetts-speak for "WTF?"
(I have to point out the fun Easter Egg in the casting of Madalyn Horcher as Bridget "Goody" Smith, accused here of being in league with the Devil.
Long-time readers will recall the actress's excellent turn on Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 3 as Crystal Palace, the living associate to the Dead Boy Detectives, a teenage medium able to see and talk to ghosts.)
Magistrate: Seeing as you’re Goody’s servant girl, was Goody behaving… unnaturally before Josiah’s death?
Ben: Like how?
Magistrate: Not like herself. Maybe she was forgetting things, or sleeping in, or… dancing naked in the woods?
Ben: Sorry. What?
The parallel between Goody's situation and feeling of abandonment and Ben's choice to push Addison away is subtle but significant.
One could hypothesize that the leaps are designed to help the leaper as much as the hosts. If one were to subscribe to a higher power sort of theory, that is.
And to put a sharper edge on the dangers of being an outlier in highly-fraught times, Morgan McKenna's understanding of carbon and clean water is as counter to 1692 sensibilities as Ian's seance in our times.
It's essential that Morgan and Bridget are both endangered by the town's persecution.
The contrast between Bridget, a hometown resident, and Morgan, an outsider, both being accused of witchcraft, drives home the idea that anyone can become a target given a perfect storm of circumstances.
Morgan: You’ve never had to think for yourself.
Bridget: What?
Morgan: I’m the only one here who doesn’t follow the herd. Your so-called friends told you what to believe in and who to love and who to hate and you never questioned any of it. Well, how’s it feel now that they decided to hate you?
Furthermore, the speed at which a town can assemble a pyre really goes to show what people are capable of in the absence of reason.
At the same time, the script does a solid job of demonstrating that people who could be reduced to faces in the mob still have their individuality. Unfortunately, as it often does, fear manages to override both sense and sentiment.
At HQ, Addison's feeling the outlier vibe deeply.
Although it's only been two leaps and approximately less than a week in the show's continuity since Ben "fired" her as his hologram, it's felt longer to her (and to audience members) as someone not used to treading water without a role to play in the mission goal.
Addison: I went from being the leaper to being a hologram to basically being our worst intern ever.
Magic: Well, certainly not our worst. Remember Jeffrey in R&D?
Luckily, Magic's back on the scene and able to provide some insight and guidance, having taken some time for himself and his own healing.
His take on the Serenity Prayer is a beautiful reframing of that growth mindset. Alchemy, indeed.
Addison: Can I ask what you talked about?
Magic: Alchemy.
Addison: Alchemy. Like magically turning metals into gold?
Magic: Like turning a bad situation into a good one.
And don't think I missed the double meaning in the episode's title: "A Kind of Magic." There are some clever minds at work behind the scenes on this show.
As the pieces to the solution fall into place thanks to Jenn's research and Ian's outside-the-box approach, it's Addison who turns them into gold.
To be sure, Ben timing his theatrics to coincide with the rainfall is ludicrous, but it's a page out of Back To The Future's playbook -- using the Farmer's Almanac instead of Grays Sports Almanac to predict the unpredictable.
Jenn: I don’t understand any of this stuff. You tell him.
Addison: He does not want to see me.
Jenn: I think between talking to his ex and burning at the stake, he’s gonna choose talking to his ex.
His sojourn in Middle Towne -- and possibly his moment of impulsivity at Princeton -- apparently gives Ben enough perspective on life and relationships to give a working friendship with Addison a chance.
In a way, it brings us full circle in terms of team roles, but the characters are in very different emotional spaces.
Of course, there are also new players on the scene.
Rachel's back, joining the team as tech support after Ian reached out for help on Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 4.
And of course, there are Hannah and Tom, Ben and Addison's respective new love interests. How will they work out in the grand scheme of things?
As you watch Quantum Leap online, consider this: Ben's initial leap was to save Addison. Tom's theory about the quantum accelerator is that it is fueled by sacrifice. Can one sacrifice be superseded by another?
With only one episode left before the winter hiatus, what are you hoping to see? What do you think Ben will get up to in Egypt? Mummies? Pyramids? Camels? Oh, my!
Hit our comments below with your thoughts and theories, Fanatics!
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
