The following contains spoilers for Quantum Leap Season 1, Episode 2, "Atlantis," which aired Monday, Sept. 26 on NBC.
Quantum Leap sent Ben to space in Episode 2, "Atlantis," to avert another crisis. While the main story dealt with an Atlantis shuttle mission gone awry, the underlying subplot showcased how Ben's previous actions created rifts in the team. Everyone was dealing with the fallout of his unauthorized use of the project accelerator and their own emotional reactions to what had happened.
Ben Song's Team Faces the Consequences of His Actions
Quantum Leap delved into how fragile relationship trust can be, revealing the cracks in the bonds shared by Ben's support team. Addison reevaluated her feelings for Ben, questioning his trustworthiness and how long he had been lying to her. She tore the apartment apart, looking for clues and finding a mysterious flash drive Ben had hidden, which reinforced her growing unease with the man she loved. She concealed the flash drive from Magic and Jenn because she was afraid of what it might reveal.
Meanwhile, Jenn and Magic were also speculating on Ben's motives and questioning his loyalty, throwing out the theory that he could be out to sabotage the project. Whereas Addison was coming from a place of emotional betrayal, these two were in full damage control mode, worried about the security of the project. Hard decisions were made regarding Ben and whether he should be encouraged to remember, decisions Addison rejected even amid her own turmoil, showing her connection to Ben wasn’t broken, only strained.
After Addison found the flash drive, she teamed up with Ian to decrypt it, keeping it a secret from the others. Meanwhile, Magic and Jenn engaged in a little subterfuge to track down Janice Calavicci through her mother Beth (another nod to the original show). It turned out Janice wasn't easy to catch, but they did come away with some information and another piece of tech: a mysterious hard drive from Janice's server setup.
Quantum Leap Raises More Questions Than Answers
Are Magic and Jenn right to think Ben is working against the project? Janice let slip that Ben came to her, not the other way around, so exactly what were his motivations for his precipitous time leap? The mystery only deepened when they discovered that the flash drive was the key to recovering the hard drive data. Secrets on the drive revealed that Ben had a specific destination in mind, a mysterious position in time, raising more questions about what exactly he was doing.
But this also raises some speculation and hope for viewers. Could that destination be the location of Sam Beckett, and could Ben be trying to find the originator of Project Quantum Leap? The fact that Quantum Leap has leaned into its roots and the showrunner has not ruled out a Scott Bakula guest appearance suggests that possibility. The deliberate involvement of Janice Calavicci could also indicate that this was what Ben was after with his secretive behavior.
Yet, that's not the only possibility, as there could be a more private connection. Ben may be willing to change his own personal history, or even Addison's, an act he knew wouldn't be allowed. But there has been no suggestion that either Ben or Addison has a dark past, so this seems a long-shot motive. Alternatively, he could be attempting to change a significant world event to alter the world for the better. Whatever the reason, it seems to have a momentous scope -- one Ben was prepared to risk everything to achieve.
Within two episodes, Quantum Leap has established a possibly unreliable protagonist, a mysterious motivation, and a riddle embedded in time travel itself. The why of Ben Song's actions are still unclear, but they look to have long-reaching consequences on a professional and personal scale and the anticipation of more secrets to be revealed.
Quantum Leap airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.