‘Quantum Leap’ Recap Season 1 Finale Episode 18: Has Ben Returned Home?

Big questions arose quantum leap‘s season one finale on Monday, as Ben once again leaped into the unknown.

This time he ended up in the year 2051 at LA headquarters, which was in ruins along with Ziggy after an apocalyptic event. Future Ian explained exactly why Martinez was after Addison in the first place.

Martinez worked for the US government who sent him to kill Addison because they blamed Quantum Leap for the collapse of society and tried to stop her before she could jump. In Ian’s future, they were the last survivors of the program – everyone else had died.

Future Ian had been working on fail-safe code that Ben only had to memorize seconds before it was pulled back in time. He ended up in 2018… in his own body. That was the day Martinez was supposed to kill Addison, and it happened to coincide with her first date with Ben.

SIMILAR POSTS

The reason Ben contacted Al’s daughter Janice was because he needed her help to program the Quantum Leap Accelerator to that exact date so the scientist could jump into the past. He had to tread carefully, however, because if he altered his own timeline in any way, he risked creating a paradox, erasing someone from history, or even making it so that he and Addison never fell in love.

Despite all of that, Ben still told Past Addison that he was a time traveler to save her life after Martinez, aka Leaper X, started showing up all over town. With no telling how this revelation would affect their future, Ben prepared for a showdown with Martinez at headquarters. There he encountered Past Addison, who held him at gunpoint, suspecting he was the Springer sent to kill her. Ben escaped and Past Jenn ordered a full lockdown on the building, trapping the team with Martinez inside.

By the time Ben realized Martinez had jumped into Magic’s body, Martinez was already several steps ahead of him. Ben, still struggling with memory loss, couldn’t answer the team’s questions about things he should know while Martinez rattled off the right answers without breaking a sweat. This convinced everyone that Ben was lying about who he was and he was jailed.

In his cell, Ben tried to warn Martinez that the government didn’t care about him and planned to leave him stranded in the past. But Martinez already knew this and had suggested destroying Ziggy to ensure the Quantum Leap project never comes to life again. Besides, he wasn’t just after Addison, he was after the whole team.

While Past Ian deciphered the code created by her future self, Present Day had Jenn Ben pass a secret code to her past self – “Turtle Time,” a phrase created by RHONY’s Ramona Singer – which convinced the others that Ben was telling the truth.

Ben and Martinez’s long-awaited fight spilled into the accelerator, the pair being sent back to the insane asylum in 1954 (from episode 16), their final crossing point. As they exchanged blows, they were then transported back on board USS Montana in 1989 (featured in episode 14).

Ben relied on the boxing knowledge he acquired in Episode 3 to fend off Martinez when they were both sent back to Salvation, the western town from Episode 5. After another scuffle, Ben landed on his knees while Martinez held a gun to his head. Before he could finish the job, Martinez was shot dead by Frankie, the friendly saloon owner.

Using the idea of ​​quantum entanglement – which states that two particles sharing the same experience cannot be independently described – past, present and future combined to enter the cheat code simultaneously. This code allowed Ben to jump to any point that day, giving him a chance to try again. With Martinez dead, Ben jumped back to 2018 to get his date with Addison right. But instead of executing her, he kissed her in front of everyone.

Immediately afterwards, Ben made his next jump. The team prepared for Ben to show up in the Quantum Leap Accelerator, but the episode was cut short because we could see his anticipated arrival. Did he make it home? This question needs to be answered in Season 2, which is already being filmed.

What have you made yourself of quantum leapthe season 1 finale? Rate the episode below, then share your thoughts and predictions in the comments. And don’t forget to read our interview with showrunner Martin Gero about that big finale twist.