‘Quantum Leap’ 2×09 Review: “Off The Cuff”

After what felt like the longest hiatus in history, Quantum Leap returned this week with 2×09 “Off the Cuff.” And it’s probably a good thing that this episode aired after the hiatus and wasn’t the cliffhanger, or I would have needed to be sedated to make it through. As it is, the episode gave me all the shipper feels…and then, you know…crushed my heart into a million tiny pieces.

It’s fine. It’s totally fine. But you might want to buckle up. If the hiatus gave me time for anything, it was time to have a lot of thoughts.

Wanted Dead Or Alive

The return of Quantum Leap finds Ben (Raymond Lee) in the unenviable position of acting as body guard to an exceedingly skeevy, “radically selfish” attorney, Kevin (David Clayton Rogers). Who, of course, has people wanting to kill him for being skeevy. And selfish. And, honestly, just not a great person. (Insert obligatory attorney joke here, I say as an attorney myself.)

It’s one of those rare times when Ben is tasked with helping someone and even he, with his good heart and eternal optimism, has to go, “Really? This guy? The universe couldn’t send me…anyone else?” Of course, in the end, Kevin turns out to be…well, less skeevy, at any rate. Like…10% less. Maybe more like 8%.

The universe works hard, but there are limits, you know?

Anyway, who cares about Kevin? (Oh, right, we’re supposed to because, yeah…that’s the whole conceit of the show. He was a jerk, Ben saves his life, he’s…marginally less of a jerk. Well all know why I’m here, right?) Kevin’s plot, while being the central plot of the episode, wasn’t really the point, was it? No. It was not.

It’s time to talk (once again) about ships. Starting with Ben and Hannah (Eliza Taylor).

She Don’t Know Me

“Off the Cuff” brought Ben and Hannah back together once more, nine years after their last parting in Cairo. Before I get into the actual analysis of this part of the episode, we all know I’m firmly on the ‘S.S. Ben & Addison,’ so there’s a petty part me that got fed this week when it came to this part of the episode. And before I get carry on with my review, I have to get that petty part out. Just a little bit.

• If “Nomad” implied that Hannah has such a mystical connection with Ben that she always recognizes him, regardless of what body he’s in, then this episode proved that no she does not. She had no idea it was him until the dinner table conversation. So there, “cosmic forces bringing them together!” (In all fairness, though, I will say I really enjoy the way both Lee and Taylor played the dinner table scene.)
• Some people give Addison (Caitlin Bassett) a hard time for giving up on Ben after 3 years, but if Hannah has a 7-year-old and Cairo happened 9 years before, then she waited less than half that time before she moved on. And, hey, I don’t blame her because she’s in a similar position to Addison. For both of them, there was every likelihood they’d never see Ben again. I don’t begrudge them a BIT for moving on. But Addison’s gotten some unfair (in my opinion) hate about the fact she moved on at all, let alone after “only” three years. And I will defend her against her detractors on this issue to my dying breath. So there.

Deep breaths. Okay. Now I think we can move on.

Shot Through The Heart

The whole time Ben is trying to address his Cosmic Dumpster Fire Of The Week, he’s trying desperately to find Hannah. After all, there are finite number of times the universe can bring them together, realistically, and in such a narrow window (in the grand scheme of time). Of course he’s going to want to embrace every opportunity that comes his way. His efforts seem to be for nothing until she walks through the door. Again, totally not recognizing him at first.

All joking (and ship-based pettiness) aside, I really do like Taylor’s take on the character. I may not ship them, but Hannah and Ben do work well together. Seeing them work together to take down the bad guys is fun. I even enjoyed Kevin’s incredulity that they’re supposedly total strangers as he’s watching it, because, yeah, there’s a clear bond of understanding between them. I am somewhat sorry that her whole conceit on the show means her role is inherently somewhat limited, because I would like to see more of her. Not in a ship sense, of course. But as a member of the team and as someone who occasionally helps punch a Nazi or two? I genuinely do like her.

That said, while she may be right that love has no restrictions, wedding vows usually do. (And trust certainly does.) The fact that she and Ben jumped apart like teenagers caught making out in the back of her dad’s van when her son interrupted their almost-kiss tells me that Hannah’s vows did not come with an asterisk.

“Off the Cuff” espoused – and largely rejected – the idea of “radical selfishness” through Kevin’s character. And while they railed against it, Hannah and Ben exhibited their own radical selfishness this episode. Or at least they came close.

On a certain level, I do understand the temptation, from a character perspective. Their relationship is unusual, to say the least, and I understand wanting to take advantage of whatever opportunities the universe affords. But that doesn’t mean that the temptation to do so isn’t selfish and wouldn’t hurt others. Whatever one’s feelings about ethical non-monogamy, it’s clear that’s not the underlying understanding in Hannah’s marriage. I do think Ben could stand to be – and almost certainly deserves to be – a little selfish. Still, “forget about my husband in the other room; let’s make out” is…well, I want him to be selfish, but I also want to like him at the end of the day. Heck, I’d like to like her too, even if I don’t ship them. And infidelity is just not the most likable position to put either character in.

The show didn’t quite seal the deal in going there. And, given where Hannah is left at the end of the episode, it’s unlikely they’ll find themselves in the same moral quandary in future Leaps. Thankfully, I suppose, though it comes at quite the high cost. Still. Regardless of what Ben was tempted to do this episode, “radical selfishness” isn’t really a part of his character. And while I do think he could stand to be a bit more selfish at times, a rampant disregard for the feelings (and vows) of other people isn’t something I would want to see as a permanent part of his character, either. Or of Hannah’s, for that matter.

It’s My Life

Ben and Hannah weren’t the only ones embracing a little selfishness this episode. And selfishness isn’t always a bad thing. (Yes, it hurt me to write that in this context. Thank you for asking.) Addison also embraced a little selfishness in confronting Tom (Peter Gadiot) about the engagement ring she found. And, sure, she said she wasn’t expecting that conversation to end with him getting on one knee. But there aren’t a lot of ways that conversation could end without things getting Awkward As Hell. “Yeah, I was going to propose. But, anyway…Good chat!” seems the quickest way for Tom to find himself banished to sleeping on the couch upon his return. (At the very least, I’d think less of Addison if she didn’t tease him about it every chance she got.)

So of course he ended their talk by proposing. And, because this show apparently hates me on, like, a fundamental level, she of course said yes.

I’m just…I’m going to need a moment before I continue. Okay? Go look at gifs of puppies and kitties or something while I get myself in order.

I…

Wait…

ABORT! ABORT!

SIGH.

Again. From a character perspective…sure. It makes sense. We’re not given any reason to think Addison doesn’t really love Tom. (I mean, I’m not given any real reason to think he’s secretly an evil mastermind of evilness who must be stopped before he hurts my girl, but I do anyway.) Even with this potential way to bring Ben back to the present, the team has gotten their hopes up before. Only to have them dashed. It’s cruel to expect Addison – or anyone, really, including Ben – to put their entire lives on hold indefinitely in the remote chance that this time, they’re not hoping in vain.

Given the choice between clinging to the past (and an uncertain and definitely-never-promised future) and embracing the present reality? I get it. Addison is choosing Tom. (Until his evil-or-at-least-underhanded plot is uncovered in a way that causes her absolutely no more pain than she’s already experienced and he is rightly foiled. Just give me this one, okay?) Just like Ben is choosing Hannah.

I get it. I don’t have to like it. But I get it. Though I do think it would be unrealistic if Tom and Addison never had that “what if” conversation. Because if I were in Tom’s shoes, I couldn’t help but wonder if Addison would come to regret her decision if Ben ever makes it home. Anyone would. (I mean, especially if you’ve seen them together because LOOK AT THEM!

Okay, I’ve gotta stop torturing myself like this.)

I accept the choices the writers are making with this arc. But did they have to remind me how much Ben genuinely cares for Addison and wants her to be happy before they ripped out my heart?

Superman Tonight

So what does all this mean for the future? We all know my track record when it comes to speculation for this show. But I’m going to do some anyway.

Before I get into this, I have an admission. As much as I “joke” about Tom’s potential for villainy, I really do like the actor, and he does a good job with the character. A character who just…you know…hurts me every week. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. (How many times do I have to say that before anyone believes it, including me?)

But if I set aside my determination that Tom must be a criminal mastermind, it’s hard not to notice some parallels that have been set up between Ben/Hannah and Addison/Tom. Not just the fact Addison and Hannah were both in positions where they had to choose whether to live their lives or spend them waiting for Ben’s possible-but-never-guaranteed return. But now the show has set up both Tom and Hannah as widowers. Both tied to a project where changing the past is at least a possibility.

I still think we have to have that conversation at some point. Particularly since the show in its first season recognized the project’s potential to save the people closest to us. Or, barring that, its potential to give us closure. And it wasn’t just in the way Ben saved Addison in the finale. It was also in the way the project was saved from being shut down by the possibility Ben might find himself in the position to save a politician’s lost sibling. It was in the way it gave Ben the hope of closure in speaking to his mom one last time.

Everyone (or nearly everyone, I have to believe) who has lost someone has things they regret. That one last goodbye that went unsaid. That one last hug they missed. Or even their inability to give a last word of warning. “Take a left turn instead of a right. Stay away from this intersection on this date. Go to the doctor and get that thing you’re ignoring checked out sooner. Take care of yourself. Please. Do whatever it takes to change the course of fate.”

And even if I (grudgingly) give Tom the benefit of the doubt, I find it hard to believe that he hasn’t considered the potential of the project when it comes to his lost wife. It certainly has to be something Addison has considered. Maybe Ben couldn’t save her. Not every death can be avoided, after all. But, on a certain level, that makes it even worse. In the world of Quantum Leap, Ben is like a real-life superhero. He’s like Superman. There is so much he can do. It makes it so much harder to accept the things he can’t. Imagine standing back and watching Ben save person after person after person and knowing that the one person he can’t save is the person you love.

Even if you could accept that, there’s still the opportunity – or hope for the opportunity – for closure. In Tom’s case, the fact there’s a chance Ben might cross paths with his dead wife has to have crossed his mind, at the very least. Even if only to recognize that he hopes it doesn’t happen and to brace himself for the chance that it might. Which is its own heartbreaking possibility. I can’t help but think of the unforgettable exchange from the “Window of Opportunity” episode of Stargate SG-1, when Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) admits that, as much as he’d want to see his dead son one more time, he could never relive the grief of losing him again.

All of this has to be something Tom has considered. Addison certainly has to have played a mental game or two of “what if.” I can’t imagine it’s something Tom and Addison have never discussed. And now it’s a possibility for Hannah, too. She knows as well as everyone on the team what Ben can do. Even if he can’t control where and when he goes, there has to be hope, right? And maybe…unfairly, but on a very human level…a little resentment when the universe doesn’t make it happen.

If these conversations haven’t happened yet, then I hold out hope they’ll happen in the future. And that the audience will be able to see them. Then again, maybe it won’t be Hannah having these conversations. She has a son, after all, who is about to lose his dad. A son who maybe she tells about her mysterious friend who travels through time, righting wrongs. A son who might even be a little resentful that, with all the people Ben has saved, there’s one he didn’t. Or hasn’t yet.

Maybe even a son who later goes on to develop a certain computer chip? (Yeah, there’s no chance that plot doesn’t come back around again.) I guess we’ll see.

Keep The Faith

Outside of the possibility of tying the two main plots of the season together, where is all of this going? I still think Ben and Addison are endgame. That may not be the case. Sometimes shows do change the intended OTP. But, any way you cut it, Ben and Hannah is an impossible ship, long-term. They also reminded the audience of how much Ben loves Addison – and, because he loves her, accepts the situation she was put in and why she has to move on. I can’t believe they would do that just to break my heart.

(It wasn’t just to break my heart, right? Please tell me it wasn’t just to break my heart.)

When the season started, I wrote that the biggest problem with the way they have separated Addison and Ben is getting themselves out of it. From a character perspective, I understand why Addison (and Hannah) made the choice to move on. I also appreciate that, by having Addison embrace her future with Tom, they’re not acting like she exists just to be someone for Ben to return home to. And that she wasn’t just using Tom as a Ben stand-in all along. That wouldn’t be terribly fair to Tom as a character (particularly if – sigh – he’s not the secret villain part of me wants him to be). It also isn’t something I would want to see from her character.

At the very least, paralleling these two relationships gives Addison and Ben a chance to connect and understand each other (and the unique impossibility of their situation) in a new way. Particularly if the season were to end with Addison having to choose whether she helps Ben to save Tom’s wife – doing the right thing, even with the chance it means she’ll lose a man she loves forever. Putting his happiness above her own. Which was ultimately the choice Ben made going into the first season. And if the season’s two big plots tie together in a way that serves as a reminder of the terrible damage it can do to a person, to hold onto the past or the unlikely future, rather than accepting the reality of the present…?

Well, I’m not saying that will completely resolve the question of how we’re to believe my OTP will always choose each other in the future when they aren’t right now. But I have to believe all these parallels cemented in Quantum Leap 2×09 “Off the Cuff” were set up for a reason.

You know. Other than to cause me pain.