Ben
lands in 1979 Chicago as Jack Armstrong, a devoted security guard to
talented pop singer Carly Farmer. During Carly’s prep for a big
concert, it quickly becomes clear her life is in danger and Ben must
determine who is trying to kill her and why.
TV
Guide Synopsis: Ben
lands in 1979 Chicago as Jack Armstrong, a devoted security guard to
talented pop singer Carly Farmer. During Carly’s prep for a big
concert, it quickly becomes clear her life is in danger and Ben must
determine who is trying to kill her and why.
Broadcast
Date: Monday,
January 2, 2023 - 10pm on NBC
Leap
Date:
April 24, 1979
Leap Location:
Chicago, Illinois
Name of Leapee: Jack Armstrong
Detailed Synopsis:
We find Ben, all dressed in a nice
suit, outside a limo with camera’s flashing all around catching him off
guard…. It is an event!! A big event.
But it isn’t for the person Ben
leaped into, it is for Carly Farmer’s 1979 tour, In Chicago, Illinois.
Carly is starting off the day with a
sound check, and we find that Ben is in the body of Jack Armstrong, and
we soon find out he is head of security for her and Tour. We also meet Trevor, which just
oozes the stereotypical manger role, and is already bumping heads with
Carly right out of the gate.
Addison makes her appearance, and we
get the expected continuation from last episode, her trying to get more
information from Ben about what he meant, and Ben simply not knowing
anymore than what he shared. Addison is mad at Ben, very mad..
And Ben understands she is mad, he just wished he knew the answer to
the question of why. This undertone, will be throughout the episode.
We then get back to the reason why
Ben is there…. And, it is happing in just a few seconds: Carly is going
to die on stage, right now, from a falling light. Ben rushes to the stage, knocks her
out of the way just in time. Great… Leap solved, where to next? Not so
fast.
This episode pulls from classic QL
story telling, that it isn’t just an EVENT that has to be stopped,
there is a bigger issue. So Ben is still inside of Jack. But lucky for Ben, Addison has all
the historical details, and well…. Carly is going to die, later that
night on Lakeshore drive.
Ben pulls up a cuff, and starts to
talk into it, like he is a secret service agent. But it is convent,
because he can talk to Addison at a full party of people, and works. But now they need to figure out who
wants Carly dead. But we go back to the Ben / Addison troubles, and
that Addison is very much against Ben keeping Carly in the dark about
what he knows.
Now for the next twist; While Ben
(Jack) is comforting Carly out on the patio, she kisses him… deeply.
And we find that there is something between Jack and Carly. Ben pushes her away because he is
surprised, Carly apologizes, everything seems okay… but then there is a
knock at the patio door, there is a security issue that Jack needs to
take care of.
It’s Carly’s sister, Jammie. We find
out from the backup dancers, that Carly has issues. Junkie, Addict, and
jack it told to get rid of her. He heads out to confront Janice,
expecting something very different than what he finds…. A calm and
collected person, that has an invitation to the event, from what
appears to be from Carly herself.
Ben (Jack) has to rely on what he
was told by the other people, that Jammie is not to be there… and
Addison pops in with update information: Jammie is convicted of killing
her sister that night. Ben does convince Jammie to leave,
with no scene that it was a mistake (that the invitation was sent).
Addison digs into the story with the
help of Ian, and things are “too perfect”. True Crime conspiracy
perfect. The drive on the notion, that Jamie was framed and some of the
evidence backs that up. They find out that Trevor has some
rights to Addison’s songs, and will stand to 10’s of millions of
dollars if she dies. So time to go down that path. Ben confronts
Trevor, Trevor shoes him some “letters” he has that apparently are from
Jammie, threatening her sister…. Ben then pulls up the invitation and
compares the Typograph on it (If you recall from other classic shoes of
the time, Manual Typewriters almost had a signature similar to that of
a fingerprint), and Ben believes they are all from the same typewriter.
Trevor is a bit taken back by the presence of the invitation, and takes
it and throws it out.
Ben has to do something, so he
convinces Carly that it isn’t safe for to take a walk, he tells her he
thinks there is a serious risk, while not directly stating that it
could be her sister.
The 10pm death of Carly is avoided:
Great time to leap, no.. doesn’t happen. Ben and Carly go for a walk,
and talk, and Ben tells Carly he believes Trevor faked all those
letters. And tricked Carly, to push her sister away (she was her song
writer), so He (Trevor) could get more of the cash. Ben addresses
Carly, about Trust. How he trust her, and she trusts him. While it is
“Jack” saying that to Carly, we know that it is Ben saying that to
Addison, who is just on the other side of Carly. Right after that
moment… someone tries to run them over…. Avoided, but they didn’t see
who.
They get back to the hotel, and
figure out that no way it could be Trevor based on timing, but… none
the less. Carly fires Trevor, he storms out and says it isn’t finished.
Great, Carly is saved…. Time to
leap, no… Addison comes in and tells Ben that Carly is going to die
tomorrow, backstage, and this time… they find the knife directly on her
sister.
Ben needs to figure this out,
someone really wants Carly dead. They are at the show the next day….
Ben has a thought, who else had access to that typewriter. He finds a
payphone, and luckily, change in the return. He calls Trevor… at the same time,
the crowd is let in, with Carly and her sister right in the lobby….
Carly and Jamie rush off, Ben pressuring Trevor for an answer: Loretta,
the backup singer. We then find Loretta telling Carly
that her sister needs her right now. Ben is running, against the crowd…
and just in time, gets in the way of the knife that Loretta is plunging
at Carly. Getting cut, saving Carly and
Jamie…. Loretta was in love with Trevor, and hated Carly for everything
she was doing to him.
We get a loving duet with Jamie and
Carly, a few more words between Ben and Addison… and we leap; Ben has
leaped into a Doctor, that is on the street, with a person about to go
into risky labor.
Back in Project QL HQ:
While we only got about 5 minutes of
HQ time, it was a packed few minutes.
The team is still trying to figure
out what is Ben saving Addison from. They presume it is something in
the future, but they have no idea of what/when/where, nothing. Ian has been busy though, he
repurposed Ziggy to figure out where Janice Calavicci is…. He came up
with multiple possibilities, but Jenn says it is Belize. Off she goes. And sure enough, Janice is there.
Jenn quickly presses to ask her directly on what Ben is saving her
from, but Janice flips the conversation…. Ask Jenn, why did Ben work
with her (Janice), and not the people at QL to save Addison?
We wrap our time with Project QL HQ,
with Jenn flipping the tables on Janice now. She paid off her body
guards, so instead of protecting her, they basically arrest her on
behalf of Jenn. We next see Janice confronting
Magic, back at Project QL HQ.
Personal
Review by Earl
Bonovich:
Let’s first take a moment to recognize
some things that happened at the end of 2022 with the show.First we got
an extension of 6 more episodes for Season 1, bring the total to 19.
Awesome. Then, we got the news during the hiatus, that Season 2 has
been announced, and we are going to get even more QL.Exciting news, and
can’t wait to see where the show goes. Now on to my thoughts on this
episode.
My opinion, this is probably the
best episode we have gotten yet. Having thought about since the viewing
last night, I concur with several others that this is the best
episode.Great writing, good flow in the show, using one of the best
structures classic QL had (multiple events, to find out the real
reason).
We got even more growth out of Ben
and Addison. Their chemistry is growing week by week.
The acting by Deborah Ann Wool as
Carly, was absolutely fabulous. You almost got to know Carly nearly
immediately in the first minute or so, and who she was…Deborah did an
amazing job keeping Carly a warm and caring person, in the 1979 Singer
tour world.. The interaction between Ben and Carly, was natural and
honest… which is going to be a trait that Ben needs to have going
forward, jumping from lifetime to lifetime.He is going to have to
adjust quickly, and be that person he leaped into deeply, and he is
getting better at it.
The Project QL: HQ story line is
also moving along quickly.We now have full immersion into what is
Janice’s involvement…. I like the nod to Al’s clothing fashion being a
little questionable.
But we still don’t know why Ben
engaged with Janice, Janice just poses a question on why her and not
them. We don’t know yet, if it was Ben’s idea… did ben really not trust
the Project QL team. Or could he have been manipulated.
He was told that Allison was in
danger in the future, and that working with Janice was the only way to
save her (the presumption to this point).We haven’t been shown anyway
that Janice would have insight into Alison’s future, or any way to
understand how Ben knows what is going to happen.
We still have Leaper X out there,
and his words… and we pretty sure his leaps are triggered from a future
date….
Project
Trivia: Jenn's
father was a gambler with a drinking problem.
Ian loves true crime stories and realized their gender identity around
the age of eight.
Addison seems to be able to linger for a few moments after Ben leaps.
This also happened at the end of Atlantis. This must be a project
upgrade from the original series where Al would "go back into the
Imaging Chamber" after the Leaper departed.
Ben Trivia: Ben
has remembered that he leaped to save Addison, but still does not
remember from what or when.
Addison Trivia: Addison
is hurt when she finds out that Ben leaped to save her and didn't tell
her.
Ian's
Outfits Worn in
the Episode: Blue blazer with gray turtleneck
Kiss With History: Elton
John is at the Drake Hotel
Miscellaneous
Trivia: We
get alot more hologram action in this episode than in previous ones
both from Addison and her handlink. The roll-in effects looked great!
Would still like to see her walk through things more often.
Drew Lindo, writer of this episode says he has never seen the original
series episode "Glitter
Rock." However, it seems to mirror that episode quite a bit. The
murder of a band member with money being the main cause, a song about
travelling that can be compared to the Leapers' journey, and even a falling
light nearly causing a death.
A writers room scheduling board done during production of this episode
(click to enlarge):
Props - Screen used:
This prop record album was
created for the episode. Only about six were made. Drew Lindo sent this
to Albert Mark Burdge as a gift. His daughter, Serenity, is pictured
with it below.
QUANTUM
LEAP – SERIES REGULARS
Dr.
Ben Song (Portrayed
by Raymond Lee)
–
Ben is a first-generation American, a world-renowned physicist, and a
man of faith. He’s also working on Quantum Leap, a time travel project.
But when he uses the project on himself, he’s transported back in time
with a bout of amnesia – forgetting what made him
time travel in the first place.
Addison Augustine(Portrayed
by
Caitlin Bassett) –
Addison is a smart, witty, fearless ex-military operative who now
serves as Project Observer at Quantum Leap HQ. She’s in charge of the
technology they use to communicate withProps - Screen
used the past, and tries to rescue
her fiancee, Ben, from his time-flung existence.
Ian Wright(Portrayed
by Mason Alexander
Park) –
Quantum Leap’s nonbinary chief architect of the AI program.
Herbert
“Magic”
Williams (Portrayed by Ernie Hudson) – A
Vietnam vet and current head of the time
travel project at Quantum Leap. Herbert “Magic” Williams tries to keep
the Pentagon at bay
while the team tries to rescue Ben. Doctor Sam Beckett leaped into
Magic during his Vietnam tour.
Jenn Chu
(Portrayed by Nanrisa Lee) –
Head of security at Quantum Leap HQ. Quirky but
formidable, she makes it her mission to figure out why
Ben erased all evidence of why he Leaped.
Guest
Cast: Georgina Reilly as Janis
Calavicci
Deborah Ann Woll
as Carly Farmer
Daniel Bonjour as Trevor
Tate Moore as Loretta Karissa Lee
Staples as Jamie Farmer Zach Sowers as
Jack (credited as Frank) Armstrong (Mirror Image)
Tristen Macdonald as Stage Manager Amanda
Alexis Zollicoffer as Dionne
Lizet Upia as Cherise
Roze JC Zepeda as Dante
Mike Schiff as Papparrazo Angela Sprinkle as TV Interviewer
Angel Dillemuth as Restless Fan Christine Gonzalez as Concert Goer
Sofia Pernas as Carla from archive footage
John "Jack" Doerer III as Paparazzo
Brendon Garber as Fan
Johnny Rossa as Elton John Guerrin Gardner as Pregnant Woman Wes Armstrong as Husband
Jessica Ramirez as Orderly
Guest
Cast Notes:
Deborah Ann Woll (Carly
Farmer) was born in 1985, in Brooklyn, New York, from Irish and German
heritage. She took acting, piano and dance classes. She went to high
school at Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from the BFA
program at the USC School of Theatre at the University of Southern
California. Deborah
started to
work as an actress on television and her breakout was in the
highly-acclaimed HBO vampire drama, True
Blood (2008), as a young and fierce vampire girl, "Jessica
Hamby".
From that moment, she gained roles in such films as Mother's
Day (2010), Seven Days in
Utopia (2011), Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to
You (2011), Catch .44 (2011),
opposite Bruce
Willis and Forest Whitaker, and Ruby
Sparks (2012).
Woll's boyfriend, Edward E.J. Scott, is
a comedian and his family are afflicted with choroideremia, which is a
condition that slowly blinds its victim. She uses her celebrity status
to help advocate for them and others with the disease. She has been
quoted as saying that her boyfriend's bravery in fighting his
disability has inspired her own battle with Celiac disease, which makes
her body intolerant to foods containing gluten.
Daniel Bonjour (Trevor) was
born on September 28, 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an
actor and writer, known for The Walking
Dead (2010), iZombie (2015)
and Frequency (2016). He has been married
to Jelly
Howie since July 19, 2014. They have one child. Tate Moore
(Loretta) is known for Adopted (2021), Woman
Up (2019) and With Love (2021).
Karissa Lee
Staples (Jamie Farmer) is
best known for her series regular roles as Paloma Madsen in USA
Network's "Necessary Roughness" and Victoria Jagger in the Gemini
nominated sitcom, "What's Up Warthogs". Staples currently has recurring
roles as Sarah Dinsey in the Hulu comedy series, "Everyone is Doing
Great" and Bonnie in the CBS drama, "S.W.A.T.".
Zach
Sowers
(Jack)
is known for Criminal Minds (2005), Star
Trek: Picard (2020) and Good Mourning (2022).
Tristen MacDonald
(Stage Manager Amanda) was
born in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Tristen is known for Grey's
Anatomy (2005), Henry Danger (2014)
and Jimmy
Kimmel Live! (2003). Alexis Zollicoffer
(Dionne) is
known
for Sympathy for the Devil, Color (2022)
and Never Goin' Back (2018).
Lizet Upia (Cherise) was
born in Brooklyn, New York, to Felix and Maria Upia as the youngest of
four. Both of her parents are originally from the Dominican Republic
making for a very unique upbringing as first generation in New York
City. At the age of 8, Lizet discovered her passion for singing and the
performing arts. Here she sang, danced and performed in various
productions. By age 15, Lizet joined the prestigious John Robert Powers
Modeling and Acting school in New York City. There she learned about
various acting techniques that would continue to guide her further into
her flourishing talents and gifts in the performance arts. By
age 24, an entrepreneurial makeup business created the perfect
opportunity for Lizet to relocate to Los Angeles, CA to pursue her
dreams. She's modeled for Beauty Blender campaign and was featured in
Sephora amongst other well-known campaigns. She's landed roles in film
and TV such as Hello Romance and A Dance Story. Most recently Lizet was
in the in the Feature Film Mal de Amores. This film was selected to be
in the Hola Mexico film festival. This is the tip of the iceberg for
Lizet's ambitious nature and ever evolving career.
Roze JC Zepeda (Dante) is
a queer, gender-nonconforming, Latinx artist and writer on a journey to
create a stronger and safer world through storytelling. On-screen they
can be seen on shows like Fox's "I Can See Your Voice" or Netflix's
"Lucifer." Off-screen JC is busy writing uplifting stories of
underrepresented demographics. The recently completed half-hour pilot,
"Inheritxd," tells the story of JC's coming out as gay and psychic as a
middle-schooler, while their Latina airline pilot mother, sex-working
step-dad, disabled sister, and undocumented nanny pursue the American
Dream in suburban Phoenix. Toward the end of their six-year career as a
globe-trotting flight attendant, JC graduated from the Sanford Meisner
Center acting conservatory, enrolled in a TV Writing Certificate
program at UCLA Extension, and co-founded the Anti-Racist Movie Club, a
virtual activist film club. JC Zepeda is currently theatrically and
commercially represented by Aqua Talent and is independently developing
"The Healer's Journey," a podcast where writers workshop material using
Tarot cards and an original TikTok sitcom based on their non-binary
experience in Hollywood.
Mike Schiff (Papparrazo) is known
for The
Neighborhood (2018), Shameless (2011)
and NCIS (2003).
Angela
Sprinkle (TV Interviewer) is known
for Hotel Artemis (2018), Carpe
Millennium (2010) and Happily Ever
After (2015).
Angel
Dillemuth (Restless Fan) is a New York
based actor, director, and screenwriter from the Bronx. Angel
has appeared on many shows including Almost Family, Luke Cage, Person
of Interest, The Blacklist and more. Angel has had the pleasure of
working with established veterans Jim Caviezel, Michael Ealy, Tim
Guinee, and Academy Award Winner - Natalie Portman, to name a few. Angel
received his M.F.A. from The Actor's Studio Drama School and completed
the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer in Oxford Program, (BADA
MIO18). Angel is currently studying with Tony Greco. As
a Director/Screenwriter his first short, "Night Runners", Co-Directed
by Nectarios Leonidas, has had a number of nominations and a couple of
wins including; A Silver Award from the Spotlight Horror Film Awards
'17 and third place at the Miami Fear Fest '17.
Guerrin
Gardner (Pregnant Woman) is
an actress and writer originally from Tallahassee, Florida. Film and TV
credits include: Escape at Dannemora, Ray Donovan, Grey's Anatomy, New
Girl, Suburgatory, A to Z, Law and Order and God Bless America. Sandy
the Dandy and Charlie McGee, the modern vaudeville she co-wrote and
also starred in, premiered at the NY International Fringe Festival and
subsequently had a three year New York run. The show was a critic's top
pick in Time Out New York, A.V Club, Backstage, and NYTheatre.com. Her
web series Where's This Party? (co-created with Chris Candy) has been a
featured series on Funny or Die and was a top pick by Paper Magazine.
Guerrin has performed comedy, sketch and improv at UCB, The PIT, IO
West, Caroline's on Broadway and Comedy Central Stages. As a writer,
she has contributed to Realsimple.com, Apartment Therapy, Very Short
List and worked at Time Inc and Real Simple Magazine. She recently
finished writing, producing and starring in the short film Michael
Peterson (World Premiere at Palm Springs International Shortfest 2017,
Remi Winner at Houston Shortfest 2017, Winner of Best Director at Los
Angeles TV, Script & Film Festival 2017)
Wes
Armstrong (Husband) is known
for Jane the Virgin (2014), Zoe
Valentine (2019) and Party Down (2009).
Christine
Gonzalez (Concert Goer) is known
for Retina (2017).
Jessica
Ramirez (Orderly) is known
for Snowfall (2017) and The Dagger (2017).
Guests Who Appeared in Other Quantum
Leap Episodes: Georgina
Reilly returns as recurring character Janis Calavicci.
Characters
who appeared in Classic Series episodes: None
Songs
& Music: "I'm
Every Woman" by Chaka Khan
plays at the Leap-in
"Traveling On", an original song from the episode written by Dean
Georgaris's friend Jamie Jackson plays near the opening of the episode
during the
sound check scene.
"Best Of My Love" by The Emotions plays at the party.
"Hold On" by Terry Weiss plays when Carly hits on Ben.
"Sunny Side Up" by Petrina Smith and Andrew Kinglow plays in Belize
with Janis and Jenn.
"Raise Your Heart" by The Mellophonics plays at the bar.
"Black Betty" by Ram Jam plays before the concert house opens about
halfway through the episode.
"Traveing On", an original song from the episode sung in duet
form plays near the end of the
episode.
Say
What? Jenn finds Janis extremely
quickly, and at one of the many bars in town, after guessing correctly
that she's in Belize.
Why does Ben think talking into his wrist will hide the fact that he's
talking to Addison. Watches like that would not have been invented in
the 1970's, except when Michael Knight used one on "Knight Rider!"
The evidence file shows several pieces that are identical.
When Ben shouts to Carly to wait, the phone cord disappears, showing
him holding the handset to his face with no possible connection.
After Ben leaps
out, Addison seems to remain at the concert for a moment. The
background is blurred and it could be that she is simply in the Imaging
Chamber.
For
an episode that brings us back from the holiday hiatus, we learn very
little more than has already been told of the Project storyline.
While
addressed in the episode briefly, we learned earlier that Ben thinks
the reason he leaped is "bigger than all of us", but says that he
leaped to save Addison.
During the credits, the character Jack Armstrong is credited as Frank
Armstrong.
Quotable Quotes:
"The
longer you're gone, the harder it gets." -Ben
"He was a hero. Using QL technology to save countless lives, while
making some pretty questionable fashion choices." -Jenn to
Janice about Al Calavicci
"From now on, we face everything together." -Ben to
Addison
Production
Photos:
Production Videos: Coming Soon
Production
Credits:
Consulting Producer: Moira Kirland
Producer: Tim
Scanlan
Producer:
Meg Fister Co-Executive Producers: Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes Co-Executive Producer: Drew Lindo Co-Executive Producer: Aadrita Mukerji
Produced by: Marc
Bienstock Executive Producers: Steven Lilien &Bryan Wyndrandt Executive Producer: Chris Grismer Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario Executive Producer: Dean Georgaris
Executive Producer: Martin
Gero Developed by: Steven Lilien &Bryan Wyndrandt Created by: Donald
P. Bellisario Teleplay by: Drew Lindo Story by: Drew Lindo and Dean Georgaris
Directed by: David Grossman
Associate Producer:
Ethan Henderson
Story Editor: Margarita
Matthews
Casting by: Jennifer
Cooper, CSA Casting
Director:Kamala
A. Thomas Director of Photography: Christopher
Duddy Production
Designer: Mayling Cheng Edited by: Piper
Kroeze Music by:
Daniel James Chan
Unit Production Manager: Melanie J. Elin Unit Production
Manager: Marc Bienstock First Assistant Director:
Ben Scissors Second Assistant
Director: Athena Alexander
Costume
Designer:Genevieve
Tyrrell A Camera Operator: Dave Hirschman B Camera/Steadycam
Operator: Justin Browne Production
Sound Mixer: Beau Hodges Chief Lighting
Technician: Donna Vega Key Grip:
Peter Chrimes Art Directors: Danny
Cistone & Liz Kloczkowski Set Director: Tim
Stepeck Costume Supervisor:
Mark A. Sumner Property Master: Erik
Grasteit Construction
Coordinator: Matt Sazzman Department
Head
Hair: Amy Marie Wilson Department Head
Makeup: Julia Lallas Leadman:
David Napoli Stunt Coordinator:
Jeff Barnett Location Manager:
Dan Milner Transportation
Coordinator: Sandra Ninham-Gallardo Production Office
Coordinator: Sofie Johanna "Bubbles" Dejus Assistant
Production Office Coordinator: Brendan Hickey Production
Accountant: Natalie Chiengkul Script Supervisor: Heather
Pollock Script Coordinator: Sue
Palmer Casting Accociates:
Lindsay Jameyson & Mia Cascio Post Production
Coordinator: Gabriella Scudieri Music Supervisor: Season
Kent Music
Co-Supervisor: Leah Harrison Music Editor: Zed
Starkovich Assistant Editor:
Catherine Goohs Online Editor: Richard
Wells Colorist: Chris
Boyer Visual Effects
Supervisor: Trent Smith Visual
Effects Editor: Aaron
Merrill Supervising Sound
Editor: Kelly Cabral Co-Supervising
Sound
Editor: Kevin Zimmerman Re-Recording
Mixer:
Yuri Reese & Sean
Madsen A Camera 1st AC:
Erik Emerson
B Camera 1st AC: Steve Bellen
DIT: Justin Steptoe
2nd 2nd AD: Graham Geraghty
Additional 2nd AD (Base): Tim Deal
The State of California and the California Film Commision, California
Soundstage Filming Tax Credit Program
Copyright 2023 Universal Television LLC All Right Reserved
Dean Georgaris Entertainment
Quinn's House
Universal Content Productions
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