I was in the mood for something from the 90s earlier, a sudden Google search on some films yielded disappointing results as it suggested the typical films everyone has seen and heard of. I haven't had much interest in browsing through things in search of something to watch lately, so instead I gave up on the whole idea of looking for films and giving the television side of things a chance, something I don't usually do when searching for things to watch from older generations. Now, I really could not be bothered to continue browsing through lists of various things in had heard of in hopes of catching something that might interest me after thirty minutes wasted, so I picked the first thing I saw that I didn't recognise, which didn't take long at all. This was Quantum Leap; I refer to it as a 90s show, but it did actually release originally in 1989 in the United States, with a 90s release elsewhere. The bulk of the show does seem to relate to the 90s, however. The idea of the show seemed interesting to me, but I didn't have any doubts; most likely a result of just barely looking into the show and going straight into it.
I guess many may have heard of Quantum Leap by now, it probably isn't some hidden gem that I appear to be making it seem to be. I feel I have heard of it at some point before in the past, but I certainly have never seen it until now. I suppose a good sign that its idea was creative and performed well was that there's actually a modern reboot of the show that recently was released. Unfortunately I'm sure it'll be impacted by the writer's strike given all else is at the moment. But this is more of a reason to go back to the past and look for the shows that came and went, and might be slightly forgotten about in the era of streaming services and endless productions thrown out. I quite like these older shows for other reasons, also. These types of shows tend to be shot on 35mm film as the standard back then, and with plenty of atmosphere that came from the use of orchestrated music for ambience over songs with lyrics. Another strength is how these shows often relied on an unknown cast, for the most part. Still having your recognisable lead or two, but the rest of the cast holds a more theatrical background, giving the shows a very different feel to them alongside the directing.
Quantum Leap has been a nice surprise for me thus far, and I'm already hooked! I have a few thoughts I want to throw out in this first impressions post, and or course it'll be free of spoilers since even I haven't reached that point.
Quantum Leap
Quantum Leap surprised me as being a science fiction series, it most certainly doesn't have that sort of appeal at a glance. Given the very late eighties, there had already been high production blockbusters that introduced the cyberpunk genre to the masses: Blade Runner, The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and many more that followed suit on the back of their success. Especially with the rise of Spielberg! But I believe this is the first of actual television series I have seen from this era in which an actual science fiction idea has been presented. While it feels a bit modern, what makes it stand out is the reliance on an older cast. The main actors seem to be middle aged, a big difference to today's cherry picked young model actors that connect easily with a younger demographic. I actually quite like that the cast is a bit older, it gives the show a bit more of a serious tone to it as a result. It certainly doesn't feel youthful and cartoonish, but more serious with the odd comedic undertones that appear throughout the episodes.
Quantum Leap's story is introduced with a man waking up, completely void of any memory regarding just who he is and where he is. Through narration of his mind, he goes over the many questions he has as he goes about trying to understand what has happened. The first two episodes over an hour in length together display a story of a secret Air Force pilot in the fifties as he tests a new type of aircraft. There's some hinting around that other pilots are suffering from nausea and memory loss as a result of testing the new type of aircraft, giving us this assumption that things are actually normal for the main character. But we quickly discover that in reality, he is a test subject that has been sent back in time, though the future are struggling to get him back. He has been placed into the body of another person and now has to fix some sort of problem in this person's life in order to advance. There is a trick to this, however, and one that works very well in the show's structure: each life he fixes, he moves to another body to solve another problem.
This makes each episode completely different. The characters and scenarios he finds himself getting into vastly change. And he finds himself growing familiar with different times and expectations. In one episode he's a professor of romance, not actually knowing much about it. The next, he's a boxer. I actually really enjoy shows like this, I really like the ways in which they manage to mix things up and find creative ways to tell a story. Writing of course tends to be highly important, finding new characters to introduce and challenges for the protagonist to overcome. I guess, in some manner, it holds a very detective series style of approach, like Monk, The X Files, and Psych. Of course, it means you have your weaker and less interesting episodes, but also some incredibly memorable and strong ones. I feel this is inevitable with Quantum Leap, but this far it all feels very original and fun. Especially in how it takes itself seriously, not relying too much on quips to keep the audience engaged every other piece of dialogue. It still has its moments, but wow is it refreshing to have something that doesn't seem like it's trying to scream at you for your attention. Of course, with a show of this time, it also has its dated styles, but I can't help but enjoy them. The intro with blatant special effects of a fake night sky, the use of stock footage from the decades prior for things slightly too ambitious to capture and fund the to the limits of technology and budgets. For me, it's all part of the appeal.
I'm pretty curious as to where the show will go, as it tries to tell a long-term story throughout these smaller ones. There's some wholesome broader meanings to life and the idea of a second chance. While time travel serves as a manner of reliving your life and discovering the many different stories and lives people love and now they deal with struggles and emotions. Whether or not our protagonist himself can make it back to the present, however, seems something that just won't be addressed yet. Instead, we jump from theme to theme, period to period, finding different characters and lives that all had lived at some point, being fixed and leading to a timeline vastly different to the present's past. Of course, this also brings into question the idea of God. Is he the one fixing lives and subjecting our protagonist to this? To meddle with time travel being a punishment to undo some of the suffering experienced by others? Regardless, I really like this idea and hope it continues to be explored as the question of how and what and why continue. I'll continue watching and seeing how things turn out, so far, it's a very unique series regarding the idea of time travel. Nothing too dark, nothing too light. A nice balance.
