This week’s Quantum Leap offered a more historically accurate depiction of the Wild West as Ben found himself in the body of a Mexican American gunslinger named Diego de la Cruz in 1879.
Diego, who became a pacifist, was tasked with saving the small town of Salvation from a group of outlaws — led by the menacing McDonough — who was set on claiming the nearby railroad. The diverse townsfolk, which included Black bar owner Frankie (Yaani King Mondschein) and Diego’s granddaughter Valentina (Nicole Alvarez), refused to give up the home that offered them opportunities they wouldn’t find anywhere else. Ben needed to stop the outlaws from forcing the locals into selling their land without spilling blood.
In the present day, the team was preoccupied with hiding evidence of Ben’s leap from Congresswoman Kavita Adani (Farah Merani), who dropped by their headquarters to inquire about suspicious activity. While Ian and the others didn’t give up any important information, Kavita was still close to figuring out what was really going on. That’s when Jenn dug up career-ending information as a last resort if Kavita’s prying ever threatened the Quantum Leap project.
In the end, Kavita revealed to Magic that she knew about Ben’s unauthorized leap this whole time. She was giving the team a chance to come clean, but since they didn’t, she believed the project was compromised and out of her hands. She was going to tell the higher-ups.
However, Magic convinced her not to do that, revealing they could go back in time and save her brother’s life. The team knew that was impossible — they can’t target a specific point in time — but the important thing was that Kavita believed this lie. Magic just bought them more time to try and bring Ben home.
Back in 1879, Ben rallied the townsfolk into capturing the notorious outlaws through clever traps, not needing to kill anyone. This meant they could collect the reward money and get the railroad company off their backs for the time being. And thanks to Ben’s tip about copper nearby, Salvation became a booming town once more.
As Ben resolved to return to Addison so they could start over and build new memories, the pair was interrupted by one of the townsfolk who somehow knew Ben’s real identity.
“You made a serious miscalculation coming here, Ben,” the stranger spat. “I know everything about you, Dr. Ben Song from the year 2022. I know what you’re doing, but if you value your life, you need to stop following me. Do you understand?”
Before a confused Ben could answer, though, he leapt into the next body.
Since Ben has encountered another leaper, does that mean Quantum Leap has just introduced the Evil Leapers? In the original show, the Evil Leapers came from a secret organization who tried to wrong every right made, working in opposition to the Quantum Leap project. The corrupt project was run by Lothos, who was Ziggy’s evil counterpart.
When TVLine spoke to showrunner Martin Gero in September about the possibility of us seeing Evil Leapers show up in the series, the boss teased: “You just might.”
So what do you think? Was that an Evil Leaper in this week’s Quantum Leap? Why do you think Ben may have been tracking him?