Diksha Sundriyal
NBC’s ‘Quantum Leap’ follows the story of a scientist named Ben Song, who leaps into the past without telling his team about it. The journey costs him his memories and he doesn’t remember who he is and why he chose to secretly travel back in time. While he tries to survive every leap, his team, back home, tries to find out the real purpose behind his actions. There is a lot to unpack when it comes to the secrets that Ben had been keeping from them, especially his fiancee, Addison, who now acts as his guide. She appears as a hologram and refrains from revealing who she is to Ben, but eventually, as his fractured memories start to surface, he figures it out. Just when it looks like he has got the hang of time travel and can now focus more on himself, a new revelation gives rise to more questions. Here’s what it means for Ben and his future. SPOILERS AHEAD
Quantum Leap Episode 5 Recap
Ben finds himself even further in the past as he wakes up in 1879 in a town called Salvation. This time, he is a famous gunslinger named Diego who is the town’s last hope. A railroad company is trying to drive the locals out and a gang of thugs has taken it upon themselves to see it through. They are terrorizing the people, a lot of whom are giving up and moving away. Diego is the grandfather of a young girl named Valentina, who is hell-bent on saving the town, much like a lot of other people. It looks like, the only way that they can be saved is if Ben duels with the leader of the gang. The problem is that Ben is a pacifist and he doesn’t know the first thing about guns.
While Addison helps Ben, a new problem emerges back home. It looks like the program, which the team has been keeping a secret from their superiors, has been using a lot of energy, which hasn’t gone unnoticed. A congresswoman shows up unannounced at the headquarters and asks about Ben and the program. While Magic and Jenn try to keep the situation under control, it looks like they won’t be able to keep Ben’s travels a secret for too long.
Quantum Leap Episode 5 Ending: Who is the Other Time Traveler?
Going into ‘Quantum Leap’, it was assumed that Ben Song is the first person to time travel after the project was restarted. The last known person to leap was Sam Beckett and he never came home. Because there is no other known example, where someone leaped in time and came back to tell the tale, things look rather dire for Ben. On the bright side, he is starting to remember things. He remembers that Addison is the woman he loves, and finally, she can talk about it with him. Magic, too, has given her the green light to do whatever it takes to bring Ben’s memories back. His team has given him the benefit of the doubt, but they still don’t know what he really intends to do. The last scene of this episode gives us a hint.
After capturing McDonough and his gang, Ben and the townsfolk succeed in securing the money that they can use to keep the railroad at bay. They know it’s not a long-term solution, but informed by Addison, Ben tells the people about a copper deposit close by, which will change the course of their future. Not only is the town saved now, but it is also ensured that it will flourish and not be threatened by anything else. While Ben and Addison celebrate their success, a man approaches Ben, and it looks like he knows that he is a time traveler and not the gunslinger named Diego.
This mystery man appears for the first time in the episode when Ben arrives in 1879. He finds McDonough telling the people to leave the town. Ben asks a random man who McDonough is. This man doesn’t say much and doesn’t have a prominent appearance in the events that follow. In the end, however, he not only makes it clear that he knows exactly who Ben is and where he is from, but he also warns him to stop following him. This is an interesting turn of events because till now, no one knew about another time traveler, which might make one think that this man is Sam Beckett. While we can still hold on to this wishful thinking, we know that the last we saw of Beckett, he had stopped leaping into other people. He had discovered his own ability to travel in time while in his own body. This means that this new leaper is someone else, but someone whom Ben knows and most probably followed.
We still don’t know why Ben leaped in time, but the fact that he kept it a secret from even Addison tells us that it must have been something very personal to him. There is also a possibility that this man is not directly related to Ben, but is someone that Janice has been looking for. The reasons behind their collaboration are still unknown, but both of them have vested interests in Ben’s leap, and it could be that in return for her help, Ben made a deal to find this person for Janice. However, it is going to be tricky to find him in the next leap, considering that he too is leaping into different bodies. Only time will tell who this man really is, but it is possible that Ben timed his leaps with this mystery man’s travels, and uncovering his identity might reveal Ben and Janice’s true intentions regarding this mission.
Read More: Will Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett Appear in Quantum Leap?
