In their attempt to recreate/honor the classic "Halloween Episode" from the original series, the team behind the Quantum Leap reboot have produced a near-perfect example of how most network TV series get things so wrong. In their rush to produce as many hours of content as possible, as well as make it - as network marketing execs see it - as accessible to as broad an audience as possible, the actors' performances are stripped of anything that looks like depth or sophistication, the dialogue is interminably vapid, and the plot is as thin as can be. The repetitive lines that constantly re-explain every problem & consequence are obviously forced in so as to allow for audiences to jump in and try the series during any broadcast and "get" what's going on. It's a formulaic crutch that is not just outdated in this era of DVRs & streaming; it's downright infuriating and constantly takes you out of the story. While the original episode that this installment calls back to was capped off with a famous twist ending that had major implications for that series' mythology (even if it didn't quite make sense until the final episode), the writers here take great pains to not go down that route. I kept waiting for the Big Reveal that would portend new possibilities for the show (they even teased it with one line in the first act), but what they actually rolled out fell totally flat. And worst of all: The structure of the show that has made it even remotely watchable - the dual storylines of Ben's missions alongside the mystery within the Quantum Leap project itself - is ditched here, meaning that if you skip through the meaningless, badly-acted mystery in the past, as I often do, there's nothing else for this episode to stand on. All-in-all this felt like a wasted hour from an already barely-watchable show.
Review by Mike ShawVIP EP 2BlockedParent2023-04-29T04:06:02Z
In their attempt to recreate/honor the classic "Halloween Episode" from the original series, the team behind the Quantum Leap reboot have produced a near-perfect example of how most network TV series get things so wrong. In their rush to produce as many hours of content as possible, as well as make it - as network marketing execs see it - as accessible to as broad an audience as possible, the actors' performances are stripped of anything that looks like depth or sophistication, the dialogue is interminably vapid, and the plot is as thin as can be. The repetitive lines that constantly re-explain every problem & consequence are obviously forced in so as to allow for audiences to jump in and try the series during any broadcast and "get" what's going on. It's a formulaic crutch that is not just outdated in this era of DVRs & streaming; it's downright infuriating and constantly takes you out of the story. While the original episode that this installment calls back to was capped off with a famous twist ending that had major implications for that series' mythology (even if it didn't quite make sense until the final episode), the writers here take great pains to not go down that route. I kept waiting for the Big Reveal that would portend new possibilities for the show (they even teased it with one line in the first act), but what they actually rolled out fell totally flat. And worst of all: The structure of the show that has made it even remotely watchable - the dual storylines of Ben's missions alongside the mystery within the Quantum Leap project itself - is ditched here, meaning that if you skip through the meaningless, badly-acted mystery in the past, as I often do, there's nothing else for this episode to stand on. All-in-all this felt like a wasted hour from an already barely-watchable show.