‘Quantum Leap’ Recap: ‘Closure Encounters’

10/19/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

QUANTUM LEAP -- "Closure Encounters" Episode 203 -- Pictured: (l-r) Caitlin Bassett as Addison, Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song -- (Photo by: NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Quantum Leap’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

One unfortunate truth about life that we learn when we are facing difficult times, is that the world doesn’t stop turning while we are struggling. Bills still have to get paid; the car still needs gas, and we have to work to make those things happen. Which means we have no choice… but to push ahead while our hearts ache or while our soul’s scream. Doesn’t make it right in the slightest. In fact, it’s downright dumb that we live in a world where the almighty dollar takes precedence over healing, but for now… that is the way of things. Which means we have to make the most of it and find ways to use our daily duties to help us work through things and never was that truth more evident than during this week’s episode of Quantum Leap on NBC.

But it sure didn’t seem as though that was going to be the case in ‘Closure Encounters’. Since this particular tale transported Ben to 1949. Wherein he assumed the identity of a Federal Agent that was assigned to Project Sign, a project designed to investigate UFO activity in the Southwestern United States in that era, to indeed find out if a strange incident involving a woman named Melanie Morgan, and her now comatose friend, Carrie, was related to UFO and extraterrestrial activity or some Earth-bound nonsense, and well… for a time… Ben and Addison could not tell which was really the case. For they encountered some odd sights in the nearby area, the kind that saw Ben lose some time and involved bright lights and strange technology that briefly blocked Addison from helping. But a surprise mark on Ben’s body when he came to from that lost time… led to an answer regarding the mystery.

In that, a broke tycoon, one that ran the town with his money and his bravado, was coming up short and well… that motivated him to find a way to get more bread in the weirdest way imaginable. Which in this instance, involved letting the U.S. government onto his land to build a military base. One that was designed to work on experimental flight technology and other experimental gear. And their saucer shaped vessel… was the cause of everyone’s problems and well, in order to put an end to the speculation and the troubles in this town… Ben and the local sheriff… were able to get them to move to a new facility, a place known as Area 51… to conduct their experiments. A move that brought peace to the town and also saved Melanie from trouble. For Carrie’s dad, that very tycoon… thought Melanie had made this whole thing up and hurt his daughter on purpose and wanted her behind bars. But the truth exonerated her and Ben… was off to his next assignment, after offering up one last bit of help to the town’s local waitress.

But while that just seems like a standard Quantum Leap story, one that offered up a spooky little alien twist for the season… make no mistake about it… there was distress for Ben in this tale. The kind that spoke to a broken heart. Because he was processing the reality that Addison ‘buried’ him in 2022/2023 and that she was opening her heart to someone else, and that made this mission hard for him, and it pushed him to really dive deep into Melanie’s struggles. All because… of that central theme. Because despite hurting and needing time to process so much, the leaps continued, and Ben still had to save lives and he truly felt the need to deeply immerse himself in this leap and in doing the right thing… to help him feel something more than the ache and confusion that were swirling about his heart and mind, and help him to work through such matters, as life goes, and well… all of these elements made for one amazing episode.

Because it featured a delightful mystery for Ben and Addison to uncover, one that is timely in nature since UFOs have been all over the news this year, as have the little green men that pilot them. Plus, you can never go wrong with moments that are relatable and Ben handled that here. Because we’ve been in his shoes, and we’ve done what he did here. Which is to bury ourselves in work and/or the mundane to not have to feel our feels when they are overwhelming and… to try and work them through other means. But for now, it is off to the next leap, where Ben will undoubtedly try to use good deeds to heal. But of course, that does leave us wondering… how long he can keep that up. Because like it or not… eventually we have to resolve what’s eating at us and that will be no easy task for Ben. Especially when that which he has to face, is the person he deeply loves and often serves as his only guide through time and his only tether to home. Until next time.

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