'Quantum Leap' S2 finale episodes bring "all your questions answered" says star Raymond Lee
Caitlin Bassett and Ernie Hudson also talk about their Season 2 journeys.
While some shows are just premiering their new seasons this month (delayed due to the strikes last year), Quantum Leap was one of the few shows that didn’t take a break after its successful first season ended last year and filmed season two episodes that aired last fall on NBC when most other networks were showing reality TV, imported shows or just reruns.
Now, the season two finale is upon us with NBC airing two back-to-back episodes tonight. Though we’re still awaiting word on whether the sci-fi revival of the 1989-1993 series starring Scott Bakula will be back for a third season, we can all agree creatively, the series starring Raymond Lee (as time jumper Dr. Ben Song), Caitlin Bassett (Addison Augustine), Mason Alexander Park (Ian Wright), Nanrisa Lee (Jenn Chou) and Ernie Hudson (Herbert “Magic” Williams), has been stronger than ever. And a special shout-out to Season 2 additions Eliza Taylor (Hannah Carson) and Peter Gadiot (Tom Westfall) for helping bring new layers to the show’s complex universe as well as the characters.
I grabbed some time with Lee, Bassett and Hudson at last week’s NBC day of the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena. Here’s what they had to say about wrapping up season 2.
Jim Halterman: We’ve got the season finale coming up. Where's Ben leaping in the back-to-back episodes?
Raymond Lee: It's two separate episodes back to back. The first one is 1974. I leap into the body of a firefighter in Baltimore, and it's our ode to The Towering Inferno. Hannah (Eliza Taylor) is back and she has a kid so there's some developments there. And then the episode afterwards is 1976 and I leave into the body of a stock car driver.
Halterman: Caitlin, the Ben/Addison relationship has been on such a ride this year. How would you describe their relationship going into these last two episodes?
Caitlin Bassett: It's a complete reset. We've reset from where we were and everything that has happened since and it's now just this really bonded, connected friendship that is really exciting as an actor. It can go anywhere. It can go anywhere from here. And it feels like the writers really put everyone in a really good place to continue on, which is nice.
Halterman: Ernie, in last week’s episode, Magic resigned [from the Quantum Leap program]. So are we seeing him at the unemployment office next episode? Is that what's happening?
Ernie Hudson: (laughs) I think Magic is like, ‘my God, I've dedicated my whole life to this project and these people are crazy and I'm out of here. No, no!’ He just has a lot on the line and he's determined to hold things together in spite of everything else that looks like it's falling apart. He has to take things in his own hands.
Halterman: Tell me about Ben and Hannah since we know she appears. What can you say about when we see them together?
Lee: Ben is able to actually connect with Hannah on a different level. It's like they know physics, they're getting into capers together, they're getting themselves out of pickles together, and that only creates deeper bond. And being able to come out of these situations literally holding somebody's hand can really change a moment.
And there's an inextricable sort of connection that you can only have when it's beyond also the understanding of what is temporal in space. So I think that creates something magical and I think that's very important for a show like ours that is huge in scope. You have to have a huge relationship story as well. So yeah, I think it really adds to the tapestry of our show.
Halterman: I have loved the scenes throughout the season as Addison's watching Ben getting closer to Hannah but what's next for her personally in these last two episodes?
Bassett: I'm so grateful to the writers for putting her in a position where she gets to start again in a lot of ways. There was a lot of the Ben of it all, and then there was a lot of the Tom (Peter Gadiot) of it all. And then there was a lot of the Ben and Tom of it all. And now Addison's just kind of shedding that and just being Addison, which is so exciting as a performer and so exciting just as a woman to see the writers let that happen and see where it kind of goes from there.
Halterman: Ernie, I have to say I've loved your work on the show this season with Magic dealing with his drinking
Hudson: It's nice to know when drinking gives you another dimension. Best thing ever happened to my character is he became a drunk. [laughs] But, no, it's nice to get a chance to see him as a human being. I didn't just want to be that guy who we never know really anything about. It was nice to see that he has things going on with it.
Halterman: Is he on solid ground with these next couple episodes of what he wants to do?
Hudson: Well, as solid as you can be when everything around just seems like it's falling apart and there's a real danger. You know what I mean? He's on solid ground as far as he's concerned personally, but there's so much at stake.
Halterman: Who would you say he's leaning on the most in these last two episodes? Is he leaning on anybody?
Hudson: He's really knowing he has to trust himself. He realizes that it really is. I think he relies on the team. They are family, but sometimes you got to take the ball in your own hands.
Halterman: No spoilers going into the finale, of course, but anything you can say even about how you feel about the episodes, Ray?
Lee: You're going to love it. We're just going to love it. We all work really, really hard and I really am so excited. I think these last five episodes, we all collectively and individually really bit down and it was a sprint home also. We're coming off of a strike. We were all raring to get back and I think all the departments just attacked it so hard. I am the most proud of these five episodes than I've ever been of anything in my entire career. So I really want to leave it up to the fans to watch the last two episodes and really just take it in.
Hudson: Tell your friends if you enjoy the show and the more people who discover the show and the show and just let it be known if you do like it, I think it makes a difference.
Lee: What's great is you're going to get two episodes at once, so you'll have all your questions answered at one sitting.
Quantum Leap’s final season two episodes air Tuesday at 9/8c on NBC and available Wednesday on Peacock.