Tag Archives: time travel

Book Review of “Redux II: The Search for Floyd”

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© James Pyles

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Last night (as I write this) I finished Gregg Cunningham’s SciFi time travel novel Redux II: The Search for Floyd published by Starry Eyed Press. It’s the sequel to the original novel Redux: The Lost Patrol which I reviewed on my blog last year.

The original novel is set in the future, primarily on the Moon. Redux and his battle robot Floyd are using a time travel device called a “War Pig” in an attempt to “fix” history. Redux wants to bring back all the people lost in war, to win every battle they lost, and to establish a future history with his lost love.

The original novel is a little hard to follow because, like many time travel books, it tends to bounce around all over the place. In the end, an old, burned out Redux is left stranded when his younger self steals the War Pig and his version of Floyd.

It’s not all bad. His lost love Dixie is alive, but she’s young and he’s an old man she doesn’t recognize.

Redux II picks up there with our hero (or anti-hero) one among a series of refugees destined for relocation on Mars. But then things get weird.

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Season One Wrap Up Review of Quantum Leap

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Promotional image for the television show “Quantum Leap.”

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I won’t lie. What kept me coming back to Quantum Leap each week for the first season was “the mystery.” Who is Janice (or Janis) Calavicci? Why did Ben leap? Eventually that mystery included Who is Leaper X? Why did Ian of the future leap back? What danger is Ben supposed to save Addison from?

But let’s go back to the beginning. I’ll take a selective tour of my previous reviews. It wouldn’t be a very good season review if I didn’t start with my review of the pilot.

Oh, I should say it’s impossible to watch and review this series without delving deeply into the social meaning of the stories involved. Science fiction and time travel are only transport mechanisms for discussing social justice, representation, and inclusivity issues from the perspective of the 2020s.

As the show opens, we are introduced to co-workers and friends including Ben, Addison, the engaged couple, as well as Magic, Jenn, and Ian. Addison is revealed to be the potential first leaper, but the project is years away from human trials.

We see a mysterious woman at the project going over information at a computer terminal and saying, “That can’t be right.” To this day, I’m not sure I know what Janice was talking about, especially if Ben’s leap were already planned and programmed into Ziggy.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 18 “Judgment Day,” the Season Finale

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Scene from the Quantum Leap episode “Judgment Day.”

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As I write this (Tuesday evening, April 4th), I just finished watching Quantum Leap S1 E18 Judgment Day and yes there were “Terminator” references.

I was impressed. The writers pulled out all the stops, and while the episode wasn’t perfect, it was very good, very dramatic, and totally action packed. It was also not what I expected.

As always, Spoiler Alert!

As we saw from last week, Ben first leaps into the future, 2051 to be exact, to the Quantum Leap project which has been destroyed. An aging Ian is alone, waiting for Ben and the snowfall is caused by nuclear winter, suggesting a worldwide nuclear war (so why isn’t the Los Angeles area completely destroyed as in the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day since it would be a primary target?).

L.A. nuked

Scene from the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Ian said there are very few people left. They are the only survivor of the project, and they were barely able to find someone for Ben to leap into. Question, unless Ian knew exactly when Ben would arrive, how would they know when to have someone stand by? It didn’t sound like they could have known, but they instantly recognized Ben in whoever he leapt into.

In the present, Ian keeps picking up a kind of ghost signature of Ben and keeps losing it. Janice suddenly appears again (as if by magic since the plot once again requires her…otherwise she’s presumably kept in a maintenance closet powered down until needed). Ian says it’s like the accelerator is “confused” and Janice (or Janis) says it’s because it wasn’t designed to send anyone into the future. Also, there’s no visual because “the future.”

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 17 “The Friendly Skies”

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A scene from the Quantum Leap episode “The Friendly Skies”

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Finally got the bandwith to watch Quantum Leap S1.E17 The Friendly Skies where once again Ben leaps into a woman with absolutely no reaction to being in a female body.

I happened to mention on twitter the other day that just in season one, Ben has leapt into more women than Sam (Scott Bakula) did during the entire five season run of the original series, and Sam was never a fan of leaping into women. It occurred to me that a man leaping into a woman is at least drag (because actor Raymond Lee has to dress…at least sometimes…in specifically female clothing. At most, it almost makes him trans…almost.

Anyway, I was politely shot down as far as the idea goes. Statistically, if Ben’s leaps are truly random, he should leap into women about half of the time. But we don’t think the leaps are random.

IMDb synopsis:

When Ben leaps aboard a 1970’s passenger jet as a flight attendant, he must outwit its hijackers before it mysteriously crashes into the Atlantic. Worse? He has to do it all without Ziggy’s help.

Ben leaps into a flight attendant named Lois on August 5, 1971. The aircraft has over the top service. The men are sexist pigs and the attendants are trained for “service with a smile.”

Here’s a trivia piece from IMDb about why the service was styled as it was in this episode.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 15 “Ben Song for the Defense”

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QUANTUM LEAP — “Ben Song for the Defense” Episode 115 — Pictured: (l-r) Isaac Arellanes as Leo Diaz, Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

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Last night, episode 15 of Quantum Leap called Ben Song for the Defense aired. The synopsis goes:

Ben Leaps into a harried public defender trying to prove one client innocent when everyone else believes he’s guilty, as well as juggle dozens of other case as well as a romantic relationship inadvertently threatened by a corrupt ADA. Jenn is called in as Observer because of her knowledge of the legal system.

Oh, “ADA” just means Assistant District Attorney.

Although the leap centers on a single client of Ben’s (public defender Elena Ramirez), we see Ben trying to juggle several cases feeling as overwhelmed as the real Elena probably did. In the original timeline, 18-year-old Camilo Diaz (Michael Garza) is on trial for the murder of a gang member who was trying to recruit Camilo’s younger brother Leo (Isaac Arellanes). Camilo threatened the gang member and later was seen fleeing the crime scene. No other suspects present.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 14 “S.O.S.”

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Scene from the Quantum Leap episode “S.O.S.”

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I just finished watching episode 14 of Quantum Leap: S.O.S.. Ben leaps into Rossi, the operations officer of the U.S. Navy vessel “Montana” during a wargames exercise in the South China Sea on May 2, 1989. The date is important because it is when a generally unknown Naval disaster occurred and when Addison’s Dad, the ship’s executive officer Alexander Augustine (Brandon Routh) ends his career.

Addison discovers her Dad by recognizing the voice of Captain Bill Drake (Alex Carter), her Dad’s mentor in the Navy. The issue in the original timeline is that the Montana receives a fragment of a distress call from the U.S. submarine the Tampa but Augustine chooses to ignore it.

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Quantum Leap: Addison Doesn’t Walk Through Walls

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Caitlin Bassett as Addison on Quantum Leap.

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I’ll keep this short. Addison doesn’t walk through walls. In the original Quantum Leap Al (Dean Stockwell) as Sam’s (Scott Bakula) companion and hologram, walked through walls all the time.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 13 “Family Style”

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Scene from the Quantum Leap episode “Family Style”

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This week’s episode (number 13) of Quantum Leap is called Family Style. Here’s the IMDb summary:

When Ben leaps into an Indian family to try and prevent their beloved family restaurant from burning down, he finds an emotional connection with their matriarch through memories of his own. Magic and Jenn share a surprising revelation with Ian.

Ben leaps into the eldest daughter of an Indian family who owns a restaurant in Portland, Oregon in 2009 (Given that the same basic technology and lifestyles existed then as now, this is less time travel and more “I mysteriously injected myself into someone’s family”). He (again) has absolutely no issues being in a woman’s body (no awkwardness with breasts, no periods, no nothing). In fact the only difference is that he has a nose piercing. He also has mad cutting skills and apparently always wanted to be a chef. I think this is an effect of the writers of the show rather than how a guy would really react (see Sam Beckett/Scott Bakula in the original show).

I’m sorry, but if I woke up one morning with breasts and no penis, I’d lose it.

My wife worked in a professional kitchen for over twenty years and listening to all of her stories, I can confidently say, that Ben suddenly performing well in such a kitchen is bullshit. Being a good “Betty Crocker” in a kitchen at home is light years from working in a restaurant.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 12 “Let Them Play”

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QUANTUM LEAP — “Let Them Play” Episode 112 — Pictured: (l-r) Josielyn Aguilera as Gia, Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

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To be honest, I was dreading watching and reviewing the most recent Quantum Leap episode Let Them Play. In fact I avoided watching the episode for at least a day so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I’m not one to take things at face value just because someone tells me something, so I didn’t know how I was going to receive the content of the episode, especially given the expectation that it be seen as overwhelmingly positive.

I knew it would be highly pro-trans. In fact, there was a significant marketing uptick for this episode, probably more so than any of the other previous 11 episodes of the show. There was a specific target of presenting trans kids in a highly positive light, and as far as I could tell, everyone involved in the show from the directors, to the writers, to the actors was dedicated to make that happen.

Okay, first the brief synopsis from IMDb:

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Feelin’ Groovy

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© Roger Bultot

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Used to be called the 59th Street Bridge but that was long ago. Now they call it the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, whoever he was. At least one thing didn’t change. Like in the old days, someone painted a heart on this bench. It’s nice to see.

I’ve been walking up and down the Eternity Road a long time, but not seventy years’ worth. Sure I’m almost seventy myself, but how long…since I was forty-five or so? All my friends are dead, but if I go back, I’ll be so old to them. Being a time traveler is a pain.

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