Quantum Leap Bosses On That Big Reveal, Sam Beckett, and Fan Theories

On the latest episode of Quantum Leap, a new concept is introduced into the show’s lore. It’s a theory, not necessarily anything set in stone, but since the same can be said about nearly every big idea that the show deals with, it seemed worth paying attention to. In the episode, Tom Westfall (Peter Gadiot) suggests that once someone leaps, there is no way to bring them back. His idea, immediately quotable and something that sent a chill down the spines of some audience members, is that the concept of sacrifice is what really drives the leaps through time. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) might never be able to come back, just like Sam Beckett wasn’t.

At the end of the original Quantum Leap, a title card popped up saying that Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) never made it home. In the years since, fans have debated whether that’s meant to be a terribly sad ending, or an uplifting one. After all, by the end of the show, it seemed as though Sam was able to control his leaps. If he didn’t come home, doesn’t that mean he chose to continue his never-ending battle to make the world a better place?

“We talk about the show a lot. We talk about the original show and invariably, people talk about that final episode and that title card,” Quantum Leap executive producer Dean Georgaris told ComicBook.com this week. “I know I was bummed out the first time I saw that title card. I just was like, ‘Ah, gee, bummer.’”

Still, he said, just like the characters are trying to question everything they know this season — with a three-year time jump, the supporting cast are now engaging with Ben just days after his previous leaps but they’re all at very different points in their lives — the producers, too, have to ask themselves to reevaluate everything they think about both their own show, and the one that came before it.

“At some point, we just talked about the fact that — and Deborah Pratt has said this, actually — Sam’s out there doing good and changing the world for the better,” Georgaris added. “What if that’s not as sad as it necessarily sounds? This is a long-winded way of saying, I think the intention isn’t to rewrite the gospel. It’s more to point out to people, ‘hey, there may be more dimensions to this particular assumption than we’ve considered before,’ if that makes sense.”

That is the philosophy that drives Tom Westfall to suggest this notion that maybe there’s no return ticket. He isn’t saying he’s right, but he’s suggesting something that makes sense to him, given what little everyone knows about how the leaps work. The producers also want to make the audience ask themselves some hard questions. If Sam Beckett and Ben Song are our heroes, doesn’t it stand to reason that they might be willing to make those sacrifices if they knew how much good they were going to do as a result?

“People focus on the /what if sacrifice is basically the price of leaping?,’ but to me, the real beauty of that conversation is the next exchange, where Magic says, ‘I think even if you know that going in, I think there are a lot of people who would step into that chamber,’ and Tom’s response being, ‘Well, that’s the message we need to get out.,’” Georgaris explained. “I think in a way, it’s our mission statement, about where we are as people right now. With a lot of strife and depressing things in the world, we still believe that fundamentally, if given a chance to make the world a better place, more people are going to raise their hand and say, ‘Let’s do it,’ than not. I think that’s the other half of that conversation, and it felt true to Magic. It feels true to our universe.”

Showrunner Martin Gero seems to believe that making stories that feel true to the tone of Quantum Leap is at least as important as building on big “lore” ideas. This season, even before the “sacrifice engine” idea was queued up, fans seemed to be speculating furiously about the show, and both Gero and Georgaris are thrilled to see it.

“That’s part of the fun of a show like this, is we’re trying to create these emotional mysteries on top of actual mysteries,” Gero explained. “I’ve seen so many really great takes on who Eliza can be, and what is that character. Some of them are absolutely wrong, but really good. I’ve sent Dean a few, being like, ‘This is a good idea. I wish someone had pitched this. It’s not what we’re doing, but it’s just a really nice take.’ I think to have an audience that’s that engaged is creating a version of their show. I do that with stuff I’m a fan of. I love to talk about what possibly comes next in the shows that I follow. And so yeah, we’re thrilled that the audience is that engaged.”

Quantum Leap airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.