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Judgment Day is the eighteenth episode of the first season of Quantum Leap, and the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It first aired on April 3, 2023.
Summary[]
Ben's next leap takes him closer to home than he ever expected; the team faces the ultimate showdown with Leaper X as they battle for the future of the Quantum Leap project and their lives.
Synopsis[]
2051: Ben leaps into PQL, where future Ian is waiting for him. The building is destroyed, and snow from nuclear winter is entering the chamber. Ian is the sole survivor of the project. Ian explains that the government scapegoats PQL for ruining the past, and sent Martinez back to kill Addison, who is the leaper in the original timeline. Ian then leapt back to 2022 to warn Ben, and then the government destroyed the accelerator. Before the accelerator pulls Ben back to the past, Ian has Ben memorize a quantum code, and says that the key is that "we need each other." The team in the present cannot observe the leap because it's in the future. The accelerator quickly pulls Ben back to the past.
2018: Ben leaps into himself on the day of his first date with Addison, and the day that Martinez is targeting. Janis said that he needed her help to target this exact day and host. She also warns that leaping into oneself can cause any of them to be erased, prevent Addison and Ben from falling in love, or create a paradox that destroys the space/time continuum.
Ben writes down the code that 2051 Ian game him, so that 2023 Ian can observe it. They don't know what to do with it at first.
Ben goes on the first date with Addison, accompanied by 2023 Addison as a hologram. He behaves very oddly on the date, to the horror of both Addisons. When Ziggy sends an alert that Martinez has leapt to 2018, Ben panics and tells Addison that he is a time traveler, her life is in danger, and that she should go to her place and arm herself. He goes to HQ to meet Martinez. Addison calls Magic (who Martinez has leapt into, and is on the way back from Al's house) and tells him about the whole thing.
Present-day Addison is deeply concerned that Ben has messed up the date, and therefore their relationship. Ben assures her that they will still be together because it is their destiny. As they exit the elevator, 2018 Addison greets them with a pistol. Ben tries his "law of entanglement" line to approach Addison and disarm her. Unimpressed, Addison fires but hits the fire extinguisher instead of Ben. There is some doubt if she missed intentionally or not.
Jenn comes in as the hologram to help Ben beat her own security and get to Martinez. He learns that Martinez has leapt into Magic. Addison, who finds whoever leapt into Ben more confident and impulsive than the Ben she knows, finds Ben and Martinez there. Ben and Martinez accuse each other of plotting to kill Addison. Due to Ben's memory loss, he's not able to answer basic personal questions about them and Martinez is. Ben is thrown in the brig.
Martinez sends Addison to his office to rest, as she's had a rough night. He tells her to leave the pistol, but she declines. When there, she realizes that there are still two cigars in Magic's briefcase, though he had left to give them to Al.
Magic steps in as hologram and passes a message from 2023 Jenn to write "Turtle Time" on the wall -- it's a password she came up with if she ever visited herself through time. Ben doesn't have a pen to do so, but Martinez visits Ben. He is aware that he is on a one-way mission. Martinez also says he learned from Ziggy that killing Addison wasn't enough to terminate the project. He plans to overload the accelerator and destroy everything in a 3-mile radius. Ben tussles with him and manages to swipe a pen out of his breast pocket.
Jenn and Ian see the password and free Ben. Meanwhile, Addison catches Martinez reprogramming the accelerator and they point guns at each other. Newly freed Ben surprises Martinez and tackles him, causing an accidental shot that grazes Addison's arm. They wrestle and end up in the accelerator, which throws them to the various times that they previously met. Martinez generally gets the better of Ben in the insane asylum in 1954, on the USS Montana in 1989, and in Salvation in 1879. Martinez is about to shoot Ben in Salvation when Diego de la Cruz's friend Frankie shoots Martinez in the back, killing him.
Ben leaps from Salvation in 1879. Ian has figured out that all three versions of Ian need to enter the code simultaneously to allow Ben to return to the start of the 2018 leap. They do so. After 2023 Addison briefly pretends not to remember him as a joke, she gives him permission to redo the date, but better this time. He kisses her 2018 version, sweeping her off her feet, and then leaps, leaving the rest of the date to 2018 Ben.
In 2023, Addison runs out of the chamber and eagerly anticipates Ben's return. The accelerator fires up, but her smile turns to a frown.
Cast[]
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Trivia[]
- Ben leaps into the future for the first time. It is not revealed who the leapee is in 2051.
- It's revealed that Ben contacted Janis Calavicci to help him program the Accelerator to a specific time in 2018, and to also ensure that he would jump into his own body from that time so he could save Addison Augustine.
- Ian Wright is seen from three different years (2051, 2023, and 2018), and in the end they need to work together to save everyone.