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One Night in Koreatown is the fifth episode of the second season of Quantum Leap, and the twenty-third episode of the series overall. It first aired on November 1, 2023.
Summary[]
Ben lands in the body of an 18-year-old working for his father's shoe store in Koreatown in Los Angeles at the start of the explosive 1992 riots; facing an emotional connection in the riots to his past, Magic joins Ben on the leap.
Synopsis[]
April 29, 1992: Ben leaps into a clerk at a Korean-owned family shoe store in Los Angeles, as Daniel Park, youngest son of the owner, Jin. They set aside shoes for Luisa Rojas, who will return after work. A young black man, Dwain, comes into pick up some shoes from Daniel's brother, Sonny. Ben discovers that Sonny is actually delivering a box full of cash to Dwain. Jin believes Dwain is a "troublemaker" based on his race and he threatens to call the police the next time Dwain comes by.
It becomes evident that they are at the dawn of the LA riots. Magic is the hologram since Ben said Addison couldn't do it anymore. He says that in the original history, the store was ransacked and Jin died of blunt-force trauma to the head trying to defend his store. The sons end up trying to run the store out of guilt, giving up their own dreams.
Ben tries to close the store early, but Jin refuses because they're holding the shoes for Luisa. Sonny tells Ben that he's been working on a side hustle, and asks him when he's going to tell their Dad that Daniel joined the Marines. Luisa comes to get the shoes early, but disorder is already spreading. Ben escorts Luisa to her car, which has been destroyed by the rioters. They return to the store. The roads are closed, so there's no way out. Magic says the National Guard won't arrive until morning. Sonny takes the shotgun to protect the store, and Ben starts barricading it.
That night, Dwain tries to take refuge in the store, but Jin refuses to let him enter. Magic says Dwain will die if the cops find him on the street. It comes out that Sonny and Dwain are working on a custom shoe line, but Jin can't see that the store is doomed by competition, and can't see Dwain as anything but a hoodlum. It also comes out that Daniel enlisted in the Marines. At Magic's insistence, Ben and Sonny go looking for Dwain and find him in an alley, barely evading the police. Ben and Dwain return the store while Sonny goes to loot some groceries.
The scene with Dwain triggers Magic's own memories of the 1967 riots, and he has to take a break. He and Jenn talk about his own brush with police brutality in Detroit of that year.
Back at the store, Jin complains about Dwain being in the store, and Ben argues with him in Korean, which Daniel doesn't speak. The rioters arrive and the family takes refuge in the stock room. They emerge to find the place ransacked. In the aftermath, Magic confesses to Ben that he's an alcoholic, the team saw him relapse when Ben died, and that Beth got him sober.
Ziggy says that someone besides Jin is now going to die. Dwain helps clean up the store and comfort Jin, but Jin's heart isn't open to him. Dwain confronts him with his academic accomplishments, and Jin draws the shotgun. While Ben tries to break it up, Sonny returns with groceries and Jin accidentally shoots him. Luisa is a nurse and says Sonny has to go to the hospital. Ben remembers an ambulance by Luisa's car and they take Sonny there. He tells Dwain to start the ambulance but some policemen draw guns on him. Jin stands in front of Dwain to protect him, and the police fall back.
On the way to the hospital, Magic tells Ben that Sonny will make it, and he and Dwain will build a custom shoe empire with Jin's investment. After the Marines, Daniel goes to business school and becomes the CFO. Ben leaps into a midcentury night, where a friend is bleeding to death on the street. The friend says he has "to find it" and dies.
In the present, Magic and Beth are celebrating their first date anniversary. Later, she comes to the project because she found an empty liquor bottle in the trash. Magic denies he's drinking again. Beth is concerned the stress will consume Magic in the way it consumed Al. After his experience on the leap, Magic cancels his date with Beth, instead inviting her to his AA meeting. He really needs her support.
Jenn and Ian absorb the Ben/Addison "breakup". With nothing to do, Addison is working out in the gym. Ian tells her they are worried that they are to blame for Magic's trauma, because their future self triggers the whole chain of events. Addison, who knows a thing or two about guilt, says the they are the one that is going to bring Ben home.
Cast[]
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References[]
| v - e - dQuantum Leap Season 2 |
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