Quantum Leap Recap: Magic Takes the Reins in an Emotionally Impactful Episode About the L.A. Riots
This week’s Quantum Leap took a break from the ongoing mystery of Ben’s three-year disappearance to focus on an impactful story about racial injustice.
Wednesday’s harrowing episode found Ben in the body of a young man named Danny, who worked at his father Jin’s shoe store and was planning to leave the family business after enlisting in the Marines.
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The opening scene succinctly laid out the racial tensions between the Black and Asian communities at that time: Jin, who is Korean, accused a young Black kid named Dwain of stealing from his store and still threatened the teen after his other son Sonny provided the receipt.
The sequence drew striking parallels to the real-life murder of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, who was shot dead in 1991 by Soon Ja Du, a Korean store owner who wrongfully accused her of stealing orange juice. Latasha’s story drew even more outrage when Du only received probation and a $500 fine for the killing.
Since Ben asked for time apart from Addison in last week’s episode, Magic stepped in this week as Ben’s hologram. (We last saw Magic as a hologram in the Season 1 finale, giving Ben a much-needed pep talk.) As he and Ben watched the verdict on TV acquitting the four police officers who violently beat up Rodney King despite the fact that it was all caught on camera, they realized the date was April 29, 1992 — the first day of the riots.
Ben’s mission was to protect Jin from being killed while protecting his store from looters. To do that, he needed to convince the struggling business owner and his son to leave before it happened. That was easier said than done, though, because Jin refused to close up shop early. Instead, things got increasingly chaotic outside, and they were all forced to hunker down and ride it out.
At headquarters, we learned that Magic had been dating Beth Calavicci in Ben’s three-year absence. She stopped by to bring him “lunch,” aka confront him privately after finding an empty liquor bottle in the trash.
When Ben went missing, Magic turned to alcohol to cope, and Beth helped him sober up. She worried that he had somehow relapsed, but the admiral insisted that he poured out the alcohol as soon as he saw it in the pantry.
Back in 1992, Dwain banged on the store’s front door pleading to be let in, but Jin refused to do so. Magic then informed Ben that if they didn’t find Dwain, he was more than likely to be killed by cops. Ben and Sonny (who revealed that he and Dwain were working on their own custom shoe line together) chose to go after him.
As a hologram, Magic could do nothing but watch in horror as Dwain hid from police under a dumpster in fear for his life because they assumed he was one of the rioters. Thankfully, the officers left to answer a call before the young kid could be discovered. But the situation was too much for Magic, who told Ben, “I can’t do this” and disappeared.
In a conversation with Jenn, Magic revealed that the alley scene triggered memories of the “long hot summer of 1967,” a period in which social unrest over racial injustice erupted across the nation. In the midst of that, Magic and his cousin Phil were assaulted by cops with batons during a traffic stop and couldn’t fight back because they knew they’d be killed. Seeing Dwain scared on the ground brought him right back to that terrifying moment. Jenn offered Magic an out if this leap was too much for him, but Magic chose to see it through.
Rioters broke into Jin’s store and looted everything off the shelves, leaving Jin devastated. Dwain tried to console him by saying that what people took was just stuff and that he still had his sons. But Jin wasn’t hearing any of that and argued that Dwain was just some punk kid who knew nothing. Dwain pushed back, noting that people like Jin always assume he’s a thug when he’s poised to graduate in the top five of his class and has scholarship offers from three Ivy League schools. Their heated exchange ended with Jin aiming his shotgun at Dwain and Ben deescalating the situation by getting them to focus on their commonalities.
Everyone was distracted by someone entering the store, and Jin immediately fired his shotgun only to realize it was Sonny and not the rioters coming back. When Dwain attempted to drive the ambulance to transport Sonny to the hospital, he found himself surrounded by a group of cops with their guns aimed right at him. In a moment of solidarity, Jin shielded the teen, demanding the cops do their jobs and leave Dwain alone. The police were again called away, allowing Ben & Co. to transport Sonny to the emergency room.
In the wrap-up, Magic revealed that Sonny survived his gunshot wound. He and Dwain went on to build their own custom shoe empire with help from Jin, who used the insurance money for his store to become their first investor. Plus, after enlisting with the Marines, Danny joined the company as their first CFO.
At headquarters, Magic acknowledged how tough this leap was for him and, in a phone call with Beth, asked her to accompany him to an AA meeting.
What did you think of this week’s Quantum Leap? How did you feel about the focused storytelling in this episode?
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