First off, I was a little confused because the previews showed Ben leaping into a female punk rocker. Instead, we got a small-time bank robber trying to save his partner from dying on their next heist. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the writing on this first episode, especially since they never explained why he "accidentally" leaped in the first place. But I'll give it a chance to improve. Raymond Lee, as Dr. Ben Song, was OK. He has some dramatic range, but it remains to be seen if he's as versatile an actor as Scott Bakula. I didn't like the casting choice of Caitlin Bassett as Dr. Song's advisor and time-travel companion. She's playing it very serious, doesn't contribute much in terms of useful or strategic information, and doesn't even have the colorful little communicator with Ziggy that squeals and squawks. For this Addison/"Al" character to be successful she's going to need to be more commanding, as far as interpreting the reason for each leap, and humorous. The rest of the Quantum Leap team didn't have much to do in the Pilot, mainly because they're all trying to figure out why Dr. Song deliberately leaped when they're still trying to get Ziggy programmed. I'm not sure what the plan is for them is as they were not featured in the original series.
Review of July 13th, 1985
