Pop-Culturalist.com

The captivating second season of Quantum Leap has reached its conclusion, leaving fans thrilled with long-awaited answers and eagerly anticipating new possibilities for the show’s expansive universe.

Pop Culturalist recently caught up with showrunners Martin Gero and Dean Georgaris to discuss the shocking moments from the Season 2 finale of Quantum Leap, as well as to celebrate the talent both in front of and behind the camera. Additionally, they shed light on whether viewers have seen the last of Hannah and shared insights into the show’s future.

*Spoilers Ahead*

PC: First off, I have to say that this is one of the best season finales of a show that I’ve ever seen. It does such a brilliant job balancing the action and leaps with those emotional beats. It feels like you’re watching this cinematic experience on television. It was important to both of you that this season focused on these characters and their relationships. How does knowing what your cast is capable of and the talent they possess push you each as storytellers and the themes that you’ve been able to explore throughout the series, but in particular in Season 2?
Martin: What a great question. Thank you so much for spotlighting our incredible cast because you’re absolutely right. The first season, when you’re on a show, especially in the way that we joined, which was a moment of extreme chaos, it was really let’s see what works and we’ll get done what we can. But we had the space in Season 1 to realize the real strength of the show—outside of its brilliant premise—was this cast.

So every decision we made about Season 2, both the arc and how to set it up with the three-year time jump, was about how do we make this show a showcase for the awesome talent. There’s such a deep bench of talent that we can show off, not only what Ray [Lee] and Caitlin [Bassett] can do, but also what Mason [Alexander Park], Nanrisa [Lee], and of course, Ernie [Hudson]. Not only that but also our guest cast as well. You totally nailed it. That was front and center in the construction of the season. It was let’s give them the ultimate showcase.

Dean: We felt a great responsibility and we felt creatively energized because we had this cast to serve. We all felt as writers to deliver the material that they deserved.

PC: What I loved about Episode 212 and 213 is everyone at HQ gets their moment to shine and that sense of family and responsibility is reflected in all the sacrifices that these characters make for the greater good. As showrunners, was there a scene you couldn’t wait for audiences to see in this season finale and why?
Dean: There are about five scenes, but that sounds like a cop-out. [laughs] It’s the moment when Jeffrey changes because he experiences the power of what you can do with kindness. It’s a very challenging moment to actually pull off. The way that Drew [Lindo] wrote it, Chris Grismer directed it, and how the whole cast nailed it, I’ve been waiting for people to see that one for a long time. It’s been that moment and the moment when Addison gets bumped into someone at the very end, and Ben realizes that she’s in the same place.

Martin: Same. [laughs] I’m also really looking forward to that Gideon reveal. It’s been something we’ve been working on all year, truly. We had given it a lot of time. It’s a full five or six-minute section of the show where he’s like, “I’m Jeffrey.” It cuts back. There are pieces that we shot in earlier episodes that are recontextualized and
all that stuff. It’s been really thrilling to do that.

Speaking of the incredible talent and the reason why so much of this finale works, it’s not only our cast, but it’s our incredible director Chris Grismer, who’s also our producing director, our director of photography Ana [M. Amortegui], and most importantly, Ian Mayberry, who has been an editor on the show since the beginning. This show is a lot of crisscrosses that could feel like separate episodes, but the flow is so beautiful especially towards the end of Jeffrey making that choice and everything going on with different timelines. It all comes to a boil in such a beautiful way. And of course, Daniel [James Chan], our composer who ties it all together. Sorry, I had to show love to everyone that came so hard on this one.

PC: There’s also been a lot of fan speculation and theories about Hannah’s involvement in the overall story, and she gets such a seemingly great and satisfying conclusion to her arc, but she’s also become such a fan favorite so quickly. Is this the last that we’ve seen of her? How much of that sisterhood that Eliza [Taylor] and Caitlin have formed behind the camera influenced their journeys as characters and that beautiful moment in Episode 212?
Dean: It’s really interesting that you used the word sisterhood because very early in the process we talked about Hannah as a character. We talked about her coming to a realization that Ben was Addison’s soulmate and that she gets to love Ben for seven days, and for a lifetime in a way, but that she’s really bonded to Addison in this very unique way. We actually used the word sisters.

What’s really satisfying for all of us is it feels like if we don’t see Hannah ever again, she’s played this magnificent role in the story and will forever be important. But at the same time, she’s out there in the universe, Gideon/Jeffrey is out there in the universe. We have people that we can bring back. But our hope is that it felt like a satisfying conclusion to the entire story. Much like being a leaper yourself, where are we now in Season 3 and what new stories are they going to tell.

PC: Perfect segue to my final question for you. The season finale is the perfect bookend where it ties up all the loose ends from Season 1 and 2, but leaves the door open for so many more stories to be told. The two of you are known for your brainstorming boards. Have you started putting together ideas of what’s ahead for these characters and what future leaps could look like? Have there been any early conversations about a Season 3 pick up?
Martin: The future is not so certain if we could shake the magic 8 ball. We don’t know which way it’s going. Obviously, we love the show and we think it’s creatively hitting its strides, but we definitely have a lot of ideas for Season 3. We have the shape of it, how it will work, where it’ll end, what a possibility of Season 4 would look like. It’s really a question if it makes financial sense for everybody involved to keep doing them? We hope the answer is yes.

Make sure to follow Martin (Twitter/Instagram) and Dean (Twitter/Instagram). Catch Season 1 and 2 of Quantum Leap on Peacock today.

Photo Credit: Maarten de Boer (Martin). Episodic photos: NBCUniversal