Ben Song’s (Raymond Lee) newest Quantum Leap adventure has him in the earliest time period he’s been in so far — the 1600s.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the upcoming episode, which airs on Wednesday, December 6, Ben’s latest leap gives him a front-row seat to Massachusetts in 1692, which he has trouble focusing on due to tension in his personal life.
Ben tries to figure out where he is by sitting down next to an unknown woman in a church. “I think they are all talking about you,” Ben says despite not knowing whose identity he has taken over.
The woman appears aware of the reaction she’s caused, adding, “They are saying I had something to do with Josiah’s death.” Ben walks back his suspicions that the mysterious woman had anything to do with Josiah’s passing after she recalls how much she “loved” him.
“Don’t let them get to you. It’s just gossip — it can’t hurt you,” Ben reassures her.
Ben is offered more insight when Ian (Mason Alexander Park) shows up as his hologram. Ian, who identifies as non-binary, attempts to get Ben to talk about the previous leap but the time traveler declines because his ex-fiancée, Addison (Caitlin Bassett), can hear the conversation.
“I want to but talking to you means talking to everyone who is listening at HQ,” Ben notes. “I just want to move forward from this. I left that part of my life behind me.”
Ian changes the subject to the leap by sharing the information they have managed to acquire. “It is 1692. There is not exactly a lot of historical records to help you out but there is a lot of hot gossip flying around this church,” Ian quips. “Your name is Elizabeth and you are the servant girl to Bridget Smith.”
According to Ian, Ben’s appearance in the 1600s might have something to do with Bridget’s husband. “Everyone here calls her Goodie — which is short for good wife. It is ironic because we are at her husband’s funeral service,” Ian says as Ben gets more context about why he is in a church.
Quantum Leap, which is a revival of the OG science-fiction series, follows Ben after he makes a secret leap and ultimately gets lost in the past. With help from his ex Addison and the rest of the Quantum Leap team, Ben tries to figure out what caused him to jump back in time to alter history.
The first season teased Ben’s potential return, which ultimately never came. Instead, Ben was missing for three years in the present timeline and once the team could track him again he realized how much had changed without him around.
Before season 2 premiered on NBC in October, executive producer Deborah Pratt hinted at what fans can expect in the show’s next chapter.
“[Time travel] is the heart of the show, which is where it has bent to in season 2. There’s a lot more about the person that Ben leaps into,” she exclusively told Us that same month. “[Also] how Ben’s emotional reaction to a leap ties him to his humanity. He’s an Asian American man and how does that affect him when he’s a Black woman? What are those kind of revelations that were so key to the original series? They’re back — in my opinion — in a better way or a more exciting way or a more intimate way.”
Lee, 36, meanwhile, praised Quantum Leap for allowing him to grow as an actor.
“It’s a dream. I don’t think I have to do anything for the rest of my career,” he joked with Us last month. “My reel is probably pretty fleshed out with all the roles that I can possibly play. But a big part of what we do is getting to play dress up and I get to play the ultimate dress up. I love period pieces and for someone of my background, I don’t necessarily get to be a part of many American historical moments in time.”
He continued: “I never imagined that in my career — unless it was a reimagining of a Western from a specific lens — that I’d be able to be a part of a Western and I get to live out that dream. So I could not have asked for a cooler job.”
Quantum Leap airs on NBC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
