Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 12 Review: Let Them Play
Representation matters. That’s a fact.
Those who take issue with Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 12 addressing the genuine plight of trans individuals — as tragic now as it was in 2012 — may still recognize how much representation has benefited other groups and hopefully will extend that understanding to all people one day.
Meanwhile, the show took impressive measures to ensure they did this right. Trans involvement and voices informed the casting, writing, and directing to ensure authenticity and inclusiveness.
Admittedly, Gia’s story has a very fairytale-like quality to it.
She has parents who love and support her, and she attends a school where she can be open and honest about who she is.
The injustices she suffers — changing in the janitor’s closet, public bullying, teammate resentment — are unfair but could be so much worse, which doesn’t make it okay, just less terrible.
Okay, real talk. If you think that running around in these streets is the same thing as independence, you might want to look again at that definition.
Kate
Kate points out Gia’s relative privilege of position when she decides to run away. That caution is only a glimpse into why so many disappear and are never heard from again.
Guest star Shakina Nayfack who portrays Dottie and is a transactivist as well as a successful actress, wrote and directed, which is why there is some deviation from the general procedural template.
The leap narrative’s primary mission is to prevent Gia from running away. It’s the first domino to fall, which leads to her disappearance and death.
Addison: Ian, Gia only played because Ben put her in right now. As soon as she was on the court, Ziggy started updating.
Ian: I’ve been bested by my own technology.
Interestingly, Ian is once again the litmus test for the butterfly effect of Ben’s leaping.
As on Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 7, when they are monitoring the unsolved true crime site when the Daisy Gray case disappears, they are the one to remember Gia’s basketball debut and her running away in 2012.
Their scenes with Addison here are intensely emotional, which isn’t a new thing for the tech genius.
They are stricken when Ben leaped initially, shaken by the thought he may be lost like Sam Beckett was. Of all the team, they spend the most time with Addison outside of work, even knowing her coffee order.
Look, when I was eight years old, I realized that about half of the world just blindly accepted as truth the construct of gender identity which is both artificial and profoundly limiting, so yeah I am pretty suspicious of basically anything that people say is fact.
Ian
While they’ve referenced their personal epiphany about gender fluidity before, it wasn’t paired with actual individuals walking the same path they took through adolescence.
I was alone, floating in this gray space while everybody else was in black and white. And when the entire world just keeps telling you over and over again that people like you are not worthy, eventually you start to believe it.
Ian
It hits hard. And it should. It’s not a topic to be subtle about.
I wonder about the directorial choice to have the trans teen support group stand in a circle talking while their parents sit. It might be symbolic, or maybe it’s just easier to fold folx in as they arrive if there aren’t chairs to contend with.
I love that their discussion ranges from Hunger Games to Twilight to all the catchphrases of the early 2010s. Debates any teen might have about topics any teen might care about at that time. And that’s the point.
You hear all these things, y’know. And you look at your kid. You just want to keep them safe and see them happy and some of these people want to make that impossible. And I tell you, I bet none of them have met an actual trans kid. They make up this boogeyman, y’know, like they’re some danger that has to be stopped when the only real danger is us losing our children. But if they would just pause for a second and get to know some of these kids, maybe they would see what we see. Our babies, growing up and changing, telling us who they are and who they want to be in the world. Isn’t that what we all want for our kids? Doesn’t every single child deserve the right to become their own person? To shine their own light? Because I don’t see the harm in that. But I do see the harm in trying to block it.
Parent
They’re kids, and, yes, they have different challenges to contend with than their cis-gendered peers, but they want to live their lives and dream their dreams and be accepted for who they are, the same as anyone.
I know you’re scared. And I’m sorry it’s so scary being parents of a trans kid. But you gotta get over it because your fear is not my responsibility. Thank you for letting me be myself. But now, you just have to let me be a kid.
Gia
What might be the most difficult thing to suspend my disbelief about is how naive Gia is to the dangers transphobia presents to transpeople in the world. After all, Brandon Teena was murdered in 1993, and Boys Don’t Cry came out in 1999. And his story is only unique in that it was made into a movie.
And Gia’s story could’ve ended like Brandon’s if it weren’t for Ben and Kate and everyone who had skin in the game of keeping her safe.
What doesn’t change is that Gia will always have a lot in common with Ian’s story about depression and self-doubt.
Trans kids are absolute magic. Once you give them permission, they’ll shine, they’ll light up a room. The inverse is also true of course when you try to force them to be something that they’re not.
Ian
At the same time, I’m inspired to see a trans teen living as fearlessly as Gia does.
Heartened that her teammates — including Amanda — find the courage to stand up to school admin and parents and stand with her.
Janay: It is a little weird though, isn’t it? Coach waits this long to put his own kid in the game?
Shruti: She’s an alternate. That’s how alternates work.
Janay: She’s been on the team all season.
Shruti: You never had an issue before.
Janay: And I don’t have an issue now. Just sayin’ it’s a little weird.
Amanda: Well, I have an issue. I don’t think it’s fair.
Janay: Why? Cause she’s trans or because she took your shot?
Amanda: I don’t know. Both.
Shruti: Way to be a team player.
Exhilarated that her community rallies behind her and silences the haters with banners of love.
(Again, the fairytale vibe is strong at the basketball game. Knowing the violence that has erupted IRL at drag storytimes, I expected far worse from bleachers full of amped-up sports fanatics.)
Perhaps the most thoughtful exchange is between Miriam and Margie in Principal Krager’s office.
Two mothers who want the best for their daughters who find themselves at odds with each other and the situation.
Miriam simply wants her daughter to be safe and happy.
Margie sees Gia as an affront to the women’s movement because she cannot accept her as a woman. When her intolerance is framed in contrast to Christian values, she’s left at a loss, possibly seeing the hate she spreads clearly for the first time. One can hope.
The leap template goes off the rails a bit when Gia runs to Kate, and Ben and Miriam catch up with her.
History has Gia running before the game and Carlos getting fired. What made the difference? What went wrong the first time? That isn’t clear here, but it’s probably not the point.
Again, the messaging isn’t subtle, but it’s not meant to be.
Basketball’s no different from the rest of your life. You define the game by how you choose to play it. So show up, put your whole heart into it. Try to work hard as a team but do not back down. Especially when you know what’s right.
Ben
On the flip side of the narrative, Janis’s tip sends Magic and Jenn into the land of trans slam poetry, which leads them to Shakina’s Dottie, who shares with Magic the experience of hosting a leaper.
Jenn’s face while Dottie presents her choreo-poem is a study in audience reactions, while Magic is far more enthralled.
I gaze into the mirror / But my face doesn’t know who I am / I stare into the reflection of a future me I could never be and I realize / I am the Other / And the other is Me / I am another / And the other is We.
Dottie
The genius of the writing is that while we’re led down the garden path by Jenn and Magic, we’re actually seeing the paving stones laid out as Addison and Ian bond over their experiences.
When Dottie shows Magic her portraits of Ian, the leaper who possessed her body and warned Ben about the danger to Addison, it suddenly makes sense that they’d be the one.
Ian is the most knowledgeable team member about Ziggy and the quantum accelerator. They care deeply for both Addison and Ben. They’ve been able to suss out Ben’s plan as it’s evolved.
The biggest question is, how far in the future is Leaper Ian? Is it relevant that they have been the most affected by Leaper changes? Does this mean they figure out how to leap and return home successfully?
As you watch Quantum Leap online, what other clues to Ian’s involvement have you noticed?
What will Magic do with this knowledge? Can he prevent Ian’s leap? Will he?
Hit our comments with your burning-est questions and most mind-blowing theories!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
