‘Quantum Leap’ Season 2 Premiere Sneak Peek Reveals Where Ben Is & Guest Stars

NBC is going to have some original scripted series as part of its fall 2023 schedule (even with the ongoing writers and actors strikes), and among them is Quantum Leap, returning for its second season in October. As part of its panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the drama unveiled the first eight minutes of the premiere, which included some guest stars TV (and NBC) fans might recognize.

The opening of Quantum Leap Season 2 shows what executive producer Martin Gero told TV Insider after the Season 1 finale in April: that Ben, while he does have his memories back, does not return home. Rather, his next leap takes him somewhere over Russia in 1978, on a plane, and the others on board are played by Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest), François Arnaud (Midnight Texas), Aaron Abrams (Blindspot), and P.J. Byrne (The Boys).

The five of them are transporting some sort of artifact (shipped out of Germany), and while some do wonder about it (and why the Air Force has them posing as civilians), Arnaud’s character doesn’t think they should care about what’s inside. His focus is making the delivery and getting out of the military purgatory he’s been stuck in for five years. Roxburgh’s sees it as a ticket out of dead-end, long-haul supply missions; after they hand it off, they can get what they all want, like going home for the person Ben leapt into. (Ben can relate.)

But then the plane comes under fire (surface-to-air missiles) and crashes; the captain dies on impact, and Byrne’s character is pinned. As the others help free him, he admits that there’s a “betrayal” weighing on him … which he then blames on the blood loss. Ben helps Roxburgh’s character drag their cargo off the plane just before it explodes.

After the Season 1 finale, Gero also promised that Ben will definitely interact with Magic (Ernie Hudson), Ian, and Jenn (Nanrisa Lee) more after the first was focused on his relationship with Addison (Caitlin Bassett) going forward. “That’s really the focus of the Season 2 — not for them to be the hologram constantly, but to create space for those characters in a way that the first season was maybe not designed to do. The first season is very plot heavy and the second season is less so. It gives space for some more complex emotional stories for the people in our present stories,” he explained.

“The season premiere is the biggest episode we’ve done. I think it’s bigger than the pilot. The scope of the storytelling is really, really exciting,” he added.

Quantum Leap, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, October 4, 9/8c, NBC