Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 13 Review: Family Style

Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 13, “Family Style,” serves us a heaping helping of heart as Ben races against time to save a family business. It’s a tender love letter to immigrant families, brimming with touching performances from Nandini Minocha and Mason Alexander Park. 

Ben finds his current leap into Kamini of Portland, Oregon, in 2009 hits close to home, mirroring his own experiences growing up with a single mother. Narratives like this always pay off emotionally, allowing us to dig deeper into Ben as a character. 

IAN: I’m the one that set all this in motion. I must have leapt from the future and spoken to Ben, told him to activate the Quantum Leap accelerator. And I intentionally sent my best friend just hurtling across space-time, separating him from you. 

We know he lost his mother to a brain aneurysm when he was a boy. “Family Style” grants him the opportunity to resolve his feelings of deep-seated remorse regarding his mom’s death. We even see his “freeze” trauma response in action when it’s triggered by Sonali — Kamini’s mother — passing out.

Raymond Lee shares a wonderful chemistry with Nandini Minocha as Ben works through his embedded grief. Minocha delivers nuanced work as Sonali, running the acting gamut from comedy to drama — eliciting laughs and drawing out tears. “Family Style” brilliantly crafts a fleshed-out character in Sonali while propelling the plot. 

Mason Alexander Park doles out consistently solid performances on Quantum Leap, but “Family Style” shows them at their best. They learn about their direct involvement in Ben’s choice to leap and how it catalyzes the show’s events. Naturally, it throws them for a loop. 

ADDISON: As much as you love basketball, eating really is your favorite sport. 

Park has one particularly charged moment chock full of multiple emotions, which the actor shifts through seamlessly and beautifully. Like Ben, this outing delves into Ian on an emotional level. It’s also nice to see Ian outside their usual office/lab setting. 

It feels like there are more emotional advancements in “Family Style” than narrative forward motion, and that’s okay. Character development is necessary, even in a fast-paced sci-fi series. Mining the depths of our main characters allows us to root for them when sh*t hits the fan (and it always does). 

This outing embraces the complexities of families while depicting the obstacles immigrant families face in America, from racism to poverty. It also champions and profoundly uplifts immigrants. 

BEN: We are family. That’s enough. 

That’s the beauty of Quantum Leap, both old and new. It brings diverse perspectives and identities to the fore, combined with the magic of science fiction. 

Stray Observations: 

• Fun fact: Alice Kremelberg, who plays Rachel in the episode, is Mason Alexander Park’s real-life partner. “Family Style” is their onscreen debut. 
• Deborah Pratt is the director of this episode and the voice of Ziggy in the original Quantum Leap. She’s also the mother of Troian Bellisario, one of the stars of Pretty Little Liars. Rachel notes how Ian was distraught when that show ended. 
• This episode marks the first time we see a leapee’s body modification — a nose piercing — appear on Ben’s body. On that same note, the piercing looks out of place, like Ben has a speck of something stuck to his nose. Maybe it would’ve looked better if it was a nose ring? 
• All of that food looked incredible. Don’t mind me; I’m just salivating while watching Quantum Leap. 

What did you think of this episode of Quantum Leap? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Quantum Leap airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC, with next-day streaming on Peacock.

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