In this weeks episode of The Quantum Leap Revival, Cory and Tom find the secrets of the witches brew as they discuss season 2 episode 7, A Kind of Magic.
A Kind of Magic:
Written by: Margarita Matthews
Directed by: Avi Youabian
Airdate: December 6, 2023
Synopsis:
Ben leaps in as Elizabeth, a young woman in Middle Towne, Massachusetts in the year 1692, the furthest back he’s ever leaped. He’s approached by another girl named Bridget who tells him that she didn’t do it, before she hurries them both off to the funeral for her husband, Josiah.
As the two enter the funeral, the townsfolk all stare at Bridget, as she explains to Ben that they all think she was responsible for Josiah’s death, but she denies it, saying that she loved her husband. Ian, having gotten Ziggy working again with Rachel’s help rewriting the Quantum Chip, shows up to explain that the townspeople call Bridget Goody, short for goodwife. The reverend begins talking about a drought and an affliction that killed Josiah as well as several other townsfolk.
Ian explains that people are looking for someone to blame, but they’re interrupted by Magistrate Bloodworth, who asks Ben if he had seen Goody acting strange before Josiah's death, with Ian explaining that the townspeople end up burning Goody at the stake as a witch. Suddenly the magistrate’s son, William, seemingly afflicted the same way Josiah was, collapses onto the church floor. The magistrate begins blaming Goody, but Ben begins to care for William and brings him back to life with CPR. The townspeople accuse Ben of being a witch, putting him and Goody into the stocks. Under the magistrate’s direction, the people are whipped into a panic, ready to hold a trial to determine their innocence before the apothecary, Morgan, steps in to defend them and is taken into custody as well.
The trial begins, but the magistrate doesn’t believe Morgan’s words, pushing her to admit she is a witch, while Goody tries to appeal to the people to no avail. Jenn shows up and says she found that pleading guilty is the only way to save their lives, as history shows those who plead their innocence always die, and Ziggy gives the strategy an 80% chance of success. Ben refuses that as not being good enough and instead calls William to the stand as his witness, realizing he already changed history, gambling on a new tactic. However, William does not help and accuses her of being a witch.
In a cell awaiting their burning, Morgan argues with Goody, angry she didn’t defend her when the magistrate said her tea killed Josiah, and accusing her of being just like the townsfolk and not thinking for herself, just going along with the herd. Suddenly, Ben starts to smell sulfur and reasons it could be due to the stress and the power of suggestion and the three women laugh at their situation. As they wait, a man named Sam Wiltshire comes by and Ben pleads with him to help but he refuses. Jenn reveals that her research found his family name in the records and that they had a long history in the town, despite Sam thinking his wife was barren. Ben uses the info to try and get his help and while it seems he is receptive, he pulls Ben against the bars and insults him, refusing. He leaves but Ben reveals that he managed to grab the keys to their cell.
They make their escape, with Morgan offering the use of her horses, and Jenn saying that Ben will leap if they can get Goody out of town. Unfortunately, they discover Morgan’s shop looted and her money stolen. Goody is shocked that her people would do this, and she and Ben gather what supplies they can while Morgan goes to ready the horses, finding that one of them was also stolen, and realizing that the one remaining horse can’t carry all of them.
Goody talks with Ben about losing people, and how hard it is, with Goody hoping that there is still good in the town. They look out the window and see Morgan riding away on a horse as the townspeople begin searching for the missing women. William shows up and tells them of his plan to help them escape. As they ready their escape, Ben appeals to William to be his own man and speak up to his father about how he really feels about life in Middle Towne. As they escape, Goody reveals that she really doesn’t want to leave but believes there is no choice. Jenn shows up and tells them to stop, that Morgan was caught. Ben wants to go back but Goody refuses to go with him, feeling the hate for all that has happened. Ben tells her she can’t go down that road, desperate to help her lead a better life not filled with hatred and bitterness, to help where she can, and Goody decides to go with him back to the town.
Back at the project, Addison confides in Magic her frustration that she feels useless, due to the events that lead to her being benched. Magic tells Addison about how he has been attending AA to find a community to help lift him up and how to focus on the things that she has control over. With history changing due to Ben’s decision to go back to the town instead of getting away with Goody, and Ian’s research into star charts and weather patterns in farmers almanacs, Addison comes up with an idea to help Ben, with Jenn pushing her to go into the imaging chamber.
Addison shows up and Ben is glad for any ideas she has, explaining that with it due to rain, he can use that to help the situation. As they make their appearance, Morgan is shocked they came back for her, with Goody telling her she has a friend. The magistrate orders them taken into custody but William steps in, demanding they are allowed to speak, explaining his cowardice in court. Ben gives a speech about the affliction of fear plaguing the town, telling them they are better than this, but the magistrate orders them to be burned. Ben makes a final plea and says if God wants them to burn then so be it, but if not, to let it rain. As he repeats his plea, no rain comes and the magistrate begins to move towards Ben to burn him himself, but just then, thunder roars and the downpour begins.
The magistrate asks what it means, and Goody says it means he was wrong, which causes the townspeople to begin calling for him to be burned. Ben stops them and demands that they find a different way to talk to each other instead of about each other. Ben suddenly smells sulfur again and traces it to the town well, realizing that their water supply has become contaminated in the drought, which is why people were getting sick.
Addison jokes with Ben after William kisses him on the cheek, and tells Ben that the deaths are over, with no more witch hangings or burnings in Middle Towne. Ben then tells Addison that he was scared of working with her but now is scared of what would happen if he doesn’t work with her, worried about becoming a bitter man, and asks her to be his hologram again, as he seemingly leaps into Egypt near the pyramids.
Ziggy’s Data Retrieval:
Who is Ben?
Elizabeth Bleecker
Where is Ben?
Middle Towne, Massachusetts
When is Ben?
1692 (263 year leap back, and current leap record)
Closest Previous leaps-
S01E05 “Salvation or Bust” 1879
S01E16 “Ben, Interrupted” Georges Island, Boston
Closet location to Sam Beckett-
S02E15 “Her Charm” Boston, Massachusetts
S02E17 “Good Night, Dear Heart” River Rock, Massachusetts
Closet time to Sam Beckett-
S05E20 “The Leap Between the States” September 20, 1862
Brian Van Holt was the Magistrate. He was a lead in numerous projects, such as Hot Break, with Star Trek alums Ethan Peck and Connor Trinneer (once a hot young TV writer, now nearing 50, divorced with kids, wants back into the business and does so in a modern gender reversed Cyrano story), Den of Thieves (an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and the state's most successful bank robbery crew clash as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank), Cougar Town, Ascension (a young woman's murder causes the subjects of a century-long mission to populate a new world to question the true nature of the project as they approach the point of no return), John From Cincinnati (in Imperial Beach, California, the dysfunctional Yost family intersects with two new arrivals to the community: a dim-but-wealthy surfing enthusiast, and a man spurned by the Yosts years ago), Threshold (A team of experts are assembled after the U.S. Navy discovers an extra-terrestrial object briefly appeared near a ship in the Atlantic Ocean), House of Wax (a group of teens are unwittingly stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit), and Love & Money (the penthouse residing Conklin family of socialites and the basement dwelling McBride family of maintenance men find themselves unhappily linked when the heiress daughter and blue collar son fall in love). Most recently he played John Reiner in Joe Vs Carole, a movie based on the Tiger King drama.
Amanda Jaros played Morgan. She’s got a number of small roles on her credits, but was the top credit for a sketch show called Skinny Legs Sketch Show and a series called Dating A Puppet. Most recently starred in the Yellowstone origin story, 1883.
Madalyn Horcher played Goody. Before this, she was in 12 episodes of the series Big Sky (a private detective and ex-cop solve crimes in Montana), and 10 episodes of the series Origin (a 10 episode YouTube original focused on a group of strangers struggling for survival aboard a spaceship heading to a distant planet). She was a main cast member in Gracepoint (When a young boy is found dead on an idyllic beach, a major police investigation gets underway in the small California seaside town where the tragedy occurred. Soon deemed a homicide, the case sparks a media frenzy, which throws the boy's family into further turmoil and upends the lives of all of the town's residents).
Michael Provost played William. He was higher up in the cast list for Plan B (follows a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend who, after a regrettable first sexual encounter, have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America's heartland), and in Saving Zoe (the high school freshman kid sister of the murdered Zoë finds her diary, which sheds new light on the murder missed by the police. She investigates). He was a lead in Insatiable (a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach takes on a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client and has no idea what he's about to unleash upon the world) and Most Guys Are Losers (over Thanksgiving weekend in Chicago, a college kid from California seeks approval from his girlfriend's dad, a bar owner and author of a dating book titled, "Most Guys are Losers”).
Ruby Jay was one of the young girls, and is best known for her role as Holly Hobbie in the series of the same name (Holly Hobbie has lived her whole life in the small town of Collinsville. Holly's a 13-year-old singer-songwriter who's got her best friends and close-knit family by her side, but she's dreaming of ways to save the world - even if it's starting in her own backyard). She was a main voice actor in Fancy Nancy (the story of a young girl who loves to wear fancy clothes), Twin Mirror (a video game about Sam Higgs, a former investigative journalist who returns to his hometown. Forced to confront his past, Sam finds himself torn between reconnecting with his loved ones and using his unique abilities to uncover the town's dark secrets), and in several episodes of Disney’s Rapunzel series. She was also a main cast member in The Unicorn (a widower is eager to move on from the most difficult year of his life, only to realize he's utterly unprepared to raise his two daughters on his own and equally unprepared for the dating world where he's suddenly a hot commodity). She is currently appearing in the new Disney+ series The Santa Clauses
Unsung Hero: Uncredited
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