Quantum Leap Episode Review — Season One, Episode 15 “Ben Song For The Defense”
When Sam leaped into a lawyer he white saviored his way through saving a Black woman accused of murder.
This episode takes the same concept, plays with the demographics, and comes up with a much better hour of television. Ben Song finds himself in the body of Aleyda Ramirez, a harried public defender. (This is another episode where Ben being a woman doesn’t really matter to the story, but Raymond Lee struggling with a pencil skirt is funny. Pencil skirts are awful…they were clearly designed by a man). So we have an Asian guy leaping into a Black latina lawyer defending a white latino. No white saviors present. In fact, the only white people around seem to be crooked.
Ramirez has a massive case load, a secret gay romance with somebody in the DA’s office, and… (A nice note is that the fact that the romance is gay is not the problem, it’s dating an ADA that’s the problem).
This episode pulls not a single punch in going after the legal system, the very concept of plea deals, the horrible underfunding of public defense offices, etc. Not one. It’s much less preachy than “Let Us Play,” and while it’s not a great courtroom drama, I have seen worse.
The personal side of the episode is that we finally learn more about Jenn Chu. Nanrisa Lee…
