Tonight’s episode centers around San Francisco circa 1989 when the “big quake” hit sending the city and its residents into peril. Ben leaps into 1/2 of a couple on the verge of getting a divorce whose son Jason is key to a safer future for us all so it’s rather important to keep this kid alive. However, the dysfunction of his family sends Josh into a rebellious spiral at a really, really bad moment in San Francisco’s timeline. While Ben and Addison are trying to keep one family somewhat intact (or at least alive), Jenn, Ian, and Magic just might be breaking another one apart and everyone is just having a really bad day.
The tie-in from ep 105 Salvation Or Bust has an unknown leaper angrily confronting Ben right before Ben leaps, sending everyone into a panic. However, thanks to Jenn the team was able to get a screenshot of the mysterious jerk from the previous leap and run it through Ziggy who came back with the new guy’s identity and address and that’s when things get a bit weird. Magic and Jenn decide to take a drive out to meet and possibly confront him about his extracurricular activities and while it’s a tad bit of a non-sequitur they still keep his info handy, just in case.
As if a crumbling marriage, a new leaper, saving a child from certain death, and trying to survive a massive earthquake’s aftershocks weren’t enough things to worry about, Ben begins to have flashbacks to his childhood and his own family’s conflicts and is struggling to stay focused on the mission. It takes a lot to pull Ben out of his spiral but when he does the results are endearing.
This series is full of surprises but this ep was amazingly well done. The character interactions are becoming more tangible, the storylines are becoming more complex without losing their center, and even the music score seems to have had an upgrade making it more fluid and dynamic. The new ep can be viewed on NBC and streamed next day on Peacock.