QUANTUM LEAP Post-Mortem: Shakina on Ian’s Emotional Revelation

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Monday, February 6 episode of QUANTUM LEAP, “Let Them Play.”]

When the team was tasked with stopping a young transgender woman, Gia (Josielyn Aguilera), from running away on the Monday, February 6 episode of QUANTUM LEAP, the very real stakes lead to Ian (Mason Alexander Park) opening up to Addison (Caitlin Bassett) about their own difficult journey as a child coming to terms with their identity.

“Look, I’m going to tell you something, because I think if you don’t hear it from me, then you might not notice it in time for someone else,” Ian told Addison in “Let Them Play.” “When I was a kid, I tried to take my own life. I was a child; I wasn’t even 13. And I think on the outside, everything just seemed okay. I was a smart kid. I came from a loving family.”

“But I was alone, just floating,” they continued. “In this grey space, while everyone else was in black and white. And when the entire world keeps telling you over and over again that people like you are not worthy, you eventually start to believe it.”

“You are so worthy,” Addison replied.

“Oh, I know,” Ian assured her. But, they noted, “statistics show one in five trans kids attempt suicide. I was one of the lucky ones; I had a lifeline. I had a coding club. And for Gia, that’s obviously basketball.”

Ian showed Addison the dangers for Gia if they weren’t able to stop her from running away, and Addison took the data in—and also made sure Ian knew they had support if things ever got dark again.

“So many of the pieces of this episode are either autobiographical or were really lifted from the experience of my friends who I lost along the way when I was growing up; trans young people who took their own lives,” episode writer/director Shakina tells Give Me My Remote in the video below. “But also material that both Mason and Caitlin brought to the script were rooted in their own experience and understanding of this particular subject.”

“And for Mason, what was really interesting is that I had crafted that monologue kind of rooted in my experience as a trans woman,” she continues. “And while Mason and I are both nonbinary, we’re really different manifestations of what nonbinary transness can look like. And one thing that was so special that Mason brought to that monologue was was shifting it from an either or kind of place of stuckness to the floating in the shades of grey, which is how they described their experience. And I love that. And I love being able to talk with them, because they’re a series regular, but have been waiting for the chance, I would say, to really go hard at these issues.”

“Representation matters, but representation only goes so far until we open our mouths and talk about what we’re showing,” Shakina points out. “That’s what I think we got to do together in this episode.”

For Bassett—and her on-screen counterpart—”Addison’s monologue about trans soldiers in the military, we had a lot of conversations around that,” Shakina says. “And really just the portrayal overall of folks who don’t understand the issue and might come off as antagonistic, like Margie’s character. Caitlin was really clear with me that she wanted everyone watches the episode to stay tuned until the end. We don’t want to drive anyone away, even people who might not know how they feel about trans kids, or might feel conflicted. We want to welcome them to have that change of heart and mind that QUANTUM LEAP is so famous for offering.”

In addition to writing/directing, Shakina also guest starred in the episode as Dottie, a key figure who has information about Ben’s leaping origins for Jenn (Nanrisa Lee) and Magic (Ernie Hudson). But will she return beyond this hour?

“Well, I can say for sure that this is all we’ll see of Dottie in season 1,” Shakina says. “And perhaps it’s up to the fans if we see more of her in season 2!”

QUANTUM LEAP, Mondays, 10/9c, NBC

RELATED:

• QUANTUM LEAP: Shakina on Sci-Fi’s ‘Latent Queerness’ and Shining a Light on Trans Youth Issues in ‘Let Them Play’
• NBC Renews QUANTUM LEAP
• QUANTUM LEAP Post-Mortem: Caitlin Bassett on Addison and Ben’s Big Moment
• QUANTUM LEAP: NBC Orders Additional Episodes
• QUANTUM LEAP: Caitlin Bassett Previews Ben and Addison’s Entanglement with Guest Stars Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas
• QUANTUM LEAP: What You Need to Know About the Series Premiere
• QUANTUM LEAP: Martin Gero on the ‘Tightrope’ of Balancing the Original Series’ Mythology with the Continuation’s New Stories
• QUANTUM LEAP on NBC – First Look
• NBC Orders QUANTUM LEAP to Series

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.