Quantum Leap's Caitlin Bassett talks Addison's arc in Season 2

Throughout Quantum Leap Season 1, we saw Addison deal with the fact that Ben didn’t remember who he was and who she was to him. Now in Season 2 he remembers, but Addison has moved on.

You see, we have a three-year time jump for Addison and others in the present day. They believed Ben had died, and suddenly he came back. Yet, Addison had found love with another man. That doesn’t mean she stopped loving Ben, but she had grieved his loss and found life elsewhere.

Now Ben has also started moving on. In the midseason finale, we watched as Addison realized that while she still loved Ben, she had to let him go in her heart. It’s something we talked about with Caitlin Bassett, along with where we’ll get to see Addison next.

Caitlin Bassett discusses playing out the new arc

We started off with a discussion about playing this arc without really playing it all through. We’ve been put into this storyline three years later. Bassett discussed how it’s the second time that she’s been given a reality that is different than Ben’s.

"“This one is very different. Where the first one was more like ‘I don’t understand why you did what you did.’ This one has been ‘I need you to understand why I did what I did.’ Which is a very fun reversal…it’s a completely new set of things to deal with and a new relationship to build.”"

Bassett went into that Addison has to figure out who she is again. She’s lost the job that she thought would save the world and lost the love of her life.

"“When all that burns down in a pretty epic way, like who are you and who is the people human being you choose after that.”"

Jumping straight into Quantum Leap Season 2

There wasn’t time to really take in everything that Addison had been through in the first season finale and then dealing with where we find Addison in the Season 2 premiere. For the cast, it was just three days later as filming kept going.

"“I had to get some work done really fast. I was like ‘how do I do this? Who is this human being.’ I had a lot of conversations with the showrunners so I had been building it in my head.”"

It turns out that having different people around can also help. Peter Gadiot has taken on the role of Tom Westfall, who is far more than he initially seems—and not just to Addison.

"“The addition of Peter helped a lot. He is so different from Ray, and he really helped me be the other Addison in a different type of relationship.”"

Handling the emotions for Ben in Quantum Leap Season 2

In Quantum Leap Season 2, Episode 8, Addison and Ben finally get some time on the screen together. It’s in this episode that Addison realizes that Hannah and Ben have feelings for each other. That’s when she also realizes that she loves Ben still, but she’s moved on. It’s not fair to hold Ben back.

"“That was super fun. You can only just relate it back to yourself. You might be past somebody…but there’s that deep part of you, but I don’t really want you to be with someone else…Those things that we all think we’re above.”"

Bassett had originally played the important line about Ben and Hannah felt about each other as friendly and light. It came out sassy, though, and it really brought a human element to the story. Sometimes, we surprise ourselves with our own feelings. It’s only when we’re faced with them that we see exactly how we do feel. That’s what it was like for Addison.

Where is Addison going next in Quantum Leap?

There is still a lot to come. We asked Bassett to tease some things for Addison’s story arc moving forward. Will we get more time to see her develop further as she’s realized so much about herself so far?

"“Addison has been reacting to a lot of things for a long time. Ben left; she’s got to figure that out. Ben died; she had to figure that out. Ben came back; she had to figure that out. And I think starting very soon, you start to see her stop just reacting and absorbing everything that’s happening and start driving her own ship.”"

That is going to be fun to see. It’s time for her to stand up as the woman we can see she is. Addison has spent so much time waiting, and it’s time to take action. Get ready for some decisions that surprise us.

Take a look at the full interview with Caitlin Bassett for Quantum Leap Season 2 below:

Quantum Leap returns on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 10/9c on NBC. Catch up on Peacock.