Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Quantum Leap Season 1 episode "Paging Dr. Song." Read at your own risk!
Quantum Leap's team finally has the elusive Janice Calavicci in custody, but she wasn't exactly a fountain of information when questioned. While Janice was largely uncooperative throughout the episode, she decided she would share one key piece of advice with Addison. She walked away from the situation wary of Janice, but I think there's reason to take the advice even if Janice can't be trusted.
While Ben Song spent the episode stuck in the '90s as a doctor trying to save the lives of three different people, Addison got some tough advice from Janice, who essentially advised her to stop asking Ben for more intel about what he remembers before leaping and that she also needed Ben to keep his mouth shut about things he remembers:
I need you to tell Ben to stop talking to you. You need to go in that imaging chamber, and you need to tell him that from now on, anything he remembers, he must keep to himself...You say you trust him. Well, there is a very good reason he didn't tell you anything, Addison. Because the problem with information is that the only place we can keep it secret is in our mind.
There's a chance that Janice could be trying to prevent the Quantum Leap program from getting a step ahead of her own secret nefarious plans, though I'm inclined to think she's being genuinely helpful. After all, what she's saying makes sense, and Quantum Leap fans need look no further for evidence than a Peacock Premium subscription loaded with previous episodes worth rewatching.
Anytime that Ben has messed with the timeline, Ziggy's algorithm has drastically increased or decreased his odds of success in that situation. If Ben is on a mission to save Addison, then anything he does or doesn't remember could impact the odds of him ultimately saving her. Ben chose to jump without explaining anything to her or others in the Quantum Leap program, so one could assume that part is vital to his plan's success.
Janice continued on with her advice to Addison and once again alluded to the idea of a traitor amongst the Quantum Leap characters. Janice pointed out that, at this point, Ben can only trust himself, and keeping secrets helps prevent those who sent that future leaper after him:
Because once you say it out loud to someone else in a world with a quantum accelerator? Everyone knows, including the people who sent Richard Martinez. You want to help Ben? You will tell him to trust no one. Even you.
Prior to this conversation, Janice spoke to Jenn in the episode after hearing about Richard Martinez and said that "there is an order" before quickly getting quiet. Was Janice talking about an order as in a shadow organization working against the project, or was she saying that there's a sequence of events in time that has to play out accordingly? We will just have to wait and see and hope that Ben can keep his mouth shut about any new thoughts that pop in his head in the meantime.
Quantum Leap airs on NBC on Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET. It's one of many shows kicking off the new year, so be sure to check out all the other shows arriving in the coming weeks with our 2023 TV schedule.
