Excerpt from "The Family Treasure"
NBC Quantum Leap (2024) 2x10
Transcript:
Sarah Malek: Oh my god, are you okay? Are those bandages? Are you hurt?
Dean Malek: Not exactly. *takes off shirt to reveal chest bindings* It is a bandage, but that’s not why I wear it.
.
Ian Wright: Wow. Transmasculine in the ‘50s. I mean, I had a hunch. But this is …
Jenn Chu: Isn’t that dangerous though, binding with elastic bandages?
Ian: Good eye. Look at you. But there weren’t exactly a lot of options back then. Dean must feel so alone.
.
Sarah: I don’t understand.
Dean: When I wear this, I feel more like myself.
Sarah: So do you want to be a man?
Dean: No. That’s not it.
Sarah: Do you think it’s shameful to be a woman?
Dean: No! Being a woman is great … for some people. But I’m not really one or the other. I’m just Dean.
…
Ben Song as Nadia Malek: You look badass.
Dean: You two like the whole “miss” and “ma’am” thing, but that’s not me. And I’m … I don’t want to be “sir,” necessarily. I wish I had better words for it.
Ben: You know, my best friend b-back at, um, finishing school-
Ian: *laughs*
Ben: They also feel the same way. So they ask us to use “they” and “them” instead of “he” or “she,” which is really binary.
Dean: Binary like spy code?
Ben: Yes, and also, a binary is anything with only two possibilities. A light switch is either on or off. A person is either good or bad.
Sarah: But I don’t think that’s true.
Ben: Exactly. So we need more possibilities than binary, right?
Ian: *tears up*
Ben: My friend identifies as nonbinary.
Dean: I like that.
Sarah: So that’s what you are, nonbinary?
Dean: I mean, I’m not ONLY that. But yeah. Feels like me.
Sarah: But you’re still my sister?
Dean: I’m your sibling.
Sarah: Okay. I can live with that. Come here *hugs them* I love you, Dean.
Dean: I love you, too. Thank you for listening to me when I tell you who I am.
Ian: Well done, Ben Song
.
See also:
Jessie Gender After Dark
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Jessie: I was able to do [an interview] with the wonderful creative team behind the most recent episode of Q
