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| I know Wade said she could see through men, but this is ridiculous! |
We begin with the Sliders making their way through a forest as a torrential storm rages overheard. Decked out in their rain slicks, they're keeping on the move until the Slide comes. When it does, Quinn is the last one through just before a bolt of lightning strikes the vortex. Wade, Arturo, and Rembrandt all emerge on a beach that is considerably less rainy than the world they just left, apparently having felt some kind of jolt on the Slide over.
Quinn, too, has emerged on the beach but it quickly becomes clear that none of his fellow Sliders can hear, see, or feel him - all three points illustrated when Wade literally walks through him as he tries to get their attention.
Apparently Quinn having near-death experiences is going to be a recurring theme this season.
The others are confused and more than a little worried that Quinn might have missed the Slide, but Arturo puts them on track to fix the timer - which has been on the fritz repeatedly throughout this season and the last and has apparently been short circuited by the lightning before the slide. Without the timer, they have no idea when the next wormhole will open and they could miss the gateway.
They head into a nearby town, finding it to be very much akin to a 1950s small town in America (and yet "Mr. Sandman" isn't playing as they enter. Damn, missed a perfect opportunity.) The technology level seems to be back as well, vacuum tubes still being advertised as transistors appear to have not been invented yet...and apparently electronic wrist watches are a piece of forbidden technology. Upon stopping a policeman to ask for a payphone, the man notices Arturo's wristwatch and immediately grills him about where he got it.
Before he can be arrested, however, Quinn manages to spook a horse even in ghostie form that's tied up nearby and get it to run off, forcing the officer to pursue and allowing them to escape. They make their way to the Dominion Hotel, where Arturo confirms more that this world is apparently highly anti-technology - there are no listings for electronics or television in the phone book. This, complete with the receptionist at the Hotel using a switchboard phone, pretty much confirms that they are pilgrims in a Luddite land. In getting the key to their suite, they also learn of the "Bureau of Anti-Technology".
Spiraling on from this, Rembrandt reasons that if there's a government organization going around putting a tight clamp on all technology, then there must be people around who are actually creating and using said technology. He also comes up with the idea to consult with a priest, reasoning that only they and a lawyer can be trusted with a secret - and a priest doesn't charge them. As Wade lights a candle and says a little prayer for Quinn, Quinn finds he can apparently interact with a young woman named Gillian. It would seem she's had some experience in hearing voices before, and wants nothing to do with him once he realizes she can see him, fleeing the church in protest with him in hot pursuit.
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| "Get his autograph! He kicks ass for the Lord!" |
Rembrandt, being the everyman that he is, gets the Astral Plane explained for him and the audience in simple terms - basically, if they can get the timer fixed up, they might be able to save Quinn with the slide to the next world. But until they can get it fixed, the point is moot, so Rembrandt goes to confession and in the next cut he has told him everything. While the priest has some reservations about the entire matter, he points him in the direction of a man named Michael who has "dabbled in the forbidden sciences". We also get some exposition about why this world is stuck with 1950s technology - apparently the world took notice of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and it was decided (at least in America) that technology needed to be stopped from advancing for fear of causing more devastation. While there have been advancements over time, it has been incredibly slow.
Given the card, the group makes there way to the address given and discover that the man living there is none other than the Michael Mallory of this Earth, Quinn's father. We also learn that Quinn on this Earth is dead (and later learn it was because of polio, for which no vaccine was developed on this Earth). He's about to kick them to the curb when Arturo mentions that the priest sent them and he invites them in, taking them to the basement.
He explains that the Quinn of this Earth also had theories of travel to parallel dimensions, but with technology so simple in their world it was considered completely unworkable. Arturo says some kind words about their Quinn and the group makes an excuse for why he's not visibly with them. They manage to enlist Michael's help as he reveals his hidden workshop and Arturo gets to work on repairing the timer with SCIENCE!
Wade and Rembrandt have a little side discussion about what she and Quinn were up to in that basement, Rembrandt teasing her a bit as we get a bit more build up on the Quinn and Wade relationship that I'm entirely certain is going to end in a happily ever after for both parties involved.
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| "Give me your purse! A ghost told me you were stealing!" |
Moving right along, Arturo has some trouble with the timer, namely he forgot to reverse the polarity (ha!) before testing it, which Quinn tries to warn him about but can't for obvious reasons.
At the diner, Gillian is getting heckled by a girl when Quinn appears to her to ask for help once again. As she tries to get him to go away, the owner of the diner suddenly comes over to ask why the register is empty. She begins to berate her but Quinn, not being a total idiot, heads over to the girl who was heckling Gillian earlier and phases through her purse to find the money there.
She gets caught and the owner of the diner is none too happy about the theft, taking her out back while Gillian agrees to run off Quinn to aid his friends in understanding him.
Back at the Casa di Mallory, Arturo is once more hard at work on the timer. Thanks to his frustration, he ends up lashing out at Rembrandt and Wade and attempts to leave..only for Michael to be pushed down the stairs by two men in suits - two members of the Bureau of Anti-Technology as they introduce themselves. They confiscate the timer, and Michael plays it off as his own invention so that the others will be spared, so they take him away in handcuffs with Quinn and Gillian arriving just in time to see them head off.
Instead of meeting with the group and formulating a plan, Quinn and Gillian take a taxi and follow them to a power plant. There's an outright hilarious Taxi Driver reference as Quinn and Gillian talk for a bit before he goes in and discovers the terrible truth - not only are these men not from the Bureau of Anti-Technology, not only are they working for a Power Company, but Michael Mallory is a collaborator!
Oh, the horror! Though to the episode's credit, it's a twist I actually didn't see coming, so point to them there.
But it seems that the entire set up is one big scam - the power company collects advanced technologies as they come out and quiets the creators so that, when Congress repeals the Anti-Technology laws (as they're apparently set to do soon), they will have a leg up on their competition. Quinn is obviously appalled that his father would be involved in this. Regardless, the guys at the Power Company are planning to take out the Sliders to protect any patents they might get from the technology they could provide. Y'know, because the 90s were all about being anti-establishment, these people are the bad guys. Remember that!
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| "We don't serve you Federation scum here..." |
That night, Arturo and Rembrandt skulk through the dark around the Plant. Through the cunning use of flashlights and science, Arturo rigs the fire alarm to go off and clears the building. With the workers and security out, they head in. Arturo channels Gimli in order to break open the door to where the technology is being kept and they conveniently find the timer. Arturo quickly tries to put it back together, but security arrives and they are forced to flee with whatever they can get their hands on.
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"Man, we just wanted to find the nuclear wessels!!!"
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After the break, we get a scene at the "Lamplighter Pub" between Quinn and Gillian. She asks about the timer and what will happen if they can't get it fixed in time, and offers to be there to help him talk to his friends in the event they should be stuck there. She goes on to talk about how lucky he has to have friends and talks about how she has none. In a scene that would make the Doctor proud, Quinn gives her a pep talk about how people fear what they don't understand and she should be proud of her gifts, they're a miracle.
It's a short scene, but it really shows just what an awesome person that Quinn is, simply being a very kind and caring individual to people he barely knows. One of the overall strengths of the character.
At the hotel, Quinn, Wade, and Gillian are there when Rembrandt and Arturo return. However, they don't bring good news - Arturo doesn't have everything he needs to fix the timer. With the power station no longer being an option, they must go back to Michael Mallory's house. Though Wade gives her an out, Gillian reinforces the notion that she wants to help even if it's dangerous. Thus determined, they head out...and run right into Gillian's mother.
Apparently she knew where Gillian was because...psychic?
Or she read the script and knew she needed to be here. Either way, she's here and not exactly happy about her daughter hanging out with a bunch of weirdos. Arturo tries his natural British charm, but this strangely doesn't help the situation. Gillian comes out swinging with words about Quinn being trapped on the astral plane and emotionally blackmails her mother into agreeing with the crazy, though it's clear that she's not remotely comfortable.
They break into Mallory's basement and Arturo gets to work with Gillian giving Quinn's instructions. In a show that she's somewhat accepting of her daughter's supposed crazy, Gillian's mother offers her brooch pin when Arturo needs a substitute component. With luck, however, Arturo does succeed and the timer is re-activated! ...with only seventeen seconds to go before the Slide.
...what a remarkable coincidence!
But alas, with five minutes to go (in the episode), Michael Mallory arrives with gun in hand, deciding to put a stop to all these multiverse shenanigans! Arturo berates him for siding with people like the power company, but Michael refutes that he has no choice - the company got him out of jail early. Nevertheless, Arturo opens the vortex and all in attendance marvel at it. He offers for Michael to travel with them, but he's having none of it and is about to shoot him until Quinn appears in the gate - apparently, the energy from the Vortex makes him visible!
...insert coincidence joke here.
Quinn manages to talk Michael down and all seems well...until Quinn reveals that he can't slide. The vortex isn't active on the Astral Plane, the others will have to slide without him. And here we have a genuinely heart-wrenching moment. They all say their goodbyes, each of his fellow sliders getting their own moment with him - Rembrandt telling Quinn he loves him and the sentiment being returned, Arturo promising to find way to free him, and Wade not wanting to leave and having to be convinced to go - before they go through and the vortex seals behind them. And it seems that Quinn Mallory is forever trapped on a world where he can be neither seen nor heard except by a single individual that will...yeah, I'm just yanking your chain. And so is the episode.
An orange vortex as opposed to the traditional silver-blue one suddenly opens and on the same plane as Quinn is the boot. For some reason, without a shred of evidence, he thinks he can slide. And while he can, this is a bit of a jump. Regardless, it means that Quinn will go on. Gillian thanks him and he tells her to tell Michael that he'll always love him before he slides...and he's gone.
Elsewhere, the other Sliders are walking down the sidewalk of a suburb rather somberly over the loss of Quinn. However, there's a-something hidden in a bush - Quinn! Once more, he's visible, audible, and solid much to their relief. They share in a brief, joyful reunion before Rembrandt asks if they've come home at last. We get a shot of a mailman suspiciously lacking in a uniform delivering male to a naked woman who is strategically censored by her front door, and Quinn noting that their mailmen generally wear clothes...and they share a laugh as the credits roll.
I won't lie, I really like this episode. Not only because it's a pretty good episode on it's own, but because it makes us face a rather harsh reality - the fact that, one day, one or maybe several of the Sliders could be left behind. Sure, we've had other episodes where the group has the Sword of Damocles over their heads, but they've always managed to either escape at the last minute or were otherwise alright.
This is the first real episode where we have the vortex actually close on one of the Sliders with no possibility of opening another outside of the deus ex machina. While the episode does have the deus ex machima in opening the vortex on the Astral Plane, for a short time when the vortex closes there's a feeling of finality. Despite Arturo's claims, you get the sinking feeling that Quinn will be trapped there with only Gillian to really talk to or interact with. And then after she passes away...it's not a happy thought, regardless.
Apart from that - which only helps it considrably - the episode stands well on its own. The pacing was actually fairly good - probably helped by the fact that we didn't know how long the Sliders were on the world for. The explanation for why this world is different is pretty good too - considering how the explosions of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima would have likely had very different reactions from different people. Some of those different people get into power and BOOM!, anti-technology world. Given how the governments of the world are able to control people through a climate of fear anyway, it wouldn't be hard to see the logical jump.
Throw in some good character moments with Quinn, a bit more development of Quinn and Wade's relationship, and a tearful goodbye from the others Sliders to Quinn before his sudden return to them make this one of the best episodes yet.
Next time...the Sliders enter the world of "Law and Order: Smith & Wesson".
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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