episode #28 - The Guardian

Air Date: 10/04/96 writer: Tracy Torme Directed by Adam Nimoy

A trippy and unusual episode written by the show's creator, Torme, and also one of the rare later episodes which returns the action to San Francisco. The prologue shows Arturo undergoing a brain scan in some hospital and the disclosure of his terminal illness; only he and Quinn are aware of this. The Sliders then move on to an Earth which rotates faster by a tiny fraction than our common Earths; hence, it is twelve years 'behind-the-times' so to speak; here, it's as if it's only 1984, even though to all the residents it's 1996. Quinn sees himself when he was 12 years younger, attending his father's funeral with his mother. Since Quinn has already lived through this period of his life, he knows what will happen in about a week - a traumatic incident involving bullies at his school. He is determined to change things for his younger self. His fellow Sliders frown on this, but cannot dissuade him.

There are two elements at play in this episode. The first one involves Arturo and his new attitude about living every day to the fullest. This all foreshadows his eventual fate later in the season; it was in this episode that Arturo becomes, essentially, a walking dead man, and this lasts until his final episode. It's too bad in a way and somewhat depressing, knowing what we know ahead of time now. The other element involves Quinn and his desire to pave a slightly better path for his younger incarnation. The audience is kept in the dark as to what actually happens on that fateful Friday which would scar Quinn for the rest of his days. We are made to believe that he gets severely beaten by the school bullies, but this is not the case. Quinn also lives out a brief fantasy of becoming romantic with a teacher whom he had a big crush on back in those days. Quinn's mother also plays a touching role in this episode. In all, it's thoughtfully written. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

Earths Depicted:
---------------- #55: unknown Earth which does have modern hospitals; shown only in a prologue
---------------- #56: an Earth which rotates a fraction faster than the usual Earths, where it's still 1984 to us (still '96 to inhabitants)