Quite some time ago, I discussed two of the three episodes of Sliders that have time travel elements (click these links to see Part 1 and Part 2 in the series). Let’s take a look at the final one.
Beginning with the third season, FOX gained more control of the series and wanted more action-driven plots in each episode. Because of this, the tone of the series drifted away from its original intent from the first two seasons. Many of the plots from the third season came from plots of popular films during that time, which inherently resulted in John Rhys-Davies’ decision to leave the show mid-season. However, before he did, the sixteenth episode of the third season entitled “The Last of Eden” bore a striking resemblance to the distant future H. G. Wells envisioned in The Time Machine.
Shortly after arriving on a new world, the Sliders encounter a huge earthquake, which literally opens the ground beneath them. During this earthquake, they see a woman with a baby fall into the deep abyss and then Wade slips and falls into it as well. Quinn tries to save her, but can’t before the ground closes itself back up again. Horrified, Quinn runs up to a group of people who are watching nearby. These people do not seem to care about the ones who fall in or to help Quinn retrieve Wade from below, except for one man, Brock.
Brock welcomes Quinn, Professor, and Rembrandt back to his home while telling them that the woman they saw fall is his sister and the baby is his niece. He wishes nothing more but to get them back and has a plan, asking Quinn for help in return for getting Wade back. While there, Brock gets grief from his leader Keegan for letting the men stay with them, believing they are outsiders and up to no good. In this world, Keegan believes that explorers several years ago set out to find a land of freedom and will return for them once they find it. They are only safe in this one spot from a mystery species, but none of these explorers have ever returned, which makes Brock question Keegan’s theory.
While Quinn attempts to go down a vent, the others are captured by Keegan and punished for disobeying his rules, leaving Quinn to search alone for Wade below. Professor and Rembrandt are now imprisoned in a room with Brock taking care of them. As time passes, Professor begins to scratch himself to the point where he overwhelmingly bleeds. To stop him scratching, Rembrandt punches him unconscious. When he wakes up, the two have a deep conversation in which Rembrandt says he noticed something different about Professor since “The Guardian” episode, to which Professor then reveals his illness.
As the two begin to eat, they realize the food that they are eating has the ability to taste like whatever they desire, from ice cream to a juicy burger. It is then Professor concludes that these “Gineers” or “engineers” are remarkable and beyond their years. Quinn finally finds Wade, who in turn saves the baby, but finds the mother dead. As Quinn and Wade try to find a way back to the surface, they too have a deep conversation about relationships, children, and college.
In the midst of it all, they are attacked by gruesome creatures, who are in fact the Gineers, but finally make it back to Brock safely with the baby. Much like the Morlocks and Eloi in “The Time Machine”, the Gineers feed upon these surface people, which is why none of the explorers returned. At the end, Keegan comes to terms with this after seeing a Gineer.
This is a great episode for any fan of “The Time Machine”. Although it doesn’t technically have to do with time travel, it does re-illustrate the film really well. I’m surprised that Quinn or Professor didn’t mention the book or film at some point, knowing they are quantum physics fanatics.
I enjoyed every part of this episode, even the two deep conversations. I could feel Professor and Rembrandt getting closer, and I also like Quinn’s comment to Wade about how one would get a better education sliding for four years than going to college. I was also hoping their conversation would allow them to start a true romantic relationship.
The most interesting part of this episode is more of a behind-the-scenes event. Although it was filmed before John Rhys-Davies left, it didn’t air until after. Because FOX wanted to keep things continuous and didn’t want to confuse its viewers, they essentially turned the entire episode into a flashback episode. FOX had an extra scene recorded for the opening shot with just Sabrina Lloyd and Cleavant Derricks where Wade wakes up from a nightmare and Rembrandt consoles her. The two exchange stories on what happened on that world, which leads into the actual episode. Brilliant!
RJ Onyx Moonshadow
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