These are scenes from the November 14, 1995 fourth revision draft of the script for the episode Into the Mystic written by Tracy Tormé. These scenes did not make it into the final episode due to Fox meddling, time and story considerations.
This draft was the one which featured the teaser later seen at the beginning of the second season episode "Greatfellas". After Fox stated that they didn't want Tormé to resolve the season one cliffhanger, he made up the lawyer world idea to be the teaser for "Into the Mystic". Fox finally conceded to allow Tormé to resolve the season one cliffhanger...but by that time, Tormé's original plan for an 8 minute resolution was cut down to 2 1/2 minutes (since the episode had been filmed and timed out for the 2 1/2 minute Lawyer World teaser). If you have any information on the original 8 minute resolution to "Luck of the Draw", please contact me at sliders1995@yahoo.com. This information would only be found in the production version of the script (the first draft).
A small bit seen early on in the script, there was originally an address mentioned for Dr. Xane (called Dr. Wu in the early scripts)...
INT. PHONE BOOTH - REMBRANDT
is hurriedly thumbing through the rather thin section of yellow pages. We catch a glimpse of many products with the brand name SORCERER, before Rembrandt finds a cryptic ad for Doctor Wu's Medical Clinic located on the corner of Tesla and Warlock, open 24 hours.
And I'm sure you find yourself wondering...how could this episode *not* be a resoution to season one's cliffhanger? After all, the focus is Quinn's injured shoulder. After Fox's rejection of a resolution, Tormé wisely wrote the ep where the voiceover of a single line could change it back and forth (thus giving him leeway if Fox changed their mind). Here is that line...after Quinn is brought out from seeing the "doctor"...
DOCTOR WU
Your friend's headache is
annihilated.
ARTURO
Headache? You blistering idiot,
he's dislocated his shoulder!
NURSE
(to Sliders, covertly)
I'll bet the Sorcerer could help
but he'd never see you of course.
Still, you can pick up some of his
Miracle Balm at the marketplace.
If you watch the episode, you can tell that Arturo's line was re-recorded over what he said during the original filming (the original episode was taped with Arturo saying the dislocated shoulder line). At no other point in the script does it mention what was wrong with Quinn's shoulder...just that he hurt himself when exiting the vortex (the line describes that Quinn hits awkwardly on exit).
Continuing the above scene, Doctor Wu had a few additional lines about the Sorcerer which help to clarify just what type of products The Sorcerer had brought to this world to corner the market...
DOCTOR WU
Sorcerer?! How dare you mention
that charlatan in my prescence!
NURSE
(cringing)
Sorry, doctor.
DOCTOR WU
Thanks to *The Sorcerer*, my
practice is *half* what it was!
Who wants my carefully formulated
herbs and potions, when they can
buy...
(pained)
... Sorcerer brand as-per-in, or
Super Sorcerer throat lo-zen-ges,
at half the price?!
And when the Sliders are running off...Dr. Wu had some additional words for his anger...
DOCTOR WU
Fools, I will bring a thousand
curses down on your heads! No one
crosses the AMA. You signed a
contract, and YOU WILL PAY!!
Directly after the Sliders ran off, we were supposed to be shown the Sliders encounter with Gomez Calhoun as they checked in...
EXT. DOMINION HOTEL - NIGHT - ESTABLISHING SHOT
in the rain. Lightning flashes and we see that the marquee on the Lamp-lighter reads: "Dominino Hotel...The Sorcerer would stay here" (then, in smaller letters) "if he ever needed a room."
INT. DOMINION HOTEL - LOBBY - NIGHT - GOMEZ CALHOUN
greeting the exhausted, dripping Sliders at the check-in counter. His face is pasty white and he wears ghoulish Alice Cooper-like eyeshadow.
ARTURO
Well, Gomez Calhoun as I live and
breathe. Dipping into Mom's
make-up kit, I see.
Calhoun nods happily as he checks them in, while munching on some boxed chocolate candy.
GOMEZ CALHOUN
New from The Sorcerer's Sweet Shop.
Help yourselves.
Rembrandt takes a piece of the offered candy -- recoils: it's in the shape of a cockroach.
GOMEZ CALHOUN
Say, how do you guys know my name?
I'll bet you're witches, in town
for the convention!
WADE
(stifling a smile)
That's right. We parked our
broomsticks outside.
GOMEZ CALHOUN
(guffawing)
Broomsticks. Whaddya take me for?
(hands them keys)
Suite 152 - down the hall. You
witches have a nice stay now.
(as Sliders exit)
Don't forget, there's a skeleton in
every closet - and complimentary
hot cocoa served in the lobby 'till
ten.
The Sliders go --
CUT TO:
INT. DOMINION HOTEL - NIGHT - ON TV
The familiar bumper and voice-over we recognize as --
JERRY SPRINGER (ON TV)
'Devil coax you to split Grandma's
skull? Voices in your head urge
you to push your little sister down
the stairs? We want to know about
it. Call us here at the Jerry
Springer show and we'll put *you*
on the air!
WADE
is gently tending to Quinn's shoulder on the bed. Rembrandt is stretched out, remote in hand, watching TV. The muted sound of the SHOWER tells us where Arturo is.
WADE
(needing)
Look at you - always turning on the
TV, first chance you get.
REMBRANDT
Interests of science, girl! What
better way to scope out a culture?
And while continuing to watch TV, a few more differences...
REMBRANDT
Man, I'm not gonna sleep a wink
until we slide out of this place.
Rembrandt's voice trails off. He's become creeped out and mesmerized by a portrait on the cheap motel wall. A pack of squirrels are about to be torn apart and devoured by a wolf. Meanwhile, a NEW COMMERCIAL is playing in the b.g...
COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCER (O.S.)
Sorcerer Brand Orange Juice, one
sixty-six a quart. Mister Sorcerer
Steak Sauce now just one
seventy-nine...
QUINN
Sorcer this, Sorcerer that. He
seems to have cornered the market
in just about everything.
REMBRANDT
(opening closet)
Yeah. I'd love to get a piece of
his action --
Rembrandt recoils from the opened closet door. Wade and Quinn leap up to see what he sees...
REMBRANDT
Damn!... He wasn't kidding!
ANGLE - INSIDE THE CLOSET - A SKELETON
is fastened to the wall, being used as a hanger for suits and robes.
QUINN
pats a shaky Rembrandt on the shoulder...
QUINN
Think of the bright side. He
must've meant it about the cocoa.
Rembrandt exhales and hangs his jacket on the skeleton, BLACKING OUT THE FRAME.
And did you think while viewing the episode that Pavel took them to the Sorcer's castle a little too easily? In the original script, it wasn't so easy...
PAVEL
(incredulous)
Do I know? Is Helen Reddy?
(howling laughter)
*Everyone* know - Sorcerer live in
big black castle on other side of
Golden Gargoyle Gate Bridge.
QUINN
Take us there.
Pavel reacts, pulling the cab over to a neck-bending stop at the curb.
PAVEL
Out.
QUINN
What?
PAVEL
No one go to Sorcerer's castle. Is
very dangerous journey.
ANGLE - THROUGH THE WINDOW - A HAGGARD VAGRANT
looking like a mummy, begins to hand-wash the window with a loose rag attached to his body...
REMBRANDT
(off this)
Look man, just take us as far as
you can.
Pavel mulls it over.
PAVEL
How much?
QUINN
How much do you want?
PAVEL
(eyeing Arturo's finger)
... I like his ring.
The Sliders look to Arturo. He hesitates... scowls...
QUINN
Professor --
Arturo submits. Pavel holds it up to the dashboard lights, then happily slips it on to his finger, further annoying the Professor.
Meanwhile, Rembrandt locks eyes with the vagrant, who is using a cobwebbed spray bottle on the side window. The singer recoils at the sight of the swollen blood red eyes peering back at him from under the dirty cloth wrapping. As the cab patches out --
CUT TO:
EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS - PAVEL
slams on the accelator, nearly clipping the squeegee-ghoul in the process.
CUT TO:
EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT - THE CAB
streaks through the mystic San Francisco streets, racing past scarecrows set up on the sidewalks.
We can occasionally hear the SCREAMS and MOANS of the SLIDERS as they hang on for dear life.
INT. PAVEL'S CAB - NIGHT - PAVEL
driving with flat-out reckless abandon that would make the most hard-core New York cabby proud.
The wide-eyed Sliders are white-knuckling it, leaning back in their seats as far as they can go.
PAVEL
Uh-oh. Flock of bats.
REMBRANDT
Bats? What do you mean bats?
PAVEL
Vicious, bloodthirsty bats -
probably sent by the Sorcerer, to keep
us away.
THEIR POV - THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD - A SWARM OF BATS
is forming in the sky ahead, looking like a great black funnel cloud. The bats begin to plummet like minature dive-bombers.
Pavel turns on his windshield wipers as the swooping, SQUEAKING BATS literally CRASH and THUMP off the glass, think as hailstones.
Pavel shakes his fist at them, SWEARING IN RUSSIAN, but never taking his foot off the gas. The cab plows ahead, eventually breaking through and leaving the bat attack behind.
EXT. STREET - THE CAB
as it streaks away, taking a corner way too fast and SKIDDING out of sight. The last thing we hear (above the sound of the SCREECHING BRAKES) is the collective SCREAMS of Rembrandt and the Professor.
CUT TO:
EXT. FOG SHROUDED RURAL ROAD - NIGHT - THE CAB
comes to a stop near a CRICKET INFESTED set of dense woods. A nervous Pavel keeps the engine running as
THE SLIDERS
exit.
QUINN
This is it?
PAVEL
End of the line.
REMBRANDT
Where's the bridge?
Pavel indicates --
PAVEL
There it is -- The Golden Gargoyle
Gate Bridge.
ANGLE - THE BRIDGE
shrouded and half concealed in fog, and fronted by twin ancient stone gargoyles painted a faded golden yellow. We can hear the sound of RAGING SURF far below... and this brideg is a walking bridge that looks highly unstable as it settles aned CREAKS in the wind.
A RUSTY SIGN
(in bright red letters) in front of the bridge reads: "WARNING! THIS BRIDGE IS CURSED! CROSSING IT IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH! A public service message from The Department of Health and Sorcery." Suddenly --
A CREATURE
rustles nearby.
WADE
(nervous)
What's that?
ARTURO
Animals of some kind.
But then -- LAUGHTER filters through the darkness.
WADE
Maybe we should go a different
way -- through Oakland or
something...
And you know the rest from there on...
Also at the end of crossing the bridge, Arturo originally gave a more elaborate explanation for why the bridge seemed to disappear...
WADE
Smoke and mirrors, Professor?
ARTURO
Precisely. A well placed mirror of
sufficient mass could make any
large structure *seemingly*
disappear...
The Professor is looking down nervously, secretly terrified.
Also, we were originally given a more alternate history explanation for the Sorcerer's Castle...
THEIR POV - THE SORCERER'S CASTLE
towers before them. The Sliders realize it bears a striking resemblance to the Transamerica Tower back home. But it is painted jet-black and dressed with Medieval trappings.
Did you ever wonder how the other Sliders made it back to where Dr. Wu (Xang) was about to cut Quinn's head open? The original script offers the missing scene of how they got in...
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
EXT. DOCTOR WU'S MEDICAL CLINIC - NIGHT - REMBRANDT, ARTURO, AND WADE
pound on the doors and windows.
ARTURO
Let us in!
WADE
You can't do this! It's not sun-up
yet!
INT. DOCTOR'S CHAMBERS - QUINN
struggles with all his might as the Bounty Hunter and Doctor Wu, hold him.
DOCTOR WU
Hold him down.
The Doctor clamps an ether-dispensing mask over Quinn's mouth. Turns up the gas --
ANGLE - CABINET
behind the table where several brains are individually housed in liquid, inside clear glass jars. The jars read: E. A. Poe... B. Karloff... L. Borden... E. Wood Jr... R. Nixon. The last jar simply contains liquid - it is marked Q. Mallory.
DOCTOR WU
(Quinn's neutralized)
Help me get him on the table.
As he and the Bounry Hunter maneuver Quinn's inert body onto the table, the annoyed Doctor responds to the threats and entreaties coming from outside.
DOCTOR WU
Shut up out there!
(to Bounty Hunter)
Quickly, while the body is still
warm --
As he begins the first stage of what should be a very effective liposuction-type procedure (whatever that is).
EXT. DOCTOR WU'S CLINIC - NIGHT
The other three Sliders are in despair.
WADE
What are we gonna do?
REMBRANDT
Look --
As now --
WU'S NURSE
purse in hand, comes down the street ready to start an evening of work.
THE NURSE
Good midnight.
ARUTRO
Good midnight to you.
(forced calmness; off
Rembrandt)
My colleague is feeling a touch
under the weather. A light appears
to be on inside.
THE NURSE
(taking out her keys)
Here. Come on in --
She no sooner has the door open than the Sliders push their way past her...
INT. WU'S CLINIC - WAITING ROOM - SLIDERS
surge in --
NURSE
Wait! You can't go in there!
And straight into...
INT. DOCTOR'S CHAMBERS - QUINN
Quinn is down on the table, Dr. Wu above him strapping on a complex machine, featuring multiple plastic-like tubing.
And that's where we came in...
And lastly, as the Sliders are going back to the Sorcerer's Castle...in a missing bit, Arturo continues to find reason for the magic...while giving us a glimpse of his family tree.
EXT. SORCERER'S CASTLE - DAWN - THE SLIDERS
have crossed the bridge once more. They are exhausted, disheveled, but they've got the blueprints in hand.
QUINN
Almost there.
Rembrandt's got the Bounty Hunter's shotgun, follows behind staying wary --
WADE
Are you willing to admit we were
dealking with a demon, Professor? A
true denizen of the supernatural
world...
ARTURO
I admit no such thing. My Uncle
Simon stood only four-foot-ten and
had a face like a sheep.
(then)
The Bounty Hunter was simply a very
short, very ugly little man.
WADE
(shaking head)
You are in *total denial*.
They reach the double doors and step inside.
INT. SORCERER'S CASTLE - THE ENTRY FOYER - DAWN - THE AIDE
QUINN
Mr. Gail!
The Aide frowns -- not what he wanted to see.
QUINN
(waving blueprints)
Mr. Gail! We did it!
AIDE
(taking them)
Let me see that.
And from there, the rest of the episode is as we witnessed.
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