These are scenes from the October 9, 1997 9th revision draft of the script for the episode Prophets and Loss written by Bill Dial. These scenes did not make it into the final episode due to time and story considerations.
One of our first missing bits occurs when Jane is describing the leaders during the church session...
CLOSER ON JANE AND THE SLIDERS
as they take their places.
JANE
(sotto)
Our Chief Oracle is Gareth, a truly
gifted man.
ANGLE ON STAGE
Cadmus sitting next to Gareth. Cadmus is taking note of the Sliders' arrival.
JANE
The other man is the Chief
Counselor, Cadmus. They are both
'sighted' leaders.
BACK TO SCENE
with Jane and the Sliders.
JANE
A special provenance from the
Master Oracle himself. 'Sighted'
leaders can make law.
Maggie nods her understanding. Jane looks at Maggie carefully, then at Quinn and Remmy, as if studying them more closely. Remmy notices, gives her a nod and a smile. Jane lowers her eyes, thinking, then gives her attention to the stage once more.
When later discussing the state of this world on the street, the timing was a bit different and Maggie had another comment...
REMBRANDT
Sounds like a weekend at my Aunt
Miranda's.
MAGGIE
How did the people let this happen?
QUINN
Must not have been paying attention
when they should have been. When
you don't vote, you get what you
deserve.
They pause as a scruffy-looking man -- the first such one we've seen -- comes running out of an alley past the Sliders. He's being chased by two Enforcers.
ANGLE ON CHASE
as the Enforcers catch the man, brace him and drag him off.
BACK WITH THE SLIDERS
as they react to this.
MAGGIE
Does it say anything in those
magazines about Oracle fashion
police?
They continue walking.
REMBRANDT
Well, they at least have technology
-- cars, planes, CD players.
Schools must be pretty good.
Next up in the order is the scene which was only lost in the United States broadcasts. You can actually view this scene by clicking the image below:
Click Above Image For Video Clip
INT. CHANDlER HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT (N1)
Quinn, Maggie and Remmy are finishing up room service dinners. Remmy has the television remote. He's been channel surfing, and now he turns the set off.
Below is what was actually in the script for that missing scene.
REMBRANDT
Nothing but preachers and shows
about how to add a redwood deck to
your house.
QUINN
I thought the Celebrity Pro-Am golf
was pretty good. Who knew Regis
Philbin had such a good swing.
Quinn crosses to the window and looks out. Maggie looks over the leftovers on his plate.
MAGGIE
Are you going to eat the rest of
your green stuff?
QUINN
No, you can have it. You can
finish off the brown stuff, too, if
you want.
REMBRANDT
What happened to the kitchen in
this hotel? In most worlds, the
food here is good.
The beginning Of Act Three offered more of a tour of the way to the Resistance headquarters...
ACT THREE
FADE IN
INT. TUNNEL - DAY
The Sliders are being hustled along a dark, winding tunnel. The dark-clad raiders are pushing and pulling them along, flashlights shedding very little light on the wet walls and floor of the tunnel.
EXT. FLOOD CONTROL CONDUIT - DAY
The Sliders come out of the tunnel onto a high concrete conduit somewhere in the flood system of L.A. The dark-clad raiders motion for them to continue. They have Uzis so the Sliders don't know for the moment if they've been kidnapped or rescued.
INT./EXT. TUNNELS AND FLOOD CHANNELS - DAY
Various shots as the Sliders are hustled along by their captors, over rushing water in sluices, slong more dark and cramped tunnels, across bridges and dams. They're moving in secret passageways farther and farther away from the Oracle Center.
INT. MAIN FLOOD TUNNEL - DAY
as the Sliders arrive in a large chamber that is apparently headquarters for this bunch. We get our first good look at their captors: dressed entirely in various kinds of black pants and coats, some with surplus army gear of various types. All wear black cloth masks covering their head and face except for the eyes. Now that they're arrived at their H.Q., they start to take off the masks and hats and we see that half of the raiders are women. They all smile at the Sliders, which is not immediately comforting to our people. They've seen a lot of smiles on this world, none of them friendly.
ANGLE ON SAMSON
The raider who has been leading the way from the cloister has removed his bullet-proof jacket and mask and turns to the Sliders. He's a tall, rugged-looking fellow.
A big smile as he approaches Quinn and the others.
SAMSON
My name is Samson. Welcome to the
underground.
And Rembrandt had a missing line to Samson during one of his famous quote sessions...
SAMSON
And you came here to help us?
QUINN
Not exactly.
SAMSON
What else could it be? As the poet
said, 'God gives, but man must open
his hand.'
REMBRANDT
What poet said that?
SAMSON
One of the big ones.
(to Maggie)
What's your job on the team?
We were originally supposed to be privy to Gareth's conversation with the Master Oracle...as shown by the missing beginning to this scene.
INT. ORACLE DENTER - ORACLE'S OFFICE - DAY
Gareth, at his desk, is finishing a phone conversation as Cadmus enters.
GARETH
(into phone)
Yes, we're certain to get a lot of
information out of him before he
enters Chemical Re-Config.
(pause)
Certainly. Thank you, sir. I'll
pass it along.
He hangs up and turns to Cadmus, very pleased with himself.
GARETH
(to Cadmus, indicating phone)
The Master Oracle himself. He's
very pleased. Samson is the
highest ranking RadRat yet taken on
the west coast. His re-config will
be a great coup for the Oracle.
CADMUS
I'm sure you're right, but I think
you should consider making a
harsher example of him. And the
others as well.
And from there, Cadmus goes to suggest that the Sliders and Samson should become Welcomers...
Another interesting difference in the script is where the Sliders ended up after sliding out of the incinerator...
THE PORTAL (ON STAGE)
is lit up with the real vortex. When the flash is over, we can through the glass that the portal is now empty.
CUT TO
EXT. FIELD - DAY
One at a time, the Sliders are dumped down in a meadow. We are somewhere in the country, no signs of life or building around. Samson is coming around just as he makes the slide to this new world. Quinn, Remmy and Maggie pick themselves up and start to look around. Quinn leans down to help Samson to his feet. Samson is still a little stunned from the zapper, but okay.
QUINN
It was Cadmus.
SAMSON
I knew it would be somebody.
(then, re: the timer)
Can that thing get me back?
Upon returning, the last part of Samson's speech to the crowd was cut out...
SAMSON
But, for a change, we are going to
have a free and open forum to find
out.
(points to the portal)
I am not a Welcomer come back from
the 'other side.' What you just
saw was not a miracle, but the
result of pure science. But a
science not to be feared, but to
be embraced for what it can teach
us about our world, and ourselves.
As Charles Darwin said: 'Accurate
knowledge is the true wealth of the
world.'
It's time to step out of the
shadows of superstition and fear.
The Rationalist way will not forbid
belief in the Oracle or in any
other system, rational or
metaphysical. There is room in
this world for an infinite variety
of thought. But there is no room
for slavery of the mind or for
tyranny from any ruling class. We
will call for a Constitutional
Convention to return to the
principles of our founding fathers.
Freedom of speech, assembly and
religion will be restored and will
never be violated again by any
regime. No government can exist
above the people. It must be *of*
the people...
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