Working title:
Raging Quinn
These are scenes from the January 23, 1997 production draft of the script for the episode The Other Slide of Darkness written by Nan Hagan and Scott Smith Miller. These scenes did not make it into the final episode due to time and story considerations.
Our first change is with the seer of the episode, Adra. Originally she was conceived to be an exotic 30-something black woman. But hand written changes in the script indicate the decision to go with more of a "Yancy Butler" look.
Did you ever wonder what that guy in the oxygen suit was doing in the fog at the beginning of the episode? Well, he was originally part of a storyline that was later dropped in the episode...
This scene comes right at the start of Act One, where the three Sliders have just regained their compsure and Quinn asked where Maggie was...
Maggie emerges from the fog, dragging the pursuer's body with her. Quinn tosses her a serious look.
MAGGIE
Nice to know where you stand,
though.
(lays body down)
Found him near where we landed.
WADE
Guess Rickman didn't waste any time
getting his booster shot.
REMBRANDT
The Colonel didn't kill this man.
There's no needle mark. My bet is
he choked on the fog.
QUINN
The locals must be like us, they
can't breathe the stuff either.
WADE
(pulls the man's wallet)
Everett Keller. He's FBI.
REMBRANDT
Not anymore.
MAGGIE
Best place for Rickman to take
cover would be up there. I'm going
back in to find him.
She steps toward the fog forest --
QUINN
No. *We're* going into town first.
We know he hasn't slid out. I want
to know if he's done any damage.
(indicates the body)
We need to report that too.
MAGGIE
We're not responsible for him.
Fed up, Quinn pulls Maggie aside.
QUINN
I'm tired of having this same
conversation. Lose the Lone Ranger
routine. If we're going to
survive, we've got to work together
-- as a team.
MAGGIE
(nice, but --)
Only team I've ever been part of
was the Sisters of Immaculate
Conception's varsity tennis squad.
I was number one -- *in Singles*.
She smiles at him, then starts off towards the fog.
QUINN
(nice, but --)
Step into that fog, Beckett, you
lose your bus ticket thru the
inter-dimension. When Rickman
slides, you'll be left here -- no
way to track him, no way to avenge
your husband's death.
Maggie burns, but clearly isn't going into the fog.
QUINN
Nice to know where you stand,
though.
(loud; to the others)
We'll send someone back for Keller.
And the next scene is the Sliders entering the town as in the final version...
Our next change concerns when Wade first meets Adra. Adra was supposed to give indication of why the FBI agent was there...
MAGGIE
(what a nut)
Well, she's normal.
WADE
She must've sensed the dead man's
presence on you.
QUINN
Wade...
WADE
If she's got powers, Quinn, we
should listen to her.
(starts off)
I'm going to ask her what she saw.
REMBRANDT
We don't have time for this.
But it's too late... Wade's already opening Adra's door.
MAGGIE
Little Orphan Annie has a point.
We should listen to scary Adra.
Agent Keller isn't your problem.
He gives her a disdainful look, then checks out the street.
QUINN
I'm going to find a phone.
INT. ADRA'S PLACE - DAY
One room, bedroom separated by beads. The place filled with icons, dolls, smoke. A statue of Papa Legba is in the b.g. Wade sits across from Adra. Candles burn brightly. Incense smolders. Adra sprinkles powder over the candle.
ADRA
He's here to save himself. That's
all. You tell him that.
Sparks, then mysteriously, the candle simply goes out.
WADE
We can't just leave that man in the
woods.
ADRA
Yes you can. It's t'ate for him.
I warned him to leave it, that
they'd be waiting and they were.
They got him.
WADE
They? But the man wasn't killed by
anyone. He died in the fog.
ADRA
He was sent to stop the killings,
to stop the Foggins from taking
people's spirits.
WADE
(gets it)
He was investigating murders.
ADRA
Not murder. Limbos. Usually the
Foggins snatch the life right out
of you. But lately, they've been
taking souls, leaving struggles;
bodies with nothing inside. We've
got 3 limbos in the village now.
WADE
Adra, we're looking for a man who
takes souls. It's possible he's
responsible for these people. IF
you could show me one of --
ADRA
No. You come with death. I
t`ain't showing you the limbos.
Wade's gaze lands on Adra's Tarot deck.
WADE
What if the cards say I'm here to
help?
A beat. Adra fans the cards for Wade to choose. She pulls one, turning it up. Adra's hand goes over the face.
ADRA
Justice. A strong card...
EXT. ADRA'S PLACE - A MOMENT LATER
Quinn is walking back. Remmy exits a nearby store.
QUINN
Not a phone within fifty miles.
REMBRANDT
I tried describing one to the guy
in there -- he looked at me like I
was from another world.
(then)
So much for doing the right thing.
Maggie exits with two young men from another store front. She thanks them and crosses to our guys.
MAGGIE
Get this. Everybody's freaked
because all of a sudden people have
been falling into comas.
Behind them, Wadee and Adra exit Adra's... crossing --
WADE
Only here they call it limbo.
Things continue from there as we saw...with Adra leading the Sliders to Lucy La Croix, victim of Rickman.
Did you ever wonder what happened if Rickman missed an injection? Maggie lets us in on it in this missing bit of dialogue just before the Sliders enter Bunt's cabin...
QUINN
If he hasn't had his injection at
all of this slide, he might be
getting a little desperate.
REMBRANDT
I would too, with a fungus
attacking my brain.
WADE
I wonder what happens if he doesn't
get the booster when he needs it.
MAGGIE
Mad Dog Syndrome.
(off their looks)
Rickman had these outbursts. We'd
call them Mad Dog's. He'd get this
look in his eye. Totally insane.
Five minutes later he'd be normal.
Has to be connected.
Did you think the FBI story was over so soon? Originally, someone was supposed to come looking for the dead agent. This scene takes place as Bunt is leading Quinn and Remmy to the blood trail into the fog...
EXT. FOREST - DAY
Bunt leads Quinn, Remmy and Maggie. We see their FEET move through the bush. CAMERA PANS to find another pair of FEET following them. Remmy HEARS a TWIG snap. He doesn't react. He falls in line with Quinn, gives him a look.
QUINN
I heard it too.
REMBRANDT
Could be Rickman looking for his
next snack.
QUINN
I'll move ahead and double back.
Quinn moves a little faster. A beat later, another pair of shoes moves up and stops. Quinn jumps the guy.
Remmy jumps the guy too. We have a dust up. The Man (RUEZ, late 20's, built, smart looking), pulls a gun.
RUEZ
Back off. Both of you.
Quinn and Remmy do. Bunt pokes his rifle in Ruez's face.
BUNT
You want to compare guns here, son?
RUEZ
Hang on there, Mr. La Croix.
(lowers the gun)
I'm Agent Ruez, with the FBI. I'm
just looking for my partner.
QUINN
Keller.
RUEZ
You've seen him.
The Sliders exchange a look. Ruez gets it immediately.
QUINN
I'm sorry, man.
EXT. FOREST - OUTSIDE FOG LINE - DAY
The spot of the "incident." The yellowish fog hangs like a thin veil. Bunt leads them all into the clearing.
RUEZ
The Foggins have been in these
hill for hundreds of years. They
come down every once in awhile and
take things -- small animals,
sometimes people.
REMBRANDT
For FBI, you're awfully casual.
RUEZ
I grew up here. I understand the
people. The Foggins are part of
mountain life. The locals don't
want our help, so we stay clear.
BUNT
He's right about that. We don't
like badges up here.
QUINN
Why'd you come this time?
RUEZ
Putting people into comas isn't
what the Foggins do. We knew
something else was happening.
MAGGIE
You can't possibly believe in the
legend of these Fog creatures?
Bunt and Ruez exchange a look. Ruez indicates the fog.
RUEZ
You're going in, right? Let's see
what you think when you come out.
BUNT
Here's where I got him.
REMBRANDT
(off the ground)
Something was hit. Let's hope it
was short with an English accent.
QUINN
(to Maggie)
Remember, this is just a recon job.
We don't know how it will affect
you after more than a few minutes.
MAGGIE
I'll be fine.
REMBRANDT
Ten minutes. Then you're right
back here.
MAGGIE
Ten minutes.
EXT. FOG WORLD FOREST - DAY
In the "FOG EFFECT." Maggie finds the trail. It leads her up a hill. She disappears into the yellow world.
EXT. FOREST - OUTSIDE THE FOG LINE
Quinn checks his watch, then studies the fog carefully.
REMBRANDT
When you said Lucy might come out
of it, was that just to keep Bunt
from shooting us?
QUINN
The Professor was coherent after
his attack. If he'd had time to
regenerate his brain fluid, he
would've made it. I'm sure.
Quinn checks his watch again. Ruez comes from the forest, carrying a mask and mini oxygen tank, hands it to Quinn.
RUEZ
Had it in my car. If she's not
back soon, you'll need it.
We then cut over to Maggie as she treks through the foggy woods...just as we saw...
Originally, Remmy was supposed to come up with the sulfur explanation all by himself...
MAGGIE
It was the Colonel. I know it. I
don't care whether you believe me
or not.
She walks away. Quinn watches, both puzzled and irritated.
BUNT
Give her some time, son. She's
scared a bit, that's all.
QUINN
Maggie doesn't get scared.
BUNT
Everybody gets scared in there.
ON REMMY AND RUEZ
Remmy examines the fog before him, sniffs the air.
REMBRANDT
Sulphur...
RUEZ
Seeps up from underground.
REMBRANDT
There must be a volcano under here.
That would explain the fog, heat
vapors from core activity.
RUEZ
You a scientist or something?
REMBRANDT
Just been traveling with one.
(then)
No wonder it chokes people. Oxygen
binds with the sulphur and your
lungs can't break it out when you
need it.
RUEZ
The Foggins are able to breathe it
though.
(off Remmy's look)
I'm not crazy. They exist.
They're up there.
REMBRANDT
I'm not saying they're not.
(then)
You ever go in?
RUEZ
Once. There's a story about a
local root -- Witches Butter, if
you eat it, lets you breathe the
fog. Only place to find it is up
there. I almost died trying.
Pretty intense. That fog can play
hell with your mind.
REMBRANDT
(looks towards Maggie)
Make you see things?
RUEZ
And then some.
Quinn and Bunt cross their way --
QUINN
She's feeling better. We should
get her back to the cabin.
RUEZ
I've got to deal with my partner.
I'll come back tomorrow, bring
those things you need for Lucy.
Where can I find you?
BUNT
They'll be at my place.
(to Quinn and Remmy)
Y'all welcome to stay as long as
you need.
Quinn nods, accepting. Off which --
We return to the cabin where Wade and Adra are in the middle of a ritual...
Did you ever wonder what Adra was trying to say? Here's the script wording for it:
ADRA
In order to beat the ha'nts, you
gotta go into their world.
Rickman's speech to Quinn in the bamboo jail cell was also quite different originally...
QUINN
Let me out of here!
(then)
Rickman?!
Quinn continues to yell, and then stops suddenly. The man at the cave can't be Rickman.
ANGLE - RICKMAN
standing right outside the cage, smiling strangely. His whole spirit seems altered in some irritating way.
QUINN
(to Rickman)
Get me out of here.
RICKMAN
Not what you really want. You're
too far in now. That cage is the
only thing you've got. I'd hold on
to it.
Quinn looks at Rickman. He's insane?
QUINN
They drugged you, Rickman.
RICKMAN
No. Don't have to. Had no way to
check blood types, and some went
bad in my system.
(then)
Sliding did the rest. The clear
terror of it...
Rickman stares back in awe at the cave and the Backlit Man.
RICKMAN
Just like *he* says.
QUINN
I thought it was you up there.
RICKMAN
He is me. He is you. Can't
sleep... just like us.
QUINN
I sleep.
Rickman is shocked.
RICKMAN
No... you could wake up in a dream.
Trapped. Think you're sliding in
there. Dimensions on dimensions.
(re:cave man)
He's right... die in a dream, and
you're lost forever.
QUINN
It's not like that.
RICKMAN
(puzzled)
You don't understand. He'll open
your mind.
QUINN
How's he going to do that?
RICKMAN
Tracking death. Sliding with
death. It's all worked out...
Rickman is obviously seeing something in his mind...
INSERT RICKMAN'S MENTAL FLASH - A SHOT OF A CAVE WALL
Where an elaborate formula is painted. A cross between Einstein's theory of relativity, and a primitive hunting scene.
RESUME
QUINN
He's going to kill us then.
RICKMAN
No. Not you.
(looks at his timer)
It's my time.
Rickman activates his vortex, and starts laughing in his eerie way.
RICKMAN
Wish me luck.
QUINN
Go to hell.
Rickman laughs at this as he leaps.
Quinn looks toward the cave.
AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE - THE BACKLIT MAN
is still standing there. Waiting.
When then cut to Wade and Remmy trying to get help from Adra...and Adra bring up "Haiti"...just as we saw.
Also, Quinn's discussion with his double is different...
The villagers walking Maggie don't expect any trouble from a woman. They don't notice as she slides her under the clothese they've dressed her in, retrieving a rope. She strings it around one of the villager's necks, and pulls it taught.
MAGGIE
Let me go, or he dies.
The villagers look over at Quinn 2 for a signal. Quinn 2 doesn't move a muscle, but the villagers circle Maggie, leaving her no escape.
MAGGIE
I'll kill him!
The circle closes, and when Maggie is dragged off, the villager is on the ground, choked to death.
BACK ON QUINN
absorbing this horror.
QUINN
What are you going to do to her?
QUINN 2
That's up to you.
Before them, Maggie is taken up to a CEREMONIAL POLE and tied to it.
QUINN 2
It's a simple equation... you kill
me, the villagers let you live. Do
nothing, she dies.
QUINN
You're insane.
QUINN 2
Not entirely. In fact, there's a
theoretical explanation.
(then)
You'll see for yourself... and then
you'll kill me.
Quinn 2 turns to Dagan.
QUINN 2
Clean him up. Bring him to the
cave.
INT. CAVE - DAY - PAN THE CAVE WALL
where there's a long stream of painted symbols and images. It's the mixture of primitive art and the physics equation we've already seen flashes of. At the end of it, a bare chested Quinn 2 is working. He has paint all over him, and it mats his long white hair, just like in Adra's dream.
Quinn is pushed in and forced to his knees. He scans the wall, absorbing what is intelligible.
QUINN
Time can't be contained like
that...
QUINN 2 raises his hand for silence.
QUINN 2
(whispers)
Quiet.
(then)
I have to hear myself breathe.
The sound reverberates around, disturbingly.
QUINN
I can't believe how you let this go
to your head. It happens... people
see you slide in, think you're a
God. You don't use it like this.
QUINN 2
You think this is the first time
I've been worshipped?
(then)
It means nothing to me. This is
about salvation. *Your* salvation.
QUINN
(re: the wall)
I'm not part of this equation.
QUINN 2
You are. Death is different here,
Quinn. Your blood is already
changed. The way the nitrous oxide
is carried toward the lungs, it's
all different. That sulfur taste
won't ever really go away. That'll
be me inside you.
Quinn 2 looks at Quinn. The puzzled look on Quinn's face is more than he can bear. Quinn 2 covers his eyes.
QUINN 2
No. You have to understand.
QUINN 2's fractured psyche is totally exposed in his eyes...
QUINN
I'm sorry.
QUINN 2
You *can* adapt. Dying is like
breathing. Do it in unified space,
and you're released, metabolically.
(re: his equation)
I felt when I landed here in the
fog, and now it's all there...
Quinn 2 is so desperate, Quinn doesn't have the heart to say anything that might increase his agony. Quinn 2 sees this in Quinn's eyes.
QUINN 2
Don't feel sorry for me. You don't
know what I've done.
(pause)
The Kromags... I'm responsible.
QUINN
You gave them the equation?
QUINN 2
Hate me. The way they hate.
Instinctually. Not like us... weak
and terrified. You think they go
to new worlds and cry when their
wife's double dies?
QUINN
No. They rape and pillage.
QUINN 2
With crystal like willful
intelligence. The brillance of
that. You have to see it.
QUINN
You don't believe that. You can't
believe what you're saying.
QUINN 2
You'd be saying the same thing. If
you'd slid alone.
(then)
You had Professor Arturo with you.
QUINN
Rickman told you what happened?
QUINN 2
Now you'll see what sliding brings
out in you. The savage hasn't even
been born yet.
(then)
It's lived and already died inside
me.
QUINN
You're not alone now. You can come
with us. Together, we'll find our
way back.
Quinn 2 looks at his equation.
QUINN
Don't put your faith in that.
Quinn 2 drops his head.
QUINN 2
You're going to release me into
unified space. It's my only hope.
QUINN
Release yourself.
Quinn 2 points at the equation.
QUINN 2
You can't be that blind. Look at
the formula. You're my only
chance.
(then)
And I'm yours...
Quinn 2 begins untying Quinn.
QUINN 2
We are each other's salvation.
Quinn 2 places a machete in Quinn's hands, just as some CHANTING starts up outside.
QUINN
No.
QUINN 2
The ceremony is beginning. It's me
or her.
Quinn tries to get by Quinn 2. Quinn 2 grabs him, clawing into Quinn's flesh with his nails. They begin to fight...
And then we cut to the end of the fight...with a decidedly *different* outcome...
Maggie cuts herself free, and then joins in the battle. She knocks down a few vilagers with some well placed kicks, clearing a path toward the cave.
REMBRANDT
(to Wade and Maggie)
Go!
Wade and Rembrandt struggle for an angle. Just as Wade's in the clear and runs out, Rembrandt is struck by a club. He falls to the ground lifeless.
WADE
Rembrandt!
Wade comes back to Rembrandt, and she's swarmed. Maggie too is taken by the villagers. It's certain death for the Sliders when a TERRIFYING CRY pierces the night in a haunting primal yawlp.
The villagers all freeze.
THEIR POV - QUINN
staggers from the cave, covered in blood and paint. He reaches up, and squeezes the red down from the top of his head, revealing his brown hair.
RESUME - THE VILLAGERS
turn their spears from the Sliders, and lift them toward Quin to salute their God.
The Sliders run to meet Quinn. Wade's smile drops as she see the look in Quinn's eyes. She hardly recognizes him...
WADE
Quinn?
QUINN
C'mon... we're getting out of here.
But then the roar from behind them freezes the Sliders one more time.
The villagers are carrying the lifeless body of Quinn 2 over their heads. They CHANT with abandon.
Quinn stares at this, transfixed. Maggie pulls at Quinn...
MAGGIE
Let's go.
Quinn takes a few steps back toward the cave.
WADE
Quinn?!
QUINN
Something he had there. It makes
sense... terrible, but perfect
sense.
Rembrandt rushes up to Quinn...
REMBRANDT
We're getting out of here, Q-ball.
Quinn stops, hesitates, and the forces himself to turn away from the cave.
DISSOLVE TO
EXT. CABIN - NEXT DAY (D4)
Maggie, Wade and Rembrandt are outside. Wade looks at Maggie.
MAGGIE
I'm not going through this every
time with you.
(then)
We all do what we do, thanks for
being there, move on.
WADE
You're welcome.
Rembrandt looks at THE TIMER.
REMBRANDT
Q-Ball!
Quinn comes out of the cabin, followed by Ruez and Bunt.
QUINN
It's take time, but you keep her
active, and Lucy'll form new neural
pathways.
Rembrandt activates the timer.
QUINN
(back to Bunt)
She'll recover completely.
And without so much as a look to his fellow Sliders, Quinn leaps into the void.
ANGLE - WADE
over with Adra, looking at Quinn disappear.
WADE
You were right. The Quinn I knew
went into the fog and never came
out.
Maggie and Rembrandt leap.
ADRA
The Quinn before, he'd never get
you home. This one clear and cold.
This one...
Adra stops.
WADE
What?
ADRA
Strange... but I hear a gate
squeaking.
Wade smiles and leaps.
FADE OUT
THE END
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