Total Recall: Sliders “Love Gods”
If you’re a fan of Y the Last Man then this episode of Sliders is right up your alley as the gang finds themselves on an Earth with a similar problem.
The gang slides into what seems like a perfectly normal shopping plaza but Wade quickly notices that instead of Brookes Brothers one of the stores is Brookes Sisters and Arturo notices that there are no boy toys in a nearby toy store. A group of women quickly surrounds and starts going crazy over Quinn, Rembrandt and Arturo (before they’re attacked, Rembrandt jokes that maybe they’re on another world where he’s a superstar, in reference to “The King is Back”). The guys get separated from Wade and are dragged to safety by the police.
Down at the station, Arturo and Rembrandt are almost giddy about the prospect that they’re on a world where there is no men and tons of love starved women but Quinn is cautious. The guys are dragged into interrogation by the hard assed Detective Specatelli. Specatelli demands to know how they escaped “the virus” and why they were out in the open but before the guys can really answer they are transferred into the custody of Dr. Morris of the BRP or Bureau of Reproduction. The guys are then brought to the Oakland Reproduction Center where they are evaluated and then set up to begin help repopulating the US. As Quinn soon learns, in the recent past of this Earth there was a war in the Middle East and Iraq released a bioweapon that attacked the Y chromosome. Most of the men were wiped out and the few that remain were snatched up by the major countries and there is now a sort of baby arms race going on. Australia is actually one of the major superpowers of the world because, due to their geographical location, were able to escape the bulk of the bioweapons effects. Much to the chagrin of Australia however, one of their most prolific breeders, Trevor Grant, defected to America. Grant was last seen as Quinn’s douchey Mindgame teammate when the gang was on Egghead world.
Arturo, Rembrandt and Quinn decide to take a sauna to hatch an escape plan, since they only have a little less then 3 days to escape and slide. Their conversation is overhead by a fellow breeder, David, who claims that he’s been planning an escape with his wife and the guys are welcome to come with him. The guys pull of their escape that night by sneaking through a storm drain and then climbing over the center’s wall. David’s wife Diane is waiting for them and the guys take shelter at their house.
Wade, meanwhile, managed to check into the Dominion Hotel and the guys are able to call her and she sneaks off to meet them at David and Diane’s. Unfortunately, Specatelli overheard Wade’s phone call and brings a full squad of cops into the house. David and the gang hide in the attic while the cops search the house. They’re just about to give up when Specatelli notices the toilet seat is up in one of the bathrooms. Diane is arrested and the guys escape onto the roof and then out onto the street. The sliders agree to meet in the park behind the Lincoln statue if they get separated, which they quickly are as a group of commandos drives up and tranquilizes Arturo and Quinn. Quinn manages to stumble off and is picked up by a good samaritan while Arturo is brought to the Australian embassy, where the commandos came from.
Quinn wakes up in a fancy house and is surprised to learn that his rescuer is the cougarific Jane Hills, purveyor of all sorts of gourmet snack treats. Jane agrees to help Quinn but wants something in return, a baby, since she was denied as a possible candidate at the reproduction center. Quinn is initially against the idea, since he doesn’t want to have a child he’d never see, but Jane makes an arguement that seems to change Quinn’s mind.
Wade, meanwhile, has a plan to rescue Arturo and, they believe, Quinn from the Australian embassy by disguising Rembrandt as a lady and claiming they want to defect. Their original plan was to slide out from the embassy but when they realize that Quinn isn’t there, Wade pulls a fantastic con on both sides. She promises the Australians that she can get them Trevor Grant back if they exchange Arturo and Rembrandt from him. Wade then meets with Dr. Morris and Specatelli and claims that if they don’t release Diane and exchange Trevor that an Australian double agent will inject him with the mumps virus and make him sterile. Both parties meet under a bridge, thinking it was the other side’s idea and the exchange happens. However, Wade is the one who is driving the van that was supposed to bring the guys back to the reproduction facility and they escape. Jane helps Quinn get to the park and, I think for what may be the first and last time, Wade opens up the portal and drives the van right into it. Quinn quickly follows and Dr. Morris and Specatelli are left bewildered, as are most people who chase the gang to a slide. The epilogue of the episode is that Jane has a picture of Quinn and I think it’s safe to assume that she’s pregnant with Quinn’s kid.
Another great episode for setting this week, with everything from stores to TV shows being turned female. On the negative side, this episode has probably the worst Australian accents you will ever hear. One of the crazier Sliders worlds is featured next week when the gang lands on an Earth where the Wild West gunslingers are alive and well as lawyers.