Sliders s03e03 Episode Script

(Arturo) Faster, faster! [Wade whooping.]
(Quinn) Watch your head! The branches! [All exclaiming.]
I told you we'd never finish the run before the timer hit zero.
So much for making a quick $10,000.
[Rembrandt groans.]
(Arturo) Ah! It's just as well.
The way Brown was driving, we'd all have died on that last corner.
Oh, yeah? Who was it that kept yelling in my ear: "Faster, faster"? Oh, man.
Well, when I said that I wanted to lay on some sand in the next world, I didn't mean a desert.
How long are we here, Mr.
Mallory? [Beeping.]
I can't get a reading, Professor.
This thing's going crazy.
Hey, guys, check this out.
(Quinn) What's he got under his arm? (Rembrandt) It looks like a snowboard.
This little dude's gonna surf a dust devil.
That's not a dust devil, Rembrandt, that's a twister.
[Whooping.]
How interesting.
It seems to be generated by some sort of electrical field.
[Whooping.]
(Wade) He's in trouble.
(Caleb) Oh, no.
Help! Somebody help! [Caleb screaming.]
[Quinn shouting.]
You okay? Hey, wait! Wait! I want to ask you something.
That's weird, huh? It's just like the ground opened up and swallowed him! (Quinn) What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds, where it's the same year, and you're the same person, but everything else is different? And what if you can't find your way home? (voice) Sliders.
Ah.
That's the fourth twister in an hour.
They seem as common here as lightning.
Looks like we're in some kind of land-locked Bermuda Triangle.
There's no way to tell how long we have until we slide.
[Beeping.]
The twister itself doesn't seem to have any effect on the device.
Which would imply that the entire atmosphere is electrically charged.
Yeah, well, at least they don't last that long, huh? Thank our stars we're not in a trailer park.
My folks used to make me watch The Wizard of Oz every year on TV like it was a special event.
Flying monkeys, poisoned poppies, tornadoes, witches, good family fun.
I couldn't sleep for a week.
Well, if a building does drop on us, I hope it's a Burger Burglar.
[Both chuckle.]
I've been hungry since the last world.
Yeah.
(Wade) We should have looked a little harder for that kid.
There's no way he could have survived on his own out here.
There's got to be other people, maybe a town? Yeah, maybe.
Water.
Yes.
Wait.
Why? I'm dying of thirst.
Drink that and you'll be dying, all right.
(Rembrandt) Great.
We finally find water and it's poisoned.
I don't know if it's poisoned, Rembrandt.
Still waters run hot.
Well, that explains the burn marks on the animals.
And puts paid to Miss Wells' theory about alien experimentation.
Would you like me to get you a glass of water, Professor? You do realize that the whole surface of the planet could have a high electrical charge.
And this could have very grave consequences for us.
If we don't stabilize the timer, we'll never be able to open the gate.
Hey, come look at this.
All right.
(Arturo) Well done, Miss Wells.
Professor, the timer's stabilizing.
What? Of course.
These rocks must be lodestone.
(Rembrandt) Well, what do the rocks have to do with the timer? Lodestone are magnetites.
Whatever electrical charge is interfering with the timer, must be on the same polarity as these rocks.
Yes, and if you two will remember from your elementary-school science We get it, Professor.
Opposites attract, similars repel.
This is good news.
This is very good news, indeed.
How long till we slide? It would appear the lodestone perimeter acts as a natural barrier to protect this area from those twisters.
That's a hell of a welcome sign.
Harsh environments create harsh people, Mr.
Brown.
Look, maybe we should just keep going, huh? We can't let fear of the unknown make decisions for us.
Too many questions about this place I want answers to.
We're explorers, right? So let's explore.
[Horse neighing.]
"We're explorers, right?" Who are we supposed to be, freaking Lewis and Clark? (Franklin) These outcasts are relentless, like rats.
How many do I have to execute before the raids stop? I just spoke with Mrs.
Brackus she said someone stole half her food supply from the shed during the past two hours.
Two hours? I thought you said you found out how they were getting in.
We find a tunnel opening and seal it, they open a new one.
If a person gets desperate enough, he'll do almost anything to feed himself or his family.
People like that don't scare.
Now, we might try to talk with them, you know, see if we can't reach some kind of an agreement.
No! These outcasts were banished for cause, Jacob.
You don't reason with trash like that.
And it's no coincidence these rats aren't using the tunnels we stake out.
Someone is warning them.
One of us.
No man here would betray you, Franklin.
Water, anyone? Hey, Q-Ball, aren't you thirsty? No, thanks.
What's going on, fella? This barn reminds me of a trip I took with my folks one summer to my aunt's farm in Minnesota.
I was 11, had never been out of the city before, and thought life couldn't get any better.
I remember telling my mom and dad I never wanted us to grow any older.
I wanted things to stay just like that forever.
[Chuckles.]
That was the last trip I took with my dad.
He died two months later.
I sure miss Dad.
Don't be alarmed.
We mean no harm.
We're just travelers from a distant place.
Are you from Reed's camp? [Dog barking.]
Look, you can't stay here, it's too dangerous.
[Whirring.]
What's that noise? It's just a tornado.
Don't be worried, Mr.
Brown.
The lodestone will protect us.
(Arturo) The electrically charged tornado cannot enter this place.
(Wade) It's getting closer, Professor.
Are you sure it can't jump those rocks? (Jenny) Oh, my God! I can't believe this is happening.
Come on.
Come on, hurry.
Come on.
Come on.
Go.
Go! Come on.
Go! So much for that scientific mumbo-jumbo you were giving me.
Has this ever happened before? Never.
I mean, this place is safe.
It's safe.
[Glass shattering.]
[Rattling.]
You'd better put that in the past tense.
I haven't heard noise like this since a hurricane took my destroyer and turned it up on its nose in the middle of the Atlantic.
It sounds like it's stuck right on top of us.
[Rattling.]
Why did it stop moving? I don't know.
I mean, it doesn't make any sense.
There's nothing electrical inside of the lodestone to attract it.
It's going crazy again.
Where did you get that? [Whooshing.]
It just burned itself out.
[Gasping.]
I can't believe that we're walking around here with a tornado magnet.
[Men chattering.]
You mustn't let my father see that.
If he catches you with it, there's no telling what he'll do.
He'll think you brought the twisters on us.
Well, I'll just hide it here until we slide.
(Jacob) Come on out of there.
Jenny, who are these people? I don't know.
They were in the barn when I came in.
It's electronic.
This is what brought the twister.
Not only raiding our food supplies, but trying to destroy my town? No.
Look, we just needed What you need is to pray for a quick death.
(Quinn) You cowards.
You can't do this to me! I've done nothing wrong! [Thudding.]
[Quinn groans.]
What are they doing to him out there? Whatever is required to get the truth.
Man, we have already told you the truth.
Franklin, the device that you are holding in your hand opens the door to the gateway.
Let me explain all this again to you slowly I'm sick of your lying tongues.
(Franklin) This brought the twister.
And I am going to make sure that neither it, nor you, is a threat any longer.
[Quinn groaning.]
I told you the truth.
(Jacob) That you're travelers from another planet? We're simple people but we're not stupid.
Now, why don't you tell me the real truth.
Where are the other outcasts? Huh? Who's their leader, you? [Grunts.]
Tell me.
We come from another dimension.
The device Franklin took opens the vortex that we slide through.
But Franklin said I know what Franklin said.
(Wade) Quinn.
I'm all right.
(Quinn) They didn't break your laws, I did! I brought the timer into your town.
Banish me.
If they're truly innocent, God will know and spare them.
Sir! You're barbarians.
Even savages would have shown us some hospitality.
Father, maybe they didn't know our laws.
Ignorance is never an excuse.
What about the girl? She's of childbearing age.
She's poor stock, skinny, narrow-hipped.
Hard work is all she needs.
It will clear her mind and strengthen her body.
All right, but she'll be your responsibility.
I'm not leaving my friends! Do it.
Put it on.
I'm not staying here without you.
We can find a way back.
You've got to get the timer.
[Quinn groans.]
(Martin) All right.
[Horse neighing.]
I don't know which is worse, this ride or the beating.
I've never been banished before.
Except for that time in Abilene.
Cowboys just didn't get Motown.
You know, Franklin isn't the country bumpkin he sets himself out to be.
He disassembled our timer with skilled fingers.
(Arturo) And there aren't that many farmers I know that have a set of micro-instruments.
You think he's a scientist? But look at this community.
It couldn't be more backwards.
By design, Mr.
Mallory.
Franklin keeps his people in the dark, and I don't mean metaphorically.
Knowledge is a dangerous thing for Mr.
Franklin.
[Yells.]
Our stop? Yeah.
Let's go.
Okay.
Get them off.
Let's go! All right, I'm coming, I'm coming.
Hey.
[Yelling.]
Hey! Wait a minute.
You just can't leave us here like this.
Give us some water.
You got to give us a chance.
What are you Why don't you give us a chance? [Driver yelling.]
(Rembrandt) Has anybody got any ideas? Now is a good time to speak up.
[Wind howling.]
Turn around.
All right, stay still.
Let me try and get your ropes.
[Birds chirping.]
Thank you.
Jacob! (Franklin) Let that girl do her work.
I'm just bringing her some water.
Who elected him God? Watch what you say.
This town wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Franklin.
When the twisters came, he was the one who figured out the lodestone would save us.
So that lets him dictate who lives and who dies? You need to teach her our ways, Jenny, if she wants to stay alive.
I already know your ways.
And I'm not sure they're worth living under.
You must be from a different world.
I've never seen a woman act like you before.
How am I acting? Like an equal.
I'm to wed Jacob, and if I spoke to him, or any other man like you did, I don't know what would happen.
Try it.
It might surprise you.
[Chuckling.]
And them.
What happened to this world? All I know is, when my brother and I were little, something happened that made the tornadoes come.
It's I heard rumors that it was some sort of accident in a scientific laboratory.
We're all that's left.
Twisters wiped out everything.
So just you and your brother live here with your father? My father banished my brother.
He sent his own son away? For what? It doesn't matter.
But I know he's out there.
And every day I pray that he'll survive the next day.
Wade, your friends are gonna be all right.
The other outcasts will find them.
How can you know that? Trust, Wade.
You've gotta have faith.
I can do something for you and your friends.
Pick up the basket and follow me.
[All coughing.]
(Arturo) We've got to get out of this windstorm.
Dust! It's in my eyes! (Arturo) Find a rock! [Exclaims.]
Rembrandt! (Arturo) Mr.
Brown, are you all right? (Quinn) Rembrandt! (Arturo) Mr.
Brown! Mr.
Brown? Rembrandt! (Arturo) Mr.
Brown! [Groaning.]
I never thought I'd meet a bigger blowhard than you, Professor.
Where there's humor, there's life.
Let's try and get him up.
And go where? Here.
Wade? Am I seeing straight? All right.
[Grunts.]
And me.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you, my boy.
What are you doing out here? Watching you.
It looked like you finally needed some help.
Finally? You give us too much credit.
Come on.
[Wind howling.]
Stay in sight.
(Rembrandt) Where is he going? [Quinn coughing.]
(Caleb) Follow me.
Let's go.
[Groaning.]
Come on, over here.
Whoa, the Batcave.
(Reed) It used to be the Concord Air Force Base.
Now it's our home.
Caleb tells me that you've helped him.
And he's returned the favor.
You're outcasts, aren't you? We're afraid we saw one of your members in the stocks outside town.
Eddie Costas.
A good man.
He used to work for my father, until they got into a disagreement and my father banished him.
You're Franklin Michener's son.
(Reed) I don't carry that name with pride.
You men look hungry.
Let's get you some food.
Where are we going? Hurry.
If we're late, he won't wait for us.
Caleb.
It's me.
It's okay.
She's one of us.
Um, give him the note.
Take that to Reed.
Tell him that if he finds three men in the desert to take them in.
They're friends and they need his help.
I found them, in the storm.
They're below, with us.
They're safe.
Father Don't insult me by saying you can explain.
You realize I will have to make an example of the both of you.
Take them back to the house.
(Wade) Hey, let me go.
The timer is what allows us to travel through to parallel worlds.
But on this world, it only works in reverse-polarity areas like your father's town.
Well, don't worry about it, because despite my father's ranting and raving about this all being the devil's work, he would never destroy your machine, because he's a true scientist at heart.
So he was once a scientist, then? (Reed) Yes.
He was once involved with a research group for the government back in the '60s.
Even if Wade can find the timer, how are we gonna get back into that loony farm and slide with no one watching? Tasty, Mr.
Brown? [Spitting.]
Tastes like frogs frapped in a Cuisinart.
Health food, Remmy.
Looks like micro-algae.
Mmm.
Actually, it's grown underground in a pond.
It's, unfortunately, the only source of vitamin B or protein that you're gonna get here.
So, drink up.
Cheers, my friend.
[Sighs.]
You know, I didn't get along all that well with my father either, I don't think I would have crossed him if I knew this was gonna be my punishment.
[All laughing.]
It's not that simple.
Come on, drink, drink.
(Reed) Enjoy.
Jenny? Let her go, Jacob.
She wears the shunning.
No.
No.
You know the law.
She's to be my wife! Not anymore.
"She moves among us, and we do not see her, she cries out" Say it.
Say it! "She cries out, but we do not hear her.
She is but a shadow among us, forever.
" [Door closes.]
A weather station.
Yes.
My father worked here with a man named Thomas Malone.
Thomas Malone? There's a man on our world that I worked with once, called Tom Malone.
He was working on harnessing the power of the elements.
Really? Well, this man was experimenting with the natural electro-magnetic dynamos that we have underground.
Uh, he was creating these electric tornadoes that would benefit mankind.
Exactly how would a tornado benefit anybody? Well, for instance, if you needed to level a slum for rebuilding Yes.
Or, uh, plough a trench to build a canal.
(Rembrandt) Amazing.
But what happened was the government got wind of this little idea and they decided it would be in their best interest to turn these into destructive weapons.
A dozen tornadoes sent through an enemy city on specific paths would destroy it.
Yes.
And you can blame Mother Nature.
It's called the "perfect deniability scenario.
" (Reed) Exactly.
And when Mr.
Malone found out about this, he decided he was gonna bail out on the whole project.
When he told my father about it, my father was afraid he would lose funding.
And they got into a little argument.
One thing led to another, and Mr.
Malone fell and hit his head.
My father continued the project alone.
And then things went disastrously wrong.
(Reed) Exactly.
Once my father finally tapped into these electronic dynamos, it began a chain of events, which were out of his control.
Kind of like letting the electric genie out of the bottle.
Exactly.
And the way I found out about all of this is I looked at my father's diary about three years ago, and I confronted him.
And he sent me out to the middle of the desert with six men, who beat me and, uh, left me there.
I think Reed! Reed, there's trouble.
They almost caught me.
Caleb, tell me, why? They were waiting when I came out of the tunnel.
They caught your sister and your friend.
(Caleb) Your father said he's gonna make an example of them.
Jenny! We've gotta go get them.
(Rembrandt) What if Wade doesn't have the timer? We can't worry about that right now.
Reed.
May I tap into your solar power source? Yeah.
Why? I'm familiar with most of the equipment here.
I believe I could create a field that was negative enough for us to, uh, slide from this world.
All right.
You got it.
Listen, Caleb, remember those books we found? Yeah, I do.
I want you to show him anything he needs.
Okay.
(Wade) Jenny? Is your father gonna banish me? I don't know.
That would have been easier for me.
I've been shunned.
I can't believe a father could do that to his own daughter.
He wasn't always like this.
You know, when I was small, I loved him so much.
Everyday he would come home from the air force base and I'd run out and throw my arms around him.
He'd pick me up, spin me around, I never wanted to let go.
My father worked so much, I never got to see him.
When he retired I made him promise that we'd spend more time together.
A month later, I went sliding.
I really miss him.
Hang on! How far will those two cubic feet of natural gas get us? I don't know.
We've never used it before.
Jacob, let me out.
Jacob? Jacob, I know no one is supposed to speak to me.
My ears do not hear you.
But you do hear me, Jacob.
I know you do.
My father can deny our marriage, but he can't deny our love.
My heart is yours forever.
Please.
We can have this one moment.
Let's not live our lives always wondering what might have been.
Maybe I can talk to your father.
We both know that won't do any good.
Jacob, please just hold me.
Please? Oh, Jacob.
[Grunts.]
Forgive me, Jacob.
(Jenny) Come on, Wade.
Jenny, what are you doing? I-I've got to get the timer.
It's in my father's safe.
You go to the tunnel.
I'll get it and meet you there.
[Gasps.]
You continue to defy me.
There can only be one punishment grave enough for you.
Move.
Move.
Go on.
Git! Please, I haven't done anything to deserve this.
Have you found Jenny? No.
She must have escaped into one of the tunnels.
You're not without blame in all this.
This woman was caught giving food to the outcasts.
(Franklin) She mocks our laws.
She's even turned my own flesh and blood against me.
Against us! If we're to survive as a community, behavior like this cannot be tolerated.
Her punishment will be death by drowning.
Oh, man.
(Wade) Please.
I've done nothing wrong! I've got to do something.
(Wade) Don't drown me! Quinn, you don't stand a chance.
(Quinn) I can't just let her die.
Give me your knife.
(Reed) All right, you got it.
Q-Ball I'll be okay.
We'll meet you on the other side of the pond when you get her.
Come on.
[Gasping.]
Don't fight your fate, woman.
[People murmuring.]
It's the outcasts! Go get them! (Reed) Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go! The timer's back at the house.
Where's my sister? I don't know.
She escaped.
All right.
That should fix that one.
Yeah, that one's done.
So you know what I'm doing, do you? Yeah.
You're, uh, moving those round things that stick out of the ground over our heads.
Yeah.
Well, technically, they're called coils.
What I'm trying to do, is try to align them.
If I can get them all aligned properly, then I can neutralize the strong magnetic field that permeates this whole place.
And that would be good, right? Well, it would for us.
You see, on most worlds, the If you can imagine that's the world, the magnetic force runs through like that.
On your world, it seems to sprout up all over the place, like like like corn stalks.
So by trying to align these big coils, I'm trying to make the area safe so that my friends and I can leave.
So that's what we're doing.
Right, do you want to help me with this one? Sure.
Okay.
Where is the timer? I think it's in my father's safe.
[Jenny screaming.]
(Jenny) Let go.
Leave me alone.
Let go.
(Quinn) Leave her alone.
[Exclaiming.]
Sis.
[Both grunting.]
Let me see.
Oh! We've got a problem.
We got another one up front.
Franklin and his men are coming up the road.
Okay, I've got a place we can hide.
Come on.
Let's go.
Come on.
Come on.
(Reed) Go.
Go, go.
Somebody get an axe.
Don't bother.
I know where they're going.
(Caleb) Mr.
Arturo's still in the weather station! Let's go see how he's doing.
Wait here.
Everything's gonna be oaky.
"Thank you" doesn't seem like enough.
Miss Wells, you look like a drowned cat.
With only eight lives left.
That thing ready to do its magic? I have all my digits crossed, Mr.
Brown.
I suggest you do the same.
How's the timer? All the king's horses.
If we could find something to double as a battery contact, we might just have a chance.
(Arturo) We might be able to salvage something over here.
Yeah, this might do it.
It's gonna have to work.
Let's There.
And [chuckles.]
All right, everybody upstairs.
We slide in eight minutes.
Hey, Professor? Is this supposed to be happening? (Arturo) All part of the design, Mr.
Brown.
You see, the way these coils are locked into position, they will keep those twisters outside this perimeter.
Well, tell that to the people who have to live in this godforsaken place.
All is not forsaken yet, Rembrandt.
We slide in five minutes.
[Coil creaking.]
Hey, somebody's moving this coil.
If the coils get too far out of alignment, the perimeter will collapse and we will not be able to slide.
Stay here.
If I'm not back in time, slide without me.
Blast these things.
I can barely turn it.
For God's sake, stop it! Don't do it! [Exclaims.]
[Jacob grunts.]
Don't think that I won't kill you.
Help him.
Help him! How many people have to die because of you? What are you talking about? Tell him.
Tell him about the hell that you created, we're all living in.
Franklin.
You brought the twisters? It was a mistake.
I never meant for any of it to happen.
All this time, we we followed you, we we trusted you.
I did the best I could.
I tried to hold us together.
(Quinn) Stop lying to yourself.
You've held all these people hostage.
You're a jailer.
Not a leader.
You knew if they ever found out the truth, you'd be finished.
So you just kept lying and lying, until the lies became myth.
Jacob, please Maybe it's too late for you, I don't know.
But you can still help them.
Finish your work, find the answers to stop these twisters.
(Franklin) I can't.
Then spend the rest of your life trying.
If you want redemption, then start with these people.
They don't belong here.
It's not their world.
You'll need to help me.
I can't do it alone.
Go.
Take care of yourself.
This town is gonna need all the help it can get.
(Rembrandt) Those things are almost over the top of us.
How much time? Look.
The coils are moving back.
I don't know how much damage has been done to the perimeter.
They're giving way.
The perimeter's going to collapse.
This is it! (Quinn) Go! Go! Go!