Mother and Child

This is an episode that should not exist. We’re here because David Peckinpah, the writer of “Genesis,” was a thoughtless and cruel man. With Sabrina Lloyd's departure at the end of the third season, something had to be done with Wade. An obvious and satisfying option was there for the taking—send the character full circle to the “Pilot” and have her take up a role as a leader of the resistance. Our team could return to the void with her blessing, knowing that the sooner they got back, the sooner they could unite to defeat the Kromaggs.

Instead, he sent her to a fate worse than death—a breeding camp. And while Peckinpah forgot about Wade, the rest of us didn’t. It was getting harder and harder to yuk it up in “Just Say Yes” and “Lipschitz Live” knowing a member of the team was basically in hell and our Sliders were doing nothing about it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Now, even though there was no viewer feedback at this point, the rest of the writer’s room sensed this was not going to go down well and decided they had to do something—anything—about the situation. They couldn’t bring back Wade/Lloyd, so instead we get “Mother and Child.”

In short, the team help rescue Christina (Natalie Radford), an escapee from a Kromagg breeding camp, and return her and her child home to a dimension the Kromaggs fear. There, they learn the terrible weapon that won the war is a genetic virus now attacking Christina’s half-Kromagg child. Working with the Kromagg father, Quinn and Maggie seek out an antidote to save the baby.

Sounds like it could work, but this episode is doomed as soon as Wade’s name escapes Christina’s lips. Wade is who we care about and every moment not spent rescuing Wade is a waste of time. Recognizing Wade was just here, Rembrandt demands they do something and that’s when we get Quinn’s horrid reply: “I don’t know if we have enough time.”

Hey Quinn, [censored] you.

What follows is a tonal mess. This is a very heavy episode. A raped woman has escaped her captors with her child. She returns home to find most of her family dead and her father refusing to welcome his grandson. Our team has been reminded their friend is alive and still suffering. The child is in danger of dying. Sorrow and rage should dominate this story. And while a few of the supporting characters do an admirable job with it, only Rembrandt manages to be in striking distance of proper emotion within our team. Colin is too much of a non-factor here to be criticized, but Maggie and Quinn often feel like they’re in another episode.

The Kromaggs suck here. They really, really suck. It looks like we’ve got another incompetent batch like the blockheads we overcame in “The Dying Fields.” Quinn and Rembrandt bully a Kromagg into basically doing their bidding, which honestly, seems very un-Kromagg-like. I thought these guys would rather die than yield to a filthy human? Because if they fail…um…they will die. This is hammered home in a later scene where a second squad of Kromaggs—who did not disgrace themselves in their defeat at the hands of the Sliders—are court-martialed and sentenced to death, a ruling they gratefully accept. “It’ll be very nice.” (Like I said—tonal mess.)

The only semi-competent Kromagg who isn’t stooging it up or making blustering threats is the baby’s father, whose name I don’t recall hearing but is evidently called Korindos (Brian Cousins). He shows cunning at times, using Kromagg mind tricks to effectively break into a military facility. He even puts one over on Quinn, convincing him he is unarmed. But if he’s so smart, why can’t he make a clean escape? The vortex is open, dude! Jump!

(One other important Kromagg sidenote: you know how they were under orders not to kill the Sliders due to some big secret that undoubtedly would be very important as the season went on? Yeah, that’s off now; feel free to kill them. Seriously, Sci-Fi, what are you doing?! You haven’t actually aired any of these episodes. If you’re changing plans mid-season…do some ADR! Edit! Come on!)

Despite all this, “Mother and Child” still clings to a certain level of respectability that the truly bad Sliders stories discard. There is a compelling moral dilemma which Christina’s father, Jonathan (Jim Metzler), must confront. On the one hand, he wants to save his grandson and spare his daughter more suffering. On the other hand, vigilance is what has kept the Kromagg threat at bay. If they were to learn that an antidote might exist, his entire world would be in for retribution of the highest order. Can he risk billions to save one life? His answer: no.

Sadly, our Sliders don’t wrestle with it at all. And once Korindos appears, they throw in with him to attempt to save the baby even though it is highly likely he will betray them. Highly, highly likely. Blindingly obvious, perhaps. Precautions taken? Next to none.

So in the end, I don’t think the episode would have worked even had all mention of Wade been excised. But I do think I’d have been far less disappointed with it. They dangled her in front of me and then abandoned her again, with nary a mention of her once they reached Christina’s world. Christina tells Rembrandt that Wade doesn’t blame him for her fate. “It’s not our fault,” the writers say to us. “Please don’t blame us for Wade.”

But we do. Oh, we do.