Last Days

A killer asteroid is scheduled for impact with the Earth before the next slide, and each Slider deals with the oncoming catastrophe in his or her own way. Rembrandt decides to party like it’s 1999 until depraved party games force him to reevaluate what truly matters. Wade and Quinn search for their families and discover Quinn’s double had attempted to time travel; Quinn fails to convert the equipment into a sliding machine, but he does succeed in making out with Wade. Saving the planet thus falls to Arturo, who enlists the aid of the obnoxious Conrad Bennish, Jr. In this America, Albert Einstein refused to accept responsibility for the consequences of the atom bomb, and proclaimed there was not enough fissionable material on Earth to make one work. Arturo and his flaky student have just two days to prove him wrong.

Worlds Visited

Asteroid World You guessed it. An asteroid is set to strike the West Coast in a few days, and everyone has worked themselves into a hedonistic frenzy. Read the full Travelogue entry »

Details

• The Sliders land two blocks south of Chaney Street. (In Summer of Love, Rembrandt mentioned that he would search Chaney for any sight of their missing friends.)
• The police cruiser that drives by bears the logo of the S.F.P.D. (San Francisco Police Department) and is car number 1293.
• The sign advertising apples reads “1 Day Only! Apples only $17.00 ea. Today’s Special.”
• Mace Moon’s discount store is called Moonatic Electronics. [Tracy Tormé says it is pronounced like lunatic).
• The asteroid is scheduled to hit at 6:20 PM (PST) on Friday, but the four don’t slide until Saturday morning. That means that they enter Asteroid World on Wednesday Morning.
• Arturo says that they all will reconvene at Friday 5:00 p.m. Rembrandt huffs out of the store after agreeing to reconvene in the store at 5:30 PM on Friday.
• Details about the asteroid come from an “FSA Computer Simulation:”
  • Its name is 2956 Yeoman.
  • It is 10.36 miles in diameter and is traveling at 43,000 miles per hour.
  • It is destined to hit the western-most portion of the United States and there is essentially nothing that can be done to stop it.
• At 52 hours to impact, Rembrandt enters the San Francisco Community Church with a sign out front that reads: “Have A Nice Last Few Days / Soup Kitchen Open Today / All Welcome.”
• There is also a quote from the bible that reads “For God who loved the world so much that he gave his [only begotten Son.]” (John 3:16)
• The name of the clothing store that gets its window shattered is “Colette’s” (Rembrandt would drove by the store while searching for his friends in Summer of Love.)
• The Last Days party is up on Nob Hill.
• Arturo calls 411 to try to find a place where he can get the aluminum, lead and beryllium he needs to create lenses for the bomb.
• With 24 hours remaining, Rembrandt enters the party.
• In Quinn’s basement, it is after 2:00 am, and Wade says that he’s been working for eight straight hours.
• With 22 hours to impact, Arturo steals a key page of the bomb schematics from Bennish.
• With 13 hours to impact, Rembrandt puts on a show at the party.
• At four hours to impact:, Arturo explains that they’ve rigged an Atlas missile to handle the huge payload.
• With only one hour left, at 5:30 PM, Arturo, Wade, Quinn and have gathered in Mace Moon’s electronics store to watch events as they happen on television. (Earlier, at 3:00 PM, scientists fitted the missile with the warhead).
• The live coverage of the asteroid’s approach is being broadcast from Mt. Wilson, California. The shot then switches to Times Square, New York City where a large crowd has gathered. The countdown clock on TV indicates that there are 16 minutes and 57 seconds to impact. there are 42 seconds remaining when Rembrandt arrives back at the store.
• The live shot on SFN is coming from Andrews Air Force Base. The newscaster looks to a person named “Terry” for a clip of Bennish.
• The license plate of Bennish’s limo appears to be 3ABM519.
• The bold headline of the Saturday morning newspaper reads “Atom Bomb Saves The World.”

Character Information

• Quinn’s mom keeps a house key under the mat at the back door.
• Quinn’s grandparents live in Carmel, California.
• One of Quinn’s hobbies is paleontology.
• Our Quinn doesn’t think time travel is possible.
• Rembrandt plays the piano.
• Rembrandt says that the church “brings me back to my roots.”

Money Matters

Arturo has enough to buy time on Mace Moon’s internet computer.

Notable Quotes

• “Basically, the guy was heavy into the dinosaurs.” — Quinn, talking about his alter ego on Asteroid World.
• “The fate of the world is in my hand and I feel as if I’ve got guitars exploding in my head.” — Arturo, to Bennish in response to his loud heavy metal music.
• “Genius comes in all shapes and sizes, however galling that may be.” — Arturo, to Wade, about Bennish’s rude and crude behavior.
• “Mr. Bennish, If we survive I promise you this: I will dedicate my life to isolating the gene that makes you so obnoxious and I will destroy it.” — Arturo.
• “Hee hee, I love this guy.” — Bennish in response.
• “I shocked the world man, I shocked the world!” — Bennish, in response to the media surge that surrounds him after the success of the bomb.

Nitpicks/Errors

• The SFN news broadcast in the electronics store refers to the Union of Concerned Scientist but Arturo later mentions that he has a meeting with the Union of Distinguished Scientists.
• Quinn believes his family used sliding to escape this world but if that’s true, who would have covered up all of the equipment in the basement?
• At the Mallory home, Wade says that it is 2 am and that Quinn has been working for eight hours straight. That would leave 16 hours to impact and leave the consistency of the scenes out of order because in the next scene (in the Bennish lab) an announcement states that there are 22 hours left.
• Arturo bursts in on Quinn and Wade to announce he is close to fitting his completed nuclear warhead on a NASA missile but earlier, the computer simulation was attributed to the FSA (Federal Space Agency). Aren’t they the same thing?
• The science correspondent on television calls newscaster Kim Brettoner “Katie.” When the missile hits the asteroid, Arturo explains that “light travels at 186,000 miles per second” (actually 186,264 miles/sec.) Because the light doesn’t reach the Sliders for approximately eight seconds, that means that the asteroid is about 1.4 million miles from earth when it’s destroyed. Earlier, Dr. Antonovich states that the asteroid is moving at 43,000 miles per hour. (or about 716 miles per second.) That means that, at the asteroid’s current position, it still would have been about 32 hours before actual impact.

Neatpicks

• The news reporter’s on-screen name is shown as Kim Brettoner, a name that pays tribute to Sliders production accountant Kymn Brettoner. In the first draft of the script, the newscaster’s name was Lucy.

Rewind That!

At the beginning of the episode, Mace Moon confronts a meter maid who has given his car a ticket. He insults her and rips up the ticket. At the end of the episode, as the Sliders are walking down the street, the action in the foreground shows the meter maid returning to give him another ticket.

Guest Stars

• Jennifer Hetrick¹ as Caroline Fontaine
• Jason Gaffney² as Conrad Bennish, Jr.
• George Touliatos as Dr. Lee Antonovich

Co-Starring

• Gerry Nairn³ as Mace Moon
• Malcolm Stewart⁴ as Alan Fontaine

Featuring

• Carlton Watson⁵ as Reverend
• Robin Palmer as Nurse Pamela
• Patrick Stevenson as Jimmy
• Hidalgo Rubin as Driver
• Jacqueline Dandenaeu as Metermaid
• Norma Wick as News Anchor [Kim Brettoner]
• Brian Arnold⁶ as Science Correspondent
• Mike Dobson⁷ as Policeman

Unaccredited

• The boy and his mother who light a candle at the church.

1. Jennifer Hetrick returns as Claire LeBeau in The Seer.
2. Jason Gaffney plays pothead Conrad Bennish, Jr. in the Pilot, Summer of Love and Invasion.
3. Gerry Nairn plays a very different Mace Moon in Summer of Love.
4. Malcolm Stewart guest starred in an episode of the Jerry O’Connell series My Secret Identity. He would later play Regent Douglas Hagen in Obsession.
5. Carlton Watson would go on to play Sebastian Smith in Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome.
6. Brian Arnold would come back to play Barry King in the season two episode Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome.
7. Mike Dobson also plays a cop in the episode Summer of Love.