The Guardian

Arturo is dying of an incurable disease and wishes to leave the group before it gets worse. Quinn convinces him to stay on, but pledges not tell Wade and Rembrandt about Arturo’s condition. The next slide takes them to an Earth that is 12 years behind the rest, forcing Quinn to relive the death of his father. With the help of his mother and his old homeroom teacher, Quinn takes his younger self under his wing to protect him from school bullies who tormented him as a child. Wade is vehemently opposed, but she’s too busy looking after a suddenly wide-eyed Arturo who wants to experience everything life has to offer. It is revealed that Quinn taught his younger self how to fight to prevent him from doing something much, much worse.

Worlds Visited

	Medical World Arturo’s medical examination reveals he has a terminal illness. Read the full Travelogue entry »
	Van Meer’s World As close to time travel as you can get without actually going anywhere. Events unfolding here are 12 years behind the events of Earth Prime. Read the full Travelogue entry »

Details

• According to the CAT scan computer, Arturo’s “Patient Data File” number is GA473298 and his “Patient ID” number is 30-85-91 and there is a mass in his cranium located at the occipital bone (the natural bump on the back of the head).
• The screen shows a cross-sectioned skull under the word Sagittal with a blue mass in that area.
• The plate of the brown Cadillac that Rembrandt admires on Eighties World reads V-CE465.
• A store across the street from the cemetery is Fishbecks Patio Center.
• The Sliders’ favorite pizza place, Acovone’s, once stood on Post Street but it burned down a few years ago.
• Arturo drives Wade and Rembrandt past La Castila del Arroyo.
• The first numeral of the Mallory’s house number is 2. The rest of the numbers are obscured by a strategically placed potted plant.
• Quinn’s neighbor on his street is Mrs. Van Derbeken (named after Tracy Tormé’s real-life friend Derik Van Derbeken, an actor who also appears as a security guard in the episode Murder Most Foul), a tall lady with red hair and thick glasses.
• The hotel the Sliders stay at is located on Jones St.
• Before Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo leave for the opera, Wade is sitting in the hotel room reading a magazine called Whitewater. (It’s unclear as to whether it’s a brochure for whitewater rafting — possibly the next big adventure on Arturo’s checklist — or a real estate brochure courtesy of Governor Clinton in Arkansas.)
• The Sliders land in an area that was destroyed in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989.
• Quinn’s school was built in 1901.
• Heather Hanley drives a Volvo.

Character Information

• It’s revealed that Arturo has a terminal illness. While not named, the symptoms gradually worsen along with his condition, and he has at most a year to live before the disease claims him.
• As a boy, Quinn got into a fight with a kid named Brady Oaks. In trying to defend himself, he used a baseball bat against Brady and ended up breaking Brady’s knee. The event scarred Quinn for life — and Brady Oaks walked with a limp for the rest of his.
• As a boy, Quinn skipped two grades in school and had very few friends. He considered his genius a curse and spent much of his free time in his cellar — his ‘Fortress of Solitude’ — where he would conduct various experiments. All the while, he longed to be an athlete.
• On Quinn’s eighth birthday, Mike Mallory gave his son a telescope and used to take him out to look at the stars. (That telescope can be seen in the establishing scene of Quinn’s bedroom in the Pilot.)
• Eleven-year-old Quinn’s homeroom teacher was Miss Heather Hanley, whom he had a crush on.
• When Arturo was a young man he owned a luxury car, which gives some insight into his economic status at the time.
• Quinn plays chess, as did his father.
• Arturo enjoys classical music.
• Wade enjoys Black Velvet liquor.
• Quinn’s father was a man of peace.

Money Matters

• It’s probable that Arturo skipped out on his doctor’s bill — unless he paid cash, which is also probable because the Sliders seem to have a lot of money on Van Meer’s World (or maybe the dollar is worth more with reverse inflation and all).
• A quick checklist of items purchased here include a Rolls Royce rental, pizza from Acovone’s, three tickets to a San Francisco 49ers game, new outfits for the opera and three opera tickets, complete bungee jumping equipment (unless they rented), a hotel room (presumably at the Dominion since they’re in San Francisco).

Notable Quotes

• “The only difference between a rut and the grave is a few inches.” — Mrs. Brown, per Rembrandt.
• “I’m gonna put a dent in that special brain of yours.” — Bully Rex Crandall, just before big Quinn rescues little Quinn.
• “Well fine, but why not have a drink first?” — Arturo to Ambrosia who says “I wanna Skip and Go Naked” when he offers to buy her a drink.
• “But you’re looking at me. Are you confused?” — a very calm Arturo to Neanderthal Bull who says that he was talking to Ambrosia.

Nitpicks/Errors

• Because this is essentially Earth Prime, though a little behind the times, the surroundings and geography should stay fairly consistent with those of Earth Prime. Yet Quinn’s house sits on a corner on Earth Prime and does not on Van Meer’s World (nor does it in Eggheads). Filming restrictions aside, this should not have been overlooked.
• In the Pilot, Quinn’s dog Bopper was shown to be a black dog; in this episode, it is tan.
• The only 1984-era 49ers game played at roughly the same time this episode aired was against the New York Giants in New Jersey. While the Niners won 31-10, it seems a little far for Arturo and the rest of them to go for a football game.
• Are they staying at the Dominion Hotel? Wherever they’re staying the architecture of the room is identical to the suite they book in the Royal Chancellor when they’re in Los Angeles.

Neatpicks

• Arturo, incensed that kids today have too much pop culture and not enough plain culture, sums his frustration up in one sentence. “Your generation thinks nothing of seeing Indiana Jones 13 times. Well, I happen to feel the same way about Mozart.” Quite funny, considering John Rhys-Davies was in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Rewind That!

• At the biker bar, one of the patrons calmly pats Wade on the ass as she walks past him. Rembrandt notices but doesn’t do anything.
• As Arturo steps up onto the bridge to bungee jump, it’s evident that whatever logo appears on his black running shoes has been covered over with black tape.
• The baseball cards that (old) Quinn peruses on the porch with his younger self are not cards from the era in question. The backs of the cards, white, red and blue suggest that they are cards from the 1986 Fleer set.

Guest Stars

• Phillip Van Dyke as Young Quinn
• Linda Henning¹ as Mrs. Mallory
• Leslie Horan as Heather Hanley
• Meadow Sisto as Ambrosia

Co-Starring

• Marty York as Brady Oaks
• Timothy Wiley as Rex Crandell
• Robert Winley as Bull
• John Kendall as Bartender
• John C. Colton  as Priest

1. Linda Henning picks up the role of Mrs. Mallory again, one she originated in the Pilot, The Exodus, part I, Genesis and The Seer.