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Obsession
Sliders S02E08
Wade dreaming with Derek
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 8
Written by Steve Brown
Jon Povill
Directed by Colin Bucksey
Guest stars Gillian Carfra
Sandra P. Grant
Heather Hanson
Isaac Hayes
Hiro Kanagawa
Paul McGillion
Malcolm Stewart
James Patrick Stuart
Production no. K0812
Original airdate 1996-05-24
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"Gillian of the Spirits" "Invasion"
List of Sliders episodes


"Obsession" is the eight episode of the second season of the science fiction television series Sliders.

Summary[]

Wade wakes from a dream where she fell in love with literally the man of her dreams. When the sliders land in a new world, the actual man who was in her dream greets her with a rose, introducing himself as Derek Bond, and tells her that he saw a vision of her coming for years and believes that in their past lives they were in love. When Wade expresses disbelief and confusion, he leaves to give her time to adjust, but invites her to dinner with him later that evening. As they're exploring the city, Wade is almost run down by a car with the license plate "Oracle1" - the car belonging to the Prime Oracle of this world. Rembrandt pushes her out of the way in time, but is himself struck in the leg by the vehicle. When the group goes to the hospital to get it checked out they discover that nurse is able to diagnose his injury without even removing his shoe. Turns out, 10% of Americans are psychic. These people are able to specialize in medicine, law, etc. and use their talents to the betterment of humanity and, thus, all of the major catastrophes of the 20th centuries have been averted.


In the meantime, the Prime Oracle meets with Derek and another oracle student, revealing that the following day he will die. He appoints Derek as his successor and foretells of a woman who will be the greatest influence on his life and will help him become a great Prime Oracle.


The nurse who treated Rembrandt in the hospital takes Wade shopping for a dress for dinner and, though Quinn doesn't like it, Wade meets Derek later on, where he proposes to her. She takes the ring, but asks for more time to think about it. Her friends try to dissuade her, but she seriously considers accepting. However, she eventually decides against it and tries to give the ring back. Derek tells her that the old Prime Oracle said she would be a crossroads in his life and attempts to sway her to his side by recreating her childhood bedroom. Wade, however, upon learning that Derek read her mind to find out about the room, feels violated, comparing it to rape, and tries to leave. It is then that Derek forcibly locks her in her room and doesn't let her go.


With the help of the nurse, Quinn, Rembrandt and Prof. Arturo sneak Wade out of the house, but Derek, foreseeing what they will try, stops them before they can escape. Wade is now a prisoner. There is nothing anyone can do. Wade loses hope and, when she receives a prescription bottle (her needing it seemingly foreseen), she takes all the pills, feeling that death is the only way out. Just before she loses consciousness, Wade calls Quinn to let him know what she's done and Quinn races to Derek's mansion. He tells the staff to call the Prime Oracle and tell him, so Derek is already in the room with Wade's body when Quinn bursts through the door. Distraught, Quinn carries her to the waiting ambulance, blaming Derek for what has happened. Quinn is the only one who rides with Wade in the ambulance and, on the way to the hospital, he notices that they are not, in fact, going that way. When the ambulance stops, they are at the nurse's home and Rembrandt and Prof. Arturo tell Quinn that there is nothing to worry about. Wade is not actually dead - with the help of the nurse, the two of them had contrived the whole thing. Rembrandt and Prof. Arturo couldn't tell Quinn, because, if they did, Derek would know it was fake as well.


As soon as Quinn learns this, Derek receives the same knowledge psychically and rushes to their location. Wade, now awake, thinks he's going to try and take her back, but, instead, Derek tells her that he finally realized everything since the moment the four Sliders came through the wormhole was foreseen by the old Prime Oracle and he purposefully aimed his car at Wade that day in order to set off a chain of events that would eventually release Derek from his obsession with Wade, allowing him to move on with his life and focus on being Prime Oracle. He has come to apologize and say goodbye, but as they leave, Derek gets worried as he sees where the Sliders will end up.

Trivia[]

  • The police's symbol on Psychic Earth's US is a pentagram
  • Derek's mansion is the same house featured prominently in an episode of Highlander titled "Black Mail".
  • When Derek introduces himself as "Bond..Derek Bond" is a reference to the way James Bond introduces himself in the film series of the same name.
  • Isaac Hayes was a fan of the show, and asked to be in an episode. But the writers couldn't think of a part that he could play in any episode that had more than 3 lines. So they expanded the Oracle meeting.
  • This episode was meant to be before "Invasion." When Derek tosses out the line of seeing where they were going, it's supposed to be a reference to the "horror which awaits."
  • The plot has considerable similarities to the Tom Cruise 2002 film "Minority Report."

Memorable lines[]

Kate: Oppose him no more, for you will only come to harm. He is an evil man, and his power is too great.
Richard: By all that is holy, I swear myself to attain more power than he has!
Kate: Swear not, my love; The pursuit of such power is the source of this corruption

Wade: Apparently, 10% of the population has psychic abilities. They're trying to specialize in things like medical diagnosis, mineral exploration, criminology...
Quinn: She's in heaven; A world of people who think like she does!

Arturo: (addressing a holy cow) And as for you, I have but one word: Hamburger

Reason for the Prime Oracle trying to run over Wade[]

This has caused a lot of problems for fans of the show. Its simple, he did it because he knew Rembrandt would save her and causing him to hurt his foot. As a result he went to the hospital and met the nurse who would later help Wade escape from Derek by giving her a drug to make it look like she had poisoned herself. As a result Derek realized what he did was wrong and let her go and possibly became a great Prime Oracle since the last one predicted Wade would help him become one.

Goofs[]

  • We catch several quick glances of the faces of the horseback riders. It's neither Sabrina nor James.
  • Derek may not have seen the whole future with Wade, but does that mean he couldn't see it with Arturo or Rembrandt? They were charged with killing her. Couldn't he have seen that?

Earths Visited[]

  • Indian World- An Earth where the Hindu religion is the central religion in America instead of Christianity.
  • Psychic World- It seems that a Psychic prevented the assassination of Lincoln and as a result he set up a branch of the government headed by psychics to prevent disasters and assassinations. So far we know that JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King JR's assassinations were prevented.
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