“The Seer” | |||||||
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Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 18 | ||||||
Written by | Keith Damron | ||||||
Directed by | Paul Cajero | ||||||
Guest stars | Roy Dotrice as Mark LeBeau, "The Seer" Linda Henning as Amanda Mallory Sarah Chapman as Lisa Josh Adell as Vernon Jennifer Hetrick as Claire LaBeau | ||||||
Production no. | E0818 | ||||||
Original airdate | February 4, 2000 | ||||||
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List of Sliders episodes |
"The Seer" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of Sliders. It was originally aired February 4, 2000 on the Sci-fi Channel (December 29, 1999 on Sky One in the UK). It is the last episode of the series.
On a world full of Sliders fans, a psychic predicts the sliders' fate.
Synopsis[]
The episode begins with Maggie Beckett eating on a giraffe sandwich and pork soda, while talking about how this was going to be the last time she would take a bite out of the unusual. Rembrandt was glad that he finally was going home, but was disappointed because he wanted a weapon to use against the Kromaggs. They slid expecting to go to Earth Prime but instead landed on another alternate earth, surrounded by a crowd holding up signs that said things like "Welcome Sliders" and "Mallory rules!"
The sliders then met Claire and her father Mark (played by Roy Dotrice). Mark claimed to be a psychic and said that after a heart attack he saw visions of the Sliders' journeys, and created a television show based on his visions which was very popular on that alternate earth, especially when the Kromaggs were introduced. He said that occasionally, his visions can see into the future, and that the very next slide they took would be their very last, and that they would be killed.
Maggie accused Mark and Claire of deliberately redirecting their vortex away from Earth Prime and onto this alternate earth. The sliders were skeptical of Claire and Mark's claims because they would profit by the sliders remaining on this earth. Rembrandt Brown had decided that on the next slide, he would slide alone. The others did not like his decision because they felt they were a team, didn't want one person to make a decision like that, and wanted to be there with Rembrandt.
The sliders met Amanda Mallory on this earth who now had post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the fate of her son Quinn Mallory.
The sliders were invited by Vernon Peckinpah (who might be named after David Peckinpah, who was an executive producer of the show) to a party of a Sliders fan club on this earth. At the party, Rembrandt learned that there was a biological weapon on this earth that defeated the Kromaggs, that every person has in their bloodstream. One person took an injection and gave it to Rembrandt for him to take back to Earth Prime.
When the sliders attempted to slide, they were blocked from entering the vortex. Then the timer reset to 3 days. The sliders again confronted Mark, and demanded that he let them slide. Mark said he had nothing to do with blocking the vortex. When the sliders told Mark that he would profit by them remaining on that earth, Mark said he would not deny that, but said he already had enough money for what little time he had left, and that his doctor said he could have a fatal heart attack any day now. Mark urged the sliders to not slide because he said he was not mistaken about his vision of their death.
Towards the end of the episode, someone came into the sliders' hotel room and smashed their timer, rendering it unusable. Amanda Mallory revealed that there is a warehouse where some Kromagg sliding technology is being kept and she didn't say anything about it earlier because she wanted the sliders to stay on that earth. When they arrived, the guards showed up along with Claire, who threatened to kill the sliders and say that their doubles were in fact them, so that Claire could still profit. At this point in time, Claire admitted that she did indeed use the Kromagg technology to redirect the vortex to this earth, and blocked the sliders from leaving. Then Mark showed up, shocked to hear about what his daughter suggested. The guards and Claire then left to call reinforcements.
Shortly after this, Mark had a heart attack. He said this wasn't the first heart attack, and would not be the last. The sliders were able to use the Kromagg technology to open a vortex and were going to send one person through, in hopes that by sending only one person, they would change the fate that Mark and predicted for them. Rembrandt injected himself with the blood that had the anti-Kromagg biological weapon in it, thus forcing the sliders to choose Rembrandt to send through the vortex. Rembrandt felt that since it was his world, he should be the one who takes the risk. He told the other sliders, Maggie, Mallory, and Diana that whatever his fate was, Mark would find out, and that if he was ok, to slide after him, and otherwise, enjoy their lives on the alternate earth they were on.
Rembrandt slid, and right after this, Mark died of his heart attack, leaving the sliders no way to know about Rembrandt's fate. The episode ended at this point, and was intended to be a cliffhanger season finale. Since it ended up being a series finale, the cliffhanger was never resolved and the fates of Rembrandt and of Earth Prime were never revealed.
Ending[]
According to the Dimension of Continuity website, the producers of Sliders knew that season 5 was going to be the last season, but still ended the show in a cliffhanger. According to the website, production did this to get the attention of the Sci Fi Channel, but also says that some claim this was an attempt to get Sliders fans to rally for a potential sixth season, and that ending the show in a cliffhanger would make the fans more likely to do this.