Sliders (1995–2000): Season 4, Episode 3 - Common Ground - full transcript

And he doesn't spill a drop!

We missed King Kalihana's
pagan fertility feast for this?

You weren't about to
be the virgin sacrifice.

Don't say it, Quinn.

I'm guessing maybe a stage
two on the smog index today.

Yeah,
something nasty went down here.

How much time we got?

Enough. 27 hours.

Looks like a war zone.

Sounds like a war zone.

Incoming!



It is a war zone!

Take cover!

There's someone out there! Help!

Get him up!

Easy.

Since when did you
become shrapnel-proof?

What was I supposed to
do? Just leave him there?

Maybe that would've
been a good idea.

Well,

I guess this explains it.

You risked all our
necks to save a Magg?

I don't know what
army you were in,

but I was trained never to leave
a man down on the battlefield.

A man, no, Maggie.



But one of these murdering animals,
you bet.

Easy, guys. This could be good.

Good? How?

We need to find out the
Kromaggs' home world.

Maybe we can get some
information out of this guy.

Maybe he can help us find Wade.

That's a lot of maybes, Q-Ball.

What makes you think this
Magg's gonna tell us anything?

I don't know,
but we're overdue for a lucky break.

Maybe the Kromaggs are
good guys on this world.

Or maybe not.

What if you found a
portal to a parallel universe?

What if you could slide into
a thousand different worlds

where it's the same year
and you're the same person,

but everything
else is different?

And what if you can't
find your way home?

Sliders.

Who are you?

Leave her alone.

What is this device?

A garage door opener.

Oh.

You know, most Kromaggs
prefer the taste of human eyes raw.

I like mine cooked
in their own juices.

Maggie. Stop it.

Now, this is a weapon?

A detonator of some kind?

Feel like a big Magg now,
torturing women?

Every time you speak,
your companion will be made to suffer.

I get my hands on you...

Remmy, I appreciate the moral support,
but shut up!

So,
you were planning to sabotage the project?

What project?

I am in no hurry, human.

I like my eyes a little
bit on the well side.

Enough.

Commander.

I'm relieved to see that
you escaped without injury.

I mean,
who knows what might have happened

if we hadn't rescued you
from these Homo sapien spies?

Yes. Troubling.

But I'm more troubled that you
ordered the perimeter guns tested

before I withdrew to
the safety of the garrison.

That... That was a miscommunication,
Commander.

And I assure you,
those responsible have been punished.

All of them?

Shall I continue
the interrogation?

No.

Commander, need I remind
you of the priority of this project?

They could be saboteurs.

Have them decontaminated and
brought to my command chamber.

Sir...

I trust we will not have another
miscommunication, Subcommander.

Sorry to spoil your lunch.

You hung pretty tough in there,
Captain Beckett.

How you feeling?

A little tingly.

Oh?

Not in a good way.

Welcome to Earth 147, Sliders.

What'd you call us?

That's what you humans call

quantum probability translocation,
isn't it?

Sliding. How innocuous.

The design is unusual.

Crude, but clearly it is a
trans-dimensional facilitator.

You made it?

We found it outside.
We don't know what it is.

Thought me might
trade it in for some food.

During decontamination,

a spectral scan was
done on your tissue.

No residual radiation.

No biotoxins.

Hardly indicative of
the native population.

Wouldn't you agree?

Now,
you can tell me where you came from,

or I can allow Subcommander
Krolak to continue his interrogation.

All right.

We're sliders.

Remmy.

Hush, girl.

I'm not letting them go
to work on you again.

Your army invaded our world,
too.

Only we couldn't hold
out as long as these folks.

My friends and I,
we needed a way out. Any way.

Some scientists were working
on this thing called sliding.

We stole their gizmo.

Our bad luck we would end up

in a worse hellhole
than the one we left.

Possession of this technology
by Homo sapiens is forbidden.

The punishment is death.

But my life still has
some value for me.

You saved it, so I feel

some

obligation.

Don't get weepy on me.

If I had known it was one of
you ugly freaks under that suit,

I'd have let you die there.

And you? Would
you have let me die?

Yes.

What am I to do?

I cannot let you go. Yet.

I'm reluctant to
order your executions.

So, for the time being,

you'll remain
under house arrest.

But make no mistake,
mercy is not my strong suit.

If you defy an order from any Kromagg,
you will be killed.

If you attempt to interfere with
the operation of this garrison,

you will be killed.

And if you attempt to escape!

You will die soon enough.

Kromaggs don't show
mercy. It's not in their nature.

Maybe they're trying to "good cop,
bad cop" us.

Why? Unless they
didn't buy Remmy's story

about stealing the timer.

Speaking of,
we got less than a day to get it back,

or you better get used
to these accommodations.

Was it just me,
or did it seem like the Lieutenant

was trying to frag his CO?

No, there's definitely some
sort of power struggle going on.

Maybe we can use
it to our advantage.

Yeah, it looks like Maggie's got some
juice with these leather-faced creeps.

What?

You saved that Magg's bacon,
and he knows it.

That's the only reason
we're not dead right now.

And maybe beauty can
finesse the timer out of the beast.

Remmy. What are you saying?

I'm saying we do whatever
we can to get out of here.

Now, I already spent three months
in a Kromagg re-education camp.

What they were doing to
Maggie is a sponge bath

compared to what
they have in store for us.

I watched Wade being hauled away,
screaming.

I'm not going back.

We miss that window, I will die

before I spend 29 years
here with these bastards.

And I will take as many
of them with me as I can.

Commander, am I to believe
you granted the Homo sapien spies

full access to the garrison?

House arrest is hardly full access,
Subcommander.

But they
are human. Vermin.

And if this is how you
commanded the twelfth legion,

perhaps the great struggle
was lost from the start.

You serve at my leisure, Krolak.

Pray I do not tire of dogma-spewing
Dynasty toadies anytime soon.

Inter-dimensional transmission, Commander.

For your eyes only.

At your command.

The Dynasty has been tracking
a rogue human for some time.

He possesses trans-dimensional
travel capabilities,

and we have reason to believe
he recently arrived on Earth 147.

If any of your garrison
encounter this man,

do not detain him.

I do not understand.

It is not for you
to understand.

Do as you are told,
and perhaps the disgrace that soils

the Klan Kromanus
will be lifted. Clear?

Of course.

Efforts to penetrate
the dampening field

the humans have
placed around our world

have failed.

It remains cloaked
to our sensors,

lost amidst an infinite
number of worlds.

And this human will change that?

This human has the key
to our ultimate victory.

The tracking device
implanted in him

during his captivity
on Earth 113

will lead us to
our home world.

Quinn Mallory will bring
about the destruction

of his own species.

I've never seen
Remmy like this before.

If you'd been through what he has,
you might be a little freaked

about staying at the Kromagg Hilton,
too.

It's more than that.

Ever since we found Earth Prime,
he's just totally shut down.

I mean,
at least I know I have a home somewhere.

He's lost everything.

He's never been a hateful man,
but now...

It's the only thing that's
keeping him going.

Human survivors.

Prisoners of war. We
haven't taken many.

I'm sure your troops
made sure of that.

They didn't have to.

On most of the
worlds that we conquer,

the inhabitants offer
only minor resistance.

Their primitive weapons
are no match for ours.

These humans, however.

We killed millions,
but they wouldn't yield.

The war dragged
on for two years.

And even though they must've known
the battle was lost, they didn't stop.

Chemical agents,
biotoxins, atomic weapons.

They chose death over surrender.

The Battle of California.

What?

On my Earth,
there was a world war.

It was the second of three,
actually.

Human against human.

The Japanese invaded
the west coast of my country.

The Marines fought them,
block by block,

but they kept pouring
in reinforcements.

When the American lines finally broke,
they felt they had no choice.

We dropped two atomic bombs.

One on Los Angeles,
one on San Diego.

On our own soil.

On our own troops.

My grandfather fought there.

You were a warrior.

A pilot, yes.

I will hear more of this Earth.

You will dine with me tonight.

I don't think so.

It was not a request.

Great. Four hours on this world,
and I got a date.

I hate to crimp your social life,
but forget it.

We have to get that timer back,

or we'll be joining
those people outside.

We'll find another way.

There might not be another way.

I said forget it.

Since when have you
become my chaperone?

Why take the risk? If the
Kromaggs laid a hand on you, I...

Quinn, I didn't know you cared.

Stop them.

Hey, it's okay, man.

You're gonna be all right.

Come in.

All you need is a little soft music,
and you're in business.

I do not understand.

Let's not have any illusions
that this is a social event.

You ordered me here,
so here I am.

This is not an interrogation.

I had hoped we
could at least be civil.

What the hell is this?

Most humans find a
familiar image less stressful.

Well,
I don't respond well to deception.

Did you think the sight
of a handsome face

would make me forget
you're the enemy?

You wanted to see me
because I was a soldier.

Have the courtesy
to treat me like one.

My apologies, Captain.

Will you join me now?

Please.

No, no.

Help me.

Help me.

Hey, what did they do to you?

Hey, man.

Forget
him. He's out of it.

They cut his eyes out.

No. It's from the
radiation outside.

He was probably too
close to the blast site

when we tried to push the
Maggs out of Bakersfield.

We should've let them keep it.

You look pretty good.
What are you? Phase 1?

Phase 1?

The projects. You can't
be more than Phase 1 or 2.

You haven't changed enough yet.

The project?

Where you from?

From outside.

Nobody comes from
outside. Not anymore.

What's the project?
What is going on here?

Nobody knows. They
just take you away.

Every time you come back different,
if you come back at all.

What's your name?

Penny.

Pretty Penny, my dad used to call me,
before they took him away.

At least he never
saw me like this.

Come on,
Penny. I'm gonna get you out of here.

It's them.

They run the project.
You've gotta get out of here.

I'm not gonna leave you here to
be turned into some kind of monster.

You can't save us.

Don't let them take you,
too. Please.

No!

Hey.

Where have you been?

Doing a little recon.

Where's Maggie?

Taking your advice.

What?

She's having dinner with
the Kromagg Commander,

trying to get the timer back.

Yeah, I wish they'd invited me.

I'd like to take a steak
knife to that sadistic SOB.

That's why you're not on their
guest list. What'd you find out?

This is a freaking death camp.

Got a lab filled with POWs.

They're using them for
some type of experiment.

Genetic engineering or
something. I don't know, but it's bad.

Must've been the project
they were asking Maggie about.

Well, we need to do something.

We need to get the timer back.

They're butchering these people.

You think I like standing by,
doing nothing?

But we can't save everybody,
man.

So we just leave this
Earth to rot like my Earth?

Look, it was my world, too.

I understand how you
feel about the Kromaggs.

And after what they did to you,
I can't blame you.

You have no idea
what they did to me.

You think I'm just
supposed to forget?

"Walk it off, Remmy. It's over"?

You gonna kill
every Magg you see?

Is that what you want to be,
Remmy? You want to be a killer?

You don't understand.

Well then, tell me.

Tell Maggie. Tell somebody.

Remmy,
you know I'll follow you anywhere,

but you gotta learn
how to deal with this,

or else it's just
gonna eat you up

until there is nothing left.

I saw them wheel a body out of there,
so keep an eye out. Sorry.

What do you think?

Looks like some
kind of retina scan.

I tell you, man, I can't make heads or tails
out of half of this Kromagg technology.

Q-Ball.

This is a restricted area,
human.

You violated a direct order,

and I'm very strict
about following orders.

You know, it's been so long since I
had good human eyes on this world.

The local variety are
all wilted and rotten.

Hey, take it easy.

Now, we didn't know that
this was a restricted area.

We just got turned around.

All these corridors
look the same.

If you're lying,

the penalty for spying is death.

Seems to be a catch-all
punishment with you guys.

Hey, listen, listen.

What is your commander gonna
say when he finds out you've been

carving up his guest?

Don't think Kromanus
is going to protect you.

He's grown weak,
and he won't last.

And then there'll be no one to
keep you out of the Pit, human.

Your quarters are that way.

Aren't you going to eat?

Our dietary requirements
are a bit different from yours.

I wouldn't want to
spoil your appetite.

You were a pilot?

Marine aviator.

I flew Harriers. Jump jets.

A few hours on F-18s.

Primitive aircraft.

We destroyed thousands of them.

Well,
you've never flown against me.

You saw combat?

Some.

Mostly close air support
during the big Siberian push.

You were a trained fighter,

you've tasted combat,

and yet you fled your
world during our invasion.

Are you a coward?

I'd already given up flying
to be with my husband

after he got injured.

How human.

Thank you.

Your mate,
he's one of your companions?

No, he's dead.

Do you have any family?

Anyone waiting for you
back on your home world?

We don't require
sentimental bonds to breed.

Oh. How Kromagg.

Hmm.

What are you doing here?

Earth 147 is a proving ground.

We use it as a training arena
for new tactics and weapons.

But what are you doing here?

Explain.

How many humans did
you kill to get all these?

How many worlds did you conquer?

I figure you'd be up for a cushy
command on Kromagg Prime.

Not shipped off to some ruined
planet used for target practice.

You must've screwed up
big time to get stuck here.

You are very perceptive.

We, too, had our great war.

Kromaggs and humans wrestling
for dominion over the world.

It raged two years,
until the endless bloodshed

finally took its
toll on your kind.

They lost their will to fight.

A weakness of character
that we do not suffer from.

Our victory at hand,

I commanded a legion of
troops to take the capital city.

What happened?

It was a trap.

Their scientists developed
a terrible weapon.

And as at your
Battle of California,

they proved they
had the will to use it!

The day was lost.

The war was lost.

Our world was lost.

They made you a scapegoat.

I received a command commensurate
with my battlefield performance.

One man cannot be held
accountable for an entire world war.

I am not a man!

And you insult me with
your human sympathy.

Is that why you saved my life?

You took pity on me?

I didn't have time for pity.

I saw someone out there
who was going to die.

I didn't know if he was
human or Kromagg.

At the time,
it didn't seem to matter.

Now, if you'll excuse me,
I've had enough.

It was strange. He was ruthless,

like you'd expect. You know,
hard.

But there was
something different.

It was like he was haunted.

Oh, jeez,
maybe we ought to get him some therapy.

What about the timer?

Well,
it was sitting right there on the desk,

but I couldn't grab it.

Man.

But I got this.

Hey, all right.

Maybe we could open
some doors with this.

I do not even want to
know how you got that.

And you're not
going to find out.

But there's something else,
Quinn.

He told me about his world.

Your world. How
they lost the war.

What?

Your people developed
some kind of secret weapon

that not even the
Kromaggs could handle.

Kicked their butts
right off the planet.

I knew it.

That's why we gotta get
there as soon as possible.

No, we got business here first.

What are you talking about?

This project of theirs.

They're experimenting on
humans. Turning them into monsters.

He told me this whole planet was used
as a proving ground for testing weapons.

All the more reason for
us to get to the home world.

Stop these guys
once and for all.

And how many slides
is that gonna take?

A hundred? A million?

I don't know, Q-Ball,
maybe you're right about me.

Maybe it is just about payback.

About spilling some
Kromagg blood for a change.

Remmy.

But it's not about what's
going on inside of me right now.

I left a lot of good people
back there in that Magg prison,

and Wade was one of them.

I can't walk away
again. Not this time.

Neither can we.

This is it.

They're gone.

They're all gone.

This is it.

Hey, where is she?

Where'd they take
her? Where is she?

Remmy.

Phase 4.

The Pit.

The Pit.

Thanks.

Any ideas?

I'm open for suggestions.

Looking for this?

Where are the others?

This must be the Pit.

Yeah,
but what is that?

I got a bad feeling about this.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

What
the devil is that thing?

Looks like some sort
of particle weapon.

Probably designed to disrupt
subatomic bonds in living tissue.

You mean human tissue.

Yeah.

Penny?

Penny.

No!

Remmy!

Run! Run, run!

Look out!

Let me guess.

You're lost again.

I'm sorry, Q-Ball.

You had to do something.

Maggie.

You okay? Yeah.

It appears Krolak was right.

I was a fool to believe you
animals could be trusted.

After what we saw outside,
you're calling us animals?

What are you talking about?

Tell her what
you're really doing here.

Tell her about the weapon
you've built that rips people apart,

atom by atom.

We will use whatever means
necessary to regain the home world.

This isn't about
winning your world back.

This is about revenge.

You're going to use that weapon

to exterminate every human being

on every alternate
world you find.

It is not my place to question
the will of the Dynasty.

Oh, that is beautiful.

We had a bunch of guys on our
Earth who thought the same way.

"Just following orders,"
they said.

I don't need to justify
my actions to you.

No,
but you have to justify them to yourself.

I thought warriors won
their honor on the battlefield,

not by committing mass murder.

You asked me if I pitied you.

I do now.

Have you recaptured
the test subjects?

No need, Commander.

Our scientists have informed
me that Phase 4 is ready.

So soon?

Well,
thanks to our ample supply of test animals,

we've been able to tune the
weapon to be human specific

more quickly than anticipated.

When the device is deployed,

there'll be no place on the
planet for the vermin to hide.

Commander?

Proceed with the tests.

This is a great
day for the Dynasty.

Yes. A great day.

Oh, I should have grabbed
that timer when I had the chance.

Don't beat yourself up. You
got us important information.

Nothing that's gonna get us
out of here in the next half hour.

Penny!

Look, what are you doing
here? You're gonna get caught.

You saved my life. I
couldn't just leave you.

Where's the switch?

Here.

Come on. This'll
take us outside.

We slide in 27 minutes.

If we find the timer.

Wait a minute.

Aren't you forgetting something?

The Kromaggs' little
doomsday weapon.

If we don't stop them now, how long
you think it's gonna be before we start

sliding into more
worlds like this one?

We try to take that weapon out,
we might miss the sliding window.

I'll try to
dismantle the weapon,

then we've gotta find the timer.

We saw Little Boy before.

This must be Fat Man. Go to it,
Q-Ball.

I told you,
I can't figure out this Kromagg technology.

Six minutes. Do something,
Quinn.

Looks like this thing's designed
to resonate a specific DNA pattern.

That's why it kills
humans and not Kromaggs.

Just destroy it.

What will stop them
from building another one?

Hang on. I might be able
to change these settings.

Move away from there.

You are correct, human.

It took our scientists months to set this
weapon to disrupt only human organics.

All your hard work paid off.

I guess you'll be getting
another medal for this.

You may not believe this,
Captain,

but I find no
honor in this duty.

During our great struggle,
our cause was clear,

to conquer a world that
was ours by birthright.

Half yours, half humanity's.

Our world lost.

Our cause has become
one of bloody retribution.

Genocide.

There comes a time

when even a warrior tires
of pointless bloodshed.

Thank you.

Save your gratitude. I'm
simply following my orders.

What orders?

Do you really believe

that your escape from the
Kromagg Detention Center was

a result of your own
resourcefulness?

Consider my debt repaid.

Now, go.

Take them away.

Quit pushing!

I'm afraid I must take
command of this garrison.

You fool. You don't
know what you're doing.

I'm fulfilling my own destiny.

I don't plan to end
up a disgrace like you.

Exiled and forgotten,
living on a dead world.

At least have the
self-respect to die honorably.

I plan to.

And you should be honored.

You're about to participate
in the final test of the weapon

that will rid the universe
of your kind forever.

Deploy Phase 4.

How's the time?

We don't have much left.

I'm sorry.

Now.

What happened?

I adjusted the DNA setting so that
the blast wouldn't affect humans.

But I was sure that,
that Kromagg officer saw what I did.

He did.

You okay?

30 seconds.

Look, this is hard to explain,

but we're leaving here.
We're going to a different world.

Now, you can come with us.

Start all over someplace new.

No.

There's nothing for you here.

This is my home.

We fought for years to keep it.

Now that it's ours again,
I can't leave.

The Kromaggs may come back to
find out what happened to their project.

We'll make sure they don't
get a chance to start over.

It's time.

Good luck.

Thank you for everything!