Sliders (1995–2000): Season 5, Episode 5 - New Gods for Old - full transcript

During a slide, Mallory injures his back and is unable to walk. He hears of a group of faith healers who may be able to help him walk again. But to do so may come at an unacceptable cost.

Who are those guys?

We don't want to know.

How much longer?

Ninety seconds.

Why did you tell them
you were a believer?

Because I am.

I guess they believe
something else.

Come on.

MAN: (ON SPEAKER)
Unit three,
hold your position.

We are approaching now.

Whoa!



Kill the believers!
Kill them all!

Now!

(WHOOSHING)

Fire!
Go!

Oh!

(ALL CHATTERING IN DISBELIEF)

Looks like the same place.

Mallory?

REMBRANDT:
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?

ETHEREAL VOICE: Sliders.



Come on, Mallory.

Come on.

Hey. You took a
pretty bad hit there.

I feel fine.

I can't move my legs.

I can't move my legs!

All right, well,
don't panic.

It could only
be temporary.

And what if it isn't?

I'm not going
back to this.
I'm not.

We'll get you a doctor.

Do we have
enough time?

We've got 38 hours.

Maggie and I will go.

You stay right here
until we get back.

Sorry.

We'll wait for you
right here.
We won't go anywhere!

I'm not going back
to a wheelchair.

We found
a doctor.

Dr. Krislov.

This better be good.

I don't like being
dragged from my bed
for a common drunk.

Ow!

Come on.

MAGGIE: I know this looks
a lot like the BIR-world,

but there's no
Bureau of Internal
Reconstruction here.

DIANA: We're moving through
a cluster of similar worlds,

all branching off
the same set of
choice points.

REMBRANDT: On the last one,
the BIR-men were in power.

Here, the BIR
was overthrown.

People are still trying
to recover from the war.

Krislov here barely
made it out with his life.

MALLORY: So I have to depend
on the guy who wanted
to kill us in the last world

to save my life
in this one.

Let me see.

(MALLORY GROANS)

Where did you say
you came from?

South.
East.

Uh, sort of southeast,
actually.

KRISLOV: Mmm.

Well, I ask because
I haven't seen a wound
like this in a long time.

Those weapons were
supposed to have
been destroyed.

We were attacked
by bandits on the road.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Here.

These ought
to fit you.

Please,
put this on.

Young man, I'm afraid
I don't have good news.

Your spinal cord
has been scorched.

But it'll heal, right?

KRISLOV: Well, I...
MALLORY: I'll be able
to walk again, right?

I'm sorry,
I don't have the
technology to help you.

But with physical therapy,
you should be able to regain
some of the movement.

If you don't have the
technology, who does?

Please.

Don't do anything
stupid.

Doctor, you don't
understand. He...
Diana.

I understand
all too well.

You don't think
I've seen a wound
like this before.

The war left thousands
maimed with it,

like me.

Do you think that
if there were a real
chance for recovery

would still be hobbling
around on a stick?

But at least you
can get around.

This isn't your decision
to make, it's mine!

Who are you to play God?

You came to me
for help, not them.

Now that you've found out
that I can't help you
you'll go out this door,

up the street,
and straight to the
believers, hmm?

And they will promise
your friend a blessing.

Oh, they
promise everyone.

And you are so desperate,
you'll take it.

Can they make me
walk again?

Yes.

That's all I wanted
to hear. Let's go.

At a terrible cost!

Wait a minute.

What cost?

Young man,

do you know
who you are?

Yeah.

If you go up there,
do you know who'll you be?

I'll be me.
No. You won't.

Well, that's
all right, too.

Being me isn't
that much fun anymore.

Do what you will.

Get him out of here.

I can't help a man
who won't listen.

He just wants
his legs back.

Oh, so you're going
to help your friend
be stupid, are you?

Huh? Well, I have
no patience for stupidity.

I'm guessing you
mean well, Doctor.

But he's our friend.

We're gonna do whatever
we can to help.

Thank you.
Thank you.

Looks like the '60s.

My mother showed
me pictures.

And these people are
supposed to fix my legs?

Hello. Uh,
is this the place...

Welcome...
To our colony.

You've been injured.

But your legs are fine.

It's my spinal cord.

It's been scorched.

And you're here to
ask for the blessing.

I don't know about that.

I am.

If it means healing.

I think we should
take it slow here.

We? Are you
in a wheelchair, too?

You don't know
what it's like to be
frustrated all the time

because everything requires
ten times the amount of
effort as it should.

Can you help me
walk again?

We'll teach
you to fly.

All of you.
If you want.

I'm not sure
about this.

One thing I learned
in The Haight.

Beware of flower
children bearing gifts.

This won't hurt,
will it?

Does it hurt
the caterpillar to
become a butterfly?

Transformation always hurts.

But you'll be laughing
too hard to notice.

Please.

You are welcome to join us.

Uh, no, thanks.
Not this time.

The invitation
is always open.

Diana!

I just want to take
some of this.
Analyze it.

It's all right.
We don't mind.

We have no secrets here.

Transformation is free.

I offer you water.

May you never thirst.

Drink.

Wait.

Why?

Doesn't all this seem
a little weird to you?

Everything seems
weird to me since I
started sliding with you.

Diana has a sample
of the stuff.

We'll take it
back to Krislov
let him check it out.

Do these people seem
dangerous to you?

That's not the point.

You already know
what he thinks about this.

Look, I'll analyze it
myself. But Krislov
has the equipment.

Once again,
I'm waiting for
other people

to make decisions
about my life.

You won't do anything
till we get back, right?

Right?

All right.

You guys go on ahead
I'll stay here with him.

(GASPS)

You didn't drink
any of this, did you?

Here.

You see this?

Billions of biological
nanotech engines.

They can reproduce
themselves like blood cells.

And yes, they can
rebuild his spinal cord,

cell by cell.

Yeah, but you said
there was a cost.

(SCOFFS)

How do you think
they get their
instructions, hmm?

They link up and
combine processing power.

Like a network.

The network programs
the individual machines.

They communicate
by tiny pulses of light

and that's why they glow.

Billions of them?

That's a lot of
processing power.

Oh!

Oh, what?

The network, it's not
limited to one
single person, is it?

It broadcasts through
the skin from one person
to another, right?

And above a certain
threshold, it becomes
self-aware.

Self-aware?

The glow is one big mind.

It lives in all
of them at once.

It uses their bodies,
and eventually their brains.

That's why they all
talk like one person.

They aren't individuals
any longer.

Merely cells
in the larger community.

So if Mallory drinks
any of this stuff, then
he becomes one of them.

That's the cost.

I'm sorry I was
so eager to try this.

You and Remmy were right.

No harm in Diana
making sure this
stuff won't hurt me.

I have to learn
to trust you more.

I'm glad you
see it that way.

It's just...

You don't know
what it's like to be
dead in half your body.

Not to be able
to walk or run.

MAGGIE: You're right.

But in a way,
I do know.

My husband was in a
wheelchair the last
year of his life.

I lived every day
with his pain.

His loss.

I'm sorry.

I wonder what's keeping
Remmy and Diana.

I'll go check.

Mallory!

Look, is there
any way to cure this?

It was supposed to be
a medical breakthrough.

An end to human suffering.

(SCOFFS)

Yes, of course
there's an off switch.

A shutdown code
you beam into the network

with a modulated light
operating at certain
key frequencies.

It's called
Dead Man's Light.

Do you know
of anyone that...

Look at me.

If I did know someone,
I would have healed myself
a long time ago.

The lights
of the BIR-men.

They worked like that,
didn't they?

They were destroyed.

Forget about it.

Tell me something.

When you were with
the believers, did you
meet a girl named Jill?

Was she all right?

Uh...

They didn't mention
any names.

But everyone that was
there seemed happy.

Jill is my daughter.

She's one of them.

If I knew
how to make that light,
I could have her back.

Don't let your
friend do this.

I couldn't stop him.

What?
He didn't...

(LAUGHS)

So, uh, how are
you feeling?

The process
isn't very painful.

Mostly you have dreams.

Nice dreams.

I feel fine.

My coordination
is a little shaky.

But in a little while,
the recovery
should be complete.

This is such
a blessing.
I feel...

Transformed in the most
spiritual sense of the word.

It's like being able
to see for a thousand
years in all directions.

I've been such a jerk.

So angry at everyone
and everything.

And you two have been
so wonderful to me.

Can you forgive me?

You don't have to apologize.

It's, uh, just the way
you get, when you get
the way you get.

But it hurt you.
I was wrong.

So how are you
feeling now?

Transformation is
a feeling of incredible
joy and ecstasy.

He asked Mallory.

What do you feel?

Joy and ecstasy.

REMBRANDT: Mallory!

I feel blurry.
Like I'm bigger
than before.

Like I'm living in a
lot of different
places at once,

and this body is only
a momentary focus.

You should feel this, Remmy.

It's so spiritual.

Come, drink the
water of life with me.

Oh, yes, drink with us,
all of you.

It's a whole other
way to be.

Oh, do join us.

Please, join us.

I offer you life.

We need to talk.

No, no, no.
We need to talk.

I'll wait for you
in the tent.

How much time
do we have?

Just a few minutes.

If I didn't know any better,
I'd actually envy him.

Health, happiness.

A true spiritual
connection to others.

A real sense
of community.

Peace. Real peace.

We gotta get him
the hell out of there.

BOTH: Right.

(PEOPLE CHANTING)

Mallory.

Can we talk to you alone?

What were you doing?

Communing with God.

Rembrandt, the
connection is eternal
and unbreakable.

I felt the hand
of God right here.

You don't know
what that feels like.
(SCOFFS)

Yes, I do, friend.

But I don't need this...

This stuff to do it.

This glow,
it's not real, Mallory.
Can't you see that?

Man, all you've got here
is a slow, happy death.

You want comfort?

A grave is comfortable,
and nobody ever
climbs out of one.

Mallory,
life, real life,

is about being
uncomfortable.

Remmy, here,
in this place,

we've linked a myriad
of separate souls together
into one greater being

thereby to obtain a far
greater and clearer
communication with God

than any one individual
among us can achieve alone.

Is that what you feel?

Is that what you believe?

I know it.

It's time for the slide.
We have to get going.

MALLORY: If I slide,
I'll break the linkage.

I don't want to do that.

Stay. Join me.

Let me show you the joy.

Mallory, we can't.

Mallory, please come.

You go on without me.

See us off?

MALLORY: I sense you are
going to a world where you
can rest and take your ease.

But I'd rather you stay.

Won't you reconsider?

REMBRANDT:
You know we can't stay.

MALLORY: It's your choice.

But I wish you could know
what you're giving up.

And I wish you could
know how much
I love you all.

Mallory,
we've told you before,
but it bears repeating...

(WHOOSHING)

We're not
going without you.

(EXCLAIMING) No!

Ah, this place is so pretty,
and it smells so good.

A very restful place.

Thank you.
We like to keep
things pleasant.

Pleasant?
This place is paradise.

What about
the BIR-men?

Oh, those silly people
and their miracle cures,
that didn't work.

KRISLOV: Oh, hush, Jill.
That was a long time ago.

And they had
some good ideas,

but no one listened.
Thank you.

So nothing happened.

JILL: Will your
friend be all right?

Yeah, he just is a little
tired. He needs some rest.

Well, if you need
anything else,

just jingle
this little bell.

(LAUGHING)

Oh, he is nothing
like his duplicate.

I think I
liked him better
with the scars.

Well, this one didn't
have to live through a war.

On this world, the
glow was never invented,

so the BIR
never happened either.

Poor Jill. She wasn't
so lucky on this world, huh?

Oh, but she's
got a good spirit.

Well, what we are is very
much determined by
what we're challenged by.

It's just that
sometimes it's nice
not to be challenged.

Mmm.

MALLORY: I smell coffee.

Uh, how you doing,
Mallory?

You really
want to know?

I feel like I've
been amputated.

I suppose you want me
to feel grateful.

I don't.

All right.

Go ahead, say it.

You have no idea.

Words can't contain it.

What's possible
in the universe
is so profound,

so extraordinary.

Most people never even
get a chance to know this.

Well, don't think I didn't
want to join you. I did.

You should have.

I was learning to look out
through the eyes of
everyone in the group.

I was going to achieve a
congruence between the
little self and the big self.

But we had to go.

You know, we're all
just a bunch
of whirling fragments

pretending to be
a whole person.

I was getting unified.

There were pieces of
your Quinn Mallory
and parts of me

still unnamed all starting
to come together,
blending into a whole person.

I was getting to know
who that person really was.

We had to do
what we did, Mallory.

No, you didn't.

And I feel betrayed.

I'm not gonna apologize.

Me neither.

Somebody had to
look out for us.
You certainly weren't.

Maybe we shouldn't
slide anymore.

What?

If that's what you want.

Rembrandt.

We have to trust
each other.

If we don't, we
shouldn't be together.

Don't you agree?

It's your call, Mallory.

I need to dry off.

I don't know what you
two are talking about,

but we have got
to stay together.

Some of us do.

We're here by choice.
We go the same way.

Here.
I offer you water.

May you never thirst.

(LAUGHS)

You know,
you're right, Remmy.

We have to trust
each other.

I shouldn't be
angry with you.

I should be grateful
for your friendship.

And we have to find a way
to keep on, don't we?

(GLASS SHATTERS)

You're still infected.

Not infected. Blessed.

It's a gift.
Don't you understand?

This is... This is
immortality for everyone.

It's world peace.

The cure for cancer.

It's a battery
that never runs down.

If it's not a free choice,
it's not a blessing,
it's a curse.

Did you give me
a choice?

Look, it was
for your own good.

And so is this.

Somebody has to
think about us.

You're not.

Mallory, I...
Wait...

Let me talk to him.

He still has those
things in his blood.

REMBRANDT: Opens a vein,
drips a little blood
into the water,

a little sugar for food,

the nano-bugs
start to multiply.

MAGGIE: And his cut
heals like magic.
How convenient.

Remmy, he doesn't
need us anymore.

If he can infect us,
he can infect anyone.

My God, what have
we turned on this world?

Immortality and peace.

And God.

It would be so
easy to join him,
wouldn't it?

Don't even go there,
Maggie. It's a mistake.

I know.

We have stop him.

Fine. All we need
is Dead Man's Light.

The shut-off code
that the other
Krislov told us about.

The BIR-men, they knew.

Krislov told
us about it.

The one that was scarred.

Do you think this Krislov
would know anything?

We're gonna
have to find out.

Hi.

Hello.

I'm glad to see you're
feeling better.

Where are your friends?

They're back
at the hotel.

I was just
taking a walk.

I'm thinking
of staying here.

Really?

Well, there are a
lot of nice people here.

And I have a gift
I can share.

What is it?

Would you believe me
if I told you it was
a little miracle?

I did believe in the BIR
for a long time,

because we all
worked so hard.

It could have been
the greatest medical
advance ever.

All I wanted to do
was fix my daughter's
twisted spine,

but we couldn't get
the nanotech working.

So, after a while,
people just faded away.

Let me see.
What have you got?

What is it?

Look at it under the scope.

KRISLOV: Oh, well.

Is this for real?

Does it work?

Too well.

Believe me,
over the years

the doctors have
tried everything.

We heard about some
alternative medicine
in Mexico,

but my father
couldn't afford that.

This contains power
no doctor has.

And it's free.

(LAUGHS)

If I drink this,
what will happen?

You'll laugh.
(LAUGHS)

I'm already laughing.

You'll know why
it's all so funny.

Would you like
to walk upright
like everyone else?

You can't do that.

No one can do that.

I dare you to trust me.

We designed a specific
command sequence

that had to be repeated
three times in a row,

with specific
modulation of light
in two key frequencies.

Now, let me see here.

Why would you want
to shut it off?

Does it hurt anybody?

Well, when we
first encountered this...

Well, we were told about
this kind of light.

This, uh, Dead Man's Light.

Well, here's a
design for one.

Jill! No!

No. No.

Leave us alone,
Diana.

You, Remmy and Maggie
are sliding out tonight.

I'm staying here.

Do you remember
the BIR-world?

Do you remember the tanks
and the secret police?

That will happen here
if you go on with this.

I don't need you
to tell me how to
live my life anymore.

If you won't share
this blessing

then leave
the rest of us alone.

It will heal you.

This won't work,
you know.

(GASPING)

(LAUGHING)

(BOTH LAUGHING)

REMBRANDT:
This had better work.

KRISLOV: Oh, it will.

MAGGIE: It better,
or we'll be wearing happy
smiley faces forever.

KRISLOV: Hey,
it killed the stuff
in the glass.

DIANA: Doctor, are you sure
this light's strong enough?

Don't worry.

The shutdown signal
is contagious through
the whole system.

Even a partial
exposure will cure.

Hello. Would you
like to take a free
personality test?

Jill? Jill!

(GIGGLING)
It works.

Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry
I ever made fun
of your old research.

Look at me!

KRISLOV: It's a miracle!

Oh, darling. Oh.

What are you testing for?

It's about how open
you are to spirituality
in your daily lives.

Wouldn't you like to
transform your being?

Have some water.

Cheers.
Oh.

Ah! Thank you.

What was that?

You mean this?

(GROANING)

What did you just do?

It works.
What works?

Now do Jill.

No, please, no!
She's so happy!

Jill has fallen
out of the glow!

And George.

What are you doing?

We're our worst nightmare.
We're BIR-men.

(GROANS)

I should never have built
this terrible light.

(ALL GROANING)

You did this?

Daddy, how could you?

But, honey,
you can still walk.

But you've taken
away the blessing.

I hate you.

We have to tell Mallory.

He knows.

(PEOPLE GROANING)

I offer you water.

May you never thirst.

MAN 1: Welcome!
MAN 2: Welcome!

WOMAN: Welcome!
MAN 3: Welcome!

This is very clever,
Remmy. Very good.

But are you really
helping anyone this way?

You saw what happened
to these people when you
turned this light on them.

They were separated from
their linkage to God.

They died spiritually.

That's why this
is called the
Dead Man's Light.

It kills people.

No matter.
We'll renew them.

The blessing is infinite.

What about us?

Yeah, are you going
to force us to drink?

No.

I won't force
you to drink.

The blessing
is freely given.

Like this morning?

What I did was wrong.

I'm sorry.

But you'll see.
When you are
linked with others,

your freedom
is expanded.

But you can't know that,
can you?

Join me,
or go on without me.

There is a third option,
Mallory.

An unacceptable one.

This is your chance
to meet God face to face.

No, it isn't.

You're arguing against
your own transformation.

I'm arguing for
my own transformation.

What I'm arguing
against is that.

Mallory, transformation
comes from the heart,
not some...

Not some glass pitcher.

This is not the answer.

It's a crutch.

REMBRANDT: You wanted
your legs back, didn't you?

You said you'd do
anything to walk again.

You said you'd even
take this risk.

And I was right to do it.

Yes, you were.

And you know what?
I would have done
exactly the same thing.

But you also said
something else.

You said that you wanted
to walk without help.

REMBRANDT: So who's
really walking, Mallory?
Hmm?

You? The glow?

Who's really talking?

You.

You don't understand.

The glow?
Maybe we don't.

But I do
understand you.

And if you are
still in there,

you know what we're
saying is the truth.

Step out of the glow,
Mallory, and see how
you feel about it then.

And if you still
feel like we're wrong,

and if you think
the glow is a
better place to live,

then by all means,
drink it again.

And I'll drink
it with you.

And you?

MAN 1: Don't do it!
MAN 2: No! Mallory, no!

Please, please.
Be calm.

I leave you only
for a little while.

I make this
sacrifice willingly.

To prove that there
is nothing to fear.

Transformation is always
available to all of us.

(GROANING)

What one feels,
they all feel.

How you feeling?

Empty.

You don't know what
I just gave up.

I can imagine.

No, you can't.

Are you going to drink
the water again, Mallory?

I don't know.

When I was transformed,
I was everybody.

I was Mallory,
and I was Quinn,

and I was everybody else.

Now I can't feel anybody.

I had a...
A strength inside of me.

Is that gone, too?

No.

I can still feel it.

Just not as clear.

That's normal, Mallory.
Can't you see that?

We all feel that.

None of us really
knows who we are

except by who
we're connected with.

Who we care about
is who we are.

Who do you care
about, Mallory?

You're telling me
I have to choose?

That's what
life is, too.

It's about choices
and possibilities.

The choices are never easy.

Otherwise, we wouldn't
know how powerful we are.

This is a choice.

And so is this.

The water of life
gives us the knowledge
of our blessing.

And the light
gives us responsibility.

Once you've been given the
knowledge of the blessing

and the blessing
of the knowledge,

it can never be taken
away from you.

MAN 1: Mallory,
you can't leave us.

The real question is this...
MAN 2: No, please, no.

WOMAN: Stay, Mallory.
MALLORY:
What do you do with it?

I'm not going to stand
up here and tell you
which choice to make.

That's what other
people do when they
don't trust your ability

to be responsible
for yourselves.

MAN: No, no, please.

No. I'm not a savior.

I'm not.

I'm just an ordinary guy

who just learned that
blessings aren't found
in what you're given.

They're found in
what you create for
the people around you.

What's important
is making a difference.

The real transformation
comes from choosing it.

What are we
going to do now?

We choose
as individuals.

Quinn is gone,
for good.

MAGGIE: I know.

I'm beginning
to like Mallory.

You believe that?

Yeah.

I feel it.

I don't.

And I won't.

I, uh... I just didn't
want to lose you.

Thank you.

So, who are you now?

I'm still finding out.

But isn't that true
for all of us?

(WHOOSHING)