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Sliders/Luck of the Draw

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Luck of the Draw
Sliders-LuckOfTheDraw.png
Season 1, Episode 10
Airdate May 17, 1995
Production Number 70409
Written by Jon Povill
Directed by Les Landau
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The King Is Back
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Into the Mystic
SlidersSeason One

Luck of the Draw is the tenth episode of the first season of Sliders.

Starring: Jerry O'Connell (Quinn Mallory), Sabrina Lloyd (Wade Wells), Cleavant Derricks (Rembrandt Brown)

and John Rhys-Davies (Arturo)

Guest Stars: Nicholas Lea (Ryan Simms), Alex Datcher (Julianne Murphy), Kevin Cooney (Ken Neisser)

Special Guest Appearance by: Geoff Edwards (Himself)

Co-Starring: Tim Henry (Agent Jones)

with Mike Kopsa (Agent Wilson), Nathan Vanering (Father Fergus), Walter Marsh (Fatherly Man), Kristina Matisic (News Anchor), Ted Cole (Friendly Man), David Glyn-Jones (Elderly Man)

Uncredited: Jason Gray-Stanford (Bell Hop), Cameron Labine (Rollerblade Kid)

Contents

Plot Overview

The group find themselves on a seemingly idyllic world, where the population is low and the people are happy. Whilst Wade contemplates settling down on this Earth, she enters the lottery and wins, only to find that it is a form of population control, and that her life is in danger.

Notes

Brave New Worlds

  • At some point the world began addressing overpopulation, likely fuelled by Thomas Malthus's 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population. In the United States, at least, this was implemented by a lottery where winners would have their transferred to beneficiaries after they're euthanized. It's unknown how this is dealt with in other parts of the world, but appears to be global as there's 5000 million people in the entire world. This has put less pressure on resources on the remaining population, leading to no apparent crime, pollution, or poverty.
  • There's too little to be seen to assess the divergences of this new world.

Timer

  • 3 days

Arc Advancement

Happenings

  • Quinn explains that the more people taken into the wormhole, the more energy it may drain from the system and therefore endangers a successful passage to the next world.
  • Wade meets one of the lottery winners, Ryan, and after convincing that she and the others are from an alternate dimension, he slides with them to the next world. Also in tow is a dog named Henry Wade found.

Characters

  • Wade begins keeping a diary.
  • It's revealed that Wade has a cat at home.
  • Wade seems to have backed off on her relationship with Quinn. He seems to get jealous when she meets Ryan.
  • As Quinn escapes through the vortex, a guard shoots at him, wounding him, leaving him bleeding and passing out shortly after getting to the other side.

Referbacks

Trivia

The Show

  • Nathan Vanering also appeared uncredited in "the pilot" as one of the two men Wade is talking to in her first appearance. It's most likely coincidental casting and not an intended double.

Behind the Scenes

  • This is the tenth episode filmed and aired.
  • Writer Jon Povill received the Turner Prize and $10,000 for this episode at the 5th Annual Environmental Media Awards (October 13, 1995). The Environmental Media Association’s annual awards are presented to productions that help raise the eco-awareness of the American public.
  • This episode was based around the ideal world Quinn's double told him in the pilot.

Allusions and References

Memorable Moments

Goofs

  • When Quinn tells Arturo that at least Henry the dog isn't biting him, it's an obvious dub over. Based on the closed captioning, it seems the line was originally "At least he's not humping you."

Quotes

  • Rembrandt: The more you take, the better your chances? These odds I like.
Arturo: Be very careful. We know nothing of this world. I suggest we take no more than we see other people taking.
Quinn: He's right. When in Rome.
Rembrandt: Yeah, I played Rome in '83. Rome's expensive as hell.
  • Rembrandt: I'd go for some fishing, though.
Arturo: Now, that is a truly splendid idea. Nothing more satisfying than coaxing one's supper from the depth.
Rembrandt: You fish?
Arturo: I'm English. We invented fishing.
  • Arturo: Do you realise what a wonderful world this is? I mean, don't you wake up in the morning and feel grateful that you weren't born on some other godforsaken piece of rock?
Ken Neisser: Frankly, I don't think about it.
Arturo: Well, you should. Trust me. I'm a physicist. I know. There are far worse places than this.
  • Quinn: It's barbaric.
Arturo: On the contrary, my boy, in some ways it's more humane than our society.
Quinn: Professor, they kill people to limit the population.
Arturo: And in our world, millions of people die every year through war, famine, disease, caused in part by the fact that we refuse to accept limits on our population. Here, they kill volunteers, painlessly, and generously reward their beneficiaries. Now you may abhor their methods, as indeed do I, but as a man of science, you cannot dismiss the result.
  • Rembrandt: I’m too young to die. I'm too famous!
  • Geoff Edwards: When you first pass over, you will find yourself in a long, dark tunnel headed for a brilliant patch of light. A loved one, perhaps a relative who passed years back, will appear and guide you into the light.
Rembrandt: My dead relatives were a pain in the butt! I don't care to deal with any of 'em!