Originally aired April 25, 1997
Written by Tony Blake & Paul Jackson
Directed by Jim Johnston
A not-so-perfect vacation separates the Sliders into pairs. Quinn and Rembrandt are left stranded with an attractive researcher and a pair of psychic snakes. Wade and Maggie, meanwhile, team up with a shady man to find their friends.
Tropes present in the episode:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Maggie is attracted to Carlos.
- An Arm and a Leg: Carlos kills Don for trying to cut him out of the deal for the snakes and cuts off his hand in order to show it to Kyra.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Averted. When Rembrandt first suggests the snakes are intelligent, Quinn concurs on the grounds that they've seen a lot of strange things in their travels.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The snakes do leave the Sliders in peace once Quinn opens the box and lets the captive snake leave.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kyra seems like just a scientist doing medical research. She's actually just interested in enriching herself, manipulating Quinn's interest in her to that end and previously betraying Carlos. She doesn't hesitate to lie to Carlos to save herself at the others' expense. When they part ways, Quinn calls her on it.Quinn: We never could've had anything special because, eventually, you would've shed your skin, and I would've seen you for who you really are.
- Bullying a Dragon: The reason Carlos is out to get Kyra is because she used his money to get the snakes and tried to cut him out of the profits.
- Call-Back: Quinn recounts Arturo's death to Kyra before talking about how hard it is to lead without him to turn to.
- The Chains of Commanding: Quinn admits to Rembrandt he is sick of having to make all the decisions and look out for everyone else, whereas other guys his age have substantially less on their shoulders. Rembrandt concedes the point; he just doesn't support his desire to leave the group.
- Dirty Coward: Kyra tries to save herself by telling Carlos that Quinn and Rembrandt convinced her to cut him out of their deal.
- The Dreaded: The villagers see the captive snake this way, saying it will bring death to anyone near it. They warn Quinn's group to either release it immediately or leave town.
- Easily Forgiven: Defied. Kyra thinks she can make nice with Quinn after she tried to sell him out, but he flatly rebukes her and sends her on her way.
- Forgiveness: In response to Quinn just letting Kyra:Rembrandt: I guess I'm not as forgivin' as you are.
Quinn: Yes, you are because you're still my friend even after I considered leaving you. - Girl of the Week: Kyra for Quinn. It really comes back to bite him.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The Tobacco Enforcement Agency (TEA).
- Groin Attack: Maggie executes this on a man.
- Honor Before Reason: The village both groups stop in absolutely loathes Carlos. When he attacks Wade, Maggie knocks him out and suggests leaving him there to get what he deserves. Wade objects because the villagers are likely to kill him and instead has him put in the back of the truck. Deconstructed in that Carlos eventually breaks free and gets the drop on the two with a gun.
- I Warned You: Maggie ignored Wade's warning about Carlos, which gets them both a lot of trouble. Before the slide, Wade slightly rubs it in.
- Idiot Ball: The story can only happen because Quinn and Rembrandt opted to leave the country for a vacation, despite numerous past examples of them not wanting to separate the group if it can be avoided.
- It Can Think: The snakes. Quinn and Rembrandt do believe they're intelligent and acting on some kind of a plan, whereas Kyra offers more mundane reasons for their behavior.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: While trekking through the jungle, Quinn and Rembrandt notice how everything just got very quiet, and they don't like what it means. Kyra realizes the male snake is on their trail, which makes Rembrandt even more concerned.
- It's Up to You: Quinn admits to Kyra he's been feeling this since Arturo died and the pressure is catching up to him.
- Jerkass Ball: Quinn grabs this, much to Rembrandt's frustration.
- Light Is Not Good: Carlos wears a white shirt.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Discussed in regards to the different actions of the snakes. One gets into a water pipe and comes out of a faucet when Quinn tries to get something to drink. He insists this proves they're intelligent; Kyra suggests a pipe just broke underground and a snake slithered in through a fluke.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The entire group gets roped into an adventure involving deadly snakes and nearly killed by Carlos because Quinn agreed to help Kyra transport the captive snake (which she claimed was for medical research).
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Wade reminds Maggie that, for all their differences, they're all working towards the same goal of keeping the group safe.
- Between their experiences this episode, Maggie tells Quinn that they both have poor instincts when it comes to the opposite sex. She feels this gives them something in common at last.
- Only in It for the Money: Kyra claims to be using the snakes for medical research to help people. Carlos later says this is a lie and that she intends to sell the snakes on the black market as aphrodisiacs.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Wade immediately picks up bad vibes from Carlos.
- As time goes on, Rembrandt is certain Kyra's just manipulating Quinn by telling him what he wants to hear.
- Psychic Powers: A pair of snakes have these.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
- Carlos kills Don for trying to cut him out of the deal.
- The final scene shows Kyra's dead body and snakes covering the truck she was driving.
- Save the Villain: Rembrandt was ready to try to save Carlos from the snake after getting his rifle back, but by then, it was too late.
- Super-Persistent Predator: The free snake. Justified because it wants to free its mate.
- Team Dad: Deconstructed. The pressure of leading the team and not having Arturo to turn to has taken a toll on Quinn. Rembrandt spends a good bit of screen-time disagreeing with his decisions.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Averted. While Quinn can only guess what becomes of Kyra, the viewers see her final fate.
- What the Hell, Hero?: With time running out until the slide, Quinn suggests they slide from the house and come back for Wade and Maggie later. Rembrandt reads him the riot act for that.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Anaconda. Kari Wührer (Maggie) was in that movie, and Fox's promotional people exploited that.
