Originally aired April 19, 1995
Written by Tracy Tormé
Directed by Mario Azzopardi
A malfunctioning timer leaves the Sliders separated on a world where the hippie movement of the 1960s is alive and well. Wade and Rembrandt get mistaken for extraterrestrial prophets at a commune, while Quinn and Arturo work to repair the timer and end up being suspected of plotting to assassinate the President.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Aborted Arc: Bennish and the FBI investigating what became of the Sliders is set up here but not followed up on, due to executive meddling and the series' abrupt hiatus.
- Alternate History: According to Quinn, the US Navy lost the Battle of the Coral Sea and so Japan invaded Australia. Once the Nazis surrendered, the Russians entered the Pacific War and liberated North Australia, but never gave it back. Because of that, the 60s never metaphorically ended.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Rembrandt winds up wandering into his own funeral, and winds up making his presence known when his duplicate's brother bad mouths his musical career.
- Bad Liar: Quinn and Arturo are very bad at coming up with a cover story, so it should be no surprise that their landlord calls the FBI on them.
- Berserk Button: It's his brother claiming to have more musical talent that causes Rembrandt to step out from hiding and start talking.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with the Sliders landing on an empty world and investigating a low rumbling noise...coming face-to-face with a massive tidal wave heading towards them.Rembrandt: ...there's something ya'll should know. I can't swim.
- Coincidental Broadcast: The news reports on the Spiderwasps to an empty city that would already be aware of the threat.
- Comically Missing the Point: Wade tries to alleviate Rembrandt's fear of spiders by saying that the spider-wasps are more of a wasp than a spider. He asks if this is seriously supposed to make him feel better.
- Dead Person Impersonation: After revealing himself at the wake, Rembrandt decides to live his double's life. As he struggles with his new circumstances, though, he learns his double isn't actually dead.
- Death World: The Sliders briefly visit a world devastated by genetically engineered creatures called spiderwasps. They're huge, poisonous, immune to all known pesticides, and can eat through walls.
- The Drifter: Wade argues to Arturo that they should be the interdimensional version of this, saying helping those they encounter is preferable to just wandering around aimlessly.
- Everyone Hates Mimes: While Arturo grouses about the current world, he and Quinn pass a mime passing out flowers. The guy offering Arturo one prompts a very loud, "GO AWAY!" Quinn apologizes to the startled mime.
- Face Palm: Quinn, when the Professor tells the FBI that what they're working on "makes a pipe bomb look like child's play." Very poor choice of words.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: On the last world, the group wanders an empty city and pass by an advertising sign depicting a drowning man.
- Friendship Moment: Upon realizing they could be permanently stranded on this world, Wade and Rembrandt hug each other.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The Spiderwasps were genetically engineered as a form of pest control, but the scientists responsible didn't expect a queen of the new species to escape, resulting in Spiderwasps spreading all over the world.
- Hope Spot: After being separated from Quinn and Arturo, Rembrandt asks the hippies questions about this world. Everything lines up with Earth Prime, until he's told Oliver North is President.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Every single person attending that wake when Rembrandt reveals himself.
- Meaningful Rename: Fling changed her name to that to prove her love to Skid, who had remarked she was his latest fling.
- Missed Him by That Much:
- While Rembrandt drives through town looking for Quinn and Arturo, he unknowingly drives past them as they exit a convenience store, eating food.
- It happens again when Rembrandt drives past Quinn and Arturo's loft while they are being interrogated by the FBI; he's too distracted by his own singing to hear Quinn trying to get his attention. And it takes him several more minutes to realize the guy yelling his name and running after his car is Quinn.
- Mistaken for Subculture: When Rembrandt explains to his duplicate's brother about his real identity, his brother assumes he's actually high.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Spiderwasps. It's in the name.
- Never Mess with Granny: The old landlady that Quinn and Arturo rent from pulls out a revolver when a hippie begins to impatiently knock on her telephone booth.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Literally: the slide into the Spiderwasp world was particularly rough, causing Quinn to drop the timer causing it to break. This winds up causing problems soon after when he forces it to open a new vortex when the group is about to be attacked by a mass Spiderwasp swarm.
- Upon discovering a Spiderwasp on Arturo's back, Quinn decides to throw a rock at it to kill it... and winds up accidentally hitting Arturo in the head by mistake.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Quinn and Arturo's reaction when the vortex suddenly closes on them just before Spiderwasps.
- Rembrandt, when he accidentally stumbles across his double's funeral.
- And then later on, when he sees that his double has been rescued in Australia and that Sharon is about to shoot him.
- Played for laughs: when the landlord is calling the cops on Quinn and Arturo, a hippie tries repeatedly to get into the phone booth she is using... only to promptly leave when she nonchalantly pulls out a gun.
- Played for laughs when Arturo learns that Quinn effortlessly solved an equation he spent hours struggling with.
- Party Scattering: Wade and Rembrandt get separated from Quinn and Arturo, with neither pairing realizing they both made it to Hippie World until the final act.
- President Evil: Oliver North, the Marine colonel who was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, is President. At the very least under him, America has become far more totalitarian, with the FBI able to arrest people without a warrant based on a mere tip.
- Race Against the Clock: The timer only gets fixed by the end of the episode, and when Quinn turns it back on, they only have about two minutes to leave.
- Secretly Wealthy: The commune that Wade and Rembrandt landed in is actually on the property of a mansion. They happily loan Rembrandt one of their nine cars. This is all attributed to Seeker's father being quite wealthy himself.Seeker: Well, we may be into Mother Earth and spiritual values, but we're not stupid. Wall Street has lovely things to say, as well.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Oliver North is the US President in the hippie world in 1995.
- Sibling Rivalry: It's strongly implied that Rembrandt had this with his brother. The eulogy suggests the same was true on the featured world.
- The '60s: The theme of this world. From the hippie movement to a Vietnam-esque war, the 60s effectively never ended.
- Stunned Silence: Both Quinn and Arturo are shocked when they meet Bennish in 60s world and find that he's a clean-cut, well-dressed Young Republican who proudly supports the war in Australia.
- Tangled Family Tree: Shortform: when applying to rent out a loft, Quinn claims Arturo's his father... and then Arturo mistakenly claims Quinn's his brother. And despite Arturo's air-tight explanation of the discrepancy, the landlord promptly calls the police on them.
- Tempting Fate:
- Upon hearing how deadly the swarm is, the Professor suggests they get indoors. As if on cue, the news says that the Spiderwasps can eat through walls.
- Earlier than that, Quinn remarked that this San Francisco can't be so bad because it's nice and quiet. Then the alert about the approaching swarm comes in.
- After leaving Hippie World, Quinn wonders if they finally made it back home. Shortly afterwards, they discover a giant tidal wave heading their way.
- This Is Gonna Suck: All of the Sliders have this reaction to the incoming tidal wave, but Rembrandt most of all, due to not being able to swim.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Rembrandt Jr. is a little too cheerful in informing Rembrandt that his mom, pissed that an imposter pretended to be her husband, is about to blast him with a shotgun.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Three of the Spiderwasps come through the portal with Quinn and Arturo and fly off.
Whatever sort of havoc they may have wrecked in hippie world is never followed up on. - Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Rembrandt is terrified of spiders, so he understandably panics over the approaching swarm. Being told they're not completely spiders doesn't make him feel any better since they can fly.
- Wrong Genre Savvy:
- Having seen Wade and Rembrandt emerge from the vortex, the hippies at the commune are positive that they're otherworldly profits disguised as humans and full of divine wisdom. Skid says even the slightest offhand comment could actually be deeply profound.
- With the hippies at the commune fawning all over him, Rembrandt is certain that they're big fans of his music.
