Originally aired March 14, 1997
Written by Eleah Horwitz
Directed by Paris Barclay
A creature plants a parasite inside Maggie just before she and the others leave a parallel world and land on one where young adults are used in a mandatory organ donor program. Quinn, Rembrandt, and Wade have to find Maggie before she finds the perfect mate and lays her eggs.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Animal Eyes: Parasite!Maggie mostly retains human-looking eyes, but she sports compound eyes in a couple shots.
- Batman Gambit: The parasite returned to the hotel before Quinn and Rembrandt did. It opted to stay put for an ambush, knowing the two would eventually show up to get the timer. It then locks Rembrandt out of the room because he had the cold trauma gun.Quinn: You are one smart symbiote.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: At the hotel, "Maggie" starts aggressively coming on to Rembrandt. He pushes her away and demands to know why she's acting so strangely. He gets more than he bargained for when she starts sporting compound eyes.
- Blackmail: With their alliance starting to sputter, Dr. Sylvius says she will prevent Wade from being harvested if Quinn and Rembrandt bring in Maggie.
- Camp Gay: The version of Elston Diggs at the bar Maggie goes to.
- The Chains of Commanding: Rembrandt acknowledges how Quinn grapples with the pressure of feeling responsible for the group and how that sometimes makes him think he alone knows what's best.
- Creator Cameo: Episode director Paris Barclay appears in the video describing the organ donor program.
- Destination Defenestration: When attacking Rembrandt at the hotel, Parasite!Maggie lunges at him while he's standing in front of the window. Due to the suddenness of it, he ends up accidentally help push her through the glass.
- Downer Ending: The Sliders are forced to depart, while the parasite overtakes Dr. Sylvius.
- From Bad to Worse: As the parasite is on the loose somewhere in the city, Wade learns Dr. Sylvius is fully prepared to kill Maggie to get the beast. She ends up marked for harvest for warning Rembrandt of this. After negotiating a deal, Quinn asks how long until the slide, at which point Rembrandt realizes he doesn't know because he accidentally left the timer at the hotel following the initial attack.Quinn: You left it at the hotel?!
Rembrandt: I had just been attacked by an alien, Q-Ball, so I was a little preoccupied! - Hoist by His Own Petard: Dr. Sylvius is overtaken by the creature she hoped to exploit. Rembrandt remarks, "You reap what you sow."
- I'll Kill You!: After Quinn bursts into the gym's steam room, the parasite promises to kill him if he keeps interfering.
- Innocently Insensitive: At the gym, Quinn and Rembrandt observe the authorities haul off one poor guy for a transplant. Rembrandt is stunned that the locals just put up with this brutality, but Quinn muses it's simply a matter of different customs. Rembrandt takes offense to such a statement, due to experiencing things that Quinn could only imagine.Rembrandt: Now, bottom line, I've seen oppression close up. To you, it's just another word in a history book.
- Insufferable Genius: In light of Not So Similar, Quinn apologizes to Rembrandt, fully admitting he doesn't have all the answers. Rembrandt quips he sometimes acts like he does.
- It Can Think: The parasite.
- Lesser of Two Evils: The possibility of leaving the parasite-infested Maggie behind in order to make the slide is brought up a couple times. Even Quinn describes it as this, though no one is particularly thrilled by the idea. Quinn tries to clean up the mess for all concerned to the very end, but when the time comes, he has to slide rather than save Dr. Sylvius from the parasite.
- My Greatest Failure: Quinn gets into this when he misreads a comment from Wade as an accusation that he's to blame for all of this."It's all my fault. The Professor, this man, Maggie's next victim—all because I lost control of something I didn't know enough about. So, please, go ahead tell me what you were thinking because I think about it every minute of every day."
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The whole situation is the result of the Sliders' travels.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The three Sliders observe a group of men grab a woman off the street, so they immediately intervene. What they don't know is that these men are agents tasked with bringing in a viable donor. As a result of all this, the agents see Quinn and Wade don't have the donor armband grafts, so they take them away to be implanted. Rembrandt is only spared this because he's over 25.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Double subverted. Despite being the first one to suggest leaving Maggie behind, Quinn just can't go through with it, even with time about to run out. He puts himself at risk to draw out the parasite, which works, but Dr. Sylvius accidentally gets overtaken instead.
- Not So Similar: When discussing different points of view, Rembrandt argues that Quinn doesn't take into account that growing up on the same world doesn't mean they experienced the same things.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wade accuses Dr. Sylvius of being this, noting that the story of her brother sounds a little too rehearsed and suggesting she's Only in It for the Money.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In response to Dr. Sylvius putting both Wade and Maggie in danger, Quinn puts her in a chokehold and threatens to end it if she doesn't back off.
- Sadistic Choice: Quinn wants to stay to help Dr. Sylvius, but the vortex has been opened. Rembrandt takes charge, so after telling Wade to slide, he tells Quinn he's gonna have to make a choice. He chooses to slide.
- Walking Transplant: On this world, young adults are seen as this. They are given armband grafts, which allow the authorities to track their movements. If a prominent citizen needs a transplant, the nearest match is grabbed and forced into surgery.
- Wall Crawl: Parasite!Maggie demonstrates this ability. She even gets the drop on Quinn this way.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Sylvius. She wants to study the parasite so she can put an end to her world's practice of forced organ donation, to the point where she's willing to let Maggie die to that end.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Species.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As Quinn frets about his responsibility for this situation and Arturo's death, Wade reminds him that Maggie and all the other survivors from her world would be dead right now if not for him.
- You Owe Me: When arguing in favor of leaving Maggie behind if the removal process fails, Wade acknowledges that Quinn feels responsible for this, but she reminds him of his other responsibilities.Wade: Look, you've got two people here who rate a little higher on your scale of responsibility, and we both vote to leave her here.
- You're Insane!: In the event that Dr. Sylvius is unable to remove the parasite, Quinn fully intends to take Maggie to the next world and hope it can be removed there. Wade has this reaction, pointing out the danger everyone would be in as a result of such a decision.
