Originally aired May 2, 1997
Written by David Peckinpah
Directed by Richard Compton
The Sliders track Rickman back to the parallel world they helped colonize, only to find it's being attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex as well as Rickman.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Accidental Hero: Rickman is about to help himself to one of the colonists, but he gets scared off by the sudden arrival of the T-Rex.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Shortly after the colonists arrived, the local tribe requested livestock to be used as sacrifices for the T-Rexes. None of the new arrivals had seen such dinosaurs around, so they considered the claims myths and refused to chip in. Then the T-Rexes got hungry enough to start prowling around their territory. Given that they traveled to another dimension and saw the other dinos, Gretchen sounds a bit embarrassed to have dismissed the claims out of hand.
- Being Good Sucks: In the final scene, Rembrandt and Malcolm reflect on how they can't stay together because their respective groups need them so much.
- Big "NO!": Maggie, after Rickman escapes her clutches at the end of the episode.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Wade expresses disgust over the idea of just looking the other way while a man is put down, but Maggie counters she'd be taking care of a deadly threat to innocent people. Quinn and Rembrandt acknowledge both sides of it, having no love for killing or for letting a monster with their home Earth's coordinates run free.
- Bound and Gagged: Rickman does this to Gretchen to ensure she stays his hostage.
- Cassandra Truth: Averted. Quinn explains to a group of unaware soldiers how Rickman is insane and after brain tissue. Andrews (the lead soldier) immediately takes Quinn at his word, due to a sentry having died last night following an up-until-now unexplained puncture wound in the back of his head.
- Continuity Nod: Quinn recalls the last time the group encountered dinosaurs.Quinn: Been there, done that, and we got the t-shirt.
- Debt Detester: Maggie saves Quinn's life, during an ambush in the woods. She reminds him he has to even the score, especially when the entire group is cornered by the T-Rex. Quinn says he would really hate to die while still owing Maggie one.
- Everyone Has Standards: The local tribe did not believe in Human Sacrifice. They only ever offered up animals to the T-Rexes. When asking the colonists to chip in, they only requested livestock and nothing more.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Averted. Even with Quinn and Maggie having rifles trained on him, Rickman doesn't sweat it because he's got Malcolm as a human shield. He knows they'll think very hard before opening fire out of concern for the kid's safety.Rickman: If I'm hit, even if it's a clean head shot, my trigger finger will jerk, and I'm afraid this... this poor boy... this poor boy here will have an exit wound in his body that you can pitch a cat through!
- Failed a Spot Check: To get the drop on Rickman, the Sliders try to get Malcolm to lure him into an ambush. They erase their tracks, but doing so erases Malcolm's tracks, too. Rickman notices this and calls the group on being so careless.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Wade and Maggie begin warming up to each other after spending the past several episodes at each other's throats.
- From Bad to Worse: While looking for the colonists, the Sliders find a destroyed camp. They know it was a dinosaur, but while debating exactly what happened, Rembrandt finds Malcolm's drawing of Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- God Guise: According to Malcolm, the local tribe worshipped the dinosaurs and made regular animal sacrifices to the T-Rexes.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Maggie shouts in victory, after the T-Rex is put down for good.
- Hope Spot: Just before the final slide out, Maggie takes aim at Rickman, but she hesitates when the Colonel uses Quinn as a human shield. Though Rembrandt pulls Quinn to safety, Maggie doesn't have the time to take proper aim before Rickman starts moving, so she misses both shots.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Rembrandt is troubled to learn his meal is either gopher or weasel, not chicken like he had thought. He turns down the makeshift coffee, after being told its ingredients.
- I Have Your Parental Substitute: Rickman takes Gretchen hostage in the hopes of using Malcolm to lure the Sliders into a trap.
- Kick the Dog: After getting Andrews, Rickman is forced to flee when Maggie interrupts his ambush on Quinn. Disappearing into the brush, he takes the opportunity to mock Maggie for again failing to get her revenge.Rickman: So close, Maggie! Another inch to the right, and you'd have won our little game!
- Last of His Kind: There were actually several T-Rexes in the area, all being fed regular sacrifices by the local tribe. When the sacrifices ran out, the T-Rexes started hunting, though most ultimately starved to death. The featured T-Rex is believed to be the last one, having sustained itself with the bodies of its fellows and on any unlucky human it gets its teeth on.
- Little "No": In The Teaser, Rickman helps himself to a random victim, but then the morph fizzles. It means the harvested brain tissue didn't take, so he has this reaction.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Gretchen laments the deaths of the local tribe, as they got sick from bacteria that the colonists had brought with them.
- No Sympathy: On higher ground, Rembrandt and Malcolm observe a poor guy get chased down and eaten by the T-Rex. Malcolm remarks the guy brought it on himself for not being careful, but this attitude deeply disturbs Rembrandt.
- Noodle Incident: When the T-Rex turned its attention to the colonists, the attack was fierce. Almost 12 people died, and the colony subsequently splintered into several smaller camps across the mountains.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Discussed by Wade, who admits she still misses the way things used to be.
- "Not So Different" Remark: In the face of Quinn's skepticism of her ultimate goal, Maggie reminds him of how he previously went after Rickman with murderous rage.
- Off with His Head!: The group's final plan to stop the T-Rex ends up blowing up its head and leaving the rest of the body intact.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Downplayed. Maggie wants to kill Rickman, but she's fine with the T-Rex eating him so long as she gets to watch.
- Only Sane Man: Rembrandt advises Wade to stop picking a fight with Maggie.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Gretchen's own son didn't make the cut to go to the New World. She wanted to stay behind with him, but Rickman ordered her through the vortex.
- Parental Substitute: Gretchen had to leave her own son behind and took to looking after Malcolm, who had no other family, either.
- Poor Communication Kills: Based on the interactions with different colonists, it would appear that the Sliders didn't fully explain what Rickman had done, why he handpicked the colony the way he did, and why he fled the New World. Andrews initially expresses outright admiration for Rickman, adding the colony fell apart in his absence. This works to Rickman's advantage when he starts attacking colonists.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- With Quinn and Maggie cornered by the T-Rex, Rickman simply slides out rather than go after anyone else or even gloat. As Quinn says, Rickman can't miss his sliding window anymore than they can miss theirs. Wade muses there aren't enough colonists to sustain Rickman for the next 29 years, so he'll simply ride it out for however long he has to before another go.
- With his trap a bust and the group surrounding him, Rickman offers to spare Malcolm if given the group's timer. He offers to leave the New World and the Sliders in peace for the rest of his days in exchange for the hunt being over. Whether he would've honored this deal or pulled a fast one is unclear, as Malcolm throws sand in his face before anything can happen/
- Revenge: Maggie's desire to avenge her husband by killing Rickman is a running discussion amongst the rest of the group. None of them are particularly happy about it, especially Wade.
- Sequel Episode: The Sliders and Rickman return to the New World, seeing what Malcolm and the other colonists have been up to since "The Exodus" two-parter.
- Skewed Priorities: Averted. While the group acknowledges that Rickman is a continual threat, they recognize that the T-Rex is a more dangerous one at the moment and needs to be dealt with.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Justified. The T-Rex will scope out a cave or tunnel for an extended period of time to get a human-sized snack, but this is attributed to the otherwise lack of prey. Most humans actively avoid being out in the open these days and, according to Gretchen, the only remaining animals in the area are pint-sized ones like gophers and birds. The T-Rex knows it can't expect to just find a viable meal elsewhere.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Rembrandt observes that Malcolm has undergone this. Malcolm says it's a result of having to learn to survive in a world with a monstrous T-Rex running around.
- Tuckerization: Gretchen's son was named Tracy, most likely after the show's co-creator.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Maggie is stunned that the others react to seeing living dinosaurs with no awe whatsoever. Quinn simply tells her they've experienced this before.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The local tribe kept the T-Rexes at bay with regular sacrifices of local animals, but when a shortage occurred, they asked the colonists for some livestock to make up the difference. The colonists refused, due to not believing the T-Rexes existed. Eventually, the T-Rexes got hungry enough to start hunting, which completely upended their settlement, got a number of people killed, and saw many local animals wiped out.
- Villain Respect: Rickman is admittedly impressed by Malcolm trying to fight him.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Wade wants to go home, but she thinks the likely price (killing Rickman to get his timer) is too high.
- Would Hit a Girl: When Rickman grabs onto Malcolm, Gretchen tries to intervene, but the Colonel has no problem elbowing her to the ground.
- Would Hurt a Child: Rickman has no qualms over threatening and even getting physical with Malcolm.
- You Did the Right Thing: To keep Gretchen safe, Malcolm initially tried to lead the group into Rickman's trap, but he just felt too guilty before they got there. Rembrandt assures him there are no hard feelings and that he did what he had to do for Gretchen's sake.
- You Killed My Father: Malcolm's stunned reaction to being face-to-face with Rickman.
