“Gillian of the Spirits” is episode seven (originally shown as episode three) of season two of Sliders.
The Sliders are leaving an extremely wet world. Quinn is the last to leave, and as he jumps in the portal is hit by lightning. On the next world, the professor asks if anyone felt a jolt. Wade asks where Quinn is. He calls out to them. They can’t see, or hear, him, and Wade walks through him.
Quinn can’t touch things either. The professor says Quinn probably landed in the city; it’s happened before. Wade is worried Quinn got left back on the previous world. Rembrandt is getting a weird vibe and asks how long until the next world. The timer isn’t working, though, and looks scorched. The professor thinks a lightning strike caused an electrical surge and burnt it out. And, Quinn says, made him invisible. Without the timer, they have no idea when they’ll leave. If it’s not repaired, they could miss their window and be stuck on this world.
In town, the technology looks like it’s from the mid-50s. Quinn can’t get anyone to see or hear him. They decide to find a phone to call the Dominion Hotel and ask a police officer. The professor looks at his watch and suggests they go, rather than call, and the officer demands to know what’s on his wrist. The officer is arresting the professor for the possession of illegal material – a digital watch – but it seems his horse can sense Quinn and, before the professor can be arrested under the antitechnology statutes, the horse bolts.
At the hotel, the professor can find noting in the phone book related to electronics or television. He says they’re stuck in the technological stone age, whilst the timer is from the space age. The clerk panics when asked if there’s a computer store; he doesn’t want the Bureau of Anti-Technology coming down.
In their room, Rembrandt thinks someone must be into technology, given the police are arresting people for it. The professor, agrees, but how to find them? Rembrandt has a suggestion. Church. There are two people that can be trusted to keep a secret; lawyers and priests. And priests are free. Quinn has tagged along and realises that a young woman, Gillian, can actually see him. And hear him. She’s not happy about this, though, and runs off.
Outside, Gillian says her mother will freak out if she thinks Gillian is seeing ghosts again. Quinn tells her he’s not a ghost; he’s just stuck on the astral plane. He wants Gillian to help him, and his friends. By getting a message to them. Give them a note. They will have to believe her, because no-one knows they are here. Then he’ll leave Gillian alone.
Gillian hands them the note and Rembrandt follows her. Gillian says she isn’t believed and Quinn passes on a story through her about something that happened in “Last Days”. Gillian leaves with her mother and Wade tells the professor to come up with an explanation. He does, but Wade still believes Gillian. Rembrandt asks about the astral plane and wonders if sliding out will bring Quinn back. Maybe. But they need to fix the timer.
Rembrandt speaks to the priest in a confessional and explains their situation. The father knows a man who was involved in such technology and went to prison for it. He’s out now, but the priest fears he’s still dabbling in the forbidden sciences. Rembrandt asks why this world is so afraid of technology. It seems that Hiroshima led people to decide that technology was the devil’s handiwork and banned. There have been some minor improvements since then. But watch out for the Bureau of Anti-Technology; they’re quite good at their job.
The sliders head to the address. Which turns out to be Quinn’s father. Quinn is dead in this world, but his father isn’t. Quinn died of polio; it kills hundreds of thousands a year. The professor is horrified that a disease cured with a simple vaccine still wreaks havoc.
Michael Mallory still has some of the equipment that got him sent to prison and the professor attempts to repair the timer using a microchip from his watch. He’s not doing so well. Quinn can see what he’s doing wrong, but can’t tell them. They’re going to need to get Gillian back.