“Into the Mystic” is episode one (and was originally shown as that) of season two of Sliders.
At the end of the season one finale, “Luck of the Draw”, Quinn had been shot just as he dived through the portal. This episode opens with what seems to be a funeral service for Quinn, but clearly isn’t. He jolts awake to find the professor telling him they slide in a couple of minutes. How does he feel? That if he died, no-one would care. Quinn spent three days recovering; Ryan got the bullet out of his shoulder. Quinn dreamt that Ryan asked Wade to stay. Wade says Ryan did, she said no and when they woke up in the morning, Ryan was gone. Ryan saved Quinn’s life and she broke his heart. Wade is glad Quinn is alright.
The slide aggravates Quinn’s injury and Rembrandt heads to a phone box to look through the yellow pages for a doctor. After a host of ads for the Sorcerer, he finds one. They arrive and the nurse hands the professor some forms to fill out. Rembrandt takes Quinn to see the doctor, Xang, who is not a reassuring sight. Xang says he will fix Quinn’s headache.
The professor is trying to fill in the forms when Wade calls him over to look at Xang’s qualifications. His eye chart, according to her, is written in the witch’s alphabet. The qualifications lead the professor to conclude that Xang is a witch doctor.
Xang has finished with Quinn. Not the gunshot wound to the shoulder; he doesn’t do shoulders. The nurse starts recommending the Sorcerer, which Xang takes badly. He wants his bill, $266, paying. They don’t have that. The professor suggests that, given Xang’s fraudulent nature, they resort to childhood habits. Run.
In a motel room, Rembrandt is watching another Ross J. Kelly ad; the lawyer is proimisi9ng to get demons off your back. There’s also a lot of Sorcerer ads on the television. Rembrandt isn’t happy to find a skeleton in his closet.
During the night, they’re woken up by something approaching the room and knocking on the door. When invited in, it’s a grim reaper. Who points at Quinn and hands him a document. A subpoena. He’s being sued.
Quinn and Wade head to see Kelly, who says there’s not a lot he can do. They ran out on a bill from an accredited shaman. He’s good but not that good. The fine print on the forms filled out grant Xang retribution substitution. He can get a body part of Quinn’s for his experiments, if Quinn defaults. He wants Quinn’s brain. Not a joke. In a few hours, every bounty hunter in the city will be after Quinn. Only the Sorcerer can help them now.
The professor isn’t impressed with the magic stuff so far. They’re being followed and a fortune teller invites them in. She’s been expecting them. Of course she has. The professor isn’t impressed with her spiel; it’s too generic and could fit many people. That’s how it works. So the fortune teller gets very specific with him. Arturo is still not impressed. He wants her to tell them one thing they don’t know. Seek out the Sorcerer; he’s the only one who can help. But hurry, for he’s about to go Sliding. He has the magic to travel between the worlds and send them home.
Wade is more believing of the supernatural stuff than Professor Arturo is. The Sorcerer lives on the other side of a bridge. The Golden Gargoyle Gate Bridge. In a black castle. The professor continues to be unimpressed by the mystical stuff. If the Sorcerer is a Slider, that would suggest his magic is more of a technological bent. And whether or not there are magical powers at work, Quinn is still being hunted for his brain.