“Obsession” is episode eight (originally shown as episode nine) of season two of Sliders.
A man and woman are riding on horseback. The woman is Wade, though she doesn’t look like her. The man wants Wade to marry him, but she’s afraid of his father, who will never countenance a servant’s daughter being part of his family. The man promises to protect her and hers.
Then Wade wakes. It’s just after 4AM and Rembrandt is calling her. The professor hates these early morning slides. Quinn says they have 5 minutes left in New India; he suggests going to the bark to find some soft grass to land on. Rembrandt asks Wade if she’s alright. She had the strangest dream.
The Sliders land on path, not soft grass, and Wade spots a man arriving on a motorbike. The man from her dream. He hands her a rose, greets her by name and says he’s been waiting for her. His name is Bond. Derek Bond. Derek says it’s hard to resist saying it that way. He knew she was coming because he’s a seer; he has visions of things before they happen. He’s seen Wade since he was a child. They’ve found each other again; they were lovers in a past life. Derek knows this is new to Wade and will leave, but invites her to have dinner. He’ll have her picked up from the Dominion Hotel. After Derek leaves, Wade says that she was dreaming about him before the slide.
Neither the professor nor Quinn are convinced, as there could be explanations. Except for Wade’s dream. An electronic sign announces that the predicted gold deposits were found. On the Moon. A car is driving at Wade with a license plate ‘ORACLE 1″. Rembrandt sees it coming, knocks her out of the way but gets clipped. The driver asks the car’s passenger how that was, and it seems good enough, and they drive off.
They take Rembrandt to a hospital and the professor picks up a magazine. JFK is dead. At 78. His funeral was attended by Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The nurse examines Rembrandt, buy holding his foot and concentrating. Wade asks why she doesn’t remove the shoe and sock. She can see what’s wrong without that. And what’s an X-ray? The nurse, Dominique, also says it doesn’t take a 5th degree psychic to see they are hiding something.
The two leave the room and Wade says the nurse is a medical oracle. And she could sense when they were lying. 10% of the population is psychic. Two officers look as they pass and look at faxes. As Wade and Quinn enter a lift, Rembrandt and the professor are arrested. Preventative arrest. A police oracle said they would kill someone. Wade Wells.
At the station, the cops think it’s funny when the car is mentioned; it belongs to the Prime Oracle. If he did try to run Wade down, it was probably a matter of national security. Now, if they sign the forms acknowledging their receipt of a Miranda, they’re free to go. They don’t incarcerate people until after they commit a crime.
The professor reads a book to Quinn. In 1865, a seer from San Francisco was purported to have prevented Lincoln from being assassinated. He was so impressed he set up the post of Prime Oracle, with the responsibility to foresee potential disasters. They’ve averted nearly every major conflict, and natural disaster, of the past century, as people were warned in time. The Prime Oracle is suggested to be a remarkably benevolent man. Quinn points out that these are the same people who just arrested the professor and Rembrandt for murdering Wade.
Meanwhile, Derek and a woman, Melanie, are meeting with the Prime Oracle. Who knows he will be dead by this time tomorrow and must choose his successor. Melanie says that Derek is more powerful, but lacks discipline and compassion, and a Prime Oracle without those is a disaster. Derek believes he is the better choice. The Prime Oracle agrees. Derek can learn what he needs, but Melanie can’t get greater power. A woman will teach Derek what he needs to be a worthy successor.
Dominique had promised to take Wade shopping, but admits she had an ulterior motive too – Rembrandt. Wade doesn’t think she’s worn a dress since the lottery winners’ ball. And that ended well. Back at the hotel room, the professor compliments Wade’s dress. Quinn is less enthused. Then Derek arrives.
Derek is rather pushy regarding his and Wade’s potential relationship, but Quinn isn’t exactly helping matters. Derek also thinks Wade is the woman the Prime Oracle referred to. He’s right. But not in the way he thinks.