“The Chasm” is episode twenty of season four of Sliders.
The Sliders have three hours on their current world and they hear a cry for help. In a cave, an elderly man and a girl are standing by a glowing hole. The girl, Amy, says she’s scared to the other, her grandfather. He says this is his destiny and will soon be hers. He jumps in, disappearing in a flash of light and a bolt of energy hits Amy. The Sliders arrive and Amy tells them her grandfather was chosen, just like her.
Amy tells them she’s chosen for the good of the others. Rembrandt and Maggie introduce themselves as the other two are examining the hole. Quinn asks Amy what’s in the pit; she tells him it’s not a pit, it’s the Chasm. They head out of the cave and Quinn says Amy will be fine. But he doesn’t know why he said that. He should be upset and concerned, but for some reason he isn’t. He just has a feeling everything will be alright.
They head into town and find the sheriff, telling him there was an accident. He speaks to Amy and tells her everything will be alright and just ignores Rembrandt telling him Amy’s grandfather fell into a bottomless pit. A woman greets Amy and says she hasn’t seen the Sliders before. Amy introduces them and the woman says they don’t get many visitors these days to Middletown. It used to be a vacation destination; now, it’s just locals. Her name is Mrs Meadows and she runs the malt shop. When asked about Amy’s parents, she says Amy’s father is most likely in the temple tending his flock.
Amy runs off and into the Temple of the Chasm. She’s with her father when the Sliders enters; he talks about the power of sacrifice and how the offering fuels calm. He asks Amy if the transference took place. To be among the Chosen is to answer the highest calling there is. The Sliders tell him what they saw; he’s more surprised they were there than by what they saw. He says his father was a good man, fortunate to be called. The Chasm requires souls. That’s how it’s always been and how it always will be. His father was Chosen, as was his wife. He asks them to leave.
Quinn is oddly content and even he realises it’s odd. The others are starting to feel the same thing. Maggie and Rembrandt will try to find out more about the Chasm. They go to the malt shop where Mrs Meadows tells them the Chasm fills their hearts with peace and contentment. They do right by the Chasm and it does right by them. They give it a soul; it gives them back contentment. When one goes, another is standing by to receive the force. When the melancholy is too overwhelming, that person makes the sacrifice. Amy is next. peace has a price and she gave her own son Adam up for the common good.
Outside, Quinn can’t be bothered doing anything. He thinks he will stay here when the others slide. Maggie and Rembrandt find them and Rembrandt is saying that there’s something wrong with the place. Quinn is more relaxed; perhaps people who are more stressed are more susceptible. By the time the timer reaches zero, none of them may want to leave. Then they hear a scream.
Amy is in the temple when Rembrandt comes in. What she’s hearing and seeing her father says isn’t what he is saying. She runs off, Rembrandt following, and into the cave. The next minute, Rembrandt is standing over the hole saying he is Chosen and is about to jump when Maggie and Colin stop him, telling him he’s being affected by the same force that consumed Amy.
They ask him to think back. He tried to talk Amy out of jumping in, but she saw him telling her to jump. She did, and Rembrandt was hit by the energy bolt. Amy’s father arrives. He says Amy can’t have gone so soon; the Chosen suffer for years first. He tells the Sliders did this, their pain drove Amy to this. He says Rembrandt has the sadness now. He gives himself to the Chasm so that others know peace. None can withstand the sorrow and he will welcome his sacrifice when it comes.
The Chasm is definitely having an effect on people. All but the Chosen seem to be content; they are filled with the sorrow of everyone else. And the Sliders have a lot of sorrow, which is destabilising the process. But what happens to the people who jump into the Chasm?