The Good, the Bad and the Wealthy

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Sliders episode
“The Good, the Bad and the Wealthy”
Episode no.	2-04
Guest star(s)	James Denton Bart Anderson Roger Barnes Jackson Cole Peter LaCroix Barry W. Levy April Telek Greg Thirloway Dean Allan Hinckey Keegan MacIntosh Kent Faulcon Lochlyn Munro Stephen Fanning Adrian Hughes
Writer(s)	Scott Smith Miller
Director	Oscar L. Costo
Production no.	K0805
Original airdate	1996-03-22
List of all Sliders episodes

"The Good, the Bad and the Wealthy" is the fourth episode of the second season for the science fiction television show Sliders. It originally aired on March 22, 1996. In the episode, Quinn's fast draw with a gun embroils him in a corporate takeover.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A boy named Jamie finishes practicing his fast draw in time to see Arturo, Quinn, Rembrandt, and Wade emerge from the sliding vortex. Coming "from a world of dust to a world of dung" (in Arturo's words), the Sliders are directed to the Wall Street Saloon to get something to eat. They find that this world's San Francisco is part of the Republic of Texas, an amalgam of the real state of Texas and areas to its north and west. Quinn steps in to prevent a fight between two saloon patrons and is drawn into a gunfight with one of them, which he wins by shooting him dead. Quinn is arrested, but Billy Ray, an associate of the Drexal-Bullock Corporation, has him released into his custody. Quinn's offered a position by Mr. Bullock, for the man he'd shot was one of his best lawyers -- a gunfight is the method of settling legal disputes in the Republic of Texas.

Arturo, Rembrandt, and Wade check into their room at the Dominion Hotel (standard operating procedure for each world they slide to) and learn from Priscilla Hardaway, co-founder of Hardaway Computers, that Bullock killed her husband so he could buy out the company. Priscilla needs to maintain the impression that her company can resist a hostile takeover, so she buys a seat on the stock exchange, which is conducted like a poker game. Cliff Sutter, the man who's supposed to sit in the chair, is found hanging in his apartment, so Rembrandt fills in for him, winning $40,000 to keep Hardaway Computers solvent.

Jamie, Priscilla's son, is convinced that the Sliders are here to help them defeat Bullock. While Quinn's being encouraged to work for Drexal-Bullock, he meets Priscilla and learns what Bullock's done. After Jamie's failed attempt to kill Bullock, Quinn and "Billy the Kid", a hostile takeover specialist under contract to Drexal-Bullock, are set to face off at high noon. Quinn removes his gun and holster, and Billy refuses to gun down an unarmed man. Bullock pulls a gun on him (a SEC violation), and Billy Ray, Priscilla, Jamie, Rembrandt, and Wade come between Bullock and Quinn while Arturo activates the timer. Before the Sliders enter the vortex, Bullock is arrested for Cliff Sutter's murder and Quinn tells Jamie that it's harder to put a gun down than pick one up.