Date: 05/12/2000
From: dellyone

I posted this originally on SpaceTime's Sliders - Intelligent Discussion bboard.
http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1447/17

This is a long post, so if you can indulge me, I’ll begin.

I am not a nitpicker, but what happened to Quinn and his glasses? You see him wake up in the beginning of “Pilot” with them on. Apparently, he had been reading a book called “Hyperspace” and he fell asleep. Here are some reasons I think Quinn is not seen with glasses in any other episodes, except the “Pilot”.

Reason 1: He doesn’t really need glasses.

There are I think three times in the “Pilot” where Quinn is wearing glasses - when he wakes up in the beginning and photos of him with his father, mother and the other photo with his sister. I can’t be sure whether Quinn is farsighted (he can’t read a book without stretching his arms as far as possible) or nearsighted (where everything is blurry more than a few inches or feet away depending on the severity of nearsightedness). Maybe Quinn would have taken them if they had returned home or he was thinking they were going on a short trip and would have gotten them later.

If Quinn is farsighted, he would need glasses to read, since he can’t see words close by. This can be shown in “Summer of Love”. You see Quinn reading an apartment ad in the newspaper. He holds the newspaper not too close or too far and he was able to read the small type that ads usually are printed. In “Prince of Wails”, Wade shows him a newspaper article about the royal scandal. It looks like he could read it fine. I remember a few others, but I don’t recall the circumstances or the episode titles. But there are many times when you see Quinn fix the timer. I haven’t seen the schematics of the timer, but I would think that the timer has very small screws and other parts, but Quinn seems he can see fine. So if Quinn was farsighted, how can he can fix the timer, but still need glasses to read a book? This leads me to question whether or not he is farsighted at all.

Let’s say that Quinn is nearsighted. I’m basing this part on my personal experience of being nearsighted. You see the two photos of Quinn when he was younger and notice that he is wearing glasses. These photos look like they were taken on a vacation trip. I’m assuming it was a vacation photo because Quinn would need glasses to see the sights. Since it looks like Quinn in around 12–15 years old, he must have gotten them when he was really young. There is no way your vision will get better as you grow up, except when you are in your forties or above. That’s when everyone’s vision will become farsighted as we age and the reason for reading glasses when you get older. This brings me to reason 2.

Reason 2: He uses contacts.

You only see him using glasses when he reads and in photos when he was younger. Wearing glasses opens you up to ridicule if you get them when you are really young and prevents you from many things, such as playing sports. I think there were a couple of episodes where Quinn mentioned that he tore up his knee playing football and that he played quarterback. He would have worn contacts or at least goggles to cover his glasses, but I don’t know whether you can wear contacts while playing football.

I don’t remember if Quinn ever wore glasses again. But whose to say that they didn’t land on a world where eyesight could be restored to perfect vision or somewhere they could get change contacts or if sliding changes a person’s sight. I don’t recall if the sliders took anything else with them other than the timer, some food or money. Or else he’s been using those contacts for four years. That’s got to be the most durable pair of contacts around.

There are three episodes that show that Quinn isn’t wearing contacts. Remember in “Fever” where Quinn is being examined to see if he had the “Q”. The doctor looks in his eyes and doesn’t remove or mention that Quinn is wearing contacts. A second episode called "State of the A.R.T.", guest stars Robert Englund (Freddie from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Movies) who plays an android doctor that wants to transfer Quinn’s mind into an android copy. He never mentioned that Quinn had contacts. The third episode called "Sole Survivors" is the one where Quinn turns into a zombie in that world where a diet drug turns that person into a creature that can’t stand sunlight or any light source. There was a lady that looked into Quinn’s eyes when he starts changing and she doesn’t tell him to remove his contacts.

Reason 3: A way of showing Quinn’s doubles without confusing the viewers.

The first double of Quinn the viewer sees is the one who solves the mathematical equation on the chalkboard. How do we know it’s Quinn’s double? He is wearing different clothes and his hair is slicked down and parted a different way. I find it ironic that they would use Quinn’s double’s face in the opening credits.

In the early episodes you see doubles of Quinn that have glasses. “Fever” was the one where Quinn’s double was Patient X, the first person who had the “Q”. The other one was “Into the Mystic” where the Sorcerer was not like the Wizard of Oz, but a double of Quinn. In later episodes, (I think) Quinn’s doubles didn’t wear glasses.

Reason 4: To show that Quinn was a genius.

I guess wearing glasses is synonymous with being smart. The first impression you get from seeing Quinn was that he was smart, maybe even a genius. There really was no need for glasses if you notice the book, titled “Hyperspace”, he was reading. I know some of the title was missing, but who knows maybe the scene could have been shot with more of the title of the book exposed or another title mentioning quantum physics or superstring theory.

Remmy’s double in “The Alternateville Horror” was the one responsible for his group for sliding. He had intended to make an anti-gravity device, but made a sliding vortex and was caught on what I’ll call an astral plane. I don’t know about you, but when I first saw Remmy’s double, I knew he was a genius because he had glasses on.

Of course, there were some of Quinn’s doubles that didn’t use glasses. The ones I can remember are the first double in the “Pilot” and the double that won that award that Quinn didn’t. In "World killer" Quinn's double was the one that slid everyone off his world and he was the only one left. These doubles were geniuses, but they weren’t shown with glasses. One solved the equation on the chalkboard and the other won prestigious awards including the one Quinn didn’t win.

These could be some of the reasons for the Quinn’s apparently miraculous recovery of sight and his abandonment of his glasses. Or this could just be a continuity problem that plagues television shows and movies like a revolving door of people coming in and out and no one takes the trouble to ask their name and what was their reason for visiting.

This begs several questions. If this is not a continuity problem, have we been watching doubles of the original four sliders? There were many occasions where the original four sliders were separated from each other. Could a double have taken their place? Did Professor Arturo really die by the hands of Colonel Rickman or is it his double from Azure Golden Gate World? Can “Requiem” Wade be the original one and if she is; why didn’t she ask about Quinn or read Maggie’s mind? Is the Remmy from season 5 the same as in season 1; considering that the original Remmy says he can’t swim and in “Heavy Metal” it looks like he can? I leave these questions to those who have more knowledge on these subjects.

dellyone

Wow! impressed by your post

Date: 05/12/2000
From: Slider_Dee

You've really thought this one through! The *real* answer, I think, is that Jerry looks better without glasses than he does with glasses. That and typical Sliders continuity problems.

I don't think contacts would work .... not only did Quinn obviously not wear contacts in the situations you mentioned (Sole Survivor, et. al.), there are no maintenance available for contacts (replacing lost contacts, obtaining cleaning solutions and eye drops, etc.).

And ... glasses and high intelligence is a Hollywood cliche, that's probably the reason Quinn had glasses to begin with.

DeeDee

that's hollywood for ya

Date: 05/14/2000
From: dsdlvsjoc

go figure,. qwquinn's glasses were a last minute prop. i say last minute because there is no mentuion of his vision problems oany time after the puilot. in fact, the opening swcene is the only time you ever see them. i always hated that about hoolywood....hno consistency.

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/545/20573
Nominated by dellyone