Raging Quinn: A Defense

David Peckinpah was too hasty. There’s a lot in Scott Miller's unproduced Raging Quinn script that appeals to me. Let’s treat this effort like the first draft that it is—as a suggestion to a greater episode.

The first issue is getting the audience to buy the premise, that something about this world is doing something to high IQ individuals so  they lose control and become enraged. Basically, all we really need here is the slimmest of scientific veneers and we're okay. (Personally, I'm not sure UV radiation is enough, although using the ozone layer as a hook certainly works for me. Perhaps the countermeasures the world took had unintended side effects?) Again, so long as the rules are established—level of rage depends on level of IQ, environmental factor causing it, state is temporary, can be controlled with drugs, etc.—we can get the audience to buy in.

Now we have to determine how we confront the problem. Are we here to save the world or survive it? I would advise survival. Landing at the home of the one person who can treat the affliction is one Amazing Coincidence™ too far for me. Keep the dolphin if you want, but let's land at a research facility (or SeaWorld, for all I care) and let's consider having the serum readily available. This world has it sort of under control for those who wish, but Quinn escapes before it can be administered. The major mission here is not to save the world but to save Quinn, as the further into the madness one goes, the less inclined one is to return. It's a bit more interesting to me if Arturo must choose to go without a full dosage at some point in order to have any chance of reining Quinn in, which puts him to the test as well. Can he maintain his discipline while under the influence of the affliction?

In the meantime, we've got a pretty interesting alt-world here. Or at the very least, an unfamiliar one. It's recovering from a breakdown; some of its best and brightest are dead or in jail. Some have returned to the fold under medication. Some have chosen to remain in a state of rage. (Remember, just because someone has a high IQ doesn't mean they're successful.) And this 'sport' has arisen where ragers duke it out. (Remember: this is 1996, so we're pre-Ultimate Fighting. Fights like this are pretty extreme for the time.) We also may still have a serious ozone problem, and there are real consequences there that should get a few moments to flesh out the world's history.

Ideally, we ironically have brains defeat brawn. It would be poetic if Wade and Rembrandt (and their 'lesser' IQs) outwit the raging Quinn at some point, maybe at the conclusion. As written, I'm not sure if the end is satisfying. You could trick Quinn by spiking his water bottle. This is dangerous, because once the effect wears off, he would be at the mercy of his opponent. Then we'd have to see if Quinn has the intelligence to extricate himself from the situation without getting killed. (Or maybe we just time it so that the vortex is the lifeline.)

Characterization is key. Essentially it's Quinn on red kryptonite. Quinn does have real rage inside of him; The Guardian shows it well. Quinn sees himself as an athlete; fighting would appeal to him. And, while we don't know the full extent of his relationships with women, up until this point in the series, he's been seen as holding back. We could do some of this stuff a bit more artfully, but it helps the story if it's recognized that some of the ways he's acting out do exist inside of him. Arturo's reaction would help define it and Scott does get some of that right—the jealousy, the fear he'll be blamed for when things go wrong, that he's somehow inadequate to the task. If the rage sources are built on prior characterization, it can really work.

Now, it might step on the toes of other episodes. The placement of this episode is very important; it must air before “The Guardian.” This would really step up the fear of the Sliders in that episode when it looks like Quinn is going off the rails again—and training his double to do the same. If this episode airs afterward, it loses a lot of its punch, so to speak.

I definitely see potential here to keep this show safely over the "The Good, the Bad, and the Wealthy" line of mediocrity and potentially elevate it to standout status. It could be quite memorable—a physical brawl between Quinn and Arturo would be unexpected, and Arturo's struggles to stop himself from Hulking out would work in the capable hands of John Rhys-Davies.

I think it’s a winner.