TWO Earth Primes?

It's pretty much where the idea of parallel earths and inconsistent writing meet. I don't recall Quinn ever saying he tried to fix the gate, and never could get it to stop squeaking - that doesn't mean he didn't say it, I just don't remember him saying anything to that effect. Generally it was that his mother was always pestering him to do it, and he just never did. The first time this came up was actually in the pilot, which really should have informed later episodes - upon leaving Soviet world, the professor and probably Quinn, had reasoned their best possible chance of returning to their Earth was to leave from the same place they landed. When they arrived on the next world, everything appeared to be just as it should be. They arrived at Quinn's house, Quinn said the gate had always squeaked since he was a kid; so he tried it and it squeaked, and the sliders rejoiced at proof they were home. They went inside Quinn's house, began having a nice meal with Quinn's mom, until Quinn's father comes home...
That should have been the tip off in "Into the Mystic" that the gate isn't really much of an indicator of where they are. I suppose though if you're trying to narrow down a near infinite number of earth; a discernible inconsistency, like a gate that should squeak, not squeaking would probably ranking high on discerning whether you're back home - it's basically yes or no. Unfortunately they were pressed for time, and couldn't entertain the possibility that in the time they were gone, the gate got fixed. This, as I recall, was compounded with a newspaper they read with some improbable real world recent developments; like OJ Simpson being accused of murder.

That Quinn pegged so much to the gate squeaking later though, when he was scouting worlds with Maggie, doesn't make a lot of sense; and "Exodus", along with "Into the Mystic," pretty much exposes a problem with how the sliders intended to find "home."
For all intents and purposes, the world they slid to at the end of "Into the Mystic" was their Earth Prime - at least, in so much as their earth prime is supposed to be our earth, with all shared current events; save for there being a TV show about their exploits. But the longer they're gone, the less identifiable their world is to what they would recognize; and arguably there'd be no definitive world that was "theirs" almost from the moment they left. The idea of concurrent, parallel histories would require an infinite number of realities, which each possible conclusion to evens plays out; both on earth and throughout the universe itself. On Earth, each decsision, especially ones that lead to other decisions and cascade into larger chain of events, would reflect countless alternate worlds where each conceivable and inconceivable outcomes occurs.

So the original four sliders leave earth; right off the bat there would be countless identical, parallel earths where on or more of them, in various combination, didn't slide. Focusing on the worlds where all four did slide, there would be an infinite number of earths that were identical to each other, up until the point the original four slid. The changes, the divergent qualities of each of those heretofore identical worlds, came after that. The world where Nicole Brown Simpson wasn't murdered. The countless worlds that reflect each team, of every sport, winning or losing their games; big and small, from the local t-ball leagues, to the world pennant, or the super bowl. The longer they're gone, the greater the diversity of each of all of those worlds. Each of them claims a common, identical history that the original four would recognize and could legitimate call their home.

So which one do they pick? Which one is their "real" home? Does it exist any more, after they leave and all the possible variations that evolve following and as a result of their departure? Even discounting the large scale differences, on a local, more personal level, most of the original sliders had someone back home who would miss them, who would be looking for them; and different worlds would reflect how they lead their lives in different ways in response to their absence. The world where Quinn's mom, or perhaps one of Wade's family members, turns to a support group for missing people; another where they turn to alcohol instead, and countless variations on that theme of just coping with the emotional stress of their loved one's sudden and mysterious absence.
That of course takes the idea of parallel Earths to the extreme. The ultimate introduction of being able to plot coordinates to a specific earth would require there to be a finite number of them to map and identify; which means their original home world should quantifiably exist; and somehow be matched to them. But the longer they're gone, the more foreign it would be once they got back.

I like to think what they thought was "earth prime," which the Kromags invaded, was not actually the real original earth; especially if "Into the Mystic" is to be their earth and the squeaky gate was fixed. It's possible the gate needed to be oiled again a year later, but it seems unlikely, but mostly just unscientific of Quinn.


I appreciate being thorough, but now you're just taking the nickel tour.

1. In my experience with squeaky things, oil is never a permanent solution. It'll last for about a month or three and whee... squeaking again.

2. I definitely get the feeling Quinn was a well-known procrastinator when it came to things he really didn't care about, and sometimes about things he supposedly did care about. "Sure, mom, I'll oil it... What gate?" The biggest thing he ostensibly cared about but was plagued with procrastination was his relationship with Wade.

3. If we're going to assume an infinite number of realities, then there becomes (literally) no way of telling which reality you are in.