We break down the best episodes from the complete run of Sliders.
Do you even rememberSliders?
If you dont rememberSliders, youre with the majority of the population.
Whenever I mention the series I usually get responses like this.
Was that a late 90s show?Is it about burgers?Its like time travel, right?
At best, its mistaken forQuantum Leap.
The only reason its kept alive is because nerds like me wont ever shut up about it.
Why doSlidersfans love this show so much theyre still talking about it over 15 years after it was cancelled?
Is it some underrated gem?
Uh…
Look, Ill be real with you.Slidersis a rough watch at times.
The show ended with only one of its original cast members intact.
They met a worm that pooped out the elixir to eternal life.
It condemned one of its characters to a rape camp because the executive producer thought it would be funny.
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So why bother writing about it?
Because every so often,Sliderswas brilliant.
It had a cast that transcended the material and displayed a chemistry that has never been duplicated.
It mixed science fiction concepts with moving character pieces.
It could also be really funny and make you think.
Watch Sliders on Amazon Prime
So Im going to show you whatSliderscould be.
Yeah, youre welcome for not including that one.
Look, Ill make no bones about it.
Youre not getting the full story ofSlidersthe way Im about to present it.
What you are getting is a group of episodes that I feel best displaySliderspotential.
What the show could have been.
What I sometimes can delude myself into thinking it was.
So lets dive into the vortex, shall we?
Pilot
Season 1: Episodes 1-2
The success of theSliderspilot is all down to its characters.
The chemistry between Quinn, Wade, Arturo, and Rembrandt is infectious and its brilliantly introduced here.
Hes completely oblivious to Wades crush but is delighted by her energy.
Shes excited to be here.
She validates his hard work.
Arturo is skeptical of the two but his own curiosity shines through.
This is a scientists dream after all.
Rembrandt is abrasive with the whole team.
He wants Q-Ball to get him home ASAP.
Unlike laterSliders, however, this friction only helps the ensemble.
Quinn needs to answer for his actions.
Wade needs a nonscientific friend she can be normal with.
Its in Rembrandts differences from the others that helps make them the perfect team.
Each one asks a question.
What if you were different?
What if the world was different?
What if you could change something?
The best episodes would mix all three.
Last Daysis the second question.
How does the world react?
Like any good piece of TV, the situation impacts our main characters.
Quinn and Wades romance burns brighter here than it ever will.
Arturo has to learn to work with a double of his most hated student.
Eggheads
Season 1: Episode 7
Ill go on the record and say this isSliders funniest episode.
Come on; is theLibrary Rapnot enough to convince you of this?
Its an Earth where geniuses are treated like athletes on our world.
Product endorsements, money, fame, even the Wheaties box.
Gangsters spewing Latin like nothing.
Oh sure, Quinn is afraid for his life but its not a serious threat.
The episode is also a great look into human nature.
I know thats a broad term, but go with me here.
Wed still screw up.
Arturos double completely screwed up his relationship.
Quinns double skipped out on his debts.
No matter how smart you are, fame and power will corrupt.
All done in an episode with the Library Rap.
But hey, this list is about showing you Sliders at its best, right?
So here weve got the episode that finally got the balance right.
Everyone has something to do.
Theyre all wrapped up in the world that at first seems perfect but slowly turns deadly.
Gillian of the Spirits
Season 2: Episode 3
Quinn is a ghost.
Okay, hes actually out of phase or something because a bolt of lightning struck the wormhole.
…So hes a vortex ghost.
That sounds ridiculous and shark jumping but its treated with a gentle hand and some real heart.
This is where I start reading too much into what was probably pitched as Quinn goes full Swayze.
Can you imagine Jerry OConnell in that pottery scene?
We arent attuned to everything.
We cant see all the energy that flows around us.
Plus you get a cool world of anti-technology and the Professor finally expressing some jealously over Quinns intelligence.
Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome
Season 2: Episode 8
What if they made it home?
Theyre all happy, if noticeably changed.
They arent the same people who fell into that vortex over a year ago.
Ironically, the only one who doesnt venture to profit from sliding is its inventor, Quinn.
He starts noticing the inconsistencies in this world.
It all unravels from there.
You know, everyone points toInto the Mysticas when the show became hopeless.
They had made it home and left.
No matter how much they try, theyll always wonder.
Is this really home?
I actually dont look at that as a bad thing.
While not intentional, the only way to make Sliders work as a whole is as a cautionary tale.
The whole show is Quinn trying to make up for that mistake.
But is Quinn capable of coming to terms with that?
To deal with his own flaws?
He tries to hook up with an alternate version of Daelin, his first love.
On three different worlds.
#JustQuinnThings am I right?
Hes desperate for any connection to his old life.
He knows this isnt Daelin, but he proceeds to try and romance her anyway.
What does this say about him?
(Unless youre a van or a Humvee, I guess.SLIDERSFANDOM IN-JOKE YEAH.)
It says that Quinn still has a lot of growing up to do.
He hasnt moved on from the pain of his youth.
As much as he fawns over Wade, I suspect Quinn has always carried a torch for Daelin.
This girl who, in the passion of youth, seemed perfect.
No one, not even Wade, could live up to that.
So when he stumbles upon her, he tries to rekindle what he had…
But this isnt his Daelin, no matter how much he pretends her to be so.
I wont spoil the ending, but the universe itself gives Quinn a wakeup call that he shouldnt ignore.
The Guardian
Season 3: Episode 4
What if you could change something?
But here its something more personal.
Quinn meets his younger self, just after his dad died.
Our Quinn cant handle it.
He wants to make things better for young Quinn.
Make him a fighter.
Something he could never be.
The rest of the group tries to stop him, but Quinn wont listen.
Once again hes confronted by a youth he never moved on from.
Quinn is carrying so much hate inside him and he has to make it right.
He has to change it.
He doesnt care how this will alter the young Quinns future because he thinks he knows best.
His own hubris gets the better of him.
He doesnt want to move on.
He wants to change what happened.
He even tries to romance his old elementary school teacher because Quinn is just that eager to get some.
But it speaks to that little boy locked up inside him.
He cant let go of those fantasies.
This isSlidersat its emotional best.
WhileLuck of the Drawis objectively the best episode ofSliders, this is my personal favorite.
The writing, the acting, the emotions throughout.
Everything is pitch perfect.
Look no further than the scene where Arturo stops Quinn from interfering in young Quinn getting beat up.
The look on Quinns face.
In that look, Quinn is that boy again.
Theyve also gained a new Slider, Maggie.
Quinn not only has the weight of Earth Prime on his shoulders, but the multiverse.
Once again, the universe decides to dick slap him.
The team emerges in a world where theres only one man left.
A double of Quinn, and an immature pompous one at that.
He accidentally slid the entire population to another planet and doesnt feel bad about it.
Quinn finally has a mirror held up to him.
This is who he was and hes sickened by it.
The group manages to make it to the Earth Alt-Quinn slid everyone to and its unbearable.
Overpopulation has destroyed the planet.
Alt-Quinn cares more about the opportunities this provides.
Its here that Quinn finally makes the mission statement for the show.
Something that hes quietly learned in the background of all their previous adventures.
The universe doesnt have a conscience, so we have to.
InThe Guardian, he tried to escape that boys pain and change what had happened.
InWorld Killer, he finally confronted that boy.
Too bad it never did.
Shes a hero on this Earth but it all it does is remind her of the past.
Of a father she was completely estranged from.
Maggies whole personality was defined by this relationship.
So when she gets the chance, she stands up to him.
Compare it to Quinn inThe Guardian.
There, Quinn tried to change what happened.
He wanted to make the world fit his perfect vision.
Maggie lashes out at her father but she doesnt make a run at change anything.
She just wants solace.
Unlike Quinn, she makes peace with the little kid inside her.
In the end,Sliderswas at its best when it was a story of consequences.
Can he get them home?
Can this group make it through alive?
The answer was no.
Sometimes your mission in life doesnt work out.
Big thanks toEath Primefor some of the images featured here and for being THESlidersfansite online.
Shamus Kelley is gonna cry like a man.
As hard as he can.
And if you had a heart, then maybe youd start… Tofollow him on Twitter!
