episode #20 - Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome

Air Date: 5/3/96 writer: Nan Hagan Directed by Adam Nimoy

This one might be the best of the bunch. It begins a bit oddly, with Rembrandt relating events to a psychiatrist (Kristoffer Tabori), so most of the episode is actually a flashback: the Sliders slide in to their latest Earth, landing near Quinn's home. Quinn almost immediately notices some details which suggest that they are home on Earth Prime, including the squeaky gate (ah, but if astute viewers had seen the first episode of the season...). They are greeted by Quinn's mother and this seems to clinch it for them. They celebrate and are anxious to resume their lives, which soon will include awesome bonus perks like money and celebrity. Arturo cautions that they need to keep quiet about sliding until they gain complete control over the timer and work out the kinks; he estimates that it will take him and Quinn a month. But, the next thing we know, Arturo is on the news, proclaiming himself the inventor of sliding. Quinn, in the meantime, has noticed other little details that tell him they still haven't made it home. But, he is unable to convince Wade or Rembrandt, both of whom are enjoying great success.

The revelations keep coming in this episode and it's like a great page turner of a novel. This episode spells out that there are other versions of our Sliders sliding around the dimensions; this in itself offers many intriguing possibilities (for example: even though we now know how three of the Sliders end up - not pleasantly - we have the comfort of knowing that their duplicates are either still sliding or went on to better fates). The entire concept of a near-duplicate Earth Prime offers further possibles: it's conceivable that one or more of the Sliders may elect to stay on this Earth, playing it safe. Why not? They would just need to ignore those pesky tiny differences (maybe that's a missing scene: one of the Sliders briefly contemplating a stay even after finding out that it's not Earth Prime). The whole episode is a case study of tantalization - they almost, not quite, made it. So close! And, the climax is one for the ages: for the rest of the series, we cannot be 100% certain that the Arturo who slides at the end is the same Arturo who began sliding in the pilot episode. The epilogue is on the lighter side. BoG's Score: 8.5 out of 10


Earths Depicted:
---------------- #42: normal-seeming San Francisco where Rembrandt sees a psychiatrist for a day
---------------- #41: near-duplicate of Earth Prime, minor differences like a blue-colored bridge instead of Golden Gate