Sliders - season #5 (1999-2000)

SLIDERS - SEASON #5 (1999-2000) starring CLEAVANT DERRICKS,
KARI WUHRER, ROBERT FLOYD, TEMBI LOCKE

If things seemed in a bit of disarray in the 4th season, they really got out of whack in the fifth. The O’Connell brothers both departed before filming for the 5th season began after negotiations broke down involving Jerry O’Connell becoming executive producer. It would have been nice if the 2 brothers appeared in at least the first few episodes of the 5th season - the plan at one point - but it was not to be.

Instead, the beginning of the first episode showed something strange happening inside the vortex during the latest slide. Colin Mallory just disappeared (sent elsewhere or destroyed - we weren’t sure) while Quinn’s ‘essence’ merged with another version of Quinn Mallory (actor Floyd) on the latest Earth they arrived at. For whatever reason, this Mallory did not look exactly like Quinn (different actor, for one thing). It was tough to buy into, even on a show featuring Kromaggs. Also joining up as the new regular slider was Dr. Diana Davis (Locke), a local scientist who felt responsibility for the new Mallory. It was a radical shift in direction - and what happens when a show suddenly loses its star.
For viewers who had invested their time the past few years in getting to know the characters, including star O’Connell, this was the last straw - what was the point of continuing? Only Rembrandt remained as the last original Slider. Nevertheless, there were 18 more episodes this season. Most episodes are forgettable and some merely mimic episodes of earlier seasons, while others are nonsensical, involving new concepts that seemed more the stuff of fantasy rather than sci-fi.

The Kromaggs turned up a couple of more times and, in one late episode, “Requiem,” the fate of missing slider Wade Welles is revealed. She was a pawn in the latest experiment by the Kromaggs, sealed in some container and mutilated. The actress Sabrina Lloyd did not return but did provide her voice as her character finally perished. It was predictably downbeat by this point. There was also a new recurring villain, Dr. Geiger, who wished to merge all dimensions for some insane reason.
The final episode ended with the indication that there would be a sixth season, as Rembrandt appeared to return to his home dimension. But, there were no further sliding adventures. There were rumors of a Sliders movie for a few years after the series ended, but nothing happened. In all, the great concept presented in the very beginning of the show - that of a huge multiverse of innumerable dimensions - was sabotaged and steadily eroded by the producers, writers and network behind the scenes. One by one, the main characters were disposed of unceremoniously instead of being allowed to evolve.

It would have been much more impressive, for example, if the sliding technology had been brought under control by the Sliders and utilized for research and exploration, for more coordinated adventures, as in the Stargate TV series, for example. The possibilities were literally endless. These possibilities were barely scratched, unfortunately.