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by R.J. Carter Published: July 31, 2005
And what if you can't find your way home? Sliders had the perfect "What if?" scenario for a writer to play with, allowing for any kind of world to be created, any kind of situation for a cast of characters to face. What if weight-loss drug turned people into flesh-eating zombies? What if dinosaurs had never become extinct? The possibilities were literally endless. Series creators Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss took the quantum theory of the Einstein-Rosen bridge and used it in much the way Gardner Fox did for DC Comics: as a vehicle for creating alternate Earths. Sure, the special effects weren't the best in the world (or any other) and the show relied a lot on green screens, reused settings, and animated cityscape backdrops. But conceptually, the show had coolness in spades. It was much like Quantum Leap in that each episode ended with a transition, and in that the characters were all hoping the next step would take them home. This season sees the introduction of Kari Wuhrer as Captain Maggie Beckett and the departure of Professor Arturo (who dies in the two-parter, "The Exodus"). It also sees a change in the direction of the overall plot as the Sliders shift from trying to find their way home to tracking down a villainous Colonel Rickman (Neil Dickson), ending with a battle with a Dr. Moreau wannabe that finds Rembrandt and Wade sliding home, while Maggie and Quinn slide randomly and into the future. It was a radical departure for the series, calling to mind the adage, "If it ain't broke..." As much as I love the early episodes of Sliders, there's a good amount about this set that annoys me, all of it outside the scope of the episodes themselves. First, there is no printed episode guide, as this would apparently interfere with the gestalt of the see-through disc case. Fortunately, from any disc the viewer can access a complete list of the episodes in this set. Additionally, the orange hard plastic case doesn't fully expand -- one needs three hands to hold it open and extract a disc (or two discs if you want want to see an episode on one of the two laid-over discs.) And because the discs are double-sided, they're unlabelled except for the myopic print encircling the hub that identifies the number and "A" side of each disc. Previews on this DVD set include the complete series collections of Cleopatra 2525 and Earth 2, Sliders - The Third Season, and Revelations. The main menu plays a very short and loud clip of music that repeats while displaying the options. Viewers can set the subtitles to English, Spanish or French. Viewing is accessed via the "Play All" option, or single "Episode Selection," which will also provide the viewer with an episode synopsis and original air date. Bonus Features: The only bonus feature on this set is a rather lengthy gag reel of outtakes. The other two so-called bonuses are of interest only if you have questions about purchasing either Cleopatra 2525 or Earth 2, as they are an episode of each show, and not related to Sliders at all. Grade: Episodes: B- Special Features: C
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