This may be one of the most difficult posts I’ve ever made on the blog. Yet this is really for those who are new to Sliders or are revisiting it. I know a lot of people want to know what the best Sliders episodes are. Most people would say the first 2 and half seasons and I’d agree with them. However rather than throwing out a top 10 or top 25 list, I’ll lay out the top 5 episodes of each season. If you ask me a month from now my opinions will probably change, as they’re all extremely difficult to choose from. Obviously I’ll get a lot of disagreements on episodes I’ve left out, but it’s clearly my opinion and not a overall fan polling. I’ll list them in sequential episode order rather than my favorite ranking. But I have to admit, out of all the episodes The King is Back may be my all time favorite. I do want to note I feel a TV show Pilot should be set and judged apart from the rest of the series. However, the Pilot of a series lays the groundwork for a show and I think leaving it out of any favorite list would be tasteless.
Season 1
1. Pilot
This is the mind twist episode to help you understand the concept of the show. Mixed in with scifi is dark comedy. In the middle of a Soviet war zone on the sidewalk you have the Professor wanting to grab a bite to eat. Multiple worlds, with multiple changes in history bring a bittersweet ending.
2. Fever
The entirety of this episode is dark. It’s pretty much dark or utterly dreary outside wherever they go too. It helps give a sense of doom to the whole situation. Then again they’re filming in rainy Vancouver, Canada. Who wants to get seriously ill from an unknown pandemic with no cure and a government that is complicit in the whole thing. This time it’s a conspiracy, not a theory.
3. Last Days
For some reason blockbuster disaster movies tend to be a success. You have the Sliders stuck on a world where an asteroid is set to destroy the earth before the timer can let them slide. The episode has you on the edge of your toes. The Professor and Conrad Bennish Jr. attempt to build the atom bomb, while Quinn and Wade try to figure out how to slide with his double’s equipment. The episode gives you a choice too. I polled several fans and they said they’d riot in this situation rather than enjoying their last moments or praying to God. Just like the episode.
4. Eggheads
The shoes are completely out of the box on this one. It seems people remember this one quite well. Academics are more revered than celebrities. Mindgame mixes a game of sports with intellectual questions. It’s a cross between Family Feud, Othello, and chess. All the while running around with a ball. Nike and Wheaties are spoofed in this episode, other wise known as Nikke and Weeties. People love this one because they love such a unique sport and if you love Sliders you’re an egghead.
5. The King is Back
As a society we’ve always had a desire and hope that a dead celebrity has faked their death. Who knows, maybe some are actually true. This episode mimics the death of Elvis Presley, yet instead of Elvis on this earth, the king of music is Rembrandt Crying Man Brown. He supposedly faked his death and is making a comeback. Our Rembrandt plays his comeback until this world’s Rembrandt comes out of hiding. What a mess. To top it off I can never underestimate the amount of comedy in this episode. It’s outrageous!
Season 2
1. Into the Mystic
This world is caught up in mysticism and a witch doctor is after Quinn’s brain. They show how it effects society in various ways through healthcare, lawyers, and food. Many often attribute this episode to The Wizard of Oz theme. The only one who can help save Quinn from the witch doctor and bounty hunter is the Sorcerer himself. He’s the man behind the curtain and known for the commodities he sells.
2. As Time Goes By
The Spanish rule America and illegals are shipped back to Canada. This episode is so unique because it involves time going backwards. However their world runs in reverse of time. I think Quinn told Rembrandt, don’t even try to understand it, it’ll give you a headache. One of the main reasons I like this episode is because they slide to multiple worlds and it’s adventure after adventure.
3. Gillian of the Spirits
They’re stuck on a world with 1950s technology and it’s banned anything beyond that. Quinn slid into the astral plane and he’s rendered invisible to the other sliders. One young woman named Gillian is able to see him. She’s the unspoken kook of the town and the sliders don’t make it any easier for her. Thankfully there’s a black market for technology. The end of the episode is quite moving for ever slider.
4. Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome
Most people that are even a little familiar with the series know this one. They’ve slid back home? Maybe? Then they find there’s two Arturo’s. This one is a staple for the series so whatever you do make sure you watch it.
5. In Dino Veritas
Dinosaurs here we come. The incredible acting overshadows the bad CGI dinosaur. On this earth San Francisco never existed. It’s a prehistoric forest filled with abundant wildlife. The sliders lose the timer and Quinn ventures out to find it. Terrified of Quinn’s safety, the Professor and Wade reminisce about Quinn’s great qualities. A hologram and poacher mix up their problems even more. It’s a frantic race to find the timer and slide safely.
Season 3
1. Double Cross
When the Sliders land, Rembrandt immediately complains about the food and who wouldn’t. It’s a green and yellow goop called Geomash. The Sliders have landed in San Angeles and San Francisco is nothing but a neighborhood. This world is low on natural resources and gasoline is only $409.10 a gallon. “Double” is in the episode title and oddly enough we find a female double of Quinn.
2. Rules of the Game
The sliders have to complete levels of fighting similar to a video game. But this is real life, there’s no restart button because it’s life or death. They start in a simulator and have to roam the streets fighting robot dogs, bombs, and more. It’s interesting that this world finds this as a form of entertainment. The Games are broadcast on live TV because the government banned sports. It wouldn’t surprise me if our own world spirals into something like this.
3. Dead Man Sliding
On this world, trials are held on national TV before a live studio audience. They don’t care about the truth, merely entertainment. The audience votes on an electronic device that literally looks like the game “Simon”, or better known as “My name is Simon”. The host is played Don Most known for his work from the 1970s tv show “Happy Days”. Quinn is sentenced for murder and is set to be executed by a guillotine. It’s a rush to save Quinn and the ending doesn’t disappoint. It’s an odd yet terrifying slide and the episode ends with a charm.
4. The Guardian
This episode was written by Sliders creator Tracy Tormé. He’s previously stated that this may be the best episode he’s ever written for Sliders. On this episode Quinn sees his younger double amidst the funeral of his father. The world appears like it’s a decade older but it’s still the same year because the earth is spinning a little bit faster on it’s axis. This episode is intriguing because it illustrates how you could help your young alternate self from the pain and struggle of childhood. The final scene may be the best of the entire series, if not it’s way up there.
5. Slide Like An Egyptian
What if Egyptians ruled America? Imagine living in a land of Egyptian culture with pyramids and pharaohs. This episode is interesting for a historian studying ancient times. The storyline is nice because it is one of those mystery type story arcs to solve a puzzle. They miss the slide, Quinn is taken to be killed in an Egyptian experiment and dies. We also see a new unique timer the Sliders will use.
Season 4
1. World Killer
Quinn’s double regards himself as a failure. He has slid every last human being on earth except himself to an alternate earth. On that earth there are two of every person. It gives them a perspective of each others strengths and weaknesses.
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Quinn finds his brother in an Amish style world. This episode stars Ben Jones from the tv show The Dukes of Hazzard. Quinn has to convince his brother that sliding is real but in all honesty he has no clue what is going on. This episode is more on the comedic side and even has him inadvertently stealing a corpse on the next world. Spending cash instead of a bone graft makes you appear quite suspicious on this earth.
3. Just Say Yes
The sliders land upon a world where drugs are not only legal, but required. They’re used to make everyone chill in a sense, with no authentic emotions. Maggie and Colin are intentionally drugged on the world throughout the entire episode. Their world calls it “getting low”. It’s interesting to see a polar opposite on the drug issue and how it could possibly turn out on our own world.
4. Lipschitz Live!
Overall this is one of the funniest episodes since the first couple of seasons. Jerry O’Connell directed several season four episodes. He told me he tried to bring some of the original sentiments to the episodes. The sliders find a world that is obsessed with a tabloid TV talk show called Lipschitz Live! They get separated from one another and Quinn finds no alternative but to go on the talk show, where the Sliders finally rejoin with him.
5. The Chasm
The entire episode is so ludicrous like The King is Back and Lipschitz Live!, which makes it one of the best of season 4. The community is so serene and laid back like an episode of Leave it to Beaver from the 1950s. In the backwoods lies a cave, and inside of it a large hole or ‘chasm’. Someone must jump into it and sacrifice themself every so often to bring peace to everyone in town. Rembrandt is hit by an odd lightning bolt and runs off into a tirade of depression. Quinn even says to Maggie, the closer he walks to her, the more he gives her his depression. It’s so over the top and I AM CHOSEN!
Season 5
1. New Gods For Old
Mallory aka Quinn’s fraternal double is rendered paralyzed. He finds a miraculous cure but the Sliders and local doctor insist that he not use it. It’s by drinking a liquid that contains a network or in layman’s terms, a small computer. The cost is becoming ‘one’ with everyone else than has drunk it. Everyone who has partook of it looks like a cult member. The ending is really the best part, even though it doesn’t relate much to the episode. Mallory says Quinn is gone for good. Rembrandt emphatically and emotionally states he can’t and won’t believe that Quinn is gone.
2. Requiem
Bottom line, this is probably the most depressing and emotional episode of the series. Rembrandt finally finds Wade. For one, I add it because Cleavant’s acting is so superb in the episode. Wade appears and the original actress Sabrina Lloyd, although not seen, voices her character. Another actress was cast but it’s somewhat difficult to tell between the two. The ending is the most atrocious thing that has ever been done to a slider. This is an emotional experience and you can see it in Rembrandt’s eyes. He doesn’t even need to speak. The ending seems to end on a cliffhanger. We all hope and that’s all we can do.
3. Map of the Mind
The sliders land in a neural remapping center. In essence it’s a psych ward or rehabilitation center where their purpose is to remove all creativity from society. Art such as painting, drawing, music, poetry, and singing is banned. You name it. Free thought is illegal as the signs say everyone must “Think Alike”. Diana gets stuck in the place, and is remapped. Mallory attempts to impersonate a worker in hope of rescuing her. In the end Rembrandt gives the patients a funny holy roller speech. It riles everyone up to take control of their lives.
4. A Thousand Deaths
This episode gives thought to the role video games play on everyone. The opening bit is quite humorous because it takes the “burger wars” quite literally. On the next world the sliders find themselves close to a huge family entertainment center. The heart of it is a role-play gaming where you can become a Civil War solider, a 70s cop fighting crime, and a lot more. The people are hologram projections that you can fight to kill. Shockingly though, there’s a much sinister corruption underneath it all. It even surprised me.
5. Dust
The sliders land in a hot desert in the middle of nowhere. They eventually stumble upon a scientific dig. There the main forensic paleontologist invites them to stay in exchange for their work. The best part is the ignorance of he and his volunteers. They excavate a parking meter but to them they guess it’s a “Coin Operated Time Dispenser” from the late renaissance. This world’s Los Angeles is a lost ancient city and they even excavate a sliding timer. The paleontologist seems hell-bent on his project no matter what the cost. A nearby tribe finds Rembrandt, who to them is a great leader. His legacy has been passed down from generation to generation. To them Remmy’s known as “The Voice”. They practically worship his as a leader, and they even have his red Cadillac in mint condition.