From MadCap's Couch - "Sliders: Pilot, Part 1"

"What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? Where it's the same year and you're the same person, but everything else is different? And what if you can't find your way home?"

Hi, I'm the MadCapMunchkin, and that pretentious little opener is the intro to my new segment, "From MadCap's Couch", where I'll dvelve into the untapped market of television show reviewing (because, y'know, nobody does that or anything). And the quote in question comes from the first series on the chopping block - Sliders.  Some of you who were actually around in the mid-90s might actually remember Sliders, a show that was pitched as "Quantum Leap with an edge".

Personally, I find that a bit of a overstatement - Sliders isn't nearly that good.

But this show brought the Multiverse theory into popular consciousness in the mid 1990s. A young man living in his basement in San Francisco is somehow smart enough to build a stable Einstien-Rosen bridge and be able to "slide" between parallel universes, which can only lead to whacky hijinks through the multiverse.  And indeed it did, for five seasons. Three of them were on FOX, and anyone who knows the history of FOX and science fiction will know that that is one hell of an achievement.

But we're starting at the beginning of the little show that could, and start it does with a title card reading "In a San Francisco basement...". Via video recording, we are introduced to Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell) doing his best insane spastic impression as he describes the first appearance of a wormhole through his research. Quinn is a brilliant scientific mind, rather lazy and unmotivated, but with a good heart.

I'm not saying that Jerry O'Connell would have made a better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire, but I am saying if he'd been bitten by a radioactive spider during Sliders, I wouldn't have been all that surprised.

Cell phones were also a good bit bulkier in the 90s.

Sadly, that doesn't happen, but it appears that Quinn has been working in his mother's basement on an anti-gravity device that didn't remotely go as planned - instead creating a shimmering silver portal. Through the use of VHS tapes (VHS tapes, for my young viewers, are those things we had before DVDs and the internet), we see Quinn's documented progress as he does careful examination of these portals, coming to the conclusion that he's been creating wormholes.

Following this, we get a chuckle-worthy scene with a hobo shouting out the praises of Communism as Quinn runs to class and meets Professor Maximilian Arturo, played by the legendary John Rhys-Davies.  The man is British as all get out, and highly based in logic and reason as we'll soon see. His main purpose in his introductory scene is to show that he does not remotely approve of Quinn's rather lackadaisical attitude toward his studies, the young man instead sketching wormholes during a lecture. Though conversely, Quinn holds him in high esteem - going out of his way to read the man's published papers that aren't on the class list.

The next scene introduces the third future Slider - Wade Welles, played by Sabrina Lloyd, who works at the Doppler computer store with Quinn. Wade is the more humanizing element to the cold science of Arturo and to a lesser extent Quinn (when she's being written properly, anyway). It's also abundantly obvious that there's some not-so-repressed feelings between her and Quinn, though on who's side it's greater can vary from episode to episode (and indeed moment by moment). More on that later.

They also have an irredeemable asshole boss...who is an irredeemable asshole boss.

This is a wormhole. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Quinn later returns home, going through a fence with a squeaky gate (remember that, it'll be important later) and heads back into his basement and stares at a chalkboard where he has worked out his formula for generating the wormholes. He watches another video, showing that he has been sending objects through the wormholes and has developed a device to bring said objects back from the other side...which apparently works as demonstrated by a basketball returning from the wormhole. So, being that he's unwilling to send his cat and apparently trying to send the camera through ruins the picture (how convenient!), Quinn decides he will go through the gateway himself.

Normally I'd have a problem with this, but from the clips from his tapes we can see that he's been doing this for several months and running several tests. So one really can't say that he's rushing this, but after all if he didn't do it at all, we'd have no plot. With the device set for fifteen minutes, Quinn leaves some blunt force foreshadow-y words on a video tape for his mother before opening a wormhole (which, I forgot to mention is a pretty cool effect for the time) and journeying through...to find that he apparently just walked through into the same room with no luck.

Everything seems to be normal...until he runs a green light. This is couple with the announcer on the radio spouting statements that make no sense, such illegal immigrants going into Mexico, global cooling, and vinyl replacing CDs as Quinn begins to work out that something has gone very, very wrong. This is capped off by the ultimate alternate universe wish - Elvis alive and apparently performing at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

Quinn returns home to find the front gate makes no squeaky noise as it does in his universe...and his mother is pregnant by their gardener...upon which time his timer goes off and he's pulled back into his own universe via the wormhole. Though this creates a bit of a plothole with a simple question...is San Fransisco traffic so minute that you can literally go out driving for fifteen minutes and get back so easily? I'd imagine at some point after seeing the Elvis advertisement he'd slide out and the car would hilariously smack into a newstand or something...but that would require more budget.

Nevertheless, Quinn does actually return to his own basement and universe. He's overjoyed until he arrives in Arturo's class...where apparently the man is outright furious with him, leaving Quinn rather completely confused. This continues when he arrives at the computer store, where Wade tells him that he's been fired and he apparently kissed her. Naturally, Quinn's completely out of sorts and Wade is not amused. And so, depressed about the loss of his job and his civil relationship with his mentor, Quinn decides to head down to his basement and get in touch with himself.

...that is to say, an alternate version of himself.

...okay, this sounds bad any way I put it, an alternate version of Quinn has arrived in this universe and has apparently been causing his counterpart all the trouble that's been going on, but has also solved the equation on the chalkboard. He explains the multiverse theory for the audience, and coins the term 'Slider', which Quinn (the main Quinn, not the other Quinn) takes a liking to. He also explains that the sliding is completely random, likening it to a roulette wheel with an infinite number of slots. The alternate Quinn speaks of the universe he's traveled to, the wonder of sliding, and tries to impart something important...before he disappears without being able to tell what it is.

The Stargate is open! I repeat, the Stargate is open!

Following this, Wade and Professor Arturo (the latter no doubt bribed with a role in a Peter Jackson film) arrive at the Mallory residence at Quinn's behest. And now, finally, almost thirty minutes into the first part of the Pilot episode, we are introduced to the fourth and final Slider, Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown, played by Cleavant Derricks. Rembrandt ends up becoming not only the only cast member to remain for all five seasons of the show (spoiler alert), but also one of the most beloved and proactive characters in the series (when he's written right).

Starting out, however...he's a largely shallow, egotistical washed up has-been of a singer who is only concerned with his career, his comeback, and his Cadillac.

In Quinn's basement - the "Batcave" as Wade calls it - Arturo sees that Quinn has solved the Unified Field Theory, something which he is far, far less than pleased with. He takes issue with finding out that the answer to how to travel between parallel universe could be found in a junkyard, Quinn just deciding to say nothing and simply show them that a wormhole is indeed possible. Thus, with the chance to travel between parallel universe before them, the trio decide to take a joyride, increasing the power just enough so that the wormhole not only takes them in...but also journeys to find Rembrandt and drag him in while he's on his way to sing at a Giants game.

While Rembrandt and his Cadillac is thrown into a icy landscape, Quinn, Wade, and Arturo appear in the Mallory's basement on this new world. The trio in the house find a photograph of Quinn's family, including a sister he never knew he had (stow that thought away for a few seasons, it's gonna hurt later), and determined that they have indeed slid into a new world that has apparently been overcome by an Ice Age. They meet a confused Rembrandt and all crowd together in his Cadillac for warmth.

Tragedy strikes, however, when an ice-nado starts coming their way to ensure their demise. Despite his fear that alternating the timer will damage their changes of getting home, Quinn prematurely activates it and they escape right before the nick of time to emerge in what appears to be Golden Gate Park...though it appears that Quinn didn't make the journey through, ending the first part of the episode on a cliffhanger.

As for the first part, though, it's a rather strong start to the series. Sure, we haven't gotten into the "lost and jumping between parallel universes" yet, but we have had the rules established as well as the characters all being brought in and their motivations known - though it's important to note that Rembrandt almost feels like an afterthought by the writers. Almost thirty minutes into a forty minute episode, he comes in. However, he is established in just a few scenes as his starting personality type. He's not the loveable, endearing everyman that he becomes, but that comes with time and there are eighty-seven episodes to go from here.

"When this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour..."

It's a strong start, throws us right into things, and doesn't feel the need to overexplain or use nonsensical technobabble. All things considered, it's definitely a strong start to the series. Come back next week, where we'll continue our exciting adventure into the multiverse, and things will be getting a little more Red...

For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow in on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.