From MadCap's Couch - Sliders: "Rules of the Game"

I'm gonna be replaced by who in two seasons?!

Hey there! Been a while, isn't it?

Last time, we dealt with a haunted hotel that wasn't actually haunted.

The time before that, there was a meteor about to strike the Earth. Also, some Quinn and Wade shipteasing that was never followed up on. Because David Peckinpaw.

And finally, the time before that (that was actually in broadcast order) saw Quinn Mallory suffering from being lovesick for a woman who was not mentioned before that episode or is mentioned ever again in the three seasons that followed.

It strikes me as funny that I've basically reviewed Sliders, a show that deals with parallel universes, out of order not a few times by now. It feels kind of like that should have happened for Doctor Who. Oh, wait, it did...

Regardless, we're getting into Season 3 for the show, pretty much where everything started to go downhill. The FOX network, with its stellar history of screwing the pooch when it comes to science-fiction, demanded some changes for the third season. The first and biggest one was the movement of shooting from Vancouver to Los Angeles, which meant losing out on a lot of the recurring guest stars we'd had in the first two seasons - such as Will Sasso playing Calhoun, the employee of the Dominion Hotel on various Earths (Calhoun would later appear, but played by a different actor).

David Peckinpah was brought in during Season 3, him having been a producer on Beauty and the Beast and so at least having had some measure of success that would lead them to believe that he'd do good in the role as executive producer. Unfortunately, his style and the style of series creator Tracy Tormé clashed in a way that made the latter completely leave the show. Tormé would try to take control of the series again after Season 3, but one of the conditions he had was that David Peckinpah be fired. Given that David Peckinpah remained as executive producer for Season 4 and was an "executive consultant" for Season 5, you can probably tell how well that turned out.

There were also some issues among the cast with Peckinpah, but... I'll get to that later.

So, right away, there's a lot of change up from where the show was, and there's gonna be a lot more before the season is over. But, we'll get into that when it comes up. For now, this intro has gone on a bit too long. Let's take a look at Rules of the Game.

Arturo was blinded by the scripts this season.
(Almost literally, in fact. One on that, later)

The kick off with the sliding already in progress. Already, we have a difference in how the Slide tunnel is shown - more of an etheral, almost translucent silver instead of the solid silvery-white we had in Season 1 and 2. The Sliders are in arctic gear and are surprised to be in the first class lounge on a 747, Quinn noting that the timer has never dropped them off in the air, only on the ground. They decide to make the best of a bad situation and we have a bit of vulnerability from Wade when she reveals that she has a fear of flying.

A woman makes her way in to join the buffet, asking them if they're ready for "The Games". Arturo takes offense at being called out of shape.

A bit later, Quinn goes to get Wade another ginger ale when he notices that the stewardess is gone and then the engine explodes. Quinn and Arturo find that the pilot is also missing and attempt to save the plane and the people onboard. We get some lovely second unit footage of Los Angeles before they crash and we crash into the opening title sequence.

Speaking of which, I don't know if I have ever talked about the Sliders theme (and I'm too lazy to look up if I have), but I dig it. It's not as iconic as say the Doctor Who theme, but it does its job well of sounding weird while also getting you excited for what's to come. You can feel just a little bit of the Sliders' excitement of moving to a new parallel world. It's neat.

Getting back to the plot, the plane has crashed and people begin to disembark as a voice on the overhead speakers proclaims that the Games will begin in 90 seconds. In the cockpit, their descent has proven to all be an illusion - they were in some sort of simulator, meaning that they were not up in the air at any point. Leaving, they find people arming themselves with a variety of weapons as the voice from the overhead is revealed to be some sort of announcer, explaining that someone only wins the game by playing their disk on the obelisk on Level 5. Said announcer also mentions they have a bunch of new devices to ensure the gory deaths of some of them in the most spectacular fashion!

...oh, boy!

Finding out they've unintentionally been stuck in a Battle Royale/Hunger Games situation, Quinn announces that they have thirty-eight hours before they slide. Arturo suggests hanging out in the simulator for that time, which seems like a good plan until whoever is running the Games decides to put them into an impromptu game of The Floor is Lava by turning up the heat to six hundred degrees. After a hilarious moment where a banner very clearly has flames photoshopped over it, the Sliders snatch up some gear and split.

"Okay, I'm sure that sign that says 'Free Food' is a trap, but I gotta know..."

Leaving a warehouse and coming out into a suburban neighborhood, Quinn notes that this rates high on the weird meter... which is funny considering the things that they've run into even now. Arturo also picks up a newspaper with a headline proclaiming that it's "A Good Day to Die".

...so hey, side note here, why has John Rhys-Davies never played a Klingon?

The house's yard sprinkler system starts shooting lasers, Arturo and Quinn using pens to disable them after a scene that loses the tension when you watch John Rhys-Davies and Jerry O'Connell army crawling crumsily for several seconds.

The group journey through the suburb finding themselves under surveillance and eventually resolve to finish the game. After finding a bombed out jeep, Rembrandt gets to put to use some of his skills he acquired in the Navy and he and Arturo check another jeep. He also, rather bravely, volunteers to get into the jeep to check to see if they're right.

They were.

With that, the Sliders head off after another group of contestants who passed by them in a jeep earlier. They head into a commerical area, finding the place has been turned into a war zone complete with burning debris and dead bodies - your usual post-apocalyptic funtimes. Finding themselves dealing with a laser, they abandon the jeep and Arturo is blinded by a stray shot.

Coming back, the announcer tells them that they've reached Level 2. Arturo is still blind after three hours, Quinn having not nearly as much as faith as Wade does that Arturo will regain his sight. Arturo makes a commentary on the games we watch and what it says about our society and its psyche, which is pretty much what this entire episode is. Clumsily.

After an encounter with some junkyard dogs (that, has '90s pixelated vision due to being an android. Because sure.), we cut away to the woman from earlier, who is attempting to keep her teammate "Frankie" alive. He, unfortunately, succumbs to his wounds just before the Sliders enter the scene. Guns are pulled on each other, Quinn doing some of that diplomacy he's known for. While the woman refuses their help in getting through, she does give them the key to a safe haven before leaving.

At said safe haven, they find food, ammunition, and get a message from the announcer that they're one of only sixteen teams that remain. Tensions are high as Arturo continues to be frustrated by his blindness and Rembrandt has had enough of the spotlight and smashes a camera. We get an absolutely heartwarming moment after Arturo has a grumpy fit where he tells Quinn that every teacher hopes that they'll have just one student like him.

If I'm not mistaken, this shot was used in the opening credits from here until the end of the show.
They were really proud of this.

Later, a bunch of laser tag players that the producers desperately want us to think are soldiers are stalking through the streets and Arturo has disappeared... finding him outside having apparently having had to answer the call of nature. Kudos to Sliders for holding onto the tension for a whole thirty seconds there! The group attempt to evade the laser tag boys, Quinn and Wade get caught on one side of a locked door with Remmy and the still blind Arturo on the other.

In an alley that couldn't be more than five seconds away from the sight of the attack, Wade and Quinn stop so that Wade could play on a hopscotch square (which is a totally good thing to do in this situation) and trigger a nail trap. When it doesn't go off, Quinn believes the plate is triggered by weight and gets to work putting a weight on it to replace her. He puts his plan into motion Wade gets off the plate, the pair of them running for their lives just in the nick of time to avoid the nails.

Meanwhile, Arturo and Remmy are out in the open when there's clearly gunfire within earshot. Arturo wants to be left behind, referencing both his and Remmy's military service and the knowledge that some missions involve leaving a wounded man behind. Remmy took Wade's road of optimism that Arturo will get his sight back and, even if he doesn't, that doesn't mean his life is over. He relates a story of a friend in the Navy who wanted to become a painter but became a sculptor when he became blind.

Arturo continues to be stubborn and frustrated about his state and not wanting to be someone who needs help. He eventually breaks down and asks for help, which Remmy gives.

"...he's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

Elsewhere, Quinn wastes ammo to signal Remmy and Arturo before he and Wade take an opportunity to rest for a while for the second time in around five minutes (the pacing in this episode is weird) and Quinn checks the timer to see they will slide in 18 hours. Wade inquires about what they'll do if the time comes and they haven't met Arturo and Remmy again, Quinn resolving that they won't leave without them.

In another warehouse, Arturo hears a humming noise that Remmy doesn't. Remmy leaves Arturo in a (relatively) safe spot to investigate and he gets pulled to a gigantic metal spider web that apparently magnitizes him, but not anything else in the room. Electrifying robot spiders begin to descend the web in a scene that is so iconic that it gets put into the title sequence. Remmy takes a leap of faith with Arturo and directs the blind man in taking out the spiders with a shotgun. Destroying the spiders frees them from the web and the announcer tells them that they're finally heading to Level 4!

...what happened to 3?

In what looks to be an Italian villa, Quinn and Wade have some more shipteasing and some pointificating on the adventures they've had that gets interrupted by the Paint Ball Dudes, forcing them to flee. The woman from earlier actually comes to their rescue, gunning down the PBDs, but is severely wounded. After a commerical break, Quinn and Wade are talking with the woman. She explains the nature of their world - the Games were founded after all sports were banned. She also, it seems, has been told all about sliding so that Quinn can recap the Pilot episode for us.

Oh, and the prize for winning the Game? Five million dollars.

...worth it?

Arturo and Remmy find themselves stuck facing the only junkyard dogs meaner than Bad Bad Leroy Brown in a scene that feels there to chew up air time for how little point it has.

Quinn is woken up by the Woman and the two share a moment as Quinn fixes her bandage. She tells him about the last level, Level 5: no rules, anything goes. The Woman asks Quinn to place her medallion into the obelisk if she shouldn't make it and Quinn gives her his word.

Because we were down to twelve teams, it seems that the PBDs are working overtime as there are now only two teams within range of the finish line. A firefight breaks out as the Sliders meet back up and Arturo discovers that his sight is returning! The Woman gets shot and dies as Quinn tries desperately to save her, but to no avail and she dies in his arms. Broken, Quinn takes her medallion.

With two minutes left on the timer before they slide, Quinn resolves to get the medallion to the obelisk. Remmy resolves to help and Arturo helpfully gets a fire extinguisher, theorizing that the PBDs track them based on their heat signatures. It's an interesting theory, but it does end up being correct as Remmy keeps the robots distracted with the extinguisher. With that done, the game is declared over and the portal to the next world opens - and Arturo can see it. Wade mentions before jumping into the vortex that she's glad that they all made it, Quinn looking back at the Woman's body lying next to the obelisk before he jumps, too and ends the episode.

"Wait wait wait, what do you mean we were double parked?!"

And that was Rules of the Game. Already, there is a very definite and jarring tone shift in the show, although the full effects of it wouldn't be felt quite yet. The emphasis on (attempted) cinematic views and action is clear and will become even more clear as time goes on. In a way, Rules of the Game is a blend of the show as it was and the show as it will become. The emphasis on this being a parallel Earth is there, although we don't really get much of an explanation as to why things are so different on this Earth (it's there, but it's vague). This, too, will become less of a facet of the show as we get into this Season and the next... which is kind of a problem considering it's supposedly the entire premise of the show.

Will we still maintain some level of quality going into the next episode? Well, next time, the Sliders encounter a scientist who may be able to help them get home, but she's definitely working on her own agenda. Watch for the daggers at your back, because it's time for a Double Cross.

Be there!