Easy Slider
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Season 5
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
 A
B
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Season 5
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
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(Sliders Story No. 78, starring Robert Floyd)
- story by Janét Saunders & Jennifer McGinnis
- teleplay by Tim Burns
- directed by David Peckinpah
- music by Danny Lux
- produced by Paul Cajero
- Production # E0813
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Story: The Sliders seek jobs at an oil refinery
that is heavily guarded against raids from freedom fighting
biker gangs. Meanwhile Mallory hears the old call of the
motorbike, falls for a smooth talking redhead, and decides
he's going to give up sliding.
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In-Depth Analysis Review
by Martin Izsak
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WARNING: This review contains "SPOILERS", and is intended for
those who have already seen the program.
To avoid the spoilers, read the
Buyers' Guide to the season instead.
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blah, blah, blah.... boring.
There is a lot of conflict in this story, and a fair amount of
production value, but we don't really get strong reasons to care
about the outcomes of any of these conflicts. The best we get are a
few laughs here and there, which raise the calibre of the episode
a bit, but I won't point them out here because I'd only be spoiling them.
Mallory is pretty much the main protagonist in this one.
He is totally the new character here, regressed beyond his
wheelchair days, and totally in the rebel con man mode. It's not
particularly inspiring or gripping, and neither is the redhead guest star
he spends most of his time with. Perhaps it does hit the mark with
female romance-novel fans, providing a fantasy where a woman can be
sassy and banter with the bad boys on their level. For this male sci-fi fan,
I'm not sharing any of Mallory's attraction towards this woman, and certainly
don't see her as being more worthy or interesting than the long term goals
of the Sliders. There's no really big dramatic moment that would give
Mallory good reason to abandon his friends and those goals either.
At times like this, I really miss the old Quinn character, and wish
Robert Floyd could be playing that guy instead.
And it's not until the very
last act that it feels like the Sliders are actually an integrated part of
the central conflict of the story, as opposed to being bystanders who get
caught up in stuff. This goes as equally for Mallory as the other three
Sliders, who pretty much get treated as one three-headed character all
through this adventure.
One of my biggest disappointments is that there's no real connection
to social commentary. Someone
says that the bikers are fighting for freedom.... which has no impact
since no mechanism is shown by which the opposing AQMD is taking away
any freedoms. In the end, it feels like rebellion for rebellion's
sake only.
The locations work alright for this story, but are perhaps a bit too
familiar to "Sliders" viewers. The hillside where the Sliders first appear
seems to have been used for this same purpose in several previous episodes,
and the factory looks like the exact same one used in
"The Fire Within" from season three.
Not too inspiring.
The final scenes add some extra quality to the story and bring up
some thematic and emotional points, but the action isn't very well matched
to those points, and it still ends up feeling a bit lost. I much prefer
"The Good, the Bad, and the Wealthy"
from season two, which nailed similar dynamics in a much more
satisfying manner.
Well, this one just doesn't do it, and will take one of the lower rungs
in the season rankings. Next, please.
This story has become available on DVD.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you
for pricing and availability:
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Season 5
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada A
in Canada B
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Season 5
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
for the English/German European market:
from Holland via the U.K.
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Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact
the author from this page:
Contact page
LYRATEK.COM
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Read the In-depth Analysis Review for the next story:
"Requiem"
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