In this episode written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin we see another example of just how little Fox cares about their shows or the art of television. Now this was aired as episode 5 of the series and yet it starts off with the sliders on the top of a roof in a world over run with water while wearing hippie clothes. The ending of episode 6, you know the one that airs the week after this one, ends with them on a world that is about to be drowned out while wearing hippie clothes. This is clearly taking place right after that one so why air it first? It makes no sense. But Fox does that a lot so it's to be expected.
They arrive on a new world where we quickly learn that the Americans never won their freedom and it is still a colony of the British. We also see very quickly that Arturo is something special on this world. Everyone keeps bowing to him. In fact when Wade is almost run over the man starts yelling at her until he sees Arturo and he backs down and gives them a free hotel room. Once in the room we find out that Arturo is the Sheriff on this world and that since the King is lost at war he is second in line for the throne. The gang decides that they need to get out of the city fast so that no finds out that Arturo isn't the real sheriff. It isn't long before the car they get breaks down on the back roads and everyone but for Arturo is pushing it along. It seems on this world after America failed their revolution everyone else did too. A few Kingdoms own pretty much everything. It isn't long before they are stopped by the military and it seems the sheriff has ordered the Prince killed and for it to look like an accident. The Sliders get involved and save the Prince. Not long after they are captured by the Oakland Raiders who are what is left of the resistance movement. Quinn hands over the Prince and Arturo so that he and the others can get in good with this group and they can all stay together till the slide that is 5 days away. He even works hard to keep them alive because the raiders just want them dead. \ The Arturo of this world is an evil man who has anyone who questions him arrested and maybe even put to death. He finds out that raiders have the Prince and someone pretending to be him as hostages and he is not happy. He wants them all dead. The resistance responds by wanting to kill the Prince and Arturo but Quinn just starts saying famous lines and somehow these people fall for it. He starts leading attacks on people to steal from the rich and give to the poor like some kind of Robin Hood. The raiders are now known as Quinn and the raiders and the Sheriff is making it out as if they are the ones who are going to kill the Prince. Our Arturo is now walking free among the resistance. Quinn has enough pull in the movement to have the Prince at least untied. The Prince asks Wade out on a date but she is leaving. She lets him down gently. He asks if she is in love with Quinn, getting right to the heart of the matter. She gets into it with Quinn about everything. The Prince escapes and Wade is in trouble for leaving him untied. With one day left before the Slide Quinn goes looking for him. The Prince sees how little his people have, changing his views on everything. He sees Quinn gets arrested and he goes back to the resistance. Arturo comes up with an idea to save Quinn without starting a war. The raiders take over the sheriff's station, they put the Prince on the air, he is to pardon Quinn expose he sheriff and give people Democracy. Arturo gives the Prince the bill of rights and Remy tries to cut out the 2nd amendment, which is an important one, one that people don't seem to understand anymore. It isn't about protecting your home from common crimiles it is to protect yourself from the government something that this world needs more than anything else. Arturo forces it to stay. The sheriff is about to have Quinn killed when the Prince cuts into his video feed and has the sheriff arrested and Quinn set free. Quinn rushes out of the building he only has minutes left to get out before the slide is set to go. He makes it just in time for them to open the vortex and get out of there. The sliders are gone from this world but they will never forget them. They changed this world forever. The Prince asks Wade to be his queen she kisses him and then follows Quinn into the vortex. I guess that's a no. Such a great episode! At long last we have the episode written by the one and only Jane Espenson. One of the greatest writers alive meets one of the greatest shows ever made, it is like a match made in heaven. The only thing that would make it better was if there was a sword fight. . . oh wait!
The episode starts off with a pool game played with holographic balls. During the game Mal steals from one of the people who is offering them a job once they learn that they are slavers. A bar fight breaks out and we learn just how much of a fighter Jayne is. He kicks some ass, Mal gets in some good hits away. On the way to the job Inara picks a client, it is one that she has worked for before. Mal walks in and the jealousy washes off him in waves. When they make it planetside he takes it out on Kaylee who just wants a pretty dress. Mal goes to meet with Badger who wants to hire them for a job. Mal points out how that didn't go so good the last time but Badger assures him that this time is different. He gets Kaylee the dress she liked and took her to the party, the same one that Inara and her date are at. He is meeting his client there, Kaylee quickly ditches him for food. Who can blame her. The rest of the crew is back on Serenity playing poker where the stakes are chores. River starts to freak out and Simon and Book go to check on her while Jayne cheats and looks at their hands. Zoe and Wash partake in some marital fun. Kaylee wanted so badly to be apart of this world but she just doesn't fit in. Everyone there treats her like an outsider and makes her feel worse and worse. An older gentleman shows up and puts the mean girls in their places. Saving Kaylee. Mal spots his client and makes his way over to talk to him. He is distracted by Inara and her date. Mal's client isn't biting, he doesn't like Badger, no one really does. Inara's date comes and introduces himself to Mal's client. The tension is mounting here. Mal asks Inara for a dance, making things even worse for everyone. You have to love Mal and his boldness. Mal and Inara argue over who is the more honest of the two. Insulting each other. Inara's client snatches her away, he is now the jealous one. Mal hits him and duel is called out. The two men must now fight to the death with swords. Kaylee is pulled away from all the men who now love her. Mal's client tells Mal that if he survives the battle he will do business with them. Mal is forced to stay there so that he doesn't try to escape. Badger shows up on Serenity and tells the crew about the Captain and what is going on. They think that Badger came there to help the captain but he really came here to make sure that they don't try to help the captain because it would make him look bad. He didn't come alone, he has a whole mess of men with him and they all have guns pointed at Kaylee. Mal is on his own. Inara sneaks out to go find Mal. Mal says that her client insulted her and Inara points out that Mal forced his hand, besides he doesn't back down from a fight. She points out that he does all the time. He won't admit it but he is fighting for Inara. He cares about her, even if he doesn't want to admit it. His crew sit around playing cards while talking about how to beat Badger and his men. They need a distraction and no one likes Jayne's idea of people getting naked. River walks out and the crew worries, Simon walks over to her and tries to get her to leave but it is too late, Badger sees her. She puts on a British accent and puts him in his place. He is intimidated by her. Who can blame him. She walks back to her room and Jayne points out that that was the perfect distraction. Inara teaches Mal how to sword fight. Mal calls her a hore and Inara asks why he would lay someone out for implying she is one when he calls her one to her face. He says he may not respect her job but her client doesn't respect her as a person and it is different. He then asks her not to stay with the man. It's his way of showing he cares. The fight starts the next morning. Right off the bat Mal is put on the defensive. He starts to make a come back but he doesn't know that he is being toyed with. Mal gets stabbed in the side. The fight is not going his way. His new wound is making the battle ever hard for Mal. His sword breaks and the sword is at his neck. Inara tells her client she will stay here with him if he lets Mal live. Mal uses this to get the upper hand. A few moments later he has the client at his mercy. Mal doesn't kill him, he just stabs him a few times. He gets the job! The crew just gets their plan up and ready but Mal shows up. It is all over and they did not a thing about it. Mal kicks Badger and his men off the ship. They tell Mal how they were going to help, cept for Wash, he was just going to watch but he was very excited. Kaylee hangs her dress up in her room, she still loves it. Oh and the cargo, it was a great deal of cows. Big smelly cows. Inara tells Mal that she is thankful that he defended her honor. She also tells him that she was never planning to stay, he asks why and she gives every reason other than for Mal which we know is the real reason. An amazing episode by an even more amazing writer. The origin of Angel is here at last, written by the one and only David Greenwalt. The episode starts off with the Master growing more and more pissed off that Buffy keeps stopping his me so he sends the 3 The Scooby's hang out at the Bronze as it has the most unsanitary event known to man. The prefumigation party where if you kill and turn in a cockroach you get a free drink. And people dig this. What happened to our health codes? To human hygiene? I' disgusted. . . oh look a cockroach. Where's my free drink?
Buffy heads home and is attacked by the 3 when Angel swings by to save her. They rush back to her house where she invites him in. Angel takes his shirt off so that Buffy can patch him up and you can see how attracted to him she is. The chemistry between these two is intense Joyce comes home and Buffy rushes to her aid and tries to get upstairs as fast as possible, so that she wouldn't find Angel so of course he comes out and introduces himself. Joyce kicks Angel out so Buffy pretends to have him leave and then sneaks him up into her room. Angel tells Buffy that vampires killed him family, it is kind of true, one vampire killed his family. He did it himself when e first became one. He quickly changes the topic when it gets close to this. Buffy and Angel have their first sleepover and while nothing happens between the two of them it is still very sweet. Xander is beyond jealous. There isn't a word for how jealous he is. It's bad. The 3 offer their lives to the Master since they failed and he toys around with the thought of letting them live, then Darla kills them. Giles tries to tell Buffy that she needs a lot more training and she kicks his ass showing him up. She gets home and finds her diary on the stand and starts yelling at Angel about reading it and that nothing he thinks he read is what she meant. He tells her that her mother moved it and he never looked inside. The two start kissing and he vamps out and jumps from the window. She lets out a scream, the man of her dreams just became the man of her nightmares. Giles tells Buffy that there is no such thing as a good vampire. She has to slay him. It is her duty. Angel goes home to find Darla waiting for him. We learn here that Darla and Angel have a history. That they have been together for a long time and she is pissed that he is running around with a high school girl. He says that he isn't like Darla and the others and she points out that he is more like them than he would like to admit, that he can only hide from it for so long and the real Angel will come out soon. It's also the first time we hear about the curse. Giles finds records of Angel but they are old. He hasn't done anything in almost a 100 years. Buffy asks if he could have reformed and Giles says that vampires don't reform. Later that night Willow and Buffy are working on history so that they can really talk about boys instead. Buffy doesn't want to kill Angel, she thinks he is a good man, or vamp as it is. Joyce is home alone when Darla knocks on the door. She pretends to be a friend of Buffy's who is here to help her study for history. Joyce invites her in. Angel gets to the house just as Joyce lets out a scream and Darla has started feeding. She tosses the body to Angel and takes off. He vamps out, he didn't mean to it was just instinct but Buffy walks in and tosses him out of a window telling him that she will kill him if she sees him again. Buffy gets Joyce to the hospital where the other Scooby's meet up with her. She is very confused about the librarian being there but she rolls with it. Buffy is now on a war path. She wants to go and stop Angel, she is pissed and wants blood. Giles warns her that Angel is dangerous and she needs to be careful while Darla is whispering dark thoughts into Angel's ear. He doesn't want to hear it but Darla won't stop. Joyce and Giles start talking about Buffy. The start of a horrible relationship that Giles needs no part of. He can do so much better than her. Joyce mentions Darla and Giles figures out what really happens. He tells Willow and Xander and the three of them set off to go find Buffy. Buffy tracks Angel down to the Bronze, since it is closed it is the perfect place for a show down. Angel doesn't try to explain who he is, what he is he just goes for the fight. Almost as if he wants to die. He even starts taunting Buffy, she asks him why he played all these games with her. Why didn't he just attack and kill her when he had the chance. He admits to Buffy that killed his family and everyone he met. He tells her about he curse that the gypsies did to him. He tells Buffy he hasn't fed on a living human being since that day. Which is a lie. We know of at least two people he has turned into a vampire since then. He tells Buffy that Darla fed on her mom and Buffy tells Angel he can kill her, he doesn't. That's the moment Darla shows up and we see the love triangle to end all love triangles. Darla and Buffy fight over Angel or Angelus as his demon name is. Darla even owns up to being Angel's sire. Darla shoots Angel, it won't kill him but it will hurt! Buffy's crossbow is no match for a pair of guns. She is literally outgunned. Willow yells information that everyone already knows down below and it gives Buffy a chance to turn the tables of Darla. She tries and it goes her way or a bit but those damn guns keep getting in the way. Angel swoops in and stakes Darla. Stakes his sire, stakes his lover. He sacrifices his past for his future. It is the very definition of romantic. The Master breaks down. He misses Darla, his favorite child for 400 years. The anointed one whispers in his ear telling him that he will stand with him. He will help him on his quest. Angel shows up at the bronze to talk to Buffy. Xander shows off some more of that signature jealousy of his. He should really just start calling himself that. Angel tells Buffy that the two of them could never be a thing. So of course they start kissing. Her cross, the one he gave her burns into his neck and he says nothing. He takes the pain because it means he gets to kiss her I'm not going to do a review about the movie yet, well an in-depth review until more people have had a chance to see it but I just want to say. . . I loved it! I'm the original Marvel fan and I still loved it. It was a great fun ride from start to finish. I really don't get why so many people are saying so many bad things about it. This film is a comic book fans dream. Go watch it and don't let people put negative views into your head.
Episode 3 of the show finishes off the first storyline in the journey of Young Hercules, well unless you count the movie which we do so the second storyline. Hey who is writing this! Well if your talking about the episode it is a story by Rob Tapert & Liz Friedman while Hilary J. Bader wrote the episode itself.
Ares tells Hera that Hercules is the one who stole the chalice. It turns out that Zeus told Hera that anyone who touched the chalice is condemned to death so since Herc has it, his protection from Zeus is off. He is fair game for Ares to kill. Ares calls Strife to his temple. Strife is annoying, you can tell that Ares feels that way more than most. Ares and Strife have to stop Hercules and kill him before the chalice is put in Zeus temple or it is put back in her cave. Ares sends Strife to stop Hercules. Now if Ares wanted him dead wouldn't he have a better chance at completing that task? Herc, Iolaus and Jason head to Zesu temple but take a break to play ball. It doesn't last long since they are playing with fruit for the ball and it hits the ground and explodes. Strife steals the chalice and threatens that Hera will kill Hercs mom if he doesn't get it back in time. Ares shows up at Herc's moms house as a hurt man and gives Alcmene the chalice she doesn't accept it and Herc shows up. The two brother fight while Jason and Iolaus take the chalice back to the temple. Herc stays at his mom's side and tries to protect him. She tells Hercules to run, that he can't beat the god of war. He doesn't listen. He goes to fight his big brother. She is worried about him. Jason and Iolaus make it back to the cave just fine as Herc challenges his brother to a fight. Ares makes quick work of his little brother while Strife watches on cheering. Iolaus and Jason's path is blocked by statue men. It comes out that Ares is jealous that Zeus likes Hercules more That is why he is trying to kill him. Jason gives Iolaus the chalice to protect while he fights the two statue men. They kick his ass and he takes the chalice from Iolaus and tells him to run. He throws the chalice to Iolaus, early in the episode Iolaus missed the pass from Jason but this time he catches it and puts it back where it belongs just as Ares is about to kill Hercules. Zeus stops him, he doesn't show up or anything just stops the attack and warns him with thunder. Ares pretty much starts freaking out like a little kid and tells Hercules he will be back. Herc says he will be waiting. Everything is back to normal and Hercules tells his friends how much they mean to him. It's a sweet ending that is soon over shadowed by a food fight. They are kids after all. Now I know you are wondering why I jumped to episode 6 and skipped 3-5, well Fox aired the show out of order, like it does with so many shows. So I thought I'd go through them the way they were meant to be seen instead of the way they were shown. So that would make the next episode Summer of Love by Tracy Tormé! The creator himself.
The episode starts with the damn hippie from the last episode getting arrested by the FBI. He is taken to Quinn's basement and shown pictures of everyone who vanished. The FBI is looking into where they could have gone. They have even figured that the Crying man is gone as well. They think that the hippie knows what happened to them. He tells them that the bridge that Quinn is talking about leads to another Earth. The four sliders exit the wormhole on an Earth that seems to have no people on it. The timer is sparking. Things are not going well for our heroes. A swarm is entering the town and the four friends have 10 minutes to escape. Remy starts freaking out demanding to go home or at least get out of there. Quinn says the timer is on its last legs, if it doesn't cool off it could break, he opens it anyways. Wade and Remy jump through and the vortex closes, the bugs close in and the vortex reopens so that Arturo and Quinn can enter, a few bugs catch a ride. Remy and Wade are dumped out in the middle of a hippie camp as the vortex closes. No sign of Quinn or Arturo or the damn bugs that all get dumped out elsewhere. Is it the same world? Who knows. How fast do those bugs reproduce? Who knows but it could be the end for this world thanks to these two. One of the bugs is on Arturo's back about to bite him. He asks Quinn for help, he picks up a rock and tells Arturo that he use to be a quarterback. He throws the rock, hitting the bug and knocking Arturo out. He must not have been a good one. Wade and Remy think that they are stuck on this strange new world forever. The hippies introduce themselves to them, they think that they are gods. Remy thinks they might be home until he asks who is president. Quinn uses a bandana to help Arturo's wound heal. This world seems to be stuck in the 60's. It could be the same world that the others are on, it seems to fit together nicely. Remy loves all the attention that he is getting and thinks that it is all because he is the crying man. Remy's go rivals my own. You have to love it. He goes into town to look for their friends and the hippies tell them that they will do anything he ever asks of them. The hippies are rich and worship Remy. He drives right past Quinn and Arturo and didn't even see them. He visits his old house and some kids are scared to see him. There is a party going on and he crashes it just to see what is going on. Turns out it is his doubles funeral. It gets worse, there is no body, he is just MIA and believed dead. Remy stays and listens to them talk about him, he is going to get himself in so much trouble. His brother, or his doubles brother starts talking about how he is better than Remy. Even a better singer and Remy steps out and talks shit. Making everyone there think that their Remy is alive. Now if his Remy never became a professional singer, doesn't it click in his head that the hippies aren't loving him because of the crying man? His doubles wife is the one who got away on his world. Quinn and Quinn meet the hippie from their world, he is a clean cut republican on this world. Far different from his counter part on Earth Prime. Earth Prime is what the sliders will call their Earth soon. Remy is good with staying now. He has everything he ever wanted. It's as if his life is perfect. Remy finds out that he had to bug his wife for 10 years before she even goes out with him. She isn't who he thought she was. Wade is loving being in charge of the hippies. She is worried about Remy but not enough to go looking for them. Arturo and Quinn figure out that the timer is broken and have to rework everything. The two men rent a loft from a crazy old lady who thinks that they are hippies and reports them to the government. She says that they are planning to kill the president. What the hell? Crazy old lady! Arturo is hard at work on the equation while Quinn is sleeping. They switch roles, Arturo goes to sleep and Quinn has to get to work. After the first night of crazy loving Remy is worn out. His son is rude as hell to him. This life is not what he was asking for. His double is the most whipped man alive from what his doubles son says. She starts nagging as soon as she gets up. His day of fun is ruined. The hippies ask her what happens when you die and she tells them she never died and now they think she is immortal. These people are crazy. Wade plays along, not sure what else she can do. Remy is hating his new life when his doubles son brings in a note saying that his double has been found alive. His double's wife goes to get her shotgun and chases Remy out of the house, firing the gun at him. Quinn makes it back to the loft and brings food for Arturo and tells him what the war is about. All the food he brings is junk food. He has to be a collage student, I would have done the same. He also gets Arturo hippie clothes. Arturo stayed awake all night working on the equation and was having a great deal of trouble. Quinn figured it out in no time. He is just about to explain it to Arturo when the feds show up and arrest them. They hear Remy singing outside. Arturo gets an FBI agents gun so that Quinn can run after Remy. He catches up to him. They now know that they are on the same Earth. Arturo runs after them with the FBI close on his tail. They take off in a hurry and Arturo tosses the gun. Wade is so excited to see Quinn but that happiness comes crashing down when she gets into it with Arturo about if they should get involved in the worlds they visit. They open the vortex, the argument not finished and hop through the vortex as the FBI shows up. They end up on another world that seems empty and the timer now counts down. Once more the city is empty and a tidal wave is coming right for them. They have 48 minutes till the slide and the wave is a hell of a lot closer than that. Another great episode of a great show! One of my favorite episodes in season 1 written by Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer. We start off in the zoo as four bratty kids go around picking on people. Starting with Buffy and moving on to some nerdy guy. Willow and Xander point out to Buffy that even if the zoo is lame at least they aren't in class and she suddenly likes it more.
The jerk kids take the nerd into the hyena exhibit that is closed off. Buffy gets ready to go in and help but Xander jumps the guy and goes in first. Buffy and Willow try to follow him but the grounds keeper keeps them out. Telling them that some times hyena's can call out your name. Creepy. Xander confronts the kids and the hyenas look up at them. Suddenly they aren't kids anymore but hyenas in kids bodies. With Xander as their leader. Willow tells Buffy how much she loves Xander and points out that Buffy feels the same way about Angel. She tries to deny it but Willow points out the leather coat that she is wearing. Xander picks this moment to show up. He is acting strange and not like himself at all. Xander sniffs Buffy, very weird. The rest of the pack comes in and seem to pack down to Xander. They pick on some kid, calling him fat and Xander laughs. Willow and Buffy don't find it funny. Neither do I. Principle Flutie chases a cute little pig with razors tied onto his back. This show seems to love pigs, or hate them depending on how you look at what happens to the little guys. Willow tries to teach Xander about math and he seems to be getting worse and worse at it. He freaks out and storms off. The pig is scared out of it's mind when it sees Xander. It's a rainy day so PE plays dodgeball. The nerdy kid is on the same team as the pack including Xander while Buffy and Willow are on the other side. Xander takes out Willow leaving Buffy against the pack and the nerd. The pack attacks the nerd and leaves Buffy be. Buffy goes to stop them but they all take off and the PE teacher says how much he loves the game. Willow goes to confront Xander and he tells her off, that he doesn't need her and he wants nothing to do with her anymore. The pack, lead by Xander eat the poor pig. It jumps from that to the scene where the pack walks through the cool looking way to cool. I don't know why but I have always loved this scene. It's so much fun and makes Xander look like a badass. Willow feels like Xander just loves Buffy and hates her now. Buffy thinks that something is wrong with Xander and Giles thinks that is it just Xander being 16 years old. Buffy figures out that Xander is acting like a Hyena and Giles figures out about the primals. Flutie calls the Pack, minus Xander into his office to confront about the poor pig while Xander tries to mate with Buffy by force. She puts him in check. He may be stronger but he isn't slayer strong. While Buffy is fighting off Xander the rest of the pack eats Flutie, thus giving us the end of the nice principle. Buffy locks Xander into the cage that sits in the library as Giles comes in and tells them about Flutie's death. Buffy leaves Willow to watch Xander while Buffy and Giles go to talk to the grounds keeper. Xander tries to talk Willow into letting him out. He tries to play on her feelings for him and turn her against Buffy but he over plays his hand. She figures him out. The grounds keeper seems to know that the hyenas can do weird things. He tells Buffy it can be reversed and that the rest of the pack will come for Xander, which means Willow is all alone with a pack of man eating teenagers. The pack frees Xander and Willow runs and hides. The pack finds Willow but Buffy saves her just in time. The two of them and Giles lock themselves in class to hide. The pack attacks a family trying to get into their car and Buffy stops them. She then leads them to the zoo. Giles goes inside to get things ready while Willow keeps watch outside. Giles figures out that the grounds keeper wanted the power for the hyenas himself and he set it all but failed to figure it out and the pack stole his power by mistake. Willow rushes in and the grounds keeper is there alone. He ties Willow's hands up and tells her that he is sing her as bait. She buys it at first but quickly comes to figure out what is happening. She yells a warning to Buffy. He does a spell and takes the hyena's spirits from the pack. Xander rushes to free Willow but the guy fights him off and Buffy tosses him in with the real Hyenas who make quick work of him. This is when Giles picks to wake up. Xander fakes not remembering anything and Giles tells him that he won't tell anyone. It's a fun episode that I've always enjoyed. Man of Steel! The darker version of Superman written by David S. Goyer, the man who said on an episode of Scriptnotes that She-Hulk was nothing more than a giant green porn star for the hulk to fuck. Great guy, who clearly knows next to nothing about comic books, but let's not let our dislike of this man color our viewing of Man of Steel.
Now I remember when this movie first came out and I saw it in theaters, I liked it. The look and feel of it blew me away, but I did have problems with it. Namely the Kents, I hated the way they made them. They gave Jonathan's role as Clark's father figure to Jor-el and that really bothered me. Jonathan is the one who gave superman his moral compass and that far more than any super powers made him into the hero that we all know and love. People complain about what happened in the end with Zod but that didn't seem out of place, even less so with this version of the character. It is really just how badly they messed up the Kents that hurt this movie the worst for me. Now I haven't seen this movie since I bought the collectors edition from best buy a few years ago. I thought in honor of Batman V Superman I'd go back and watch it again. See how I feel about it now. It's an experiment of sorts. Let's begin! The movie starts off with Kal-el being born. He is the first natural birth on Krypton in a very long time. Making him different than the rest of his kind. Krypton on this film looks so amazing and really makes me wish that the sy-fy show would hurry up and come out. I need to see more of this planet! Like in all versions of Superman, Jor-el is telling the rest of his peers about the planet being doomed and no one listens to him. Zod interrupts and takes over, he will remake what is left of Krypton in his image. He places Jor-El under arrest but he manages to escape. Krypton is a battlefield and Jor-El rushes to the codex, he means to save the DNA of his people so that they can carry on elsewhere. It is a really cool idea. We punny humans have a lot to learn from these people. They found a way to save families and keep their species alive even if the world dies. Take that nature! One point for science! Zod makes it to Jor-El's home just as the ship is about to takes off. Jor-El tells him everything, because why not give your enemy what they need to know to beat you. In al honestly no one was supposed to make it off the planet so it was kind of a screw you to Zod, I would have done the same. The ship takes off and Zod kills Jor-El. Zod tries to take down Kal-El's ship but he and his men are captured and sent to the Phantom Zone. Oddly enough saving their lives as the planet blows to kingdom come. It is an ironic twist of fate. On Earth Clark grows up and works on a boat as a fisherman, when a rig is set to blow and the captain orders them away Clark vanishes and goes to save as many lives as he can. It's who he is after all. As he lays drifting in the water he remembers as a kid when his powers first started to kick in and how his mother helped him deal with it. It wasn't easy but he survived. He washes up on shore and steals some clothes, remembering back to when he pulled his school bus out of the water as a kid. Show off! And here comes the scene that pulls me out of the film. Now before you all tear me apart, I understand it. I get that Jonathan is trying to protect his son and he is right to do so. But he shouldn't be telling him to let people die. That isn't who he is. Who any of them are. The reveal to Clark of who he is is beautifully done. It is so emotional, the line "Can't I just keep pretending to be your son?" "You are my son" breaks my heart every time. That is some mad writing right there! In the present Clark is working as a busboy and stops a girl from getting beat up by her boyfriend but in the end he just walks away. The hero he wants to be is in there but not ready to come out. He is still scared to show the world who he is, but he is more than willing to destroy a town's phone lines to get revenge on the truck driver who was rude to him. In the words of uncle Ben, with great power must also come great responsibility. Amy Adams is my least favorite Lois Lane. Teri Hatcher was too perfect for the role. She gave the character life and a spunk that she needed. Made her an equal of not just Clark Kent but of Superman. Erica Durance picked up the part and made it her own, not an easy task but one she made look easy. Noel Neill and Phyllis Coates were both amazing in the role back in the 50's making the character seem like she belonged and could hold her own in the boys club that was the daily planet. Now if you are saying well that is TV, for a movie Amy Adams did a good job, I'd have to ask if you remember Margot Kidder? Ask anyone, when you think of Lois Lane you think of her. She owned the role, everyone else just borrowed it. To be fair to Amy Adams, I don't much remember what I thought of Kate Bosworth's take on the character so she might have her beat, I'd have go watch it again. Clark and Lois both find the Kryptonian ship at the same time. Clark has a key that let's him inside and brings to life a hologram of Jor-El, another part that I take issue with this movie on. Clark has always talked to a hologram of Jor-El and asked him for advice that part is fine but I just feel like in this film he took over too much of Jonathan Kent's role. In case you haven't figured it out yet, he is one of my favorite comic book characters and I don't like how this movie treated him. Clark saves Lois from one of the droids, Clark, no secret identity needed. To be fair she has no idea who Clark is and there is no Superman yet. He flies the ship out of the ice right in front of the military. The ship had been there for over 18,000 years. Damn! That's a long time. Lois reads Perry White her story where she correctly guesses that it was aliens. Now Laurence Fishburne owns the role of Perry White. He may not have lot of screen time but when he is on the screen you can't look away. He is one of the highlights of the film and I really hope to see more of him! The only person who I like better in the role is Lane Smith, I'm sorry but no one is taking the title from him, cept maybe the king. If you get the joke I like you, I really do. Holo-Jor-El, which is what I will call him from now on, fills Clark in on everything he needs to know. Telling him who he is and where he is from. The man of steel is on he verge of waking up. Clark puts on the costume and goes out into the world. Meanwhile Lois Lane puts together that Clark is the mystery man. For the first time ever Lois Lane figures out Superman's identity before he even becomes Superman, she may not be as interesting as the others but she is a better reporter. A teenage Clark tells Jonathan, you aren't my dad right before he dies. Right out of Spider-man. Gotta love when DC steals from Marvel. Jonathan Kent runs back into the storm to save a dog when Clerk could have done it, he orders Clark not to go save him. He didn't have to die right there. He could still be alive with just a little foresight. It breaks my heart, like good movies are supposed to. Clark uses this story to tell Lois that he can't tell the world his story. Perry tears Lois a new one for going against his orders. Clark returns home, his mother is so happy to see him. It must have been some time since he has been home last. He tells her that he knows who he is now. It's a bit ungrateful and you can see that it hurts her. It's as if the parents who gave birth to him mean more than the people who spent their whole lives raising him. The Kents deserve more love! At least Clark tells her that he won't leave her and calls her mom. That is something. Harry Lennix, the man who played Boyd on Dollhouse, great show by the way!, plays General Swanwick in the film. He is in charge of responding to Zod's invasion and he kills the role! After all he is a Whedon actor! Zod taking over the TV's to tell the Earth that we are not alone and to demand to have Kal-El turned over to him is so cool! love this scene. The FBI arrest Lois and tries to force her to tell them who Superman really is. After all Zod gave the world 24 hours to turn him over before they destroy everything. Clark goes to a priest for advice and tells him that he doesn't know if he can trust mankind. The Priest tells him that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust comes later. Superman turns himself into General Swanwick, on the condition that he lets Lois Lane goes. Superman tells him that they can never control him but he will allow them to turn him over to Zod. He wants to protect the Earth not be the cause of its destruction. Superman turns himself over to Zod's men and they demand Lois Lane as well. The military says no but Lois agrees to it. Superman and Zod meet but Superman gets sick. Turns out that he can't live on their ship. He never experienced it since he spent his whole life on Earth. Zod and his men have been looking for Kal-El since Krypton blew up and the only reason they found him is because Clark turned on the damn ship he found with Lois and it sent out a beacon calling for them. Zod tells Clark that he needs the codex to bring Krypton back to Earth, of course the humans would have to die to allow this to happen but it is a small scarfice. Clark says no, he won't be apart of this. Lois gets ahold of Clark's key and uses it, thus bringing Holo-Jor-El to her. He helps her escape from the ship. He then goes to find Superman and tells him that he can save the Earth from Zod and his men. Zod and his men go to the Kent's farm looking for Clark's ship. They quickly find it but the codex isn't in it. Superman flies out of nowhere and attacks Zod. Zod gains Superman's powers far too quickly and the fight is now turned against Superman, after all he is out numbered. The US Military enters the fight. It is a full on war in Smallville. And in the midst of this war they manage to get in some ads, like Ihop! Smallville gets tore up! Like hardcore tore up! The military attack Superman like he is one of the bad guys but he still saves them when they get shot out of the sky. The guy is a hero after all. The more I watch this movie the more I feel like it is Superman II on steroids, not that that is bad thing. It's a lot better than I remember it. Zod's men take off and the military stops attacking Superman, they are starting to see that he is on their side. Oh and they get in an ad for Sears. Bloody hell the ads like a crazy person. Martha Kent is still alive and kicking. Clark can be a good son sometimes. He rushes in to check on her and make sure she is ok. Lois figures out how to stop Zod's men at the same time tat Zod and his people figure out that the codex is inside of Kal-El. Things get tense. Zod sends out the world engine to remake the Earth so that he and his people can live on it without having to adjust to the environment. Metropolis becomes a battle ground and wastes no time in being tore apart. Superman rushes to take out these world ship on the otherside of the planet while the military tries take out the one in Metropolis. Zod forces himself to adjust to Earth and gains more powers. Zod takes control of the ship that will allow him to use the codex to bring their people back to life. The citizens of Metropolis try and stay alive as their city falls apart all around them. We see this first hand through the eyes of the Daily Planet employees. Superman has trouble taking on the world ship as Zod shuts down Holo-Zor-El. Perry risks his life to save his people, now you want to talk about heroes, that man puts everyone to shame. After all who is more heroic? The man who can do anything or the normal guy who risks everything? Superman destroys the world ship. When one was destroyed it shut down both of them. He did it! It took a great deal out of him. He can barely move after destroying it. Lois tires to active it but the key is broken and won't work. It messes up their whole plan. If the ship won't turn on they can't use it to get ride of the other one. Zod locks his ship onto theirs and is about to blow them away when Superman crashes into his ship. Zod tells him that this shop is Krypton's only hope and Superman tells him that Krypton had its chance. He could have saved the ship. He didn't have to kill his people's only hope, there had to be another way. But Superman didn't even try. A quick victory was better to him than a longer harder one. The ship that Lois is on gets attacked by Zod's right hand woman and all seems lose but the key finally goes in and they create their black hole, bringing everyone into it. Somehow Lois falls out of the plane and avoids that fate. Superman saves her in the nick of time. It seems like it is all over. Zod's men are gone and Superman kisses Lois as Perry and the others watch on. It seems Zod didn't go down with the rest of his men. He is still here and not happy at all. Zod tells Superman that one of them dies. Their battle takes Metropolis back to the stone ages. The two men are going toe to toe, it is a great fight that has you on the edge of your seat. Zod is winning, Superman is winning, Zod is winning. It changes back and forth so fast that you have trouble keeping up. It's the best kind of fight. And once more with the product placement, a Wayne Industries Satellite. Come on like Bruce Wayne needs their money. SMH. Zod forces Superman's hand and makes him snap his neck. This is the scene that so many people have a problem with. It makes sense with who the character is. There is nothing about what happens that makes him any less Superman. In fact I think it makes him a greater hero. He is willing to make the hard choices that need to be made. He is willing to take on that burden so that others don't have to. The film ends with Clark Kent working at the Daily Planet and Lois playing dumb. I know I had a lot of bad things to say about this movie but over all it is a really good film that I enjoyed a great deal. I can not wait to see Batman V Supermen tonight! And you should all be excited too! Don't let critics tell you what movies you should and shouldn't like. And yes I see the irony in what I just said. Deal with it! Welcome to my favorite show! Now I know a lot of people are going to point out I say the same thing about Buffy and Firefly and that is fair, I do. But I came to Firefly through Buffy and long before I feel in love with the Slayer and her journey I fell for Sliders. It was the show that captured my imagination as a kid and never let it go. This show means everything to me. I use to track every episode that I had seen, that's how much I loved this show. Also how nerdy I was and still am.
The first episode that sets up everything is written by Tracy Torme with a story by both Torme and Robert K. Weiss. The episode starts with Quinn freaking out about his anti gravity device, well not working. It did something completely different than what it was supposed to. The opening credits for the episode is a master class on character development. With just a slow pan/tilt from the roof to where Quinn is sleeping in his bed we learn everything we need to about the man. Everything that he loves and helps to make him who he is. This scene is the very definition of show don't tell. We meet his mother who nags him about working too hard and learn all about how his father was hit by a car. It fills us in on everything we need to know without feeling like we are learning anything. He watches tapes showing him discovering the wormholes. It's cut short by him having to run to class. We meet a crazy homeless man ranting about communist taking over the world and the USA falling, as he believes it should. Quinn is in Professor Arturo's class. Quinn plays dumb but knows all the answers. Arturo seems to really hate his students, he feels like they don't try and aren't smart enough to understand what he is teaching them. Quinn makes it t work where we meet Wade Welles who clearly has the hots for Quinn. We see once more that Quinn is smarter than most the people that he is around. He gets home and we see that he has a creaky gate, this is very important because it is how he always tries to find out if he is home or not. He has already created the timing device and has started using it to send other things into the vortex and having them return. He wants to know what is on the other side, the only option he has is to go through the gate himself. He films a goodbye to his mother incase he doesn't make it home. He then jumps through the vortex, changing his life and mine forever. He ends up back in his basement and thinks that it didn't work. If only he knew how well it works. It's simple at first, he drives past a green light not knowing that on this world green means stop and red means go. It is a very small difference but still a difference. We also hear that JFK is stepping down from the office of President, Americans are sneaking into Mexico for better jobs and Elvis is still alive. The last clue? His gate doesn't make a sound as he opens it. Oh and his mother is married to the gardener. The vortex opens and pulls him in, returning him back to his house. He figures out what had happened and runs to hug his mom. He is so happy to be home. He rushes to class to tell Arturo what he has discovered but Arturo hates him, telling him ever to talk about him that way again. What did Quinn miss? The hippie in the class, we see him on many worlds and he is always a dumbass, well a smart dumbass but still. Quinn also got fired from his job. He had a double come to this world and messed everything up for him. His double kissed Wade and Quinn says that she is like his sister, why would he kiss her. Thus breaking her heart, poor guy. He freaks out and Wade tries to comfort him. He goes home and finds the on his board finished. He asks himself who finished it and meets his double. He thinks that he was split in half like James T. Kirk but his double explains to him about sliding and the parallel worlds. This double will trouble him again. The double tries to warn him about something before vanishing into the vortex but our Quinn can't hear him. Arturo and Wade show up at Quinn's house, Arturo is under the impression that Quinn wants to apologize. At the same time Rembrandt "the Crying man" Brown is getting ready to make his big return to the spotlight. Arturo is beyond impressed by Quinn's discovery. I almost forgot how much Arturo detested Quinn in the early episodes, he doesn't believe that Quinn could have built the timer or that it could work. So Quinn shows him. He opens the vortex for him and both Arturo and Wade are in shock. Arturo doesn't want to go but Wade talks him into it. Quinn increases the power, the very thing that his double had tried to warn him about. Rembrandt and his beautiful car gets sucked into the vortex with everyone else. He ends up separated from the others and with no idea what has happened. It seems that this world is froze over with no life on it other than the four of them. They run into Remy and hide out in his car as things get worse weather wise. Remy demands he forces the timer to reopen early but Quinn says it is a bad idea, the weather gets worse forcing his hand. He ends up opening the vortex and they all go through it. Quinn helps everyone through but falls backward into the car as the vortex starts to close. The others worry that he didn't make it and Wade wants to go back but Arturo talks her out of it. They wouldn't be able to control it. At the last moment before it closes he falls out of the vortex. They all made it. They believe they made it home and Remy takes off trying to make it to the baseball game so that he can restart his career. He gets picked up by he cab driver, the same one that is on a great deal of universes. Wade takes off to check in with home. Quinn and Arturo talk about why the timer sent them to the wrong place. It is a few seconds later that Arturo finds that the wrong statue is in the park. They aren't home. Remy pays the cab driver in American money and gets himself in trouble. After all the country is owned by Russia and American's are the evil underground. Remy is placed under arrest. Poor Remy has no idea what is going on. Wade catches up with Quinn and Arturo and the three of them make their way through the city, seeing how messed up everything is. They are stuck there till the timer recharges itself. None of them seem all that worried about where Remy is or what happened to him. He is being interrogated. His double was killed 12 years ago so they think that he is an American spy. He is sent to the people's court. Things are not looking good for him. Quinn and co see how messed up the city is in this world and they finally decide to go find Remy. Arturo goes for a hotdog and uses American money, how did he not know that it would be different here? The phone company comes looking for Wade, lucky the hotdog vender helps them hide. It seems that on this world Wade is someone important who was just captured a few days ago. The three of them meet the underground resistance. Wade has a boyfriend there, she doesn't know him but oh he knows her. Arturo's double is one of the bad guys on this world. The resistance didn't believe them at first but Wade's lover knows she isn't the real Wade and it makes him believe them. They find Remy on a judge show. He tries to explain to the judge what happened but no one believes him. He gets sent to Alaska for 15 years. The resistance's Wade is in the same holding camp as Remy so they can save them at the same time. If the resistance doesn't succeed in this mission than it all over and what is left of America dies. Arturo gets them into the camp. Wade goes off to find her double while Quinn and Arturo free Remy. The alarm goes off and they have to take off before reconnecting with Wade. Everything goes to shit. The resistance escapes but Wade is dead. Quinn freaks out, after all she is his best friend. Everyone is in shock, lucky for us it wasn't our Wade, it was her double. Our Wade is safe and sound. Remy gets to sing the anthem like he has been trying to the whole episode, but instead of doing it to fix his career he is doing to send off the dead. Not the way he wanted but hey, it's something. Arturo and Quinn fix the timer and if they return to the spot they slide in on they could increase their chance to get home. Someone tries to stop them and Wade knocks him down and they set off running. The cops close behind, the timer won't work. They are doomed. . . . at the last second he gets it working and they waste no time going through the vortex. Once again they think they are home, even find the homeless man from the start of the episode sleeping. Quinn uses his gate to test if they are home or not, it squeaks. They go inside, all seems well. His mother is even worried about him as if he had been gone for a long time. Arturo tells Quinn they should destroy the timer, it is too dangerous for them to keep it. It could fall into the wrong hands. The four friends are so happy, it's the perfect ending, until Quinn's father walks into the house. There goes the perfect ending. This episode is so perfectly crafted it's just a masterpiece. If it was a movie it would go down as a classic like Back to the Future. Sliders should get more love! |
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