Sliders Season 2 Episode 8: Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome

Welcome back to Sliders. Today we dive into an episode written by Nan Hagan and directed by Adam Nimoy the son of Mr. Spock himself Leonard Nimoy. The episode starts with an extreme close up of Remy as he talks to a therapist. It's a great shot, letting you get into his head right off the bat. When watching shows like this you never really think about how much the events of the episodes can affect the characters. It adds to the realism of the show that it not only admits that it takes a toll but that it shows the characters trying to deal with it.

​Remy tells the doc about a slide they had a few weeks back where they made it home! Or so they thought. Now a reoccurring test that Quinn does to see if they are home is if his gate squeaks. On this world it does. Moments later his mom exits the house and runs to him. Everything is adding up, they are home! To help convince them even more, Wade has also been missing from this world for a while as well. The evidence keeps adding up. The four sliders fill Quinn's mom in on everything that has been happening. It is all too good to be true.

Arturo talks the others into keeping it all hush hush until they can figure everything out. Remy isn't happy about it but the others talk him into it. They all settle back into their lives but right away we see that no one is all that surprised to see Arturo. It is almost as if he hasn't been missing for 18 months like the others.

​Remy tells his manger what happened while Arturo tells the world all about Sliding, passing the whole thing off as his idea. Wade is beyond pissed but Quinn is in a state of shock. Arturo made them promise not to come forward and then he turns around tells the world. Wade and Remy tell Quinn that they will stand by him if he wants to come forward. Remy quickly uses it to boost his career. Wade is also using it to make herself rich. Quinn feels betrayed by all of them. You can't really blame them. It is all a bit much.

​Quinn finds proof that they aren't really home but Wade and Remy don't want to listen to him. They won't accept that they aren't home. Arturo won't accept Quinn's calls and to make matters worse the timer is stolen from Quinn's house. What would you do? Everything seems so perfect, so close to how you remember home. Would you accept that you are home even as the evidence mounts that you aren't? I don't know what I would do, it would be a hard choice to make. One that Remy and Wade don't want to deal with but that Quinn can't stop thinking about.

Arturo won't stop telling the whole world about sliding and how it works and how smart he is. Quinn shows up and confronts Arturo trying to tell him that they aren't home but all Arturo cares about is if Quinn will try to steal the credit. He blows Quinn off just like the others. Remy and Wade start talking about how they are going to get Quinn to accept that this is home. It seems that everyone is turning against Quinn.

​Just as you start to forget about the fact the Remy is really on another world talking about this slide they remind you. Back in the past Wade gives Arturo a piece of her mind about stealing Quinn's invention but Arturo tells her that he invented it. That all Quinn really did was take his ideas and expand upon it. Something we know to be untrue.

​It's at this moment that Wade finds the timer in the museums. It turns out that Arturo stole the timer. Why is Arturo doing this to the gang? After all that they have been through. It's just too much. Wade tells Quinn where the timer is but hangs up on him when he once more tries to tell her that they aren't home. Moments later she sees the Golden Gate bridge and notices that it is blue. She breaks down, Quinn tries to cheer her up but it's hard. You make it home after 18 months of being lost and not only do you make it home to see all your lost love ones but you also made a name for yourself only to have it all taken away from them in a moment. It's too much for anyone.

​Wade and Quinn confront Arturo who they quickly learn knew all along that they weren't home. This episode really makes you go from liking Arturo to hating him. Quinn asks for the timer back but Arturo tells them no. He threatens Quinn when Quinn tells him that he will steal the timer back. The team is breaking up and it is so hard to watch. Not in the episode is bad way but in it is so good but heart breaking way.  

​Meanwhile Remy's life is going better than ever, at least until his old bandmates demand that they be allowed to cry on stage as well. So much for everything being better. Fame comes with a price just like anything else in life.

​Quinn and Wade steal the timer only to learn that it is a fake. They broke in and ended up getting caught all to steal a fake timer. Back in the present Remy is about to leave the office when the doctor asks him to stay just a bit longer. The doctor leaves the room and tells his secretary to order a strait  jacket for Remy. He wants to have him committed.

​Quinn and Wade spend the night in jail before Remy bails them out and tells them that he has learned they aren't really home. That on this world his band own part of his music, something that never happened on Earth Prime. The gang break into Arturo's house where they find him chained to a chair in the basement. It seems that this Earth's Arturo had never left this world. This Arturo backed out of sliding and went into hiding trying to recreate sliding on his own. When our Arturo showed up they knocked him out and kidnapped him.

​The timer is gone and this world's Arturo shows up. He claims to be the real Arturo, confusing the gang. He tells the gang that he escaped and captured the fake Arturo. He then starts telling them facts that only he would know. The Arturo tells them that anyone who read Wade's book would know the truth. Now, think for a moment. How would the real Arturo have known that Wade sold her book if he was chained up the whole time? It makes you wonder doesn't it?

​Quinn and Wade say goodbye to their parents doubles before opening the wormhole. The other Arturo shows up in a cab. The others slide while the two Arturos fight it out. One of them slides away with Quinn while the other one, the one who might be the real Arturo stays behind. Is it him or did the real Arturo slide? It's a hard call to make and one that is never really answered. One that to this day I want to know the answer. Seeing how the Arturo who went with them goes out, I think he was the real one, but how cool would it be to finally have it answered?

​Now for my favorite part of this episode. Quinn, Wade and Arturo show up in the therapists office and they get Remy as they slide out, right from inside the office. The doctor watches it all, his mind snaps. The episode ends with the doctor in the strait jacket being carted away, the same fate he wanted for Remy. It's poetic justice at it's finest.