Originally aired March 22, 1995
Teleplay by Tracy Torme & Robert K. Weiss
Story by Tracy Torme
Directed by Andy Tennant
Physics student Quinn Mallory accidentally unlocks the gateway to parallel universes. He invites his physics professor Maximillian Arturo and his friend Wade Wells along for a ride. An accident sends the three of them, along with rebounding singer Rembrandt Brown, to an alternate Earth that's in the middle of an ice age. Another mishap results in our heroes landing on a world where Russia rules America.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Allohistorical Allusion: In one of the worlds visited by Quinn's double, the Chicago Cubs had won three consecutive World Series by 1994.
- Alternate History: The point of divergence on Soviet World is that America lost the Korean War, which started the domino effect until finally the American economy collapsed and the country was annexed by the Soviets. The novelization adds information revealing that the changes went back further, at least to World War II. (Franklin D. Roosevelt surviving his fourth term, for example.)
- Amazing Freaking Grace: The first of many uses of Cleavant Derricks's
beautiful singing voice. - Ambulance Chaser: Ross J. Kelly on Earth Prime.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Arturo is taken aback when Mrs. Mallory says that Quinn thinks very highly of him.
- Artistic License – History:
- When he sees the statue of Lenin, Arturo gives his name as "Nikolai Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin." Lenin's first name was "Vladimir." In addition, his birth name was "Ulyanov" while "Lenin" was an alias. Both would not be used in giving his full name.
- When Rembrandt is sworn in during the trial at The People's Court, the oath still ends with "so help me God." The Soviet Union and its affiliated satellites were officially an atheistic society, so the use of God during legal proceedings is very unlikely.
- As Himself: Judge Joseph Wapner appears as himself during Rembrandt's trial on Soviet World.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The Russian in this episode (notably Pavel Kurlienko's lines) is pretty much this. Surprisingly, the French dub replaced all pseudo-Russian lines with lines in actual (almost flawless) Russian, as well as fixed the aforementioned issue with Lenin's first name.
- Bizarro Universe: Quinn's first slide. Americans are emigrating to Mexico, Earth is going through global cooling, John F. Kennedy is still president and married to Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley is still alive and performing.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Quinn shows shades of this. He's focused on his experiments than schoolwork and reads unassigned papers because they interest him, but he passes up the chance to correctly answer Arturo's question during class.
- The Cameo: Harry Shearer is the voice of the Shock Jock Spaceman.
- Cerebus Call-Back: Rembrandt's first appearance in the episode sees him getting ready to head to a baseball game in order to sing the National Anthem. Towards the end, he sings Amazing Grace for those who died in the raid on the NorCal Federal Penitentiary.
- Chekhov's Gun: The gate at Quinn's house, which squeaks whenever it opens. He uses it as a final test to see if they got home, though it turns out it still squeaks in a universe where his dad is still alive.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Quinn's father, Michael, is mentioned early on to be dead, thus setting up the Twist Ending.
- Crazy Homeless People: Crazy Kenny, a homeless man who spends his days in the park spouting communist ideals. In Soviet World, unsurprisingly, he is running for office.
- Cryptic Background Reference: On Tundra World, Quinn finds a family photo similar to the one seen earlier back home, but this one features a sister he never had and the dog that ran away when he was a kid.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart:
- In Soviet World, Rembrandt's double was killed in the Detroit Uprising in 1982. Wade's double, a leader of the resistance, is later killed.
- The trope is also inverted with the very much alive double of Quinn's father in the final scene.
- Deadpan Snarker: While wandering around Soviet-occupied San Francisco, Arturo decides it's time to get something to eat.Arturo: Anyone fancy a kielbasa?Quinn: Professor, how could you eat at a time like this?Arturo: My stomach has no political preferences.
- A Dog Ate My Homework: Arturo initially scoffs at Quinn's discovery, and expects his next excuse will be that his dog ate his homework. Quinn opens the wormhole, and casually remarks that he doesn't have a dog.
- Dramatic Shattering: Quinn drops his glass at the end after his father, who's been dead for years on Earth Prime, walks into the house.
- Endless Winter: Tundra World, the first world that the sliders as a group visit, is a frigid wasteland. Arturo speculates it was caused by either nuclear war or an ecological disaster.
- Exact Words: Kelly says Rembrandt will be sent "to the people's court" for punishment. Rembrandt soon finds himself literally on the set of The People's Court.
- Fictional Currency: When Arturo pays for his sausage, he uses a real dollar. The vendor then gives him a Soviet dollar, which is red and has a picture of Khrushchev.
- His Name Is...: Quinn's double is barely able to tell him not to alter the timer during a slide, but doesn't explain what will happen if he does.
- Heroic Vow: "Trust me. I'm gonna get you home."
- Invaded States of America: On Soviet World, the US has been occupied by the Soviet Union for decades.
- Ironic Echo: Over the possibility of them kissing, Quinn says he and Wade are buds. Later, when Quinn asks what she was doing with Wilkins, she gladly repeats the line to him.
- Just Think of the Potential!: Spoken word-for-word by Quinn to Arturo.Quinn: There's bound to be worlds where they've outlawed war or cured cancer.Arturo: And worlds where they've perfected war and developed new cancers.
- Kangaroo Court: Rembrandt is quickly sentenced in a televised show trial of the People's Court, which is quite literally The People's Court.
- Kissing the Ground: Unintentional interdimensional traveler Rembrandt kisses the ground when he thinks they've made it back to Earth Prime. Unfortunately, of course, he is wrong.
- La RĂ©sistance: On Soviet World, Wade's double is the leader of the American resistance.
- Mean Boss: Mr. Hurley, Quinn and Wade's arrogant boss at the computer store. Quinn's double remarks that Hurley's a jerk on every other parallel world.
- Mildly Military: In the scene where the flags are draped over the bodies of the fallen freedom fighters, the stars are set over the right shoulder, opposite of Earth-Prime.
- Mr. Exposition: Quinn's double, who lays out the nature and rules of sliding to Quinn.
- National Anthem: The Soviet anthem plays on the radio when Rembrandt asks Pavel to put on the baseball game. He initially thinks it's the Canadian anthem. Pavel and another driver reverently salute while driving.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Wade attempts to call home, but is unable to provide a PT&T ID code and is told she will be arrested. She goes to tell Quinn, but he thinks she's trying to say they didn't make it home, which he and Arturo already know.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Played for Laughs when Arturo sees the solved equation.
- Ross J. Kelly in Soviet World. He is interrogating Rembrandt when Rembrandt recognizes him from the ambulance chaser commercial in Earth Prime when, being a KGB interrogator, his identity should be secret.
- Quinn when he thinks Wade has been killed.
- The final scene.Michael: Did I miss anything?
Quinn: Hello... Dad.
- Pet the Dog: Arturo comforts Quinn after he expresses regret over disappearing on his mother.
- Pilot Movie: The two-parter is a coherent story on its own, and the series truly starts with the movie's Twist Ending.
- Rebel Leader: Wade's double on Soviet World.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Right as the group begin to make their trek to Golden Gate Park in order to leave Soviet World, they are accosted by a man demanding they show their citizenship papers due to violating curfew. Wade, fed up with this world by this point, promptly kicks him in the gut and flees with the others.
- Self-Serving Memory: In the face of Rembrandt insisting the Spinning Topps faltered as soon as he quit, Artie reminds him they went on to a long string of #1 hits. Rembrandt claims they were all pure flukes.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The group's expressions in the final scene, as they realize they're not really home.
- Twist Ending / Yank the Dog's Chain: The final scene is this for the sliders. By all accounts, it looked like they managed to get back to Earth Prime... until Quinn's dead father, Michael, walks in alive and well.
- Viewers Like You: While channel-surfing in Soviet World, we see a pledge drive for PBS where the viewer is asked to give money... or else.
- Wham Line: "Hello... Dad."
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Rembrandt is an interdimensional traveler quite amused to find that his Soviet interrogator is the double of an ambulance chasing lawyer. Kelly's superior, however, is absolutely certain that Rembrandt's behavior proves he's a skilled infiltrator and master of subterfuge openly flaunting inside information to his captors.
- You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost: The very last line, said by an unaware Michael to a completely stunned Quinn.
