Sliders/Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome

Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome
Season 2, Episode 8
Airdate	May 3, 1996
Production Number	K0812
Written by	Nan Hagan
Directed by	Adam Nimoy
← 2x07 In Dino Veritas	2x09 → Obsession
Sliders — Season Two

Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome is the eighth episode of the second season of Sliders, and the eighteenth episode overall.

Jerry O'Connell (Quinn Mallory), Sabrina Lloyd (Wade Wells), Cleavant Derricks (Rembrandt Brown)

and John Rhys-Davies (Arturo)

Guest Stars: Kristoffer Tabori (Dr. Whelan), Stacy Grant (Miss Vonbaeck)

with Don MacKay (Artie), Deanne Henry (Mrs. Mallory), Carlton Watson (Sebastian Smith), Tom Pickett (Leeroy Hopkins), Brian Arnold (Barry King), Linda Ko (Tanika), Tina Klassen (Miss Jennings), Mike Mitchell (Guard)

Plot Overview

It seems the sliders have finally returned home. However, Wade and Rembrandt become concerned when Quinn finds things he believes prove they haven't. To make matters worse, Arturo not only goes public with sliding, but takes credit for its invention.

Notes

Brave New Worlds

• Nothing can be seen concerning this world as all we see of it is Rembrandt in a psychiatrist's office.

• A world nearly identical to Earth Prime, save for some small deviations such as the Golden Gate Bridge is blue and called the Azure Gate Bridge, the San Francisco 49ers played the Jets in Super Bowl XIX instead of the Miami Dolphins, one of Quinn's classmates didn't wear braces, Rembrandt shares writing credits with his backup singers, and Arturo chose not to slide with the others.

• An Earth where America was never colonised by the Europeans (mentioned only)

Doubles

• Quinn (mentioned only)

• Wade (mentioned only)

• Rembrandt (mentioned only)

• Arturo

• Mrs Mallory

• Artie

Timer

• 2 weeks

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• The four have been sliding for 18 months.

Characters

• After discovering that Arturo's double hadn't slide, the others are confronted with two and unsure which one is their Arturo. After a fight, only one follows through the vortex, leaving the other behind and it's not definitive which one was which.

Referbacks

• Rembrandt recalls to the doctor about the time a shaman was trying get Quinn's brain. (Into the Mystic)

• Quinn recounts to his mother the time Arturo introduced a stain of antibiotics to stop a plague (Fever) and destroyed an asteroid with an atomic bomb (Last Days), which Arturo (or his double) cites to prove to the others that he's theirs. He also recalls the world where he met his late wife (Eggheads).

• The doctor wants his receptionist to call Gatehaven hospital. This is the same hospital Wade said was a mental institution in "Invasion".

Trivia

The Show

• The arrowhead Arturo produces in his interview derives from a world visited in the one-shot comic book Blood and Splendor.

Behind the Scenes

• While fans debated for years over which Arturo was left behind, Tracy Tormé later revealed that the group took Arturo's double. The idea was to tie into the Kromagg story arc where it was to also be revealed that Arturo was the one implanted with the tracker. Thus the Kromaggs would invade the world Arturo was stranded on under the impression they had found their home dimension.

Memorable Moments

• After the two Arturos fight, one gets the upper hand and makes the slide, leaving the one left behind to only exclaim "Oh my God!"

Quotes

• Arturo: From now on, Mr Brown, you will go into the vortex before me.

Rembrandt: What, and have you land and crush me? Forget that!

• Arturo: May I remind you we've all been fooled before.

Wade: Why are you always so negative?

Arturo: Hope for everything, Miss Wells. Expect nothing.

• Rembrandt: Look, the Professor can say that he was on sabbatical and you two have got your bases covered, but who's going to believe that I've been touring in obscurity the last year and a half?

Arturo: That shouldn't be difficult, given the state of your career when we left.

• Dr Whelan: It was the most beautiful blue - like a robin's egg, uh, a sky on a crystalline summer's morning. A pathway to other worlds, you see? Yes. He called it "sliding". A name charming in its simplicity, but wholly inadequate to describe the wonder of it all.