Sliders Season 2 Episode 1: Into the Mystic

​Season 2 of the greatest sci-fi shoots back with a bang in this episode written by Tracy Torme. Now the last season ended with Quinn getting shot just before they jumped through the vortex, with an added member no less. This episode starts with everyone standing around Quinn's tombstone, Wade kissing the man she saved.

Lucky it is all a dream. It seems that Quinn is fine. He was out more or less for 3 days. They got the bullet out of him. The man who slide with them is the one who saved Quinn's life and asked Wade to stay. She said no and he took off. The vortex opens and they slide. A weird hick laughs at them. He was in Quinn's dream. Could this mean something?

Quinn may be doing better but he is still in pain. Remy looks for a hospital but all he can seem to find are sorcerers. A weird turn for Sliders, taking a mystic turn and leaving the sci-fi behind. It was a risky move but one that I think was smart. It shows the audience that this show can go almost anywhere and still make sense following their own rules. Torme proves himself to be a great writer once again. 

A sorcerer attempts to do a spell on Quinn to help him and Arturo is not happy. He tries to storm in to help Quinn but the deed is done. The sorcerer tells them he can't do anything about the bullet but he only could get rid of the headache. The bill is way to high for any of them to pay. The sliders run out on the bill. He swears to put a curse on them.

The sliders are relaxing in the hotel room when Remy let's out a scream. There is a honest to god skeleton taking up shelter in there. I mean it isn't a life or anything but it is still weird. Some one sneaks up towards the room. Arturo opens the door allowing what looks like a grim reaper to enter the room. He points towards Quinn and gives him a summons. He is being sued.

The sorcerer doesn't want to be paid anymore, he now wants Quinn's brain to pay the bill. The lawyer they got isn't giving them much hope. It seems that demon bounty hunters are on the hunt for him now. The sliders are in deep trouble. They need to find The Sorcerer! OK so to differentiate between the two we will call the man who is after Quinn the wizard now on.

The sliders go to meet a card reader and she tells them that they need the sorcerer because he has the power to slide between worlds and can send them home. Could this be what they have been looking for? Could their journey be coming to an end?

Our favorite cab driver from all the different dimensions drive the sliders to the sorcerer's house. They have to cross over a tiny bridge, it is the only way to the house. Remy is scared out of his mind where as Quinn seems to have more energy than he has had in a while. At least until he almost falls, that changes everything. It turns out that the missing part of the bridge is just a trick to make people think that there is nothing there but it really is. They make it across just fine.

They make it inside the house and it is huge. Beyond big. The gang is left waiting to meet the sorcerer. Arturo can't stand this world or the views of its people. The hick's double tells them that they have to leave. The sorcerer has no time for them. He orders them to removed from the house but Quinn yells out that they are sliders and a voice demands to see them. The slider's are lead to the sorcerer himself.

The sorcerer shows up as a giant hologram talking to the Sliders. It is all right out of Oz. He tells them that he is the master of the vortexs and can send them home if they prove to be friends. In exchange for helping them he demands they steal from the wizard for him. Arturo wants no part of it, he wants no part of any of this. He wants to spend the next 11 hours till the slide to hide.

A bounty hunter captures them, not just any bounty hunter but one played by the great actor Phil Fondacaro in his first role on the show. He takes them back to the wizard. They manage to escape and find plans for a sliding machine. This is what the sorcerer wanted them to steal. Remy knocks out the wizard as they escape once again. They take the plans back to the sorcerer.

The sorcerer sends them away after taking the plans but Quinn takes them back and goes running to the office while the others stop the aid. The guards storm into the room with Quinn and the hologram. Quinn runs and finds a room with one of his doubles running the machine. This episode is very much wizard of oz. The first of many episodes that parodies movies. Some are better than others. This one is very good.

The sorcerer finds out that his aid sold his plans and has double crossed him. He has him sent out. The sliders meet with the sorcerer as he works on the timer. The sorcerer is in fact a slider, he slides to other worlds and buys goods to bring back to this world. It seems that the wizard wants the tech so that he can steal the market share. This Quinn wants to live his life for himself now just like our Quinn. The last act he wants to do for others is helping them home. This Quinn finishes his work on the timer and gives it back to the sliders. They open the vortex and jump through saying goodbye to the sorcerer.

The sliders end up outside Quinn's house. Are they home? To the fence to decide! They only have 53 seconds to decide. All the stuff that has happened in the last few months and the fact that the fence doesn't make a sound convinces them that it is the wrong world. They open the vortex and slide off world.

No sooner does the vortex close when Quinn's mom walks out with the gardener who tells her that he fixed the gate so that it won't make a sound anymore. It turns out that our heroes were home and slide away all because the damn gardener had to go and fix the gate. Now that is great story telling. Letting your heroes get so close to the finish line and pulling out the rug from them. It let's you think that an ending is possible. They can make it home. They just need to do it one more time Just one more reason I love this show so much!!!!