I Believe In Myself
(Prophets & Loss).
What just happened?
It’s I myself began sliding. It’s as if the last six months worth of blogging didn’t exist, and we’re still in that part of Season Three that had something to say. But if this episode followed, say, “The Prince of Slides,” it would still be a shock. Here’s the thing: I’ve crossed the point where I’ve seen these episodes way less than I’ve seen the ones that came before. It’s not as fresh, and it certainly isn’t ingrained in my mind.
So I come into this expecting inane schlock and instead get campy fun that you can actually discuss. That’s the real thing that amazed me this week— I watched this episode with friends, and we spent a good 15 minutes talking about what we saw.
I don’t know whoever skipped lunch to be able to pay for this set, but I thank you so dearly for letting us look at the Chandler for five less minutes.
The crux of that discussion comes from something Rembrandt says partway through the episode. He’s not sure what side to be on (he doesn’t really want to be on either) in this, and he’s pretty sure he knows what at’s the heart of both sides of the problem. “It’s all about power,” he proclaims, and he’s right to dilute the crises in this episode to such simple terms.
Because as much as the Oracle-side of things is wrong, it’s only wrong because they’re murdering people. And that’s actually kind of the only flaw in the episode. The episode is obviously about the ‘evils’ of organized religion. While it’s certainly creepy and chilling (and thankfully not a mystery) to have the Church’s Sliding Machine actually be an incinerator, isn’t it scary enough just to see how brainwashed the citizens of this Earth have become? How much of the Kool-Aid they chug? Even knowing that the Other World is a Death-Ray, you know they’d still hop in willingly. Even if there wasn’t a Death-Ray, they’d still hop off a bridge.
Woo! I mean, yeah, it was blue for a second instead of orange, but like, whatever!
That’s unsettling enough. But the whole incinerator ends up becoming a mark against the episode— which is a shame, really, because the episode doesn’t really play the initial reveal cheaply; not 10 minutes go by between the revelation of “the rapture is a sliding machine” to “carousel is a lie”— it derails a morality play into a moustache-twirling farce (having someone say “the final solution” doesn’t help either).
There’s a chance it could have been played differently. But the climax of the episode is simultaneously ripe for discussion and a colossal fart. It relies heavily on massive coincidence (the vortex gives not only extremely convenient timeframes, but also plops the team exactly where they need to be for maximum visual impact). I understand the need for a tidy script, but my willing suspension is stretched too thin.
Yes. I, too, remember how tight it was when I discovered Photoshop’s Smear Tool.
Plus, it overplays the common man of Oracle World as fools. They shouldn’t be merely fools— they should be misguided. Yet they treat the reappearance of Samson with the same “oohs” and “ahhs” that they give to Cadmus and Gareth. Samson reveals the truth of the Next World, but the crowd doesn’t really react to it— not with any sort of true emotion.
There’s ways to read this that work in the episode’s favor. You can read it like a comparison between organized religion and television, and a treatise on the dangers of both. The crowds in the episode certainly seem like they’re supposed to echo the Hour of Power-style of Evangelist Television. That sort of boring (read: white) gospel that almost (read: not really) ruined our nation this week (read: Go-bama!). But that sort of tepidly-emotive crowd keeps such a monotonous delivery that it makes it seem like Samson could have come tumbling naked out the vortex with his dick wedged in a Reuben Sandwich and they still would have just nodded their heads in agreement. It removes the power of the Rad-Rats’ victory.
As tight as this bro looks (he could be on Star Trek or something :P), when was the Vortex ever NOT landed someone flat on their face/ass?
It also opens up a heady question: what happens after the sliders leave Oracle World? Does Samson become a noble leader? Uprooting society and throwing the Oracle under the proverbial bus? Or would be become just another power-hungry preacher? I’m not trying to be overly cynical here, but it certainly seems like the magic 8-ball is pointing to the latter here. Rembrandt might say “I was wrong about you,” but that doesn’t mean he’s right about being wrong.
SSSSSSSMOKIN’
Yet here I am, sitting at home with friends, discussing this episode and what it means. Talking about the intent of the writers vs. the deeper implications of humanity the episode portrays. Read that again: what it means. Not just “what happened” or “look at that,” even though the shot of the ash-piles in the ‘sliding machine’ is a way more horrifying scene than Sliders has any right to display. But let’s be real: when was the last time I watched an episode that I could have an intelligent discussion about? Probably “The Guardian.” That was almost a year ago. Almost two, if we’re going by transmission dates in 1998.
While it seems like most of what came above seems like I’m knocking this episode, I’m really not— I’m just trying to understand what I saw, because it had me invested in its intentions. Because for all the faults of this episode, Sliders has earned something huge: this is the last time I’m going to throw in a disclaimer paragraph in one of these reviews for a good hot minute. “Prophets & Loss” is good enough to divorce the show from the “despite all that happened” or “but actually it’s…” or “somehow it manages to…” or “I didn’t see that coming.”
The Sassiest Slide.
If the edict for Season Four is “make it smart,” then I will respect that. Especially if the episodes produced actually live up to that claim.
Next Week: Why Can’t We Be Friends? (Common Ground).
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Um. I enjoyed your review, but I’m a bit surprised that you make no mention of how this episode is a massive failure when it comes to ongoing characterization.
Yes, the location shooting is lovely and the sets are good and there’s some worthwhile points about religion and free thought that are tossed aside due to the incinerator plot. It’s lovely to see the show engaging with world-building and attempting to provoke thought instead of doing another horror movie. Good write-up.
But — come on! Last week, Quinn and Rembrandt saw their home invaded. Everyone they knew is either dead or enslaved as labourers or rape victims. Their families have either been murdered or are being experimented on. Their friend, Wade, is in a rape camp. Every ex-girlfriend Rembrandt’s ever had is either dead or enduring horrific torment. Every single one of Quinn’s classmates have probably been converted into Kromagg foodstuffs. And this week… Quinn is bemused about having a brother and joking about his relationship with Maggie. Rembrandt is cheerful and upbeat, robbing ATMs.
Wasn’t it you who said that the reason we watch and continue to tolerate this series is because we feel like the sliders are our friends? We’re here to see these characters deal with whatever the series puts them through, see them react, see them buckle, see them hold together. But “Prophets and Loss” acts like Quinn and Rembrandt haven’t just seen their home and their friends and families and everyone they’ve ever known back home been exterminated, subjugated or enslaved. The fans are here for what’s left of the characters, but without characterization, the Quinn and Rembrandt of this episode are basically different characters who just happen to be played by the same actors with the same name.
This problem will get even worse next week, where the series has raised massive emotional issues but is unwilling to address them and ignores them when they’d logically arise.
What does amaze me about season #4 is the 1st 13 or so episodes they seem to try to make the budget work and show you different parts of universals back lot…etc. does Jerry’s brother cost so much, or do they just get tired of coming up with worlds to explore, also the vodoo timer strikes again, last week Earthprime, with death and destruction, this week a church of all places that has the wormhole of incineration.
Also seeing the wormhole this many times in one episode will have to be payed for down the road when we have to show the group sliding in behind an a building or into a broom closet.
Forgot the best part, I believe this is the only episode that uses the wormhole tracking device to go back to the previous earth, cool idea, would of been a way to slightly change the game since you could leave half the group and promise to return only to not know how long you would be on the next earth.
When this episode originally aired on Sci-fi it was part 3 of a 3 hour event that had This Slide of Paradise-Genesis-Prophets of Lost….talk about 3 episodes that are very far apart in tone and concept, luckily Sliders had a big fan base because I can’t imagine any new fan sticking through that and having any idea what the show wanted to be…is it a show that ripps off bad movies, a new War of the Worlds, or I guess these Wormhole travelers fight religious problems on different Earths.
By the way Kudo’s to Connor Trinneer, AKA:Tripp Tucker, that guy has some acting chops and it is a joy to see him every time he’s on TV