question session

Date: 09/04/2001
From: Sliderfanatic

Hi everybody. I just got back from a road trip. I'm telling you, there's something about fresh air and veritable nothingness that sorta cures writer's block. I either have chronic writer's block, or I just suck. Anyway, I finally got some good ideas but I need some more information to make sure I do it right. Besides, this will give some lucky individual something to do. Although I have a feeling it will be Tf to my perpetual rescue.
Here goes: (All questions that don't designate an episode are from the 5th season)
1. In "Reqium", is the presence of Mallory explained to Wade?
2. What is the sliding radius? From what point?
3. What weapons against the Kromaggs are known to the Sliders?
4. Since "Revelations" confused the heck out of me, where those really Quinn's parents they found?
5. What was different about Diana and Mallory's world?
6. Why did Rembrandt inject himself with the blood before he slid in "The Seer"?
7. Am I insane, or do I recall Mallory being disabled somehow? What was the nature of the disability if it is true?
That's all for now. Thanks in advance.

- The ceaselessly pondering Sliderfanatic

Hehe

Date: 09/05/2001
From: TemporalFlux

Let's see what we've got here...

1. Neither the prescence of Mallory or Diana was explained to Wade. Of course, Wade was either drugged or emotionally unstable during the times in which those two were present...so it really wasn't opportune for the subject to come up given circumstances.

2. For more than you ever wanted to know about the sliding radius, check out this section of my site:

http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com/radius.html

To answer your other question, the center point of the radius in season one and two was Quinn's basement in San Francisco. In season three and beyond, the center point was Prototronics (Logan St. Clair's lab) in San Francisco.

3. There were 3 that I recall. Two of them were different types of viruses ("Mother and Child" and "The Seer"). Then there was the Voraton device (first mentioned in "Common Ground" and explored in "Strangers and Comrades"). This was the big super weapon they were trying to get from Kromagg Prime. Basically, this weapon killed most Maggs on the world and sterilized the ones left over...but at the same time destroyed the atmosphere of the planet it was used on. The catastrophic side effect made it unusable to save "Earth Prime".

4. Those were not meant to be Quinn's "real" parents in "Revelations"...just doubles. Likewise, that wasn't supposed to really the Kromagg Prime they had been looking for.

5. Mallory and Diana's homeworld didn't hold many differences in the aired episode. The main difference mentioned was that they were cloning elephants in England (as opposed to sheep such as on our world). The more subtle difference is that their world had an Oberon Geiger and Geiger Applied Research/The Combine. The same process that made Geiger unstuck also destroyed all his doubles...so he was supposed to be the only Geiger currently in existence anywhere.

6. Rembrandt's hope was the Kromagg killing virus in the blood would become part of his system and thus allow him to spread the virus on the Kromagg infested "Earth Prime" (saving the world). Of course, this Typhoid Mary approach was based on many unproven assumptions (that the blood wouldn't kill Remmy, that the virus would work in his system, that his biology would allow him to spread it after being infected, etc.)

7. Yep. Mallory suffered from an incurable form of muscular dystrophy which made him paralyzed from the waist down (thus requiring a wheel chair to move). Geiger used an early experiment of The Combine to cure Mallory's MD by combining some DNA from a healthy alternate Quinn Mallory into that Mallory. The effects this process had on the alternate Quinn are unknown...but when looking at how our Quinn was affected by use of merger in "The Unstuck Man", one can't help but assume that the first alternate Quinn borrowed from was ill affected.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

Not to get too technical but...

Date: 09/05/2001
From: Joey_Starr

...Logan's lab on her world was located in San Angeles. That would be there center of that slide radius. However, this does not mean that TF was wrong as that same physical location in most dimensions IS San Francisco.

JS
Technically Difficult

Well

Date: 09/05/2001
From: TemporalFlux

The very reason I didn't note that is because it is needlessly confusing considering the question. The primary point of what Sliderfanatic wanted was not an exercise in trivia...but an exericse in understanding some mechanics of the show. As such, it only makes sense to put it in more standard terms.

San Angeles was one name for two very different locations visited in "Double Cross". The Los Angeles area in Remmy's adventure, and the San Francisco area where they first landed and where the rest of the Sliders spent their time with Logan at Prototronics. The only needed information was the center point...so I saw no reason to muck up the works by going through this extra explanation.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

the sliding radius

Date: 09/05/2001
From: SlidersRocks

The question is "What is the sliding radius? From what point?" TF believes that the original timer had a radius from Quinns basement. But I think that the timer never had a radius to start with.

TF says that the original timer had the radius from Quinn basement. But how much was this radius? When Quinn and then the group slid they came out at the exact spot on the other side. Which means that the sliding radius was zero. Only in ice world when Quinn activates the timer early they mess with earth primes saved coordinates, the radius and many other things. The timer then didn't bring them to Quinns basement because of their lost coordinates. Which means they will never slid into his basement again. Now where ever the portal opens on the other side is the exact same spot even if it might look a little different. If you look at the end of the Pilot they land right near the statue and in the begging of Time and Again World is also another example of many in which the next world looks the same as the world they left. But for the most part each parallel world had their unique settings even when they came out at the same spot.

The bottom line is that the original timer never had a radius. Only in extreme times like on top of the building in the third episode did it open near the ground. I believe that was the right air pressure it needed for the portal to open safely.

Hmmm...

Date: 09/06/2001
From: TemporalFlux

Then why did they say the original timer's laser gyro had a two mile fixed radius during "Double Cross"? Why at the end of "Double Cross" (after Logan switched gyros) did they say this had changed to a 400 mile radius? Guess we're supposed to ignore that...also supposed to ignore the fact that they always landed within the two miles during the season one and two adventures (it's really neat when you pull out a map and compare the locations they mention with a 2 mile radius starting from where Quinn's house would have been via the images shown in the pilot movie).

I mean, if we want to make it up as we go along...that's fine. I'm just going by what was on the show.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

your right

Date: 09/06/2001
From: SlidersRocks

Yes TF your are right about the gyro in "Double Cross" But the truth is that the writers and the whole team of Sliders in season one and two made the vortex open in the same area in nearly every episode. Thats becaseu they didn't have to make up a story to explain why they were sliding in LA. So if you were watching seasons one and two right now you would think the vortex opened at the exact same location. Yea I know they tells us in "Double Cross" that the timer has a 2-mile radius but they only say that to introduce the 400-mile radius. And in the pilot when they leave ice world I believe that they slid near Quinns school because the timer was fried. After they had it fixed in "Summer of Love" they always landed at the same location. And im not making stuff up...im just going with what the season one and two guys wanted us to believe.

Dean

Okay

Date: 09/06/2001
From: TemporalFlux

Yes...there were a few instances in the first couple of seasons in which they landed in the same location they left the last world from. The Pilot, Fever and Time Again and World would be examples. However, there have been several other examples that they weren't doing this. As Time Goes By is probably the best one. They left Spanish world well outside of San Francisco...then landed on the next world inside of Golden Gate park. Then they left that middle world from Golden Gate park, but landed in the Presidio on the next world (if you follow the backwards time). What about Prince of Wails? They certainly didn't enter the next world 80 stories high...and do we even know if where they landed was directly under? There is no such fountain in front of the Trans america tower. What about Invasion? They left from an amusement park with a big ferris wheel...and landed in Golden Gate park. And this leaves some out like Into the Mystic and Greatfellas...because I'm sure a "behind the scenes" argument would be raised to refute why they landed in different places then.

The list goes on and on though. I mean, it's statistically probable they could land in the same exact place some of the time with a fairly small two mile radius...it even happened in season four's World Killer when they had a 400 mile radius. But if we say they were supposed to always land in the same place they left from...then how do you logically explain all these other times they didn't? The timer wasn't malfunctioning that often. There was absolutely no evidence of a malfunction in As Time Goes By.

If you are going by what you think production wanted you to believe based on the evidence...well, there is alot more evidence of random landings within that 2 mile radius. The pilot and Summer of Love even gave us some more evidence on random landings...but you did a pick and choose on when it was supposedly working and when it wasn't.

Co-creator Tracy Torme' was also still very much involved when Double Cross was made. He was still giving input and being listened to somewhat since it was the first show of the season and Blake and Jackson had worked with Torme' before (Torme even created the character of Diggs in that episode). Even if we say the radius wasn't always the rule...it was not something recklessly shoehorned in (even though the expansion of the radius to include LA was a network decision). Having a prior radius still gells with the past (and would even help explain some gaffes if that is what they were). There is ample evidence in place that there were rules about where they landed, though...and it wasn't simply always in the same place they left from.

Lastly, if Slidersfanatic had asked for information solely on what our imaginations conceived while viewing Sliders...then maybe your opinion would be viable. However, Slidersfanatic asked for cut and dried information concerning the continuity and history of the show...and I would be highly irresponsible if I just deleted information because I didn't like it. Your opinions can not be squared up with the history/continuity of Sliders...and they really have no real informed basis in my opinion.

Double Cross is in continuity (and a pretty big part of continuity at that). Deal with it.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

last post maybe

Date: 09/07/2001
From: SlidersRocks

Ok you do make some more good points. You bring up things like there's no fountain in front of the trans America tower and they left in San fran but landed inside the golden gate park. Well, these are real easy to explain off because Sliders is a show about parallel universes.....not every thing that we see on these other worlds needs to be in the same spot on the next. This is one thing that really bugs me because you could do anything in Sliders and they used the same sets over and over again. But anyway just because one place calls it self San fran doesn't mean the next world has to be the same as we know the locations to be. Most of earths the Sliders landed on had a different earth surface I think which explains why things are in different locations but they slide in the same spots when the timer is working 100% which is after Summer of Love. I did bring up most of the things you mentioned already like The Prince of Wails thing at the end of my fist post. And landing in the same exact place with a two mile radius isn't realistic. Yes, Double Cross is part of the show but that doesn't mean that the season one and seasons two crew didn't work with the idea of landing in the same spot but another world. I could still work with the two mile radius because it could fit in to my idea of the show anyway. Quinn says that it had a two mile radius...maybe it only expresesd any sort of radius when it was messing up. Like when they slide off ice world or when they needed to get off the trans america tower. When they slide off the tower the timer is forced to use its radius. But other those two the timer is acting fine and they slide off each world before it hits zero. Ill list the episodes that we see connect location wise from the last world they show us...just to show theres a lot to be just a coincidence.

Pilot - The timer is temporally fixed and they land in the same spot. At the end they side off near the statue and land in the same spot. The timer is fixed 100% in Summer of Love.

The King is Back - In the court room in the beginning.

Time Again and World - In the begging the slide off in a park like area.

Well, that's all I could come up with. Three out of the 35 worlds they visiting is still a lot. Good thing there weren't too many it would have taken away from the idea that you are visiting another world....it should not have been the same place settings wise but timer radius wise....yes.

Timer fixed in Summer of Love?

Date: 09/07/2001
From: TemporalFlux

Okay...100% fixed in Summer of Love? Remmy and Wade first landed in the hippie compound...Remmy had to go somewhere else on that earth to find Chaney Street (where Moonatic electronics was). They leave Summer of Love earth from the hippie compound...but they land on the tidal wave earth back in the vacinity of Chaney Street. If the timer was 100% fixed with this same location rule in place...they should have landed in the outskirts of town where the hippie compound was...not on Chaney street.

Saying that these are alternate worlds and "anything is possible" is not the thinking that was held in seasons one and two. You want season three and beyond for that thinking...the era when the producers would use this catch all excuse to patch over their ill thought ideas (such as the US military having a British officer - or psychic snakes who could push down doors). That's the company you just placed yourself in by using that. It's also a double edged sword for your argument. How do you know that was the same court room they landed in at the beginning of The King is Back? Couldn't it have been another court room 1 mile away that looked the same?

Probability was the thought in the early seasons...and they were not playing a game of alternate geography to make some "same location" rule work. If they wanted a same location rule...it would have clearly always been the same location. It wasn't.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

last post

Date: 09/08/2001
From: SlidersRocks

A couple of other episodes that the vortex opened in the same locations are "Fever" and "Gillian of the Sprits" When I say the timer was 100% fixed in "Summer of Love" I mean when Quinn and Arturo fixed it by using the helix spiral equation. Before this the timer was just draining power away from the system. After this it had the ability to take the Sliders on other worlds and gave it time to recharge. That's why we never see it mess up that often in years one -three. You see in the beginning of "Summer of Love" we see both groups in different locations because it was using the 2-mile radius then is another example. Yes, "anything is possible" in Sliders and I knew this when I was watching the show back in years one and two. If I knew this how could the producers not? Its a show about alternate worlds. Having locations named differently, being located differently, or having that earths crust being different isn't that extreme because it makes sense. We can see this in year 3 when they get a 400 mile radius because 99% of the worlds they land aren't in the ocean....so they must have a different crustal surface. I still haven't figured out how snakes could push down doors. So I don't know how I place myself in company of year three when what I say makes sense.

Dean

For the record

Date: 09/08/2001
From: TemporalFlux

In "Gillian of the Spirits," they leave rain world from what appears to be a forest. They land on Gillian's world on a beach. I suppose it could be argued that is the same location since we possibly didn't see everything due to camera angles. There is however no solid proof it is the same location.

Then we go further into "Gillian of the Spirits". At the end of the episode, they slide out from the basement of Quinn's father's house. They land on the Nude world out in *the street*. Not the same location. It's another cut and dried example backing up what I'm saying.

The reason I'm saying you are fitting season three and beyond logic is because you are trying to tell us that most of the time they were landing in the same place...it's just that different worlds have things in different locations. Again to this I say...when they seemingly landed in the same place, couldn't they have been at an identical place 1 mile away using the same logic? Not the same location there...1 mile away. Works just as well with the anything is possible analysis.

As for not landing on the ocean...well, I guess you didn't watch "Heavy Metal" (or it's something else you just want to arbitrarily excise from the show's history). Just like the landing in mid air problem (ala "Prince of Wails"), the separate densotrometer circuit (first covered in "Net Worth") always directed them toward land. Only because of a malfunction did they land in the ocean in "Heavy Metal". I also believe it was due to a malfunction they landed in the ocean at the start of "This Slide of Paradise" (a malfunction that later became apparent at the end of the episode when they didn't track the wormhole).

"Anything is possible" is an excuse that can be used to explain any thought you have. That's why the season three producers liked that excuse. It's the lazy man's out. It takes something more to actually examine the evidence and history to make sense of the continuity and makes things work in a given system.

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

a small post

Date: 09/08/2001
From: SlidersRocks

Yea you make some good points again. I guess it could be argued that they may have been at an identical place 1 mile away using my logic. I didn't mean landing in the ocean. I meant to saying landing over the ocean. And yes I did see "Heavy Metal" But then you say in "Net Worth" the timer always directed them toward land. Well, the Egyptian timer did this...thers no proof that Quinns timer had that ability. "Anything is possible" is not an excuse that can be used to explain any thought I have. I gave proof and evidence just like you did. I guess we cant both agree that we both have logical theories? Oh Well...

Dean

Agree?

Date: 09/08/2001
From: TemporalFlux

The theories can not live together. Their very precepts initiate an opposition at the core (which is the whole reason you initially responded to "set this straight"). It's akin to the Wells/Welles argument...they can't both be right.

I mean, I'm sorry...but what evidence you have provided is defeated by your own reasoning (which you even admit to - if not directly). I'm also sorry if it makes you feel bad...but I can find no logic in what you've put forth. If you gave something viable, I would agree with you. But I'm not going to agree for the sake of agreeing. You're obviously not either (I'm not the only person who's been responding here with counter points).

As for Net Worth...I guess I confused with my presentation. The densotrometer circuit was first discussed in Net Worth. This circuit works to keep them from landing in the middle of a solid object as discussed in Net Worth. I.e. - it detects density. This is the same chip that determines if they always land on land (hence it came up again - though not by name - in Heavy Metal. In Heavy Metal, Rembrandt mentioned a fail safe Quinn designed which always made them land on dry land. Whether or not you believe the logical conclusion that this was the densotrometer circuit...the fail safe was there to keep them from landing in the ocean. It was plainly stated).

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://www.dimensionofcontinuity.com

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