Sliders
Academy Awards: The DoC Award
Date: 01/02/2002
From: Recall317
Continuity has been such a glaring weak spot in this series that it has driven one man to devote a massive archive to unraveling the on screen incoherence. Yet there are a chosen few episodes that managed to not undercut its fellow episodes AND get from the teaser to the credits without internal foulups as well (i.e, a blown timeline, which eliminates roughly half of the first two seasons.)It is possible that more than one episode managed to have flawless continuity, so with that in mind, my selection is one that raised the level of difficulty:
Obsession
by Jon Povill and Steve BrownIt is probably because of its complex storyline that the writers were extra diligent in making sure everything made sense. Otherwise, the entire concept (a world where the future could be seen) would be ruined. Blinker's reasonable suggestion that this earth violates the rules of dimensional splits aside, the execution of this episode was near perfect.
I may not be a seer, but I can see many different nominations for this award. Go to it!
R317
Eats
envelope...
Date: 01/02/2002
From: SL4ever
Flips off BT. And then again!I'll have to go with Into the Mystic. It followed the squeaking gate and (lamely) resolved Quinn's injury and they even took three seconds to explain away Missing Ryan. (sort of)
I'd would go with your choice if we were just talking internal continuity, but as far as series continuity I think Into the Mystic was pretty faithful to What Hath Gone Before. Unlike, as you say, most of the series.
Hmmm...
Date: 01/02/2002
From: Slider_Quinn21
(((Beginning Text)))----------[()+::::]Well, who am I to disagree with the guy who probably visits the DoC more than TemporalFlux?
But...
Into the Mystic followed continuity ACCIDENTIALLY. Look where the Sliders slide into the world. Isn't that the same place where it exited last time? Now, if you look back, that follows continuity.
According to TF, the writers didn't even try that, so you may have to credit accidental genious here...
But because you are the biggest fan of DoC, I'll go with you and choose "Obsession."
The
ultimate What If?
Date: 01/02/2002
From: TemporalFlux
If Oscar got an Academy vote. ;-)First of all, I'm taking this to mean both as a stand alone episode and in a series perspective. I may be making this alot harder than it should be...but well, that seems to be my stock in trade. With that said, one could conceivably cheat on this one. You could say your answer is "The Pilot" and then claim that everything after which contradicted was a continuity breach. But...I don't think that would ultimately work. Wade's attitude alone is reason enough to claim "The Pilot" was wrong and the rest of the series was more correct. And hey...that's way too easy of an answer now isn't it?
Then you have "Into the Mystic". There was genius in the continuity of this episode...and it wasn't by accident. However, it's also not exactly what people are thinking about. Torme built the story to hinge on a single line. The episode was filmed thinking that it wouldn't resolve a thing...so Arturo said to Dr. Xang - "This man has a dislocated shoulder!" (referring back to the awkward landing we saw Quinn make on the entrance to this world) Once the resolution was finally approved, the entire episode was transformed by voicing over that *single* line - "This man has been shot in the shoulder!" (which now made the awkward fall just look like Quinn was too weak to slide due to his pre-existing wound) It was pure genius...and Torme planned the whole thing. It marks the only time in the entire series that someone secretly tailor-made an episode to swing both ways...and I would dare say, it's probably one of the few times that's been done in television history (outside of a special event - like a series finale fake off ala Seinfeld).
That alone doesn't save the episode in this category though. The 1996 on the Tombstone, for one thing. While we can argue that it was 1996 by that point (18 months from Sept 1994 would place PTSS in March of 1996 - which would make season two pretty cramped)...we know the real reason that date is there. They weren't paying attention when they actually shot the new sequence in 1996. Of course, you could say that was just weird because Quinn was dreaming. Well...then there's Quinn's birthday. Quinn was supposed to be a graduate student circa 25 years old when he slid in 1994 (according to the pilot script and notes)...yet this new "Into the Mystic" date made him suddenly younger (and closer to Jerry's actual age). Even in a vivid dream, Quinn should know the year he was born in my opinion. Then there's the problem of the gardener...I have my own theories as to what that actually meant, but it was left completely unclear and never followed up on. Those are just off the top of my head.
Aside from that, "Into the Mystic" did have several neat continuity bits. It would probably be at the top of my list if I thought this category was about that. Aside from all the neat continuity bits already mentioned, there's the sliding machine theory presented in "Eggheads" that was paid off. Then you had the "curse" theory which began in this episode and is really quite spooky when you look back on it after watching through season five (not to mention the fortune teller's warning of staying together or else). On top of that you had one of the bigger legendary status continuity bits introduced...Arturo's son.
But this is the award meant for the episode with the least continuity flaws to my understanding. So, looking over the list of episodes to choose from and going over it in my mind...I would probably have to agree that "Obsession" is the best choice. I mean, some have noted that the Prime Oracle didn't predict his death correctly...but I don't interpret it that way. The Prime Oracle said he would be dead "by [that] time tomorrow." One has to carefully look at the language, but that statement doesn't mean he would die at that exact moment the next day...it meant he would die sometime between when he made the statement and that time the next day. He died a few hours later. Looks like a solid (albeit infintesimally vague) prediction to me.
The only other hang up was the ending. Even if we ignore the fact that "Obession" has been irrevocably placed out of its intended airing order, the ending still wouldn't fit the purpose the writers and producers wanted. Derek's dire vision of their next world was supposed to refer to the Kromagg world of "Invasion". However...we see at the beginning of "Invasion" that they had went to another world in between (where Remmy got the knee pads). The problem was that the knee pad part wasn't originally conceived for this episode...it was originally on the front of "Love Gods". The decision was made to stick the knee pad gag on the front of "Invasion" instead...and well, they forgot that messed up the "Obession" pay off. Considering the fact that "Invasion" was almost not even made (and there was a kind of scramble with it to an extent)...it's understandable; but it's still a pretty glaring flaw. Of course, it's not really a problem to "Obsession"...the problem occurs at the start of "Invasion". In a series context...we have the slight vagueness of predictions shown to us by example through the first Prime Oracle of the episode. Derek could have been seeing two worlds ahead when he said "I just saw where they're going..." Of course, as the order is...it appears Derek meant "Lawyer World" as seen at the front of "Greatfellas". I'm sure not many would argue that is a horrid world indeed.
In any case, that is the choice I would make and the reasoning behind it. I'm not the final say in the category...but I'm sure I could find a way to put a big frowny face on the envelope if I wanted to.
....
Hey! Give that envelope back!!
Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://dimensionofcontinuity.com
"Obsession"
it is...
Date: 01/04/2002
From: Blinker
Beginning Text must be retroactively deleted from continuity!!Hey, if Recall317, TemporalFlux, AND FogBoy agree, it's GOT to have continuity!
http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/2326/23247/3
- Blinker 7:-P
http://slidersweb.net/blinker
Original URL http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/545/27232
Nominated by TemporalFlux
