Even a television series that starts out strong with a solid premise and successful production can eventually lose its focus. At this point the show typically ramps up for the proverbial jump of the shark while the studio executives cut their losses, announce the cancelation and plan its replacement. In the year 2000 a science fiction series that had gathered a reasonable fan base met with such a faith; ‘Sliders’. Five years before that it premiered with the generation of a lot of excitement in the hard core Sci-Fi con crowd. The premise was incredibly rich in potential and presented a perfect blend of classic science fiction tropes and cutting edge quantum physics. The show was built on one of the fascinating theories currently making its rounds in theoretical quantum physics symposia. These theories hold hat it is possible to bridge time and space and by extension possible cross over into alternate quantum universes. Within the context of the series’ mythos a brilliant young researcher, Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), in string theory, creates a device that opens a vortex that permits passage through a semi-stable Einstein-Rosen bridge. He accidently discovered a portal to a series of alternate universes each with slight but significant differences. Little factors woven into the original storylines provided for a time limit for their stay in each destination and dire consequences if it the ticking clock runs out. The destinations were also random presenting each episode with a vast amount of variation to drive originality each week. By the fifth season much of this established rule set had been broken or at least bent past recognition. The ramp up to the shark tank was constructed out of these changes and finalized by major revisions in the primary cast and cancelation by Fox, the originating network. It was picked up by the Sci-Fi channel but unfortunate the series was too far gone at this point to save. I was an immediate fan of the series following it through most of its Fox run but admittedly my interest began to wane as it switched networks. Still, like many fans of the genre I am a prone to want a complete set in my collection. The first four seasons had been released on DVD years ago but the region one release of this final season had eluded us. It was possible to watch it via streaming video on services such as Netflix but possession of the officially released disc eluded us. It’s been four years since season four was released on DVD but now at last Universal Studio has made it possible to complete your collection.

The writers faced a difficult task when two of the remaining cast decided to leave. Original series star Jerry O'Connell and his real life brother Charlie both left to pursue other career opportunities. In previous seasons Charlie portrayed Quinn’s long lost brother, Colin. This is a well used soap opera ploy to revitalize a dying thread but here in combination with other cast departures and significant alterations in the shows guidelines it was too little, too late. The method used to explain the absence and minimize disruption in the character dynamic they wrote in a ‘vortex mishap’ that fused Quinn and Colin into a hybrid Mallory played by Robert Floyd. In this incarnation the new Quinn was not a scientist which further distance this season from the original premise. This left only one original cast member left standing through this ultimate season, Rembrandt 'Crying Man' Brown (Cleavant Derricks). He was originally placed as a form of comedic relief the character was all that remained to provide continuity. The Sci-Fi Channel did rehire the series original creators in a hope to bolster the rapidly declining ratings a remnant of the last couple season was the Kromaggs. This alternate humanoid native to another dimension had a perfected form of sliding and was using the technology to build a trans-dimensional empire. It was initially intended to add a traditionally strong plot device, the visible villain, to help unify the overall story arc but many fans considered the plot device too much of a departure from the original premise of random travel with new dangers at each stop.

The interpersonal dynamic that had been established in the first season has been destroyed by the change in the lineup. Remy was now the only one left from ‘Earth Prime’ and the contrast between the artistic type and brilliant scientist was lost. Capt. Maggie Beckett (Kari Wuhrer) was a hard edged military who couldn’t quite serve as the moral compass role originally held by Wade Wells (Sabrina Lloyd). There was an attempt to bring Wade back in the middle of the season, well sort of. Wade telepathically communicates with Rembrandt relating to him that the Kromaggs are keeping her brain alive on one world in order to further their plans for domination.

I’ve talked to a number of fans about the release of this season and encountered mixed feelings. Some, like me, prefer to see it out and want to have the complete series in my collections. The other prevalent sentiment is this season is best forgotten; concentrate on the best of the early seasons. If nothing else this season provides an interesting inside view of the workings of a television network trying to give a once well regarded series a fighting chance. I figure if Cleavant Derricks could stick it out to the bitter ends then fans should do the same. In any case there are several interesting moments here and an open ended final episode. Others may want to give it a watch through a streaming media service just to see how things turned out without the commitment of purchase.