The Dream Masters

// K1807 · Originally aired October 18, 1996

Wade becomes the target of a group of dream terrorists, who control people with their ability to tinker with the victim’s innermost fears.

Teleplay // Melinda Snodgrass
Story // Scott Smith Miller and Melinda Snodgrass
Director // Jefery Levy
Music // Danny Lux

Reviews

// Earth Prime

Shoveling Wade into the role of the helpless victim who must fend off the Dream Masters’ attacks is fruitless at best. The sound, direction and lighting are awful. And the dreams? Don’t get me started.

// Think of a Roulette Wheel

I’ve been very, very forgiving to this season so far (as if you hadn’t noticed). But now I can’t be nice any longer.

// External Reviews

Worlds Visited

Mardi Gras World

All-night partying and a Carnival atmosphere? All courtesy of a world where Napoleon never met his Waterloo.

Dream Master World

Don’t get too much beauty rest.

Details

The amusement midway at the start of the episode is located on Santa Monica pier and is called Pacific Park.
The skater collapses in front of the Harbor Grill at the park.
While in L.A., the Sliders stay at the Royal Chancellor Hotel.
Wade’s romance novel is called Shipwreck Cape by Candice Collier.
Wade ‘dies’ at 8:42 p.m. Pacific Coast Time on a Thursday.

Stages of Dream Manipulation

Stage One: Initial contact is made. Psychotropic drugs are passed to the victim via osmosis. The Dream Master feels out weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Stage Two: The Dream Master is able to manifest visible injuries on the victim.
Stage Three: Usually fatal. The victim is fully engaged in a nightmare created by the Dream Master to provoke the most fear.

Character Information

Rembrandt had an affair with a woman named Cindy on Mardi Gras World.
Wade also met an unnamed man, but slid without saying goodbye.
Arturo plays chess. (It was established in The Guardian that Quinn plays as well.)
Rembrandt says that while he was in the Navy they used to prescribe orange juice and liver after the soldiers gave blood.
Arturo’s blood-type is O-negative.
Arturo says that he really enjoys teaching. “I like seeing the light go on in people’s eyes,” he says.
Wade was once been mugged at knife point and has had an intense fear of being cut and bleeding ever since.
Wade also says that she is “really afraid” of snakes. (Too bad, because in Slither she has to deal with a whole mess of ’em.)

Notable Quotes

“It’ll be the last time that I’ll ever have to listen to one of your lectures.”—A riled Rembrandt to an accusatory Arturo.

Money Matters

The Sliders pay for two nights in the Royal Chancellor Hotel.
Wade buys a romance novel and orders a pot of coffee.
The four buy coffees in the hotel bar.

Nitpicks and Errors

Quinn calls bartender Diggs by name without ever having been introduced to him.
Arturo says the he understands why Officer Weber helps them locate the shelter “because [she] has been a victim of the dream masters herself.” But later we discover that it is the dream masters’ goal to kill or comatose every person they set their sights on, to do otherwise would not instill the fear Cardoza longed for the people to have of them. So how did Weber survive an attack?
Unfortunately, when Arturo is shot by the firing squad in his dream, the FX pop-blood pack on his left shoulder is quite obvious under his shirt.
This is the first episode never feature the Sliders actually sliding.

Neatpicks

As Gerald stands over the frightened man at the beginning of the episode, it’s obvious that the word ‘roller’ has been blacked out on the label of his helmet. It should read ‘Rollerblade,’ a brand of in-line skates and equipment.
In an episode about sleep, it’s funny to note that the pattern on Wade’s pillow case consists of hundreds of little sheep surrounded by stars and moons.

Guest Starring

Zack Ward as Gerald Thomas
Katherine LaNasa as Dr. Olivia Lujan
Rodney Eastman as Byron
Lester Barrie¹ as [Elston] Diggs
J. Steven Smith as Henry
Michael Des Barres as Vincent Cardoza

Co-Starring

Symba Smith as Officer Weber
Kenneth Johnson as Skater

Unaccredited:

The bartender whom Gerald performs the sugarcube trick for.
The actor who plays Dr. Edward Lujan.
The second bike cop.
Various Dream Masters, including the bespectacled one that Quinn punches out.
The two caged go-go dancers.

Lester Barrie appears as Diggs in Double Cross, Desert Storm, Dragonslide, Murder Most Foul and The Breeder.

Script Archive

Click on the links below to download rare scripts, outlines, and memos associated with this episode.

The Inside Slide

Tracy Tormé spoke a little bit about this episode.

“Melinda Snodgrass… is writing a Halloween show, which is pretty interesting and spooky,” he says. “I worked with [her] on Star Trek.”

· · ·

Jerry O’Connell found “The Dream Masters” more than a little spooky.

“We’ve got one episode, directed by Geoff Levy, and it’s pretty freaky,” Jerry says. “Making it I was freaked out, but I saw the cut and it’s a little frightening—and I’m a hard scare!”