Way Out West

// K2821 · Originally aired March 26, 1999

The Sliders encounter an old foe on a frontier earth and uncover his land-grabbing scheme while searching for a wounded Colin.

Teleplay // Chris Black
Story // Jerry O'Connell
Director // David Peckinpah
Music // Danny Lux

Reviews

// Earth Prime

“Way Out West” is a loving tribute to all the old westerns that ruled the media in the middle of this century. From Rembrandt declaring himself jumpier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs to Quinn’s laconic yups, this is as stereotypical a view of the Old West as you’re going to find.

// Think of a Roulette Wheel

The one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest knows what’s up.

// External Reviews

Worlds Visited

Cold World

A world where the mean temperature is closer to Ice Age than beach time.

Vega$ World

Old West-style values are alive and well on a world where gun slinging never died and Las Vegas is about to become the haven of corruption and sin that we know today.

Details

Ben Siegel III is staying at the Palace Hotel.
Paper money hasn’t been used since the recession of 1974.
Kolitar saw Quinn and Rembrandt’s escape tactic in the classic Kromagg film The Man Who Shot Kaleeth-Tar.

Character Information

Colin’s community in El Segundo knew the value of a good weapon, and as a result learned to shoot expertly. However, Colin believes that shooting another person is wrong and was taught expressedly against it by his father.
Maggie likes to sing.
Ben Siegel is the grandson of Ben “Bugsy” Siegel, the notorious gangster who got Las Vegas on its legs for our world in the 1920s.

Notable Quotes

“Hop on board ‘fore you fry your frijoles!”—the coach driver. It’s all in the execution.
“Hey bro, where’d you come up with that story?”—Quinn.
“Happened to me once. Prom night.”—Colin, discussing the bizarre story that Colin spun about horses and being out in the desert all on their lonesome.
“Did he say ‘varmint’?”—Rembrandt.
“Show me the money!”—Sheriff Redfield.
“Any private arrangement you make is strictly between you and the customers.”—Sheriff Redfield, telling Maggie that her assets might come in handy.
“Don’t suppose you know any Madonna?”—Maggie, to the piano player.
“Chaps hurting you just as much as mine are?”—Rembrandt.
“Yep.”—Quinn.
“The man may be a low-down, lyin’ polecat, but he weren’t lyin’ ’bout them grits.”—Rembrandt, reviewing the jail chow.
“You know, you’re really getting on my nerves!”—Rembrandt to the harmonica guy.
“I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather hang with.”—Rembrandt in the noose.
“Same here.”—Quinn.
“Does anybody have a Riccola?”—Quinn, after his aborted hanging.
“You people make me ornerier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!”—Kolitar.

Money Matters

The Sliders rent horses, stay at the local hotel, eat, drink and are generally merry… as long as Maggie keeps packing them in with her beautiful voice.

Nitpicks and Errors

It’s a small nit, but the dub job they did with Maggie’s voice was pretty bad.
Hey Kari, your boobs bothering you? You sure seem to grab ’em a lot!
You guys see Jerry’s pit stains at the beginning? Whoa!

Neatpicks

Kolitar registers himself on the deeds as K.R. O’Magg.
The scene where Colin gives back the gun and tells the girl that it might make a family heirloom someday smacks a little of the scene in Back to the Future III where Marty gives the Colt Peacemaker to Seamus. Nice touch.

Guest Starring

Reiner Schone as Kolitar
Karen Austin as Amanda Starr
Courtney Earlywine as Ellie Starr
Jay Acovone as Ben Siegel III
Marshall Teague as Sheriff Redfield
Burton Gilliam as Stage Driver

Reiner Schone reprises his role as Kolitar from Slidecage.
Jay Acovone also appears as Doctor Tassler in Sole Survivors and Stu in Eye of the Storm.
Marshall Teague also appears in The Dying Fields as General Kronus and as Redfield in Heavy Metal.

Script Archive

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

The Inside Slide

“It’s a western slide!” jokes Jerry O’Connell, who crafted the story of this episode. “I always thought of this show as a Western, but I went to NYU film so I pretty much over-analyze everything! Like I see Star Trek as a Western—Space the final frontier… parallel dimensions, the final frontier! We actually brought back a bad guy who’s a Kromagg—played by Reiner Schone, who’s a fabulous actor. He’s six foot eight, so he’s really imposing. I’ve never worked with alien make-up, I’ve never had to play an alien, but this is a guy who is such fun on and off the set, and he puts on this make-up and he just becomes this [villain].”

· · ·

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” claims Chris Black of this episode, helmed by David Peckinpah. “It’s going to have horses and six-guns and dance hall girls, and we’ve got a great western backlot, and we’re going to do some stunt work on it, so David is very enthusiastic about it. He’s a fine director, and he has a bit of a western heritage in his family, because of his uncle.

“This was a story that Jerry wrote up in great detail and brought in and pitched to us, and quite often, your knee-jerk inclination is, ‘Oh no, the star of the show has something they want to do; what’s it going to be like?’ and in all honesty, I read this thing and said, ‘This is a great story!’ It was a wild ride, and David really fell in love with it and wanted to direct it, and Jerry, between his acting and directing duties, didn’t really have time to write it himself, so I went over the outline with him and got his input and then sat down and wrote the episode.”

Do the action-adventure elements of this episode spell a regression to the character-lite episodes of seasons past?

“I wasn’t around last season so I can’t speak to a lot of those episodes,” Black adds, “but from what I’ve seen, you’re doing things the wrong way around if you have the plots driving the characters not the other way around, so the characters are stuck in a tough situation and having to punch and shoot their way out of it because it was the only thing to do.”