Slidecage

To find the beginning of "Slidecage", one must start at the end of Timecop: The TV Series. This very short-lived show based on the Jean-Claude Van Damme film debuted on ABC in September of 1997—and was canceled in October. Timecop filmed one soundstage over from Sliders, and Marc Scott Zicree was not one to waste high-priced sets. Inspired, he immediately spun up a story that became "Slidecage."

The final episode is remarkably similar to the original Writer’s Draft, but there is still notable evolution over the two-week period leading to the last revision. While the structure of the story is consistent, there are shifts in how the storylines are handled. We have the A plot of the Slidecage itself and the battle for control of it, the B plot of Rembrandt’s capture by the Kromaggs and his befriending of a Kromagg outcast, and the C plot of Maggie’s adventures in the walls of the prison. Let’s start from the bottom.

Maggie in the Walls

In the aired version, Maggie is saved by Thomas, a former soldier hiding in the walls of the Slidecage. As befitting a C story, it’s reasonably small and self-contained, with Maggie coaxing a man with severe PTSD to re-engage with the world, at least for a little while.

But the original idea was for Maggie to be saved by a double of her husband, Steven Jensen. Maggie has not been one to dwell on the past, so her thoughts about him have largely been kept to herself. This was an opportunity for her to confront her loss from "The Exodus."

Alas, it’s the C story; there’s just not enough time and space to do this justice. Not while there’s a battle raging outside and Rembrandt’s life on the line. Both Maggie and Steven recognize they don’t really know each other, so emotionally there’s little payoff. Steven’s major contribution to the story is scientific; he has scavenged the destroyed world outside and has found some items that assist the Sliders in taking over the Slidecage.

At some point between the Production Draft and the first revision five days later, Zicree decided to replace Steven with Thomas, presumably to save a good idea for a story where it could be developed further and get the focus it deserved ("Slide by Wire").

Captive Rembrandt

In the Writer's Draft, Rembrandt buys himself some time by helping Kolitar with a wound, using his mama’s salve/poultice from the bayou. (Remmy’s history continues to shift.) This time is spent bonding with Kaldeen, Kolitar’s fully Kromagg son. Kaldeen is deformed, the only baby born in the Slidecage. He is no warrior, but he does have extrasensory powers. More important, he has empathy. There is no cunning in him. Kaldeen enables Rembrandt to escape, but when Remmy sees the Kromaggs will punish Kaldeen, Rembrandt can’t abandon him. Kaldeen becomes human in the first revision. However, Kaldeen’s inability to leave the Slidecage is there right from the beginning.

There is nothing of the Manchurian Candidate in Rembrandt until the third revision, which is nearly a week after the first. This is basically what we see in the filmed version.

Extended A Story

The decision to lean heavily on the Kromagg secret in Rembrandt’s mind shifted considerable time from the A story, which originally dominated the script. The battle between humans and Kromaggs haunted the entire story and human leader Janie played a much larger role. Time was spent showing how she had become the way she was and how, in the end, she could not change. In fact, both Janie and Kolitar played out "Slidecage" as a tragedy, both unwilling to let go of the fight even on the eve of escape. Kolitar kills Janie; Kaldeen kills Kolitar. Fortunately, Kolitar survives in the final draft, enabling him to return triumphantly in "Way Out West." This desperate battle is replaced by Rembrandt’s near assassination of Quinn. Honestly, this is a bit of a toss-up. I think the original had more action and pathos, but one can understand shifting the focus to the Sliders over two characters you are significantly less invested in.

If Janie loses out, the character who takes the worst of it is Quinn. The Writer’s Draft has Quinn at his Quinn-iest. When Maggie is believed dead, Quinn does not mope. He immediately shoves it down deep and works out the next step. It is Quinn who walks Colin through the loss, not the other way around. And post-escape through the vents, it is Quinn who determines the Slidecage is protected and saves Colin from accidental death. All of that is lost. Yes, it probably tightens up the story to just skip that scene, but Quinn is steadily being diminished with each cut. His casual dismantling of the force field by just typing in something is much weaker than discovering there was a death trap in the first place and figuring out a way to defeat it.

Oh the Humanity!

In a minor shift, the episode was supposed to start and end on the Chandler Zeppelin, a floating luxury airship sailing between Los Angeles and San Francisco. I highly recommend taking advantage of such rare transportation when visiting parallel earths, although I would caution against opening a vortex while on board. On screen, it barely makes a difference. If you want to imagine the teaser is taking place in the clouds, it works the same.