S1 | 8/10 | “Summer of Love”

Posted Thomas on December 9th, 2007 | Filed under Episode Reviews

Episode Review: “Summer of Love”
Season 1
Original Airdate: 4/19/95
Review Rating: 8/10

The Sliders find themselves on a world where the hippie generation of the 1960s exists, while the U.S. wages war against Australia.

In the beginning we find Bennish on the home world, being thoroughly pushed for information on the Sliders’ whereabouts by the FBI. It’s a nice approach to play with, yet I believe it could have been executed better. For example, why not give Bennish the ability to slide to find his friends; or follow the lives of the families who are dealing with their disappearances?

The vortex has really impressed me in this episode exceeding my expectations of the ones featured in the “Pilot”. The Sliders first arrive on a world where creatures named “spiderwasps” overtake the U.S. They’ll undoubtedly grab your attention and quickly. Especially the one that finds itself on Arturo’s back. They did a nice job in creating a fictional creature, while still making it believeable. As the Sliders advance the timer to escape certain death they are separated among two different wormholes.

The next world the Sliders arrive on is comparable to our earth during the Vietnam War in the 60s. On this earth however, it’s where we discover that the U.S. and Australia are in total warfare. Oliver North has been elected president and the hippies are bizarre as ever. “Summer of Love” is packed with great comedy and it also follows three different routes the Sliders take on the 60s world. You’ll find no disappointments with the comedic paranoia of Mrs. Tweak and Rembrandt’s amusing experiences with his double’s wife.

With all the mayhem that revolves around the Sliders, they struggle to reunite and discover a way home before the time runs out on their next slide. “Summer of Love” relies heavily on humor and of course the ‘what if’ factor continues to demonstrate to us how different things can be on a parallel world. You’ll want to quickly follow up with the next episode “Prince of Wails” since continuity plays a factor among the two.

Memorable Quotes:

Wade: “What are our chances of getting home?”
Quinn: “No one knows how many parallel Earths there are. There may be six, 600, or six million.”
Rembrandt: “If it’s six, home’s just around the corner.”
Wade: “What if there’s six million?”
Professor: “Then we have an awful lot of sliding to do.”
Quinn (ready to slide): “All right, let’s do it!”
Professor (to the Hippies): “Thank you for your hospitality, and goodbye! Yah!”
Rembrandt: “Stay cool, y’all. Great car! Sorry about the lights! Yah!”
Skidd (to Wade): “Don’t go!”
Fling: “Don’t go, please!”
Wade: “I have to, you guys. But thanks for everything!”
Skidd: “Don’t go!”
Wade: “And remember, all you need is love.”
Hippies (together): “Love is all you need.”