The Young and the Relentless
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
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(Sliders Story No. 21, starring Jerry O'Connell)
- teleplay by T. Edward Anthony & Von Whisenhant
- story by Michael X. Ferraro and T. Edward Anthony & Von Whisenhant
- directed by Richard Compton
- music by Anthony Marinelli
- produced by Mychelle Deschamps
(and Jon Povill, Tony Blake and Paul Jackson)
- Production # K0814
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Story: Finding Quinn's double floating lifeless in a
mansion swimming pool drags Quinn and Wade into their married
doubles' cutthroat corporate lives, where the drive to succeed
financially has a deadline of the mandatory retirement age of 30.
Meanwhile, Rembrandt and Arturo are considered "over-age", and
become accused of breaking many of this world's bizarre by-laws.
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In-Depth Analysis Review
by Martin Izsak
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WARNING: This review contains "SPOILERS", and is intended for
those who have already seen the program. To avoid the spoilers, read
the Buyers' Guide version instead.
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Perhaps it was internet misinformation spawned by season two's
production code sequence that caused me to think I was watching the
season finale when I originally sat down to the first broadcast of
this story. Although the episode doesn't deliver anything special enough
to be considered "season finale" material, we still get one of
season two's better episodes, easily setting up anticipation for
interesting angles for the story to go through, and bringing both of
two separate plots to quite satisfactory conclusions.
The wormhole effect is done on the cheap during the opening,
relying on a piece of stock footage from
the pilot and leaving
everything else just off-screen, aiming for some stylistic points
instead with foreshadowing and humour, and having some success at it.
Not a great story to introduce new viewers to the series with,
but nice variety for those already familiar with the show.
It isn't long before the main A-plot premise hooks the viewers in
for the ride: Quinn and Wade's doubles were rich, married to each other,
and have corporate lives complicated enough to get Quinn's double killed.
Perhaps even more significantly, this really is the first story of
"Sliders" that allows Sabrina Lloyd to spend significant time portraying
one of her doubles, and she sinks her teeth into this doozy of a new role
and makes it unforgettable. Very nice job. Another set of excellent touches
are all the constant reminders of the contrasts between our regular
Quinn and Wade and their corporate doubles, and whether our regulars
would make a better or more successful couple. Great subject matter.
One can't help staying tuned in for all the character details of this story,
while its successful mystery plot becomes icing on the cake.
The guest characters for this A-plot aren't the greatest, but neither
are they meant to be its great draw. To some extent, they are background,
and as such, they work.
Rembrandt and Arturo are off on a completely separate B-plot for this
story, although it very nicely demonstrates the natural flip-side of the
world's age-related premise and makes real some of the pressures at work
in the A-plot. This B-plot seems to have better guest characters
in the long run, with the judge and attorney standing out well.
Perhaps it could also have benefitted from another double of
hotel manager Gomez Calhoun, but sadly he does not appear in this one.
The music for this story is surprisingly lively, bordering on pop-tunes
all the way through. One gets the sense that Anthony Marinelli may be
imitating the style of other shows or movies which may have helped
inspire this story's premise and style. For style, "Dynasty" and
"Dallas" come to mind,
as well as the soap-opera with the nearly identical title to the
episode's own. However, the world's premise draws closer parallels
to the film "Logan's Run".
"The only thing we have in common is
wishing the person we were looking at was someone else."
The conclusions and wrap-ups are quite well done in this one,
giving both Quinn and Wade lots of good things to do, and allowing
Rembrandt and Arturo to have a good impact as well. Quinn's heroics
are better than usual, I would say, although it's appropriate that he
shares them in this one.
This story's closest rival in the rankings is probably
"Obsession" (story no. 19), although
I feel that "The Young and the Relentless" will squeak past it
due to having greater dimensions for character outcomes and
a more proactive and entertaining resolution. Parallel Wade
in particular is a unique creation that no Sliders fan will want
to miss.
This story has become available on DVD.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you
for pricing and availability:
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
for the U.K.
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Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact
the author from this page:
Contact page
LYRATEK.COM
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Read the In-depth Analysis Review for the next story:
"Invasion"
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