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Context Recap / SlidersS02E12Invasion

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sliders_2x12.png]]
2
3Originally aired June 28, 1996
4
5Written by Tracy Tormé
6
7Directed by Richard Compton
8
9The Sliders arrive on a world in the midst of an alien invasion. After Quinn shoots down one of the ships, he and the others soon learn the invaders are called Kromaggs, who can slide at will and plan to conquer every parallel Earth.
10----
11!!Tropes present in the episode:
12
13* AlienInvasion: The Sliders land in the middle of one. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that the "aliens" turn out to be Kromaggs and therefore not actual aliens.
14* ArmorPiercingQuestion: During her interrogation, Wade defiantly says that even if she did know her home's coordinates, she would never tell the Kromaggs even to save her own life.
15-->"What if Quinn Mallory's life were at stake? Would that make a difference to you?"
16* BatmanGambit: Convinced the Sliders don't know the location of Earth Prime, the Kromaggs had one of them implanted with a tracking device and manipulated their escape.
17* BeingWatched: The Gate Haven patient stops himself from telling the Sliders anything more, out of fear the Kromaggs are watching.
18* BlackMarket: According to the prisoner, human eyes are quiet expensive on the Kromagg black market.
19* ContinuityNod: Although the protagonists don't acknowledge his identity, the eyeless prisoner is none other than Conrad Bennish, Jr.
20* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Despite his ramblings, the Gate Haven mental patient actually knew that the Kromaggs are interdimensional travelers.
21* DavidVersusGoliath: Quinn is able to cause the manta ship to crash due to some technobabble involving the timer. Rembrandt likens the whole thing to the biblical David and Goliath.
22* DivideAndConquer: Quinn observes how the Kromaggs have actively kept the entire group from being together during their captivity.
23* DownerEnding: The Kromaggs implanted one of the Sliders with a tracking device and Mary aided in their deception.
24* TheDreaded: The mental patient the Sliders encounter describes the Kromaggs thusly:
25-->"They're marauders, killers, and they eat eyes--''human'' eyes. They came here to vanquish us--riding a wave of manta ships to our world and so, our Earth dies screaming."
26* TheEndOrIsIt: As the Sliders reflect on this adventure, the lead Kromagg says that they will be waiting for the day the Sliders find their home Earth.
27* EyeScream: The Kromaggs eat human eyes. A prisoner that the Sliders come across is revealed to be eyeless.
28* FakingTheDead: Mary is seemingly killed by the Kromaggs. Of course, being their agent, she doesn't actually die.
29* TheFinalTemptation: Rembrandt is prodded for information by a double of his father (essentially a symbol of the world he so badly wants to get back to). Arturo later says the Kromaggs repeatedly offered him whatever he desires in exchange for the coordinates to Earth Prime.
30* FrenchJerk: The French waiter is actively antagonistic towards the English Arturo.
31* FromBadToWorse: Being in Kromagg captivity is bad enough, but Arturo seeing the depths of their mental tricks makes him realize just how dire the group's situation is and dread what their endgame is.
32* GayParee: San Francisco on the French world has accordion music, mimes, and more French clichés.
33* GodzillaThreshold: In the last act, Arturo says they have no choice but to try to escape even at the risk of their lives. Wade and Rembrandt fully agree.
34* GreenEyedMonster: The eyeless prisoner calls guards on the Sliders simply because they can escape, and he can't.
35* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Rembrandt meets a simulation of his father, who mentions his sister. Problem is, Rembrandt doesn't have a sister; this allows Remmy to figure out this isn't his father.
36* InterrogatedForNothing: The Sliders repeatedly insist they don't know the coordinates to Earth Prime, but the interrogations continue. While the Kromaggs did want that information most of all, it should be noted that the interrogations served other purposes: learning everything possible about the group and their Earth, as well as pushing them into being desperate enough to attempt an escape.
37* {{Irony}}: The mental patient sees the irony of the Kromaggs effectively coming "from right here."
38* LesserOfTwoEvils: Played for laughs. After returning to New France, Arturo admits it's at least preferable to a Kromagg prison.
39* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Quinn is a little remorseful that his actions got the Kromagg pilot killed.
40* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Arturo takes a dog tag off a deceased Kromagg so he and the others will have concrete evidence of the Kromaggs' existence. Unfortunately, doing so allows the Kromaggs to track down our heroes and capture them.
41* NotSoDifferentRemark:
42-->'''Wade:''' They remind me of some kind of hideous ape.\
43'''Arturo:''' What's disturbing about that face is not so much the ape in it, but the man.
44* NothingIsScarier: Rembrandt is troubled by the thought of what the Kromaggs will do to his father's double.
45* OhCrap: Arturo initially talks to a hallucination of Rembrandt, only to be quite stunned when the real one returns to the cell.
46-->'''Rembrandt:''' You look like you've seen the Devil.\
47'''Arturo:''' I think maybe I did.
48* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Sliders]]: Both Wade and Rembrandt advocate leaving the crashed manta ship be and getting out of there before someone comes looking for it.
49* OrganicTechnology: The Kromagg manta ship is made of organic metal.
50* PragmaticVillainy: The Kromaggs could've simply killed the Sliders, but they wanted to learn everything they could about them and their world. Their interrogations also rely more on mental tricks than physical harm.
51* ProperlyParanoid: Before the ImposterForgotOneDetail, Rembrandt notices how nervous his "father" looks and gives him a suspicious glance.
52* PsychicPowers: Kromaggs have them, as does Mary.
53* RealAfterAll: Arturo admits he thought the eyeless prisoner was just another Kromagg illusion.
54* TrackingDevice:
55** Arturo takes a dog tag off a deceased Kromagg, not knowing that it can act as a tracking device. That's what allows the Kromaggs to track the Sliders down.
56** It is revealed at the end of the episode that a tracking device has been planted on one of the Sliders before they escaped. "[[Recap/SlidersS04E03CommonGround Common Ground]]" later reveals that the relevant Slider was Quinn.
57* TranslationConvention: Despite Mary's insistence that Kromaggs don't bother learning human languages, the final scene shows one speaking English.
58* UnderestimatingBadassery: Arturo seeing that he was tricked into talking to a hallucination of Rembrandt causes him to realize they have seriously underestimated what the Kromaggs are capable of.
59* WhamEpisode: All of the group's Kromagg troubles begin here.
60* WhamLine:
61** Quinn at the amusement park: "Wade, the Kromaggs--they're Sliders!"
62** In the last scene, the lead Kromagg speaks perfect English.
63* WhamShot:
64** A second Kromagg manta ship emerging from a vortex.
65** The neighboring prisoner turns out to be an eyeless double of Bennish.
66* WrongGenreSavvy: Based on Rembrandt's interrogation, the Kromaggs believe it was Arturo that built the timer and not Quinn.
67* YouDidTheRightThing: Double subverted. When Quinn expresses remorse for accidentally killing the Kromagg pilot, Arturo says he killed an invading soldier. Mary casts doubt on this soon afterwards with a claim the Kromaggs were invited by the locals to quell a dispute, but she later admits this was a lie and that it was an invasion effort.

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