Red Dwarf Review: Series VII Wrap Up

I have to admit, I normally do have a tinge of sadness when I finish reviewing a series of Red Dwarf, as I look back and recognise that, while I do have these episodes at my disposal at any moment, that's another chapter closed in my progress of reviewing every episode of one of the greatest shows ever made.

This time, though, it's not really a tinge of sadness as much as a sense of melancholy about the end of the series. Why? Well, let's put it this way...

This might be the worst series of Red Dwarf.

I'm serious. I knew from the moment Lister messed around with Kryten's programming that this series was going to be the first series that I would not give a decent amount of praise to. After "Barely a Joke", this series sealed another milestone: I had grown to hate this series. Hate it. It's probably the worst group of episodes in the history of British TV (except for maybe "The Twin Dilemma").

Why? Well, let's romp off the reasons... after the break.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 8: "Nanarchy"

Airdate: 7 March, 1997

Synopsis: Lister's feeling a bit down. Apparently, having your right hand lobbed off isn't the best thing for your mood. Apparently, he's made Kryten basically take care of him, to the android's happiness... and Kochanski's frustration. Kryten is forced to realise that Lister needs a new arm. After a mind-controlled prostetic only causes pain to Kryten, the crew decide to use Kryten's circuit reconstructing Nanobots. They were last seen around the time the crew suffered a minor incident with the Despair Squid. (Ah, a time when reviewing Red Dwarf didn't depress me. Happy days!) The crew are put into deep sleep until they arrive back at the site of the Esperanto. They find that the planet is apparently registering as Red Dwarf, partially due to the materials on the planet being from Red Dwarf.

Review (SPOILERS): This episode seems to exist for one reason and one reason only- resolve the arc that seemed to be abandoned at the end of last season. Oh, and try and resolve the cliffhanger from the previous episode..

The thing is, with Red Dwarf, previous changes that seemed to be permanent at the end of the episode were resolved by the next week, such as the ending of "Bodyswap", or the end of "Polymorph". Here, this episode seems to be an answer to "how does stuff like this get resolved?"

The answer? Glacially slow.

Much like, say, "Blue", this episode would've worked better if constrained to American time limits: 22 minutes seemed fine for this episode. Now? Every attempt at humour drags on, at least in the first half. We get it: Lister's disabled. Now, Red Dwarf has done dark comedy before: Rimmer's screwed-up life, for example. Yet, the jokes are too thin and drag on too much to be funny. That, plus a lack of jokes in the second half, meant that the episode has far too little humour.

The plot? Pretty stupid. What, Starbug couldn't register something that was in it's own ship? Look, I know Red Dwarf is microscopic now, but come on. Now, Red Dwarf had plotlines and resolutions that made no sense before, such as "Backwards". However, "Backwards" ran on a pure theory of "rule of funny", and was actually, you know, funny. Not a whole lot of laughs here. Doug Naylor wants us to take Red Dwarf seriously now, yet the plots here make little, if any, sense.

Oh, and why are they taking a risk with another cliffhanger? Didn't Naylor learn his lesson from the three-year hiatus that the show endured?

It's not a total loss of an episode. For one, despite my complaint of "not a whole lot of laughs", there are a few scenes that are a bit funny, such as the reconstruction of Lister's arm. The second half of the episode does pick up in terms of good lines, also. Again, I will not fault the actors here: they all put in an awesome performance, up to and including Chloe Annett.

It's just not a very good episode. The plot is muddy, and the comedy is dry. Kinda fitting that a poor series ends with a poor episode.

Actually, I forgot one thing...

HOLLY'S BACK!

"What's happening, dudes?"

Yes, folks. Norman Levitt, after 8 years, reprised his most famous role, barely any balder. Maybe it's just me being ecstatic because it's a link to a much happier time in Red Dwarf history, but every line that Holly delivers is fantastic. That's a plus for this episode.

Tidbits:

• This was the first and only episode of Red Dwarf to have three writers, albeit only out of technicality. James Hendrie wrote the first draft. He was unavailable to write the second draft, however, and was replaced with Paul Alexander. The episode was "brushed up" by Doug Naylor.
• I know I've mentioned this for the 7th time, but the CGI is garish. Some might argue that I should give the show the benefit of the doubt: it was a BBC production, and BBC once had a reputation for being notoriously cheap with it's sci-fi entertainment, one it never really shook off. That, and I will concede that it was a necessary evil to get the last scene of the episode.
• Nice to see the small rouge one again... even if it is in cheesy CGI.
• This episode (and the past two seasons, in fact) actually have a webcomic prequel, "Prelude to Nanarchy". It's pretty decent, I guess.

Favourite Scene: "All right, dudes?" And with that, the last episode of the series became memorable.

Least Favourite Scene: The "ball" scene is long and boring.

Score: 3.75. Holly saved this episode.

Red Dwarf Review: "Epideme" (Series VIII, Episode 7)

Airdate: 28 February, 1997

Synopsis: The idiots aboard Starbug board an abandoned ship, the Levithian. While investigating the ship, they find the body of one of Lister's former lovers, Caroline Carmen. Despite the crew failing to thaw her out, she eventually thaws herself out, decomposed, and attacks Lister with the Epideme Virus. While the Epideme virus is intelligent and supposed to cure victims of any addiction to nicotine, in reality, it kills it's victims within mere hours. The crew realize that the only way they're saving Lister is moving the virus to one of Lister's hands before lobbing it off with the virus, which works as well as you expect.

Review: Wait, wait. Stop the presses. Is this a Series VII episode that I actually... enjoyed?

Well, relatively speaking, this feels pretty damn close to classic Red Dwarf, compared to "Beyond A Joke", which made me want to quit watching Red Dwarf altogether.

The plot is certainly one that wouldn't feel too out of place in, say, Series IV... except for maybe the resolution, of course. The idea of a super-intelligent virus that talks like a game-show host (Gary Martin) is actually pretty creative, if a bit derivative of "Confidence and Paranoia". The game-show elements really sell the Epideme character, and provide for some decent character comedy. (Again, much like Confidence, why does the virus have an American accent?) The idea behind it's creation adds a great idea to a theme of unwanted consequences; in this case, a virus created to save lives instead kills people.

Epideme's character is actually one of the better "monsters-of-the-week" out of all those we saw in the past two series. (Yes, that includes Legion and the viruses from "Gunmen of the Apocalypse".) His game-show host accent helps mask a more manipulative and cruel character. However, he also brings up the fact that he does his actions because he needs to live, much like a human does. Thus, we have to consider: is there a method to the "madness" of other species? Is the virus knowingly "evil", or should he live despite his deadly shortcomings? These are just questions.

Character, while not perfect, is some of the best this season. This episode serves to remind us that, if Lister is the last gasp for humanity... is the species worth saving? Does Lister's overtly humanist and lazy behavior offset his general kindness? The positives here somewhat conflict with "Meltdown", where Lister argues that the Wax Droids are practically human because they're capable of independent thought. (He is promptly arrested by an increasingly insane Rimmer). I might be able to excuse this by means of his positive outlook being chipped away by various antagonists, and the fact that it contradicts the well-being of others, but still.

This episode actually shows a portrayal of the Kryten/Kochanski rivalry that didn't want to make me poke out my eardrums. Is it still an insult to Kryten's prior character? Quite. Still, this was more tolerable, given that Kryten only whines once or twice. Also, we see them agree on one thing: the well-being of Lister is one thing they certainly agree on, even if their relationship with the man is somewhat different.

Kochanski still seems to not really gel in terms of character development, barring her relationship with Kryten (somewhat). We do see her take a rather creative solution to Lister's predicament with Epideme, one which I sort of liked, but it still poses the big problem with Kochanski and the rest of the crew. Red Dwarf was, from the beginning, a show composed of a bunch of inexperienced losers, who might have won once or twice on their own accord rather than sheer luck or through borderline pyrrhic victories. Here, Kochanski's solution is simply too "good" for Red Dwarf. That's the problem with Kochanski in a nutshell: her character doesn't fit. I can understand the "middle class officer on a ship full of losers" and where Doug Naylor was going with that. It's just not working in terms of fantastic comedy or engaging resolutions. However, Kochanski does get a few funny lines, and Chloe Annett is really making the best of the awkward situation.

This episode seems to go back to comedy, compared to "Beyond a Joke". Most of the comedy outside of the transfer of the virus seems to be lighter. The virus-transfer scene seemed to want to ape the infamous "Polymorph attacks Lister" scene from "Polymorph" in terms of more low-brow humour. It works, but "Polymorph" worked better because of it's use of established character traits, sight gags, and the awesome camerawork. It's not as deep. Still, can't really fault the comedy too much, even if it provided more giggles than out-loud laughs.

What we have here is a pretty damn good episode here. Easily my favorite episode from Series VII. Maybe my hopes are too high for the last episode ("Nanarchy"), but still.

Tidbits

• This episode was written by Paul Alexander, who also co-wrote "Stoke Me A Clipper", another great episode from this series. It seems like, if Doug Naylor is paired up with somebody not under his thumb, his dramatic/sci-fi impulses are kept in check with some comedy, or there's somebody there to check his flaws.
• This episode was also based off an old Joseph Carrot joke; "What if your flu could talk to you". Normally, episodes based on flimsy jokes tend to fail. In this case, it seems like this show has succeeded,
• I still hate the CGI Starbug. I'm not sure how it would look on a 90s CRT-TV, but it certainly looks cheesy nowadays. Compare the models, which still look pretty damn good on a modern TV.
• Gary Martin was actually brought into the show by his friend, Danny John-Jules.
• One last thing... looks like Red Dwarf is creeping in stateside. Stations in Washington State seem to be airing the show, as well as the first series. Let's just hope it arrives on Long Island soon.

Favorite Scene: I personally liked damn near every moment with the Epideme Virus. Maybe it's the voice. Who knows?

Least Favorite Scene: The first minute or so is pretty pointless.

Score: 7.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 6: "Beyond A Joke"

Airdate: 21 February, 1997

Synopsis: Kryten gets so jealous, his head blows up. The rest of the group need to find a second droid to help repair him, or something. They come across a simulant, that tries to show Kryten why he was created.

Yes. This went to air.

Review: The fine folks at the Red Dwarf fansite Ganymede and Titan (which is something like a Dead Homer Society-type blog) have dubbed this episode "Barely a Joke", for it's supposed lack of good humour and dull plot. Is it that bad?

Sorta.

A decent problem here is Kryten's character. Again, Kryten continues to be overtly jealous. Sure, it's justified: I'd be a bit miffed if somebody forgot the anniversary of me meeting my best friends. However, it goes to irrational levels in Jane Austen World. Once he commandeers a tank to destroy the Jane Austen World scenario, all sympathy for him is gone. You want to see Kryten shoved out an airlock at that point. Yet the crew go on and praise his lobster... yet apparently ketchup sends him over the edge. Once his head's restored, his character gets mildly better. I did like the reveal on his backstory... or at least, I tried. The nega-drive, though...

...let's just make this clear. The Kryten from Series III-VI was not pompous. Overbearing? A tiny bit, but he was dealing with idiots. Ridiculous-looking? A little. But his main character trait was being a relative bastion of sanity on a ship of fools, only held back by relatively dated technology, his prior loneliness aboard the Nova 5, and a relative aloofness compared to other humans. It helped give him depth, and provided humour. This episode is essentially saying that all of Kryten's actions this season, the jealousy, the selfishness, the screechy behaviour, were all ingrained in his personality, and that he was meant to become a druggie. Doug Naylor has effectively destroyed Kryten's character, for the sake of tension and to do a "drugs are bad, okay" story.

However, the big, overlying problem in this episode? It's probably the most boring episode in Red Dwarf history. There are few decent jokes in the first half. It's pretty much a dead zone from the simulants on. The joke about PMT is bad, the heads/tails joke goes on too long, the Vietnam joke is boring and explained to us, the GELF costumes are horrid... It's a boring, boring episode, meant to make a simple note about drug use.

Oh, and there are way too many plots in this episode.

The saddest part by a mile? This episode was co-written by Robert Freaking Llewellyn. Yes. Kryten himself wrote this episode. Now consider this; he wrote this episode to give himself less involvement. Edits done by Naylor made it so that he had more involvement than ever before. I'm starting to really hate Doug Naylor now. He's destroyed (or mishandled) two characters, has not used a third to her full potential, sacrificed comedy in favour of boring plots, and seems to be acting like a smeghead to the co-writers. No wonder why Norman Lovett would eventually swear off any future involvement with the franchise.

This is incredible. Series I-V had a 100% pass rate, and VI only had one duff episode. Even that duff episode was pretty funny. Here, a solid 50% of the series is bad. Thank god we only have 2 episodes left.

Tidbits:

• Kryten's head exploding is one of the single worst special effects in the history of the show. You actually see the dummy head. Remember when the show's editors used to care a little? I don't, either.
• ...I have nothing else. This is the most depressed that Red Dwarf has ever made me.

Favourite Scene: I will admit that the scene with the Cat trying to decide what century Kryten came from was decent, if a bit too long.

Least Favourite Scene: From the moment the simulant appears, there is pretty much nothing funny about the episode.

Score: 1. We've sunk that low. I might amend it down to a 0 if Series VIII doesn't sink lower.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 5: "Blue"

Airdate: 14 February, 1997

"Sorry. Doug Naylor and the BBC offered me too much money to come back one more time."

Synopsis: The effects of Rimmer taking off finally hit Lister when he realises that he has to toss his stuff to make Starbug lighter, and he begins... gasp... missing him. Lister even begins dreaming about him, much to his disgust. He tries to get psycho-analysed and some help from the other crewmembers. This, however, brings the battle between Kryten and Kochanski into play, with Kryten wanting to one-up Kochanski, even if it involves creating a TIV eerily similar to a certain ride at Disney World... except it's intent is confirmed to annoy the riders.

Review (SPOILERS AHEAD- READ AT OWN CAUTION): Maybe it's just because the previous episode took away my hopes for this series, but this is actually somewhat watchable... after the first few minutes, which are entirely pointless! Some of this comes from my opinion that, unlike "Duct Soup", which was like watching a baked potato cook for 10 minutes, this episode actually contains more laughs along the way... yet, it also contains some psychoanalytic theory.

Lister and Rimmer's relationship is one of the centrepieces of Red Dwarf's first few series. As much as they seemed to detest each other, being in close quarters seemed to make one used to another. They gained insights into each other's life. Rimmer, for one, was based on denial because of his own failures: we saw Lister step up to heroics that Rimmer, deep down inside, recognised that he would never be praised for, and responded with ego. Tons... and tons... of ego. Lister, meanwhile, seemed to admire Rimmer for his ambitions in life: he just hated the fact that Rimmer was either too uptight or a bit of a bore. However, they didn't ignore each others faults: far from that.

Now that Rimmer's gone, Lister is trying to put old Rimsie on a pedestal. I can attribute that to a few things. One, in particular, is that Rimmer represents the time before the change. You see, Kochanski is still a relative newcomer, and she's not really gelling aboard ship, especially with Lister. Lister wants to be reminded of a time before Kryten began bickering, before the crew were trapped on a small shuttle.

However, now I have to recognise the scene that seems to bring this episode up in the eyes of fandom. That is... the infamous kiss scene between Lister and Rimmer.

Yes, before anybody asks, it's a dream. Yet, the dream shows what's going on in Lister's mind. He sees an idealised version of Rimmer, one who is willing to have fun. It's a defence mechanism: Lister wants a time before his life aboard the shuttle and the ship was altered, as mentioned above, and is trying to justify Rimmer being so annoying. Kryten, however, comes in and forces him to face reality: Rimmer is still a smeghead.

Now, on that note, we start to see Lister and Kochanski form a common bond over the loss of their friends/lovers/whatever you want to call them. It's surprisingly deep, and while I can't say that Kochanski is being written to her full potential (or anything close) yet, it is a step in her inter-personal development.

I'm really starting to see why Kryten hates Kochanski, and vice versa. For years, Kryten's been the voice of reason and "Mr Exposition" aboard Starbug. He's also been something of a mother figure to Lister and the crew the past few years. It's somewhat fitting that he gets jealous of Lister supposedly "growing up", with Kochanski in the room, and that he feels the need to one-up Kochanski. Does it make the dialogue between them less annoying? Not that much. Stupid salad cream.

The biggest problems with this episode, and why it gets a relatively low score, would have to be it's organisation. The first 5 minutes should have been dispersed through the episode, at least: move the incident with the comet up to the beginning of the episode. The jokes about salad cream and ironing Kochanski's clothing go on for far too long. Maybe more focus should've been on Lister yearning for Rimmer. Also, while not nearly as bad as "Oroborous" and "Duct Soup", this episode still doesn't deliver too much on the laughs, instead focusing on unnecessary exposition and explanation of the character's feelings. Sadly, this episode would've probably worked if constrained to US-style time limits- 22 minutes. Remember when this show would make the most of it's 25-30 minute run time? I don't, either.

The saddest part about this episode? In any other series (except for 1, maybe), this would've been an easy contender for "worst episode". Now it's considered a high point of the series.

Tidbits

• Kim Fuller actually co-wrote this episode with Doug Naylor. For those unaware, he also wrote for Spitting Image (alongside Grant/Naylor), Not the Nine-O-Clock News, and The Tracey Ullman Show, amongst other shows. He also wrote such prestigious films such as Spice World and From Justin to Kelly, both of whom were nominated for the high honour of winning several Golden Raspberry Awards.
• Of course, there's "The Rimmer Experience". It's a good sequence, I guess. It mainly brings back some of the character comedy that was lacking in previous episodes. The song is a tiny bit overrated, though.
• Worth noting that Howard Goodall actually sang in lieu of Chris Barrie.
• ...and that's all she wrote for Holo-Rimmer (for 12 years, at least). Enjoy it. 

Favourite Scene: Tie between Lister's dream and "The Rimmer Experience".

Least Favourite Scene: The first 3 or so minutes are the most terminally misplaced and boring moments in Red Dwarf history... up to this point.

Score: 6.5

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 4: "Duct Soup"

Airdate: 7 February, 1997

"There! We've lost Doug and his boring scripts!"

Synopsis: Kochanski is having trouble adjusting to life on board Starbug, being that she has to deal with the more laddish Lister and a robot that hates her. Not to mention, the accommodations are less than stellar; the pipes are loud, or, in Lister's case, the shuttle is too hot. Kryten gets more and more jealous of the two... just in time for the ship's functions to shut down completely. To fix the problem, they have to climb through the ducts.

Review: One of my personal favourite Red Dwarf episodes would have to be "Marooned", from Series III. It's a tad bit strange because you'd expect it to be your typical "bottle episode", where two characters are stuck together. Personally, the "bottle episode" is one of my favourite (or at least my most forgivable) TV cliches, especially if done in a hilarious manner, and especially if one is interested in the characters. In "Marooned", they took the heart and the soul of Red Dwarf, and allowed them to showcase the best and the worst aspects of their characters when they were together, yet also allowed for the characters to gain some more depth. It's one of the few times I came close to crying at Red Dwarf.

So, why not try and repeat that with Lister, Kryten, and Kochanski? Try and show some depth with that. A few problems...

• A) There is far less tension buildup between Kochanski and Lister. In fact, we've just met her!;
• B) Lister's character has been inconsistent for the past three episodes;
• C) The development of character in this episode is poorer than in it's predecessor;
• D) This script is pathetic, especially as a bottle episode. Hell, it's barely a bottle episode.

Want depth to my bulletpoints?

For (A), the development in "Marooned" came from Lister and Rimmer already being stuck together both in the 23rd century and three million years in deep space, as well as their antagonistic relationship due to their vastly different personalities. Here, we just smeggin met Kochanski. There's no time to build up any tension. One episode she's here: next, she's trapped in the vents. Also, the adversarial relationship between Lister and Rimmer is not prevalent. Here, Lister does everything good for Kochanski.

Speaking of Lister, for the fourth episode in a row, his character is inconsistent. "Tikka" showed him as a selfish manchild with no respect for the crewmates he once had some modicum of respect for. "Clipper" showed him helping Rimmer achieve his great potential, although you could argue that he only did that to get Rimmer off the ship. "Ouroboros" shows him become a raging egoist who's idiocy also clashes with a sudden realisation about his backstory. And now, in "Duct", he's become a bland nice guy.

Character development isn't just poorer... it borders on character derailment. The biggest problem with the character development here is that every single development is explained to us in bright, primary colours. "Marooned" was more subtle, yet also funny. Kochanski gets the best of it, as we finally see how hard it is to see a middle-class woman fit on a ship that contains a working class lad: even then, not only does she spell everything out for us, but her interactions with the other characters barely shed new light on any of their relationships.

This episode is tragic for Kryten. I can understand him taking more laddish actions after being trapped on a ship with Lister... but here's the deal. Kryten work because he was both the sanest man on ship, yet he also had his own personality quirks to deal with, such as his older software causing him to have a weak understanding of humans and less understanding of emotions. We see that in the beginning with Kryten giving Kochanski the Heimlich Manoeuvre to stop her from crying. However, his jealousy overtakes him... and it's pathetic. The bot who would once protect humans from anything (or at least try to protect humans) is reduced to threatening their lives to satisfy his own selfish needs. Character derailment, ladies and gents.

Thus, in an episode that follows a trope that requires good character, the three characters focused on in this episode are, at best, given weak development, and at worst, derailed.

Again, this is all exaggerated by the fact that the episode barely has any laughs in it. Jokes were either too long, or sitcom-style plots. The only thing I laughed at was Kochanski beating Kryten with a wrench... if only because I felt that Kryten needed some form of punishment. Also, the pacing in this episode was off... again, the culprit was the jokes that went on too long only to be explained to us. Heimlich Manoeuvre, anybody?

Overall... my god. Three out of the first four episodes of Series VII are some of the worst that Red Dwarf has to offer... I give up. May as well try and bang the rest of the series out within the next week or two. I have lost all hope for the rest of the series... and I have a bad feeling about Series VIII.

Tidbits:

• Worth noting that the three episodes in this series so far that were pathetic were written by Doug Naylor alone. "Stoke Me A Clipper" was written by Naylor and Alexander. Maybe I'll just give Doug the "writing alone blues". That, and a theory exists that Naylor, in his partnership with Grant, tended to focus more on the dramatic aspects of the show. Then again, if he was so good at drama in the first six series, why is the drama here so boring?
• This episode was actually cut down by three minutes. They could've cut the length of some gags, such as the heimlich, or the rushing water, or the wind, or some of the awkward discussion about the alternate Lister's sexuality. They cut the opening credits.
• This episode replaced "Identity Within", an episode that would've developed the character of the Cat and would've elaborated on his species, because the series ran over budget. Methinks most of the budget went to the spectacular CGI prevalent through the series!
• Oh, this is the first episode not to feature Rimmer in any way, shape or form. He isn't even mentioned!

Favourite Scene: Uh, the credits? Maybe Kochanski beating Kryten with a wrench.

Least Favourite Scene: Uh, everything else? I'm going with the discussion about Lister's sexuality, because it's not only awkward, it's not only pointless, it's so boring.

Score: 2.5. Wow, we've sunk so deep. At least we're officially halfway through the series.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 3: "Ouroboros"

Airdate: 31 January, 1997

Synopsis: Starbug winds up in the centre of a temporal disturbance. Said disturbance allows the crew to meet up with a crew from a parallel universe... one where Kochanski was caught with Lister's cat and spent six months (read, three million years) in stasis, and where Lister was brought back as a hologram.

The meeting is interrupted when the linkup is attacked by a ship piloted by GELFs who want Lister to consummate his marriage that was preformed in exchange for an oxy-gen unit. (Remember that mess?) Kochanski winds up on the wrong side of the disturbance, and has to find a way to shake off the GELFs and get back to the temporal disturbance... all the while, wanting Lister to help her in her in-vitro fertilisation.

Review: I am of the opinion that bringing Kochanski on-board ship was a decent manoeuvre... that was acted on in a less-than-stellar fashion. I'll get to that later.

Let's get this out of the way first... this episode is pretty poor. Why? Well, getting this out of the way first, the first half is basically Red Dwarf for Dummies.

• Hah, Lister's a slob. It gets funnier later on when he's compared to his counterpart, but still.
• The class structure holding Lister back, once implied so well, is outright stated by Rimmer. (Yes, Chris Barrie does make a brief appearance).
• Hah, Rimmer hates Lister and is an idiot!
• Ah, Kryten is "femmy".

It's pathetically simplistic. I could understand if it was the first episode of the series, but the third? Come on, Doug!

Character comedy would have worked... if there was any character to care about. Sure, the Lister being a slob at the beginning works somewhat, and his lack of ambition is also decent, but we've moved beyond that over the past six series. Oh, and Lister now thinks of himself as awesome. He knew he was something of a slob in prior series: now, he rejects that. The closest we got to seeing that side of him was in "Dimension Jump", with this dialogue:

Rimmer: How would you feel if some git came from another dimension... another Lister, with wall-to-wall charisma and a PHD in being handsome and wonderful?

Lister: Hey, man! I am that Lister! [...] I made up for that other Lister! Whatever he did that I didn't, he deserves the lot!

Yet, that works. Not only does that show that he's satisfied with his lot in life, but he's perfectly comfortable in his relaxed lifestyle. Here, he comes off as a Rimmer-like pompous ass... except Rimmer could at least take a claim to being organised. 

That's not even the worst character in this episode descends. Kryten... oh, lord, what have they done to ya? The character has literally fallen in love with Lister, to the point of jealousy with Kochanski. This might have worked if we saw hints of that in the previous series! Here, it's out of place and a stupid attempt to create tension. Then they take it a step futher by having Kryten whine way too many times. It's irritating.

The Cat is left bone dry: he is literally an idiot.

Now, Kochanski had a lot of potential, which we will see in the next episodes. Her getting adjusted to being on a ship moulded in the lower-class lifestyle that Lister maintained could've made for great character comedy. In fact, we get to see this in future episodes. This episode shows her as too much of a Captain Picard type character who makes awesome decisions and outruns the enemies. Not picking on Captain Picard: he's one of my favourite TV characters, but he worked due to having to deal with moral dilemmas and dealing with his past. Here, Kochanski, without having to deal with any dilemmas, manages to outrun the GELFs. I think this was an attempt to establish her as more experienced due to her promotion, but still. Lister, Rimmer, Cat, and Kryten were introduced with their defining flaws:

• Lister is dismissive of authority
• Rimmer is overtly neurotic and likes order... and also has an ego problem:
• The Cat is flamboyant, yet also self-centred:
• Kryten tries too hard to impress.

We don't see that in Kochanski's first appearance. Maybe the end, where Kochanski doesn't want to stay, but still.

The plot is a bit of a mess. Let's get this out of the way now: the plot twist at the end related to Lister's lineage. While Red Dwarf had never been fantastic in it's sci-fi, the twist is especially crazy... especially how Lister finds out about the twist. I'm not complaining too much, as Futurama did something similar. However, Futurama's use of a similar twist had a dramatic impact on future episodes. I didn't really see that in future episodes of Red Dwarf... maybe "Fathers and Suns"? Point is, it's stupid.

Also, there are far too many plot points in this episode. This, strangely enough, was not enough, so we get some filler-esque scenes.

Now, what's this episode's biggest problem?

It's not really funny!

This episode was simply trying too hard to be dramatic. As a result, most of the comedy comes from cheap one liners. Some of it is funny. A lot of it is stupid.

Overall... we're three episodes in. Two are bad, and one is watchable, yet a bit dry.

Oh, god.

Tidbits:

• Yes, this episode is the first to star Chloe Annett as Kochanski. Once you get used to the fact that she's not Claire Grogan, it's a pretty decent performance. 
• This episode had to be cut down for time. And this is the end result.
• Admittedly, Baby Lister is rather cute. He was played by Danny John-Jules's nephew.

Favourite Scene: Kochanski orders Rimmer to have coitus. Not with her.

Least Favourite Scene: I'm going with anytime Kryten sobs!

Score: 3.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 2: "Stoke Me A Clipper"

Airdate: 24 January, 1997

What a guy.

Synopsis: While fighting off the Wehrmacht (or what I believe is the Wehrmacht) to save a princess in an alternate dimension (just go with it), Ace Rimmer takes a bullet to the chest. Realising his imminent death, he manages to hop into the dimension with the Small Rouge One... that is to say, the dimension with Lister and Co. Ace sees the potential in Rimsie, and tries to get him to conquer his inner Ace and take on the mantle.

Review: Fitting that, for my 99th post, I review a controversial turning point in the development of Red Dwarf: the departure of Arnie J. While "Tikka To Ride" could be considered something of a test, this episode pretty much set the stage for the rest of the series. This episode has a range of reviews, from "high point of Series VII" to "mixed bag" to "why did the BBC fund an eight series after this dreck?"

So, what do I think? Well, it's certainly better than "Tikka".

Why? Well, this episode's message is fantastic. It's something of an apology for "Rimmerworld", which seemed to imply that Rimmer's odious behaviour was wired into him. This episode's message is simple, yet so perfect; everybody has an "Ace mode" inside them: they have the potential to have a real human impact. It's just how they harness it (or if they harness it) that impacts their past, present, and future. Rimmer never really harnessed it effectively. He often envied those that could, thought he couldn't, and often resorted to his cowardly and selfish actions as a defence mechanism. By harnessing his inner Ace, this episode proves that, deep deep down inside, Rimmer is truly a person that is capable of the best of actions.

This episode returns to a focus on character development. And boy, do Lister and Rimmer shine in this episode. Several years deep in space has really caused their relationship to develop from one based on their differences to one more complex. It's been proven that Rimmer wanted to finally be like Lister: satisfied with his lot in life. He just had too much ambition to do so. Here, he's given ambition: a chance to escape from his hell, to harness his inner Ace. Yet, he feels deep enough of a connection with Lister to hug the man. He even defends Lister, doing so by committing what he believes is an act of bravery... and by all accounts, it is.

Same thing with Lister. Lister is really the soul of Red Dwarf. Barring his simple character we saw in "Tikka", he's an optimistic guy. I'd go as far as to call him a more "laddish", down to earth version of Mabel from Gravity Falls. He sees the potential that Rimmer has, and knows that Rimmer is kept down by his own neurosis and flaws. That's why he helps Rimmer, by mocking him, by helping him in his act of bravery, by giving him a decent eulogy. When Lister promotes Rimmer to First Officer, you can tell that Lister has done the best thing even in his relationship with Rimmer. It gives Rimmer the ultimate push to go out and unleash his inner Ace. It serves as something of a coda to their characters and their relationship.

The rest of the episode? Not too fantastic.

For one, with just one exception, the "filler" in this episode wasn't really funny. Lister's use of the TIV was done way more efficiently in "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", for one. Given that the TIV would only be used for a bit part later, it's also less balanced. I did like "Lister of Smeg", but I felt that Lister came off as just a little bit too sexist in the TIV. Granted, it balances his character a little bit, but it bugged me.

Special effects... no denying it, they're crap. The first six series used models and improvised, stretched the budget to the max, and the results are beautiful. The CGI and the green screen in this episode is grating on the eyes. It was probably dated in 1997. It's certainly dated now.

On top of that, this episode isn't really funny. Granted, this series was going more for comedy-drama, but it's still a bit dry. A majority (albeit not a commanding majority) of the jokes are sitcom-style... and not in a good way. In a way, I think comedy was not the first thing on Doug's mind when writing this episode. Yet, we saw a fantastic balance between comedy and drama in Series V. ("The Inquisitor", anybody?)

Yet, I can't really knock this episode down too much. It's a touching, if somewhat underwhelming, send off to one of the greatest TV characters of all time. Shame it couldn't be funnier.

Tidbits:

• The first four minutes of the episode feature Ace saving a princess in distress, only complaining about his shirt when getting shot, and escaping after using a rocket on a motorcycle to jump over a brick wall. It's a damn near perfect scene. As much as I bashed the effects in this episode, I will concede that the cheesy green-screen does add character to the overall scene. It's some of the best comedy we'll see this season.
• I wasn't a fan of the reveal about Ace and the light bee's final destination. I'd say it drove his character into the ground, but I must admit that it wasn't the worst thing they did with the character. ("Emohawk" was something more of a disservice to the character.)
• Another thing that befuddled me: why didn't the Cat and Kryten figure out the truth behind Rimmer's new portrayal of Ace? I realised, though, that the Cat is an idiot, and Kryten is pretty outdated. I'll give Naylor the benefit of the doubt.

Favourite Scene: Rimmer fighting off the knight to save the ship. It cements the character development over the past six series. It's fantastic... especially the twist at the end.

Least Favourite Scene: After the "duel", the first TIV scene drags on.

Score: 6.5.

Oh, a Few More Things

• Reports that came out in April (that I just found out about) have revealed that yes, Red Dwarf will have an eleventh series.
• Gravity Falls Season 2 premieres on August 1st at 9:00 PM in the States. It will air on Disney XD. Those interested, either contact your local cable/satellite provider to get Disney XD, or contact a friend who gets Disney XD. International airdates are unknown, although I'd expect Disney XD UK to air the show in late August, and Family or Disney XD in Canada to air the show in the middle of August.
• Well, that's my 99th official post on the site. Now, how do I celebrate this meaningless anniversary coming up? What can I possibly do to celebrate my 100th post? Mmmm...

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII, Episode 1: "Tikka To Ride"

Airdate: 17 January 1997

Synopsis: So, apparently, the crew were not blown out of the sky by their future selves. A time paradox, however, trashed the Indian food. Lister, having memory of the accident, suggests using the time drive to get 500 curries. He manages to swing Kryten by removing his guilt chip. Their time travel predictions are off; they wind up at the School Book Depository in Dallas, 1963... just as President Kennedy is passing by.

Review: Uh, no. I doubt I watched Red Dwarf. I think I stumbled across a bad fanfiction version of Red Dwarf.

Wait.

This is real?

Oh... crap.

Facepalms, facepalms everywhere.

Well, let's get to the obvious: this episode is pretty bad. We are but one episode in, and my hopes for the series have gone buh-bye!

The big failure in this episode is character. Character is at the centre of Red Dwarf. This series has effectively taken Lister's character, and thrown it out the window. He might be the first victim. Through six series, we saw him develop beyond his slobbish character into a complex character with morals and virtues, who served as the true moral centre of the cast, and could be quite mature and sensible. Here? He's a curry-obsessed jackass. That's all. I might be able to chalk it up to PTSD from the explosion... somewhat. Three years on, and Doug Naylor has forgotten to write for Lister. It's bad. It makes the episode almost unwatchable, given the development he's gone through. 

The time travel is also very screw-y. While inter-series continuity is a bit weaker in Red Dwarf, this episode takes it to stupid new heights. The beginning of the episode makes it clear that there was a paradox caused by the fight in the previous episode, thus preventing the future selves from killing them. (It's confusing enough to break a video camera). At the end of the episode, Kennedy gets involved in the same incident (long story)... and does not fall victim to the same effects. Hello, Doug? Also ticking me off is that "Out of Time" made it clear that the Time Drive did not travel through space? So, the question remains. WHY DID IT SMEGGING TRAVEL THROUGH SMEGGING SPACE TO SMEGGING DALLAS IN SMEGGING 1963. 

Happy thoughts, dude. Happy thoughts...

...mmmm...

...that's better. Anyway, credit where credit is due for this episode, I guess. I like the implementation of time travel and the effects of causality. With Kennedy alive, he gets impeached, the Mafia use J Edgar Hoover as a puppet president, and manage to land in deep trouble with the Soviets/Cuba. It's a pretty interesting take. I also liked the twist of JFK being the "man behind the grassy knoll". Strangely enough, this is something of a callback to "Timeslides". Remember when Kryten was talking about the photograph fluid?

"Well, we could go to Dallas in November 1963, stand on the grassy knoll, and shout "duck"! Uh, I'm sorry: I must have bypassed my good taste chip!"

Ironic, innit. Again, the good there is destroyed by the faulty time paradox.

I don't know what to say about the ending. On one hand, I think it's in character for our heroes to learn nothing from the experience. On the other, I shed no sympathy for Lister. Unlike the fine folks at Ganymede and Titan, I actually feel that Rimmer, Cat, and Kryten beating Lister to a pulp was somewhat excusable.

The biggest failing is that this episode really isn't that funny. Too much focus is on drama. The balance is just off. It's just a weak episode, and a bad sign of things to come.

Tidbits:

• It's worth noting that, in real life, had Kennedy ducked the bullet, he would've died soon after from Addison's disease. His muscles had failed so much that he had to wear a brace. Had he not worn a brace, he might have been able to duck and avoid Oswald's second bullet. (He might have died because the first bullet hit his trachea, but the bullet to the head definitely terminated his life.)
• Kryten having his guilt trip works here. It just works better in "Polymorph", where it's somewhat more cruel.
• How come, if Kryten's so smart, he wanted to eat a dead man? This episode is horrid at characterisation.
• Again, THIS EPISODE FAILS AT CONTINUITY. Just figured I'd let that sink in.

Favourite Scene: While not as good as "Polymorph", Kryten's post-guilt-removal behaviour is still pretty funny. 'You bet your ass", indeed.

Least Favourite Scene: Not scene, but by the end of the episode, I actually wanted to see Lister get beaten by his crew members. This episode was to him was "Rimmerworld" was to Rimmer: it destroyed his character.

Final Score: 4, only for the time travel aspect.

Red Dwarf Review: Series VII Preview

Ah, Red Dwarf VII. Plans for the series began in 1993. Taping began three whopping years later. So, the question of the day is.... what happened?

Shortly after VI went to air, Rob Grant departed the show. Apparently, their relationship was disintergrated during the production of The Ten Percenters, a sitcom on ITV that was produced by some Red Dwarf alumni and future writing staff. This left Doug Naylor with an option; either leave the show for dead, or press on with other writers. No prizes for guessing the right answer. Again, he brought along some of his friends to write for episodes, such as Paul Alexander, James Hendrie, and Kim "SpiceWorld" Fuller. (Oh boy. The writer of Spice World is doing Red Dwarf. This season is going to rock).

Filming was also pushed back in 1994. In July, Craig Charles was accused of rape, apparently by one of his ex-girlfriends, and was denied bail. He was only granted bail after he was attacked by a fellow prisoner in jail in October. He was cleared of the charges March 1995.

Then, another dilemma. After two seasons of production troubles and troubled shootings, the lure of the small rouge one had been broken for Chris Barrie, and he demanded to have his screentime effectively halved. The writers responded by writing out Rimmer in one of the first episodes of the series, and bringing him back for flashbacks/dream sequences/whatnot.

So, who could possibly replace a character that many regarded as the heart of the show? Who could possibly stand up to the plate to try and keep the audience interested?

Well, they had a plan in mind. Rumours persist that to get funding for a Red Dwarf film, they needed to add a female to the cast. So, why not bring back a supporting character from the first two series?

Introducing Kochanski...

...as portrayed by Chloe Annett.

You see, Claire Grogan was deep into her role as a talk-show host at this point. Therefore, she couldn't make filming. Instead, Doug brought on Annett, knowing her from an audition of The Ten Percenters. In comparison to Grogan's spunky take on the character, Annett portrayed her in a more posh manner (not even bothering to imitate Grogan's Scottish accent).

Production began in 1996. Filming was radically different compared to other series. Red Dwarf VII eschewed the live studio audience in favour of showing the series to test audiences. This did allow for the sets to have four walls, allowing for more camera angles.

Another radical change came in terms of special effects. The first six series used models 99% of the time for special effects. CGI became cheaper and easier to use between VI and VII. This became the first series to use CGI, which became standard in VIII.

The series also brought back a familiar face at the end of the series. Who is it? You probably know, but hey, a little suspense never killed anybody.

Lastly, the scriptwriting also changed. While Series V dealt with character comedy, and Series VI was more of a sci-fi sitcom, Series VII edged closer to a comedy-drama, with more drama and intense plots, as well as the continuation of the "Find the Small Rouge One" arc of Series VI.

Red Dwarf VII premiered in January 1997. The ratings were high, peaking at 8,000,000 viewers. However, current reception has not been too kind to the series. Reaction since it's premiere was that it was the worst series. Only recently has it been removed from that position, partially due to re-evaluation, and partially because Series VIII was worse according to fans.

Of course, we have to take a look at the "menu" for the next few days/weeks/months. This time, we have eight- count them, eight- episodes to dissect.

• Tikka to Ride: Lister wants to use the time drive again. Why? To get some curry. He and the rest of the crew indavertadly save JFK... and cause the demise of the USA.
• Smoke Me A Clipper: Shot in the chest by a Weirmacht soldier (long story), Ace Rimmer (what a guy) has mere hours to find a replacement. He manages to come across the smeghead we know and love, to try and get him to finally change for the better.
• Ouroboros: A temporal disturbance connects to an alternate universe where Lister was a hologram and Kochanski got six months in stasis. The rift is attacked by a GELF warship, causing an incident that traps Kochanski on the side she was not from.
• Duct Soup: Trapped on the other Starbug, Kochanski and her relationship with the rest of the crew is not immediately helped by having to go into the ducts to fix an error on the shuttle.
• Blue: Lister becomes nostalgic about Rimmer... even to the point where he begins thinking he might be in love.
• Beyond a Joke: Kryten's poor anniversary of being rescued by the crew is not helped by the presence of his evil twin.
• Epideme: An incident on an old derelict causes Lister to contact a virus... one that has intelligence. This virus might lead to Lister having to make the ultimate sacrifice... maybe... sort of.
• Nanarchy: OK, Lister doesn't die. But, he does need some parts of his body reconstructed. The crew decide to use nanobots to reconstruct the arm. Thus, they have to go all the way back to the ocean planet that they were on before they lost Red Dwarf.

So... better hope that this series doesn't live up to it's bad rep... right?