Canon-Strike XIV: Red Dwarf

[Yakumo]

I'm just going through all the Red Dwarf shows now. Sadly my first 8 seasons on crappy DVD. The quality sucks.
Anyway, does anyone know the Arcade game in season 2?

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, both eps are fairly pivotal when they come to Rimmer. None of the information as such is new but despite the continued laughs based around him these two eps are the first real moments where a genuine sense of sympathy is put in place. He's a bad person in many ways but for understandable reasons and even worse than that he's also self-aware that he's bad in those ways and of the reasons why so is in some sort of self-fulfilling cycle because he self-justifies himself by ridding himself of the guilt he should feel about the way he is. It's part of why this ep works so well because this is one of the first times where Lister is the character who's objectively done the clearly wrong thing but for a nice reason. It's weirdly deeper than expected on a character study level if you dwell on it too long.


No idea with the arcade machine which is a little frustrating too as I don't doubt it wasn't a mocked up game and is something otherwise recognisable

[Neon Ignition]

Episode 10 - Stasis Leak
Lister reads Rimmer's diary and discovers a passage referring to a Stasis Leak on a lower deck. They head down to discover that the leak is real and allows them to travel back to just a few weeks before the crew was wiped out giving them a chance to change the past and their own fates.




Did the second time hopping story work as well as the shows first?

[QualityChimp]

If anyone would know, I would have thought it would be you, @Yakumo!
I know that Eastenders had a Macross shmup in the caff for years!





Love Stasis Leak as again, it's another example of an idea where some films are made around it (Frequency, BttF), but it's just used as a way to tell some gags.

Love how Rimmer descends into madness, rather than save himself.
I can't remember if it was this episode, where he's carted off on a stretcher or a different episode where he just writes "I AM A FISH" on the astronavigation exams, but I was definitely thinking of this whilst @MartyG did his 365-games-in-one-year challenge thread and kept popping in to check that's not what he was writing from about August.

Side note: I had a really vivid dream that one of my best schoolfriends had died and when I saw him the next day IRL, I was genuinely really pleased to see him and greeted him in the same way Lister greets a bemused Olaf Petersen.

[Yakumo]

If anyone would know, I would have thought it would be you, @Yakumo!
I know that Eastenders had a Macross shmup in the caff for years!





Love Stasis Leak as again, it's another example of an idea where some films are made around it (Frequency, BttF), but it's just used as a way to tell some gags.

Love how Rimmer descends into madness, rather than save himself.
I can't remember if it was this episode, where he's carted off on a stretcher or a different episode where he just writes "I AM A FISH" on the astronavigation exams, but I was definitely thinking of this whilst @MartyG did his 365-games-in-one-year challenge thread and kept popping in to check that's not what he was writing from about August.

Side note: I had a really vivid dream that one of my best schoolfriends had died and when I saw him the next day IRL, I was genuinely really pleased to see him and greeted him in the same way Lister greets a bemused Olaf Petersen.

Wow, a Macross cab in eastenders! Never watched the show myself but that is cool.

[Yakumo]

I'm just going through all the Red Dwarf shows now. Sadly my first 8 seasons on crappy DVD. The quality sucks.
Anyway, does anyone know the Arcade game in season 2?

You know, I'm thinking that is stage one of Darius Gaiden. Just before the stage boss.

[QualityChimp]

You know, I'm thinking that is stage one of Darius Gaiden. Just before the stage boss.

I'm thinking possibly a Gradius game.

What episode is that shot from and we'll have a look.

[Neon Ignition]

It looks very similar to the machine on the right in this picture but sadly this one has no company/game branding and there's the chance the showrunners altered the cab for the show:

[Yakumo]

I'm thinking possibly a Gradius game.

What episode is that shot from and we'll have a look.

I'm pretty sure it was better than life. This shot is from the end of the episode where lister is reading Rimmer's letter about being promoted to Captain or something.

[Yakumo]

Found another Arcade in Red Dwarf. This time it's an easy one to identify. Thunder Blade.

[Neon Ignition]

Episode 11 - Queeg
Following an explosion aboard the ship, Holly is replaced by the emergency back up computer Queeg who runs the ship with military precision and control. As the others initially revel in the new leadership, Holly lines up a contest for control of the ship that may cost him his existence.



Was this episode the best things since the Junior Colour Encyclopedia of Space?

[QualityChimp]

Amazing episode! I love Queeg!

BONUS FACT: The actor who played Queeg also choreographed the dance routine to "Tongue Tied"!

Probably Holly's best episode and Norman Lovett went all-in on his downtrodden demotion to nightwatchman, shining his torch hither and thither.

It's actually quite sad as Holly is erased and the boys mourn him going and how they played a part in his demise.

Then there's the pay off - bloody genius.

->Open Spoiler<-

[Neon Ignition]

Episode 12 - Parallel Universe
The final episode of the shows original era before it was visually and tonally overhauled. This episode see's Holly muster all of his remaining intellect to create the Holly Hop Drive that transports Red Dwarf to a mirror universe. The crew must contend with female incarnations of themselves that reflect their personalities whilst Lister finally finds out the answer to one of his Future Echoes.



Did the alternate cast work and did saying goodbye to the grey era Dwarf leave you tongue tied?

[QualityChimp]

Didn't they have to do a turbo text crawl at the start of the next season to explain away all of the stuff from this episode?!

Yeah, this is a great episode. I love how Cat is beside himself at the prospect of meeting his opposite...

I introduced my son to Red Dwarf last night!
We watched The End together. He enjoyed it, but kept asking "Why Rimmer?! Of all the crew, why revive Rimmer?!"

[Neon Ignition]

I tried the show on my missus a few years back and she struggled too much with it but we never made it into Series 3 and she's said she'll give it a go. Winner

I like the shows rationale for Rimmer being revived, that anyone else wouldn't work as well because it's Rimmers abrasive nature that forces Lister to remain mentally engaged with his surroundings rather than over indulge himself like he would with his friends or strangers etc. Rimmer is so fixated on his own issues that he doesn't get bogged down by his death or the situation he's in, he's too busy continuing with his own pettiness.