Well, after what seems like no time at all, the new series
of Red Dwarf is over. This does leave me with a vacant timeslot on Thursday evenings,
but I am encouraged as the fact that the series went by so quickly is a clear
indication that I enjoyed it. This final episode – like every other from this
latest series – had its share of mis-fires, but by and large it proved to be a
satisfying conclusion to this series. It did not, however, seem to be the end.
The episode began with a flashback to Rimmer’s past, where
his uncaring father was also his teacher. The actor who played young Rimmer was
impeccably cast, as he looked just like a young Chris Barrie. The only problem
with this scene was that its punch-line seemed a bit anti-climactic, as I
almost expected the scene to continue when it ended.
One of the weaknesses of the episode for me was the amount
of screen time given to a new character, who was introduced in a manner that
seemed to suggest we should already know who he is, and buy into his
idiosyncratic habit of challenging people to a ‘dual across time and space’. There
were some funny lines in this exchange, but the scene didn’t exactly endear
this new character to me, instead I was left feeling a little irritated that so
much time had been given to him.
The ship was then attacked by killer simulants who also did
their best to chew the scenery during their overly generous amount of screen
time. Don’t get me wrong, the characters displayed some good comedic timing at
points, especially the delivery of the line “kill him” from the head simulant after
requesting that his crew challenge him, and having that challenge met, was very
well done. The pull-back-and-reveal nature of the hari-kari scene walked on the
fine line between amusing and gross, and was drawn out a bit too long.
After taking a back seat for most of the series, Kryten and
Cat both had a couple of stand-out moments in this episode. Cat’s scene where
he played with the string and stick, in the manner of a real cat, was very
enjoyable, whilst Kryten’s ship-wide search for all the weapons available
yielded a very strong visual gag. Also Kryten had what was probably my
favourite joke from the entire series when he talked about how he would definitely
win a ‘towel folding competition’ to the death, and proceeded to punctuate this
statement with physical gusto.
The episode was undoubtedly Rimmer’s though, and after ten
series we received a big reveal which may affect his character for series to
come, and he was finally able to be the hero, after years of being a coward. I
also enjoyed Lister’s blunt delivery of the line “It’s crap” when he learned
about Rimmer’s plan, and of course the gloriously unashamed manner in which the
gaping plot-hole left behind by the series 8 finale was answered!
Rimmer closed the episode with the line “The slime’s coming
home” which was a cyclical nod to the final line from the very first episode,
except back then it was Lister who said it. It served as a satisfying end to
the series, although I had hopeful expectations when I realised there was a
post-credits scene, but unfortunately it only served to end the episode on a
rather weak joke.
Overall I enjoyed the series, and despite my theories about
this being the final episode, there were still things left unaddressed which
makes me believe that the show is not done yet. Well, if that’s the case I look
forward to finding out more. Congratulations to the cast and the writers for
bringing back an old classic, and making it enjoyable.
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