Holoship packs a hell of a punch.
PLOT
Red Dwarf encounters the Enlightenment, a hologramatic ship where Rimmer could find respect, officerhood and a physical presence. However, for him to to join the crew, one of theirs must die.
ANALYSIS
Some of the most perfect parodies come about when their creators have a genuine love for the source material, and manage to earnestly capture what made those original stories work whilst also riffing on them comedically at the same time. Holoship is one of these. The opening scene takes the mickey out of melodramatic Casablanca-style romance movie tropes. The subsequent romance between Rimmer and Nirvanah Crane is played to the hilt, with Crane at one point comparing Rimmer's lovemaking (or "shex" as she calls it) to a Japanese meal. As per tradition, they barely know one another before deciding they're soulmates. The ending has Rimmer wincing as he accidentally quotes the sappy film he watched at the start.
But for all their pisstaking, Grant Naylor obviously have genuine affection and respect for the genre. As silly as these tropes are, they did become popular for a reason. And the reason is that people respond to sincerity. Set aside the cynicism and the postmodern need to detach yourself from genuine emotion, and you'll find buckets of heart and humanity in these silly melodramas. Holoship does exactly this. In the form of Nirvanah Crane, it deigns to love Arnold Rimmer. A man who [insert Kryten speech from Justice here] is a total caricature of all things pathetic and weaselly. And yet for this one episode, the show treats him as a human being worthy of love for the simple reason that he is one.
CRANE: "Listen to me mister! Underneath all that neurotic mess is someone nice trying to get out. Someone who deserves a chance to grow. So, you won't give up, OK?"
I can't think of a single line in this show that is more empathetic or understanding of human nature. We're all a string of choices, in a way. Our lives are made up of them. And sometimes that string becomes a web of bad choices that traps you inside a bad person. To recognise that and to cut out of that web with a sword of good choices can be very daunting. But you always have that potential, even at your worst, because those good choices always matter.
Even more difficult than making those good choices is recognising the same potential within others. We've all met bad people in our lives, and it's easy to hate or disdain them. But finding the humanity in them, their subconscious desire to be better (without being naive about it) and somehow bringing that aspect of them out... it's such a beautiful thing. And suddenly, that corny love story between Rimmer and Crane feels like it matters more than anything. That's the power of good melodrama.
Leaving all that aside, Holoship is a tightly constructed script where pretty much every joke lands. It's also a rare example where the entire guest cast is on fantastic form. They all add their own vital flavor to the whole. Even minor roles like Binks and Officer Harrison - who could have easily been throwaway parts - are memorable and endearing. If there's any drawback, it's maybe that the Holoship itself is a bit thinly sketched out. We don't really know what they're up to (beyond Rimmer's vague hint of space exploration) or why. Somehow they've not gone insane after being active for three million years. Despite being part of the Space Corps, they have no interest in Lister. And how Rimmer expects to survive as a navigation officer with no knowledge of astro-navigation, I've no idea either (maybe that's part of the joke?). But these are minor quibbles and can probably be explained with a bit of creative thinking.
CHARACTERS
It's largely Rimmer's show, but I think the rest of the cast do have their moments (except for Holly, who is being increasingly marginalised). Robert Llewelyn seems to have found a much more comfortable groove playing Kryten as a cranky fusspot mother hen, especially around the Cat for whom he has the least amount of patience for. Meanwhile, Lister shines in one of the show's iconic scenes, where he threatens the hologram Binks with a rrrrrumble. I also really liked Craig's downplayed reaction to Rimmer's decision to leave. His quiet delivery of "That doesn't make you a failure" is another one of those wonderfully sincere moments, in an episode full of them. As a man who puts no stock in personal ambition, Lister is one of the few people in Rimmer's life who would never judge him for his lack of career success. He only cares about the person. Although unlike Nirvanah Crane, he's not bothered about finding the humanity in Rimmer. Just open to meeting it if it ever turns up.
It's really quite impressive how Jane Horrocks is able to transform Crane from a walking 'shex' joke into a believable three-dimensional character in under 20 minutes. Crane has most likely spent a very long time with no one but her shipmates, so her sudden fixation on Rimmer makes a certain kind of emotional sense. He must seem more real to her, being so much less 'perfect'. Yet his ambition and desire to reach that perfection is something Crane can relate to. For Rimmer of course, the fact that she's a woman capable of seeing past his flaws is enough.
I found it interesting to see Rimmer in an environment where he could (vaguely) believably achieve all his dreams. In most episodes of Red Dwarf, Rimmer is merely an amalgamation of neurotic stereotypes - he's anal retentive, he wants to become an officer, he blames others for his failures. Holoship nullifies all of these traits. He's not a failure, he is an officer and he is surrounded by equally retentive colleagues. But in the end, Rimmer values simple kindness and love more than any of that. That's what makes him such a well written, believable person in spite of how absurd he is at times.
NOTES
- My favourite guest star of the episode is actually Matthew Marsh, who plays the captain. I have no idea what he's trying to do, he seems drunk at times. But it's so watchable.
- Rimmer's new red outfit looks impeccable. Officer Harrison wears the same costume when she's auditioning to replace Rimmer, for which I have two theories. 1) Rimmer simply programmed it as the standard hologramatic outfit. 2) It actually is a uniform of the JMC, but from a much later time period.
- The episode opens with the crew inexplicably wandering through space on Starbug, establishing the new format that series 6 and 7 would run with.
- Binks suggests that Kryten's lifespan will only last three more years. We'll have to see if he gets an upgrade before then!
- I can't help wondering if Rimmer's passion for quilts in later seasons was inspired by the Holoship crew.
- The Holoship's future-predicting computer is surely related to Cassandra from series 8. Also, clever of it to pick Crane as Rimmer's opponent, knowing that it would give him his best chance at winning a position on the ship (due to her weakness for him).
- This is the second episode in a row to mention St Francis of Assisi.
- Lucy Briers (Harrison) has incredibly beautiful ears. She's also gone on to major success, with appearances in Zack Snyder's Justice League, Poirot and House of the Dragon.
- It's never explained why the crew want a replacement hologram, or what the job of said hologram would be. Maybe they're just bored?
- Binks recognises Cat as a member of felis sapiens, suggesting the Holoship has encountered the Cat race before.
- It's been nearly four years since the events of The End.
- In Thanks for the Memory, Rimmer told Lister that he'd trade all his achievements to be loved and have been loved. This finally came true here.
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