Quarantine is a fine example of pure absurdist comedy.
PLOT
Rimmer takes revenge on the crew for ignoring him by establishing a dictatorial form of quarantine for them after learning they may be infected with a dangerous holo-virus. He is unaware of the fact that the only one infected is himself.
ANALYSIS
In the simplest terms, it's just one goofy thing after another, building and building and building until what you're watching is like a rich red velvet cake with layers upon layers of the cream of insanity. The height of this is the double-barrelled Chekhov's shotgun of lunacy, the "holovirus" (???) and the "luck virus" (?????).
Both of these ideas are complete nonsense that only serve to dial the mutual anal retentiveness of the crew up to 11. I could maybe buy that a holovirus is some kind of a computer malfunction, except Kryten specifically says it stimulates the psychic areas of the brain. Holograms have no brains! Nor is it ever explained how the holographic mechanism is altered in a way that allows them to be telepathic, telekinetic or to shoot lightning. It's just wonderful nonsense. And the luck virus - a disease that causes someone to be lucky - is pretty much just pure fantasy. But it works, it works because the absurdity is just ramped up so high that you are compelled to laugh.
Quarantine is not the episode for sci-fi concepts or moving drama or even witty dialogue. It's just very, very, very silly. And I don't think it would even work if we hadn't already spent so many hours with these characters by now. But because we know and understand them so well, the comedy is unhindered by having to justify the crew's building enmity or why the sight of Rimmer in a gingham dress is so incredibly funny.
I would also just like to add that the actual quarantine itself is criminally underused. It's only one part of the episode, but I feel like it could've been its own story. Something like Marooned, but even more claustrophobic, with the crew gradually going insane with cabin fever. Not that it doesn't work as it is, but I'm just fond of bottle episodes like that. There was more potential there, is what I'm saying.
CHARACTERS
I don't know if I can call it Chris Barrie's best episode (there are so many contenders for that title), but it's certainly one of his best-judged performances. Especially when Rimmer finally goes nuts. The droning monotone, the cartoonish facial expressions, the way he handles the penguin puppet. It's like a symphony within one man. Every single aspect of Chris Barrie - his body, his voice - are acting in perfect coordination to produce the most comedic result possible. Even outside of that, though, this story is one of the best examples of how just how hilariously petty and vindictive Rimmer can be. Lister must have the patience of a saint dealing with him.
Kryten has become tetchy. Tetchy, tetchy, tetchy. They play it for laughs, but it is a genuine development worth taking notice. The most obvious explanation is that he's surrounded by Lister, Rimmer and the Cat. But there's also definitely a theme of Kryten being intrigued specifically by negative emotions. Perhaps because positivity has been already somewhat programmed into him. And positivity in general can be understood as a willingness to cooperate, to go along. Negativity (especially the kind that is celebrated by humans, such as lying in Camille) must seem more intriguing and paradoxical to a machine, and therefore Kryten might consciously imitate these emotions.
NOTES
- It's never explained why the infected holograms can't simply be switched off.
- Hattie's reactions to Rimmer pretending to ignore Lister's cries for help. She's definitely the best background performer in the show.
- Rimmer's entire justification for locking the crew up is fear of infection. Can a virus that infects holograms be transmitted by biological beings? I can maybe accept Kryten being quarantined, but why Lister and the Cat? Or is it a psychological thing? In which case, I really have to ask again how it can infect holographic simulations.
- The Cat apparently hates being corrected, despite being happily corrected in every other episode.
- The 'smeee heeee' joke from Camille makes a triumphant return.
- Kryten analyses the laboratory with the psi-scan last seen in Polymorph.
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