Terrorform feels very half-arsed, but it's got an appealing nightmare quality about it.
PLOT
The crew must rescue Rimmer from a moon that has landscaped itself based on his psyche. With the monsters of his neurotic mind made flesh, he is in greater danger than ever...
ANALYSIS
If The Inquisitor had too much thought put into it, then Terrorform is the script that Grant Naylor slapped together on the weekend they had left over . 'Lol, what if Rimmer faced... himself, like manifestations of his own mad quirks?'
'How do we do that?'
'Uhhh... there's this psychic moon - a psi-moon! - and it shapes itself on people's psyches! And if he feels good, the moon is good, and if he feels bad, the moon is bad!'
'Well, it's complete bollocks and we already did it in Better than Life. But add some hot handmaidens and I'm in!'
Is the psi-moon artificial or natural? If it's artificial, why would anyone build such a place? If it's natural, why does it only latch on to Rimmer? How does it produce sentient beings? Where did the clothes/equipment/dungeon come from?
I know this is a fantastical comedy, but logic is on holiday even by Red Dwarf standards. At a major stretch, maybe this is just some kind of ultra-futuristic place beyond the crew's understanding (there are three million years to pick from, after all), but Kryten seems to have no issue recognising the psi-moon for what it is. There's no real indication that this adventure is supposed to be wilder than any previous one. A few lines of dialogue would have cleared things up. Instead, I'm left feeling like the writers went on a bender.
On a more positive note, the hazy worldbuilding does match well with the atmospheric Halloween trappings that the direction is going for. There's a visceral horror quality to the steaming swamp, the monsters, the way that Rimmer's emotions affect the environment around him. And the handmaidens and musketeers are so loony that they just about get away with it. The episode is weird and interesting and memorable if nothing else, and the stark simplicity of the plotting makes it an easy, relaxing watch. They go in, they rescue Rimmer, they get out. I can't really hate good pulp sci-fi like that. Maybe Grant Naylor just wanted to have some fun and didn't think too hard about it. It's Red Dwarf at its most base-level entertaining.
CHARACTERS
Chris Barrie gets to have some fun being oiled up by beautiful women. I wonder what part of Rimmer's mind conjured that up? Given that the promise of sexual ecstasy goes unfulfilled, one is concerned whether Rimmer had an embarrassing BDSM incident in his youth.
Danny and Craig's bit with Kryten's 'taranshula' hand was a major highlight. Although I must admit I was distracted by the Cat's admission that he plays fantasy role-playing text games. Big fan of the Hobbit, is he? I want to see those scenes!
I loved Holly teasing Lister about his arachnophobia It's one of my favourite moments with Hattie's version of the character. She's so much funnier with a slight mean streak to her. It adds spice to the performance.
NOTES
- For the third consecutive time this season, the episode opens with Starbug being used for exploration. Although this is the first time when it's actually the only way the story could happen.
- I forgot to mention that Rimmer randomly has physical form on the psi-moon. Because psychic something something.
- The running gags of Kryten deflating the Cat's battle plan ("... with just two minor drawbacks...") and his neverending list of Rimmer's flaws are reused, adding to my suspicion that this script was cooked up at the last minute.
- Poor Rimmer, they could have let him down more gently.
- You could tell the Unspeakable One prop looked like shite from the way it was filmed. Only shots of shadows and one glimpse of his feet. And even those were pretty iffy.
- I wonder if Rimmer's fantasy of the musketeers (representing his positive attributes) is inspired by the crew? Four crewmembers, four musketeers...? Nah, I'm just looking for things to talk about.
LISTER: "Remember, it's Rimmer's mind out there. Expect sickness."
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