Only the Good... showed potential by returning to a more sober tone, but ultimately it fell prey to Doug Naylor's endless convolutions.
PLOT
After learning that a dangerous prisoner named Baxter intends to kill them for drinking his hooch, the crew plan their escape from the Tank. Meanwhile, a corrosive microbe begins to disintegrate Red Dwarf.
ANALYSIS
The first two-thirds of the episode are genuinely good, which is not something I've been able to say since Blue. It's not like there's a lot going on, but that's okay, Red Dwarf has done "just another day" type stories before to great success. The little skits with the captain, the hooch and especially Kochanski's period are pretty decent comedy fare and move along at a quick pace. It's the episode's need to function as a season finale that dooms it, because instead of developing those ideas to a funny climax, they suddenly pull a 180 about 30 minutes in and the story becomes about trying to save the ship.
Even that might've been salvageable if Doug hadn't felt the need to introduce another deus ex machina gimmick with the mirror universe, which Kryten can access because shut up. And then it just goes completely off the rails with the crew crossing over, Rimmer being trapped on the melting ship and the whole business with kicking the Grim Reaper in the nuts. It's all so layered on with nonsense that you don't even have time to register Doug casually confirming the existence of the supernatural and the afterlife in the Red Dwarf universe.
As some of you might know, there were several different endings considered. One involved the return of Ace (the series 1-7 Rimmer) to save the crew, which would have been fantastic. Another was actually filmed, and saw Rimmer successfully return with the antidote, enabling our heroes to reclaim Red Dwarf for good. I'm well and truly baffled that it wasn't used. The satisfaction of seeing them finally having it be properly theirs again for the first time since Back to Reality is just so, so great. The partying, the prancing, the cigars, they've earned it all. Rimmer waving goodbye to Hollister with "I see no ships" is also such a classic moment for him. In my mind, it's the canon ending.
And if it had been used, well, then the mirror universe would still be a very stupid idea, but at least the story would have come together fairly nicely and there wouldn't be a dozen plot threads left hanging for the next series. Or even the movie. Yeah, wasn't series 8 supposed to lead into the movie? Why leave it on this massive cliffhanger then? A movie is surely supposed to be a standalone feature that general audiences could get into. Arrrrgh.
CHARACTERS
Lister and Kryten/Kochanski pranking each other is very adorable. Especially the idea of Kryten and Kochanski teaming up. I like how far they've come since series 7. If series 8 wasn't completely insane, then having the two of them become friends in prison might've been compelling development.
This is really the first time in ages that the crew actually feel like the crew, probably because they're running around in their own clothes and taking the initiative again like they used to. Lister sacrificing the oppurtunity to escape so he can warn the crew about their impending doom restores him to the show's bastion of morality. Rimmer wants to be an officer again. Hollister has a moment of humanity and genuinely encourages Rimmer to find what he's good at. Even the Cat gets a moment to shine with that hilarious bit of him in drag, and the awesome professor routine.
See, when the posse are the posse and the jokes are funny, series 8 is actually really enjoyable! Why couldn't it have been like this the whole way through?
This is the last appearance of Norman Lovett until Series 12. Sadly, Lovett was very perfunctory this year, and most of his jokes fell flat. But I was still happy to have him there, if only for the good vibes.
NOTES
- At least a year seems to have passed since Pete, with the crew now being on probation and Hollister having recovered from his mental breakdown. This time jump actually helps to make it feel as if the show has settled in with the new format. Which is completely asinine since it's the finale, but hey, better late than never.
- Either the script or Mac MacDonald forgets that Hollister is supposed to have a raspy voice.
- Where did Talia come from?? The text suggests that she arrived on an escape pod (with the chameleonic microbe), but it's never properly explained how she's survived three million years. Hollister mentions the possibility of the nanobots rebuilding her, but how or why? Did Holly do it? How, why?
- I love the talking vending machines. I'm glad they became more of a trend in the Dave era. This one's played by the recently deceased Tony Slattery. He did a great job. I particularly love it when he talks about Rimmer being his nemesis.
- Hollister seeing Rimmer steal the chocolate bar and not having the energy to bother reprimading him was a great gag.
- Gotta love the return of "HE'S LYYYYYYING" Kryten.
- Rimmer jokes about it taking Holly 25 years to return, once he finally has something useful to say. Well, he got close. Norman returned 18 years later, and indeed his first scene was with Rimmer.
- It was nice of them to integrate Chris Barrie's real life scar into the show. I did always wonder about that.
- I adore the kettle on Kochanski's head. She's become so wacky lately, and I think Chloe really suits the more eccentric version of the character. It's like Kochanski has gone native and relaxed.
- The mirror universe's old timey film with the damsel carrying the zombie-in-distress was a nice understated gag.
- While the "I'm your sister!" skit is brilliant, I don't understand why Rimmer bothered getting into the captain's bed in the first place.
- Hollister mentions Kryten's nanobots.
- Rimmer suggests that Lister's 'big picture' involves a naked Kochanski and a haystack, which is quite close to Lister's happy ending in Doug's Last Human book.
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