Can of Worms exonerates Emohawk as the least original episode of Red Dwarf.
PLOT
The crew pick up a female Cat, which turns out to be a Polymorph. Before they can stop it, the Polymorph impregnates the Cat, forcing the crew to deal with eight cute baby Polymorphs onboard.
ANALYSIS
Tired, regurgitated, kinda creepy... honestly, I think any chance of me liking this episode went down the toilet the minute we had to hear a detailed account of the Cat giving a blowjob. I'm not sure this is what the audience meant when they said they wanted more Rob Grant influence in Red Dwarf.
Going back to the well of Polymorph for another spin is bad enough, but the majority of the jokes are recycled running gags from various episodes. We get another round of Kinitawowi speak from Kryten. The whole concept of the Cat meeting his female self harkens back to Camille (where the entire crew except Cat met their female counterparts). There's the obligatory 'this is mine, that is mine' and 'string game' Cat jokes. The 'personality tuck machine' sequence is staged very similarly to Lister getting his mind wiped in Bodyswap, complete with Craig's lazy-eyed gaze. Even the crew's awkward shuffling around each other (when they all think the others are a polymorph) is mined from DNA and Cassandra. And if we're really digging deep, the plot point of one of the crew having to give birth in a humorous over-the-top fashion is borrowed from Parallel Universe.
It's a shame, because there's practically no episodes centered on the Cat at all. Doing this storyline earnestly and having him actually meet a female Cat would be much more interesting than yet another Polymorph encounter. Now remember, I didn't even like the original Polymorph that much. How well do you think I reacted to a copy of a copy?
At least Emohawk did the whole shtick properly, with the atmospheric red lighting and the crew getting their personality traits absorbed. Aside from Lister losing his emotions (caused by an entirely separate event), none of that happens here, so the main excitement of a polymorph encounter is lost. I'm guessing Doug didn't want to repeat himself too much- oh wait.
All this might be somewhat tolerable at least, if it wasn't for the extreme ickiness of the Cat's forced impregnation and everything surrounding it. Especially the fact that he ends up thinking this is how sex is like. It's in very poor taste and makes this one of the episodes I'm least keen to visit... if not the least.
CHARACTERS
The one bright shining star in Can of Worms is the performance of Dominique Moore as Ankita. Not only does she perfectly imitate Danny's shtick, but somehow she actually enhances it. Maybe it's because she's a woman, but her demeanour seems more overtly feline than Danny ever was (look at her pose when the crew find her). It's a crying shame that she's wasted on material as poor as this. What a fantastic showing.
The same cannot be said for Chris Barrie, who I'm sorry to say gives his worst-ever showing as Rimmer here. He's just loud and very one-note, bellowing lines without any consideration to the timing or pace of the scene. There is an occasional exception (he's still a talented actor after all), but the overall picture is dire. Chris has become somewhat hit and miss lately, and this is definitely the biggest example of his increasing reliance on hamming it up to 11 for no apparent reason. Maybe he thinks this is how an older Rimmer should behave, but it's not for me.
At least we've got Danny continuing his meteoric rise to be the most consistently funny cast member! I loved the idea that the Cat has actually had two female cats on the ship this entire time and nobody will ever believe him about it. It's a shame they had to spoil the joke at the end.
NOTES
- Whoever is editing these episodes should be fired. They used the same incidental music cue for a scene transition four times. I can't find any excuse for it other than laziness. Howard Goodall has written so many cues.
- Why is Starbug a week's journey away from Red Dwarf? I mean, I get exploring, but shouldn't there be someone looking after the Dwarf? Especially after what happened in series 6...
- The Mercenoid concept was pretty cool. I like that they're an example of a Simulant who seems to actually be obeying human instructions.
- The dictaphone scene rivals 'Rimmer remembering that he told Lister about losing his virginity' for the best fist-in-mouth gag.
- Apparently the crew are rivaling another crew on a ship called the Omega-4 for 'JMC crew of the year'. I probably shouldn't think too deeply about this, but I am DYING to know more.
- This episode marks the third appearance of the Polymorphs, after Polymorph and Emohawk.
- Starbug briefly passes through GELF country.
- Ankida shows off the Polymorph ship by claiming every little spot of it is hers, mirroring the Cat's behaviour from Waiting for God and Parallel Universe.
- The Cat suggests playing the string game, which we saw previously in Waiting for God and The Beginning.
LISTER: "Eggs that hatch??"
RIMMER: (exasperated) "Nooo, Kinder eggs!"
Comments
Post a Comment