Cured is an inspired parody of John Carpenter's the Thing, and the Cat's best episode to date.
PLOT
The crew discover a research station built for curing psychopathy. Within the facility are clones of famous evil individuals such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The crew reluctantly befriend them, only to find themselves under attack. But which psychopath could it be?
ANALYSIS
Much like Krysis, this felt precisely like an old-school Red Dwarf, with a well-rounded script, good pacing and an actual story to tell. In this case, analysing the show's approach to morality. Generally, Red Dwarf is very atheistic and amoral, celebrating a crew that are at their best not the worst scum in the universe. It's a story about people who have a kernel of goodness deep down, but also lead a life of wasteful hedonism and aimless wandering. Their worst threats are beings like Queeg, Pree and the Inquisitor, who tried to make sure everyone had a purpose in life. Their worst selves (from the future) had stopped caring about anything other than hedonism.
The message is, I think, pretty clear. True humanity lies somewhere between demons and angels, in a vague amoral grey mush. Which is why it's so interesting to watch their reaction to people who were once explicitly evil, and are now explicitly good.
Curiously, it's Rimmer who seems to be the most morally horrified. Despite his adoration of fascist dictators in the past, Hitler seems to be one step too far. You'd think Kryten would be the one to scold Lister for fraternising with Hitler, not Rimmer. I think it reveals the posturing in Rimmer. At his heart, he totally rejects the reality of war. But he adores the idea of being a powerful gentleman military commander. A fantasy that he can enjoy with Napoleon, but not with a man as hated as Hitler. It's also why he went so psychotic in Meltdown. By removing the humanity of the soldiers and seeing them purely as robots, he was able to indulge his fantasy without guilt. Lister, by comparison, is very forgiving as long as he's certain that they've changed. Even while mistrusting the 'cured', he was not able to bring himself to leave them to die. The nobility that Rimmer craves exists within Lister.
And then we've got the Cat, who the show has always acknowledged only really cares about himself. But never in a malicious sense. He's just a cat. He has no interest. The way this is used to create tension at the climax of the episode is just brilliant. And the way he ultimately comes around for the crew in a very cat-like way... it's easily the greatest moment for the Cat in the entire show. Easily.
CHARACTERS
Flowers for Danny John-Jules, who is a total star in that last scene. We've heard over and over how cool the Cat is, but for the first time, it's really true. The idea of him being a likable anti-hero who sticks by the crew purely because he feels he owns them and they feed him is wonderful. The running gag about the Cat's disgust at not being liked by the former nymphomaniac psycho is very funny too.
There's something very amusing about Kryten's typical "It appears that..." speech being completely off the mark. Where does he get those ideas from anyway?
Rimmer's irritation at the idea of having to make Red Dwarf comfortable for wheelchair users is a good reminder that a main protagonist does not necessarily have to be charming, and his behaviour does not reflect on the attitudes of the show or the writer (who is himself disabled).
I'm quite fond of Adrian Lukis (he appeared in a Blake's 7 audio drama), so it was charming to see him crop up as a villain in this. Especially because he's one of the few in the modern era to play the role straight. I also liked Telford's backstory a lot, mainly for the satire on the War against Terror, but also because he's from a time frame close to Lister and Rimmer's (explaining how he can pilot Starbug). He's your typical mad scientist, but there's just enough there to make him stand out a bit. I thought the way he put the crew in traps which are based on their own fears, but are also inspired by the 'cured' villains was very clever.
The stand-out is Ryan Gage's androgynous take on Hitler. It's such a daft idea but it works brilliantly and the explanation for it made total sense too. Watching him jam with Lister had me in stitches.
NOTES
- The reveal that the 'cured' were actually androids based on the scientists who originally inhabited the station (as opposed to the scientists themselves) was a twist too far, but I understand Doug writing it in as an explanation for why we never see them again.
- I love the gag about how broken down Starbug is. It's a nice nod to the show's age, especially in a season premiere.
- Rimmer is unfamiliar with "United America", suggesting it was formed maybe a few decades after the radiation leak in the first episode.
- I'm irritated that we never got a follow-up to Rimmer arming himself with a staple gun. Chekhov's staple gun, everyone! I wanted to see him shoot staples at Hitler.
- I wonder what a cured Cat would have been like.
- The Cat's love of golf is mentioned again.
- Lister tells Hitler about his stint in art college.
- Lister claims that he purchased his leather jacket on Mimas (I call bs, it's clearly not the same jacket he had in previous seasons) and painted it himself. Lister's holiday on Mimas was previously referenced in Ouroboros.
CONCLUSION
A splendid idea executed with aplomb.
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