Siliconia was an idea suggested by the cast, and boy, does it feel like it.
PLOT
The crew are captured by the Mechanoid Intergalactic Liberation Front. Kryten is isolated and brainwashed by the mechs to believe that he's been kept a slave, while Rimmer, Cat and Lister are converted into mechs themselves, forced to perform the same menial duties they give Kryten.
ANALYSIS
There are two ideas that the cast have bounced around over the decades. One is an episode where they all wear Kryten costumes. The other is "the crew get stuck by the gay ray". Honestly, between the two of them, I'd much rather have seen the latter. As awful as it would be, it'd probably be a little more entertaining purely for the madness of it.
Siliconia really just feels like Doug asked himself "how can I get the cast in and out of the Kryten costumes in 25 minutes" without putting much - if any - additional thought into it. The mechanoid organisation is very thinly sketched, and none of them have any recognisable character traits. They're just there to be the stock bad guys until Siliconia instantly cures them (without any prompting from the main characters... it just happens). The 'Siliconia' concept itself is unnecessary. Why not just have the update station represent good old Silicon Heaven, or come up with a new name that isn't so similar to it? What's the point of the 'slave class' of mechanoids? If the intentions of the Front were pure, it would have been much more interesting to see Kryten debate them on his need to remain with the Red Dwarf crew.
It is mildly amusing to see the cast in the mechanoid costumes and have them do Kryten impressions (especially Chris Barrie), but there is nothing else to it. It's a nothingburger. There is only a brief moment where the episode tips its toe into featuring some kind of pathos, when Rimmer monologues about how much happier he is as a mech. But it comes and goes like a fart in the wind.
CHARACTERS
Back in my review of The Inquisitor, I talked about how it's a little ambiguous whether Kryten changed on his own accord or whether he was just following Lister's orders, and thus basically fooling himself and Lister into thinking that he's changed when really he hadn't. Given that Kryten has spent years looking after the crew and still requires lessons on human emotion, it doesn't seem to be going well, does it?
So I think doing a story where Kryten is challenged on whether or not he's actually become independent is a great idea. It's just a shame that the issue is sidelined almost immediately because the Front are so cartoonishly evil. I did like Lister's emotional appeal to Kryten, mainly because Craig Charles played it so well. You really felt his pain and his genuine love for Kryten. I guess maybe you could say the moral is that it doesn't truly matter, because both of them are as happy as they can be?
Chris Barrie does such a great impersonation of Robert Llewelyn. I feel like maybe he's gotten bored playing Rimmer, because he's absolutely spot-on when he has to do literally anything else.
Both James Buckley and Laura Checkley did a terrific job playing the Front leaders with a kind of understated sadism. I felt thought they elevated the material considerably and I wish we'd seen them in a better episode.
NOTES
- The way the mechs circumvent Asimov's First Law is very cleverly written.
- I wonder if Butler hangs out with this bunch. Probably does. He's as smug as they are.
- I really didn't like the squelchy sound effects used during the 'clean-off'. Too on the nose.
- I've no idea what the joke about the Mark III's being "so cool" was all about. Why'd they keep repeating it like it meant something?
- What is the Siliconia update even supposed to do for them? Why does it just turn them all nice at the end?
- I love how snarky Kryten gets in this story. Because he's usually so nice, the deadpan sarcasm cuts a lot deeper and becomes funnier. Kryten asking if he should unscrew the monitor and bring it over to the slouching Lister is a particular highlight.
- Lister's guitar is recovered after being flushed into space in Fathers and Suns.
- Kryten mentions the Om song from Timeslides.
- Kryten demonstrates his ability to lie, calling back to the opening scene of Camille.
- In The End, Lister mentioned that Rimmer had a mental breakdown and thought he was a fish. This is finally explained by Rimmer fantasising about being a fish to avoid stress.
- The song "Baby, Don't Be Ovulating Tonight" was previously mentioned in the novel Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.
Comments
Post a Comment