Episode 3: Balance of Power

[13:39] xtrebe
yo

[13:39] tclintoncunningham
Hello and welcome to Red Dwarf chat

[13:40] xtrebe
Ha ha, nice.

[13:40] xtrebe
Make it official

[13:40] xtrebe
-ish

[13:40] tclintoncunningham
I welcomed you with an English typing accent as well, in case you didnt notice

[13:42] xtrebe
I did not, I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

[13:42] tclintoncunningham
It is easy to miss. It is most noticeable on the r's

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
Season 1 Episode 3

[13:43] xtrebe
yes

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
The first thing that jumped out to me was the amazing use of futuristic sounds

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
such as when the toilet rotated around

[13:44] xtrebe
Ha, yes.  Although the toilet was relatively un-futuristic.

[13:44] xtrebe
In fact, it kind of looked like a toilet from the late 20th century.

[13:44] tclintoncunningham
Cant imagine it is super sanitary either

[13:44] xtrebe
Yeah, when it rotates I imagine there's a bit of sloshing that occurs.

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
Hopefully every use is clean and smell free

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
Also, I was glad to see Disco makes a comeback in the future

[13:45] xtrebe
Which scene was that again?

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
He was sitting in the mess hall or wherever and missing everyone

[13:46] tclintoncunningham
like a little baby

[13:46] tclintoncunningham
You are the last human alive, get over yourself

[13:46] xtrebe
that's right, "leave it alone"

[13:46] xtrebe
that part

[13:46] xtrebe
Yeah, I guess that's one of the few "serious moments" in the entire show.

[13:46] xtrebe
They kind of give up on those

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
It also highlighted the amazing outfits

[13:47] xtrebe
especially from season 3 onward

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
neon is apparently the future color of choice

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
yeah, they tend to avoid anything resembling seriousness

[13:47] xtrebe
Oh, wait, I remember now.

[13:47] xtrebe
They actually try to explain it away.

[13:47] xtrebe
If you notice

[13:47] xtrebe
there are signs on the wall in the background that say something like "80s retro night"

[13:47] xtrebe
Something along those lines.

[13:48] xtrebe
So, they're wearing 80's clothes because it's 80's night

[13:48] xtrebe
which of course is quite the coincidence

[13:48] xtrebe
since it aired in 1988

[13:48] tclintoncunningham
I was young but I think England 80's were different from America's 80's

[13:48] xtrebe
Yeah, I'm sure America's were better.

[13:49] tclintoncunningham
I didnt notice the signs, that atleast explains that

[13:49] xtrebe
More cocaine or whatever.

[13:49] xtrebe
yeah

[13:49] xtrebe
Well, it's sort of a tongue in cheek joke

[13:49] tclintoncunningham
yeah. How can we save money for our pathetic budget? Ah, yes. 80's themed events

[13:50] xtrebe
:)

[13:50] xtrebe
So, this episode does have one of my all time favorite lines.

[13:51] tclintoncunningham
The boob line?

[13:51] xtrebe
Rimmer tells Lister that he's tense.

[13:51] tclintoncunningham
ah

[13:51] xtrebe
Lister says that he isn't

[13:51] xtrebe
Then Rimmer replies "Of course you're tense, you rectum-faced pygmy!"

[13:51] xtrebe
One of those lines that still makes me laugh every time I hear it.

[13:52] tclintoncunningham
haha yeah. Most of the jokes you could see coming from a mile away but that was a good one. I also enjoyed when Holly gave Rimmer boobs and Rimmer wanted Holly to fix it

[13:52] tclintoncunningham
then said "There's no rush Holly" as he squeezed himself

[13:52] xtrebe
Yeah, that one was creepy but funny.

[13:52] xtrebe
Or, feepy

[13:52] xtrebe
You can use that.

[13:53] tclintoncunningham
thank you

[13:54] tclintoncunningham
Given how they present Lister, I dont buy the fact that he wouldnt just tell Rimmer to strip or something when he had the female body

[13:54] xtrebe
Yeah, they vascillate between making Lister the moral one and being a scoundrel.

[13:55] xtrebe
Yes, I use the word scoundrel in casual conversation.

[13:55] tclintoncunningham
that is because you are a rascal

[13:55] xtrebe
Although Lister watching Rimmer strip as a woman would definitely have an impact on their relationship.

[13:55] xtrebe
I've always felt you had a bit of the rogue about you.

[13:57] xtrebe
And having Lister trying out for the chef's exam, that was a pretty good plot twist/joke.

[13:57] xtrebe
I've seen it so many times I can't remember if I was ever surprised by it, but I'm sure I was the first time I saw it.

[13:57] tclintoncunningham
Yeah. It also emphasized just how shitty their careers were that a chef was higher rankede

[13:57] xtrebe
ha ha, yes

[13:59] tclintoncunningham
I liked how they also show the cat as capable of survival yet incredibly dumb

[14:00] xtrebe
Oh, with the fish negotiation?

[14:00] xtrebe
The gag where he orders seven fishes was pretty good.

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
I did like that.

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
I enjoy Rimmer's reaction to the Cat

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
he over-the-top talks to him like a moron

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
and gets to show his sarcasm without fear that the Cat will say something

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
atleast until the later seasons

[14:02] xtrebe
Yeah

[14:02] xtrebe
He gets away with it until Lister and Cat team up and make him the whipping boy.

[14:02] xtrebe
So to speak.

[14:03] tclintoncunningham
Yeah. Kind of 1.2 people versus 1

[14:03] tclintoncunningham
Cat actually becomes quite a bit more intelligent though over the seasons

[14:03] xtrebe
At certain things, yes.

[14:03] xtrebe
Like space flight :)

[14:03] xtrebe
Who couldn't pick up something simple like that?

[14:04] tclintoncunningham
:)

[14:04] tclintoncunningham
I guess they figure if Lister can do it..

[14:05] xtrebe
True.

[14:05] xtrebe
I think ep 3 was a better than 1, but not quite as good as 2.

[14:06] xtrebe
2 actually had a good sci-fi premise behind it, so it was strong on sci-fi and comedy.

[14:06] xtrebe
Which is how it is for a lot of my favorite Red Dwarf episodes.

[14:07] tclintoncunningham
They do make it realistic enough that you believe it

[14:07] tclintoncunningham
like the Hard Drive that makes Rimmer solid so they can stop dealing with that annoyance

[14:07] xtrebe
Yeah.

[14:08] xtrebe
I'm sure it's impossible to be 100% consistent, but man, they don't even really try with Rimmer and the hologram stuff.

[14:08] tclintoncunningham
Yeah, there is only so much they can care about that stuff