Desert island episodes?

[ldhenson.livejournal.com]

If you were marooned on a desert island (ice planet?) with only five episodes,

• which ones would they be, and
  
• why?

I think the "why?" is the really interesting part. I love it when someone points out something I hadn't noticed, or makes me think about an episode a different way.

Here, I'll start off with mine:

1. "Thanks for the Memory"
Some neat plot twists, and some fantastic acting from Chris Barrie showing Rimmer in various stages of inebriation/self-assurance/resignation. Lister and Rimmer are surprisingly sweet to one another throughout, and though RD wouldn't be RD if this happened all the time, I'm a total sap when it does.

2. "Better Than Life"
Love the way the script sets up all the elements at the start. Lots of background on Rimmer, which is always welcome! The observation dome scene is one of my all-time favorites, with Lister's funny-yet-touching speech about his dad. Also contains one of my top RD one-liners in the way that only Cat can deliver them, "I'd prefer chicken!"

3. "Future Echoes"
A super-clever script and great character interaction. Lister's indulgent attitude towards Cat in the "photo album" scene makes me smile, and the "shaving mirror anomaly" scene is one of my favorites (or perhaps I just like seeing Rimmer come running when Lister calls). My only quibble is that Rimmer's motivations are inconsistent throughout: he's afraid of being shut down when Lister talks about stasis/going home, yet shutdown doesn't seem to occur to him later when faced with Lister's "imminent" death.

4. "Marooned"
It's the Lister & Rimmer show, and a drat fine one, too, though my interpretation of their motivations keeps changing every time I watch it. There's a tiny heartbreaking bit just at the end, when Kryten and Cat arrive and Rimmer casts a couple of delighted glances at Lister in the way you do when you excitedly want to share a moment, and Lister doesn't so much as look at him.

5. "Queeg"
What's not to love? An ensemble script, suspense, Rimmer wearing shorts and looking thoroughly worn out, pathos, and a hilarious twist ending. Did I mention Rimmer looking thoroughly worn out? I love love love Norman Lovett's Holly, and here he gets to play his part to deadpan perfection.

Haha, from this it looks as though I thought the series ended shortly after the start of III, but that's not true! Hands down though, II is my favorite series.

Let's hear yours.

Comments

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

Neat idea! Also, cool bunch of eps - wouldn't mind having them with me on a deserted island. :-)

For me, at this moment I'd have to say my absolute faves are the first five series Smeg-Ups (handy youtube link (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=red+dwarf+smeg+ups), as I've been grabbing them) - I love seeing Chris Barrie actually do voices live (I enjoyed the first two RD audiobooks only because he was the reader, but couldn't figure out how much technological help he'd had with doing the voices - answer, what technological help? The man is a genius! With voices, that is *g*) and the crew goofing off and bloopering... The only reason I can pick the first five out of the bunch is because I haven't seen the rest yet. :-)

[ldhenson.livejournal.com]

What's funny is that the Smeg-ups (on Youtube no less) was what got me watching RD (after several attempts by friends to pimp RD to me failed). I came in via Brittas Empire, thought Chris was very funny in their blooper reel, and then started watching the Smeg-ups because I couldn't get enough.

And then I thought, "Well, I ought to give the real show another try shouldn't I?" The rest is history...

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I love Brittas :B