Something I've been thinking about concerning "Entangled"

[zara2148.livejournal.com]

Alright, I'm a fairly new to the Red Dwarf fandom, but don't hold that against me. Anyway, my mind has been pondering on and off concerning Kryten's quick infodump in "Entangled" to Rimmer, and I'd thought it could make a good discussion (roughly paraphrased from memory):

"Have you forgotten? If Mister Lister dies, then the computer automatically shuts you down."

Now here's what I'm wondering (and let's pretend for a moment Naylor is not most likely making this up as he goes) - did Rimmer really already know about this, or was it something he was 'conveniently' never told. And if he was told about it at some point, how does this revelation change the previous nine and half series worth of Rimmer/Lister interaction?

Personally, I can see it as perfectly reasonable for Holly to not mention this little detail to Rimmer (assuming the automatic shut-down isn't brought on by a lack of Holly, who might have been able to stop it if s/he wanted to). Not to overly project, but if I was told my life was dependent on someone who shows all the self-preservational skills of a lemming practicing amateur cliff-jumping, I'd be tempted to lock that person in a room indefinitely. So Rimmer's ignorance could have been necessary for the as-normal-as-possible interaction needed to keep Lister sane.

I also have difficulty reading too many mercenary intentions into his previous shows of concerns - Rimmer may be a goit, but he's fairly open about being one. He rarely bothers masking any less-than-savory intentions - actually, if he knew his life was tied to Lister's, I can't see him not complaining about it at some point (aka "You're endangering your life deliberately, aren't you? You want to see me dead that badly?").

Comments

[kronette.livejournal.com]

After all they've been through, it would be rather touching if Rimmer's more or less forgotten his life is tied to this goit, because it would mean he's come to care for Lister on his own terms.

Awwwwwwwww! My little slashy heart just grew two sizes :)

And good point about Lister's reaction, which is something I honestly never thought about - this is the man who wants the servant mechanoid to be independent, so I certainly can't see him being too happy about Rimmer's life being tied to his.

This, a thousand times. Lister would pick and poke at the computer program until he smegged it up, shut Rimmer down by accident, deleted Rimmer by accident, turned Rimmer into a newt.. you get the idea. Self-preservation on Rimmer's part, again, knowing that Lister would want Rimmer to have his own life, would still Rimmer's tongue. Better to lie and stay safe, than risk Lister mucking about with the JMC computer.

Ahhh, boys. We love them so.