Series X Best And Worst Scenes

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

To mark the second anniversary of the first airing of Red Dwarf X (I know, where the hell have two years gone?), G&T have just published an article about the high and low points of that series.  It's worth a read so I'm linking it to here.

(Please note that due to computer setting issues (don't ask) I can't post links in actual entries, so the link is in the first comment.)

This has reminded me how much I enjoyed Series X and made me even more impatient for XI, assuming it happens.  *Sigh*

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Link: http://t.co/z6Y6o7cdVY

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The worst-acted scene might be Rimmer's "Shakespeare is OVER!" What the hell, Chris? Way too angry.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I feel as though there should be fic explaining how he went from his opinion of Shakespeare in "Marooned" to that. ;)

More seriously, it does show that Chris and Robert were out of practice at acting compared to Craig and Danny, but they both improve as the series goes on.

[rosecathy1.livejournal.com]

I would agree with that. And it's unfortunately right before the "Stain! Speck! Smear! Smeg!" scene, which is one of my faves.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite scenes too. I like all the ones which show how the crew has basically become a family. :)

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's interesting... I LOVED the "Shakespeare is over" scene and hated the Stain! Speck! Smear! Smeg scene...

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Really? I'm not keen on Chris's delivery of "Shakespeare is OVER!" but I do like most of the rest of the scene, replete as it is with slashy undertones.

Why don't you like the "Stain! Speck! Smear! Smeg!" scene? I take it as lighthearted teasing and find it amusing.

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I dislike it for some of the reasons I'm seeing people state for disliking the Shakespeare scene; I thought it was exaggeratedly acted (by Robert), too obvious, too OTT and too unsubtle. I guess after VII I tend to be a bit too critical of exaggeratedly cleaning-obsessed Kryten, maybe?

The "Shakespeare is OVER" delivery was one of my biggest laughs of the ep, TBH. I rarely laugh out loud, and I did for that one. I think it's that, for me, that represented another one of Rimmer's bizarre neuroses, and I had so much fun imagining what it might be. It was so unexpected. I love it.

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

I suppose, also, that I love unexpectedly angry!Rimmer. The reaction was so extreme, and that's one of my favorite things about Rimmer; how he projects his emotions on entirely irrelevant things. He's the only person who could be genuinely enraged at Shakespeare. I love it.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I see. When you put it like that it makes more sense. :)

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

The Shakespeare is OVER scene made me laugh too for much the same reasons. It reminded me of one of my absolute favorite Rimmer moments: in DNA when he starts going on about how the ship is probably aliens trying to return Glen Miller, and then he yells over the intercom for them to, "Go away! We don't want him! You kidnapped him, you can keep the smegger!"

It's just the most random and inane thing to get upset and start ranting about. Glen Miller? Really? Only Rimmer.

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

YES. Exactly. :) :)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

You know, that's a good observation. Rimmer does have previous in this area. :)

[(Anonymous)]

sorry i'm coming on anon, but i can't remember my l username. anyway i agree with this as fitting with Rimmer's overreactions to certain things :) another one i think of (and absolutely love) is the Quagaars outburst in Waiting for God. his outrage is hilarious!

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

I actually thought that was intentional; it certainly made me laugh. I really liked it. There were some other bits in that scene I didn't like tho, so I'm not disagreeing in general...

[kronette.livejournal.com]

I remember at first viewing thinking the exact same thing. I mean, we know Rimmer's high strung, but that was way, way over the top. That was the only instance of possibly 'bad' acting, though, and some of that may have had to do with nerves. Yes, he does public speaking at corporate functions and he does voices and talks about Red Dwarf and Brittas, but I'd think that those few forays into 'acting' don't equal pages of scripts that have to be said right. Off the cuff you can wing it, written down lines you can't.

The highlights have to be meeting Howard, the moose joke (easily one of the best from all of Dwarf) and Lister's discussions with his dad. As awkward and cliched as it was, I even liked the "Jesus!" "Yes?" bit from Lemons. Oh, and Hoagie's combover and constant, tired prodding to get the Boys to duel across time and space.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Good point about scripted acting as opposed to adlibbing. I just remembered the BTS bits in "We're Smegged" where they're all preparing to go on and looking nervous. Awww.

I agree with your highlights and would add the "Young Rimmer" scene. Great acting from Philip Labey and Simon Treves. :)

(I am never going to watch "Trojan" the same way again now that I have my headcanon about Howard, even if it is an AU version.) ;)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Having thought about it, some of the scenes I enjoy least are the ones where the intention isn't clear. For example, in the ERRA Institute where Rimmer says he feels happy and at home in this "wrong" place. I honestly can't tell whether he's being sarcastic or not. Or what Doug's trying to say there.

And in a more offensive way, the "Bet she was a man!" scene. Of course Rimmer would be transphobic; no surprise there. But Lister doesn't call him out on it as he does on his sexism in "Parallel Universe", leaving the intention worryingly ambiguous. :/

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

I've only rewatched series X twice so far, but I enjoyed it more the second time through. I think the first time I watched it I was bracing myself too much for it being bad because I'd heard a lot of negative things about it. Since I enjoyed it the first time through, I was able to relax more for the second viewing, and I think I laughed a lot more and enjoyed it more, now that I knew what I was in for.

I'm surprised at the outrage over the, "What a complete slag." line. Curious what everyone here thinks about it. It made me chuckle because it came so out of left-field. Maybe it was a "cheap" laugh, but still...

Is anyone else bothered that they picked an actor who is obviously younger than Chris to play his older brother? I mean, he did make for a very good Rimmer, but I'm curious why they didn't hire someone a bit older.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The "slag" line, while I see why it bothered those it did, didn't mean much to me. I mean, I know what the word means in that context, but being American I almost never hear it and it's never used that way here.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I've actually discussed the "slag" line ad nauseum on various sites, so briefly, I don't like it any more than the writer of that article. Some people aren't bothered because they regard it as a gender-neutral insult these days, but I was brought up to regard it as a judgemental, misogynistic insult. As Vero says, it really does depend what the word means to you and that differs within the UK, let alone elsewhere.

But the really annoying thing is, he didn't need to say anything. The finger-wetting gesture is funny by itself and tells you all you need to know.

Regarding Mark Dexter's age, I imagine it was a question of choosing the right actor first since as a hologram, his age can be fanwanked away. It's implied that he died not long after Arnold since he refers to being on a fully crewed ship until a few days ago, so his age actually does make sense in that context. It's a bit weird that he didn't take the opportunity to taunt his brother about how old he now looks, though.

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Yarp, hologram age means nothing. They're simulations; they can be any apparent age. I have my own pet fanon for this as far as Rimmer is concerned, as you know, but given that Howard was instantiated at a later point than Rimmer, you could even postulate that the tech is different. (It would be regardless, as Rimmer is Legion-boosted.)

This is not an argument for or against the slag line (you know my feelings there, and I very much respect yours), but in reading this, I realized that I really dislike the finger gesture; not for reasons of offense, but because it simply jarrs for me. And that made me realize that what I dislike in RD in general, is exaggerated physical gestures. Craig can be bad at that, but when Chris does it, it actually makes me cringe more.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Interesting. The only physical gesture I remember cringing at is Rimmer's "I gave her one!" fistpumps regarding McGruder, but because of what it says about the character rather than Chris's performance. :)

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

I guess it's that Chris is better at more subtle things, while Craig more often is able to pull off overt physical comedy. I absolutely loathed the 'crashing' faces all the holograms made in "Trojan," for example. To the point where I had to look away from the screen.