Red Dwarf/Back in the Red (2)

Back in the Red (2)
Season 8, Episode 2
Airdate	February 25, 1999
Written by	Doug Naylor
Directed by	Ed Bye
← 8x01 Back in the Red (1)	8x03 → Back in the Red (3)
Red Dwarf — Season Eight

Back in the Red (2) is the second episode of the eighth season of Red Dwarf, and the forty-sixth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Robert Llewellyn (Data Doctor), Mac McDonald (Captain Hollister), Kika Mirylees (Dr. Karen Newton), Jemma Churchill (Chief Engineer), Andy Taylor (Counsellor McClaren), Karl Glenn Stimpson (MP Thornton)

Plot Overview

The show opens with the Captain's daily report. In his report he notes that several of his crew are being tried for crimes against the Space Corps. He goes on to cite various video clips, including one of Lister in his quarters discussing how no one is going to believe his story that everyone died and was somehow resurrected by microscopic nanobots.

Using the crew's confidential files and other information retrieved from the crashed Starbug, Rimmer reports to the captain and turns in a report detailing potentially lethal problems with the way the ship's drive plates are serviced. The Captain glances at the report, astonished that Rimmer could possibly do anything useful.

He is even more astonished when Rimmmer wishes him a happy wedding anniversary and presents him with a blueberry muffin (just like his wife Martha used to make). Words fail to describe what he feels, when after being dismissed, Rimmer gives him a tube of hard-to-get Anus Soothe Pile Cream ... and its one-size-fits-all glove. Impressed by Rimmer's sudden change, Hollister invites Rimmer to dinner.

Elsewhere Kryten is undergoing a physical exam. A technician is looking for something and removes a couple of bolts from Kryten's groinal area. The missing bolts apparently played a significant role in fastening Kryten's head in place. At soon as the last bolt is removed, Kryten's head falls to the floor. Later Kryten is classified as a female, because he has no genitals.

At the tribunal, Kryten, the Cat, Lister, and Kochanski defend themselves. They agree to the use of psychotropic drugs to help bring out the truth.

Rimmer pays Lister a visit in his holding cell. Although he is happy that operation Get Rimmer Officerhood, Power, and Eminence (GROPE for short) is on course, he refuses to help Lister escape -- Rimmer has what he wants now. He even found the positive viruses on Starbug. To prove his point he pulls the vials out, letting Lister hold them briefly before taking them back. Then he leaves.

Lister licks his middle finger, hoping that some of the luck virus has gotten on his finger from when he held the vials. Sure enough, with the luck virus in his system he is able to deactivate his security bracelet and escape his cell by randomly pressing numbers and relying on sheer luck.

Kryten is given a choice: stand trial with the others or be restored to factory settings. Being a servile droid, he is unable to contradict humans and voice his true preference. However, following Kochanski's advice (in a perverse sort of way), he takes the guard's gun and forces the evaluation comittee into the toilet stalls. He then orders them to take down their trousers and sit down. The resulting view (of the people with no pants on) enables him to voice his prefrence: "No" -- No, he doesn't want to be restored to factory defaults. Two guards enter, club him into submission.

Lister frees Kochanski. Now they are both on the run. In the lift, Lister tells her how he used the luck virus to escape. She marvels at the story and remarks that it was a pity that he didn't do the same thing with the sexual magnetism virus. Lister has an epiphany! He rapidly licks his fingers hoping that some trace of the sexual magnetism virus rubbed off on his fingers. In short order, the virus takes hold and Kochanski jumps him, tearing at his clothes, but suddenly she stops. Dave figures that the luck virus must have "cured" him.

During dinner at the Captain's table, Rimmer is being lusted after by all women present -- he took a dose of the sexual magnetism virus before arriving. When he goes to the galley to help get coffee, he is ravaged by one of the women. They both return to the captain's table several minutes later, disheveled, but with no coffee. Irritated, the Captain asks if there is any "news" about the coffee. Rimmer volunteers to look again. This time a different woman enthusiastically follows him. She too pulls him aside and ravages him.

Elsewhere, Lister, the Cat, and Kochanski find Kryten, but he has been reset to factory settings. He is completely formal and does not recognise them. Even so, they take him with them. They disguise themselves just as a squadron of guards arrive, searching for the escaped prisoners. At an inoportune moment, Kryten recovers his corrupted files (his real personality) and complicates their interrogation by the gaurds. After questioning them a bit, the guards are called away by a reported prisoner sighting in another part of the ship. Dressed as the Dibley's (with mops on their heads), they make their escape.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Having overcome his aversion to looking dorky and un-cool, the Cat suggests that everyone dress as the Dibley family.

Referbacks

• Having used the sexual magnetism virus (found in the episode Quarantine), Rimmer gloats to Lister that "... right now, Yvonne McGruder is sleeping off the first 23 pages of the Kama Sutra."
• Using the crew's confidential files from the crashed Starbug, Rimmer warns the captain about sealing the drive plates (the cause of the original Red Dwarf's demise).
• Later at the captain's table, Rimmer cautions the crew to be on the lookout for "future echoes" as they approach light speed.
• When they are choosing a disguise, the Cat suggests that they dress as the Dibley family.

Trivia

The Show

• This episode has what is possibly the longest Rimmer salute ever!

Allusions and References

• According to Lister only Meth. users and the Corn Circle Society would believe his story about nanobots.

Memorable Moments

• During Kryten's medical exam, the blood pressure cuff on his left arm causes his right arm to swell like a balloon and fly across the room.
• Just prior to re-programming him, a dorky bit of animated software, calling itself The Data Doctor, diagnoses Kryten ...

Your mechanoid appears to have developed the following rogue emotions:

• Affection
• Arrogance
• Envy
• Guilt
• Humor
• Insecurity
• Petulance
• Possessiveness
• Snobbery
• Love

Quotes

• Lister to the Cat:

What's the point of disguise if you wear it under your normal outfit?

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