TV Review: Red Dwarf 10.4, "Entangled"
rating: 2.5
(WARNING: Significant spoilers follow) Some of the best moments in Red Dwarf have come when the show has taken sci-fi concepts and run them out to an insane level. Alternate universes, white holes, AI, alternate timelines, DNA alterations and many other concepts have been done over. This time its quantum entanglement, more or less, and itwell, it didnt work quite as well as Id hoped. The basic story has Lister (Craig Charles) losing Starbug and Rimmer (Chris Barrie) in a poker match to some BEGGs (genetically altered garbage eaters). To his credit, Lister realizes this is something of a problem, and tries to work out a way to get out of it. At the same time, hes dealing with a bomb thats been strapped towell, his luv spuds, and will explode if he doesnt get Rimmer and Starbug to the BEGGs. While all this is going on, Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) and the Cat (Danny John-Jules) have become entangled, which seems to mainly manifest itself by them talking in sync. So lets get to this. I did really like the performances by John-Jules and Llewellyn, who both did an excellent job talking in sync. It was also very nice to see the Cat actually have something to do, and I liked the concept of a place run by people who are always wrong, but in somewhat interesting ways. As for the rest, well, it might have been the fact that I was fighting a severe allergy attack at the time, but I didnt actually find this episode to be terribly funny. Even once I recovered and watched it again, it just didnt work for me. The funniest moments were Listers kebab-eating causing a fire and Rimmer being an officious ass, but frankly those are just a basic part of the show, and something that every episode should contain elements of. I could have also really done without the always wrong scientist lady. The basic concept was ok, I suppose, but she really seemed like the pretty airhead character type, and I find such characters annoying in general. I dont know. It just felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities. How much more funny would it have been if the Cat and Kryten were a lot more entangled? Like suppose they had to move together in addition to talking together. That would have been a bit more fun visually and had a lot more comedy potential. As it was, this episode was acceptable, but it could have, and should have, been much more.