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The Hippos review the last two episodes of "Red Dwarf" Series 8

Published at:  Apr 08, 1999 5:26:44 PM CDT

SPOILER ALERT !!


Glen here...




Well folks, this is it. The last set of Red Dwarf reviews from Mr. & Mrs.
Hippo.

I would like to extend my deepest thanks for the loyalty and responsibility they demonstrated in
writing these reviews every night after the episodes initially aired in the U.K.

They busted their asses for the readers of this page, and that means a whole lot to me.
So, THANK YOU Mr. and Mrs. Hippo. We'll miss you...come again...and thanks for all the fish.

Without further adieu...




____________________________



Mrs. Hippo review Red Dwarf Series 8, Episode 7:




Its Mrs Hippo here again with another (her last) review.

"Pete" Part Two

As feared, this second episode was quite weak.

It had some good ideas but
was just a bit drawn out. At the end of part one we left all five being
chased by Pete, a dinosaur. This episode is dominated by the bowel
movements of dinosaurs - more importantly how to stimulate one - and what
better way than to feed him a very hot cow vindaloo.

Ultimately this does
have the desired effect, but as usual nothing quite works out as Rimmer and
Lister expect. Each little disaster is broken up by Rimmer and Lister being
summonsed before Captain Hollister to explain themselves. This could have
worked really well, but just didn't quite.

While the interchanges between Rimmer and Lister were by far the best
parts, the sub-plot relating to the genitally challenged Kryten and his
"penis" (Archie) are very funny and the best line goes to Chloe Annett when
she tells Kryten - "You are a real man now, like all men you have
absolutely no control over your penis".

In the end it looks like Rimmer and Lister have managed to restore things
to normal - but have they. As you would expect there is another disaster
waiting around the corner.

It's not a great episode, it's a bit predictable, but you should be able to
find something to laugh at.




____________________________



Mr. Hippo reviews Red Dwarf Series 8, Episode 8. ((the last RDS8
episode, the last Mr. Hippo review for now...))




A very. very tired Mr. Hippo here reporting in on the last Red Dwarf VIII
episode, "Only the Good..."

Mr. Hippo arrived in the United Kingdom this afternoon on a British Airways
cargo carrier after a 10 day jaunt around the jungles of South America.
Because of this he is not exactly thinking or typing clearly. Mr. and Mrs.
Hippo just finished watching the last Red Dwarf episode of Series 8, which
was shown at a "special" time on Bank Holiday Monday.

Mr. Hippo doesn't have much to say about non-Red Dwarf related items this
time around because of his overall mental instability, commonly associated
with flying with British Airways.

"Only the Good..." is a solid, funny episode for the most part with a...quite
frankly...strange & open-ended conclusion.



Highlights included:

** as has been true throughout this entire series, the interplay between
Lister and Rimmer recalled and enhanced all of those previous classic Red
Dwarf
moments involving these two characters. A big round of applause to
the writers, and especially to Chris Barrie and Craig Charles;

** the evidence of this could not be more clearly demonstrated than during
the cell inspection 'drunk' scene, after Rimmer and Lister have failed
miserably in their attempts to conceal Baxter's illegal 'hooch' by trying
to drink it before inspection;

** Kryten's surprise party to celebrate Kochanski's 'period' was also an
example of classic Red Dwarf humour;

** Lister's reaction to Cat's disguise to sneak into the medical bay for the
gang's escape was also very funny;

** as was Rimmer's journey into the parallel universe, especially his
realisation that everything was equal and opposite, including his own
attributes.



Lowlights included:

** the rather bizarre ending of Rimmer's confrontation with the Grim Reaper.
Mr. and Mrs. Hippo really don't know what to make of it.

All in all, Red Dwarf VIII represented a true return to form for the
Dwarfers, completely erasing the disappointment of Series 7. In fact, Mr.
Hippo would go so far as to comment that Series 8 was the best series since
the "heady heights" of Series 5, when so many brilliant Red Dwarf episodes
were on display, including "Quarantine" and "Back to Reality".

Mr. Hippo
signs off as a pleased hippo and can't wait for Series 9, or a film, or
both.

Mr. Hippo saying so long... for now.


____________________________










Questions? Comments? Praise? Ridicule ?


CLICK HERE to e-mail
Glen



Or call:



(512) 347-1992



Mail can be sent to:



Glen Oliver

P.O. BOX 160812

Austin, TX 78716-0812

USA








    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • Apr 08, 1999 6:57:08 PM CDT

    I thought Death's cameo was funny..

    by neuracnu

    The set-up for it wasn't half bad, either. The slow motion.. the "last episode"ish music.. "Smeg..." It all worked for me. Waddya say, Glen? Dig out that season 8 video I sent ya and tell us what you thought of it!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 08, 1999 9:38:33 PM CDT

    THANKS!

    by drjekyll

    A heartfelt thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hippo for helping those of us out who haven't seen VIII yet. KUDOS!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 1:13:29 AM CDT

    Red Dwarf Rules!

    by barrymore

    Thanks to the Hippos for their season of reviews for RD 8!--It was most appreciated!
    I'm still not clear though-- is everybody (the crew) all back alive again on Red Dwarf?
    The nanobots brought everyone back alive?
    Anyway, I can't wait to see the new shows (although I'll probably be waiting quite a while)!
    Long live Red Dwarf!
    P.S. And a heartfelt wish that Grant and Naylor would get back together again...come on guys, make up!
    Thanks AICN and Thanks Hippos!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 4:28:48 AM CDT

    A Few Thoughts

    by john shaft

    The series was better than thee previous two, with the exception of the second half of the last episode. It didn't explain what that virus was that was eating the ship. How did they already know about it? It seemed a bit rushed, and they seemed to include a few jokes as an after thought. It would have worked better as a two parter. They could have developed the story a bit more, and have it make sense. Another question is this. If the Nanobots re-built the crew of the Red Dwarf, including Rimmer, why didn't they re-build Kochanski? I know that she is still alive, but isn't that a Kochanski from an alternative universe? The one from this universe died on Red Dwarf with the rest of the crew. Shouldn't they have re-built her as well? Also, Why were our heros locked up? The Captain is aware that they crew all died, and the Nanobots provided by our heros re-created them, so why were they locked up?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 4:57:15 AM CDT

    RD endings

    by kirbykagar

    Is it me, or does Red Dwarf keep nicking the old Blakes 7 Cliffhangers? Season 6 ended with everyone dying (B7's final episode, "Blake"), whilst this one had a mysterious space microbe eating through the ship (B7's third season ending TERMINUS, when the liberator was eaten by a mysterious space microbe).....Coincidence, I think not! Also, Death should have commented on the fact that this is actually the THIRD time he has "come to collect" Arnold Rimmer in this dimension (THE END and TIMESLIDES in S3)...would have been funny. Still a good ending, though. Oh, yeah - PETE was originally filmed as a 1-part story, where most of what happened in episode 2 wasn't included, just the retrieval of the time wand from pete and the Cow vindaloo/results thereof sequences. Did include a good bit with Rimmer drawing a moustache on McGruder's new boyfriend whilst he was one of the frozen table-tennis players we saw

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 6:04:20 AM CDT

    DWARF IX

    by salamander

    aaccording to an announcement over hear (UK) the film red dwarf is iminent to be signed and will be made after series dwarf ix has been made.
    with regards to the last series . overall i thought it was funny but like mr hippo it was not like the classics that we have seen before. with the ending of the series cliffhanger however, we will be seeing a hologram rimmer again ??
    i would also agree with the comments made with regards to lister and rimmer coming in front of the captain lots of times. I think it could have worked but when they went to find the 'time machine thingy' in the middle of the search to go back to holister then back to the search i thought was a bit silly - the delayed fight sequence was good though !
    A nice return but perhaps they should have had one last season on starbug (with holly) for us to get used to the new kochanski and for her charactor to evolve as she didn't have a great impact on the last two seasons especially this one. also holly needs more lines , he's funny with his dry humour especially in the last episode with his long and short version !

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 6:23:30 AM CDT

    John Shaft's 2 Kochanskis

    by zcarstheme

    Dammit, John's right ! There should be another Kochanski loose on the reconstructed Dwarf. We've been shortchanged a Kochanski, people. I hate it when that happens.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 6:53:39 AM CDT

    Where the new Red Dwarf came from

    by cypher

    Hi!

    Just to set things straight a little. The nanobots rebuilt the Dwarf under the directions of Holly, who would know not to make a new Kochanski as there was one arriving . Presumably this is why he didn't recreate Frankenstein, Lister's original cat and ancestor to _the_ Cat either.

    Frankly RD has been on a downhill slope for me since about Season 5, with far too many characters and the pointlessly dumb absence of the RD itself. And Kryten isn't nearly as funny as they seem to think he is. Camp robot with bad American accents just don't make me laugh.

    Oh well, I'm just getting cynical.

    Cheers

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 6:55:41 AM CDT

    RD XI????

    by kirbykagar

    There IS no Series XI! That was it. It's into the movies now. Hence the THE END message at the end of ONLY THE GOOD....

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 6:56:38 AM CDT

    Sorry....

    by kirbykagar

    I meant Series IX, not XI

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 7:58:25 AM CDT

    Y2K

    by john shaft

    O.K. then. The Nanobots didn't build another Kochanski because they were working under the orders of Holly. If that is the case, why did they make another Holly, as featured in either the second or third episode? You know, with the big dome head. Oh, and I read Heat magazine as well. There will be a series 9, and then they will make a film. The film won't be a continuation, but more like a bigger budget remake re-telling the beginning. The end of Series 8 may have said "The End", but it then said "The Smeg It Is", which may have been a bit crap, but indicates that it isn't the end.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 09, 1999 5:30:36 PM CDT

    Arrrrgh!

    by sethshandor

    Just wrote long and involved talk back and got "invalid login"and erased my message! Dammit!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 10, 1999 2:34:19 PM CDT

    DWARF IX

    by salamander

    YOU'RE WRONG YOU DUMB SHIT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER SERIES BEFORE THE FILM READ ALL THE PRESS ARTICLES AND MAGAZINES SUCH AS SFX, HEAT , CULT TIMES AND A FEW OF THE NATIONAL PRESS AS THERE WAS AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE RED DWARF TEAM !

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 14, 1999 6:50:57 AM CDT

    dumb arse yanks

    by meatboy

    when will you stupid americans stop calling it seasons. they are called series, because they are a series of programs.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 18, 2006 8:12:50 AM CDT

    NEVER!

    by wolfpack

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