Cassandra is not shit

Cassandra is the best episode of series VIII.

Make of that what you will.

Do I ever find my singing tie pin, your station is Git Central – classic.

From the moment Rimmer and Kochanski are trapped together it kind of nose dives.

Literal first images/thoughts that come into my head when I think about Cassandra:

* The godawful Canary costumes, and the fact that Craig Charles’ doesn’t even seem to fit in his. I don’t know what was up with Howard Burden in VIII, but the costumes that series are awful.

* Kochanski gets a couple of good lines.

* The lighting is shit too. The show looks ugly.

* Geraldine McEwan was in Red Dwarf. Amazing.

* Geraldine McEwan is now dead. That’s sad.

* Why did they namecheck Future Echoes earlier in the series, if they were going to rip it off?

* I momentarily confused the bit in Cassandra where they all walk around, shielding Rimmer for the bit in DNA where Kryten walks in front/behind of Rimmer. I momentarily thought this was a good bit in Cassandra. I was wrong.

* Let’s watch DNA. Or Future Echoes.

I think to me series X-XII is the equivalent of Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” or Black Sabbath’s “13” albums. The classic/generic pieces are all in place – it should make me feel like a kid again – but despite moments of brilliance it all feels a little hollow. VIII is more like Sabbath’s Forbidden or Metallica’s St Anger. BTE is the Reunion live album or Garage Inc. They’re back but with a few unusual moments.

It has a better plot and more good jokes than the other episodes in VIII. With a bit of tinkering, removal of the rapey bit, Kryten not randomly figuring it out on no evidence at all, and minus the horrible visual aspects of VIII, it would be a bottom-of-the-36 episode but reasonable.

The best aspect of Cassandra is that Cassandra herself seems to be aware that she’s in Red Dwarf Series VIII and reacts with appropriate exasperation.

Cassandra is not shit

Yes it is.

I agree

Every time I check on this thread

There was a lot of potential in a lot of VIII that was ruined by stupid stories, slapstick and poor jokes. A lot of it (Pete aside) could have been salvaged if someone had been on hand to say NO to a few things, and rewrite a few others. We had the crew back, we had Norman back, we had the ship back, and the budget wasn’t exactly S1 and S2 poor at this point. IMO Cassandra is the best episode, but if more time, effort and rewriting had gone into BITR and Only The Good, they could have been classics. They had all the parts of a Tripple Fried Egg Chilli Chutney Sandwich and they ended up with vomit.

It’s not a bad episode if you compare it to a standard half an hour of standard tv sitcom. Compared to most Red Dwarf it is fairly mediocre, but compared to most of VIII its probably the best of a bad bunch. It has its moments mostly by Geraldine McEwan. Like the idiots, the Germans are everywhere I always thought was a good line. Rimmer ogling Kochanski is a bit off, given previously he made it clear he disliked her. Or is it different because this is a reconstructed rimmer by the nanobots and this is a different Konchanski?

If VIII had been 6 episodes with Back in the Red as a 2 parter, Pete 1 and 2 deleted from history and Earth had been made as planned as the last episode, it might have been a lot better.