Review: Red Dwarf: Dimension Jump and Meltdown

Series Four, Episode Five - Dimension Jump

"What a guy!"

And it's another Parallel Dimension episode, but this time it's the opposite of what one would expect. It's another deep exploration of Rimmer as well as his potential. Chris Barrie is as good as ever.
          We see a point in Rimmer's past, in which his mother, oblvious to him being hung upside down from a tree, opens a set of results as to whether he will stay behind a year at school. We then go forward twenty years, where Ace Rimmer is good at everything and universally loved. He embarks on a trip to a parallel universe.
          We then come back to the Dwarfverse and all of the crew have planned to go fishing without Rimmer. He wakes up and finds them, and is deeply offended. Rimmer is then invited to the fishing trip. On the way his more obsessive tendencies start to gnaw at the crew. Then, Ace's ship crashes through time and throws Starbug off course. They crash into a planet and Cat is injured. Ace flies down to the planet and introduces himself to the crew, putting them in awe (well, everyone except Rimmer.)
         It is revealed that Ace was the one kept back a year, as the bullying he suffered as a result made him tougher and more intended to succeed. This episode, despite being one with multiple renditions of all characters, focuses definiely on Rimmer, and the contrast between what Ace is and Arnold isn't is striking enough to make the whole episode worthwhile.

Series Four, Episode Six - Meltdown

"I'm watching you Ghandi!" and "They're tieing Winnie the Pooh to the stake?!"

Another look at Rimmer (This entire series has just been about Kryten and Rimmer.) as his military tendencies mix in badly with a fun situation. A decent finale if a bit absurd.
        Rimmer is telling Lister and Cat an absurdly dull story about a game of Risk, and Lister tries to alert him to the fact that no one is listening. Kryten is perfecting his "Matter Paddle," which he found in the research labs. The paddle can home in on a planet with a breathable atmosphere, and they find a planet several light years away. Rimmer and Kryten go first and then send the paddle back.
        Both sides find themselves on a Waxworld, an old theme park made up of wax-based androids. When the humans left, the androids fought back against their programming, and a war began between the most evil people in history and fiction and the other, considerably smaller side, made up of pacifists and scientists.
         Rimmer takes on the pacifists and turns them into an aggressive war machine, appearing to go slightly mad. His main plan, however, consists of getting Kryten behind the lines to turn the planet's temperature up to the wax-droids' melting point.
         Does it work as a finale? Yes, in my opinion. It has a fun splattering of concepts, like the android theme park and Rimmer's light bee, as well as impressions of many different characters from history. Also, this is Marylin Monroe's third appearance on the show. Mad.

Thanks.