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Trojan (Red Dwarf)

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Template:Infobox Red Dwarf episode "Trojan" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf series X.[1] Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 4 October, 2012, it marked the return of Red Dwarf to a regular series run, 13 years after the conclusion of series 8. The episode touches upon Rimmer's relationship with his brothers and his urge to become an officer, following the discovery of a hologram of his brother Howard.

Plot

During an unknown period of time in their travels aboard Red Dwarf, Lister (Craig Charles) and the Cat (Danny John-Jules) are tricked into attempting to buy a useless drinks stirring device from an automated telemarketing system, "All-Droid". Meanwhile, Rimmer (Chris Barrie) is dismayed to find that he has once again failed to pass his astro-navigation test and has not become an officer as his brothers were. At that moment, the crew discover a derelict "Quantum Twister" ship, S. S. Trojan, belonging to the Space Corps, which is driven by a quantum rod, a device which tunnels through spacetime by attracting together related matter which emerged from the Big Bang. While messing with the rod, Rimmer inadvertently summons a ship which carries a hologram of his brother Howard (Mark Dexter). With Howard's ship in dire trouble, Rimmer opts to spend 15 hours trying to pass another exam in order to become an officer and match his brother.

Rimmer's attempts to revise for a further exam go badly, and after the other three crew members best him in a question about moose-related car accidents in 1970s Sweden, Rimmer's light bee crashes. Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) manages to restart Rimmer's light bee by purging his 'resentment', a cache of files which contain a number of over-analysed memories stemming from Rimmer's feelings of paranoia and inadequacy. While Rimmer's mind has been cleared and his ability to learn improved, he is out of time to sit a further exam and so decides to lie to his brother instead of simply confessing his failures.

Rimmer and the other members of the crew dress up in Space Corps uniforms and welcome Howard aboard Trojan, with Rimmer posing as the ship's captain. Howard is accompanied by a simulant, Crawford, and is dumbfounded that his brother appears to be a successful officer. After a tour of the ship, Howard becomes increasingly jealous of Rimmer and crashes due to a build up of resentment as Rimmer had earlier. After Howard's resentment is purged, Crawford reveals herself to be a simulant rebel, and intends to shoot everyone on board to free herself from human servitude. This revelation is very ill-timed, as Lister has just managed to get through to a sales representative for All-Droid after days of being put on hold. Frustrated, Lister goes to answer the phone, prompting Crawford to shoot; Crawford's shot misses Lister and instead heads for Rimmer. Howard places himself between Rimmer and Crawford, mortally wounding himself, while Crawford is defeated by Kryten and the Cat, who upload Howard's resentment files into her cybernetic brain and cause her to crash. Howard, dying of his injuries, reconciles with Rimmer and admits that he wasn't an officer as was thought; like Rimmer, he was merely a vending machine repairman. Rimmer does not reciprocate the gesture, and merely reduces the size of his lie slightly (claiming that he had one fewer car than he had bragged, but was still wildly successful).

Later on, on board Red Dwarf, the computer system is updated with news of Howard's death. Lister has re-purposed Crawford's body as a tea stirring machine, and Rimmer is smugly satisfied that his brother died a low-ranking repairman after years of picking on his younger brother. Due to his bravery in sacrificing his life to save the crew members on the Trojan, Howard is post-humorously awarded the Platinum Star of Fortitude, the Space Corps' highest decoration, with the recommendation that Red Dwarf be renamed S.S. Howard Rimmer. Rimmer, overcome with anger, suffers another resentment-fueled crash.

Reception

The episode was watched by 1.59 million viewers.[2] Writing for The Telegraph, Michael Hogan said it was "no classic but largely a return to form", giving the episode 3.5 stars out of 5.[3] Dave Golder from "SFX" gace it 4/5 saying "Trojan was clever enough to be bloody good, but with room for improvement. And you know what? There’s every reason to believe that this series can get better."[4] Chris Swanson from "What Culture" gave it 5/5 saying " If this episode is any indication of what we can look forward to for the rest of the series, I am a very happy person indeed. Red Dwarf is back, and I couldn’t be happier!"[5]

References

  1. ^ "British Sitcom Guide - Red Dwarf - Series 10". www.sitcom.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. ^ "Series X - Trojan". The British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  3. ^ "Red Dwarf X, Dave, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  4. ^ http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/10/05/red-dwarf-10-1-trojan-review/
  5. ^ http://whatculture.com/tv/red-dwarf-10-1-review-trojan.php
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