MovieChat Forums > Red Dwarf (1989) Discussion > Samsara - terrible

Samsara - terrible

posted 8 years ago by tdbasilfawlty
20 replies | jump to latest

What is happening to this show? My main problem is that the jokes linger for FAR too long.

The opening scene where Lister and Rimmer are playing Mineopoly. It was funny to begin with and then just dragged on and on. The scene with the "twister" skeletons. It was funny that Cat thought they were playing Twister. Cat's explanation of how to play Twister wasn't. Archimedes and Formica... boring. "Who invented gravy?" It was getting painful by this point.

The story was utterly pants. The crew find a spaceship. Big deal. It's dark on board. Big deal. They have to be nasty to each other, the total opposite of the Justice episode many years ago. Big deal. There wasn't any driving force, any real reason for them to be on the ship, it was just mindless exploration. The two officers having an affair subplot was okay, the scene transitions were pretty cool. But when the commanding officer was telling them off for acting so immorally, his acting was atrocious.

A very poor episode. If Twentica was a 5/10, this was a 3/10 at best.

[–] AssassinNo1 8 years ago

I had really high hopes for this series but as painful as it is to admit you're right on every point you make.

One or two jokes hit the mark but it feels more luck than judgement at this point. I'll persevere just because it's Red Dwarf but I can't see it getting much better.

[–] Painbow 8 years ago

I've actually enjoyed both episodes. They're definitely short on laughs but the stories have been good quality sci-fi ideas with decent sets and special effects. It feels much closer in quality to the classic seasons (3 - 6).

More laughs would be nice but the quality is a marked step up from Back to Earth and series 10.

[–] Shadowstripe 8 years ago

the Mineopoly scene was funny lister beating Rimmer! in such a way I enjoyed it, I agree cat explaining twister was a bit meh and the plot didn't really explain why they were all being bad but still died ?

but the cat / lister interactions were also funny, lister being tortured by the cats stupidity and the slapstick where cat takes the knife to the foot had me laugh out loud

what generally wasn't funny was the "bing bong" machine being broken, was actually a little cringe worthy

"The story was utterly pants. The crew find a spaceship. Big deal. It's dark on board. Big deal. They have to be nasty to each other, the total opposite of the Justice episode many years ago. Big deal. There wasn't any driving force, any real reason for them to be on the ship"

no reason to be on the ship ? they board abandoned ships and wonder around to see if there's anything worth stealing, they did it on DNA and this ship at the bottom on the ocean they even said was an advanced (research) ship just like DNA its classic dwarf, its what they always do! "Lister: But we don't loot Space Corps derelicts. We just hack our way in and swipe what we need!"

I didn't like the first episode too much felt like they were rushing things, focused too much on boring parts of the plot but this was def back on track focus on characters

[–] adam-176 8 years ago

the plot didn't really explain why they were all being bad but still died ?

I think the screen caption "3 million years later" covers that part quite well.

I loved the concept of the Karma Drive and the impact it had on the crew, but as others have said, the jokes were drawn out a little too much. Other than feeding Kryten's tangerine line later on, there was no need for Rimmer to roll the dice seven times, nor for the Archimedes joke to be so drawn out.

Good luck, Captain. I think you're about to go where everyone has gone before
-- Susan Ivanova

[–] marwood-38352 8 years ago

They were flash burnt by the Karma Drive, it wasnt the 3 million years that killed them, that was explained. So it doesnt make sense why they all died, unless they werent being immoral enough.

[–] adam-176 8 years ago

The two in the escape capsule were flash burnt. The ones on Samsara itself just died of natural causes (or were strangled / stabbed) in the middle of immoral acts.

Good luck, Captain. I think you're about to go where everyone has gone before
-- Susan Ivanova

[–] matthyew 8 years ago

But why were they being unethical according to the drive? The Karma drive affects your luck not what you do against your will. And if they were having sex and killing people wouldnt that have powered the engine and incidentaly stopped the ship from killing them? Was that explained?

[–] adam-176 8 years ago

The ship didn't kill them (only the two in the capsule trying to warn Lister & co were killed), they died over time.

The whole idea of the karma drive and justice zone raise an interesting question, though - is behaving immorally through coercion still immoral?

In Justice, Lister's jacket catches fire after Rimmer tells him to commit arson, but shouldn't the negative result still have happened to Rimmer since he was encouraging criminal activity?

In Samsara, they were being nasty towards each other, but with the aim of that helping them to survive, which is honourable. With that in mind, they should have still been punished by the drive.

Edit - I've just rewatched the relevant scene and you're right - Kryten does say they were flash heated (don't know how I missed that before). Perhaps the whole "against their will" thing we both mentioned plays into it. Oddly, if they'd only omitted that one line, there would be no question on the death over time thing 

It could be that someone was trying to do something good (perhaps the strangled guy was trying to send a warning beacon), but that's just speculation on my part.

Good luck, Captain. I think you're about to go where everyone has gone before
-- Susan Ivanova

[–] clark_gillies 8 years ago

Thought it was a ok episode, but it seemed to be a slow burner, then just ran out of steam half way through.

Felt like they had taken influence from "Marooned" somewhat with Lister and Cat stuck together, but did not really work.

Love Cat, but they seem to be going down the Homer Simpson route of him getting more and more stupid with each series (though he is more like the Cat in series 1, yet probably series 3-6 Cat was the best).

[–] hurricanehorton 8 years ago

I actually quite liked this episode. I found it more entertaining overall than last week's episode.

These newer episodes that Dave make are, for me, fairly enjoyable. (With the exception of Back To Earth, which was pretty rubbish.) They don't necessarily compare to the classic series, but if you don't expect them to, you'll enjoy it.

[–] IAmGoatboy 8 years ago

I thought Samsara was classic Dwarf

[–] SpongeBob1945 8 years ago

Entertainment is subjective.

For fans of the show; it's awesome. Just what fans want, more Red Dwarf as they remember it.

I love it.

[–] speccyboy 8 years ago

My only issue with this episode is that the ending feels rushed and incomplete. I was expecting to see the crew escape from the Samsara and head back to Red Dwarf using their newfound tactical knowledge of the Karma Drive.

[–] tdbasilfawlty 8 years ago

As a big fan of the show from Series 1, I have to say this is completely and utterly wrong. This is not Red Dwarf as I remember it. The plots were never this weak, the jokes were never this forced and the humour was never this cringy.

[–] JKDahl 8 years ago

I think the quality of this show's jokes went down considerably when Grant Naylor became only Naylor. The stories are still OK, but the jokes are just too formulaic and predictable.

[–] AndrewDavidScott76 8 years ago

The repeating and explaining of punchlines is worse than ever. This started happening years ago but its now unbearable. I turned off both episodes when Naylor started to hammer the jokes home. Its such bad writing.
Fans going on about a return to form must be talking about the 1997-99 run. They can't honestly believe this is on a par with the 1988-93 era.