#confidence and paranoia red dwarf

[red-dwarf-bracket]

Propaganda unde the cut!

The Inquisitor

One of the best ideas for a villain imo. Being not only killed but also being erased so you never existed in the first place? That’s terrifying. I think they put the dwarfers in the most trouble they’ve ever been in. Plus the dynamic of being judged by yourself is just so cool.

Paranoia

Without him we wouldn’t have Stabbim so. Iconic moment.

[noirgasmweetheart]

I've taken far to long to start watching "Red Dwarf." It's absolutely hysterical.

The first season episode "Confidence and Paranoia" features a damn good physical impression of Peter Lorre. There's no voice impression, but the movements, eyes and hair are all an A+.

Observe in the clip below.

[spotforme]

let me share a few ships i think about in the delirious hours of the night

Paranoia and Stabbim (just a skutter acting out orders to kill when it descovers that maybe he's the only one who can get through to the hallucination without making him paranoid, will it reveal it's previous orders and expose it's decietfull job (stabber) and maybe break Paranoia's fragile trust in the process? or do the orders exceed the man (the skutter) and does the ultimate tragic of killing a loved one befall in the hands (claws) of Stabbim when he can't resist orders anymore)

Talkie the Toaster and support force (unrequited love, Talkie ne'er has time to ponder the importance of support force in his life, he knows it excists, but toast will always win out. and support force knows that. it's happy to just hold Talkie up and take any breadcrums it gets as long as it can)

Cat deepthroathing those polymorph eggs (it could've worked out if she hadn't died immediately and he wouldn've killed all her children, but life happens i get it)

the overly polite swordsmen and Rimmer's courage and self confidence (they're making out sloppy style, they spotter eachothers hats and swords from across the room and it has been escalating at an alarming speed)

Sir. Francis Walsingham and the "i am a fish" exam paper (he would gladly be the fish. proxcimity to dear people affecting how one behaves and all that)

Carter Burke and Rimmer (they die a horrible death together, the thought of the other there doesn't comfort them because they know both want to leave the other as a sacrifice and run, so they try to make themselves un-abandonable. doesn't work. they suffer horribly with all hope lost)

The Sister Brothers and the Rimmer Monster (it's lesbian/ gay solidarity as they bitch about the world. my favourite)

[smeg-and-the-red]

thinking again about Lister's Confidence telling Rimmer he deserved to die

[janamelie]

"It's Cold Outside" and "Tongue-Tied" are excluded so as not to skew the results.

Some of these are Howard Goodall compositions; others are existing songs sung by our characters.

*Deleted scene. Watch here.

[astralbondpro]

Red Dwarf // S01E05: Confidence & Paranoia

[nutoka]

The show should give some credit to Rimmer for sometimes showing actual consideration and intuition in times of crisis.

Here are some examples:

Confidence and Paranoia - he has to take on the role of taking care of Lister’s health and being concerned over him. Especially when Rimmer ‘can’t pick him up’ in his state.

Polymorph - going forth to take out the Polymorph with Cat and Kryten whilst telling Lister to leave it to them. Basically going ahead to face a creature that terrified Lister half out of his mind and destroy it even though he can’t hold a bazookoid. Also Rimmer just literally shooing the Polymorph away after it just sucked out emotions from the other two is just funny and stupidly brave.

The Last Day - Okay, its hilarious thing that Rimmer is just going up to this scary mechaniod that’s twice the size of him to tell it to ‘skedaddle pronto.’ Yes he was informed it couldn’t hurt but remember no one else bothered to be near to intimidating robot.

The Promised Land - Ignoring Mighty Light entirely (the light-up shoes make me giggle every time) there are moments where it shows that Rimmer is actually smart. Like figuring out there are actually two sandstorms that they are going to get sandwiched in. Also, finding a way to contact Holly and restore him to normal.

We’re shown time and time again that Rimmer has the potential. It’s just that he’s so bad at keeping it up. Mostly because the single brain cell in the Red Dwarf crew is constantly in an intense ping pong match amongst them. But I feel like when the times get really really serious and tense, he grows up in a matter of seconds and steps up to face the danger. This could tie in with his childhood where everything in his household gets really bad so he matures very quickly and divorces his parents.

Rimmer is a very tragic soldier in his own way even when he’s not Ace in my opinion.

[pluralzalpha]

RED DWARF CHALLENGE

DAY 17

Five favourite BBC-era episodes

1 - Queeg (II-5)

2 - Marooned (III-2)

3 - Legion (VI-2)

4 - Stoke Me a Clipper (VII-2)

5 - White Hole (IV-4)

(Honourable mentions: Confidence and Paranoia, Stasis Leak, Backwards, Justice, Holoship, Quarantine, Back to Reality)

[reddwarfpoll]

Kryten: The Red Dwarf crew intercepts a SOS distress call from the American Space cruiser "Nova 5", that has crashed on a moon. They find the only survivor is Kryten, an android butler, whose favorite TV show is 'Androids'.

Confidence and Paranoia: Venturing up to the Officer's Deck to feel closer to Kochanski, Lister is unaware that Rimmer has not yet de-contaminated the area, and catches a particularly virulent, 3-million-year-evolved strain of pneumonia. It's not long before he's hallucinating; and the hallucinations take on solid, physical form!

Photo IDs by @what--the-helliot

[red-dwarf-bracket]

Propaganda under the cut!

Confidence

Murderer 😀 Kind of an idiot. Yes-man.

Paranoia

Without him we wouldn’t have Stabbim so. Iconic moment.

[tigergirltail]

Suddenly thinking back to a particular episode of a British sci-fi comedy show called Red Dwarf. The episode was called Confidence and Paranoia, and the plot was that one of the main characters caught space-pneumonia and started having hallucinations that physically manifested and could be interacted with by others.

Among the hallucinations were personifications of his, well, confidence and paranoia:

...Gods, that episode had some Plural vibes going on.

[garfbees]

I just got through all of Red Dwarf and now I'm going through again with the cast commentary and there's more moments than I remembered early on in like seasons 1 and 2 where Rimmer shows concern about Lister's wellbeing. Most notably is Confidence and Paranoia what with him frantically trying to get Cat to help after Lister collapsed and when he prioritizes getting rid of Paranoia over the potential for dirt on Lister.

Lister was sweeter to him too like in the entirety of Thanks for the Memory. In general it feels like they got colder and crueller to each other around mid-series before slowly warming up to each other again.

[weltato]

Favourite season of red dwarf?

I'm inclined to say series 5 because it houses my favourite episode of all time (s5 e4) 'Quarantine' but series 2 has more solidly great episodes like 'Queeg' and 'Stasis Leak' and it introduces the character of Kryten.

Also, while series 1 has one of my other all time fave episodes (s1 e5) 'Confidence & Paranoia' I still have to say series 2 is the best.

[janamelie]

New Red Dwarf Challenge

Day 17: Five Favourite BBC Era Episodes

From 5 to 1.

Polymorph

I guess not the first Red Dwarf “monster of the week” episode as you can argue “Confidence & Paranoia” and “Queeg” may technically fall into that category, but certainly the first with a non-human looking menace.

And what a great menace the Polymorph is.  It’s gross-looking, funny and scary all at once and what it does to our Boyz is hilarious albeit also dangerous.  The sequence where they’ve all lost an emotion and are trying to figure out how to tackle the Polymorph never fails to make me snort with laughter. See above as Kryten minus his guilt turns into a sociopath.

If I was going to try to get somebody into Red Dwarf, this is one of the episodes I’d show them as it really showcases a lot of the show’s strengths.

The Last Day

A heartwarming “found family” episode which completes Kryten’s integration into the crew.  Yes, he’s been present since “Backwards”, but this is where he really starts to relax a bit, helped of course by Lister’s determination to throw him a good party first if he’s about to snuff it.

This is such a sweet-natured episode, unusually so for the show.  Cat and Rimmer actively and willingly participate in party preparation and present-giving and we know who was the catalyst for them doing so - yes, a certain Scouser. All of Lister’s crewmates have been changed for the better by him.  I may be a bit biased as a Lister fan, but I don’t think it’s really arguable in this particular episode, at least.

I love the gentle music as our Boyz wake up to a stonking hangover and Kryten utters the memorable line: “Is it me or is that cockroach shuffling too loudly?”  Despite this, he realises his taste of freedom wasn’t enough and so the crew struggle through their hangovers and manage to defeat Hudzen 10.  Don’t mess with the Red Dwarf Posse.

Dimension Jump

I just adore this episode.  I love AU episodes and this is one of the very best.  The opening sequence with everyone worshipping Ace is so well done and then there is the delicious anticipation of him meeting our crew and the humour once he does so.

OK, I admit it.  The sizzling sexual tension between Lister and Ace and Rimmer’s seething jealousy is my favourite part of this episode for slashy reasons.  But this is just an excellent episode all round, from Ace’s “Top Gun” homage theme to his mutual flirting with Mellie to our Holly just fainting as soon as she talks to him.  And Bongo’s proposition shouldn’t be overlooked either.

This episode is of course fascinating for what it tells us about Rimmer and the questions it brings up.  Fortunately we have further canon and fic for that.

Thanks for The Memory

This lovely episode was apparently not a particular favourite with fans during the 90s once the show became faster paced and more focussed on the four Boyz with fewer one-to-one scenes between Rimmer and Lister.  But it’s one of those which really rewards multiple viewings, being both funny and touching.

The sandwich scene may be the most giffed RD scene on Tumblr and it’s easy to see why.  The laughs are still there with Chris’s amazing expressions but it turns sad so quickly and Craig’s subtle acting as Lister realises just how lonely Rimmer is is great.

You can argue about the ethics of what Lister does with his memories of Lise but there is no denying that his intentions are pure.  He genuinely tries to do a good thing for Rimmer and although it goes wrong, at least we get Observation Dome angst soundtracked by Howard Goodall’s wonderful music.  The aching loneliness of our crew has rarely been better conveyed than in this episode.

Back To Reality

By far the darkest episode on my list, but deliciously so.  The way the episode creates a totally convincing, compelling alternate world in its short running time is outstanding.

It’s so well structured, not immediately throwing the crew into the true horror of the world they’re supposed to believe they really live in.  We get a funny scene first with Timothy Spall’s Andy, who is the most down to earth albeit annoying character imaginable.  But what we learn from him is the first blow to the psyche of both our characters and the audience.  Followed by the gradual revelation of who our characters “really” are in the Recuperation Lounge which is hilarious but the unsettling undercurrent is building.

As soon they leave, with no more than a brief pause to take in the fascist posters everywhere, they’re plunged into genuine drama as Lenny Von Dohlen puts in one of the best ever one-off performances in Red Dwarf as a ruthless fascist cop who is frightened of only one thing - the Voter Colonel.  For Lister, to be a person whom even other murderers are terrified of is indeed his ultimate nightmare.  

Red Dwarf’s comedic nature reasserts itself with the car chase scene, but the danger isn’t over until Hattie’s Holly manages to get them out of the hallucination and the episode ends on a very relieved and sombre note, having reminded us exactly why we love these characters.

(BTR gifs made by myself using this. https://smegadrive.ganymede.tv/)

[mvalana]

Red Dwarf 1x05 Confidence & Paranoia

[bussterj]

I just watched Red Dwarf 1x05 "Confidence & Paranoia"