Post by burrunjor on Oct 18, 2024 10:20:34 GMT
You can tell I'm on a Red Dwarf rewatch LOL.
Just to be clear this is not a "hate on Kochanski post." I just finished s7 on my rewatch and personally I liked both her and that season. Yes the loss of Rimmer (my favourite character too) is big, but I think they did the best they could given the circumstances. I like Chloe as an actress and I think by Beyond a Joke she has settled in quite well, and Epideme is one of the absolute best episodes in the series thanks to her. She gives it dramatic weight in a way that Rimmer I don't think could. (He'd have been gloating over Listers ill health and death which would have obviously made it more lighthearted and funny like say Future Echoes. You can just imagine the smug look on his face when Listers arm is cut off LOL. What I like about Epideme is the danger Lister is in feels more real thanks in large part to Kochanski's concern.)
I think it's a damn shame that series 8 followed 7, as the unpopularity of that season kind of cemented Kochanski as a scrappy as that was two polarizing seasons in a row, even though the second one wasn't her fault. It was the misjudged prison storyline. Had we got a proper series with her and Rimmer back at the same time, maybe they could have worked out a proper role for her, but alas. (Ironically the only good episode of 8 in most people's opinion is a Kochanski centric one with Cassandra. Her and Rimmer were actually quite funny together in that as unlike the others she tried to be sympathetic to him, but it could only go so far because he's Rimmer.)
Anyway that said since she is a polarizing character, who would you have chosen for the new crew member in s7 to replace Rimmer if you had too. You don't even have to dislike Kochanski, I'm just honestly interested in alternatives considering 7 is the only time the perfect dynamic of the four boys was ever altered?
Personally I liked the Simulant babe from S6 and think she could have been an interesting lead. The actress was awesome and I think having a Sim companion could have been a fresh new dynamic. I guess you'd have had to have it that she escaped the exploding vessel, but was damaged and needed their help. She might have made an interesting alternative and comparison to Kryten being a similar mech, and a more unhinged character in contrast to Rimmer, and her craziness would have ensured she wouldn't have been as annoyingly perfect as Kochanski which is why I think some people turned against Kochanski. It's a bit of a cliche to have the female character as the only smart one in comedies. Ironically female viewers seem to hate it more than anyone and prefer women like Sweet Dee and Peggy Bundy.
Also there could have been a romance between her and Lister as he did like her. She even seemed to blush when he asked her out, right before trying to kill him LOL. Still maybe there was something they could have explored there?
Just to be clear this is not a "hate on Kochanski post." I just finished s7 on my rewatch and personally I liked both her and that season. Yes the loss of Rimmer (my favourite character too) is big, but I think they did the best they could given the circumstances. I like Chloe as an actress and I think by Beyond a Joke she has settled in quite well, and Epideme is one of the absolute best episodes in the series thanks to her. She gives it dramatic weight in a way that Rimmer I don't think could. (He'd have been gloating over Listers ill health and death which would have obviously made it more lighthearted and funny like say Future Echoes. You can just imagine the smug look on his face when Listers arm is cut off LOL. What I like about Epideme is the danger Lister is in feels more real thanks in large part to Kochanski's concern.)
I think it's a damn shame that series 8 followed 7, as the unpopularity of that season kind of cemented Kochanski as a scrappy as that was two polarizing seasons in a row, even though the second one wasn't her fault. It was the misjudged prison storyline. Had we got a proper series with her and Rimmer back at the same time, maybe they could have worked out a proper role for her, but alas. (Ironically the only good episode of 8 in most people's opinion is a Kochanski centric one with Cassandra. Her and Rimmer were actually quite funny together in that as unlike the others she tried to be sympathetic to him, but it could only go so far because he's Rimmer.)
Anyway that said since she is a polarizing character, who would you have chosen for the new crew member in s7 to replace Rimmer if you had too. You don't even have to dislike Kochanski, I'm just honestly interested in alternatives considering 7 is the only time the perfect dynamic of the four boys was ever altered?
Personally I liked the Simulant babe from S6 and think she could have been an interesting lead. The actress was awesome and I think having a Sim companion could have been a fresh new dynamic. I guess you'd have had to have it that she escaped the exploding vessel, but was damaged and needed their help. She might have made an interesting alternative and comparison to Kryten being a similar mech, and a more unhinged character in contrast to Rimmer, and her craziness would have ensured she wouldn't have been as annoyingly perfect as Kochanski which is why I think some people turned against Kochanski. It's a bit of a cliche to have the female character as the only smart one in comedies. Ironically female viewers seem to hate it more than anyone and prefer women like Sweet Dee and Peggy Bundy.
Also there could have been a romance between her and Lister as he did like her. She even seemed to blush when he asked her out, right before trying to kill him LOL. Still maybe there was something they could have explored there?
