Critic Reviews for Red Dwarf: Season 2

Audience Reviews for Red Dwarf: Season 2

• Jul 20, 2021

  Season 2 is 6 episodes long, 5 of which average roughly 4/5 in quality. The sole exception is the first episode: 'Kryten'. It's mean-spirited, almost entirely plotless, features no imagination, and honestly just isn't funny; there are only 2 episodes I would be happy never watching again, and Kryten is one of them. Now, having gotten past that, the rest of the Season is great. 'Better Than Life' is a big aggressive and also a bit mean-spirited, but it's high-energy, high-concept and actually works well enough as a character study, in particular for Rimmer. Then the show finally hits a true moment of genuine greatness with the absolutely wonderful 'Thanks for the Memory', which starts off as a mind-expanding mystery with tragic undertones, and once the story's mechanics are finally, fully revealed, it's pure gold. 'Stasis Leak' is more of a "fun" episode but is light-hearted, breezy and has quite a number of creative twists in its time-semi-manipulation plotline. 'Queeg' has some genuine heart to go with solid comedy, and finally gives Holly a bit of character development and pathos. And everything ends with the rather decent 'Parallel Universe', which is slightly clever but more as a comedy than as a sci-fi; having said that, however, it is of the same type of concept that would later be used in better stories, such as 'Demons & Angels'. It is actually probably the most basic episode other than 'Kryten', but it does tie into 'Future Echoes' quite well.. sadly that plot-line is dropped forever beyond that, but it's still a neat tie-in to the one massive unexplored plot-point. Overall, Season 2 isn't as good as some later Seasons, such as 3, 5 or 6, but it's a massive improvement over Season 1, and shows the series hitting its stride, which, at its prime, is a near flawless fusion of High-Concept Sci-Fi, High-Brow Comedy & Low-Brow Comedy. If you're into the idea of Red Dwarf, there are 2 places I would recommend newcomers start -- Either Season 3 (as the show actually undergoes a soft reboot), or Season 2 Episode 2 ('Better Than Life'); either would work.
  Jonathan K
• Jul 13, 2019

  I love red dwarf, it is my favorite tv show season 2 is one of the low budget seasons before the show takes off in the later seasons but still great.
  

  Chris D
• Jan 27, 2019

  It’s so good that I’ve seen it so many times that I know all the upcoming lines :{
  Dean B
• Mar 22, 2018

  Probably the funniest season they ever made but III came close. This season brings in more science fiction but manages to keep the show feeling like an offbeat sitcom. The strength is in the writing when it comes to the show. Lister and Rimmer continue to annoy the heck out of each other and are a very funny odd couple. The Cat and Holly are more involved with the story-lines this time and the whole crew is a joy to watch. This season does not have a bad episode and some of the ideas they use are really clever, elevating the show to SCi-Fi comedy. The budget was still very modest for the season so might not appeal to younger fans but this is the benchmark.
  Anthony G
• Sep 25, 2017

  season one was not flash but it gets funnier and funnier from here on, Good fun
  Stan H
• Jan 31, 2016

  Better than the first season and with more fully developed theoretical ideas in the script although still juvenile in places. Nice to see them hitting stride though. Best episode: Ep 11 Queeg
  Arthur R

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