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Justice is the third episode in Series IV of Red Dwarf, and twenty-first episode overall. It first aired 28 February 1991 on BBC2.

Overview[]

While at a space prison to dispose of a possible bio-mechanical killer, Rimmer is convicted for killing the 1,169 crew of Red Dwarf in the accident three million years earlier.

Summary[]

Red Dwarf has recovered a cryogenic escape pod floating in a nearby asteroid field.

Florence-NightingDroid

Kryten tends to Lister's Space Mumps in the Science Room

Meanwhile Dave Lister is being treated by "Florence Nightingdroid" Kryten in the Science Room for Space Mumps, which has caused his head to be grossly swollen. After Kryten lets slip of the news about the pod, and its possible female occupant, Lister leaves his sick bed to investigate. In his excitement, Cat accidentally starts the thawing process on the pod too early.

Rd4

Rimmer with the skutters on his tour of the Diesel Decks

Arnold Rimmer returns from his holiday, a ten-day tour of the Diesel Decks with two Skutters, and angrily explains why the pod wasn't opened: its Black Box revealed it was from a prison transport ship where the prisoners, a group of psychopathic Simulants, mutinied, and there was a pitched battle with only two survivors. As a result they can't be sure whether an innocent guard called Barbra Bellini or a kill-crazed Simulant is inside. With Simulants impervious to bazookoid fire, but Lister and Cat reluctant to dispose of the pod in case it's the guard inside, Holly suggests they travel on Starbug to Justice World, the prison space station where the prison transport was originally en route. If the pod's occupant is the guard, she can be released; if it's a Simulant, they can "bung him in a cell and leave him to rot."

Justice-world

Justice World, where Rimmer is threatened with a ten-thousand-year imprisonment

Justice MindProbe

Justice World uses the Mind Probe on the boys from the Dwarf

In the ops room of Starbug, Rimmer melts Kryten's intelligence circuits with boredom as he shows him photo slides of his recent journey through the Diesel Decks. The sound of a soggy explosion comes from the Starbug cockpit as Lister recovers from his Space Mumps, much to Cat's horror for how it happened: Lister's head has popped all over Cat, resulting in them both being covered in pus. They soon arrive at Justice World, and the space station's computer requests they wear Escort Boots before it will let them leave the hangar. It then scans the crew's minds using a mind probe for any previous crimes they've committed. After judging Cat and Kryten to be innocent, they turn to Lister, who panics over numerous misdemeanours he committed as an adolescent in Liverpool, such as "scrumping" cars and the entire contents of a hotel room, except for the towels, for the unfurnished flat where he was living at the time. The probe acknowledges Lister's crimes, but decides to free him nonetheless, dismissing his past offences as minor. However, the computer then unexpectedly convicts Rimmer of 1,167 counts of second degree murder, on the grounds that his "wilful negligence in failing to reseal a drive plate" resulted in the radiation leak which killed the original Red Dwarf crew. Rimmer's total sentence is 9,328 years, eight years per death, to be served consecutively since he is a hologram.

Justice-zone

An imprisoned Rimmer explains how the Justice Zone works by getting Lister to set fire to the bed sheets, which instead sets fire to Lister's clothes

Rimmer is imprisoned in the Justice Zone where any crime that is committed is reversed on the user, as demonstrated when Rimmer invites Lister to set his bed sheets alight which causes Lister's own clothes to catch fire. Lister and Kryten try to come up with a defence that paints Rimmer as a total fool. Kryten convinces the computer, through a brutal character assassination, that Rimmer isn't responsible because he's a neurotic mess who considers himself far more important than he has any right to be. Rimmer's own ego and inflated sense of self-worth leads him to blame himself for the accident that he could never have committed because only a fool or the truly incompetent would put him in a position of authority where he might have endangered lives. Ergo the true culprit of the disaster is the one who assigned someone as obviously unqualified as Rimmer such an important job, not Rimmer himself. Rimmer is found not guilty and is released. However, Rimmer demands an apology from Kryten for such an insulting defence.

The crew return to Starbug exhausted, having forgotten why they went there in the first place. However, the pod has opened and the occupant was not Barbara Bellini but the Simulant Convict, who chases the Dwarfers into the Justice Zone.

Better late than never

"Better late than never!"

After avoiding each other the Simulant asks to talk to one of the crew, something Lister agrees to do. They both promise not to bring any weapons to the meeting, which is a lie from them both. However, much to Lister's dismay, the Simulant lied twice. Without any hope in the fight the Simulant attacks, only to find his blows strike himself instead of Lister. Thanks to the Justice Field's ability to make the effects of a crime happen to the perpetrator rather than the victim, Lister is spared from the wrath of the Simulant's assault, but not before Cat hits the Simulant with a shovel and knocks himself unconscious.

With the Simulant dealt with, the Dwarfers return to Red Dwarf. As the Dwarfers walk down a corridor, Lister rants on how free will could never truly exist in a world where true justice exists simultaneously. Thankfully for the rest of the crew, Lister's pointless philosophising is cut off when he falls through an open manhole cover with others deciding to leave him there.

Deleted Scenes[]

Dvd recovered scenes 300104 3

A walk in Justice World's parks

  • There is a deleted scene available on the Series IV DVD. The boys take in a walk in the "park" — the botanical gardens held in the "hanging scales" of Justice World. The scene was actually filmed in a London park, and extra effects were never added to it. Lister explains to Cat how the Justice Field works, and soon after throws an empty can into one of the bins in the park, but misses. In response to littering, a giant bird swoops down and poos on Lister; a great glob of reddish gunk.
  • Numerous extended dialogue scenes, including extra lines at Rimmer's trial where Lister clarifies that he was the only other member of Z-Shift apart from Rimmer.

Trivia[]

  • In the much later Series XI episode "Samsara", the boys from the Dwarf encounter a "Karma Drive" which is based on the same technology of the Justice Zone the gang encounter in "Justice".
  • It's not stated what legal system was in use by the Justice Computer and it can be assumed to something other than English law, which had no concept of "second-degree murder" at the time this episode was made. While you might expect that negligent homicide would be manslaughter at most, the Justice computer describes Rimmer's actions as "wilful" indicating that he intended to kill (thus murder). This is either the Justice computer counting Rimmer's hatred of the crew as a motive, or the computer just being hard on him.
  • During Rimmer's trial, when the Justice Computer asks Lister is anybody had shared intimate moments with Rimmer, Lister says only one, "and she's got a puncture". This is a reference to Rachael.

Goofs[]

  • The Justice Computer calculated Rimmer's sentence incorrectly, totalling 9,328 years when it should have been 9,336.
    • The Justice Computer could be deliberately excluding Rimmer from the death toll, due to him being deemed responsible for the fatal radiation leak.
  • The knife the simulant uses to stab Lister is a spring loaded knife, which becomes obvious when he removes it and the blade springs back out.
    • Possibly a retractable knife that has been damaged by the stasis effect from the pod.

Noteworthy Dialogue[]

  • Cat: Inside this pod is either death or a date? And personally, I'm prepared to take the risk.
  • Lister: (After having had his jacket set on fire after attempting arson inside the Justice Field as a suggested example from Rimmer) Nice example, Rimmer! Nice example! You could have just explained that to me verbally!
  • Justice Computer: (To Rimmer) if you object to your own defence counsel once more, Mr. Rimmer, you will be in contempt.
  • Kryten: This man is not guilty of manslaughter, he is only guilty of being Arnold J. Rimmer. That is his crime, it is also his punishment.

Background Information[]

  • This episode alters some of the background details from previous series:
    • Rimmer is no longer said to be responsible for the crew's extermination. It had been decided behind the scenes that with how often his lack of competence was played for humour, his abilities were far too lacking for him to have believably been assigned a task that could endanger crewmates' lives. It was decided such a thing could only take place if his superiors were also completely incompetent.
    • The number of crew aboard Red Dwarf is increased from 169 to 1,169 (which makes more sense considering the sheer size of the ship).
  • Rimmer's ability to, as a soft-light hologram, step into the escort boots was explained merely with the lines "that has been accounted for" from the Justice computer, leaving the explanation to the viewer to figure out. Possibly Rimmer's boots are also emitters or hologrammatic in nature? (The writers probably wanted to acknowledge that they recognized this was strange with "accounted for" dialogue, but not unnecessarily take away time from the main plot explaining such a minor element.)

Guest Stars[]

References[]




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