History Recap / RedDwarfSeasonIIBetterThanLife

* BaitAndSwitch: The post pod also contains copies of the latest movies (as of the time it was dispatched), including a remake of ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. This sets Lister off on a rant about the philistines who would remake ''Casablanca''... again. "The version with Myra Dinglebat and Peter Beardsley was definitive!"

-->'''Rimmer''': What do you mean? Just because we're three million years into deep space and the human species is extinct? That means nothing to these people. They'll find us.

-->'''Lister''': The lamb? Everybody thought the lamb was the cheese and that lemon meringue pie, man, what was in that?

* CelebrityResemblance: On the DVD commentary, Norman Lovett notes that the actor playing the Outland Revenue Agent looks like Creator/LeeVanCleef.

* SeriesContinuityError: Rimmer gets a letter telling him that his father died in his sleep, though Rimmer had implied his father killed himself back in ''[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIFutureEchoes Future Echoes]]''.

* UpToEleven: Better Than Life was so popular that "rubber nuclear weapons" had to be used to disperse the crowds of shoppers.

This sends Rimmer into a state of paranoia, his mind rebelling and not accepting nice things happening to him. His intercourse with [=McGruder=]? Produced 7 kids (with more coming), forced him into wedlock and a mortgage, and caused him to dump the Jag in favour of a sedan. His tax problem? Increased to £18000 with an AxCrazy Outland Revenue agent threatening him. ("If you are unable to pay, sir, I am instructed by the revenue to ''break both of your legs '''and pull off YOUR THUMBS''','' sir.") Rimmer's negative mind eventually affects the others, wiping away their wealth. Rimmer then puts a tarantula up his trouser legs, about to go to his crotch. Begged by Lister to wish it away, Rimmer then screws them all over to colossal levels, by burying them in sand on a beach, only their heads sticking out.

While Lister is suffering from indigestion from Rimmer's cooking (and Cat is sleeping off the stomach pump), a post pod finally arrives (second class, for which arriving in the year 3,000,000 is average). The items received include two whole seasons of Zero-G Football, an entire year's supply of Earth news, and a large bundle of Total Immersion Videogames (TIVs). There are also less positive letters. One such letter is a tax bill valued at £8500 for Rimmer, causing him to declare that he is going to freak out about this for a decent amount of time (even though the human race, up to and including the tax collectors, are long gone). Another one comes from Mrs. Rimmer, informing him through her poor handwriting that Rimmer's father is dead.

Later, while watching the news, Rimmer gets reminded of the TIVs that the gang received, one of them being "Better Than Life", which allows the user to live out his/her deepest fantasies. He decides to join alongside Lister and the Cat. The game initially starts off with wonderful results. Rimmer gets to meet Napoleon, become the admiral of the fleet, gains a Jaguar F-Type, and a chance to sleep with Yvonne [=McGruder=]. Lister gets a chance to golf and eat caviar vindaloo and a lager, and the Cat gets to sleep with Creator/MarilynMonroe (who he constantly rejects) and a [[MermaidProblem reverse-mermaid]], and also eat a tank of fish. ("I like my food to MOVE!") Rimmer gets the chance to meet his father, and is seemingly about to meet his goal of his father saying "Well done". However, thanks to the Cat, Rimmer instead hears this.

While Lister is suffering from indigestion from Rimmer's cooking (and Cat is sleeping off the stomach pump), a post pod finally arrives (second class, for which arriving in the year 3,000,000 is average). The items received include an entire season of Zero-G Football, an entire year's supply of Earth news, and a Total Immersion Videogame. There are also less positive letters. One such letter is a tax bill valued at £8500 for Rimmer, causing him to declare that he is going to freak out about this for a decent amount of time (even though the human race, up to and including the tax collectors, are long gone). Another one comes from Mrs. Rimmer, informing him through her poor handwriting that Rimmer's father is dead.

Later, while watching the news, Rimmer gets reminded of the TIV that the gang received, "Better Than Life", which allows the user to live out his/her deepest fantasies. He decides to join alongside Lister and the Cat. The game initially starts off with wonderful results. Rimmer gets to meet Napoleon, become the admiral of the fleet, gains a Jaguar F-Type, and a chance to sleep with Yvonne [=McGruder=]. Lister gets a chance to golf and eat caviar vindaloo and a lager, and the Cat gets to sleep with Creator/MarilynMonroe (who he constantly rejects) and a [[MermaidProblem reverse-mermaid]], and also eat a tank of fish. ("I like my food to MOVE!") Rimmer gets the chance to meet his father, and is seemingly about to meet his goal of his father saying "Well done". However, thanks to the Cat, Rimmer instead hears this.

The gang is broken out of the game, and Lister and the Cat are furious at Rimmer. Just then, Rimmer receives a letter informing him that he has passed the Astro-Navs, and has been promoted to navigation officer. As it turns out, though, they are still in the game, as they realize when the tax collector comes out and demands his £18,000. Unable to pay, the hammer comes down on Rimmer, literally.

* KentBrockmanNews: We see the holographic newsreader on Groovy Channel 27 giving a report about the Better Than Life game.

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Rimmer's father was holding a grudge on the Space Corps because he was one inch short of regulation height and he would ask them questions about astro-navigation and so on. They got them wrong - no food.

* RidiculousFutureSequelisation: There is a passing mention of ''Friday the 13th: Part 1,649''.

The gang is broken out of the game, and Lister and the Cat are furious at Rimmer. Just then, Rimmer receives a letter informing him that he has passed the Astro-Navs, and has been promoted to navigation officer. As it turns out, though, they are still in the game, as they realise when the tax collector comes out and demands his £18,000. Unable to pay, the hammer comes down on Rimmer, literally.

While Lister is suffering from indigestion from Rimmer's cooking (and Cat is sleeping off of the stomach pump), a post pod finally arrives (second class, for which arriving in the year 3,000,000 is average). The items received include an entire season of Zero-G Football, an entire year's supply of Earth news, and a Total Immersion Videogame. There are also less positive letters. One such letter is a tax bill valued at £8500 for Rimmer, causing him to declare that he is going to freak out about this for a decent amount of time (even though the human race, up to and including the tax collectors, are long gone). Another one comes from Mrs. Rimmer, informing him through her poor handwriting that Rimmer's father is dead.

Apparently, Rimmer's father used to put him through strenuous tests to make sure he got into the Space Corps (his father missed by being 1 inch below regulation height), including refusing him food if he got questions wrong ("I nearly died from malnutrition") and being put on the traction every morning if he did not grow. It got to the point, where, at age 14, he emancipated himself. [["WellDoneSon"Guy However, he always wanted to hear his father finally approve of something that he did.]]

Apparently, Rimmer's father used to put him through strenuous tests to make sure he got into the Space Corps (his father missed by being 1 inch below regulation height), including refusing him food if he got questions wrong ("I nearly died from malnutrition") and being put on the traction every morning if he did not grow. It got to the point, where, at age 14, he emancipated himself. However, he always wanted to hear his father finally approve of something that he did.

* IntimidatingRevenueService: Outland Revenue.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Rimmer almost gets to hear his father say "Well done", which is Rimmer's biggest desire in life. Instead, thanks to the Cat, Rimmer's father calls him a "total smeghead", leading Rimmer into a SanitySlippage.