"And the stars look very different today."

We all know that Rimmer wants to come across as someone powerful and in control, a man of authority. He talks like he’s an officer, like he’s in command of his own fleet, but nine times out of ten it’s all bluff and insecurity. The man talks a big game only to fold and cower under a table the moment he's challenged. But this scene...this scene. My GOD. If you showed me just this scene from Red Dwarf with no context of the rest of the show, I'd be convinced this man runs the entire ship.

Look at him. The way he strides through the doorway like he fucking owns the place, the way he studies Lister, calm and in charge, and then AND THEN the way he drops his head just slightly and saunters around him with an air of command (that has me feeling absolutely feral every time I see it btw). Then he stands behind him. His chest is lifted, his shoulders are squared, and his hands are clasped firmly behind his back the entire time. Every movement is deliberate, composed, and controlled. For the first time (in my opinion), this officer façade actually feels believable, and although it's really all just performative authority, it actually works.

For a split second, Rimmer isn’t the insecure, neurotic mess that we know and love. He’s confident. Dominant. Powerful. He looks like everything he’s always wanted to be, and it’s all there in how he moves and in his stance. The calculation, the stillness, the precision. For a brief moment, he really is the officer he is always pretending to be, and that's what makes this scene so fascinating to me (and yeah, hot af tbh, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) It's a fantasy made real for just a moment, and the version of Rimmer that exists only in his head is bleeding out into reality.

We know it won’t last (and it doesn't). We know this confidence is a ruse, a mask that’ll crack the moment things go wrong. But for that one brief and fleeting moment of this mans entire career, he’s exactly who he pretends to be. The man he has always wanted to be.

And God help me, I actually believe him.

Listen, as much as I love fawning over our pathetic, subby, utterly fueled by self-loathing Rimmer; dominant, confident, and terrifyingly competent Rimmer?

On another level tbh.

Like, something that occurred to me the other day is Rimmer is navigating Starbug in the middle seasons. He's actually doing astronavigation. And he's doing it pretty well. And in series 3 when he's still softlight and can't touch the controls on Red Dwarf and has Kryten doing it he is commanding him in a very capable way that you would expect from someone leading a ship. He becomes the leader of Red Dwarf a lot in series 3 actually iirc. And when he lets himself be confident he's really good at it and even Lister is letting himself be commanded by Rimmer.

The man is so unfortunately so controlled by his own neuroticism, need for control, and the desire to be liked, that every aspect of him being true leader ends up going out the window.

I'm also such a strong believer that he is fully competent, and when he really allows himself to settle into his abilities it really shows just how capable he is. I mean, you don't exactly become someone like Ace Rimmer without having those qualities exist in you in the first place. There's a great post by @by-gray which also picks up on how Rimmer is discussing the ships wiring faults in DNA in season 4, and another great insight into the character.

Also I really feel like in season 6/7 he becomes more valued as a member of the team and the boys actually start to take him seriously in certain situations and listen more. They even give him the benefit of the doubt on occasion, until he goes and does something that quite literally smegs it up because his cowardice kicks into overdrive (Rimmerworld for example) or he tries too hard to play the role of a higher authority, to which the boys lose respect for him again and don't take him seriously.

Honestly, I think Rimmer is a far more complex character than we tend to give him credit for, whilst also remaining incredibly open to interpretation. I know that's easy for me to say as such a big fan of the show (and someone who clearly has an attraction to the character lol but where would we be without some superficiality lol) but at it's core there's so many layers to him that I just find so fascinating and I think that's why I've found him so easy to connect with.

I have found after watching the show so many times over, that the show runners tend to dangle a bit of a carrot with his character progression (and the others ofc but we're just talking about Rimmer here), and I've always found they've been very uncertain on progressing him to be, well something more, and if they feel it's getting too far they whip it straight back. We see the lead up to him becoming Ace Rimmer, then they bring back neurotic, underachieving Rimmer in Back to Earth. We see it when Rimmer discovers information about his Dad in season 10 and the epiphany he has about the whole thing, and then they bring him back down a few pegs in season 11 with Officer Rimmer. I don't think they would want to move the characters too far past what we already know them as, which are inevitably comedy characters, and make them seem unfamiliar to us. But it's not asking for the personalities of our favourite characters to change in a dramatic way (the way they are is why fell in love with them in the first place) but I just feel that noticeable growth means that the character doesn't have to stay a one trick pony, and means that we can continue to connect with the characters as we grow and change as well.

sunnie and starsie in grass and apples 💗

print!

always makes me wonder if he actually does know enough to be in one of those positions on red dwarf.

i mean, if you deep it, years into the series, the four of them have had to basically do every role on the ship. but in moments like this… rimmer does actually sound like he could be a good leader, but only if he doesn’t realise he’s leading. the minute he thinks he is, or that he’s doing something super advanced, he’s fucks it up or behaves like a prick.

I'm a strong believer that Rimmer knows way more than he gives himself credit for, and its his neuroticism that gets in the way of his achievements, not just long-term, but daily as well. When he's not concentrating on achieving and being the best of the best; he's just working as a member of the team, and he fits into the role so much better. I feel like the boys see this too but they wouldn't let on that they do, hence though why when it really comes down to it, they don't question him in situations like this and just let him get on with.

I bet you think this song is about you

don’t you?

don’t you?

don’t you?

Wyll ❤️