Line #72 TearJerker/RedDwarf


1	[[foldercontrol]]
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3	[[folder:Series I]]
4	* While it's mostly PlayedForLaughs, Lister learning everyone is dead after he first comes out of stasis in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonITheEnd The End]]" was pretty sad to watch. Especially when he realizes Kochanski is gone.
5	* The flashback in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIBalanceOfPower Balance of Power]]" of Lister having fun with his friends, annoying Rimmer and being teased about Kochanski. It truly drives home just what he's lost.
6	--> '''Past!Lister''': All right guys, leave it alone, leave it alone, leave it...
7	--> (''Fade to the present, where a forlorn-looking Lister, the last human being alive, is sitting by himself in the empty bar'')
8	--> '''Lister''': ... alone.
9	* The end of the episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIWaitingForGod Waiting for God]]" shows an old cat priest who's believed in Cloister (Actually Lister) his entire life. He then rants about how it was all a lie, lamenting all the time he wasted worshiping his god. It's made worse by Cat's complete disregard for the old man's speech. Crosses into Heartwarming when Lister does show up, though. Then right back to sad when the Priest dies just as Lister's reassured him he hasn't wasted his life.
10	* The argument Rimmer has with himself in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIMe2 Me2]]", where he uses his parents abuse and neglect against himself.
11	--> '''Rimmer''': Mummy did like me, she was just busy!
12	* The Gazpacho Scene, as we see just how screwed up Rimmer is in the head. The sheer ''agony'' in his voice as he still feels humiliation over a simple faux pas is bad enough, but then we see him believing this is the sole reason he never made officer.
13	[[/folder]]
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15	[[folder:Series II]]
16	* The scene in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIBetterThanLife Better Than Life]]", where all that post comes through from the past. Rimmer gets one about his dad being dead, Lister failing to figure out the scrawling writing for ages, then finally Rimmer realizes. He's been dead for millions of years but it sort of just hits him here.
17	--> '''Rimmer''': "Well I mean of course he's dead. They're ALL dead aren't they?"
18	The next scene shows Rimmer on the observatory tower, just musing to himself. Lister comes up and actually asks if he's okay, and Rimmer goes on about how while he hated his parents, he just wished he had been able to impress them just once. The end is ruined by the Cat making a joke, but still, very well written stuff.
19	* The oft-overlooked episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIThanksForTheMemory Thanks for the Memory]]". The scene where Rimmer, drunk to the gills, is talking about his regrets is actually quite touching.
20	--> '''Rimmer''': "That was going to be our song... but I never found anyone to share it with. So now it's just my song."
21	** The song in question is "Someone To Watch Over Me" by [[Music/GeorgeGershwin George]] and Ira Gershwin.
22	** Not to mention the line before the song:
23	--> '''Rimmer''': ...My swimming certificates, my telescope, my shoe trees... I'd trade everything in to be in love, and to have ''been'' loved.
24	** Rimmer's rejection of the love Lise showed him, purely because it wasn't his memory to begin with. Especially as Lister claims Rimmer ultimately felt more for Lise than he ever did - whether or not Lister was telling the truth is never spoken of again, but it sure looked that way.
25	--> '''Rimmer''': The woman I loved most in the whole world, didn't love me. She loved you.
26	** The moment when Rimmer says he was mad to have given Lisa up, and Lister agrees, having come to the same conclusion about himself.
27	* Holly in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIQueeg Queeg]]" just before his deletion. Holly gives the crew all very nice farewells, then he sings the song "Goodbye to Love" as his voice fades out, and we see the words "ERASE COMPLETE" on the monitor...
28	--> '''Holly:''' Well, dudes, I've come to say goodbye.
29	-->'''Lister:''' So you're definitely going to get rubbed, Holly?
30	--> '''Holly:''' 'Fraid so.
31	-->'''Rimmer:''' Life's going to be hell!
32	--> '''Holly:''' Well, see you, Dave. Hope it works out with you and Kochanski.
33	--> '''Lister:''' Cheers, Hol.
34	--> '''Holly:''' See you, Cat. Hope one day in the not too distant future you fufill your heart's desire and get your end away.
35	--> '''Cat:''' Thanks, man.
36	--> '''Holly:''' And Arnold -- Well, I hope you meet those aliens you're looking for, who can give you a body, and you become an officer and you get a sex life, and all the other millions of things you feel you need to make you happy.
37	--> '''Rimmer:''' Thanks, Holly.
38	--> '''Holly:''' Well, I hate long goodbyes. Perhaps next time you've got the dosh together to go down the disco, you'll raise a glass to your old mate Holly, and think "Things weren't too bad when he was around. Perhaps not the most efficient computer ever invented, but we had a giggle." Oh, one last thing -- 45.265881
39	--> '''Lister:''' What?
40	--> '''Holly:''' That's the square root of two thousand and forty-nine. I may not be fast, but I get there in the end.
41	** Subverted moments later when it's revealed that Queeg IS Holly and has been this whole time. The entire episode, Holly was playing an elaborate joke on the crew because he felt underappreciated.
42	[[/folder]]
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44	[[folder:Series III]]
45	* Lister playing his guitar one last time before he burns it in order to stay warm in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIIMarooned Marooned]]". Sure he still can't play, but that tone was just heartbreaking, despite the fact he decided not to go through with it a second later.
46	* Finding out the trunk Lister destroyed was the only thing Rimmer's father ever gave him, the only hint of any sort of affection. The worst part is that for all the times that Rimmer has been a complete smeghead, this is the one episode where his misfortune is completely undeserved; he's spent the episode looking out for Lister and genuinely doing whatever he can to keep him safe and in good spirits.
47	* Lister's despondency upon learning Kryten is nearing the end of his service life in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIITheLastDay The Last Day]]". Even ''Rimmer'' finds it sad.
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50	[[folder:Series IV]]
51	* The ending of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVCamille Camille]]", sure it was lifted straight from ''{{Film/Casablanca}}'', but still.
52	* In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVJustice Justice]]" when the prison A.I. scans Rimmer for guilt, and it picks up on his feelings of remorse over the accident that got the crew killed three million years ago. Sure the subject is normally played for laughs, with Rimmer all NeverMyFault. But it's in this episode that we learn for the first time just how much the accident ''really'' haunts him.
53	* Rimmer and Ace throughout "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVDimensionJump Dimension Jump]]", Ace tries his damned hardest to be nice to Rimmer. And as always, Rimmer just goes around making baseless accusations and barks insults.
54	** It's later explained by Rimmer himself that his hostility towards Ace is because the latter is living proof that he could have become something greater. Made even more meaningful when it's revealed that the one decision that separated their lives was that Rimmer was able to continue moving up his grades whilst Ace was stuck in one that made him start to try harder in life. The sobering irony is that Rimmer would have thought that moving up in school would have been seen by him as a way to work towards his dreams, never knowing that it in fact effectively destroyed his chances of living a successful life.
55	* The ending of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVMeltdown Meltdown]]", when it's revealed that Rimmer's "tactics" ended up wiping out the wax droids entirely. Lister clearly viewed the droids as being sentient, and he's distraught to hear about how they're all gone. The fact that Rimmer is oblivious to why Lister would feel that way only makes it worse.
56	-->'''Rimmer''': I brought about peace. Peace, freedom, and democracy!
57	-->'''Lister''': [[WhatTheHellHero Yeah, Rimmer. Right. Absolutely]]. Now all the corpses that litter that battlefield can just lie there, safe under the knowledge that they snuffed it under a flag of peace and can now happily decompose in a land of freedom. [[YouBastard You smeghead]].
58	** Lister then swallows Rimmer's light bee like last time, but it was messing with Rimmer's light bee that caused him to go nuts (well, more than usual) in the first place... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero nice job breaking it, Lister]].
59	** The off-screen execution of Franchise/WinnieThePooh, even if it was played for laughs. [[HeroicBSoD The look of shell-shocked horror on Lister's face]] when he comes down from the window shows how much it has traumatised him.
60	--->'''Lister:''' (''[[{{beat}} long silence as he tries to recollect himself]]'') That's something no one should '''ever''' have to see.
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63	[[folder:Series V]]
64	* In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVHoloship Holoship]]" when Rimmer confesses to Nirvanah he cheated on his test and explains why.
65	--> '''Rimmer''': Every time I look in the mirror, I see this. (''points at his letter H'') Only to me, it doesn't mean hologram. It means half-wit, hopeless, hideous failure. This was a chance to be somebody. Somebody I liked.
66	** [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone The absolutely horrified look on Rimmer's face]] when he learned Nirvanah was his opponent and had sacrificed her place... and thus, her existence.
67	* Watching the alt!Rimmer and alt!Cat being vaporized by [[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVTheInquisitor The Inquisitor]] near the end of his title episode.
68	** The alternate Lister and Kryten seem to be pretty decent guys, before they get killed horribly by the Inquisitor.
69	* While Psi-moon featured in [[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVTerrorform "Terrorform"]] is nothing but a good old nightmare fuel, there's something just ''sad'' about it. That is perfectly summed in this piece of dialogue:
70	-->'''Cat:''' Don't you know what this place is?\
71	'''Rimmer:''' Yes, it's a hell hole. It's a nightmare. It's a stinking infested pit of putridness.\
72	'''Lister:''' Rimmer, ''it's your mind.''\
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74	* Watching Lister in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVDemonsAndAngels Demons and Angels]]" being forced to murder High!Lister and High!Rimmer while under the control of the Lows.
75	** While they were naïve to the point of idiocy, watching all the Highs being murdered by the Lows wasn't quite as funny as the laughter of the studio audience would lead one to believe.
76	** High!Rimmer's demise seems the most tragic, as he at least appears to appreciate what's happening to him.
77	--> '''High!Rimmer''': [[FaceDeathWithDignity Farewell, brother, my brook is babbled.]]
78	** Even though it's restored at the end of the episode, the sight of ''Red Dwarf'' itself exploding. Made worse by the fact that they blew up the original model for that shot.
79	** It's not brought up in the show, but since they specifically said they were going to "replicate" Red Dwarf, that means the original Holly was destroyed and the one from then on is a copy.
80	* Near the end of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVBackToReality Back to Reality]]", before it's discovered they're only hallucinating Lister learns that in real life he's a mass murdering fascist. Kryten then shoots and kills a man, which obviously traumatizes him.
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83	[[folder:Series VI]]
84	* Near the end of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIOutOfTime Out of Time]]", after the crew refuses to help their future selves upon seeing what they have become. The future crew out right viciously attack their past-selves, actually willing to ''kill'' their younger selves. When Rimmer shows uncharacteristic bravery, "Better dead than smeg!" we're led to believe we'll see a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. Instead we're treated to watching Lister, Cat, and Kryten all dying horribly.
85	* Watching Starbug get blown up.
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88	[[folder:Series VII]]
89	* Kennedy's assassination in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIITikkaToRide Tikka to Ride]]".
90	** Future!Kennedy's last words in particular.
91	--> "I'd like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to... be reborn."
92	* The departure of Rimmer in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIStokeMeAClipper Stoke Me a Clipper]]" when he takes up Ace's mantle.
93	** Ace's death, very brief, but very sad.
94	--> '''Ace''': Well done, Arnie; you've done us proud. Smoke me a kipper. I'll be back for... (''Ace's Light Bee then crackles and his image glows white before fading completely'')
95	** And Rimmer's reaction, he's just so ''shocked'', the closest thing he's had to family in over three million years blinks out of existence right in front of him. And not just family, the closest thing his had to family who's ever been ''kind'' to him.
96	--> '''Cat''': What's happened to goalpost head?
97	--> '''Rimmer''': (''still in shock'') No, you don't understand. It's not me, it's him.
98	** The theme that plays when Lister and Rimmer discover the space cemetery. There's so much depth there, the music encapsulates the beauty of the scene.
99	** Lister's brief line about how the previous Ace left more pods for those who take up the mantle in the future also adds another dimension to the scene -- some day, the Rimmer we've known and loved for all these years will likely give up his life in a HeroicSacrifice saving some world. He isn't just witnessing the final resting spot of his predecessors, he's witnessing the place that someday will be his ''own'' final resting spot.
100	* Lister leaving his son (himself) under the pool table in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIOuroboros Ouroboros]]" and stating that he's ''never'' going to be alone.
101	* The HeroicSacrifice of Able near the end of "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIBeyondAJoke Beyond a Joke]]".
102	* "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIEpideme Epideme]]", at the part where Lister decides to kill himself and the virus with him rather than allow the rest of the crew to become infected.
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105	[[folder:Series VIII]]
106	* The loss of Starbug in the opening of "Back in the Red", even if it was a rundown rust bucket held together with nothing but mold. It was home for the crew for years, and unlike "Out of Time", it's gone for good.
107	** While sucking up to Captain Hollister, Rimmer mentions it's Hollister's anniversary and that he must be missing his wife terribly. Now take into account the fact that Mrs. Hollister's been dead for over three million years...
108	* The ending of Series VIII ("[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIOnlyTheGood Only the Good...]]") might also fit the bill. Rimmer returns from the mirror universe (he actually [[DirtyCoward comes ''back'']]) to find that the ship is burning, the others have escaped and he's stuck. Then he discovers that the antidote formula he brought back is actually the formula for the virus. And the paper burns up. With [[PlayingTheHeartStrings violin music]]. It's the quiet little "smeg" as he collapses.
109	* Watching the ship itself falling apart.
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112	[[folder: Back To Earth]]
113	* Interestingly enough, several of Lister's scenes in "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Back To Earth}} Back to Earth]]" can potentially qualify for this. Watching Lister break into tears as he attempts to read ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'' to Kochanski's grave shows that Doug Naylor can write excellently, a stark contrast (in the eyes of some) to the last two series of the show. It's only made more powerful by the fantastic music and the stunning (considering the shoestring budget) setting in an observation dome.
114	** Lister meeting Kochanski in the hallucination. You can see how heartbroken he is knowing that she isn't real.
115	--> '''Kochanski:''' In your dreams, did you kiss me?
116	--> '''Lister nods'''
117	--> '''Kochanski:''' Did you enjoy it?
118	--> '''Lister:''' I never wanted to wake up.
119	--> '''Kochanski:''' Then don't.
120	* Lister reading to a picture of Kochanski can bring tears, doubly so if you realize the picture next to her is the late Mel Bibby, who gave series III onwards its iconic "look" on pretty much the same money Creator/TheBBC gave series II. He even built the set so it could be filmed perfectly in 4:3 aspect ratio, not to mention how lovely he was to people at fan conventions. He apparently loved his job, and loved anyone who loved his work, and was a HUGE part of ''Dwarf'' history.
121	[[/folder]]
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123	[[folder:Series X]]
124	* Lister's plotline in "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season X Dear Dave}} Dear Dave]]" consists of him trying to simultaneously cope with still being the LastOfHisKind and the possibility that one of his old girlfriends had his child.
125	* The flashback seen in "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season X The Beginning}} The Beginning]]" during Rimmer's time as a student at college on Io. His own father is the teacher ([[SadistTeacher naturally]]). Rimmer's father uses his own son as the unwitting guinea pig for a class project about psychology. Rimmer's father then makes the students ostracize Arnold so he'll feel unsure of his decisions. ...Smeghead.
126	** Considering what we learn in "The Beginning", Mr. Rimmer had been very aware from the beginning that Arnold wasn't his son. So it's highly possible all the abuse that Mr. Rimmer laid at Rimmer's feet growing up was simply doing everything he could to spite his wife and "Dungo".
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129	[[folder:Series XII]]
130	* In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXIIMCorp M-Corp]]", Lister is implanted with a perception filter that makes him unable to see anything that isn't an M-Corp product. This includes Rimmer, Kryten and Cat. There's a scene where he goes through his morning routine fumbling around for objects he can't see (his toothbrush, the toaster, a breakfast plate, etc.) Could easily be played for laughs, but it's accompanied by rather somber music that accentuates just how LONELY Lister's existence is now, as if it wasn't already.
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133	[[folder:The books]]
134	* ''Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'' has an extended version of Lister's reaction to learning [[LastOfHisKind he's the last human alive anywhere]], stuck on a giant red trashcan three million years in deep space, all as an end result of his attempt to just try and get home. Namely, a complete mental breakdown.
135	-->Lister spent the next few days [[HeroicBSoD going to pieces]].
136	-->There seemed to be little point in getting dressed, and so he wandered around naked, [[DrowningMySorrows swigging from a bottle of whisky]].
137	-->He didn't know what to do.
138	-->He didn't know if there was anything ''to'' do.
139
140	-->[[DespairEventHorizon And worst of all, he didn't much care]].
141	* Kryten knew that the three female officers of the Nova-5 had been dead for centuries. He just chose to ignore that fact so he could keep himself from being forced to shut himself down. When the Dwarfers force him to confront the fact he's been caring for Skeletons all he can do is admit he was lying to himself and start the process that would essentially kill him.
142	* Rimmer's ''two'' {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s at the end of ''Last Human''. He finally overcomes his many neuroses and wins the approval of his son by taking on Lister's other self and to defeat The Rage. Kochanski cries, knowing what his final messages entail, Lister realises what Rimmer's small-minded bureaucratic tendencies were all about and even The Cat is shocked at his death.
143	* Rimmer's choice of last words, which thanks to the damage to his light bee meaning he has no physical form left is blinked out via morse code: "S.M.A.K.I.B.B.F.B." Everyone first thinks that the Oblivion Virus is affecting him too soon, but Lister figures it out;''Smoke Me A Kipper, I'll Be Back For Breakfast''.
144	* Kryten and Rimmer's deaths in ''Backwards'', especially [[ShootTheShaggyDog seeing as Kryten is unable to cure the Apocalypse Virus in time to save Starbug]].
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147	[[folder:Other]]
148	* More or less anything explaining why Rimmer is the way he is unbearably tragic.
149	[[/folder]]

Context TearJerker / RedDwarf