While the two mirror universes are nearly identical in every way, every man in the boys’ universe is now female, and our heroes eventually meet their female equivalent. The problem is that women in this universe behave just like men in theirs, they are disgusting, belching beasts looking for a quick fuck. Rimmer’s counterpart, Arlene (Suzanne Bertish), even tries at one point to use hypnosis to get into Rimmer’s holographic underpants.
After a night of drinking with his reflection Deb (Angela Bruce), Lister awakens to find that, in typical Lister fashion, he had a drunken one-night stand. The problem is that in this universe, men are the ones who get pregnant, and sure enough, after a quick test, Rimmer laughs at Lister’s misfortune and announces that he’s “going to be an uncle.”
It’s a fantastic episode for laughs, especially when Cat meets his match (who happens to be an evolved anthropomorphic dog with no class), but like some of the show’s more poignant episodes, it’s a great examination of the more boorish behavior that men are often guilty of.
Friends – “The one who could have been”
As millennials and Gen Z rediscover the Gen X classic (thanks, Netflix), it’s fun to rewatch this beloved episode, which shows what would happen to the titular group of friends if they all made different choices in life.
Of course, the show needs conflict, and when audiences see how the lives of each of our six favorite New Yorkers have changed, it’s clear it won’t be for the better. Ross (David Schwimmer) is still married to Carol (Jane Sibbett), and she never admits she’s a lesbian. Monica (Courteney Cox) never loses her former weight and becomes codependent. Chandler (Matthew Perry) pursues a career as a writer, but becomes Joey’s assistant (Matt LeBlanc), still working on the series. Time of longingRachel (Jennifer Aniston) marries Barry and is extremely unhappy, while Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) becomes a stockbroker.
Parts of the alternate reality don’t make much sense. Phoebe suddenly becoming a career-driven woman and so workaholic that she has a heart attack is a complete reversal of what made Phoebe great. Granted, she is portrayed as just as “flighty” as she is in the show’s domestic reality. As for her job performance, Phoebe ends up losing millions to the company she works for and then tries to shake off her firing. But as much of a failure as that may have been, the other characters are an entertaining look at what could have been. The writers took a simple concept that was already established in the show and went left instead of right.
