While the two mirror universes are almost identical in every way, every man in the boys’ universe is now female, and our heroes end up meeting their female equivalent. Problem is, women in this universe act just like men do in theirs, they’re disgusting, belching brutes out for a quick shag. Rimmer’s opposite, Arlene (Suzanne Bertish) at one point, even tries using hypnosis to get into Rimmer’s holographic pants.
After a night of binge-drinking with his mirror self, Deb (Angela Bruce), Lister awakens to discover that in typical Lister fashion, he had a drunken one-night-stand. Problem is, in this universe, men are the ones who become pregnant, and sure enough, after a quick test, Rimmer laughs at Lister’s misfortune, proclaiming he’s “going to be an uncle.”
It’s a fantastic episode for chuckles, especially when Cat meets his counterpart, (which just so happens to be an evolved anthropomorphic Dog with no class), but like some of the more poignant episodes in the series, it’s a great examination of the more boorish behavior men are often guilty of.
Friends – “The One That Could Have Been”
As Millenials and Gen Z rediscover the Gen X classic (thank you Netflix), it’s fun to reexamine this beloved episode that shows what would happen to the titular group of friends if they all made different decisions in life.
Naturally, the show needs conflict, so as the audience sees how each of our six favorite New Yorkers lives have changed, clearly it’s not going to be for the better. Ross (David Schwimmer) is still married to Carol (Jane Sibbett), and she never declares that she is gay. Monica (Courteney Cox) never loses the weight she once had, and becomes codependent. Chandler (Matthew Perry) pursues a career as a writer, but becomes Joey’s assistant (Matt LeBlanc), who still works on Days of our Lives. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) marries Barry and is extremely unhappy, while Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) becomes a stockbroker.
Parts of the alternate reality don’t make a lot of sense. Phoebe suddenly being a career driven woman and such a workaholic she gives herself a heart attack is a complete 180 from what made Phoebe great. Granted, she is shown to be just as “flighty” as she is in the home reality of the show. When it comes to her job performance, Phoebe eventually loses millions for the firm she works for and then tries to shrug off being fired. But as much as that might have been a miss, the other characters are a fun look at what could have been. The writers took one simple concept that was already established in the show and went left instead of right.