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CRIMES OF THE HOT
Writer: Aaron
Ehasz
Director: Peter Avanzino
Production Code: 4ACV08
Original Air Date: November 10, 2002
Guest Voices: Al Gore |
 |
Known to Cause Insanity
in Laboratory Mice
Global warming is taking its toll on planet Earth. In the future it generally
is not a problem because as we learn from the educational film Global Warming
or: None Like it Hot! the problem has been solved by dropping giant ice
cubes into the ocean thereby controlling the problem. But the a new problem
arises in that the ice cubes have not been dropped into the ocean. President
Nixon calls upon the Planet Express crew to go to Haley's Comet and mine
it for some ice to drop into the ocean. When they get there they find out
that there is no more ice available. A Global Warming Conference headed
up by the head of Al Gore is called for in Kyoto, Japan and includes all
of Earth's scientists.
While ther Farnsworth spills the beans on a secret that he has been
hiding for many years. Global warming is caused by the inefficient fuel
burning capabilities of robots. Since all present day robots are based
off of his design he is partially responsible for the problem. Professor
Wernstrom - Wernstrom! comes up witha a solution - destroy all robots!
Shortly thereafter Bender is summoned to the Galapagos Islands for a party
to end all parties. All robots are mandated to attend. Nixon and Wernstom
are intending to get all robots together so that they can be destroyed.
Farnsworth at the last minute comes up with a scheme to save the robots
and prevent global warming. The plan is put into place at the last minute
saving all the robots from their doom!
Great way to start of the fifth season as this was a quick paced episode
with plenty of jokes and interactions between characters. The beginning
sequence of the crew trying to stay cool is sure to burn some images into
peoples brains. Al Gore making his second appearance on Futurama was great
as well. He did a really good job and the writers gave him some choice
material. I especially liked the educational film at the beginning and
brought back the announcer from Don't Date Robots in the episode I
Dated A Robot. He is a welcome addition and would guess he would have
been a regular as the series progressed much like the Scary Door would
have become a staple but...
Anyways, the ending party brought back probably every robot that has
ever appeared on Futurama plus some new ones that have not been seen. It
makes me laugh to know that everytime Wernstrom is shown the entire Futurama
community is thinking the same thing - Wernstrom! Overall a very
excellent episode. Peace out y'all! |
JURASSIC BARK
Writer: Eric
Kaplan
Director: Swinton Scott
Production Code: 4ACV07
Original Air Date: November 17, 2002
Nominated for Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program less than One
Hour |
 |
Not Affiliated With Futurama
Brass Knuckle Co.
Sure to go down as one of the great achievements of Futurama. The story
is simple enough. The pizza place where Fry worked at in the 20th century
has been uncovered in an archeological find and has been put on display.
While there Fry finds the fossilized remains of his dog Seymour. Missing
his dog Professor Farnsworth tells Fry that he is able to not only clone
Seymour and bring his best friend to him in the 31st century but he will
also be able to clone him with his exact personality and in a sense bring
the original Seymour back to life. Fry is elated at getting his dog back
which makes Bender extremely jealous. Bender knocks the fossilized pooch
into a boiling pit of lava then feels remorse for Fry when he realizes
what the dog meant to him. Bender is able to retrieve the dog and the cloning
process is able to take place. However, when Fry learns that Seymour was
only 3 years old when Fry disappeared he realizes that Seymour lived long
after Fry's disappearance and so must have forgotten about him. He feels
that it just wouldn't be right to clone him and bring him back in the future
when all Fry was is just a little part of Seymour's long life.
That is pretty much the jist of the whole story. Why would this amount
to a great achievement? For two reasons. Number one is that in the flashbacks
to the 20th century the reanactment of Fry's 'accidental' fall into the
cryogenics tube reveals another little mystery. In the pilot episode Space
Pilot 3000 it is revealed that Nibbler was at the cryogenics office
at the time of Fry's mishap. This is partly born out by the events of The
Day the Earth Stood Stupid where Fry saves Earth by the use of his
'special' brain. When we see the events unfold here in Jurrasic Bark we
see another shadow at the cryogenics lab. A shadow that looks like none
other than Fry himself! Why and how is he here? These events are sure to
be revealed in the forthcoming episode the Why of Fry. Together these four
episodes - Space Pilot 3000, The Day the Earth Stood Stupid, Jurassic Bark
and the Why of Fry - will make a great little mini-saga on the history
of Futurama! I can't wait for this episode to air! What is the second incident
of this episode? It really is a non-incident but it involves the sad life
of Seymour after Fry has disappeared. It has sparked some very strong reactions
in the Futurama community and has to be seen to really understand what
I am talking about. After watching it you may look at your pet in an entirely
new light.
Being a season 4 production episode this also reveals the depth the
show tried to achieve in this season. There are sure to be the same wacky
comedy that we are accostomed to with Futurama but also a deeper sentimental
value as well. Of the production 4 episodes we have seen as of this writing
Leela's
Homeworld and Jurrasic Bark have been able to strike an emotional high
that has only been seen in such episodes as The
Luck of the Fryish and I would guess will continue on with the remaining
episodes to come. |
THE ROUTE OF ALL
EVIL
Writer: Dan
Vebber
Director: Brian Sheesley
Production Code: 3ACV12
Original Air Date: December 8, 2002 |
 |
Disclaimer: Any Resemblence
to Real Robots Would Be Really Cool
Dwight (Hermes' son) and Cubert are suspended from school when they get
into a fight with Brett Blob. Tired of having them create mischief around
Planet Express their fathers, Hermes and Farnsworth, demand that they both
get jobs. Dwight and Cubert start a delivery company called Awesome Express
and start to deliver newspapers to a news hungry galaxy. At first their
fathers just laugh it off as being a cute paper route but when Awesome
Express grows so big that they start stealing employees away from Planet
Express Hermes and Farnsworth can no longer ignore them. Too late for them
though as Dwight and Cubert perform a hostile takeover of Planet Express
and all of their assets and fire Hermes and Farnsworth.
Business is booming until the complaints start coming in. Seems that
Awesome Express has grown so big that Dwight and Cubert can no longer keep
up with delivering all of those papers and have instead been dumping them
in a crater on the Moon. They run to their fathers to help bail them out
of their situation and they help them deliver all the remaining papers.
Not before learning a lesson on the ways of raising little boys.
As a side story Bender, Fry and Leela start brewing their own beer.
The catch is that they are using Bender as the brewery who is glowing with
the thought of a living thing inside of him.
This episode is great if nothing else for the fact that at long last
Dwight is introduced into the Futurama universe. He is a real fun character
who it would be nice to see come back more in the future. His and Cubert's
relationship works out really well as for the beginning part of the episode
they are your typical kids who are only interested in video games. On second
thought make that all the episode as I am sure many of us have gotten in
way over our heads and had to be bailed out by their parents. One aspect
of Awesome Express that I liked was the little do-it yourself delivery
ship that Dwight and Cubert sent away for and built. If only I had one
of those. The Bender brew was also a fun little side story and was taken
in a direction that I didn't expect. |
A TASTE OF FREEDOM
Writer: Eric
Horsted
Director: James Purdum
Production Code: 4ACV05
Original Air Date: December 21, 2002
Guest Voices: Phil Hendrie (Old Man Waterfall) |
 |
Or Is It?
Freedom, freedom, freedom oy!! It is Freedom Day on Earth and everybody
is exercising their rights to freedom including Dr. Zoidberg who decides
to eat Earth's flag. Enraged at this Earth President Richard Nixon leads
a mob that goes after Zoidberg. He finds sanctuary at his home planets
embassy who keep him safe and sound. Nixon has no other choice but to go
the legal route and takes his case all the way to the Supreme Court where
Zoidberg stands trial for desecrating the flag. He is found guilty and
sentenced to death.
Feeling that he was fully within his rights Zoidberb calls on his people
to lead an invasion of Earth to teach people how good they have it. The
Decapodens quickly invade and enslave Earth. They put them to work building
the invincible Mobile Oppresion Palace which allows the Decapodens to rule
over Earth using as few Decapodians as possible and so they send the invading
forces home. Fry, Leela and Bender look in the historical museum for a
wa to combat the invaders and hatch a plan to use a heat seaking missle
against the Mobile Oppression Palace. But what they don't know is that
like Zoidberg and his people, the MOP is cold blooded and so the missle
cannot lock onto its target. Meanwhile, the MOP kills Zoidberg's lawyer
which moves Zoidberg to help Earth. He sees that they have gone too far
as Old Man Waterfall was the only person who would stand up for Zoidberg
and they killed him. By burning a flag and throwing it at the MOP the missle
has a heat source to track and so blows the Palace up.
Third in episodes to center on Zoidberg and one of the best. Not necessarily
for the jokes in it, although there were some good ones, but for the biting
commentary on freedoms and what it means to have those freedoms. These
were best signified by Old Man Waterfall. The Supereme Court scene was
great as was the shots of the invading army and the Mobile Oppression Palace
as all were done using 3D graphics. And for those Zoidberg haters out there
you now have a new theme song in your
fight against the crustacean. |
KIF GETS KNOCKED
UP A NOTCH
Writer: Bill
Odenkirk
Director: Wes Archer
Production Code: 4ACV01
Original Air Date: January 12, 2003 |
 |
Bigfoot's Choice
Amy decides to stow away on the Planet Express ship while they are making
a delivery and hijacks it to take her to see Kif. When they get there Amy
and Kif are happy to see each other and Kif invites her to move in with
him on the Nimbus. He takes her to the holodeck and shows her all the wonderfull
worlds that they can live together in while on the Nimbus but Amy is hesitant
to make such a big commitment. The holodeck goes crazy and the holograms
come to life and start to destroy the Nimbus. The crew are almost sucked
out into the vortex of space and are saved at the last minute.
The ships medical doctor examines everyone on board and everyone checks
out OK. Oh, and Kif is pregnant! It seems in Kif's race when there is a
deep bond with another being they go into a receptor state whereby the
touch of the Smizark passes along their DNA and impregnates them. The only
question remains who is the mother/father of Kif's offspring as during
the battle with the hologram creatures Kif has touched a number of people
including Leela, Fry and Zapp. Back at the Planet Express building Professor
Farnsworth puts all the would be parents in his alien cross genetic analyzer
to determine who the parent is. One by one the people who are not the parent
are thrown out of the device until there are only two left - Amy and Leela.
Great surprise follows as Amy is thrown out uncovering Leela as the parent
to Kif's offspring.
To Kif it really doesn't matter because the true Smizark is the one
who ellicited the fealings of love in the first place. That being Amy.
Amy begins to prepare for her life as a mother but soon developes cold
feet at the thought of giving up her carefree lifestyle for that of motherhood.
She abandons Kif and he must return to his homeworld to deliver the offspring
in the mud and swamp lands where he was born.
I have to say that I was not that impressed with this episode on first
viewing and only after watching it a couple of time did some of the good
jokes and scenes make an impact. This is the third in the saga of Kif and
Amy (Amazon Women in the Mood and Where
The Buggalo Roam being the others) and I would place it as the second
best among the three. Kif and Amy together is great but in doing so the
writers have changed Kif from a frustrated sarcastic foil to Zapp Brannigan
to a whiny, squishy wimp. Bring back the old Kif I say. |
LESS THAN HERO
Writer: Ron
Weiner
Director: Susie Dietter
Production Code: 4ACV04
Original Air Date: March 2, 2003 |
 |
Soon to be A Major Religion
Shown at last years Comic Con I was really
excited to see this one again. While assembling a super collider that Farnsworth
had purchased from Pikea, Leela and Fry experience some soreness and so
decide to go see the good Dr. Zoidberg who gives them some miracle creme
he bought from a traveling salesmen. The creme seems to work out fine for
them until they notice the side effects of this miracle creme - it gives
them super human powers. They decide to put their powers to good use and
form a crime fighting duo. Fry as Captain Yesterday and Leela as Cloberella.
Bender joins in as Super King to round out the trio and form the New Justice
Team. They become instant success in New New York and even have their
own theme song.
Meanwhile, Leela has made special arrangements to spend the day with
her parents above ground in the city of New New York and arranges a couple
of above ground passes for them. While picking up the passes at the Mayor's
office the Mayor gets a call needing the help of the New Justice Team.
The villain the Zoo Keeper is threating to steal the priceless Quantum
Gemerald from the museum showroom. It is up to the New Justice Team to
save the City. The problem, which doesn't seem to be a problem to Leela,
is that it is on the same day as she is supposed to meet her parents. She
arranges to meet them at 10am at the museum as she figures to be done stopping
the Zoo Keeper by then as he is scheduled to steal the gemerald at 9am.
The Zoo Keeper is late and Leela misses her parents who think that she
is ashamed of them but she does help stop the Zoo Keeper.
Feeling guilty over missing their date Leela spills the beans to her
parents that she is the crime fighting heroine Cloberella. She implores
them to not tell anyone about this and Morris immediately blabs the first
chance he gets. The Zoo Keeper finds out and kidnaps her parents and holds
them for ransom in exchange for the New Justice Team to steal the Quantum
Gemerald. By this time they have used up all of their miracle creme and
no longer have super powers. Figuring that nobody would know they were
powerless they proceed to steal the gemerald and exchange it for Leela's
parents.
Great episode and another top notch song.This episode is also a departure
from the usual Futurama episode in that this one really stretches the boundaries
of what is believeable within the Futurama universe. Past episodes for
the most part dealt with things that were or are in the realm of possibilities
while this one was done for sheer wackiness. It is one of the best episodes
out there and is filled with lots of jokes like the Pikea super collider
all the way down to the truly pointless lyrics of their theme song. The
fight scene with the animals of the Zoo Keeper also parodied the old Batman
television show with plenty of hokey visual sound effects. |
TEENAGE MUTANT LEELA'S
HURDLES
Writer: Jeff
Westbrook
Director: Bret Halland
Production Code: 4ACV09
Original Air Date: March 30, 2003 |
 |
NOW INTERACTIVE! Joystick
Controls Fry's Left Ear
After Farnsworth starts to really act his age the other Planet Express
employees decide to take him to the Bubbling Geezer Hot Springs Spa to
be youthesized. While sitting in a pit of youth mud Bender decides to kick
the pump up another notch and douses the entire Planet Express crew. Soon
they realize that they all have reversed aged all the way back to their
teen years.Farnsworth tries to reverse the reverse aging mud but only succeeds
in further reversing everyones ages back to childhood. The problem is that
the now it cannot be stopped and all are in danger of suffering the fate
of pre-life. And then death.
While Farnsworth tries to come up with a way to get everyone back to
their original ages, Leela decides to move back home with her parents so
that she can experience growing up with them. She 'dates' Fry and they
get into a crazy race in the sewers which they eventually win and after
the gang is reverted back to even younger versions of themselves she becomes
their baby sitter. While babby sitting she comes across an old fable about
the Fountain of Aging and tells Farnsworth about it so they go off in search
of it. They are able to find it and none too soon as everyone, including
Bender, have reverted back to tiny baby in the womb creatures and so they
jump in the fountain. Farnsworth cannot hold onto the ledge and so they
are plunged deeper into the fountain and are now at risk of aging too rapidly
all the way past their deaths. Leela jumps in and is able to save everyone
except Farnsworth and in the process she loses her one chance to experience
growing up with her parents. Farnsworth is still floating in the fountain
when he is rescued by... well, you will have to watch the episode yourself
to find that out.
Similar to Less Than Hero this episode is based more on wackiness and
less on what Futurama has typically been about. That is OK though as the
beginning scenes with Farnsworth are great and seeing everyone go through
their various early stages was hilarious. For having so many storylines
going in one show it never felt rushed and everyone got pretty equal time
enough to get the point across. Really fun episode. |
THE WHY OF FRY
Writer: David
X. Cohen
Director: Wes Archer
Production Code: 4ACV10
Original Air Date: April 6, 2003 |
 |
Dancing Space Potatoes?
YOU BET!
Leela has a new boyfriend much to the chagrin of Fry who is desperate to
have Leela notice him. When she has a hot date with the Mayor's aide she
asks Fry to look after Nibbler. Things go from bad to worse for Fry as
he gets a ticket for not cleaning up after Nibbler when he drops a heaping
pile of Dark Matter. Feeling like these couldn't get any lower Nibbler
begins to speak to Fry and to let him know that he is important to the
safety of the universe. He kidnaps Fry and takes him back to the Nibblonian
planet where he meets the other Nibblonians and they inform him of a very
special mission that they need him for.
The Brain Spawn (as last seen in The
Day the Earth Stood Stupid) are busy collecting all data from across
the Universe and when they have completed their task they intend to destroy
it. Fry, with his special brain is the only one who can infiltrate the
Brain Spawn's Data Star to plant a bomb to send them to an alternate universe.
Fry agrees to the mission and is successful in sending them to the alternate
universe but not before they spill the beans on Fry being in the future
and the Nibblonians part they played in it. Of course, Fry being Fry, he
too is sent to the alternate universe with the Brain Spawn and once there
they inform him that he does have an oppurtunity to go back in time at
the exact moment of his freezing to thwart Nibbler in his mission and consequently
allowing the Brain Spawn to destroy the universe.
Fry is sent back in time to 1999 at the cryogenics lab and he comes
across Nibbler who is surprised to see him there. Fry accuses Nibbler of
traveling back in time but the Nibblonians do not have that capability.
Nibbler pleads with Fry that he is vital to the future and to the existence
of all living things. Fry renages until Nibbler asks him is there nothing
worth saving in the future? Fry says one thing - Leela. Nibbler is intrigued
and mentions that she must be the 'other one' and that if Fry agrees to
help him he will do everything he can to bring Fry and Leela together.
Fry agrees and this time instead of Nibbler pushing 1999 Fry into the cryogenics
tube he will do the honors. Back in the future after the mission Fry can't
wait to tell everyone about how he saved the universe but Nibbler cannot
allow that and erases Fry's memory of the whole thing but not before he
tells him that someday the universe will require his services once again.
A really great and anticipated episode to the story of Fry and one
that certainly leaves the door open to many more Fry/Nibbler/save the universe
type stories. Pulls in many aspects from many different episodes including
Space
Pilot 3000, The Day the Earth Stood
Stupid, Jurassic Bark and
Roswell
That Ends Well and ties them all together. I have wondered often on
what other missions the two could go on together and how that relates to
the other eye stalk seen in the trash can of the cryogencis lab of Jurassic
Bark. |
THE STING
Writer: Patric
M. Verrone
Director: Brian Sheesley
Production Code: 4ACV12
Original Air Date: June 1, 2003 |
 |
A By-Product of the TV Industry!
Coming Soon! |
THE FARNSWORTH PARABOX
Writer: Bill
Odenkirk
Director: Ron Hughart
Production Code: 4ACV15
Original Air Date: June 8, 2003 |
|
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon! |
THREE HUNDRED BIG
BOYS
Writer: Eric
Kaplan
Director: Swinton Scott
Production Code: 4ACV16
Original Air Date: June 15, 2003
Guest Voices: Roseanne |
|
Voted 'BEST'
Coming Soon! |
SPANISH FRY
Writer: Ron
Weiner
Director: Peter Avanzino
Production Code: 4ACV17
Original Air Date: July 13, 2003 |
 |
Thanks for Watching, Futurama
Slave Army! (In AL1)
Coming Soon! |
BEND-HER
Writer: Michael
Rowe
Director: James Purdum
Production Code: 4ACV13
Original Air Date: July 20, 2003 |
 |
TOO HOT FOR RADIO
Coming Soon! |
OBSOLETELY FABULOUS
Writer: Dan
Vebber
Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Production Code: 4ACV14
Original Air Date: July 27, 2003 |
 |
You Can't Prove It Won't
Happen
While at a robot trade show Mom's Old Fashioned Robot Company enveils a
new type of robot called the 1X. The Professor is so impressed with it
that he decides to pick one up for the office. Soon the 1X is doing all
the jobs Bender used (or was supposed to) with no fuss and in half the
time. Soon Bender is feeling scared of the new robot which compels him
to get an upgrade to his software to make him more compatible to 1X. While
at Mom's to recieve his upgrade he sees that the other robots come out
of the upgrade with a different personality.
Halfway through the process Bender decides he doesn't want the upgrade
and breaks free. Feeling he has nowhere to go and is no longer needed
in this new world he bends himself a raft and sets adrift on the open ocean
waters. He finally lands on a small deserted island and begins to build
himself a shelter. Over time he gets lonely and without alcahol to fuel
his cels he begins to shut down. He is awakened later by sombody pouring
fuel into his mouth. He awakes to find four other robots standing over
him. Seems that all of these robots have left the mainland because they
too have become obsolete and have found solace on the island. The other
robots try and cheer Bender up by presenting a gift of a washing machine
to him (as it is a technological advancement) to which Bender too realizes
that he must deny not only technology but himself as technological advanced
robot. He soon goes under the knife and transforms himself into a wooden,
walking robot. He and the other robots on the island agree to attack New
New York and get rid of all the technologies they have.
When they attack the Planet Express ship Bender soon finds out that
technology is not such a bad thing as in an explosion he is burned completely
because of his wooden body. Because he is burned he cannot help his friends
who are in danger. How will they get out of this one?
Good episode I thougt with some really cool graphics. As Bender first
sets out to leave New New York there is a really great scene of Bender
floating in storm out at sea that is reminiscent of the storm scenes from
A Perfect Storm and it looks great. The sea is fully CGI as well as Bender
in his makeshift boat. The scenes on the island are pretty cool too as
their are some pretty sad old technology type robots on there. The ending
caused a little bit of controversey but it really wasn't too bad in my
opinion. Had Fox shown these in order it might not have been such an issue. |
BENDER SHOULD NOT
BE ALLOWED ON TV
Writer: Lewis
Morton
Director: Ron Hughart
Production Code: 4ACV06
Original Air Date: August 3, 2003 |
 |
Controlling You Through
A Chip In Your Butt Since 1999
While watching an episode of All My Circuits the robot actor who plays
Calculon's son malfunctions at a crucial point. Figuring the robot is done
for the producers hold an open casting call for robots to replace the broken
one. The fact that it is an audition for kid robots doesn't deter Bender
from auditioning for the part. While at the auditions Bender makes it very
difficult for the other robots to get selected and by a surprise twist
of things he is selected for the part. His first scene involves him being
in a permanent coma but Bender being Bender won't stand for that and immediately
takes over the scene by dancing, drinking, smoking and generally being
in your face. The director and Calculon want to get rid of Bender until
the network executives step in and demand that Bender remain on the show
and to continue on with his hooligan ways as viewer focus is up in their
control groups.
Meanwhile, Dwight and Cubert are planning a big birthday celebration
for Dwight and a scraping day for Cubert since he was never born. But since
nobody likes them nobody shows up to their party except for Tinny Tim who
had an invitation dropped into his begging cup. Shortly after they begin
to be big fans of the actor Bender from All My Circuits and figure the
best way to be popular is to be like Bender. Since neither one can smoke
without getting sick they decide the next best thing, or at least what
Bender would do, is to steal some cool stuff from somebody the know. Since
Bender is the coolest guy they know they decide to steal from him and their
next party is an instant success.
When Bender finds out that all of his stuff has been stolen from his
apartment he figures he has become a bad role model and sets out to get
himself thrown off TV with the help of FART. They storm the studios where
All My Circuits is filmed and Bender demands that he be taken off the airwaves.
The network executives bust in and force Bender by gunpoint to continue
on with the show. Through a scuffle Bender ends up with the gun and while
the cameras are rolling gives a small diatribe on the values of parenting
and spending time with your kids to ensure they grow up healthy. Because
of this Bender gets his wish and is taken from the airwaves.
Great episode that pokes fun at the media and the whole television
industry. Great gags in the episode as we see the return of the Hypno-Toad
in a great cameo. Also, during the episode is a musical interlude featuring
Black
Flag's TV Party Tonight that is parodied over the end credits with
vocals by all of the Planet Express crew. A real nitty gritty song that
fit well within the theme of the episode. This episdoe also featured a
great remix of the opening theme with some improvisations by Billy West
and John DiMaggio over the music. This is also the episode that was shown
at the 2003 Comic Con and you can check there for a seperate review of
the episode. |
THE DEVILS HANDS
ARE IDLE PLAYTHINGS
Writer: Ken
Keeler
Director: Bret Haaland
Production Code: 4ACV18
Original Air Date: August 10, 2003
Guest Voice: Dan Castellaneta (Robot Devil) |
 |
See You On Some Other Channel
While practicing the holophoner to impress Leela Bender walks in on Fry
and suggests that in order to get better at it maybe he should make a deal
with the Devil - the Robot Devil to be precise. They go to Robot Hell to
meet up with the Robot Devil who makes a deal with Fry - a set of robot
hands for his set of human hands. The Robot Devil spins his selecting wheel
(which contains all robots names on it) and surprisingly it lands on the
Robot Devil! Grudgingly he exchanges hands with Fry.
Fry learns he can do much more with his robot hands than he could with
his old hands and the Robot Devil soon learns he cannot do as much with
his human hands. He tries to persuade Fry to change his mind but Fry denies
him so the Robot Devil sets out a scheme to get his hands back. In the
meantime with his robot hands Fry is now able to play the holophoner like
no other person ever has. He is soon giving private concerts until Hedonism-Bot
approaches him to commision an opera. At a loss for ideas on what to base
it on Fry decides on developing an opera for and about Leela. As he sets
out to compose his masterpiece the Robot Devil sets out to get his hands
back.
First he tricks Bender in to trading his ass plate in for a blow horn
on his nose. He vows to blow his horn in the face of the first person he
comes in contact with. It so happens that it is Leela and when he does
she is deafened by the loud noise. Not being able to hear she is worried
that she will not be able to hear the opera that Fry is composing for her.
At the opera opening Leela gets assistance from Amy on what emotions
she should convey at what times since she cannot hear the music. During
the intermission Leela comes in contact with the Robot Devil who offers
her a deal - robot ears to hear with in exchange for one of her hands.
Fearing she will never hear the beautiful opera Fry has written for her
she agrees to it, however the Robot Devil informs her that in due time
he will approach her about getting Leela's hand.
During the final act of the opera the Robot Devil makes his mischevious
plans be known - he now looks to collect from Leela what is rightfully
his - her hand - in marriage!! He will reconsider but only on one condition
and that being he and Fry agree to trade back hands. Fry agrees and with
his own hands back sets out to complete the performance of the opera but
without the robot hands he is now once again a failure on the holophoner
and the crowd walks out on it. That is everyone except for Leela who asks
Fry to show her how the opera ends.
One of the best episodes ever of Futurama and one that was directly
geared to us the fans. There are plenty of nods to the fans in such things
as the opening title banner, the billboard gag and sprinkled throughout
the episode itself. The use of many characters and having them come back
in a black tie celebration (at the opera) played out as a sort of going
away party with all your favorite characters from the show.
The opera itself was really well done and played out in two parts with
each part having a different spin on it. In the middle of it all are
the main characters of this story - Leela and Fry. The ending could bring
a tear to your eye even if you were not a fan of the show. |
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