Review: "I Second That Emotion" (Season 2, Episode 1)

Unfortunately, last time I checked, the truth wasn't out there.

Airdate: November 21, 1999

Synopsis: Bender takes a hatred to Nibbler, all because his ego isn't being fed. When Nibbler prematurely eats his extravagant, egocentric birthday cake for the pet, Bender responds by going to therapy... by which I mean, Nibbler is flushed down the toilet. Leela, naturally, isn't too pleased with this development, so Bender has an empathy chip smacked onto his head. This drives Bender into such agony, he flushes himself down the sewer. Fry and Leela find Bender in the sewers, and while trying to recover Nibbler, come across the fabled Sewer Mutants.

Review (SPOILERS): As much as I hate the FOX schedule, I do give them credit for not making this the broadcast premiere. Not that it's an irredeemable episode, but because it's a wonky opening to the second season - the decent first and brilliant third acts bookend a rather weak, maybe somewhat sexist second act.


This episode focuses on Bender's rampant ego and outright sociopathy, just another aspect of his overall misantrophy and anti-heroic behavior. Here, it almost consumes his personality, at least for the first act. We saw some hints of insecurities in season 1 - for example, his line of "Everyone else did it" in "Fry and the Slurm Factory". - so he might be manifesting it by acting out and pumping his own ego. Here, it actually causes harm to somebody else. Sure, Bender has harmed people before, but that was more due to his impulses. Here, it was his desire to feed his own ego that directly affected Leela - her alien pet is flushed down the toilet, and is, at first presumed dead. Thus, he has an empathy chip smacked on his head, and tuned to Leela's mind.

Now, I know what you might be thinking... I've seen this before, right?

Three words. Star Trek: Generations. For those unaware, the movie where Picard meets Kirk, and Kirk encounters structural failure while fighting Malcolm McDowell.

Part of a suite of episodes and movies that have Data learn to take on human emotions (considered one of the weaker arcs in Trek), Generations begins it's subplot by having Data misinterpret an old rite of passage on the Holodeck Suite, having him dunk Dr Crusher in the water. Admonished by Chief Engineer La Forge ("Data... not funny!"), Data decides to have a chip implanted that will make him feel emotions and empathy. It's a sorta cute subplot in an otherwise mixed bag of a movie, but it does showcase the Star Trek idealism and optimism when it comes to future technology, and overall message that almost everybody can have empathy.

Futurama, being a parody of Star Trek, has Bender's empathy chip forcibly installed by the rest of the crew, has the chip tune in to Leela almost 24/7, and even with triple capacity, Bender eventually reveals that he barely felt anything by his experience, and learned nothing. In fact, it's Leela who learns to be misanthropic and self-serving. Yet, how did Leela get there?

I think it was her desire to manipulate Bender to save Nibbler- her dialogue during the episode's climax seems to suggest that she's actually driving Bender to save Nibbler, since she's incapacitated (at her own behest) for the moment. It's almost brilliant - a classic Captain's maneuver, adapted to the cynicism of Futrurama.

The end of the second and most of the third act also introduces the Sewer Mutants, who live segregated from the rest of New New York. It's implied so far (and later confirmed) that they are forbidden from ascending to the surface. One could argue that this is a satire of racial segregation, official and unofficial. Separated from the rest of New New York, the mutants develop their own culture, customs, and lifestyle, dependent on the thrown-out goods of New New Yorkers. There's also the casual racism, if not disgust, directed towards the sewer mutants, despite the lack of knowledge to them.

It's tragic, but there's enough comedy to keep the mood going. That, and there is enough development of the various mutants to make them seem like actual people, rather than just a generic "oppressed race" seen in other mediums. It never seems that over-bearing, and is just a part of the plot.

Now, where does my problem lie? The second act.

Most of the jokes revolving around Bender's expression of Leela's feelings are predictable, if not cliche. While I would like to see some of Leela's inner thoughts, given that season 1 didn't focus too much on her, what we got instead is a series of jokes focusing on Bender tuned in with Leela's night out with Amy, and the latter's abandonment of Leela. There could've been more of a focus on her character, her thought process. Instead, we get a series of weak jokes that could've been taken out of most other sitcoms, with the sci-fi twist of the empathy chip added in.

Besides that, we get a quick scene where Fry admonishes Leela for her emotions, causing Bender to flush himself down the toilet. I could take this as Fry's immaturity and relative unintelligent mind, except that Leela seems to agree with him. This seems awkward, given that Bender flushed her pet down the toilet, and Bender had no genuine remorse. This could show a closer friendship between Bender and Leela, but it still seems quite a bit forced.

It's sad, because the first and third acts are quite good. The second act, however, drags the episode down quite a bit. Thankfully (for once), FOX's scheduling had "A Flight To Remember" go out to premiere the broadcast season.

Tidbits:

• For the record, I am not sure if I will be doing previews for my Futurama reviews. If I decide to do the preview for season 2, I will slip them in between the wrap up for season 1 and this episode in terms of schedules. 
• This episode features Linda, the ever-cheerful newscaster on Root-2 News. While not the first to show her, I just forgot to bring it up. Comparing her to Kent Brockman on The Simpsons, what a world of difference - while Kent Brockman showcases an active grab for ratings just to help himself, Linda showcases a desire from the media to make the news "warmer".
• Note that the animation and the voice acting in this episode is much crisper. I mean it - gorgeous.
• Before anybody asks, there is a bit of foreshadowing revolving around this episode. I'll just get it off my chest... Bender whistles "Sweet Georgia Brown."

Favorite Scene: The sewers. All of it. Hysterical, a bit poignant, and quite awesome.

Least Favorite Scene: The montage of Bender connected to Leela's emotions was quite boring.

Memorable Quote: "The only way out is through that pipe! Don't worry - it gets wider after about a mile." - Fry, while in the sewers. No prizes for guessing how big the pipe is.

Score: 7.