Monday, May 30, 2016

Review: "The Luck of the Fryrish" (Season 3, Episode 4)

Fry and his seven-leaf clover.

Airdate: March 11th, 2001.

Plot: Fry has been on a streak of what seems to be bad, bad luck. He loses at the racetracks, loses every dollar at said racetrack, gets electrocuted to try and retrieve his last dollar. This makes him think back to a simpler time... 1980s New York.

It was a quirky time to be a New Yorker. The Yankees were awful. Ed Koch was asking how he was doin' as New York's mayor. And one Philip J. Fry had a tense relationship with his family, most notably, with his older brother Yancy. In a city park, Fry manages to track down a seven-leafed clover, and luck winds up on his side. After Yancy tries to steal it, Fry hides it in a record vault.

A thousand and change years later, Fry decides to retrieve the clover from the record vault. Unfortunately, it's missing, and Fry immediately suspects Yancy. Making matters worse is the fact that, after his little cryogenic incident, somebody by the name of Philip J. Fry became handsomely famous. Fry comes to the conclusion that Yancy committed identity theft.

Review: My review of "Parasites Lost" seemed to concur with the idea that Season 3 showed Futurama leap from a merely funny sci-fi show to a great character dramedy. However, you would think that those dramatic episodes would be further apart than a whopping two episodes. "Luck of the Fryrish" is another gut-wrenching episode, focusing on Fry's relationship with his family. The end result is a very, very bittersweet half-hour of television.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Review: "A Tale Of Two Santas" (Season 3, Episode 3)

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Airdate: December 16th, 2001. Yes, you read that correctly.

Plot: It's Xmas time again. Time to set the shutters, arm yourselves around the fire's glow, and pray to god that Robot Santa doesn't blow you off the face of the planet. For our favorite trio, they get the worst possible mission - delivering letters to Santa. On Neptune, attempts to finally destroy Santa are futile, but they do trap him in some ice. Bender, being the only robot there, takes up the mantle of Robot Santa. However, old fears die hard... and by that, I mean that Bender gets locked up.

Review

Back in September (of all months), I reviewed "XMas Story" - the introduction of Xmas which showed it as one of the most dystopic holidays possible. The bringer of joy to us is now a robotic bringer of destruction and hell. "A Tale of Two Santas" really drives home just how ingrained the terror of XMas has become to the populace of New New York, where even a benevolent Santa (bizarrely enough, Bender) can't change it.