Review: "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" (Season 3, Episode 5)

Airdate: March 4th, 2001

Plot: Leela, opposed to the path the Planet Express Ship has to take while towing an oil tanker (by a penguin preserve on Pluto), resigns her command to protest with environmentalists - led by Free Waterfall Sr. Y'know, the guy who's son got eaten by Lrrr. Bender is appointed Captain, much to Fry's displeasure. The two fight, and Bender gets so deperssed, he refuses to drink. Thus, he becomes loopy, and crashes the oil tanker on the preserve. Bender is sentenced to community service, and becomes one with the penguins... who begin reproducing at a rapid pace.

Review: 

When I was younger, I was quite the environmentalist nut. I though Al Gore was a god, I was wondering why there weren't more Prii on the road, and I always used wind power when playing SimCity 4. (TURBINES FOR LIFE!) Thing is, I wasn't one for nature walking, or cleanup efforts... in short, I was more Leonardo DiCaprio than anything else in my environmentalism.

This episode is Futurama's first to tackle the environmentalist topic, and in this case, does a pretty good job in skewering both sides of the topic.

Leela's conflict of interest regarding the delivery adds an interesting aspect to her character. Normally, she is the "do the mission, and do it efficiently" captain. Here, though, she has to confront something that offends her sensibilities. She finds no option but to effectively resign her command of the Planet Express Ship. Farnsworth's management was bound to aggravate her sooner or later, and for her, this was a red, red line she would not, could not cross.

And then she meets the environmentalists. Led by none other than Free Waterfall Sr. Yes, the father of the hippie dude who exposed Leela in front of hungry and vengeful Omnicronians.

At first, they do seem like most jokes about environmentalists done in other shows - they're overtly naive, quite milquetoast, hypersensitive, etc. It's the timing of the comedy - and the twists on the scenes - that makes the jokes about them funny. Also, their actions are so absurd that any hints that those jokes may be cliche can easily be forgiven.

Yet, once the penguins begin multiplying too much, they all begin taking up munitions, wanting to take out the surplus population. They show no regret for it - in fact, they seem to almost take joy in shooting the penguins. The damning aspect isn't necessarily that they're hunting - it's that they portray themselves as pacifistic and high-and-mighty environmentalists, while seeming to take pleasure in the fact that they're hunting down penguins. Their environmentalism and hippiness is just a facade to excuse their more sadistic side.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think those that hunt can have genuine environmental reasons for their hunting, and believe that hunting and environmentalism can exist side by side. Theordore Roosevelt is one of my favorite Presidents, he was a conservationist, and his stuffed animals are all along Sagamore Hill's walls. But, oftentimes, these hunters make no bones about the fact that, well, they hunt for hunting's sake, and don't really use a facade of environmentalism to cover up their more sadistic tendencies. Ted Nugent, though I vehemently disagree with his politics, at least admits he's not making environmentalism the priority in his hunting.

Likewise, Farnsworth is completely obnoxious to the needs of the environment, simply to avoid a tollbooth. Again, I like this bit. What does this mean about us? Are we really willing to ignore the environment to save a few bucks? Why are the two things often mutually exclusive, or come off as such? Do we need to install financial deterrents in order to protect environmentally sensitive areas, if not the environment? Or will it prove fruitless?

Ultimately, this episode takes a quasi-lassiez-faire view of overpopulation - that it will sort itself out. I say quasi because, hey, our heroes ain't exactly the Federation here.

Another major aspect of this episode lies in Bender's relationship with Fry. Bender is made captain over Fry because Farnsworth believes his heartless, emotionless persona makes him the perfect choice for captain. Obviously, this flies in the face of the more introspective Trek captains. Ironically, Farnsworth could not have mischaracterized Bender more. The robot is all-id and, when Fry abandons him, becomes distraught to the point of sobriety.

It's just that, well, he's a complete and utter egomaniac, a narcissist of the highest order who simply wants to be loved, yet can't express empathy to others. Bender does, however, gain some sort of attachment to the penguins that he winds up living with (and, in a few cases, raising). When they come under threat, he genuinely helps save them, or at least, helps them bring down the quasi-environmentalist hunters. Granted, he does refer to himself as "their dictator", so that renders at least some of the empathy he showcases moot.

As far as Fry goes, a lot of his jealousy stems from the fact that, not only was his wildest dream (flying in lieu of the woman he loves) squashed, it was given to a robot who, much as Fry is friends with, is also an obnoxious jackass. Given that Bender acts like a madman behind the wheel, I can totally understand his cold behavior to the robot. Then again, no matter who's captain, Zoidberg will be there to kiss their ass.

"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" is one of the more "quietly good" episodes of Futurama. It's not the strongest in terms of character (although it is still good), nor was it the most emotional and/or hilarious episode, but I liked it all the same. The environment is skewered yet protected, the chain of command is analyzed... it's a good one all around.

Tidbits:

• This episode is, of course, based off of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez Crash, which polluted the Alaskan coast with oil. The captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was accused at the time of being drunk, but was cleared on that charge. He was, however, sentenced to 1000 hours of community service for "negligent discharge of oil".
• In fact, The Simpsons parodied this in the episode "Bart After Dark", where Lisa and Marge try and save the animals after an oil spill... and wind up cleaning up rocks, because the celebrities are taking care of the animals.
• I just love the obscene amounts of garbage Fry generates at the start - building an Oreo simply to dismantle it, and trashing all of the wrappers. The future here - needlessly complex. Star Trek had computers and a lot of Treknobabble. Futurama takes our everyday lives and adds silly twists to it.
• This episode also marks the third appearance of the Hyperchicken. He's wound up in jail for incompetence. Maybe it's just me, but I think the Robot-Santa case might have something to do with it. Or maybe I'm looking into this too closely.
• Oh, yeah, the Waterfalls will become reaccuring characters. Some of the episodes around them are good, but I am concerned about Into The Wild Green Yonder.

Favorite Scene: Gotta be the utter failure of the Peace Ring that the environmentalists form around the Planet Express Ship. "When you were planning this peace ring, didn't you realize that ships can move in three dimensions?"

Best Character: Free Waterfall Sr. I love just how much of a deconstruction of the environmentalist he is.

Memorable Quote: "If it's fun in any way, it's not environmentalism!" "What about blowing up dams?" - Leela and Free Waterfall. Second place is the aforementioned "peace ring" joke.

Score: 8.25.