Review: "Insane in the Mainframe" (Season 3, Episode 11)

"Yahoo! The system fails again!" - Bender.

Airdate: April 8th, 2001
Written By: Bill Odenkirk
Synopsis: Fry and Bender go to the bank to start a retirement fund with Fry's $6. While there, Bender meets up with an old friend, Roberto... who promptly holds up the bank. Giving Fry and Bender two sacks of dough for their troubles, they wind up tackled by the NNYPD. With Roberto threatening them during the trial, they go with option B - cop an insanity plea. Thanks to the robust evidence ("they done hired me to represent them"), the duo are sent to the Robot Asylum - Fry going because the human asylum is overcrowded thanks to the judge.

Review:

Alright, I'll disclose this before I begin - without this episode, this blog would not exist.

It was me watching this episode on Netflix on January 20th, 2015, that made me realize "this show has to be analyzed. I have to watch it episode by episode." It hit that perfect beat of social commentary, comedy, drama, and character development. Within minutes of finishing up, the Blog of Wonton Burrito Meals was established.

And for good reason - this episode is pretty damn horrifying. And brilliant.

Review: "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid" (Season 3, Episode 7)

Thank you, Dewey Decimal System. You destroyed the universe.

"Brain! Brain make people dumb!" "No, Leela. Brain make people smart." - Leela and Fry. No, I did not mix up that order.

Airdate: February 18th, 2001.

Written By: Jeff Westbrook and David X. Cohen

Plot: Leela is disenchanted at how stupid Nibbler appears, not doing anything but cause trouble at a pet competition. However, when brains attack the Earth, Leela catches Nibbler as he boards a mini space shuttle, back to his home planet of Eternium. There, the Nibblonians introduce themselves as an intellectual (if cute) species determined to tackle the Brainspawn. The Brainspawn feed off of the Delta Brainwave, making everybody in their path stupid, and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The one person that can save them? Fry, who happens to lack a Delta Brainwave.

Review:

Season 3 is, again, often cited as the season which started Futurama's rise from merely being a great show to being a sublime show. If "Parasites Lost" launched the central romantic relationship in the franchise, and "Luck of the Fryrish" give emotional levity to it's central plot, than "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid" stands out as one of the most inventive science fiction elements in the history of the show - all while being drop. Dead. Funny.

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

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.

Review: "The Cryonic Woman" (Season 2, Episode 19)

"Welcome... to the world of tomorrow!"

Airdate: December 3rd, 2000

Synopsis: Bender and Fry's antics go too far, resulting in the trio's dismissal (Leela left the keys in the ship's ignition, and caused Bender and Fry to steal the ship... with the building and the rest of the crew in tow.) Jobless, Bender and Fry wind up at the cryogenics center. There, the duo unfreeze a motley crew of people, such as Pauly Shore and Fry's ex-girlfriend, Michelle. The latter gets back together with Fry, only to realize that the 31st century is a bit disturbing.

Review: "The Cryonic Woman", in theory, should be pretty good, given that it revolves around a character unseen since the very start of the show. Oh, and it's also the finale of Season 2. The idea was good, actually, but unfortunately, the execution of the episode is somewhat lacking - in fact, I'd even call it the worst episode so far.

Review: "The Deep South" (Season 2, Episode 12)

Airdate: April 16th, 2000

Synopsis: Hermes applies for a pet license for Nibbler. Unfortunately, he gets a fishing license instead, one that's not just liberal - it's mandatory. Thus, the crew go fishing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Bender's antics, though, meet with an unbreakable diamond tether - one that gets caught by a fish, dragging the crew underwater. They survive, but the ship... not so much. While looking for food outside (thanks to the Professor, he can withstand the pressure), he comes across a mermaid, Umbriel (Parker Posey), who takes him to the lost city of... Atlanta.

Review: In 1996, Atlanta was given the opportunity to host the Summer Olympic Games. In spite of a terrorist bombing that killed two people and injured 111 others, the Olympics are widely regarded as a beautiful success for Atlanta, transforming the city into the social and financial capital of the then-blooming American South, even helping to rebut some of the archetypes that were associated with the region in general (racism and poverty, most prominently).

"The Deep South" attempts to fuse the archetypes of "old" Atlanta, "new" Atlanta, and the mythical underwater city of Atlantis. How does it work? Mmm...

Review: "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" (Season 2, Episode 11)

Airdate: April 2nd, 2000

This is where he lost his groove. (Don't worry - he doesn't jump. And no, that isn't exactly a spoiler.)

Synopsis: Hermes tries to prepare for a promotion from the Central Bureaucracy. However, all seems ruined when Bender's cheating at poker leads to the destruction of his offices. Only saved from suicide by threats of a demotion, he is put on paid leave ("the ultimate penalty") and sent to Spa 5 by Zoidberg - a nice, relaxing labor camp.

Bureaucrat Morgan Proctor takes over, and finds out that Fry is an utter slob. Being cooper up by neat freaks at the Central Bureaucracy, Proctor finds Fry's slobbishness attractive, and begins an affair that would make the Major cabinet blush, complete with granting Fry perks and demoting the rest of the crew. Once Bender finds out, well, let's just say...

"I am Bender. Please insert girder."

Review: Ah, the bureaucracy. No institution is more American than the offices often called the fourth branch of government. In many regards, bureaucrats are known as the blood of the public sector - to the point where conservatives a-la Rand Paul talk about the "federal bureaucracy" in an extremely pejorative tone. (Blogger's note - I tend to align with the more left-wing Democratic Party.) Jokes about the utter redundancy of the bureaucracy rarely get old, and this episode goes above and beyond with the satire, while also expanding on Hermes.

Review: "A Bicyclops Built For Two" (Season 2, Episode 9)

Note: sender of E-mail is not as dignified as he appears. Not. Even. Close.

Airdate: March 19th, 2000

Synopsis: While on a Matrix-like "internet", Leela meets another cycloptic humanoid. However, Fry interrupts their transmission before important information can be exchanged. On a trip to deliver popcorn to Cineplex 14, however, the cyclops able to come in contact with the PlanEx trio, and they wind up on the planet Cyclopia. There, Alcazar explains that the two of them may very well be the last of their race. However, not only does Alcazar have a more loutish side to him, the truth about his role as the future of the species is more shocking than meets the eye.

Review (SPOILERS): The cliche of "last of the species" is very much identifiable in science fiction - to the point where even newer takes on the subject tend to subvert it immediately, or add other unique twists - The Last Man on Earth, for example (featuring soon-to-be Gravity Falls alumnus Kristen Schaal). (I'm not getting into the twists, because spoilers.)

Here's the deal - the premise itself is one that, without any sort of twist, is one of the creepier in sci-fi lore. Two people of the opposite sex are the last of their species? Hate to bring this into the picture, but that would be impossible as far as the continuation of said species goes, what with the "incest or death" after "Generation A" reproduces. The inbreeding would devastate the species. And that's without the reluctance on either partner's part. To look at that, Futurama takes on a look at how a domestic situation would play out with this trope - one that dates back to "Genesis". (Reminder: spoilers after the break)

Review: "Put Your Head On My Shoulders" (Season 2, Episode 7)

"Love is in the air, everywhere you look around..." - John Paul Young.

Airdate: February 13th, 2000

Synopsis: Amy goes and buys a new car, having passed her university classes. (Yes, Amy still goes to school. Remember that?) While taking Fry out for a spin on Mars, the car runs out of gas. Waiting for a tow truck, the two become enamored with each other. Shortly after they arrive back at Earth, however, Fry begins to feel smothered by Amy. Good timing, though, since just as he's about to break up with her, an accident puts his head on her shoulder. Literally.

Meanwhile, Bender decides to pull a Jerkass Homer, and start his own business. This time, he scams people out of money in a matchmaking scheme.

Review (SPOILERS): Ah, Valentine's Day. The day of love, loss, regrets, yadda yadda yadda. If my updates to this blog were any slower, the timing would be appropriate for this episode!

Instead, this is the blog's... sort-of Christmas Special. So... Merry Christmas, I guess?

Review: "Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love?" (Season 2, Episode 5)

Airdate: February 6th, 2000.

Synopsis: Leela and Amy drag Fry and Bender to a gym. Zoidberg, extra-frisky, comes along, and manages to mess around the place. The reason - it's mating season for the Decapodians. Thus, they have to go back to Decapod 10 so that Zoidberg can join his species in the frenzy. Zoidberg has limited success in attracting a mate, but finds a potential partner in Edna. However, Fry tries to get Zoidberg to engage in a deeper relationship with her. Once Edna learns of Fry's strategies... she tries to seduce him. Zoidberg catches them, and declares that they shall settle this with claw-plach!

Fry: "What's that?"

Zoidberg: "A fight to the death!" 

Review: Another Star Trek: TOS parody here - they are a plenty in the first two seasons. This time, the episode parodied is among the most famous in the history of Star Trek: "Amok Time." The results here are quite funny, if not the best Futurama has to offer.

Review: "When Aliens Attack!" (Season 1, Episode 12)

Airdate: November 7th, 1999.

Synopsis: May, 1999. A transmitter controller for WNYW-TV, the FOX affiliate in New York City, orders a pizza and beer. He invites the pizza delivery boy, one Phillip J. Fry, to watch the season finale of Single Female Lawyer, a show that revolves around lawyer Jenny McNeil and her various sexual exploits. While yawning, Fry spills his beverage on the control panel, knocking the station and the program off the air. FOX has to replace it with "eight animated programs in a row".

A thousand years later, the signal arrives at the planet Omnicron Persei 8, home of the Omnicronians. Their king and queen, Lrrr and Ndnd, vow revenge on Earth.

Cut to Earth. One Phillip J Fry is dragged from the TV out for a Labor Day trip to the beach. Hilarity ensues... until a UFO shoots lasers at the beach. Lrrr declares that McNeil must be surrendered immediately. President McNeil retaliates by going to war against the mothership, with 25-Star General Zapp Brannigan at the helm. Doesn't work. Fry realizes what the Omnicronians are talking about, and that he must whip up a script for a show he didn't really watch.

Review: On June 23rd, 1998, Time Magazine released an issue that had three greyed-out faces of feminism - suffragette Susan B Anthony, writer Betty Friedan, and activist Gloria Steinem. Right next to them, sat the non-greyed-out face of Ally McBeal, the main character of Ally McBeal. Time Magazine posed the question... Is Feminism Dead?

To accomplish this review, I decided that it would be best to watch the pilot of Ally McBeal. It was... alright, I guess. The main character was a tad bit irritating, though, which you don't really want in a dramedy - it's acceptable in shows like Red Dwarf, where the main character can be irritating for laughs, or Breaking Bad, where you focus on a fall from grace. Not in McBeal.

This episode, from what I could tell, does a damn good mockery of Ally McBeal - it mocks the reason why shows like McBeal are loved. People like comfort food comedy. Sure, you could have shows like Red Dwarf, where characters are fleshed out with vast brilliance. You could just as easily, however, have a show like The Cleveland Show, where shows are unchallenging to the intellect of people, and thus, are bland comfort food TV.

Review: "A Big Piece of Garbage" (Season 1, Episode 8)

If only they played pool with the meteor.

Airdate: May 11th, 1999

Synopsis: Farnsworth botches his Academy of Science presentation twofold; first by planning to introduce an invention he presented a year prior- the Death Clock- than sketching something else he made a year prior- the Smell-o-scope. (He loses to former student and rival Ogden Wernstrom, who invents a "reverse scuba suit" for fish.) However, said smell-o-scope detects a mass of garbage headed straight for New New York City.

Thing is, back in 2000, to solve a crisis in pollution, Mayor Giuliani kicked a barge of trash out to sea, hoping other countries would take it. They didn't. Instead, scientists shot it into space. Now, it's back. On impact, Farnsworth fears it will take take out the entire city. Compounding matters is that few in the 20th century know what garbage actually is- everybody recycles now. The mass of garbage too gooey to shoot out with a missile, the Trio are sent up into space to blow the garbage mass up.

It goes as well as you would expect.

Review (SPOILERS): Much like "My Three Suns" and "Fear of a Bot Planet", "A Big Piece of Garbage" follows Futurama's trend of ripping on cliche science-fiction plots- what if a meteor were to begin falling to Earth?

Replace meteor with garbage mass, and you get the answer.

This subtle twist allows Futurama to not only send-up a B-plot, but also send up many "environmental" shows and films produced during the 90s... up to and including Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Review: Season 1, Episode 7: "My Three Suns"

Airdate: May 4th, 1999

What, Fry usurp the Emperor? You may very well think that. He couldn't possibly comment.

Synopsis: Leela and Fry's professional relationship is rapidly approaching a boil- Fry gets himself in stupid situation after stupid situation (such as replacing his lungs with gills), and Leela has to bail him out. This comes to a head during a delivery to the planet Trisol 9, where Fry, dehydrated from Bender's cooking ("The sodium level was 10% less than a lethal dose!"), grabs a drink of nice, refreshing emperor.

Literally.

He drinks the emperor of Trisol 9. And, under Trisolian tradition, he is immediately crowned as the new emperor. A frustrated Leela points to the rapid succession rate of the emperors (the average reign lasting a week), but Fry dismisses her advice, essentially telling her to buzz off. All seems to be up for Fry... until the setting of the three suns.

Review: Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation might remember the episode "Reunion". In that episode, Picard winds up at the center of a succession scandal in the Klingon Empire- the chancellor was assassinated, and he has to preside over the struggle of power, as well as the swearing-in of the new chancellor. Science fiction TV shows often showcase a series of assassinations in order to obtain power.

So, what if this alien species consisted of a liquid? Assassination should be easy! And it is- you just need somebody unfamiliar with the species, make him/her thirsty, and sweet ascension is theirs for the taking. (Oh, thank god House of Cards wasn't sci-fi!)

"My Three Suns" continues on Futurama's world-building abilities first established in "Fear of a Bot Planet". In less than 15 minutes, we're introduced to a world, examine it's political system, it's beliefs, it's weaknesses. We'll probably never see Trisol 9 again, but it's as well-established (if not more so) than many Star Trek one-off planets.

However, that's not the heart of the story. That belongs to the relationship between Fry and Leela.

Review: "A Fishful of Dollars" (Season 1, Episode 6)

Mmmm... oil. The good-ol American gold!

Airdate: April 27, 1999

Synopsis: A trip to a local department store manages to send Bender to prison. After failing to post the $80 bail ("I'd love to chip in, but Bender stole my wallet"), Fry goes to his old bank, Big Apple Bank, to get the $.93 out from his account. With interest, the account has gained some money... $4.3B worth, in fact. While initially being generous with his money, Fry eventually takes to buying stupid things, eventually regressing to his 1999 lifestyle, low-def TV and all.

Bizarrely, one thing that Fry buys at auction is what is thought to be the last can of anchovies ever. (Thanks a bunch, Decapodians!) This catches the eye of Mom, a capitalist who made her billions in the robot oil industry. Behind the public image of a sweet old lady is a callous robber baron who wants to buy the anchovies to protect her industry.

Review: Since I started my last review with a mention of Star Trek, might as well start this review with a mention of Star Trek, as well.

One of the greater disappointments in the Trek fandom was the TV series, Voyager. It was thought that Voyager would revolve around forming new alliances, developing characters with sketchy backgrounds, and the tensions between the Federation and the Marquis, both of whom were merged onto the Voyager spaceship. However, come the middle of the second season, Voyager largely abandoned this premise with little warning of buildup, and turned more into a TNG-style series- episodes of the week featuring Voyager coming across a problem, solving it, and going on their merry way. Not saying that Voyager was bad- it just ignored it's premise.

Thing is, shows evolve over time- you just have to build up the transition, and not just let the original premise go to the wayside until the last two episodes. Thus, we have the greatest difference between Voyager and Futurama- the latter managed to ease it's way out of the initial premise.

Review: "I, Roommate" (Season 1, Episode 3)

Hey, by NYC standards, that's practically a mansion!

Airdate: April 6th, 1999

Synopsis: After living at Planet Express for the past few weeks, the crew tire of Fry's living accommodations, and literally move him out. Fry contemplates moving in with Bender, but Bender's apartment is a tad bit cozy (read, it's two cubic meters). The two go apartment hunting, but their house hunt turns up problems with every place (underwater, postmodern, and worst of all, technically in New Jersey). They eventually do get lucky- Farnsworth's friend has suffered an accident ("To shreds, you say?"), and Bender and Fry get a rent-free apartment. Unfortunately, there's a problem with the TV and Bender's antenna...

Review: We have a far more domestic episode here. We can thank the nutjobs at FOX HQ for that. Confused by the "out-there" sci-fi content (because FOX is known for their quality upmarket programming, like Dads and Allen Gregory), they wanted a more domestic script. Their reaction to this episode? "Worst episode ever." Groening and Cohen rebelled, and decided to do the show their way. Tellingly, this was the first episode to not follow The Simpsons in the schedule- moving to a Tuesday slot instead of Sunday- and was the first sign that FOX had no love for the show.

Was FOX correct in declaring it the "worst episode ever"? Far from it. Still, compared to the past two episodes, this episode is slightly weaker... possibly due to it's domestic plot.

This episode shows Fry finally "settled" into the year 3000- he really doesn't seem like he ever was from the year 2000, in the first place. It's also a glimpse at a problem that Fry seems to have- he's a bit short-sighted, and like everybody else, can be quite insensitive. None of it is intentionally callous- he's just a typical teenager trapped in the body of a 25-year old, a pure Gen-Xer. It certainly takes a while for him to realize his own insensitivity, and he decides to sacrifice his happiness for his friends happiness.

Speaking of which, this is the first episode to centre on Bender. Remember in "Space Pilot 3000", where Bender claimed that he didn't need to drink? That was a lie- robots in Futurama drink to power themselves. (Boring PSA time: you are not robots. Don't drink unless you are a responsible adult of legal age. Not doing so is a stupid idea.) At the same time, we learn that Fry was really the first person to genuinely befriend Bender. Once Fry seems to slight this relationship, Bender loses his sanity, going to insane lengths to preserve their friendship. Unfortunately, the climax of Bender's insanity was predictable.

Still, before you think that Bender's going to be made up of genuine pathos, we get hints of Bender's misanthropy during his dreams. "Kill all humans." Brilliant.

It's probably not the most memorable episode. The plot is somewhat "domestic", the problems with the antenna are a bit off, and the ending, funny as it is, just seems like it's there to provide a quick resolution. Still, even the best shows need a "light" episode, and this one is certainly alright.

Tidbits:

• The apartment hunt is hysterical. Fry, Bender, and Leela's hunt takes them underwater to a leaking apartment, to an apartment that's an outright send-up to the Escher painting Relativity, culminating in what seems to be the lowpoint of their search... an apartment in New Jersey.
• Fry and Bender literally being moved out of Planet Express is also hysterical. What seals it is Hermes telling Fry that they're sending the couch bill to him. Interestingly, due to an animation error, Hermes doesn't move his lips at all while saying this line.
• Bender's apartment number, translated from binary? $.
• All My Circuts is a brilliant send-up of soap operas- the insanity of the plots, the hammy acting, the cheesy dialogue.

Favorite Scene: Let me repeat- the apartment hunt is hysterical.

Least Favorite Scene: Again, the climax of Bender's descent eventually got boring.

Memorable Quote: Two, one practically after the other.

"Did he at least die painlessly? To shreds, you say... well, how's his wife holding up? To shreds, you say?" -Farnsworth, upon hearing that his friend has died.

Also- "Was his apartment rent controlled?"- Leela, upon hearing the news. Competent she may be, but it makes her comment on Fry's insensitivity a bit ironic. Not that it makes her unsympathetic, but it is a hint at future flaws that might show in her character.

Score: 7.5.