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: "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.

Review: "Parasites Lost" (Season 3, Episode 2)

Airdate: January 21st, 2001

Synopsis: Fry grabs an old sandwich at a truck stop. After an unrelated work-related accident, Fry's body repairs itself. A colonoscopy reveals that Fry has worms lodged in his intestines. The crew shrink down to miniature size to try and remove the worms from power. Since the worms are linked to Fry's mind, however, they would defend themselves if Fry knew what was happening. Therefore, Leela must "distract" Fry from the mission.

While out on the town, Fry proves himself to be more articulate and verbose than ever before. A newly enamored Leela halts the mission, in order to continue living this fantastic experience with Fry. The experience reaches it's peak when Fry manages to play the Holophonor - an instrument infamous for it's challenge. Yet, who's actually performing these actions - Fry, or the Worms?

Review: While Futurama is plenty well known as a sci-fi parody, what really seems to sell fans on the show is that underneath the sitcom-esque clothes lies one of the best episodic sci-fi shows out there, full with drama and character development. We didn't see too much of that drama in Season 2, however. Therefore, one must present the question - at what point did Futurama go from "sci-fi comedy" to "complex dramedy"?

For most people, the line is crossed in "Parasites Lost".

And in the eyes of some people, it is Futurama's zenith.

Does the same hold true in my eyes?

(Warning: some Star Trek spoilers later in the review.)

Review: "Amazon Women In The Mood" (Season 3, Episode 1)

Airdate: February 4th, 2001.

Synopsis: Kif is unable to ask Amy out on a date, due to his eternal shyness. Zapp takes advantage of this, and manages to wind up on a "double half-date" with Leela, Kif, and Amy at Le Palm D'Orbit, an orbiting restaurant. There, Zapp tries to get Kif to use his boorish pick-up lines, and when Kif finally tries to show his true colors in a song, Zapp blocks it by "singing" his own tune. The restaurant abandoned by all except the four, the captain's attempts to pilot it back home end with them crashed on Amazonia, a matriarchal planet that has effectively eliminated all men.

Fry and Bender attempt to rescue them, and it ends with the crew arrested. After a tour of the planet, they are brought to the Fem-puter, the leader of the planet. There, Fem-Puter is infuriated by the fact that there are men that trespassed on the planet, and sentences them to die.

Review (SPOILERS): As far as I can recall, Season 3 is going to focus quite a bit more on continuity and the development of plot elements introduced in Seasons 1 and 2. Indeed, the season premiere, "Amazon Women In The Mood", fleshes out Kif and Amy, all while serving as a parody of sci-fi pulp, mocking both genders, and analyzing hypocrisy in radical politics. For the most part, the end result is good - although is the episode overrated?

Season 2 Wrap Up

Image found on Wikipedia. I do not own it.

So, that ends Futurama Season 2. When I first started reviewing this season, Stephen Harper and Tony Abbott were Prime Ministers of nations. Boy, how times have changed... and how lazy I was until, January-ish.

Seriously, though, let's analyze this season.

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 Honkng" (Season 2, Episode 18)

Airdate: November 5th, 2000

Synopsis: Bender's recently deceased Uncle Vladimir grants him a haunted castle in his will. In order to obtain it, however, he has to stay there for a night. (Groundbreaking tactic, there.) The spirits of the castle haunt him, though, and he flees into the wilderness, where he comes across a Werecar that runs him over. After returning back to Earth, he begins acting funky. That, and tire tracks are popping out across New New York, in areas where he has been.

Review: Futurama mainly tends to utilize and riff on science fiction tropes, with the past two seasons largely being inspired by Star Trek. However, it doesn't limit itself solely to the sci-fi genre. In this episode, it mixes in elements of horror and the supernatural, and the end result is surprisingly good, if not as brilliant as the past three episodes.

Admittedly, though, much like the last episode, I'm going to be reviewing this more on the character interactions and the comedy - not a horror movie fan. (I do love Gravity Falls, although it's less "horror" and more "supernatural". Take that however you will.)

Review: "War is the H-Word" (Season 2, Episode 17)

Airdate: November 26th, 2000

Synopsis: Fry and Bender enlist in the Army in an attempt to get a discount on gum. There's no mandate for length of servitude unless war is declared. Within seconds of their enlistment... well, take a lucky guess. Leela also enlists to make sure the duo don't kill themselves. Because of the sexist enlistment policy (no women allowed), she goes in drag, as Lee Lemon.

They go to the planet of Spheron 1, a desolate planet with nothing of note. While there, Fry's attempts to save himself result in him becoming Kif's surprisingly abused assistant, Zapp becomes attracted to Lemon, and an injured Bender is jerry rigged in an attempt to end the conflict once and for all.

Review (SPOILERS): "War is the H-Word" is, at the surface, a parody of war movies, such as Saving Private Ryan. However, since I don't really know any "proper" war movies, I'm going to analyze it on another level - being a direct riff on the Star Trek franchise, and the values contained within said franchise. Oh, and review the characters in this episode.

(I am aware that this was a parody of Starship Troopers, but I never saw that film, so I'm reviewing this episode on my own merits.)

Review: "Anthology of Interest I" (Season 2, Episode 16)

 

Airdate: May 21st, 2000

On October 25th, 1990, a TV showed featured two siblings (and their baby sister) gathering in a treehouse to tell the darkest, and yet funniest, tales of terror. The elder brother regaled two stories about a haunted house and an alien invasion. The younger sister recited one of the great horror poems of antebellum America.

Thus, The Simpsons made a mark on animation history. The "three shorts" episodes became more acceptable for adult-targeted animated shows to execute, albeit one restrained to an annual basis. However, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it would be The Simpsons sister show that sealed the deal for this being a trope in the "adult-targeted animation" genre.

The first "Anthology of Interest" (and, by the way, no matter what the name, the three shorts episodes are all getting the "Anthology of Interest" tag) is framed by the Professor's introduction of his device - the "Fing-Long-er". He uses it to turn on the "What-If Machine" - a screen that generates alternate realities. The main trio all get a chance to see their alternate realities.

"Let's watch, shall we..."

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

Review: "The Problem With Popplers" (Season 2, Episode 15)

"I brought my own mic!"

Airdate: May 7th, 2000

Synopsis: The trio wind up on a planet, in search of a food break (welcome to my world). There's no fast food, but tons of another edible life form that looks like fried shrimp. Quickly addicted to it, they call the food "popplers", take them back, and make loads of money off the venture. However, the plan enters a tailspin when it turns out that the Popplers are really the larval stage of Omnicronian development. Yeah... Lrrr is not really pleased with this development.

Review (SPOILERS): In my opinion, there are two types of great Futurama episodes. The first type is the type that stretches the show beyond it's comic exterior to provide a more introspective, dramatic take on it's characters. The second type, a nonstop barrel of laughs, interspersed with well-done character interactions and comedy. This is the latter, and makes this a contender of the best episode of the second season.