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: "Where the Buggalo Roam" (Season 3, Episode 10)

Kif: "I'll get your cattle back, or die trying!

Leo: "Hey, we can't lose!" 

Airdate: March 3rd, 2002. (Yeah, at this point, FOX didn't give a damn when the episodes aired.)
Written By: J. Stewart Burns.
Plot: Amy, Kif, and the PlanEx crew take a trip to the western-esque Wong Ranch on Mars. The owners, Leo and Inez, callously suggest that Amy dump Kif for a macho cowboy, as well as bragging about buying the land from the native Martians. During the barbeque, a dust storm comes over and takes the Wong's main source of income - the buggalo.

Review:

Turning a minor joke into a recurring plot thread has become a characteristic of sci-fi comedy/dramas. For example, Amy's parents chucking Kif with Amy at the end of "A Flight to Remember". Last time we left Kif, he finally got the guts to confess his love to Amy - this being spurred on by a combination of Zapp's embarrassment, as well as learning that he was going to be raped to death by Amazonians. (No other way to put it.)

"Where the Buggalo Roam" follows up on that. From a tribal planet in "Amazon Women in the Mood", we now go to a pastiche of the wild, wild west.

On Mars.

Consider Myself On Unpaid Vacation

As a pre-emptive measure, I'm announcing that due to a combination of schoolwork, the upcoming return of Red Dwarf, and a general desire to slim down my life a little bit, this blog might not be updated again until late October - maybe even November.

While I might be able to get the review of "Where the Buggalo Roam" out during that time, I'm just informing you as to why there might not be any updates to Blog of Wonton Burrito Meals.

My other blog, The Review Nebula, will still have regular updates. Even then, I've decided that the blog will solely review Red Dwarf XI once the series becomes available in the US. This is, again, an attempt to streamline my life a bit more.

See you in a month or two, meatbags.

Review: "The Cyber House Rules" (Season 3, Episode 9)

 

"You're better than normal. You're abnormal! If you ask me, you shouldn't care about what other people think!" "You're right. I'll start by not caring what you think!" - Fry and Leela, defying the Star Trek dynamic of "captain going to first officer for advice."

Airdate: April 1st, 2001

Written By: Lewis Morton

Plot: The Orphanarium is having a reunion of a class of it's former... orphans. Leela, having had a less than pleasant experience there, but goes - Fry encourages her to rub her success in. It doesn't work too well. There, however, she encounters Dr. Adlai Atkins, a plastic surgeon who offers to give her a prosthetic eye. Despite Fry's objections, Leela agrees to the surgery, and strikes up a romance with the doctor.

Meanwhile, Bender finds out from the operator of the Orphanarium that the government offers $100 a month for every orphan adopted. Bender decides to clear house to make a solid $1200 a month. Unfortunately, he has to actually raise the children, which is a fairly costly measure.

Review: 

You ever go into something thinking that it is going to be a bunch of subpar, mediocre, or downright bad, then you watch it, and it's actually pretty good? Well, that's pretty much my thought process when I began to review "The Cyber House Rules". It's not an episode I watch that often, so I was focusing on the "Be Yourself" trope - a trope that is "tried and true", to put it kindly. What I instead got was a pretty hilarious take on that message, and also an episode that focused on everybody's favorite starship captain...

...Leela.

(Sorry, Zapper.)

Review: "That's Lobstertainment" (Season 3, Episode 8)

"I've only been here a day, and already, I'm a Hollywood phony!" - Zoidberg. Ah, the power of Los Angeles

Airdate: February 25th, 2001

Written By: Patric M. Verrone.

Plot: Booed off of the stage at a comedy club, Zoidberg is depressed. Apparently, his uncle used to be a comic legend back in the days of "silent holofilms". He writes to one Harold Zoid to get some tips for the trade. Unfortunately, Harold Zoid is destitute, a has-been. He promises to help Zoidberg become a centerpiece of drama if Zoidberg can fund his drama project, The Magnificent Three. With that, Bender goes over to Calculon, and in exchange for a small investment, guarantees him an Oscar for his performance.

It goes poorly.

Review:

Well, shortly after watching one of Futurama's best episodes, we get a look at what many consider one of the original run's weakest episodes. Netting a 61% on GotFuturama.com, the only "original" episodes cited as worse are "The Cryonic Woman" (which I've already mentioned I dislike) and "A Leela Of Her Own" (which I'll get to later.) The question here is, does "That Lobstertainment" deserve it's bad reputation? Or is it a diamond in the rough?

Morbotron Debuts, and Suddenly, You Have Time To Waste!

Source is this post's topic of discussion.

"Good news, everyone! Several years ago, I tried to log onto AOL, and it just went through! Yippee!" - Farnsworth, "A Bicyclops Built For Two".

Who knew when Futurama premiered that there would be a website dedicated entirely to Futurama framegrabs?

Well, now, there is one.

From the makers of Simpsons framegrab repository frinkiac.com comes morbotron.com. Available? All seven seasons, including the movies. From the worst of Futurama to the best of Futurama, they have it all. You can even .gif and meme the show, damn it!

(Unfortunately, there's something about the Blogger interface that makes .gifs come off a bit, well, unfinished.)

And for those interested, here are the technical details about it's sister site.

Enjoy, fellow Meatbags!

(Oh, and on an unrelated note, my "That's Lobstertainment" review should be up within the next week or so.)

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: "Bendless Love" (Season 3, Episode 6)

"Oh.... my love... my darling..."

"Ten times normal wage? I'll give those jerks what for!" - Bender, crossing the picket line... before taking the job. Ah, Bender - walks the walk, doesn't talk the talk.

Airdate: February 11th, 2001

Written By: Eric Horsted

Plot: The Planet Express Ship crashes on takeoff. Leela's crash report deduces that the L-Unit was bent. That, plus several other "bent" objects leads suspicion to fall on Bender - which is confirmed by a videotape showing him "sleep-bending". Fired because of his addiction, Bender winds up taking a job bending at a company facing a strike. There, he meets Flexo - his yin body double - and Angleyne, a voluptuous Fembot who Bender takes a shine to, and who might be reciprocating his feelings. Thing is.... Angleyne and Flexo are caught out at dinner together. Bender, therefore, decides to impersonate Flexo, believing that she's truly in love with the bearded bot.

Review:

Bender is well known to the casual viewer (and pretty much everybody else) for his flamboyant lifestyle. He's an egoist, a thief, and a drunkard. It makes perfect sense for him to pick up women on a daily basis - which was seen in "Hell is Other Robots" as the act of rebellion against his religion. Here, though, Bender gets a taste of genuine love - or at least a crush. It's a cute little episode, albeit not close to the show's best.

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.

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.

Review: "Mothers Day" (Season 2, Episode 14)

Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?

Airdate: May 14th, 2000

Synopsis: It's Mother's Day - a day when all robots pay tribute to Mom, the owner of Mom's Friendly Robot Company. Thing is, she's not a fan of the "jerkwad robots", so to speak. In fact, she's just laundering the money they give her, and turning the lavish gifts into a "hocus-pocus" cure for cancer. This year, she commemorates the 70th anniversary of a tragic event by activating the command antenna on every robot, demanding that they conquer earth for her. They proceed to cause anarchy in New New York City.

However, what happened 70 years ago? Thing is, Mom and Professor Hubert Farnsworth once dated. Professional disagreements, though, caused them to separate. Her sons try and convince Farnsworth to get back together with Mom, or at least get the remote to call off the invasion.

Review: Futurama has largely held to it's dystopic view of the future. The antagonists are ruthless, the protagonists aren't too much better... and, in a way, the world's not too different than our world. I've mentioned it before, but it comes in full force here - this time, Futurama uses science fiction themes to communicate and subvert a love story by showing the insanity of both participants.

Review: "Bender Gets Made" (Season 2, Episode 13)

Bender can get out of this for old time's sake. He just doesn't want to.

Airdate: April 30th, 2000

Synopsis: Bender causes Elzar (his idol) to temporarily blind Leela at a live taping of his show. To try and make it up for her, he offers the crew a dinner at the restaurant. However, he stiffs them with a $1200 bill. To try and get closer to Elzar (and avoid jail), Bender agrees to work off the bill. There, he meets up with the regular diners, the Robot Mafia. Impressed with Bender's attempts to cheat him out of his change, the Donbot offers Bender a spot in the mafia. Here's the problem - his first major hit is on the Planet Express ship.

Review: I think it's time I came forward and admitted something about myself... I never saw The Godfather.

Yes, I'm aware of the horse-head-in-bed scene, and all that jazz, but I never really sat down to watch The Godfather. Most I know about the movie is that Abe Vigoda wound up taking a bit part in Good Burger, where he provided the comic relief in the deep plot about shutting down a competitor to the titular establishment. (We'll get to a plot like that in season 3.)

Oh, never saw Goodfellas, neither. Nor The Sopranos. So, as far as "mafia" movies, I'm going into this with a relatively fresh mind when it comes to the cliches and stuff.

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 Clone Of My Own" (Season 2, Episode 10)

Airdate: April 9th, 2000

Congratulations, Wesley Crusher. You are no longer the most hated teen genius in sci-fi history.

Synopsis: Mars University (the college where Fry dropped out of) hosts a surprise 150th Birthday Party for Professor Farnsworth. A recollection of his life makes him realize that he's not long for this world - even if he makes another decade, after that, robots take him away to the Near-Death Star for eternity. Thus, he decides to name a successor - his clone, Cubert Farnsworth, who has been sitting in a tube for a while (thus making him the second of his family to sit in a tube for an extended period of time.) Thing is, Cubert is a bit of a jackass, dismissing every one of the Professor's accomplishments as impossible, and refusing to continue his legacy.

Oh, thing is, the Professor also fibbed a little about his age.

Review: Of al the major Futurama characters, the one I would argue is the most interesting is Professor Hubert Farnsworth. As much of a madman he is, what with his dubious ethics and questionable treatment of his employees (at best), there's also been hints at pathos, that he really has done little with his life. "A Clone of My Own" is the first episode to really dive into Professor Farnswroth's mindset, and the episode reaps the rewards.

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: "Raging Bender" (Season 2, Episode 8)

Sticking somebody in a barrel? Yeah, that'll put some butts in seats!

Airdate: February 27th, 2000.

Synopsis: While at the movies (to escape the possibility of Brain Slug assimilation), Bender manages to infuriate a movie patron to the point where he challenges our lovable rascal to "fistycuffs". Catch is, he's actually "The Masked Unit". Only by luck does Bender defeat him. However, he manages to get noticed by the Commissioner of the Ultimate Robot Fighting League, and is signed up to be a professional wrestler, where he learns all about the tools of the trade... mainly, that matches are fixed according to popularity.

Review: Ah, yes. "Raging Bender". Definitely an interesting episode to analyse, if only for the sociological and entertainment aspects of it. This episode not only takes a look at the media empire that is wrestling and pro-fighting, but also tries to take a look at the power revenge. The results, unfortunately, seem a bit underwhelming.