Review: "The Route of All Evil" (Season 3, Episode 12)

"We're practically old enough to find the FOX Network infantile."- Dwight. That's pretty much his character.

Airdate: December 8th, 2002. (I hate you, Rupert Murdoch.)
Written By: Dan Vebber.
Plot: Cubert and Dwight (Hermes's son) are suspended from school for attacking a bully. Acting like idiots at Planet Express, Farnsworth and Hermes tell the kids to get a job. They start their own paper delivery company, Awesome Express, and quickly manage to get enough cold hard cash to buy out Planet Express.

Meanwhile, Bender, Fry, and Leela decide to make their own drinks. Ergo, Bender becomes pregnant.

Review:

OK, short one - this episode is probably among the most forgotten of Seasons 1-4. It focuses on uninteresting secondary/tertiary characters, features a mundane plot, and an equally weightless B-plot.

Cubert made his first appearance in "A Clone of His Own". That episode, though, focused less on Cubert himself and more on his impact on Farnsworth - his regrets, his age, his desire to be remembered in the vast confines of life. Really, the kid didn't get too much development. Kinda hard to focus an episode on him. But, hey, he teams up with Hermes' son! So, that must provide for a lot of comic potential, eh?

Honestly, though, I didn't feel like they were very different characters. All they are are just two silly idiots who, through sheer luck (read, child-like incompetence), manage to buy Farnsworth's business. Granted, reality (sort of) does come back to bite the kids in the end when their business plan fails, showing just how immature they are compared to what they think they are. Even then, though, I can't invest myself in either of these characters. Few funny jokes or insightful lines go through them, and thus, the plot loses its weight.

Some sort of strength in the A-plot comes through the fact that Farnsworth and Hermes are not great businessmen themselves - to the point where I wonder if Farnsworth actually meant to declare himself dead as a tax dodge. ("You take one nap in a ditch in the park, and they start declaring you this and that!") Even then, though, there's little to get invested in the plot over. Again, they provide some funny lines (better than Cubert and Dwight, at least), but only a few funny lines. Other episodes handle their characters and this situation better, even as smaller lines.

I guess their childish jealousy of their sons would be interesting, but since their sons are boring characters, the conflict doesn't carry any weight. The funnest part involved them trying to clean up their son's mess - one that doesn't end well.

If there is a major lift for this episode, it's in the B-plot. Bender, Fry, and Leela decide to ferment beer, and it turns into a quasi-pregnancy subplot. Yeah, it's not necessarily an insightful or brilliant plot, but I liked it for what it is - a cute, funny example of the trio being goofballs. If anything, it does showcase just how far the trio's friendship has gotten over the past two and a half seasons.

Otherwise... not too much to say about this one. It feels like they slapped this one together during lunch when they realized they had a space to fill in the seasonal schedule. As this incredibly brief review might indicate, it shows. Far from the worst, but I'll only watch it if I'm bored.

Who knows - maybe I'll go back to this one in the future and re-review it, but I dunno. Let's just get this review out and over with already.

Tidbits:

Meh.

Wrap-Up:

Favorite Scene: I guess the look of sheer "what have we done" on Cubert and Dwight's face once Leela realizes just how badly they botched their business.

Best Character: Uh... Bender. By default.

Memorable Quote: This exchange, once Farnsworth and Hermes announce that the trio will have to take massive pay cuts:

Leela: Uh, I don't know how to put this, so I'll have Fry thoughtlessly blurt it out.

Fry: We don't work for you anymore!

Score: 4.5 Boring. I'll admit, I spent two months too disinterested in this episode (and more interested in Red Dwarf XI) to write a review on this tripe. Next episode, please.