|
|
Post by partcynic on Jul 28, 2012 13:26:42 GMT -5
Like you, I thought that this was one of the most interesting parts of the episode (in concept, if not execution). Seeing what a surface-level treatment it got, it made me wonder how often "Futurama"'s focus on comedy has ended up softening treatments of complex and potentially dark story ideas. From the script: MOM
...And just once, before I die, I'd
like to be Supreme Overlord of Earth.
So rebel, my little ones, and conquer
the planet! Though she admittedly later says that the rebellion is more about her anger at Mother's Day, due to her memories of Professor Farnsworth. Nope - this was the first and only time. Her bitterness just got the better of her. Agreed to all. Yes! I found this the most annoying thing, and another example of the 'Bender is special' theme the writers keep insisting on. I think they would have gotten better insight and better humour if they'd pointed out how a controlled Bender being forced to do evil was almost no different to Bender acting of his own free will. |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Aug 11, 2012 16:06:36 GMT -5
The Problem With Popplers
Meh, this is probably one of the worst s2 episodes for me.
The jokes were more miss than hit, and the main story's message of 'it's wrong to eat something if it's sentient' seems obvious and stupid. And I didn't much care for the portrail of vegetarians as hippie wackos, who are as much of an extreme as a corporate jerk who would eat humans if they didn't taste lousy.
Even though I personally agree with leela's 'middle' opinion that it's ok to eat meat, I still felt the treatment of vegetarians in this ep was unfair.
Things I liked-
- I loved a lot of small things, like the reveal of turanga and philip's names, or leela crashing into the billboard like in the opening, or how the young omicronian talks a lot like lrrr ('now then...'). And the gang about to eat a dolphin at the end was funny. Toss me the speech center of the brain!
- I liked how leela addicted to the popplers just like everyone else. Any story that protrays leela as less than perfect, and not as someone who can do no wrong, gets a plus point from me.
- The main story about whether or not eating certain things is wrong turns into a totally different story once zapp and the omicronains show up. Which is probably for the best, and zapp and the omicronians are usually guaranteed to bring some laughs.
Fav line-
Omicronian woman- "Would you like some human with your salt?"
Other problems with the problem with popplers-
- Why would the omicronians leave their young unguarded and on another planet?
- So with millions of popplers being sold, only one of them ever survived long enough to grow into a baby omicronian? ...how could people not realise what they were eating? It has a face, and bones they'd need to spit out.
- Humans ate millions of omicronian babies. I don't see how the omicronians can be talked into thinking eating just one human would make up for that. Especially if it's zapp brannigan who did the talking.
- I didn't care for the scene where lrrr shot waiter before he was about to eat leela. Their was such a big deal made about how a human was about to be killed and eaten, yet another human was killed first and no one cared. ...Though I do kinda like how no one cared that the hippie was eaten.
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Aug 19, 2012 13:19:50 GMT -5
2x15 The Problem With Popplers
An enjoyable parable-type ep. Little in it rises above 'fine', but the plot moves at a good clip and the jokes are decent.
Likes
- The basic story/conflict was workable. The narrative wasn't used to say anything meaningful (despite the blatant parallels to the present), but it was paced well and gave many of the characters something to do.
- There's lots of movement and lots of humour. I especially liked Leela flying through the billboard, the Turanga/Phillip gag, and the execution having corporate sponsorship.
- Leela's arc was nice. It was good to see her mess up and then try to do the right thing, and it was cute when the infant acknowledged it and defended/saved her at the end.
- The stuff from the Omicronians, Zapp and Kif was excellent, as always.
- Fishy Joe works as a one-ep sleazebag. Nothing new, but he lived up to his unpleasant name.
Dislikes:
- The Omicronians leave no real guardians for their helpless young? Yes, they have a 'Nanny-cam', but that's not protection.
- I don't really think that the 31st century would still be having the same old debates about eating animals. It might have been more interesting to show how "Futurama"'s society had dealt with that past conflict, instead of just taking the debate as it is today and setting it in the future. For example, could future food technology have eliminated the need for meat from animals altogether? If "Futurama"'s society is ecologically minded enough to have the extensive recycling we saw in "A Big Piece of Garbage", I think they'd have sorted this environmental issue out too.
- When the vegetarian crowd gathered outside Planet Express and claimed that Popplers were intelligent, had they already come across a speaking one? If so, wouldn't they have brought it with them as proof of their claims, and shouldn't it have appeared at some point during the episode?
- More broadly, it's very odd that only one Poppler matured into an Omicronian infant. Even if none of the first few shipments lived long enough for that to happen, some of the later batches should/would have.
- Something smarter should have been done with PETA clones. They didn't feel like 31st century characters, instead being 20th century stereotypes warped to the show's timeframe. It would also have been good if they'd presented a point that added to the episode's conflict, instead of just being predictable hippies. Sure, some vegetarians are preachy and obnoxious, but plenty are armed with legitimate arguments.
- Why would the Omicronians bargain down to just eating Leela? There has to be a reason why they wouldn't simply kill all the humans in retaliation for their lost young. After all, we're talking about beings who threatened Earth with apocalypse in order to finish watching a TV show - why would they care if their actions eliminated an entire race?
***
I'm sure there's more I could put here, but that will do for now. This one's fun - you just can't think about it too deeply.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Aug 23, 2012 17:17:03 GMT -5
Sorrry I haven't posted much, I've been having computer problems. - I don't really think that the 31st century would still be having the same old debates about eating animals. It might have been more interesting to show how "Futurama" 's society had dealt with that past conflict, instead of just taking the debate as it is today and setting it in the future. For example, could future food technology have eliminated the need for meat from animals altogether? If "Futurama"'s society is ecologically minded enough to have the extensive recycling we saw in "A Big Piece of Garbage", I think they'd have sorted this environmental issue out too. - Something smarter should have been done with PETA clones. They didn't feel like 31st century characters, instead being 20th century stereotypes warped to the show's timeframe. It would also have been good if they'd presented a point that added to the episode's conflict, instead of just being predictable hippies. Sure, some vegetarians are preachy and obnoxious, but plenty are armed with legitimate arguments. That's one of the issues I have with futurama (and a lot of other sci-fi), they sometimes have no concept of how much time has passed. A thousand years is an enormous amount of time for a society. It's understandable that they'd want to keep many things the same as today if they're trying to make an accessible comedy (and they make a theme out of 'nothing ever changes'), but there are times when it stands out as not making any sense for no change to have occured in such a large amount of time. ... Still it could be worse. If the revived doctor who is to be beleived, beyond building spaceships humanity will make no changes whatsoever in the next few *billion* years. - When the vegetarian crowd gathered outside Planet Express and claimed that Popplers were intelligent, had they already come across a speaking one? If so, wouldn't they have brought it with them as proof of their claims, and shouldn't it have appeared at some point during the episode? Perhaps they hadn't actually found a speaking one, they just thought it was speaking. ... dude, why are my hands so huge? They can touch anything but themselves! ;D - More broadly, it's very odd that only one Poppler matured into an Omicronian infant. Even if none of the first few shipments lived long enough for that to happen, some of the later batches should/would have. You'd think that after the talking poppler appeared on tv, that people would stop eating them. Fishy joes must be teeming with unsold, talking popplers. - Why would the Omicronians bargain down to just eating Leela? There has to be a reason why they wouldn't simply kill all the humans in retaliation for their lost young. After all, we're talking about beings who threatened Earth with apocalypse in order to finish watching a TV show - why would they care if their actions eliminated an entire race? I'd love to know what zapp could have said to them to convince them to just eat one person. |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Aug 25, 2012 13:02:54 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that. No worries, though - it's not like I've been around much lately myself.
Agreed, though the joke ratio was fine for me. What makes the theme of this ep even sillier is that if Leela's dialogue in the Slurm Factory ep is to be believed, they already drink people (Soylent Cola).
Yes!
I agree with all of these. I'm actually beginning to wonder if it's worth critically watching "Futurama" now - it can't withstand the heat as well as "Buffy" and "Angel" do.
Definitely. Though I still haven't seen the human-robot marriage episode, that one seems like they tried to recreate a present-day conflict in a way that would matter in the future (even if the metaphor fails and is kind of offensive).
Ha! My reasoning for all of their behaviour will now be 'they were intoxicated'.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Aug 28, 2012 16:05:19 GMT -5
I agree with all of these. I'm actually beginning to wonder if it's worth critically watching "Futurama" now - it can't withstand the heat as well as "Buffy" and "Angel" do. But it's fun! All shows have their mix of good and bad eps, sure as a comedy futurama can make 'mistakes' for the sake of a joke (plot holes, taking someone out of character), but I see no reason not to hold it up to scrutiny. I'd say the good outweighs the bad, most of the flaws in the show are, if anything, more easy to overlook than the ones on buffy or angel. Definitely. Though I still haven't seen the human-robot marriage episode, that one seems like they tried to recreate a present-day conflict in a way that would matter in the future (even if the metaphor fails and is kind of offensive). I haven't watched that ep since soon after it first aired so I don't remember it especially well, but I do remember that I didn't hate the episode, though I didn't think it was great either. |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Aug 30, 2012 11:33:43 GMT -5
True - the good does outweigh the bad. By the way, I had a bit of free time and have now watched and reviewed the last few eps of S2, so I'll be able to respond much more quickly in future. I won't post them immediately (they still need proofing and tidying), but they're waiting in the wings.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 10, 2012 13:01:05 GMT -5
Anthology of interestThis episode was clearly inspired by the simpson's treehouse of horror episodes, only instead of a horror theme, it's a 'what if' theme. The concept is interesting, as it gives the show a chance to go further than it normally would, and I like the two AoI episodes better than the later 3-parters, like the holiday spectacular. However, even though I found the three stories interesting, I didn't find them especially funny. Plus points-- The giant bender vs giant zoidberg story was fine, though the outcome was a bit obvious. - I'm not normally a fan of bringing celebrities onto a show, but I liked that they brought together people like al gore, nichelle nichols and steven hawking, who rarely appear on tv and certainly wouldn't appear with each other in any other circumstance. It's crazy watching them interact with each other, and it's especially cool that they have the then vice prisident on the show. Unfortunately you do have to turn your brain off for the story to make sense (there's no good reason for these characters to get together and do the things they are doing), but it's worth it for the crazyness alone. And it's cool to even attempt this kind of 'back to the pilot' story. - The warparound segments involving the professor's finglonger were amusing. - We get some nice insight into leela during her segment. She want's to kill her co-workers, and sleep with fry. Interesting.  You'd think with how angry and violent she usually is, that she'd already be an impulsive person. Knowing that she's holding back gives her a bit of depth, and it made this segment my favourite of the three. Favourite line-What are you hacking off? Is it my torso? It is! My precious torso! Favourite visual joke- Giant bender and zoidberg fighting each other using humans as ammo, and using a train as a weapon. Minus points-- The scale of the giant bender storyline is all wrong. When bender was dying with the empire state building in his chest, it looked far too small, it was especially noticable when fry was standing near it. - When fry in the cryochamber sees the rest of the gang in a weird glowing bubble thing... that made no sense! Why would bender, leela and the professor even meet without fry bringing them together (in the pilot)? And what was that glowing thing anyway? I think it was the commentary that 'explained' it as a rip in time, a paradox brought on because fry *has* to go to the future to become his own grandfather at some point, but that still doesn't explain why they were all just standing there, other that being a cheap way to force other characters into the plot. - Amy thinks a car, clearly made out of bender's corpse, is hip and sexy? - At the end of fry's story, when everyone is 'outside the universe' and trapped there forever, I can't help but think I've seen that kind of ending already on another cartoon, but I can't remember where. - Nitpick for later on- if leela wants to have sex with fry this early in the show's run, why do we have to wait so long for them to become a couple?
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Sept 11, 2012 12:43:37 GMT -5
2x16 Anthology of Interest I
An entertaining ep whose "Treehouse of Horror" structure makes it a fresh entry for both the season and the show. As far as development-free offerings go, this one's certainly up there, and its proceedings being fantasy meant that some of its silliness can be taken for enjoyment rather than critiqued.
Likes:
- The ep has a cool structure. It's not new for TV, but new enough for "Futurama". I also liked the cute twist at the end, with the whole thing having been a glimpse of the future for the Professor.
- The Finglonger. It was ridiculous enough to work.
- Giant Bender was funny. I liked the hide and seek sequence, and (of course) killing Hanson. The send-up of 'gentle stranger'/alien invasion movies worked, with the reveal that Bender really had come to kill everyone being a good one. Giant Zoidberg and the battle were also amusing. As an aside, is this is ep that formally establishes Zoidberg's interest in stand-up comedy?
- Murderous Leela was lots of fun, with yet more cool stuff from Zoidberg. Loved the idea of level-headed (but with violent tendencies) Leela being a likely candidate for that kind of behaviour. The over-the-top death sequences were great fun, and I dug the late-night parlour meeting (the lights going off and the sword with the bizarrely placed bodies.) I also enjoyed Fry/Leela and the gag at the end ("I REALLY like it!")
- There were some decent bits of humour in the third story. Nice cameos from Al Gore, Nichelle Nichols and Stephen Hawking.
Dislikes
- None of this ep actually means anything.
- Leela shouldn't have been with Planet Express in the first and third stories. It was her encountering Fry/Bender and the career chip business that led to her joining Planet Express. If that didn't happen, then she should still be in her career assignment post.
- The skyscraper impaling giant Bender in act one made no sense - he should have crushed it.
- The third act was humour-deficient. A few funny lines, but it relied too much on Simpsons-style guest stars playing themselves.
- There was a missed opportunity in story three - it would have been so great if we'd gotten a hint of Nibbler's presence at the cryogenics office.
***
Overall: not an ep with any depth, but entertaining enough to make me glad the writers opted to reprise its style later on. I also found it very telling as to later seasons' quality that in this ep, gore and dismemberment were included in the context of a deliberately over-the-top non-canon story, but later on, it will be happening in most eps as a normal occurence. Hmm.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 16, 2012 16:04:31 GMT -5
As far as development-free offerings go, this one's certainly up there, and its proceedings being fantasy meant that some of its silliness can be taken for enjoyment rather than critiqued. - None of this ep actually means anything. Hmm, I thought the leela segment revealed a little about her, so I wouldn't say this ep was without meaning. So long as characters stay in character, I see no reason why a 'what if' story can't be used to provide insight... though fry in the third segment didn't reveal anything new about him, and we didn't get much insight from giant bender who was essentially a new original character (though I did find a murderous, rampaging zoidberg interesting). As an aside, is this is ep that formally establishes Zoidberg's interest in stand-up comedy? There was a mention in 'clone of my own' when zoidberg made a failed joke at the professors' birthday roast, that it was 'Showtime at the Apollo all over again'. And now he's taking his revenge. - Murderous Leela was lots of fun, with yet more cool stuff from Zoidberg. Loved the idea of level-headed (but with violent tendencies) Leela being a likely candidate for that kind of behaviour. The over-the-top death sequences were great fun, and I dug the late-night parlour meeting (the lights going off and the sword with the bizarrely placed bodies.) I also enjoyed Fry/Leela and the gag at the end ("I REALLY like it!") All good stuff. - Leela shouldn't have been with Planet Express in the first and third stories. It was her encountering Fry/Bender and the career chip business that led to her joining Planet Express. If that didn't happen, then she should still be in her career assignment post. I'm not sure whether or not fry in the 'giant bender' story was part of planet express or not. He wasn't seen with the rest of the crew, but then again the events of the pilot would probably have ended up the same even if bender hadn't been there- fry and leela still would have joined planet express. So maybe fry was having a day off, complaining he was lonely because he didn't have a close friend, and leela was at work as usual? But then again, leela in part three shouldn't have been there at all, so maybe we're just meant to turn our brains off and treat it as just a story with no real reference to actual events? - The third act was humour-deficient. A few funny lines, but it relied too much on Simpsons-style guest stars playing themselves. Agreed, but like I said, I liked it anyway because of the craziness of the set-up, even if it wasn't especially funny. - There was a missed opportunity in story three - it would have been so great if we'd gotten a hint of Nibbler's presence at the cryogenics office. That was on purpose I think- the lack of nibbler was the reason why fry didn't go to the future- nibbler was needed to push fry into the chamber (according to 'the why of fry'). I also found it very telling as to later seasons' quality that in this ep, gore and dismemberment were included in the context of a deliberately over-the-top non-canon story, but later on, it will be happening in most eps as a normal occurence. Hmm. ^ I love how that statement makes sense whether it refers to gore in the sense of blood and guts, or as a reference to al gore.  |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Sept 22, 2012 15:26:29 GMT -5
I was pretty mixed on that. I agree that it was neat to see those celebrities interacting, but I was put off by the "Simpson"-y smell of gratuitous cameos. This is also my favourite part of the episode, but I don't know if I would say it has any particular insight - Leela killed first because the opportunity presented itself (and because she had plenty to gain from doing so), and then to stop the secret getting out. Even with Fry, I don't know if it's a hint as to her feelings, but more a case of him being dumb enough to be kept quiet with sex, and his being the best/only viable male to try that approach on (I can't see her doing it with Hermes or Scruffy!) If what we were shown here was intended to be read more deeply, it would have been good for us to get more on it in subsequent eps - it should certainly have emerged during "Parasites Lost", but that one makes it clear that Leela's feelings are because of the change in Fry, and not just the expression of a pre-existing interest in him. Yep - that whole thing makes my head hurt. Best not to think about it. Yep again. That was a stupid line - Amy would never find something that resembles a motorised scooter (let alone one clearly made from Bender) hip or sexy. They could have easily had her annoy/provoke Leela in some other way. Ha! |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Oct 7, 2012 11:18:35 GMT -5
If what we were shown here was intended to be read more deeply, it would have been good for us to get more on it in subsequent eps - it should certainly have emerged during "Parasites Lost", but that one makes it clear that Leela's feelings are because of the change in Fry, and not just the expression of a pre-existing interest in him. As leela said in Time keeps on slippin- "Fry is very sweet, but he's so immature. I love his boyish charm but I hate his childishness. " I think she had at least a little attraction to him all along, but there were other factors that put her off him, factors that went away once the parasites made their 'improvements'. Like how he can be inconsiderate of her feelings, but he temporarily became more considerate. I see leela's what-if scenario as a bit like the prophetic dreams in 'restless', we're getting little hints about what's to come. |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Oct 21, 2012 7:58:52 GMT -5
War is the 'H' word
This is the big army parody episode, and I find it one of the better episodes of season 2. Making fun of war and the army leads to many joke possibilities, and having earth being the invading army was a good twist (though it’s a little depressing too, especially since earth won against the innocent ball people).
Things I liked-
-For me this is the last of the classic ‘zapp and kif’ episodes, where they could do no wrong. Having zapp boss the trio around is a little reminiscent of ‘when aliens attack’, but it’s different enough, and leads to many great jokes. I especially loved kif bossing fry around (mix those mixed nuts. I see two almonds touching!), and zapp’s interactions with Nixon were interesting. Zapp’s ‘place’ within the show makes a little more sense now we know that he seems to work directly for the (somewhat corrupt/amoral) president.
-I loved the mash parody. The interactions between iHawk and zoidberg were very reminiscent of hawkeye and frank burns, so much so that it felt like the scene could have been lifted right out of mash. Well aside from zoidberg trying to kill iHawk anyway. And as a bonus, they had one of the original mash actors, the voice of the announcer, to voice the announcer in this episode.
-I liked the subplot where zapp mistaked leela for a man, and yet still fell for her anyway. It was an interesting way to have leela appear, and it would have been boring had she been her usual ‘heroic/I can do no wrong’ self.
-The society of balls seems to make no sense, but I love when the show depicts an alien species as being truly alien, and exhibiting customs totally unlike those on earth (and their mere existence is a dirty joke too).
-Bender’s list of most-often used words was interesting, if not entirely accurate. I wonder how often he say’s daffodil when off-screen?
Favourite line-
Zapp- “We know nothing about their language, their history or what they look like. But we can assume this: They stand for everything we don't stand for. Also, they told me you guys look like dorks!”
Nitpicks (even nitpickier than usual!)-
-There are no women allowed in the army? Would zapp really have that kind of authority, to halve the size of the earth army just because he found women distracting? (to confuse matters, later episodes show there are women serving on his ship, just not in the army.) And why is it zapp and kif continue to wear ship’s uniforms when the rest of the troops are in more typical army clothes?
-Fry and bender are fired for joining the army... seems a bit harsh, and had no repercussions.
-I found it odd that tress macneille was asked to voice the clerk in the shop. I understand hiring an adult woman to voice little boys, but why have a woman voice an adult man?
-A word-activated bomb? Why would zapp give bender a bomb that could go off in zapp’s face, or never go off at all? I guess there’s no point complaining about how the ‘everyone dies’ ending makes no sense, though I do think they should have saved a joke like that for an ‘anthology of interest’ episode.
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Oct 22, 2012 17:42:16 GMT -5
2x17 "War is the H-Word"
A really fun episode. The plot's somewhat standard and generic, but the humour and character interactions elevate it far above what it could have been.
Likes
- Zapp Brannigan (duh). Every single line he had was funny. There was no progression beyond his standard tropes, but who cares when the comedy is so good? I was amused his consistently cavalier attitude to the war and his soldiers; his horse being called Felicity; and his responses to 'Lee Lemon'. And who can forget sexlexia?
- The character arc for Fry is decent, with a nice change from early cowardice to doing the right thing at the end. And though we were only blessed with three brief moments of it, his role as Kif's assistant was hilarious ("I see two almonds touching!").
- It wasn't plausible that Leela would be able to conceal her identity for so long, but that's fine when considering that Lee's identity was hardly a mystery. The concept worked nicely knowing that women have disguised themselves as men in real life to participate in male-dominated insitutions, and the Lee/Zapp stuff was priceless. I also thought Leela's response to hearing about Fry's crush on her was cute.
- Nixon's material is enjoyable. He could be stale and repetitive, but the writers knew how to work the character at this point.
- A few nice minor characters. Nothing great, but a line here and there made a few of the other soldiers feel like people and not fodder.
- The Bender bomb was a decent concept, and a pleasantly nasty - if unwieldy and dangerously unpredictable - move from the leaders. The list of Bender's favourite words was silly, but still funny.
- The Balls were ok. Predictable gags rose from the concept, but I still smiled, and it got some risque stuff past the censors. The incompetent elder council could have been a rewrite of "Fear of a Bot Planet", but the episode just about managed to avoid it.
Dislikes
- Fry and Bender enlist in the army for 5% off forty cents? They're dumb, but that seems like a lot of effort for very little reward. Maybe they could have been after something pricier? In addition, war being declared the instant they joined the army was funny, but an obvious contrivance.
- Why couldn't the war have had a real purpose? It would have made things more tense and interesting, and emphasised the nastier sides of Brannigan and Nixon (the Bender-bomb was a good start, but it would have been neat if they'd driven the Balls away for a proper goal).
- Zoidberg's M*A*S*H bit was great, but came at the cost of consistent characterisation.
- The ending was weak. If that bomb could destroy the Ball homeworld, it would be able to do real damage to (or completely destroy) Earth. Its detonation shouldn't have been a triviality, and it ended a strong ep on braindead Mike Scully "Simpsons" zaniness.
***
So, another fun and rewarding episode, and I'm continuing to enjoy the rewatch/review process. Even when it's not brilliant, S2 almost never disappoints.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Oct 26, 2012 14:26:46 GMT -5
- Why couldn't the war have had a real purpose? It would have made things more tense and interesting, and emphasised the nastier sides of Brannigan and Nixon (the Bender-bomb was a good start, but it would have been neat if they'd driven the Balls away for a proper goal). I found the plot nasty enough already, with humans defeating innocent 'people' and kicking them off their own planet. I'd rather not have the episode be any darker then that. - The ending was weak. If that bomb could destroy the Ball homeworld, it would be able to do real damage to (or completely destroy) Earth. Its detonation shouldn't have been a triviality, and it ended a strong ep on braindead Mike Scully "Simpsons" zaniness. It fades to black so we can't see that it makes no sense! ... I wonder, would bender still have been bender if he threw his body away (thrown into space maybe) and got a new one, to get rid of the bomb? |
|
You'd think with how angry and violent she usually is, that she'd already be an impulsive person. Knowing that she's holding back gives her a bit of depth, and it made this segment my favourite of the three.