(I guess this is my last chance to do one of these for a new "Futurama" episode, so here goes ...)
[Review]
So, Fry gets to complete his holophonor opera despite facing obstacles that would cause a lesser man to quit. Meanwhile, "Futurama" is cancelled despite having nearly everything going for it. How ironic. Or coincidental. Or is it just mean? Eh, I don't know anymore.
I do know this episode posed more of a challenge than the usual season finale, since Fox still hadn't decided at the time whether or not to keep "Futurama" on the schedule. The writers were forced to come up with something open-ended enough to allow the series to continue, yet with a sense of closure in case the show was cancelled. "The Devil's Hands are Idol Playthings" rises to the task, making a fine swan song both for the season and the series itself.
The show is a little slow in getting started, as Fry continues with his holophonor lessons. He isn't much better now than he was in "Parasites Lost (3ACV02)," and jokes along these lines were a little predictable for my tastes. Things take a quick turn for the better when Fry and Bender visit the Robot Devil for a Faustian bargain -- Fry agrees to swap his clumsy hands with those from a randomly- selected robot. Old Robo-Scratch gets the short end of the bargain when the "Wheel of Robots" selects him as the lucky swapping partner. "I just put my name on the wheel as a show of good faith for the other robots," he moans, capping a funny scene.
Most stories about deals with the Devil depict him as a slightly schizophrenic combination of oily-smooth schemer and vulnerable patsy. "The Devil's Hands" does an especially good job of this. On the one hand, the Robot Devil is foolhardy enough to put his name on that wheel of punishment, and later on he's reduced to begging Fry for his old hands back. Yet he can also craft a clever and "ridiculously circuitous" plan to retrieve his old parts. It's an enjoyable portrayal, once again well-acted by Dan Castellaneta.
I also enjoyed the third act, most of which was given over to a holophonor opera about Leela. This was a pretty gutsy move on the part of lead writer Ken Keeler; unless long musical numbers are done *just right,* the whole show screeches to a halt. There's no problem here -- the lyrics are funny and the music is pretty good. The writers also carry out an interesting shift in tone. Fry's foray into opera starts out decently, but the lyrics are (deliberately) ham- fisted and fawning when the subject turns to Leela. Then, when the Devil interrupts, everything kicks into high gear, with the supposedly ad-libbed lyrics turning out to be more dramatically compelling than Fry's "scripted" material. It's good stuff.
And didn't everyone look nice all dressed up? It's as if the cast knew it was going to be their last hurrah.
Oh, well, perhaps "Futurama's" fate isn't as bad as it first appears. I remember another science-fiction show that was neglected by its parent network, put in a bad timeslot, and cancelled prematurely. And you have to admit that "Star Trek" has done all right for itself.
[DYNs]
... Bender's name is right next to the Hookerbot's? How appropriate! ... an awful lot of holophonor oeuvre involves snails? ... Amy noshes on a smaller, daintier leg of whatever Leela was eating?
[References]
Segway "people movers" - Bender and Fry ride to the music teacher's place on these
"F�r Elise" (song) - one of the students plays a holophonor version of this
Donkey Kong (videogame) - courtly lady in holophonor "F�r Elise" jumps over barrels for points, like Mario in the videogame
Rodgers & Hammerstein (musical playwrights) - Benders asks if musicians "Rodger's [Leela's] Hammerstein"
"Twilight Zone" (TV series) - Robot Devil's proposal -- swap hands with a robot Fry doesn't know -- similar to an episode where someone pushes a button to kill someone he doesn't know, in return for a million dollars
[I saw this on the 80's "Twilight Zone" revival, but it may have been a remake of something on the original series]
Angelyne (model) - one of the names on the Robot Devil's wheel of robots
Deep Blue (chess-playing computer) - IBM's supercomputer another name on the wheel
"Battlestar Galactica" (TV series) - "Cylon" yet another name on the wheel
~"The Simpsons" (TV series) - "Lisa" is a name on the wheel -- or was there a robot named "Lisa" on the show at some time?
Carnegie Hall (concert hall) - Fry plays his version of "Bolero" at Hovercar-negie Hall
"Bolero" (song and ballet) - Fry plays a cover version on the holophonor - holographic part of the performance has two "Latin Lover" dancers, like the ballet to the original "Bolero"
International House of Pancakes (restaurant chain) - Fry's opera opens at the "Metropolitan House of Opera" - the two have similar logos
L'Op�ra (Parisian opera house) - MHOP architecture similar
"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (movie) - flying opera boxes similar to the flying Galactic Senate platforms
[Previous Episode References]
[3ACV02] The holophonor seen [1ACV09] Robot Devil has a significant part ... [1ACV09] ... and that snazzy gold fiddle [1ACV09] First appearance of Preacherbot [2ACV06] Flexo [1ACV02] The Crushinator (and Daisy Mae 128K?) [3ACV03] Kwanzaabot [1ACV11] Fatbot [2ACV04], [3ACV03] Santa (the robot) [2ACV18] Exec-utor [1ACV10] iZac [4ACV14] Cartridge Robot [2ACV13] Clamps (and the Donbot, too?) [3ACV15] Liubot [4ACV06] Executive Gamma, (and Stage Mom 7.0?) [2ACV14] Greeting Card robot
[FFF]
Opening screen quote:
SEE YOU ON SOME OTHER CHANNEL
Signs Bender chooses to ignore:
FRY'S ROOM
NO
TRESSPASSING STAY OUT ["No Bender"]
-------- [ symbol ] KEEP OUT
BENDER <- handwritten addition in red ink KEEP OUT
BENDER!Ms. Mellinger's sign:
HOLOPHONOR TEACHER
[holophonor silhouette]
TAKING THE JOY OUT OF
MUSIC FOR 20 YEARSFry's recital book:
MY FIRST
HOLOPHONORRobot Devil's wheel of misfortune:
WHEEL OF ROBOTS
Names on the Robot Devil's Wheel of Robots:
[In order of appearance, going down the columns (i.e., column-
major order] FLEXO CARTRIDGE UNIT
DAISY MAE 128K BARKERBOT
CRUSHINATOR TEENBOT
ROBERTO GEARSHIFT
HELPER Q. T. McWHISKERS
KWANZABOT DEEP BLUE
ROBOT I-X HAWK
CLAMPS CYLON
HEDONISMBOT PATCHCORD ADAMS
FATBOT LIUBOT
LINCTRON STAGE MOM 7.0
DESTRUCTOR SINCLAIR 2K
SANTA VENDING MACHINE
JOE OILY
TINNY TIM COOLOMETER
CHAIN SMOKER ANDREW
ANGELYNE MONIQUE
EXEC-UTOR RAB-BOT
PREACHERBOT LISA
FEMBOT EXECUTIVE GAMMA
HAIR ROBOT KEG ROBOT
UNIT 2013 GREETING CARD
DONBOT EUROTRASH 80
BOXY NANNYBOT 1.0
LULUBELLE 7 EMOTITRON, JR.
HUMORBOT 5.0 CEILING FAN
CALCULON HOOKERBOT
URL BENDER
FOREIGNER ROBOT DEVIL
IZAC [You could probably mine this list for more previous episode
references. I think they have just about every named robot
that has been on the series in there.]Concert hall marquee:
HOVERCAR-NEGIE
---- HALL ----Opera house marquee:
MHOP
GRAND PREMIERE
LEELA: ORPHAN
OF THE STARSmetropolitan house of opera
Scene card from Fry's opera:
SCENE 1
-=O=-
WHEREIN LEELA
IS FOUND AT THE
ORPHANARIUM[Oops!]
The holophonor must have had a marked upswing in popularity; in "Parasites Lost (3ACV02)," Leela mentioned that there was only one guy in the universe who knew how to play.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
I was about to cite as a goof Leela's apparent ability to hear the Robot Devil's proposal to restore her hearing. When I saw the scene for a second time, I reconsidered. The Robot Devil's hand gestures (I guess Fry's hands were good for something, after all) and the general context of the situation did make it possible for Leela to infer what he was saying, if she were really sharp (and had a staff of writers providing her dialogue). Nice work, writers!