No, really, that was really the best Futurama I've ever seen. Hilariously full of those now-trademark Futurama non-sequitors ("He was nice", "Dirt doesn't need luck", "...except for Huey Lewis' Sports"), totally surprising (unless I'm dumb, and if so ignorance is fucking bliss), and legitimately moving.
And Bender as a subway train....New Yorkers unite in laughter. We haven't been this funny since Homer visited back in 97. I am really amazed that this episode was so goddamned great, as the synopsis for it didn't appear all that thrilling. Much like Buffy's recent "The Body", this episode really transcended its genre to do everything it's supposed to do and then even more (I mean, "Noticeably F.A.T."? Amazing.)
Well, I'm sure there's more to be said here, but I'll get into it when provoked.
I agree that the dialogue was incredibly well-written. Just the kind of verbal gags they've made into their trademark, but really pounding them out one on top of the other. They've set a new standard here in that respect. I felt though that the plot was overtold. Whereas last week they had a very action-oriented plot that blasted from one brilliantly conceived scene to another without looking back, this one got so caught up in the storytelling that the events of the story itself began to wear out their welcome. It seemed to follow a lot of the new screenwriter trends of telling parallel stories, flashing back and forward, and sticking in a twist ending. People eat this stuff up, but to me these are marks of stylistic excess. Maybe they work in a novel, but the visual medium demands efficient storytelling. There I like simple stories that are told directly.
To be more specific about what didn't completely work for me, it's that Fry's whole emotional arc is based on discovering exactly the right information at exactly the right time as the story requires it. I can see the screenwriter eating up the challenge of making this happen, but at the same time it's a really artificial way to set up a conflict, and for it to be completely convincing you'd need to have a real miracle of a script. I maintain it's better to just write a story "in the moment" where the conflict is between characters who are interacting and developing together in real time.
-Eric S. ([email])
"What I'm trying to communicate is that I'm willing to do nudity, no extra charge!" -Bill McNeal, Newsradio, 1998
True, but on a *really* dumb show, the news would be on a passing elephant or something and not be the result of an errant shovel handle, which why I wasn't so "Oh, how FUCKING convenient," but I definitely see your point. For me, if its well written, I'll always excuse some necessary tidy wrappings up.
I could've seen the plot as overload if it had ended on mars with some sort of Cain and Abel meets Total Recall battle betwixt brothers. They've definitely raised the bar, although if they'd somehow ended the episode with a freeze frame of Bender in the cemetery with his arm outstretched it would've been truly unbeatable ever. But then, that wouldn't really have contributed to the emotional arc, it just would've been the best visual gag in the history of televised comedy.
Phew! I can't believe more people don't watch this show. If it was still behind the Simpsons, it'd be getting an emmy for this.