It was a good episode.
Not great (Luck of the fryish comes to mind as the best futurama ep ever...), but it still was a great episode.
As a series finale, however, it was really good. It didn't really try up any loose ends, but I think it's a safe bet to say Fry really impressed leela. Still, I would've liked a more concrete ending. Oh well....
But it does leave open the possibilities for future specials or even a movie.
"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me" - General George S. Patton.
On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 0:29:58 -0400, Great Teacher Shiborugu wrote (in message ):
I agree with both of the above sentences.
As a series finale, it was a good middle of the season episode. This is the one respect in which it seemed a letdown. As a followup on Hell Is Other Robots and Parasites Lost, it was perfectly good. But unfortunately, I'd gotten the impression from David Cohen's oft-quoted remarks that there would be something more to the ending than merely another "Leela realizes Fry isn't quite as bad as she thought" moment, as welcome as those moments are. My bad for expecting more than was promised.
The thing is, if the production team had any input into which episode would be aired last -- a very big if, and I have no idea what voice they may have been allowed in that decision -- there were other episodes aired this season which would have been far better for the series finale. I can think of three episodes in particular which were brilliant in their own right AND which significantly advanced the Fry/Leela relationship to an extent this episode did not.
3. The Sting: with continuity references galore, a truly different look at the characters, and a running theme of loss and grief which would have suited a farewell episode. By the end, Fry and Leela have shown what they mean to one another, rather than simply saying so.
2. The Farnsworth Parabox: another episode where the viewer could feel at the end that Fry and Leela had become a couple at last...in fact, given the broadcast order, it's impossible to understand why they wouldn't be! And the whole idea of the threat to the universe and the nature of its reality would have made a nice thematic capstone.
1. The Why Of Fry: surely the most obvious choice! What could be a better resolution than taking us full circle to where it all started?
I didn't get around to posting this at the time, but there's a sense in which The Why Of Fry really does return to the beginning of the series conceptually, beyond just the events it shows. The point of the very first episode is Fry's refusal to be forced into being a delivery boy...but at the end, when he's offered the choice to be a delivery boy, he's thrilled. Maybe this is the airplane glue talking, but I think it's not just a great gag: it's really very profound. Having the choice is what's important, rather than having the choice made for you. And in The Why Of Fry, our man Philip is on the verge of having the ultimate choice made for him...but seizes the opportunity to make that choice for himself. That's just so totally cool.
I hope there are some comments on this post. Otherwise I'll start to think you all hate me and think I'm pompous. :-(
RAB
On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 20:06:59 GMT, Richard Bensam spewed forth:
Piffle. "Time Keeps On Slippin'" rules over all and if you disagree, the terrorists win.
I would tend to agree with this.
Part of my "disappointment" (not *quite* disappointed, but I was hoping for a bit more closure...not really their fault though, since it was an unintentional finale) just stems from the fact that, really, it's not much different in resolution than a few other episodes. Guess maybe I was expecting all those others to be building up.
Naw. Though you may have read more into it than the writers intended, a fine observation nonetheless.
On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 17:33:56 -0400, Rev. Bleech_ wrote (in message ):
Mad, you say? That's what they called me when (insert Farnsworthian innovation here)! But who's laughing now? Bwa ha ha!
In Space Pilot 3000, I'm pretty sure the message was deliberate on the part of the writers and not merely a product of my glue-twisted imagination. Consider Fry's speech to Bender about what separates humans and robots from animals and animal robots.
As for The Why Of Fry, I wouldn't necessarily say that the writers got together and said "Let's revisit the theme of self-determination versus the exigencies of societal conformity which was the foundation of the very first episode, even as we reveal the behind-the-scenes machinations which produced the events depicted in that episode, thereby attaining a metaphorical completion of the central thesis and providing a sense of narrative closure." Because that would be silly.
But you know, The Why Of Fry really is about Fry deciding retroactively that the course of his life was correct. Ultimately the Nibblonians don't get to make that decision: Fry does. So it does come back to that same idea from the first episode...and if that was just a coincidence, it's an awfully nifty one.
RAB
I entirely agree, the theme of Space Pilot 3000 is the value of deciding your own future, Fry tries to escape being forced into being a delivery boy, but when given the chance to decide for himself, he loves the idea. And in the Why of Fry he tries to stop the Nibblonians freezing him, but when given the choice he gladly forces his past self into the chamber himself. In both episodes it is not being a delivery boy or getting sent into the future he objects too, it's the fact that people try to take the choice away from him, the "You gotta do what you gotta do" philosophy. In short these two episodes, and in a way the show itself, center around the idea that the chance to decide your own Future is something worth fighting for. Because of this unifying philosophy, the examination of importance that goes to the heart of who Fry is, and one of the largest advances in Leela's understanding of Fry and consequently their relationship seen in the series and the "woohoo" just as the credits appear that stops the last scene being too sentimental and touches upon Futurama's characteristic cynical humour and it becomes clear that The Why of Fry would have made a great last episode. As to whether it's a better ending than the Devil's Hands, I can't really say, I have yet to see it.
Don't suppose anyone knows where I can download it?
"Je�us" [email].�u wrote:
I have no idea what a torrent is and can't find any info on the site, could you point me in the direction of a help page? I'm having some trouble downloading it.
Thanks, I enoyed writing them.