Thoughts on 6ACV25 - Overclockwise - SPOILERS!

[Reply #160 on:]

I'm giving it a 7/10 on first viewing.  The episode was enjoyable, but it wasn't heavy on the laugh out loud moments for me.  I really liked the pixelated animation during the video game scenes.  The Goering joke during the first game scene was priceless.

I don't mind the Fry/Leela relationship stuff, but I wish the writers would approach it in a different way.  Whiny, pathetic Fry gets old real quick. I wish they wouldn't make him such a puss.  On the other hand, I want to strangle Leela because she comes across so often as flaky and unappreciative.  Sometimes I actually dislike her character because of this.  I'm guessing that isn't what the writers are going for.  They also could have spread the relationship details out a lot better.  They've barely touched on the relationship most the season and then all of the sudden there is a ton crammed into this episode.  It seemed almost like a tack on to me.

I do want to say hooray to the writers for including jokes both about the silliness of license agreements and companies trying to prevent you from being able to modify things you own.  I wouldn't get jokes like that from any other show!

[Reply #161 on:]

Is IGN a bad source? I don't even know, I've only heard the name and known they reviewed stuff. What's wrong with them?

[Reply #162 on:]

They just tend to rate mediocre episodes (like The Holiday Spectacular) way too highly, and phenomenal episodes (like TLPJF) way too low. I think of IGN as more a casual fan's opinion on the new episodes: they're more into the crude jokes and funny drawings than the sci fi brilliance or emotional resonance of a particular episode. Which is fine, but I don't really agree with their assessments.

[Reply #163 on:]

Their reviews are bad and they should feel bad.

Really though, IGN just has a number of reviews that disagree with the PEEL/CGEF consensus and are looking at the eps with a rather shallow perspective. Also, they're known for making dumb mistakes and putting screenshots from one episode with another's, which undermines their credibility.

[Reply #164 on:]

I thought it was pretty good, and was intrigued enough by the ending to come back here and see what people were speculating.

The "Bender leaning in and flipping the page" bit sold the ending for me. It would have been too blatantly "shippy" without it for me.

8/10 - Could have used a few more laughs, perhaps fleshed out Bender's rise to intelligence a bit better, but a good episode.

[Reply #165 on:]

Bankrupt said what I said on page 3, so I'm glad that I'm not the only one who feels that way.

The humor of this episode is fantastic, Randy and the ceiling fan jokes were just hilarious in my opinion. Gonna give this a 9.

[Reply #166 on:]

This is considered plagiarism if I don't credit myself for this review. So I'm not and I'm just going to copy-and-paste my review that I made on the shipping thread onto here.

First off, there was a lot going on. This would have made a great movie- then they could've done a lot with the plotline. Though it was just an episode, it could have been a lot more "epic" in a sense (but then it would need the time of a movie). Mom was a great inclusion and I really like how they incorporated one of the series's antagonists into the episode. Also, the action that went on the the episode wasn't really "epic"- just a courtroom scene- but that's probably as much as they could fit for the time limit. Even then the scenes felt rushed- they were just cramming too much (and it would have been awesome to have had a lot more) into a short time frame. But there's nothing they can really do about that- it would have worked perfect in a four-episode format, but the crew really couldn't pick-and-choose and knowing how many times Futurama has been threatened and slammed down with cancellations, it was worth using that plotline now. I loved the recurring ceiling fan joke with Zoidberg, and Cubert finally becomes a character worth screentime solely for this episode.

As far as the theme of Fry and Leela's relationship, I think it could've used more work, and again, would've worked out much better if it had the amount of time as a movie. The entire premises of Leela questioning her relationship with Fry just came out of nowhere; in a movie they could've at least had some sort of reasoning (I still don't think Leela has come to accept Fry, but only because that issue has never been hit on the head). And Leela's absence could've been expanded on more- but that, once again, requires time to build, and that time, my friends, only comes in the form of a movie. It would have also been nice to see Fry actually re-considering his relationship with Leela. And, to be honest, for a while I was really expecting this episode to be the episode where Fry proposes marriage. It made sense in my head and I really think it would've worked out very well with a well-structured emotional roller coaster.

[see my post on page 11 of the "Shipping Even Higher into the Sun" thread for more agonizing details.]

[Reply #167 on:]

But I digress. Point is, I don't mind the writers trying new things (and, to their credit, I cannot find another episode of the series to which last night's is even remotely comparable), but I respect that some people miss the good ol' days. Nostalgia goggles and whatnot.

Great point, Gorky. From some of the sentiments expressed on PEEL, it seems that some viewers just don't want Futurama to explore different themes, writing styles, story arcs, etc. (I'm really not trying to be insulting to anyone here--this is just my perception from largely lurking on this board with nary a peep from me.)

The ep last night felt very different, and how exactly, I cannot put my finger on (yet). But, you know, The Sting felt very different from the average Futurama episode, and that was brilliant. Didn't it even win any Emmy? The weird singing of the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" song, all the visual parodies of 2001: Space Odyssey, the whole dreamlike quality--it was awesome.

"Overclockwise" had that same sort of dreamy quality, and there was a touch of metaphysical philosophy and existentialism to the entire story, including Fry and Leela's subplot: Bender surpassing the "existential singularity" (I LOVE that phrase, and will keep it for later use!) and Leela grappling with existential issues of her own. i.e., what are she and Fry "doing?" Where are they going, where will they be in the future? What's her purpose in life?

So...as I'm typing this, it seems to me that the Leela-Fry subplot isn't artificially tacked on and gratuitous at all! It seems to be in keeping with the overall theme of, "What is the meaning of life?"

Wow, this episode is RICH. That is why I cannot shut up about it and have been happily chattering away here.

[Reply #168 on:]

Sorry if this is a lame question, but why is this being called the finale?  According to IMDB there is another episode airing September 8th... Reincarnation.  Am I missing something?

[Reply #169 on:]

As far as the theme of Fry and Leela's relationship, I think it could've used more work, and again, would've worked out much better if it had the amount of time as a movie. The entire premises of Leela questioning her relationship with Fry just came out of nowhere; in a movie they could've at least had some sort of reasoning (I still don't think Leela has come to accept Fry, but only because that issue has never been hit on the head). And Leela's absence could've been expanded on more- but that, once again, requires time to build, and that time, my friends, only comes in the form of a movie. It would have also been nice to see Fry actually re-considering his relationship with Leela. And, to be honest, for a while I was really expecting this episode to be the episode where Fry proposes marriage.

I don't know, I think in context with what's happened this season it makes sense that she finally ask what's going on there. The fans certainly are, there's been no clear indication (remember her referring to Fry as her "friend" in front of Angus).

Marriage would be too rushed and wouldn't fit with what we've seen happening in the show.

[Reply #170 on:]

The Sting felt very different from the average Futurama episode, and that was brilliant. Didn't it even win any Emmy?

It was nominated, but I believe it lost to a Samurai Jack episode or some such nonsense. Kind of a shame, I think.

Also: I agree with everything else you said. Leela's early-life crisis and desire to know what was going to happen to her in the future meshed well with Bender's manic quest for enlightenment and desire to know what was going to happen to the universe in the future. It's deep stuff, I reckon.

Sorry if this is a lame question, but why is this being called the finale?  According to IMDB there is another episode airing September 8th... Reincarnation.  Am I missing something?

"Overclockwise" is what DXC called the de facto finale--their typical last-episode-ever, could-go-either-way episode. It was conceived of and written before they knew whether or not the show would be renewed for a seventh season, so they kept it sweet but open-ended, like "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" and "Into the Wild Green Yonder." "Reincarnation" is a bonus finale of sorts; it seems to me like it's going to be a tour de force, and kind of a cool way for the show to go out with a creative bang. The idea was that Futurama had ended in its original form, so now you'd get to see it reincarnated in three other styles of animation. Methinks it could be pretty awesome.

[Reply #171 on:]

I definitely thought Overclockwise was deeper than the average Futurama episode (and particularly deeper than a lot of the 6B ones, many of which have just been no more than a playful romp around the future, which isn't bad but can certainly stand to be broken up with stuff like this every once in a while). This is because of the whole last-episode-ever thing and the writers wanting to provide at least some answers. I think they did a great job.

I really don't think the Fry/Leela subplot was tacked on or anything. I think it meshed really well with Bender's all-knowing-ness. It was interesting to me that both Fry and Leela, when presented with this being that knew the mysteries of the universe, first thought about their potential futures with each other. That says a lot about what each means to the other. The whole bit about Bender no longer caring about petty human concerns while Fry is simultaneously freaking out over Leela is also a nice juxtaposition and made the episode seem a little deeper. I mean, this is an animated sci-fi comedy. Speaking entirely logically, we should not feel attached to these characters in the way that many of us do. But we are. And I think that was reflected in the contrast between Fry and Bender here.

[Reply #172 on:]

This episode is even better the second time around. The pacing feels quite right when you watch it again (probably because you can anticipate what's going to happen.)

The scene where Fry stumbles into Bender's incredibly fast processor is one of my favourites.

Lots of great lines/scenes in this.

Bender: "Human emotion no longer concerns me."
Fry: "But, but Randy said..."
Bender: (angry) "Randy? Have you been hanging out with Randy?"

Also the fact that Bender says that there's no time left to calculate the future, but still manages to find a way to get Zoidberg to step under the falling ceiling fan again.

Although I still cringe at the faces Fry and Leela make here:

Thankfully they never make them again. I still enjoyed that final scene, though.

[Reply #173 on:]

Oh, come on, I loved those faces

[Reply #174 on:]

The fact that they dedicated a scene to Fry speaking to Randy was amazing.

He's just... a firecracker.

[Reply #175 on:]

It says "volube 78", not "volume 78" on the "Shakespeare Typed by Monkeys" book. I hope that's a brilliantly subtle gag rather than just a typo.

I'd say that is definitely a joke. There is a theory to do with infinity, that if a monkey were to type random characters on a computer for an infinite amount of time, he would at some stage type the complete works of Shakespeare.

The joke is that the monkey presumably typed the complete works, but got a single character incorrect on the cover.

Infinite Monkey Theorem (Wikipedia)

(I highly recommend a documentary called "To Infinity and Beyond").

[Reply #176 on:]

@Gorky, spira, wowbagger: such great insights. Futurama fans are so smart.

[Reply #177 on:]

Bender proves again and again that he's the master of the 'lean in'.

[Reply #178 on:]

I wish I had known that going into the first watching... but the fact that it was probably written to be a series finale is definitely evident. 

[Reply #179 on:]

Wow, nice to see you post again Chump!

I thought it was good. It had a correct amount of usage of the name "Randy" in it heh. Those squidbots were done amazing and I loved the universe background shots. The shippyness was good too and made me miss some of that from other episodes. The only negative thing to me was that Walt's voice seemed to be off half the time.

It was a well done episode, more for its sentimentality and less for its humor.

10/10

[Reply #180 on:]

When Bender comes back for the trial he reminds me of a cyberman for some reason.

What is the difference between a barrel and a cask?

Is the American flag behind the 'Allied Victory' message serious or a joke (i.e. a dig at a certain country's seeming propensity to downplay or outright ignore other country's contribution to the outcome of WW II)?

If overclocking + additional processors gives a robot God-like prescience then why doesn't it happen more often?

[Reply #181 on:]

If overclocking + additional processors gives a robot God-like prescience then why doesn't it happen more often?

Here's what I came up with: Because it voids the warranty and violates the license agreement. Also: I'd imagine Mom keeps careful tabs on all her robots to ensure that their owners don't tinker with them in any way that might end up seriously improving them and thus losing her money. I mean, she wanted all the old robots to get an upgrade to make them compatible with Robot 1-X in "Obsoletely Fabulous," but that's mostly because otherwise (as seen in Bender's dream) there might be a robot uprising of sorts.

So, yeah. I think overclocking doesn't happen much (if at all) because Mom's evil, greedy nature won't allow it; she holds the tightest of reigns when it comes to what happens to her robots.

[Reply #182 on:]

Is the American flag behind the 'Allied Victory' message serious or a joke (i.e. a dig at a certain country's seeming propensity to downplay or outright ignore other country's contribution to the outcome of WW II)?

Well, it said 'Game Über'.  It was clearly Operation Overlord being shown (so one might assume they were playing Omaha Beach), so it is possible they used the 48-starred U.S. flag because it was the American troops that won.

Battlefield 1942 did a similar thing.  There was different music if you won as the British, the American or the Soviets, even though they were all part of the Allies.

Alternatively, the game is also to reflect people's lack of knowledge of the Second World War (such there being other countries), I mean they used 'Game Über', which may sound pun-ish, but it is hardly accurate.

[Reply #183 on:]

Aww, why the cringe, Pendulum? I loved all their expressions at the end. I think, overall, the writers did a particularly nice job with the ending - one of the best emotional-type ones in the series, in my opinion. Left me feeling happy, if that means anything to anyone!

Futurama fans are so smart.

I know, right?

The monkey Shakespeare book typo was definitely a joke, and rather an amusing one at that. Part of me wishes the books were shown a bit slower so that people who aren't quite nerdy enough to go look up screenshots can enjoy them, but freezeframe jokes are not a new thing in Futurama so I am quite okay with it.

Mom likely manages to be more successful at cracking down on other people overclocking their robots. It is probable that a few robots have been overclocked before, either a long, long time ago (but Cubert is rather intelligent and into such matters so he knows about overclocking) or for a brief period of time before the robot was shut down by Mom.

[Reply #184 on:]

Pretty good, but due to a few aspects I wasn't too keen on...

7/10

[Reply #185 on:]

Aww, why the cringe, Pendulum? I loved all their expressions at the end. I think, overall, the writers did a particularly nice job with the ending - one of the best emotional-type ones in the series, in my opinion. Left me feeling happy, if that means anything to anyone!

Agreed. It was quite a sweet ending, definitely on-par with what was done in both Devil's Hands and ItWGY (though nothing will ever surpass the former in my mind; it was just too...perfect). And, though I mentioned this before, I will mention it again: the music in that last scene was so beautiful. Throughout this episode, actually, I was most pleased and impressed with the score. (And normally I don't notice those things, so when I do comment on the music, it usually means it was damn good.)

[Reply #186 on:]

I don't mind the Fry/Leela relationship stuff, but I wish the writers would approach it in a different way.  Whiny, pathetic Fry gets old real quick. I wish they wouldn't make him such a puss.  On the other hand, I want to strangle Leela because she comes across so often as flaky and unappreciative.  Sometimes I actually dislike her character because of this.  I'm guessing that isn't what the writers are going for.

I think the "whininess" is what makes Fry so endearing. I mean, not that he whines, but that he loves his friends so much, and is so attached to them, that it hurts when they abandon him, or let him down somehow.

The episode really made me stop and think about the long-term viability of Fry and Leela's relationship. I mean, from a superficial glance, why the hell would a woman like Leela give a guy like Fry the time of day? Then, I thought of her vulnerability, her lonely and miserable childhood, her lack of sense of belonging anywhere because she felt so isolated and different growing up. And that would give her the emotional make-up that is suited for Fry's simple, good nature.

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this episode had great writing. It made me think of what my creative writing professor said about "Chekhov's pistols": if there's a pistol produced sometime in the play, then it damn well better be fired later, or somehow be relevant to the story. Several of the running jokes continued throughout the ep, like the ceiling fans, the pig/pork jokes, Bender's love for knock-knock jokes, etc. I mean, not like these jokes were central to the plotlines, but, I like when there's a continuity to the dialogue throughout the episode. But a little randomness and silly non sequiturs can be funny, too.

One more thing (for now): I've always wondered about the passive-aggressive cattiness Amy regularly gives Leela. ("Come on in and take that ugly coat off", or whatever she said when Leela returned.) That's been there throughout the entire show. I think the professor's device used in "I Second that Emotion" reveals Amy's private thought as something like, Leela's intelligence makes her feel inferior. But, you know, it bothers me, and doesn't make Amy's character sympathetic at all. I never really liked her. I guess this is something I am just fixating on now because there's a woman at work who has given me passive-aggressive, critical, and bitchy vibes ever since I started there, and she NEVER shows that towards any of our male co-workers. I don't like women who feel competitive with other women for no explicit reason.

[Reply #187 on:]

The voice acting in Futurama has always been fantastic, but it was absolutely superb in this episode. Especially John DiMaggio.

[Reply #188 on:]

* The bridge that Fry falls off of (right before the scene with Randy) looks a lot like the bridge at the end of TLPJF.

It is the bridge at the end of TLPJF

How about that? Not bad for a 40-year old guy watching the show on Light-Bright ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!  I mean television.

Then Smitty who is back from his retirement arrested Cubert and even did the doorbell. But they had a doorbell before, this was a stupid joke!  

Maybe they sold it in one of their many "going out of business" sales, why not.

But seriously, because they have the same DNA, they are legally the same person. What about in the election episode, the two candidates were clones, so vote for one or for the other was the same?

Also a good point.

The ending was predictable, the writers didn't want to choose so they make a 45 seconds of happy-angry-sad-happy-sad-happy...

Yeah, you need to go sad, sad, little happy, sad, sad, sad, BIG SAD, then WHAM --- BIG HAPPY! This stuff ... it's soulless ...

http://www.angryflower.com/feelie.html
 

Having just watched the episode and now read through this thread; I agree with Josh. This episode felt so condescending. It was as if the writers had skimmed the Shipper thread on PEEL for their inspiration and thought "hey, the fans want them to be together, so let's just state blatantly that they are in a relationship, rather than build up a proper story around them like people who are actually creative."

You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

some nice reappearances by Judge Whitey ("Before we adjourn for mimosas and horse breeding") and the Hyper Chicken ("Did you say 'extra crispy recipe?'").

The hyperchicken's joke seemed forced here.

Bender being overclocked was fantastic. Possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to Bender.

Even better would have been overclocking all the Benders in B.

I definitely think this premise could have been worked into an entire film. There was so much going on that they could have given more time. I'm pretty sure there are thousands of things I've missed already.

That seems to be a recurring comment of mine throughout the season ... There were some good ideas which could have been developed into hour-long episodes (or another movie or two).

Did anyone notice that the tentacle robots were like a completely better version of the weird tentacle robots that were on the most recent episode of Doctor Who?

My guess is that the hoverfish are Futurama's version of the flying monkeys (from The Wizard of Oz).

I immediately thought of the tentacle robots from the Matrix movies, myself.

MG and DXC are geezers like me, so they undoubtedly saw WOZ.

My longer critic will follow later, about the "Bender made it up"-aspect:
I think "By Bender" just means that he foresaw these events in the future, he  wrote down what he saw, so he put his name on it as you would do with a book...

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Bender was just attaching his name to something cosmically-designed or whatever. He was acting as the messenger.

And it is common for Bender to include his name in everything.

And upon my *third* viewing, I caught the funny line made by the German avatar, whom I'm guessing belongs to Walt: Bender: "What's up!" Walt: "Oh, nothing, just eating some spaetzle and listening to Kraftwerk--I mean, fire!" Awesome.

Mmmm ... Spätzle ... I haven't had that in a long time ...

Sometimes it's nice to have a dissenting opinion,

Nuh, uh!

First, yes, Leela was wearing a skirt:

(Wolf whistle) Wows! Nice gamses!

They must die together...

Well, she is THE OTHER ...

Actually, in "Cat's Cradle", Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, introduces the word "karass", which is defined to be something like "a group of people who get together to do God's work", and then states that the members of a single karass die about the same time.

I really don't see why people still go to IGN for TV reviews.

Or reviews in general.  Or news on games.  Or at all.  Why do people even use IGN anymore?

Yeah! Make up your own **** minds, people! Think for yourselves!

There is a theory

theorEM. There's a big difference ...

to do with infinity, that if a monkey were to type random characters on a computer for an infinite amount of time, he would at some stage type the complete works of Shakespeare.

Or an infinite number of monkeys typing for a finite amount of time.

What is the difference between a barrel and a cask?

A barrel is used for making wine; a cask is used for other types of liquor. According to Wikipedia, anyway.

[Reply #189 on:]

I'm still surprised I haven't seen a single other person who agrees with me that the Fry/Leela scenes were complete and utter tripe. I have no problem with people having different opinions, obviously, and I expected most of the people in on-topic to like it (as it's mostly a younger crowd), and I didn't expect many people to hate it. But I certainly didn't expect to be the ONLY one who hated it.

Reading this thread, there have been a few people who've agreed that it wasn't done great, but nobody else has expressed being bothered and offended by the Fry/Leela scenes on the same level that I did. I find this incredibly fascinating, because to me, they were some of the worst scenes in the entire history of the series, and were some of the only times I've ever cringed at this show. Yet reading everybody talk about how sweet and emotional they were, how well handled, when to me they seemed blatantly the opposite...completely lazy, horribly set up, terribly written...it's a mindfuck.

I refuse to believe that I am going completely nuts.

[Reply #190 on:]

You might really be the only one who was offended by them. I don't think it was any writer's intention ever to be so lazy with the writing that it ended up being offensive. That's rather extreme, in my opinion.

I also didn't expect such a vast majority to like the episode as much as the vast majority did, but okay. I thought it was a solid episode. Some of the writing was a little weak, but it all answered questions that needed to be answered.

[Reply #191 on:]

OH...Commm..On...

I WILL hold EVERY radio station...AT and... under 5000 watts...

Under Suspcioun...

[Reply #192 on:]

I refuse to believe that I am going completely nuts.

Mmmm...your opinion is your opinion, and expressing it should be enough. You don't need anyone to validate it by agreeing with you. (I might sound like Deepak Chopra right now, but believe me, that is not my intention.)

Rationally, I can see why you hated it, and FWIW, the ending is not as well done as Devil's Hands, IMHO. I do think the sequence of facial expressions could have been dialed down a bit, so that it's not too sentimental. But I did think it was clever, how their expressions showed that they would "live happily ever after," but with enough ambiguity to leave the viewer wondering.

[Reply #193 on:]

Yeah, the ending is not as good as Devil's Hands'. But really, I don't think they could have done much to rival the opera. I think they pulled off an excellent finale here without having to make it flamboyant. The whole epsiode, not just the ending, was very different from Devil's Hands, which I really appreciated. They went in a rather unique direction.

[Reply #194 on:]

Yeah, the ending is not as good as Devil's Hands'. But really, I don't think they could have done much to rival the opera. I think they pulled off an excellent finale here without having to make it flamboyant. The whole epsiode, not just the ending, was very different from Devil's Hands, which I really appreciated. They went in a rather unique direction.

Yeah, Devil's Hands was originally written as the final episode of Futurama and therefore was the writers at their best. Overclockwise may not have been as awesome at that, but I think it still manages to hold up extremely well in comparison to Season 6 and the majority of the best original run episodes. I currently rate it the 2nd best episode of Season 6, maybe even worthy of hitting the top 10 for me too.

[Reply #195 on:]

^^^^ If that is pressed before the next season on the Fry/Leela relationship, I may become utterly insane.

[Reply #196 on:]

Yeah, same. Maybe I am just being optimistic, but I don't think it will be. If it is, though, I can hardly imagine the level of rage that will flood on-topic come next June.

[Reply #197 on:]

Ugh, I completely agree.....that damn reset button. It's crushing our fangirl dreams....I once heard on a thread...."Ahh, the reset button. The shipper's natural enemy"

[Reply #198 on:]

I'm not a fangirl

I'm a 31 year old trucker from the deep south with a wife and kid. Damned stereotypes.

[Reply #199 on:]

I'm still surprised I haven't seen a single other person who agrees with me that the Fry/Leela scenes were complete and utter tripe.

Here I am! I agree with all my heart!
I could be in a committed relationship with every line of your original post!

What I'm saying is that if the writers wanted to put their foot down and say "let's portray Fry and Leela together in all future episodes and not be ambiguous any more", they should have just done it. They didn't need to announce it so blatantly in an episode.

Also, they should have just done that after the season 6A opener. I swear I can't understand what's the big deal here. I fear it's really some sort of opposition between Groening and Cohen or something like that. Because if you don't want for your main characters to be together, just don't put them together. If you do, stick with it. I can't recall any show doing this absurd, "viewers, just know they're together, except we will not show them as being together at all, except when a specific story will be all about the fact they're together." It could almost be creative if it wasn't irritating as hell.

If I had to put up with watching that sappy crap, then they better be together FOR REAL.

For some reason, I don't think S7 will see them together on a regular basis. I've probably lost all my trust in these writers when it comes to this topic.
(I'm also not liking the ways they reference the pop culture lately, I don't find it clever at all, but this is another issue entirely).