Thoughts on 6ACV25 - Overclockwise - SPOILERS!

[Reply #240 on:]

Has anyone noticed this yet?

The jury has the same characters (Angelyene, Fishy Joe ect), but in one shot, Farnsworth's fatthin girlfriend becomes replaced by Grrl.  Did anyone else get that?

[Reply #241 on:]

I'm gonna go with 9/10.

Overall, it was a pretty good episode by my standards. There were a lot of great lines, although it took me a second viewing to catch some of them. I felt that Bender's overclocking didn't last long enough and didn't flow well. One scene he was all-powerful and didn't seem to care about Fry and the gang, but shortly after that, his next scene had him coming back to the court room and saving the day. Same with Leela, after making what I would consider a big decision to leave Planet Express and Fry, she just walked back in the door and everything returned to normal.

In this case, I think the positives outweighed the negatives, and the Fry and Leela storyline (especially the ending) bumped the rating up a notch for me. Out of all the amazing Futurama endings, I think Overclockwise is now my favorite. I thought it was much better than Devil's Hands or Green Yonder. Yes, it was still vague, but it provided a better confirmation of Fry and Leela's future together (unlike Devil's Hands) and wasn't a typical romantic ending (like Green Yonder).I can't really find the words to put my feelings about it in at the moment, but I can say that I had warm fuzzies for the whole next day after watching.

EDIT: Adding in my post from the Speculation thread.

I agree- plus, I personally thought the ending to Overclockwise was much better than Devil's Hands or Green Yonder. Yes, it was still vague, but it provided a better confirmation of Fry and Leela's future together (unlike Devil's Hands) and wasn't a typical romantic ending (like Green Yonder).

Favorite lines: (Off the top of my head)
"Here's the reason we exist, here's which ceiling fans are gonna fall..."

"It better not be those little Korean girls again!"

"Things like me, or things like this badminton racket?"

"Come on in Leela! Take that ugly coat off!"

 

[Reply #242 on:]

I agree, Emeri, and also welcome! Actually, I don't agree that this ending was better than Devil's Hands. But I agree that it was really good and that it was different, which was nice, and it made me feel happy for a while despite my mom yelling "SAPPY!" at the TV when the closing credits came on. She's only seen like ten episodes. She is not yet irrationally passionate about these characters.

It was a very big story to cram into 22 minutes, but I thought they did a nice job of getting everything in without adding too many superfluous details and having a lot of nice cameos in the jury (no, Spacefish, I didn't notice that, will have to rewatch). I didn't really sense pacing issues on my first viewing. Having seen it three or four times now, I can say yeah, there are bit that are too fast and the resolution comes quickly. But it's very good.

[Reply #243 on:]

One scene he was all-powerful and didn't seem to care about Fry and the gang, but shortly after that, his next scene had him coming back to the court room and saving the day. Same with Leela, after making what I would consider a big decision to leave Planet Express and Fry, she just walked back in the door and everything returned to normal.

I pretty much agree with your assessment of the episode, Emeri (and share spira's welcoming sentiments), but just for the sake of argument: I didn't think it was so out-of-the-blue for Bender to crash the courtroom and save Cubert and the Professor. He had already shown that he was still swayed by emotion ("RANDY?!"), despite his belief in his own detachment from human affairs. Of course he would come back; despite himself, Bender likes his coworkers and doesn't want to see a jury hang 'em both.

And as far as Leela's return goes: She enters Planet Express right on the heels of Bender's comment about decisions, and how you can't always make them just by thinking. The transition from that sentiment to Leela's return seems to imply that she was following her heart in coming back instead of her head. I thought it was subtle, but it didn't bother me that she came back so suddenly. For starters, I knew she would (this being the would-be finale episode and all)--but I also knew that she had gone into her decision to leave with a bunch of conflicting emotions, and that eventually her feelings for Fry would likely supersede her feelings of confusion and dissatisfaction.

[Reply #244 on:]

Going off of Gorky's first thought there, it's a common theme for Bender to be all "KILL ALL HUMANS" and above emotion but actually care a lot about his friends (see Fear of a Bot Planet, BwaBB, a bunch of others). I saw this as an extension of that theme. Bender would and did give up being all-powerful to save his friends.

[Reply #245 on:]

Is anybody going to admit to just now giving this episode a 1?

[Reply #246 on:]

Also Bender pingpongs between having his friends be the most important thing in the world to him, to being completely indifferent to their sufferings and deaths, or trying to kill them for his own profit/amusement.   In TLPJF the thought that everyone he had ever known had been dead for several thousand years,  from relationships as big as Leela (one of his closest friends) Amy (ex fiancee) Hermes (only other human on his not kill list) to Mom (his creator and object of devotion) to the ladybot he had just had a one night stand with just registered a "meh, never liked those guys anyway".

Yet a few episodes later, the thought of the PE crew not being around for a fortnight fills him with sadness and rage.  In someways he's rather childlike, in that something can go from being the most important thing in the world to being completely uninteresting to him in five minutes, and sometimes back again.  We see that in all his relationships that don't end due to outside influience (he dumps Amy and the PE ship fairly quickly, and he barely remembers Fanny despite their passionate affair.  When the Countess is sucked into a black hole to her death, he goes from crying his eyes out to asking if the one memento he has of her is valuable, and proceeds to cry even harder when he finds out its worthless.  We then see him discarding the materially worthless yet sentimentally precious item.)  

[Reply #247 on:]

Bender is super childlike. I've always kind of thought that his lines like "never liked those guys anyway" were all part of the facade he puts on pretty much all of the time, which is only ever broken occasionally, like for maybe five seconds after the Countess dies. But then he's right back to being kill-all-humans-Bender.

Also, he's just not the type for any sort of romantic relationship at all. But he cares deeply about his friends, more than he ever lets on.

[Reply #248 on:]

I once watched Futurama with a friend who didn't like Bender, thought he was too mean and unlikable.

My explanation was that he's a robot and doesn't have any humanity. Or at least, his humanity is ambiguous at best. Maybe I've got that wrong, but that's how I usually like to think of him. A robot being judged by human standards of behaviour.

[Reply #249 on:]

Because she's a woman.

Let me guess ... You're male ... and single ...

She's only seen like ten episodes. She is not yet irrationally passionate about these characters.

Well, I've seen over a hundred episodes, and I feel the same way.

All together now:

"I have no strong feelings one way or another!"

[Reply #250 on:]

My explanation was that he's a robot and doesn't have any humanity. Or at least, his humanity is ambiguous at best. Maybe I've got that wrong, but that's how I usually like to think of him. A robot being judged by human standards of behaviour.

This is true. The funny thing about Bender, though, is that--for a character who ostensibly doesn't give a damn about any other living being and is only looking out for numero uno--he is capable of some of the most grandiose displays of emotion in the series. Like he says in "Lethal Inspection," he's sort of a drama queen.

And even though I go from disliking Bender when he's at his most callous (most of "Ghost in the Machines") to loving him when he's at his most pathetically adorable ("Godfellas"), I do think he's a deeper character than a casual viewer might give him credit for. What makes him so compelling, in a way, is how he will so frequently act in a way that you would think might be against his cold and logical robot nature.

[Reply #251 on:]

Because she's a woman.

Let me guess ... You're male ... and single ...

Let me guess... you don't get jokes... or references.

[Reply #252 on:]

Whew...I finally get a chance to catch up on PEEL. I just read this whole thread and now I am exhausted. I don't have enough energy to write a detailed review.

Here's what I will say: best finale yet. Slightly better than Devil's Hands, and much better than Green Yonder.

I'm not surprised that some people didn't like it...but I AM surprised by just how hard some people are being on the episode.

The Fry/Leela stuff certainly wasn't subtle, but I thought it was all as charming as ever. I loved Fry naively looking forward to talking about their relationship. Leela leaving so suddenly and then conveniently returning was slightly ridiculous, but whatev's. The end was cute. I liked it. If this really were the final episode, I would have been satisfied with this ending.

I thought the comedy was good. The overclocking was a good concept. Mom going after the Farnsworths for modding her product was good.

I don't know, guys. There's just nothing for me to hate here.

[Reply #253 on:]

Best episode of season 6 by a long, long way, and also the first episode of season 6 that would be a stand out in any season and not just this one.

[Reply #254 on:]

After watching 'A Leela of Her Own' again, I thought about people's complaints about Season 6, and then I thought of the mediocre episodes of Season 6, and then I thought: WHAT?!

A lot of you put down some really great Season 6 episodes yet they are much better than 'A Leela of Her Own'.

[Reply #255 on:]

After watching 'A Leela of Her Own' again, I thought about people's complaints about Season 6, and then I thought of the mediocre episodes of Season 6, and then I thought: WHAT?!

A lot of you put down some really great Season 6 episodes yet they are much better than 'A Leela of Her Own'.

I rank 4 Season 6 episodes that are worse than A Leela Of Her Own. It's still in my bottom 10 though. Overclockwise on the other hand is way up the top with the best of the bunch.

[Reply #256 on:]

I can see next season's premiere being 22 minutes of Fry and Leela just making goo-goo eyes at each other and then a week of internet message board statements about what it meant.  And Dave X. and Matt saying it was a roaring success and they can save a fortune on script writing from now on. They can just let fans use their imaginationz.  

[Reply #257 on:]

Thank you spira and Gorky for the welcome!

Also Bender pingpongs between having his friends be the most important thing in the world to him, to being completely indifferent to their sufferings and deaths, or trying to kill them for his own profit/amusement.   In TLPJF the thought that everyone he had ever known had been dead for several thousand years,  from relationships as big as Leela (one of his closest friends) Amy (ex fiancee) Hermes (only other human on his not kill list) to Mom (his creator and object of devotion) to the ladybot he had just had a one night stand with just registered a "meh, never liked those guys anyway".

Yet a few episodes later, the thought of the PE crew not being around for a fortnight fills him with sadness and rage.  In someways he's rather childlike, in that something can go from being the most important thing in the world to being completely uninteresting to him in five minutes, and sometimes back again.  We see that in all his relationships that don't end due to outside influience (he dumps Amy and the PE ship fairly quickly, and he barely remembers Fanny despite their passionate affair.  When the Countess is sucked into a black hole to her death, he goes from crying his eyes out to asking if the one memento he has of her is valuable, and proceeds to cry even harder when he finds out its worthless.  We then see him discarding the materially worthless yet sentimentally precious item.)  

Wow, I really never thought of it that way before, even though I guess it seems completely obvious now. That's a great analysis, and it makes perfect sense! I can't think of anything else to add on the topic.

[Reply #258 on:]

hmmm, I dunno..I still think that The Late Philip J. Fry is the best episode of season 6.

[Reply #259 on:]

After watching 'A Leela of Her Own' again, I thought about people's complaints about Season 6, and then I thought of the mediocre episodes of Season 6, and then I thought: WHAT?!

A lot of you put down some really great Season 6 episodes yet they are much better than 'A Leela of Her Own'.

I will never understand why people hate "A Leela of Her Own" so much--and this is totally not the place to discuss it--but I'll at least say that I've always really liked that episode and would rank many others below it.

That said, the only episodes of season six that might qualify for Worst Episode Ever for me are "Proposition Infinity" and "The Silence of the Clamps"; most other episodes can hold their own against the original run, and some of them (like this very episode) are downright brilliant and worthy of top-ten status.

[Reply #260 on:]

Well said, Gorky. I agree with you 100%.

[Reply #261 on:]

With the 72 episodes of the first production run, and the 26 episodes of Production Season 6 (including Reincarnation, but I am not counting the movies), we have 98 episodes, 26 out of 98 is about 26.5% of all the regular episodes so far, so we should expect 2 or 3 of the season's episodes to be truly top ten.

The Late Philip J. Fry makes one, and Overclockwise makes two.  If a third episode were included, there are several possibilities.  Prisoner of Benda would be my choice, but others might prefer Law & Oracle or Cold Warriors.  Reincarnation might very well make the top ten list too.  Really, this season has as many top ten episodes (or even more) as you would expect from the number of episodes aired, as a fraction of the total.

For comparison, the CGEF top ten list, in chronological order:

1ACV13 Fry & the Slurm Factory
2ACV17 War Is the H-Word
3ACV02 Parasites Lost
3ACV04 The Luck of the Fryrish
3ACV19 Roswell That Ends Well
4ACV09 Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles
4ACV15 The Farnsworth Parabox
6ACV07 The Late Philip J. Fry
6ACV16 Law & Oracle
6ACV25 Overclockwise

So right now, 3 episodes of Production Season 6 are in the top 10.  (7 of these episodes are on my personal top ten list, another is fairly close to making the list, and the other two are nowhere near my list.)

[Reply #262 on:]

I can't fault this episode really. There were a few silly moments but otherwise it was enjoyable, and for the first time in a while I actually sat through the episode without being aware that I was watching a new run... it had that kinda old feel I've been waiting for for a while.

I loved the very, very subtle reference to Babe and Bender's progression into an Overclocked super-bender was very, very well done. In character with just a little bit of added heart, particularly the way he looked awkward when Fry asked about himself and Leela, when they were in the cave.

The end was heartwarming enough, with just a little bit of funny thrown in, so overall, I'm satisfied enough to give this a 10/10.

I used the word "very" way too much. That is really very not good.

[Reply #263 on:]

The reference to Babe was hardly subtle. Although it was brilliantly delivered.

[Reply #264 on:]

I dunno, I'm assuming most people I know wouldn't have caught it. But then they're not like us and they don't look for these references.

[Reply #265 on:]

I loved the Babe reference. It was hilarious and unexpected and solidified the run of Cubert-is-piglike jokes we'd seen throughout the episode.

Slurm Factory is #1? That's not a bad episode, but first place? I agree with most of that list though. I think Season 6 has contributed some absolute gems (the same few eps that everyone mentions, including this one).

[Reply #266 on:]

Just watched it... overall it was good and nice, but i give it a 7/10..

The main plot was nice but somehow it felt like too short or incomplete..like if something was missing from it.. Mom was nice, the trial was nice but i think Bender overclocking was too short or lacking..like if i expected so much more (a pun on Battlestar Galactica Cavil's dialog about "im a machine and i can be so much more" would had been great here).. i know that they had only 21m but in Benderama i had quite more than plenty of multibenders , here somehow looks lacking..

And Fry/Leela thing looked quite forced-in.. it looked almost inserted and like if the writers went "Oh , season is over and we forgot about the Fry Leela romance , lets just adress it here to keep shipers happy" ..  i mean , Leela literally at some point just gets up and says "meh im leaving, good bye forever Fry" and then its adressed back at the end by her sudenly coming back.. it just looked too artificial or "inserted" .. on the plus side Fry looked more natural and prudent than usual.. not the stereotypical "luv me pls"

Overall as i said a good episode but i cant score it great.. actually i scored "The cold warriors" an 8/10.. was better overal.. and overclockwise while nice it felt a bit empty and lacking for a season finale

[Reply #267 on:]

hmmm, I dunno..I still think that The Late Philip J. Fry is the best episode of season 6.

Yes, I would like to see PEEL'ers vote on the best episide if season six.

[Reply #268 on:]

I wouldn't even consider placing Overclockwise and The Late Philip J. Fry on the same pedestal. The latter is insanely superior in my opinion.

The main plot of this episode was Bender overclocking, but they hardly did anything with that concept. Just as it was starting to get interesting with Bender taking over the entire universe, they just stopped that storyline in its tracks for the trial. As I've already said a bunch of times, the Fry and Leela subplot had an almost non-existent story. It was as simple as Leela deciding to leave, Fry being sad about it, Leela deciding to come back, and the two telling each other they want to be together. Whether you liked how it was executed or not, it wasn't a clever setup in any sense. And it was completely unrelated to the Bender overclocking plot, so it only took time away that could have been spent developing that plot into something amazing. You could also say that the time they spent on the Bender stuff took away from more cleverly setting up and executing the Fry and Leela scenes.

In The Late Philip J. Fry, the main plot of of travelling forward in time and the plot between Fry and Leela are completely intertwined with each other. This works out totally in favor of the episode because both plots get to be fully developed to the extent of perfection.  The two plots act to serve each other instead of taking away time spent on the other. Instead of having the jarring switching back and forth between unrelated scenes, the entire episode felt like a continuous epic story. It was much more thought out, much more cleverly plotted.

Personally, I also thought TLPJF was much funnier and the emotional bits to be far more touching and less forced.

[Reply #269 on:]

Slurm Factory is #1?

Out of the "ten best" episodes, it was the one that was aired first chronologically. The episodes are NOT sorted by rating (AFAIK).

[Reply #270 on:]

   I loved the Babe reference. It was hilarious and unexpected and solidified the run of Cubert-is-piglike jokes we'd seen throughout the episode.

What Babe reference are you talikng about?

[Reply #271 on:]

   I loved the Babe reference. It was hilarious and unexpected and solidified the run of Cubert-is-piglike jokes we'd seen throughout the episode.

What Babe reference are you talikng about?

Cubert: told you i would get away with it *snort*
Judge Whitey( at Cubert): That'll do pig

Overall one of the better episodes of this season, personally not up there with TLPJF but still good.

A missed opportunity not having Bender interact with the God nebula but fun having Fry interact with Randy.

Now I like shippyness but the Fry and Leela sceens felt to me like they were from a different episode and did not quite click.  It worked as a way of propelling the story but justdid not seem right to me.

Overall a 9 pretty damn good just not perfect

[Reply #272 on:]

I was glad to see Judge Whitey again, actually.  I have been missing him.

[Reply #273 on:]

 Judge Whitey seemed a little too, er 'competent' for my liking in this episode.

[Reply #274 on:]

 Judge Whitey seemed a little too, er 'competent' for my liking in this episode.

Indeed. The only Whitey-esque moments of WASP-y buffoonery were the mimosas/horse-breeding line, and the jury collies thing. He played the rest of the trial pretty straight. I didn't mind it, per se, but I did notice it.

Personally, I also thought TLPJF was much funnier and the emotional bits to be far more touching and less forced.

I don't have the same problems with the Fry/Leela stuff as you did, but I totally agree with this. TLPJF incorporated the shippiness in a seamless way, and it gave us a lot more insight into how much Leela and Fry mean to each other, and the sci fi stuff was just really wacky and brilliant and well-done. I'm not sure any other episode will top TLPJF in that respect.

But I don't think the shippy stuff in "Overclockwise" felt like it belonged in a different episode, and saying that this one only addressed Fry and Leela's relationship because it was the Last Episode Ever is probably true--but the same could be said for Devil's Hands and ItWGY. The Fry/Leela stuff was a consistent thread throughout season six (granted, more so in 6A than in 6B), so it didn't feel so out-of-the-blue to me.

And I still think the Fry/Leela scenes in this episode were well-executed, and kind of reminiscent of the more serious scenes in "Time Keeps on Slipping." Which I also liked, so there you go. I'm pretty much just a big ol' sap.

[Reply #275 on:]

I was totally prepared for this to be an entirely Bender-centric episode, which I don't generally like. My favorite episodes are Fry-centric episodes. Although I have been slowly slipping away from the shipping of Fry and Leela because of my slowly growing detest for Leela, this episode has brought me back and here's why...

Leela is experiencing a genuinely natural feeling for women in a relationship they want to progress in, but fear their man is incapable of commitment for one or many reasons. Her decisions in this episode are not unfitting, and her love for Fry is the only reason for her coming back to PlanEx. I do not blame her for leaving Fry. She knows what she wants and he does not.

Not only did this episode redeem Leela, but also Bender:

Bender was completely responsible for turning the tides of Fry and Leela's relationship. He looked genuinely sad and concerned for Fry when Fry asked him "How do things turn out between me and Leela." This can only mean that Bender knew, without intervention, things were not going to end well. He sacrificed omnipresence only to change that future and make Fry happy.

Leela did come back on her own accord, but it was Fry and Leela reading their future together that ultimately brought them back to the closeness they once felt. A future provided by Bender literally and figuratively.

[Reply #276 on:]

FemJesse, getting engaged is changing you.  Relax, it happens to all of us.

I've been perhaps the strongest anti-shipper and Leela-basher of the whole group.  That said, I can say I wouldn't want my (imaginary) daughter marrying somebody like Fry - I would feel she deserves better.  Sometimes, "Love" and good intentions aren't enough.

As for the ending of Overclockwise, it did trigger a "Awww, thaatttt's soooo schweeet," response from me.  Now I'm not saying have the pair get married and have kids, but for Roddenberry's sake, make things more stable between them now.  None of this, "I'll be back, soon" one episode and "I'm the only one without a boyfriend," the next episode.  If the writers can remember that magnets to Bender's head makes him sing folk tunes, then they can remember that Fry and Leela are in a somewhat committed relationship.

Now, the fun starts.  Now we can have jealousy rear its ugly head.  Fry can get jealous that some guy has eyes for Leela and she's not trying hard enough to let the guy know she's taken, Leela can get pissed that Fry would spend a special day getting drunk with Bender rather than spending time with her.  Make episodes like that rare - 1-2 a season, the rest of the time, just have the relationship in the background.  It doesn't even need to be addressed in most episodes.

BTW, FJ, great synopsis of the episode.

[Reply #277 on:]

That said, I can say I wouldn't want my (imaginary) daughter marrying somebody like Fry - I would feel she deserves better.  Sometimes, "Love" and good intentions aren't enough.

She might deserve better, but she could do a hell of a lot worse. Not disagreeing, just pointing out that in this universe, love and good intentions are pretty rare and special.

[Reply #278 on:]

After watching 'A Leela of Her Own' again, I thought about people's complaints about Season 6, and then I thought of the mediocre episodes of Season 6, and then I thought: WHAT?!

A lot of you put down some really great Season 6 episodes yet they are much better than 'A Leela of Her Own'.

I will never understand why people hate "A Leela of Her Own" so much--and this is totally not the place to discuss it--but I'll at least say that I've always really liked that episode and would rank many others below it.

That said, the only episodes of season six that might qualify for Worst Episode Ever for me are "Proposition Infinity" and "The Silence of the Clamps"; most other episodes can hold their own against the original run, and some of them (like this very episode) are downright brilliant and worthy of top-ten status.

yo leela leela is worst than both of those two.

[Reply #279 on:]

It's not even close to being worse than those two.