Thoughts on 7ACV12 - Viva Mars Vegas - SPOLIERS!!!

[on:]

Let's do this!

The opening sequence may be the best thing ever.

[Reply #1 on:]

I liked it, the song and the opening were both spectacular. The jokes were mostly hits, the Chart Room was the funniest joke. Although all of Fry's lines felt forced.

I didn't like how they completely ignored the earlier episode revolving around Mars, seems very lazy. The lack of a coherent Robot Mafia storyline feels the same way.

I give it a 7/10, though with a little work it could have been much better.

[Reply #2 on:]

Not a bad episode at all. I agree the jokes were great and I really like the intro! I wish there was some sort of side plot. I usually don't enjoy the robot mafia but I must say I didn't seem to mind them in the episode. Overall, it was a fun episode to watch wasn't perfect but it was enjoyable.
7/10

[Reply #3 on:]

Opening sequence was awesome. I thought it was pretty darn funny! I liked how the focus of the episode wasn't on Leo and Inez becoming poor. I liked the character development between Amy and Zoidberg. Zoidberg's acceptance among the Planet Express Crew, despite his various flaws, seems to be a recurring theme in many episodes both from this season and season 6B. I liked the song, it was catchy and well done, on par with earlier work such as from How Hermes Requisitioned his Groove Back and Bender's Big Score. The parody of heist movies worked pretty well. The chart room got progressively more funny as the joke went on. Bender's reactions to all the money everywhere had me in stitches. Blind Joe was a pretty cool character. The animation was exquisite! It felt so rich! Another not-perfect-but-pretty-darned-good-quality episode, especially for one that focused on Zoidberg and Amy. It's good to see her competent. I guess they abandoned her klutziness though? 8/10.

[Reply #4 on:]

What is rent?

[Reply #5 on:]

The short and simple truth:

I love Zoidberg.
The opening was cool.
I laughed a bunch.
The "Hey Big Lobster" song was a nice touch.
Zoidberg got to be a billionare.. if only for a minute or two.
The robot mafia was well used.
It was lame they gave no explanation for Mars being just fine... but Josh warned us in advance there wouldn't be one.
I thought everything else seemed pretty classic.
And the heist was pretty awesome and clever.

Easily a 10/10 overall.

[Reply #6 on:]

I.....Can't really make due of this episode. I liked the first act alot, and the rest are okay. But this whole episode just yelled "The Wild Green Yonder" to me. I think maybe a 7/10, but give me some more time to get a good-enough view of it.

[Reply #7 on:]

I gave this one an 8/10. Pretty solid episode. The jokes were spot-on and it was great seeing some development between Amy and Zoidberg. My favourite part was the Mafia flying past Earth and Joey suggesting they toss the cash in the dumpster. "You mean the one in that alley?" "Yeah, of course. Where did ya think I was pointin'?" 

Random note: I like how Joey seems to do most of the talking now for the Mafia.

It looses points for not addressing the events of "A Farewell to Arms", however I think I'd rather blame the latter for this continuity issue, because there's not much to dislike about this one I think.

I reckon it will probably grow on me after repeated viewings.

[Reply #8 on:]

Solid. On par with the rest of season 7. The whole zoidberg Amy bathroom exchange was great. As was the chart room. 8/10

[Reply #9 on:]

The fact that this already has two 1/10 ratings is completely stupid. 

[Reply #10 on:]

decent episode.  There were lots of laugh-out-loud moments, it flowed well, and it worked well even though the three main characters didn't have big parts.  I just didn't buy that Amy wanted to return the casino to the native Martians.  And if Zoidberg's ivisible ink washes off, then why didn't it wash off when he was in the bathtub earlier in the episode?

[Reply #11 on:]

The fact that this already has two 1/10 ratings is completely stupid.  

Didn't we already figure out that there is at least one (or two) person/persons whom always vote 1/10 no matter what.

That's just sad that a troll has no life.

[Reply #12 on:]

decent episode.  There were lots of laugh-out-loud moments, it flowed well, and it worked well even though the three main characters didn't have big parts.  I just didn't buy that Amy wanted to return the casino to the native Martians.  And if Zoidberg's ivisible ink washes off, then why didn't it wash off when he was in the bathtub earlier in the episode?

I noticed that too but I believe that Zoidberg was never in the tub. 

But then again shouldn't Zoidberg's face become visible since he ate a bar of soap.
   
He has always been a messy eater.

[Reply #13 on:]

Great episode. The interactions between Amy and Zoidberg and the chart room were my favorite parts. The opening was awesome. I give this episode a 10/10. Thus concludes my half-assed review. Hopefully after re-watching I can write something better.

Oh, random question, but was Fry's tattoo supposed to be a reference to Mike Tyson's?

[Reply #14 on:]

Watching it now, and I want to say this nitpick before I forget.

Aren't there no more sardines in the universe?

[Reply #15 on:]

Best episode of the season since the opening 3. Seeing as i loved 'yonder', this episode did a great job of not shitting in its legacy.

9/10

[Reply #16 on:]

Oh, random question, but was Fry's tattoo supposed to be a reference to Mike Tyson's?

AfaiK, a character in "Hangover 2" ended up with a Tatoo, not knowing where he got it from.

[Reply #17 on:]

I really had no expectations or anything going into this episode, but I really liked it.

I was annoyed that no one said anything about Mars previously being thrown out of its orbit but the episode was fun enough that it didn't drag the episode down completely for me.

I loved that they used the live action opening, but I sort of feel like I would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't already seen it as a promo before.

7/10

[Reply #18 on:]

I agree with Jezzem about the opening already being used as a promo.

I also agree with Jezzem about not mentioning that Mars is thrown out of orbit.

And the fact that if the invisible ink wears off with a bath means Fry will still have his tattoo (because I'll assume Leela makes him shower on occasion if at least not for sex). But we know that won't happen.

This was a good episode, above average,  and I loved that song.

Favorite line: "Oh Nelson! Thank god you're here Hermes".

8/10

[Reply #19 on:]

Its your own fault for looking at promos. I haven't seen anything!

[Reply #20 on:]

Oh, random question, but was Fry's tattoo supposed to be a reference to Mike Tyson's?

AfaiK, a character in "Hangover 2" ended up with a Tatoo, not knowing where he got it from.

So did the main character in Alfred Bester's The Stars, My Destination (aka Tiger! Tiger!). (Well, he got it, a Maori death-mask with the word NOMAD written on it, but it wasn't his decision.)

I was annoyed that no one said anything about Mars previously being thrown out of its orbit

That may have been a "production order is not the broadcast order" error. Why didn't Francis, I mean Clamps, recognize Zoidberg, though? (SOTC) (Perhaps all Decapodians look alike to him, but Zoidberg did cut off his clamps.)


Another universe spoiled by Jar Jar Binks.

[Reply #21 on:]

Eh. 7/10. It was better than last week's offering, but it really didn't feel much like Futurama, to be honest. Continuity problems and a couple of minor plot holes aside, some of it was pretty funny, there was some brilliant animation, and I loved the changing around of the casino sign from "wong" to "mob".

It's not the best they can do, but the production team haven't quite lost the ability to make Futurama properly. I just wish that the first few seconds hadn't felt so forced. They'll be jumping straight into arbitrary premises for an episode with no exposition whatsoever next.

[Reply #22 on:]

[Aside]

In a future where they have big-ass gravity pumps capable of moving stars around I don't see why Mars' relocation to its original orbit is such a big deal.

[/Aside]

I see they've continued the trend of building a story around an 'unusual' character pairing.

Did that roulette wheel incorporate a Harry Potter reference?

7/10.

[Reply #23 on:]

Hm....a soso episode.
The Robot Mafia was spot on. The chase in NNY offered great perspectives. Also, the rest finally realising at the end that the Robot Mafia is in fact just those three guys (not much  to be afraid of) was a long expected and imhO overdue joke;)
The Zoidberg/Amy pairing was also interesting. Nice to see once, but no need to bring it back in future episodes.

Amy was the big letdown for me: The naive Amy suddenly came up with that cunning plan out of the blue. A person suddenly acting OOC CAN be a funny (sub)plot, given credible motives. Yet, in that case, it felt forced.
You can have characters act OOC, but I consider that as an investment. The cunning Amy was a major change, and major investment, and should therefore deliver some excellent plot twist.
But a mere Ocean's 11 spoof was imHO not enough that to justify such a character change.

Also, I realised one thing about Amy:
The chars sometimes wonder off in another ones territory.
Yet, with Amy, she always seems to be put into Leela's turf:
- Sports Champion and Martial Artist (IWGY, TBE)
- Weapon Expert (MD)
- Skilled Pilot (TSHL)
- Natural Leader (VMV)
the non-Leela trait added is Farnsworth Genius, without being hindered by senility (TDK).
It is really necesarry to have a second Leela as backup?
I'd prefer a more unique Amy, whose achievements/skills are more differet from Leela.

[Reply #24 on:]

Really nice episode. The intro was great, the jokes were funny, I loved the song and I liked the idea of Zoidberg turning invisible. I just thought it was a kinda strange the ink was removed so easily in the last act. Also, Amy suddenly coming up with a smart plan felt a little weird to me. Still, I really enjoyed this episode, 8/10 for me.

[Reply #25 on:]

Don't understand how people can't like this, it just felt like Futurama. All of Season 7 has. I think people are just nitpicking at anything now as an excuse to complain.

Anyway, loved it soooo much, use of sci-fi was great, Robot Mafia was great, Zoidberg was great. GREAT.

Also, I can't help but feel Amy is slowly starting to annoy me. Just something about her.

8/10

[Reply #26 on:]

I never liked Amy up until this episode. Her interactions with Zoidberg were really nice and changed my opinion of her a little bit.

However, I agree with Inquisitor Hein - Amy seems to share a lot of Leela's character traits since the new run, which I don't like. I'd also rather her have her own unique characteristics like before (clumsy, dumb, slutty, but ironically a brilliant physicist). We don't need a second, or as you say "backup" Leela. In fact, it would've been better if Leela devised the casino heist. Amy obviously had the agenda with the contract, but Leela could have planned the heist and Amy could've still pulled that out of her own accord.

Enough about the girls. Zoidberg was great in this episode. I think this was one occasion where he was kind of cute (in the way Nibbler is, not... ew).

I'm a lazy critic, so... 7/10 

[Reply #27 on:]

Watching it now, and I want to say this nitpick before I forget.

Aren't there no more sardines in the universe?

Unless Anchovies and Sardines are the same thing then there is no mistake.

[Reply #28 on:]

Uncharacteristically (for me, at least) negative review time: This episode annoyed the hell out of me, in terms of characterization and continuity. The episode's internal logic and continuity don't really bother me; yes, Zoidberg's temporary invisibility (and its quick fix) is silly--but whatever. It works well enough. Likewise, though I have a hard time believing that Amy really cares that much about giving the Native Martians their due, I can fan-wank that she's mostly doing it to piss off her parents (who would certainly deserve it, after all they've put her through in the past); the episode also gives enough indication that Amy has come to understand the plight of the poor (via Zoidberg, and her own brief stint living like the Martian casino workers), and her turning over the casino to the Martians at the end signifies some kind of character growth. So that's fine.

I also don't care that Mars has been returned to its proper place (I think hobbitboy makes a good point about the likelihood of such a thing, and the ease with which it might be accomplished). I know I'm probably (mostly) alone in saying this, but I enjoyed "A Farewell to Arms" a whole lot, and I can forgive it for ending on this seemingly universe-altering note with Mars now abutting Earth--and then not following it up at all in subsequent episodes. I expect resets like that from this show.

And, though I also expect resets in terms of the characters' relationships to one another, the way the PE crew was treated by both the Wongs and the Robot Mafia is what really bugged me about this episode. Nothing that occurred between the Wongs and the PE crew in "Into the Wild Green Yonder" was at least alluded to (also, the tour of the casino felt unnecessary to me, and somewhat derivative of ItWGY); moreover, the Donbot ought to recognize Bender as the robot who sexed up both his wife and his daughter, and Clamps ought to recognize Bender as the robot he failed to kill and Zoidberg as the putz with whom he had a showdown on the moon.

Now, I know that the episode couldn't rightly take whole minutes to explore the twisted, convoluted relationships the PE crew has to both the Wongs and the Robot Mafia--but some kind of recognition would have been nice. Just a throwaway line, writers, that's all I ask for. Just give me some indication that you remember past episodes, and the major plot-points in those episodes. It makes me so mad that you feel the need to inflict shitty episodes like "The Silence of the Clamps" on me, and then not follow them up at all in subsequent episodes featuring those same shitty characters (yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the Robot Mafia. They were okay in this episode, but I wasn't clamoring to see them again or anything).

It might be interesting, writers, if you built up this feud between the Robot Mafia (or the Wongs, for that matter) and the PE crew--and maybe that's what you're trying to do--but said feud can't actually escalate if you reset the characters' recollections of one another and their past confrontations with each new episode featuring the Robot Mafia or the Wongs. And you just fail to achieve your full potential, show, when you reset things that need not be reset, instead of further developing conflicts between our main characters and two of their most noted enemies. And that disappoints me.

But enough of my stupid griping: All in all, this episode wasn't bad. The jokes mostly hit, it was nice to get an Amy episode (and to see her actually connecting with Zoidberg, no less), I love Inez and Leo so much, the song was okay, the animation was great, it was fun to see the entire PE crew working together (I've appreciated the tighter focus on the trio this season, but that doesn't mean I don't still enjoy the occasional episode that centers around secondary characters while also making good use of the whole PE family), and the Robot Mafia didn't bother me as much as it sometimes does. All good things. I'd say this is a high 6/10, which I stubbornly refuse to round up to a 7/10 because of the annoying continuity things outlined above.  

[Reply #29 on:]

The Mafia didn't recognise Bender in "Free Will Hunting" either, so I can let it slide. Good point about Clamps and Zoidberg though.

Anyway, I think this episode has de-throned "Why Must I be a Crustacean in Love?" as my favourite Zoidberg episode.

[Reply #30 on:]

Why the hell are so many people negative about the CC run? This episode was a fine example of the brilliance of the new run IMO. It had everything - A great story, great character development (liked the Amy and Zoidberg pairing), funny lines (the chart room was hysterical), and an all-round classic futurama feel.

My second favourite of the season so far (after Near-Death Wish), and possibly in my all-time top 5. (Disagree if you must, just 1 man's opinion, and no I'm not a futurama n00b)

[Reply #31 on:]

A very well done episode and one of the funniest this season.

Bits I liked:

• The Robot Mafia are probably my favourite side characters, so I loved them getting a big episode. Their lines brought the big laughs for me ("Y'know, I think I'll close this door prematurely.") It did bug me that Clamps didn't recognize Zoidberg, but it's not like that's the first time something like that's happened.
• How in character everyone was, particularly Amy, as the smart but sheltered college girl ("What's rent?") and Zoidberg, because I love how they reiterated that he prefers making people happy over being rich. I feel like that's important.
• The whole crew being used. In moderation, these can be some of my favourite episodes of the season, and this one hit the mark as well. It was no Farnsworth Parabox, but it was really good.
• The song was epic. Yep, few words are needed.

I give it a high 8/10.

[Reply #32 on:]

Why the hell are so many people negative about the CC run? This episode was a fine example of the brilliance of the new run IMO. It had everything - A great story, great character development (liked the Amy and Zoidberg pairing), funny lines (the chart room was hysterical), and an all-round classic futurama feel.

I don't think as many people are negative about it as it seems.  The average rating is an 8/10, which isn't bad at all.  People are just more likely to point out things in the episode that they didn't like than things that they did like.  

On rewatch I noticed that NASA's mars rover Curiosity is parked in the casino's parking lot, and the PE Ship lands on it.  Dunno how I missed that the first time.

[Reply #33 on:]

8/10 from me as well.

Had some great laughs from it, but some gripes as well - several plot holes, kinda felt that the final act was not quite as awesome as the first two. But yeah, solid and more than enjoyable enough

[Reply #34 on:]

I liked it a lot, it had a definite "Futurama Classic" feel to me.

9/10

[Reply #35 on:]

Why the hell are so many people negative about the CC run? This episode was a fine example of the brilliance of the new run IMO. It had everything - A great story, great character development (liked the Amy and Zoidberg pairing), funny lines (the chart room was hysterical), and an all-round classic futurama feel.

I don't think as many people are negative about it as it seems.  The average rating is an 8/10, which isn't bad at all.  People are just more likely to point out things in the episode that they didn't like than things that they did like.

I guess I was more referring to the season in general... but yeah, good to know this episode seems to be going down fairly well. A great one IMO

[Reply #36 on:]

Random moment of the episode: Isn't that casino alarm sound effect from Perfect Dark? I've been after a good quality version of that for years...

[Reply #37 on:]

On rewatch I noticed that NASA's mars rover Curiosity is parked in the casino's parking lot, and the PE Ship lands on it.  Dunno how I missed that the first time.

My favorite part of the episode.

Just a throwaway line, writers, that's all I ask for. Just give me some indication that you remember past episodes, and the major plot-points in those episodes.

But that would require shaving off valuable time necessary to wrap up these bloated episodes!  You are right though.  I would trade all of these overbearing plots in a second for more internal consistency, which is the single most important aspect for willing suspension of disbelief.  Honestly, I didn't give a shit about the 'heist plot'.  What would have made this episode much stronger would have been to focus on the disparity of world views between Amy and Zoidberg, rich and poor.  The 'rich and poor' plot felt tacked on, and instead should have been the primary emotional drive of the episode.

Why the hell are so many people negative about the CC run?

I'm critical because I want it to be better.  This season has still been very good, and I personally haven't ranked an episode lower than a six, but there are still details and structural problems that are keeping these episodes from being 'mind-blowing' which is the standard that I hold Futurama to.  It feels as though if the producers put a little extra effort into tightening the bolts down, the show would benefit greatly.  As some others on this forum have said repeatedly, there are aspects that feel sloppily done, and could do for a tighter focus.

Random moment of the episode: Isn't that casino alarm sound effect from Perfect Dark? I've been after a good quality version of that for years...

Yes! As a matter of fact, Futurama has used a few PD soundbytes over the years, mostly gun sounds, alarms, and doors opening.  I have identified the Farsight XR-20, Callisto NTG and the Pheonix shooting sounds, because they are so deliciously pew pew.  God that game had freaking great sound effects.

[Reply #38 on:]

The Mafia didn't recognise Bender in "Free Will Hunting" either, so I can let it slide. Good point about Clamps and Zoidberg though.

Not only that, but already in "Bender Gets Made", it is established that the Robot Mafia always forgets people it has dealt with.

Watching it now, and I want to say this nitpick before I forget.

Aren't there no more sardines in the universe?

Unless Anchovies and Sardines are the same thing then there is no mistake.

What is even more interesting is how many people seem to think anchovies and sardines are the same thing.  You won't believe how many have altered the "The Deep South" Infosphere article, because Hermes has sardines in one of his bait buckets.

[Reply #39 on:]

Random moment of the episode: Isn't that casino alarm sound effect from Perfect Dark? I've been after a good quality version of that for years...

Ah, you might be right! I thought it sounded familiar but couldn't place where I had heard it before. I'll have to look into it.

Overall I thought this was a great episode. I always like seeing Zoidberg get more screen time and I thought he was used perfectly here. There were some fun moments and seeing the entire crew plan a heist was a neat change of pace. The roulette wheel made a sound that reminded me of the scanning probes in Prometheus. That seems a bit too current to have been made during this episode but the sound and style were VERY similar. The realistic opening was fantastic and totally caught me off guard. I would love to see more creative title sequences like that in future episodes.

I need to watch it again but at the moment I'd give it an 8/10.