Thoughts on 6ACV02 - In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela - SPOILERs

[on:]

[edit by [-mArc-]: Please also post a short review on CGEF if you can.]

For completion's sake, here's a thread dedicated to discussion on this particular episode.
I've seen it 3 times now, and so I feel like I can judge it relatively fairly.

The good:

• I loved Mauriche LeMarche's announcer voice at the very start.
• I really liked the concept of Zapp's sci-fi serial dreams and them showing up once in each act, but I didn't think they were carried out in a very funny way, unfortunately.
• Zapp had some excellent moments. "Mr President, what the hell?", "I find that OWW! to believe", etc.
• Whilst not that funny, the episode had its moments. I liked the resolution joke in particular.
• Naked Leela

The bad:

• Quite a lot of jokes fell flat for me. The fish in a barrel thing, Zapp's weird distressed noises every time Leela figured out he'd lied to her about something, etc.
• Show spoiler

  I'm still really confused about Fry and Leela. She seemed to still be with him when she left for V-Giny with Zapp, kissing him on the cheek and so forth, but she also seemed very happy to forget about Fry and sleep with Zapp.
• V-Giny is a ridiculously puerile name. Futurama is better than that.
• Leela was completely out of character throughout the episode. Yes, she was dehydrated but still. She still seemed out of character after rehydrating herself a bit with that apple. It barely changed her.
• That f***ing snake. What was that? I get that it was a hallucination but come on. It felt nothing like Futurama and the Disney-esque, exaggerated animation didn't help.
• The sex-joke ratio seemed unusually high for Futurama. I'm okay with it if it's not a consistent thing with the new episodes and this is just the Amazon Women/Spanish Fry of the season, although maybe if the sex-jokes had been as funny as in those episodes I'd feel differently.
• Chris Elliott is now one of my least favourite guest appearances in the show's run. His performance was stilted, acting-wise and his voice didn't really scream Death Sphere at me. I think that might be 'the joke' but I certainly didn't find it funny.
• Show spoiler

  The ending. Leela being forced to have sex with Zapp and then actually doing so was not only a bit too far for Futurama, but once again, completely out of character. The Leela of the past would have completely resisted that, even if it meant the entire planet being destroyed. Here, Leela almost seemed happy to have an excuse to sleep with Zapp again.
• The pacing once again felt off. I hope this isn't something that each new episode is going to suffer from.

Overall, not great. It had its moments and is still fantastic television, but it's up there with my very least favourite episodes. I consider it only slightly better than the likes of A Leela of Her Own and A Taste of Freedom. A surprisingly bad choice of second episode given that this one-hour premiere is surely quite a big thing in terms of grabbing new viewers.

6/10

[Reply #1 on:]

I think the first half was far better than its second half.  Sort of like several other episodes of Futurama, I recall, they start out great, then dwell into undecentness.

[Reply #2 on:]

People have likened this episode to Amazon Women and to Spanish Fry. Both of those episodes were far better than this, and their subjects were more alike eachother than alike to this episode's. As svip said, this one's first half was far better than the second. It's the Bender's Game of the new season.*

*And, yes, that's going to become "a thing" now.

[Reply #3 on:]

I completely agree that Amazon Women in the Mood and Spanish Fry were FAR better than this, but it still sticks out as being a 'dirty' episode and it does seem something of a Futurama tradition since season 3.

[Reply #4 on:]

By the way, was that snake ever explained?  He came and then just vanished.  I suppose it was supposed to emphasise that Leela was seeing stuff and sudden, but that's only when you think about it in retrospect.  Had colours and stuff been doing crazy stuff, then I would have instantly got it.  And then I would think, 'aw, is it just a coma again?' and then BAM, no!  It was another twist.

Unfortunately, not so.

Maybe I should be a writer on Futurama to fix their scripts up.

[Reply #5 on:]

I thought the snake was just a reference to jungle book? Seemed that way to me.

I think IAGDL was a pretty good episode really. Not as good as Amazon women, but far better than Spanish fry. Although I never liked Spanish fry anyway.

[Reply #6 on:]

This episode felt way to off the mark to me. It was ok not great.

[Reply #7 on:]

I really liked the idea of Zapp´s dreams as well. Unfortunaly this episode simply didn´t feel like Futurama in almost any way. Much more like cross between disney saturday cartoon and South Park.

[Reply #8 on:]

I remained convinced that Leela was hallucinating. Though the fact that Zapp was being his usual self was good, the first half was definately better.

[Reply #9 on:]

I thought the snake was just a reference to jungle book? Seemed that way to me.

I think IAGDL was a pretty good episode really. Not as good as Amazon women, but far better than Spanish fry. Although I never liked Spanish fry anyway.

Second, on all counts. This episode was better paced than Rebirth, but slightly out of character for Leela... at the ending anyways. There were fewer laughs than usual for a Zapp episode, which I attribute to him scheming and pretending to be nice right up until the end. Of course, any Zapp time at all is a treat.

I have to say, Fry doesn't seem nearly jealous enough at the end, considering his reaction to Leela and Lars.

I think the first half was far better than its second half.  Sort of like several other episodes of Futurama, I recall, they start out great, then dwell into undecentness.

I think this is what saves it from being a poor episode, and pushes it into "OK". The beginning, with the first part of Zapp's dream was so funny, especially just shooting the space pirate. But the best part of it was the "screen realisation" of Bender. Go freeze frame it if you haven't already. Very funny. I think I might have to avatarise that. Sorry Freako.

[Reply #10 on:]

It was ok, certainly watchable but rather average by Futurama standards. Doubt it'll get many viewings when the DVD box set is released however.

A few observations which I'll stick in spoiler tags for the benefit of people with slightly selective blindness:

Show spoiler

- An interesting blink and you'll miss it scene between Fry and Bender in which the latter is narky that Fry never asks how he is. Possibly a foreshadowing of Bender being slightly jealous that Leela's taking up more of Fry's time than she used to - may be introduced in a later episode perhaps.

- Pretty pleased with how they're handling the F/L angle - keeping it the background with occassional subtle references is the route many hoped the writers would take and it looks like they're not going to be disappointed. I'm curious to see how it'll progress through the season. That said...

- The ending is sure to rankle a few though I wouldn't classify myself under that bracket. Sure, it seemed a tad out of character but given the ordeal she'd just been through you got the impression that she figured she'd might as well just get it over with and move on. I do wonder whether it'll ever be referred to again however.

- What did irritate me however is that the ending seemed...I don't know, slightly pointless. It was almost as though the writers got 90% of the way through the script before realising that they hadn't left room for a suitable ending - so they just threw in any old shit a la many a new Simpsons episode.

Overall, it was alright. I enjoyed Rebirth far more definitely but this was passable. Every season has one or two episodes that just scape into the realms of mediocrity - this was one of them.

Looking forward to more however.

[Reply #11 on:]

I thought the snake was just a reference to jungle book? Seemed that way to me.

It was a reference to the Bible.

Show spoiler

- Pretty pleased with how they're handling the F/L angle - keeping it the background with occassional subtle references is the route many hoped the writers would take and it looks like they're not going to be disappointed. I'm curious to see how it'll progress through the season. That said...

The "occasional subtle reference" is exactly what I hate about it. If you're going to introduce something which I deem could become the jumping the shark moment of the series, either keep up with it or not. My view of them not sticking to it is strengthen by:

Show spoiler

- The ending is sure to rankle a few though I wouldn't classify myself under that bracket. Sure, it seemed a tad out of character but given the ordeal she'd just been through you got the impression that she figured she'd might as well just get it over with and move on. I do wonder whether it'll ever be referred to again however.

It wasn't her being out of character; it was Fry. He just stands there and watches. He's disgusted, but he's not angry. He should've been angrier.

I just really hope they kill this sooner rather than later. Single Fry is more fun.

[Reply #12 on:]

I thought the snake was just a reference to jungle book? Seemed that way to me.

It was a reference to the Bible.

And Jungle Book. I got a definite Kaa vibe from him. The bible part was kinda overdone throughout the episode, but the snake's Kaa-ness made me chuckle. I loved Kaa. Think I might need to go watch the Jungle Book again.

[Reply #13 on:]

I just really hope they kill this sooner rather than later. Single Fry is more fun.

I quite enjoy Business Fry. Oh, and Lifeguard Fry!

I've already discussed my feelings about this episode elsewhere, and I'll be sure to join in the debate once more PEELers have seen it tomorrow, but basically it comes down to this: I agree with Svip, that the first half of the episode was far better than the second. I also think Leela's delirium wasn't convincing, in terms of writing as well as acting (see: "The Sting" for a reminder of how well you can play delirious, Katey Sagal). And the ending was completely pointless; the indifference towards sleeping with Zapp on Leela's part--and towards Leela sleeping with Zapp on Fry's part--reminded me a bit of "The Beast With a Billion Backs." Which, I'll say once more for the record, is probably the episode to which a lot of angry shippers are going to compare this one. (Like I said elsewhere, though, I don't think the ending was meant to piss off shippers; I think the writers were just going for comedy, but failing miserably.)

[Reply #14 on:]

Just noticed the sound of the stealth fighter sheilding itself is the Transporter sound from Star Trek TOS, and I also just realised that I *want* a Chamber of Understanding. To lock people in until they can understand why they suck.

[Reply #15 on:]

The Chamber of Understanding was probably the best gag in that episode that I can fully remember right now.

On comparing this to Beast: NO! Beast only messed up Amy/Kif, a relationship which we know was fixed by the time of ITWGY. Shippers just didn't like Beast because it was laugh out loud funny and not one bit shippy at all.
However, IDGDL ruined the "progress" they tried to establish in Rebirth. Both Fry's and Leela's reactions to the ending made no sense for their characters. Leela was way too willing to do it, whereas Zapp was the one who was indecisive. I understand Zapp's indecisiveness and not wanting to do it, because we now know that he actually does truly care about her. But Leela's made no sense whatsoever. If everything was in character, both Leela and Zapp should've been as unwanting to do it was Zapp was. And Fry should've been angry and not disgusted.

[Reply #16 on:]

If we ignore the bizzare ending and write it off as played for laughs, like the ending of the Cryonic Woman, then the episode works better.

[Reply #17 on:]

Actually... wait a second... yeah, it does!

Personally, I blame Carolyn Premish. Whoever the fuck she is.

[Reply #18 on:]

Well they should never have given her premishion to write the episode, amirite?

No...no, I'm not.

On comparing this to Beast: NO! Beast only messed up Amy/Kif, a relationship which we know was fixed by the time of ITWGY. Shippers just didn't like Beast because it was laugh out loud funny and not one bit shippy at all.

Speaking as an ardent shipper and huge BWABB apologist, I agree with you...to an extent. I also think a lot of people found the movie unfunny on its own merits (I personally found it hilarious); it is pretty outlandish, and not terribly clever. (Other sex-based episodes--sexisodes, if you will--like Amazon Women and "Spanish Fry" had a bit more brain behind the, uh, brain.) But damn it, every once in a while you need a laugh-out-loud, nonsensical episode. Problem is, people who really disliked Beast had to deal with it for 90 minutes.

Something else about IAGDL: I don't quite understand why Leela so immediately volunteered for the mission. It seemed like sort of a contrivance. It would've been a perfect opportunity for her to say, "Well, since I have a debt to society that I really haven't paid, I can do you guys this solid." But I guess the fugitive thing was dealt with when Zapp's disembodied head said, "Never mind" in "Rebirth." Kind of wish we had gotten a bit more closure than that, though.

[Reply #19 on:]

I just realized another problem with IDGDL: there's no B-plot.

Look at Rebirth: you got F/L as the A-plot, and then Bender's the B-plot. You continually see Bender dancing in scenes so you know the plot is still going on. At the end, the B got back to the A and fixes everything.

Look at IDGDL: you got Z/L as the A-plot, and ... um ... I guess them on Earth as the B-plot. Sure, the B meets back up with the A, but the B didn't tie in with or fix the A at all. It was purely by luck that the world was saved. And the B wasn't especially interesting like Bender was in Rebirth.

So it's not the fault that Zapp can't carry an episode; he and Kif carried Brannigan Begin Again pretty well. It's that the B plot wasn't strong enough at all.

[Reply #20 on:]

But "Brannigan Begin Again" has no B-plot either; like you say, both Kif and Zapp carry the episode. I don't doubt that Zapp can carry an episode (he's hilarious in "Love's Labours Lost in Space" and "War is the H-Word"--two of his more prominent appearances); I just think that, because he's trying to act like a Lancelot throughout most of the Eden stuff, you lose Zapp's inherent Zapp-ness. You get it back a little at the end, when he's explaining how he duped Leela (see what I did there?), but for most of acts two and three, he's this bland gentleman whose behavior is slightly confusing and hardly amusing.

[Reply #21 on:]

BBA didn't have a B-plot, but it wasn't as two-character heavy. In IDGDL, you have only two characters talking for a while. In BBA, you had a good mix of everybody in that episode. They were interacting with characters they'd never talked to before.

[Reply #22 on:]

Yeah, the two characters on their own does kinda allow things to stagnate, but it was sorta necessary to create the believability of maybe Earth had actually been destroyed by the Censor Ship.

It wasn't a brilliantly plotted second half. Could've used better planning to allow for more screen time for the rest of the crew. Could've used a better resolution too, for that matter. I think perhaps that this Carolyn Premish person is going to come under a lot of fire.

[Reply #23 on:]

I know that the "Story by Matt Groening" part at least was just the Exploits of Zapp Brannigan. We've known for years that he imagined Zapp having his own serials. It's possible that the Eden part wasn't Matt's idea at all, all this damn Carolyn Premish's!

[Reply #24 on:]

I'm assuming she was a freelancer. Did anyone notice her name in the opening or closing credits? Like, as a staff writer or something?

Also: Did Josh Weinstein have a producing credit at the beginning of "Rebirth", or was I just seeing things? I watched the episode mighty late at night; maybe I'm just hallucinating opening credits again.

[Reply #25 on:]

He did. You're still hallucinating though. I am not a banana. Think I saw Premish's name in there too. Might be catching those hallucinations though. Time for another rewatching.

Edit: Nope. Didn't see Premish's name in there. Weinstein, but no Premish.

[Reply #26 on:]

Josh Weinstein's name was there. If I remember correctly, so did Eric Kaplan, Ken Keeler, and Eric Horsted. They were listed as Executive Producers, once again, if I remember correctly. That was the first thing I noticed, actually.

[Reply #27 on:]

Josh Weinstein's name was there. If I remember correctly, so did Eric Kaplan, Ken Keeler, and Eric Horsted. They were listed as Executive Producers, once again, if I remember correctly. That was the first thing I noticed, actually.

Co-Executive Producers. Not to split hairs, but... alright, I'm splitting hairs. Bite me.

[Reply #28 on:]

I don't know which of the two new episodes was more disappointing -- probably "Rebirth", because this Leela-&-Zap-in-the-Garden-of-Eden episode seemed like a poor idea when I first heard about it. I suppose then that I wasn't disappointed by how poor this episode was.

I acknowledge that my expectations were impossibly high for Futurama's return, but once "Season 7" is done, I'm certain that we'll be able to look back at this episode and agree that it was below average by Futurama's standards. I don't think that this episode was as bad as the worst episodes of Futurama, but it's perilously close.

I think that this episode focused too much of Leela and Zapp and underplayed the threat posed by the V-GINY Deathsphere. I mean, the Earth has been attacked and invaded by aliens before, but this is the first instance that I can recall the Earth being under threat of total destruction (the Infosphere threatened the entire universe, not just Earth), and it didn't seem like it was treated as seriously as the Garbage Ball in "A Big Piece of Garbage", which only endangered New New York.

I would've preferred that more of the episode involved investigating the origin of the Deathsphere, instead of just spewing blatant exposition that V-GINY was a gestalt of a secret military satellite and a secret FCC satellite, which supposedly explained why it was "censoring" so-called indecent planets, and had the firepower to destroy them. (BTW, why did they claim they claim that both satellites were launched in 1998? Was that when the V-Chip was introduced? Regardless, the controversy regarding censorship seemed more of an issue during the Dubya Dark Age, when the number of complaints sent by the public to the FCC rose from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands per year.)

Futurama could've delved into the issue of censorship and how both the FCC and self-appointed moral crusaders are ludicrously fanatical in their intolerant objections to what they perceive to be indecent content. This episode ignored the issue and instead focused on showing Leela and Zapp wearing figg leaves for more than half of the episode. And at the end, when V-GINY basically forced Leela and Zapp to have sex under threat of destroying the Earth, I assume that it was intended to be a cleverly ironic twist by depicting a symbollic moral crusader as a despotic pervert, but because there was little to no exploration of the Deathsphere's motives, it just seemed cheap and vulgar -- as if Futurama was intentionally making itself out to be what the censors and moral-critics condemn it as: indecent.

Many people have pointed out that Leela acted out of character during this episode, and I agree; and most of us agree it can be attributed to dehydration-induced delirium. However, Leela acted out of character from the very beginning, when she didn't protest Zapp accompanying her on the mission to try to destroy the Deathsphere. This seemed ridiculous considering her revulsion and overt hostility toward Zapp in "War is the H-Word", "Amazon Women in the Mood", and other episodes. The plot was contrived from the very beginning to get them alone together and maroon them in an apparent Garden of Eden. This was very disappointing and uninspired writing.

Upon re-examination, this could very well be the worst episode of Futurama (IMO). I disliked "That's Lobstertainment", "A Leela of Her Own", and "The 30% Iron Chef", but the writing was solid in those episodes. I mean that it wasn't that the writer was poor, they just made poor choices in those particular episode. This episode seemed poorly conceived from the beginning, and then poorly written. I can't believe that this script made it through the re-writing process.

I wonder if one of the unfortunate consequences of CC ordering 26 episodes all at once, that the writing staff didn't have the time to sit down in their writers' room and adequately scrutinize every script, which might explain how this one got through.

I've explained in the other thread why I can forgive "Rebirth" for being under-whelming, because it was creatively constrained as a transitional episode; but this episode had no such constraints imposed on it -- other than the premise of the episode of portraying Leela and Zapp as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. IMO, this was just a BAD episode.

[Reply #29 on:]

But the writers have always let stinkers slip by; every season of the original run has one or two episodes that are, at the very least, mediocre. I'll concede that most of these mediocre episodes did not suffer from the same problems with characterization that seem to plague "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela", but still. It's not like the writers have lost their touch; I really do think they just need to get back into the groove of things.

Alternately: Blame that Premish chick.

[Reply #30 on:]

I really think Carolyn Premish may be a pseudonym. She doesn't seem to exist anywhere.

[Reply #31 on:]

And from whom did you steal your theory, Weiner?

[Reply #32 on:]

Wernstrom?

[Reply #33 on:]

I really think Carolyn Premish may be a pseudonym. She doesn't seem to exist anywhere.

I wouldn't blame one of the regular Futurama writers for using a pseudonym for this episode, because it's probably the worst episode ever. Considering how fanatical we Futurama fans are, I certainly wouldn't want the writing credit for this episode.
It's unfortunate that Matt Groening was credited for the story, because I think that the premise of this episode was the worst part.

[Reply #34 on:]

I'm still thinking it might even be some kind of anagram. Though the best I've come up with so far is Carolyn Premish -> cram horny piles.

[Reply #35 on:]

Gorky is still thinking it might even be some kind of anagram.

Fixed.

SorynArkayn: I think the premise actually had promise (try saying that three times fast); it was the execution that was iffy. If they had taken a different approach to the whole thing--if Leela had been more repulsed by Zapp's advances, dehydration-induced delirium or no--then it would have been a lot more palatable to me. It's a neat idea, making Leela and Zapp Adam and Eve (and I think it's kind of a cliche sci-fi trope, which Futurama usually lampoons so well), but maybe not at this point in the series. Not only does it seem weird when you look at it in terms of Fry and Leela's relationship as it currently stands--it just contradicts Leela's established attitude toward Zapp.

[Reply #36 on:]

Wait, Horny Lip Creams also works.

[Reply #37 on:]

premise was fine parts of the episode were okay overall a bit of a dud. Particularly the last half of Leela/Zapp.

Possible anagram: "Shame Cry Nil Pro". However if she is a real person, I'm not ruling out her creating a good script.

The good news is now my expectations are much lower.

[Reply #38 on:]

I really think Carolyn Premish may be a pseudonym. She doesn't seem to exist anywhere.

I wouldn't blame one of the regular Futurama writers for using a pseudonym for this episode, because it's probably the worst episode ever. Considering how fanatical we Futurama fans are, I certainly wouldn't want the writing credit for this episode.
It's unfortunate that Matt Groening was credited for the story, because I think that the premise of this episode was the worst part.

How's it the worst ever? Have you seen Buggalo recently?

And I'm thinking Groening's story credit goes to the Exploits of Zapp Brannigan. That's an old idea they never used.

[Reply #39 on:]

So, I took notes on the episode as I watched it. Remember, these are in chronological order as I watched, so keep that in mind:

The Good:
-Like the old fashion title opening and the black and white cartoon
-Laughed loudly at “welcome back Mrs. Eisenhower” and “Mr. President…what the hell?” The CSI Miami reference, and the picture resolution bit were hilarious! Reminded me of a conversation between me and my little sister. Basically all of Zapp’s lines were easily my favorites of the show
-Not really a good or a bad, but just wondering: At the testing base, a vehicle that looked like a kind of scooter with a cover that flew by umbrella, underneath it was the word: Sanguinette. I tried googling it but nothing came up. Any ideas?
V-GINY,  perfect, just perfect. As well as the Chamber of Understanding, I wish I had one!
-So the Death Sphere is basically the FCC, I like it! I don’t know why but when Fry put the milk back in the fridge I nearly expected him to ask someone to smell it again, but alas, sadly not.
-Ooh! I was right! It does involve the FCC! The Pimpsons and Assorama were also epic jokes, same with Shrapnel vision ☺
-My god, the end is near scene was amazingly amazing. I don’t know if anyone has seen the video, but I wanted to say YOU AINT GOT NO PANCAKE MIX!
-Overall I loved the Zapp and Leela plot line, it was actually quite creative and quite interesting to watch it unfold.

The Bad:
-The opening “Apply Directly to the Eyes” was blurred slightly and at first I had a little trouble reading it, I hope it won’t permanently be this way!
-Didn’t they say in a commentary for “Bender Should Not be on TV” that there were no guns in the future, just lasers? (or that they had guns, but nobody really used them)
-The “I say” dialogue got a little old after a few lines. After that it just got old
I dunno if it was just me, but Zapp and Leela making out just disturbed me…I can’t see them together. At all.
-Aww poor Leela ☹ I don’t think she’s fat. Well, after that, Zapp’s “ehhnnnnn” sound just got more annoying with each and every utterance.  Then again, now that I’m there, the final one of him uttering that is pretty funny.
-I wished it had ended a little better. Zapp and Leela doing it just doesn’t seem like a proper ending to me.

Summary: Though many above me seem to dislike the episode, I actually enjoyed it much more than "Rebirth". Sure, there was no B story, or there was but it wasn't very present, I loved the Planet Express crew's side story. Yes, Leela acted out of character at points, but she basically said to herself: Suck it up, you gotta do whatcha gotta do, at least for now. This rung true in my mind for Leela until the ending, which I really did not like, at all. It was basically one step forward and three steps back from Rebirth. Sure, boo me on it, but I liked the episode!

8/10