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

[Reply #40 on:]

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.

As I explained, the episode would've been better if they had adequately explored the premise of an FCC Deathsphere "censoring" indecent planets -- by destroying them -- instead of the lame, uninspired premise of marooning Leela and Zapp together on a supposed "Garden of Eden" planet and have them wear figg leaves over their naughty bits, as a contrivance for them to have sex again. That's ultimately what this episode was all about. The only "twist" was that after Zapp tried so hard deceive Leela into having sex with him, it was Leela who chose to do it just to get it over with so she could go home and do her laundry -- as well as to save the Earth from destruction. But I don't consider that to be a clever twist at all; it was another lame contrivance to get them to have sex, so that the episode wasn't a total tease for the fans.

IMO the FCC Deathsphere should've been this episode's A-story, because that would've been an interesting and funny premise to explore. Unfortunately, it was an ignored opportunity, and this episode centred on a juvenile twist on an old Bible story, seemingly just to enrage the FCC and Bible-thumping moral crusaders, whom this episode neglected to lampoon.

[Reply #41 on:]

Didn't I predict (multiple times) that whenever there's something that someone doesn't like in any of the new episodes everyone's gonna be all "Oh my god Futurama's shit now!!!" or "Oh my god Futurama's turned into Family Guy!!!11!!1" ages ago?

And I'm sick of saying this but: I hate it when people say things like "V-Giny is a ridiculously puerile name. Futurama is better than that." When? When has Futurama been better than ridiculously puerile jokes? One of the things I always loved about Futurama was that it had a mix of smart subtle sci-fi-ey nerdy jokes and immature humour.

[Reply #42 on:]

Didn't I predict (multiple times) that whenever there's something that someone doesn't like in any of the new episodes everyone's gonna be all "Oh my god Futurama's shit now!!!" or "Oh my god Futurama's turned into Family Guy!!!11!!1" ages ago?

I haven't seen anybody say that yet, maybe they have and I just missed that post. Sure, the new episodes aren't up to par yet with the classic bad ass Futurama, but that doesn't mean they can't build up to a Roswell that Ends Well! We critique the episodes heavily because we are sci-fi fans, its what we do. We don't mean it out of hate, but of love to say, "wow, our show is so good, but how can we make it better?"

[Reply #43 on:]

It's just sad when people go off the deep end and say that Futurama sucks now after watching 2 of 26 new episodes. Stupid instant gratification in today's world. Chill, my babies.

[Reply #44 on:]

*crosses arms* But moooooooom, I don't wanna!

Haha, anyway, I don't think that this season will turn out to be crap. I think it'll be like a little Futurama Flower: It will continue to blossom to its full potential. But right now, its not there yet.

[Reply #45 on:]

Didn't I predict (multiple times) that whenever there's something that someone doesn't like in any of the new episodes everyone's gonna be all "Oh my god Futurama's shit now!!!" or "Oh my god Futurama's turned into Family Guy!!!11!!1" ages ago?

I haven't seen anybody say that yet, maybe they have and I just missed that post. Sure, the new episodes aren't up to par yet with the classic bad ass Futurama, but that doesn't mean they can't build up to a Roswell that Ends Well! We critique the episodes heavily because we are sci-fi fans, its what we do. We don't mean it out of hate, but of love to say, "wow, our show is so good, but how can we make it better?"

No one specifically said "oh my god Futurama's shit now!" But that's definitely the general gist of what a few people are saying. I guess it's just that it's only just come back as episodes so everyone's a little worried as to whether it's sill gonna be a good show and such...

[Reply #46 on:]

Rewatching the last two or so minutes of this episode, I have to say: it's not...horrible. It's unnecessary (but I disagree, SA, that the entire episode was just a contrivance for Zapp and Leela to have sex again; I don't think many fans were clamoring for it), and it's not terribly funny, and I still think Leela and Fry accept it too placidly/are disgusted by it for the wrong reasons. But it's a throwaway. It's not a ship- or character-destroying thing. It's just a misstep by the writers, and--like I've been saying--it doesn't make me worry that there will be a significant drop in quality this season. I just think this is a so-so episode that will hopefully be buried and forgotten among better episodes (like "Rebirth"--which, the more I think about it, is like a mix between BBS and, like, TKOS: old-school emotional/shippy episodes and second-generation ones).

[Reply #47 on:]

Whoo boy, tough crowd.

I thought both episodes were fine, though they do recycle some ideas from earlier in the series.  Thought Leela's progression from abject horror to jaded contempt as Brannigan's ruse was unveiled was funny.  Bender's "Bender Is Great" sign is also hilarious.  I also don't think Leela or Fry need to be more disgusted than they were at the ending, given the very credible threat of being destroyed/permanently censored/whatever.

[Reply #48 on:]

And I'm sick of saying this but: I hate it when people say things like "V-Giny is a ridiculously puerile name. Futurama is better than that." When? When has Futurama been better than ridiculously puerile jokes? One of the things I always loved about Futurama was that it had a mix of smart subtle sci-fi-ey nerdy jokes and immature humour.

When has Futurama ever gone that far? The closest I can think is their 'Urectum' joke, but that wasn't just a 'lol rectum' joke, it was a joke that drew humour from scientists going to the effort of renaming a planet to get rid of a dumb joke only to miss an arguably worse name. I honestly can't think of another joke in Futurama's history that is on par with V-Giny for being lame and immature. It's just a thinly disguised rude word. Futurama may have used crude elements in their humour before, but there's always something else to the gag.
It's the difference between Beavis & Butt-head genuinely finding the word 'ass' hilarious and someone finding Beavis & Butt-head hilarious because they find the word 'ass' hilarious. Do you see what I mean?

That said, I'm not saying Futurama is crap now or anything of the sort. I don't like In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela, it's one of my absolute least favourite episodes, but I really enjoyed Rebirth and I have high hopes for the rest of the season. And as I said, In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela is still good television.

[Reply #49 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!

No, the Eden thing was Groening's idea.

Didn't I predict (multiple times) that whenever there's something that someone doesn't like in any of the new episodes everyone's gonna be all "Oh my god Futurama's shit now!!!" or "Oh my god Futurama's turned into Family Guy!!!11!!1" ages ago?

And I'm sick of saying this but: I hate it when people say things like "V-Giny is a ridiculously puerile name. Futurama is better than that." When? When has Futurama been better than ridiculously puerile jokes? One of the things I always loved about Futurama was that it had a mix of smart subtle sci-fi-ey nerdy jokes and immature humour.

Was is it called now?

Urectum!

[Reply #50 on:]

Full power to the Vagirascope!

[Reply #51 on:]

I hate to say it, but for me it was a weak episode. Level of smuttiness didn't bother me (should I be admitting to that?) but a lot of it seemed forced - especially the Zapp/Leela plot after the crash, at which point it seemed the overall writing quality dipped somewhat.

For instance, I really liked the Amy in the orgy outfit bit (should I be - oh sod it) as a reaction to the Professor's explanation of everything but if you compare it with Zoidberg's Parcheesi segment, which I found hilarious - that made sense. Amy's gag would have made more sense if she left the room for best part of the scene to get ready and then returned at the end, catching the tail end of the explanation, as opposed to sticking around for the entire exposition, only to the leap into her orgy gear in the last three seconds just to state the bloody obvious...I just feel it cheapened the gag. That's the sort of thing I feel Futurama is better than. I guess.

V-GINY? Not a problem. I still liked the V-GER reference (and the fact that nobody could possibly guess what it meant). Why the hell would it want to force Leela to consummate with Zapp though!? I've seen better excuses for Leela and Zapp sleeping together pitching up in the comics!

6/10

[Reply #52 on:]

One line I will always remember from this episode is Bender: "I haven't really felt anything since my guinea pig died..."

Edit: I just noticed the Urectum mention in the president beginning. Nice that they continue such one-liners.

[Reply #53 on:]

Surely it can't just have been me that found Fry's ridiculous portrait of himself hilarious?

[Reply #54 on:]

I though it was hilarious as well.

[Reply #55 on:]

It was a decent episode. After watching this and Rebirth I personally think that soon the writers will be used to writing for Futurama again and we'll get some gems.

Plus Zoidberg and his love for parchezzi made me grin.

[Reply #56 on:]

He probably just thought it had something to do with cheese.

[Reply #57 on:]

I loved all those moments you guys mentioned. It was hilarious when Fry tried to offer the portrait (which brings to mind the question of how he painted it with his horrible human hands). There was a good amount of hilarious moments in IDGDL, but not enough to make it a better episode overall.

[Reply #58 on:]

I'll have to watch this episode again to see how I really feel about it.

[Reply #59 on:]

I thought the episode had some great jokes, but Leela's behaviour did seem very out of the ordinary.
The flashbacks were IMO funny, because just when you think Zapp's a big of an idiot enough, it turns out he's worse!
Rather enjoyable. Only downside was Leela. But it was different.

[Reply #60 on:]

V-GINY? Not a problem. I still liked the V-GER reference (and the fact that nobody could possibly guess what it meant). Why the hell would it want to force Leela to consummate with Zapp though!?

I mentioned this before: I believe that V-GINY was supposed to represent the FCC fanatics and moral crusaders who apparently have nothing better to do than to try to eliminate what they consider to be "indecent" entertainment. I think that the joke behind why V-GINY made Leela and Zapp have sex, and why the Deathsphere was apparently aroused by it, was that those zealots who protest so loudly ironically turn out to be biggest freaks with the worst peccadillos in their closets.

That's what I think, anyway.

Unfortunately, most of the episode focused on the uninspired Leela-&-Zapp-in-the-Garden-of-Eden plot, and not on V-GINY's origin and motives for destroying indecent planets. I know those were explained, but in a poorly written effluence of exposition --apparently just to get it out of the way, so the episode could get back to the lame A-story.

I rated this episode a 4/10 in the poll. IMO it's the worst episode of Futurama EVER!

[Reply #61 on:]

One line I will always remember from this episode is Bender: "I haven't really felt anything since my guinea pig died..."

I can't believe anyone thought that was funny. I didn't think it was funny at all, and it was a pointless waste of time.

I know that the Futurama writers have included throw-away jokes at the end of scenes like that one before, but they're usually funny. Bender's line, and even Fry's before that, are stupid and pointless.

Fry's line was apparently intended to call attention even more attention to the fact that Leela and Zapp are crammed into a one-seater stealth fighter together, and Leela's sitting on Zapp's lap, and Zapp alludes that he has an erection -- yeah, yeah, WE GET IT ALREADY! How stupid do they think we are!?

Even the part when Fry gave Leela the trail mix and the over-sized portrait of himself were lame and unfunny. I understand why Fry giving Leela the trail mix was shown, but it was just so awkwardly written and blatantly shoehorned into that scene.

It's so disappointing. This isn't Futurama-calibre writing!

[Reply #62 on:]

Once again I point the blame squarely at the not so super team of Caroline Premish and Matt Groening.

[Reply #63 on:]

SorynArkayn please don't double post use the edit button thanks

[Reply #64 on:]

Thing is we didn't miss anything important plot-wise because because of V-chippieness and well hey, you can turn your V-chip off if you want (the default). So there are not many people other than TV writers worried about it. It gave me that same uncomfortable feeling that I got when Picard and crew had shows where they were doing theater as part of the show's plot, usually in the holodeck, (this is sci-fi?) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Like I said before, they'd be better off getting cues from Two-and-a-Half Men, realizing there is very little you can't say or do, than doing an odd dump down with characters going into retarded/infantile Jerry Lewis or Peter Griffin mode when in adult situations.

[Reply #65 on:]

Once again I point the blame squarely at the not so super team woman of Carolyn Premish and Matt Groening.

Fix'd. Carolyn Premish is a saint. A modern day Jeanne d'Arc.

[Reply #66 on:]

Am I the only one who loved this episode?  I understand how some people felt Leela was out of character but...

1.  She was delirious

2.  The fate of Earth depended on it

Anyways, next weeks episode looks promising

[Reply #67 on:]

Another random note:  I thought it was clever that Leela figured out Brannigan's ruse as she was consuming the apple from the "Tree of Knowledge" (in the Bible, Adam and Eve realize that they are naked after Eve eats the fruit).

[Reply #68 on:]

After watching it a 2nd time: Still loved the episode up until the ending, the ending still frustrates me, but a good episode nonetheless!

[Reply #69 on:]

You know, on second viewing, I actually enjoyed this episode a lot. It had more laugh out loud moments than Rebirth did, especially the pre-plot split scenes and the B-plot scenes. And the A-plot scenes weren't as horrible on second viewing to me. I agree with PatchChord three posts up, I understand Leela's feelings now. She was taking a nonchalant attitude about it not because it was Zapp but because she wanted to save the world, get it over with, and never remember it again. Plus, she had laundry to do. And Fry's reaction was much more in character than I thought.

I feel bad now for giving the 5/10 rating I did yesterday. It's more of a 6.5 or 7/10. Definitely funny, but still not 10 star example of Futurama's awesomeness (I blame the lack of 3 to 3.5 stars on Premish!).

[Reply #70 on:]

Favorite parts

~Chamber of understanding

~Bender's Guinea Pig

~Zapp's dreams

~Zapp's pathetic attempts at tricking Leela

Overall 8.5/10  (The ending was kind of rushed and strange) Great start to the new season!

[Reply #71 on:]

I feel like a lousy shipper for not being utterly offended by this episode, but I'll say it: it was good. Much better than a lot of people want to give it credit for. I liked it almost as much as I did "Rebirth", even though they are two very different episodes.

A brief explanation of why I, as a shipper, am not offended by this episode: We get adequate evidence that Fry and Leela are, y'know, committed. The kiss goodbye at the air base, Fry worrying about Leela in the PE kitchen (and I agree with whoever said that the writers may have been foreshadowing some future storyline where Bender is jealous of all the attention Fry pays Leela)--those are the biggies. But there are also more subtle, background-y things. After Leela beats the tar out of Zapp and says "Let's go", she takes Fry's hand. In fact, the two are very clingy throughout that scene, all hugging and whatnot. She's completely comfortable with him. It's not like the writers were really trying to explore the possibility that Leela might have feelings for Zapp--they were just examining how far Zapp would go to score once more with Leela.

That said: I don't like that make-out session. I know I said yesterday that I was less offended by that than I was the consummating thing--but I take it back. Leela essentially throwing herself at Zapp was all kinds of gross. (Although her reading of "Come here, my Adam" reminded me of her saying "Wake up, my king" in "A Bicyclops Built for Two"; maybe Leela just has a fixation with being an Eve-like figure in general.) I do think the delirium thing needed to be played up more, but I'll admit that it sat a bit better with me this time around.

I don't hate that Zapp and Leela get it on at the end of the episode. I agree with Weiner, that Leela and Fry's reactions aren't so out-of-character. Yeah, I would've liked them both to appear more disgusted, but Leela was definitely bored and annoyed, and viewed the whole thing as sort of a business deal.

But enough plot analyzin': the best part of this episode was that it brought the funny. In droves. Zapp's fantasy sequences were great, and a lot of Leela's pissed-off, mildly delirious comments during the Eden segments were pretty funny (I like the run about the tuba, and about the Bible being a twisted book of holiness; also, "Why couldn't a water fountain have fallen on me?"). The only things that really fell flat for me, comedically, were that whole Pubic Library thing, and Bender sexin' up the video camera.

So, yeah. This episode was by no means brilliant, but it was much better than I initially wanted to give it credit for. I'll defend it to the end, I will.

Well, maybe not to the end. But pretty damn close to the end, let me tell ya.

7/10

[Reply #72 on:]

Pubic Library gave me a small chuckle.

[Reply #73 on:]

I have to admit that I peeked at some spoilers here before this ep aired - and I was very worried about it as a result. I will admit that I am a Fry/Leela devotee, it's one of the things I enjoy about Futurama, and the main reason is because I think Fry's devotion/obsession with Leela gives him more personality and a reason to care about him - qualities I think he'd lack otherwise. And tough-girl Leela caring about an endearing doofus like Fry makes her more likable too. So I would seriously be bummed if anything happened to harm that dynamic. And after reading some of the complaints here about In-A-Gadda-Etc., I felt a bum coming on...

But after viewing it..I liked it. Yes, I think Leela was too much of a pushover for Zapp - her acceptance of him was way too rushed  - but otherwise I have no problem with her behavior. The fact that she did the nasty with him at the end...well, the V-Ginny (Fry voice: Hee hee) was going to destroy the world otherwise. So she was like "Oh hell, let's just get it over with" and didn't seem the least bit thrilled with the idea, so I'm okay with her actions. And Fry's scream of anguish at the end after the...ship with the naughty name refused to censor the nasty made it clear that he wasn't all that happy about the situation either.

So all in all, I liked this episode. But I do NOT want to see Leela do the nasty with Zapp ever again. Twice is twice too many. That particular comedic udder has been milked dry. Kill the cow and let's move on.

I'd give the ep a 9/10.

[Reply #74 on:]

I'm still not sure what to make of this episode... I may have to watch it again before I can clear up my thoughts.  Overall I thought it was good, not great.  Some very funny moments, but also some quite strange ones.

One notable thing is the adult themes.  I don't mind this at all, but it quite shocked me as I wasn't expecting it from Futurama... perhaps this is a sign of things to come on the new network.

[Reply #75 on:]

Well it was definitely more adult then Amazon Women, but it hasn't hit Spanish Fry yet.

[Reply #76 on:]

I think that maybe they're working up to it. They did have "magic marker penises" as a line. That would never have gotten past the FOX censors.

[Reply #77 on:]

Now that I've watched it, I feel I can chime in and say that while it was disappointing I still liked it for the most part. A few specific things I'd like to note:

Show spoiler

• The "V-Giny" joke seemed kind of stupid at first, but as the episode progressed I think I saw what they were getting at. It turns out that the name resulted from an FCC satellite colliding with a spy satellite, so it's kind of funny that such an inappropriate name came from something intended for censorship, still not that great though. The important thing is how that carried through into the end when V-Giny's tone implied that it was really just a pervert acting under the guise of censorship (at least, at that moment). However, that in and of itself  felt a little off. I get it, but it fell a little flat.

• Zapp had a mix of really good and not so good moments. Personal favorites would be "I surrender and volunteer for treason!", the fish in a barrel joke, "guess who just killed a wood chuck with his bear feet" (I'm surprised that I'm the first to mention it), "Yeachk, is that really what happened in the bible?" (which is what I've been asking for years), but the rest just ranged from lame to... adequate I suppose.
• Now getting back to the V-Giny thing, the side jokes that spawned from it felt tacked on, like "I don't like the looks of this 'V-Giny'". Eh...

You know it felt like I was prepared to write more, but maybe I will later once I watch it a few more times. On the whole, the episode felt kind of mish-mashed with a lot of things not explained explained well enough, but it still made me laugh. I'd give it a 7, maybe a 6.5. Rebirth was better.

Show spoiler

Purple monkey dishwasher.

[Reply #78 on:]

Am I the only one who loved this episode?  I understand how some people felt Leela was out of character but...

1.  She was delirious

2.  The fate of Earth depended on it

That's how I saw it. And some here complained about Fry's reaction to the um, "consummation", that he just seemed disgusted by it, and not jealous enough or something, but to me, he seemed more than disgusted - he was in PAIN over it. Yeah, that's my Fry. I was so worried about this ep, but to me it's just fine. I liked it.

[Reply #79 on:]

You know, being someone who plays saxophone in a marching band, I feel the need to get a shirt with Leela saying, "We can fix the wrongs of society. Like the tuba!"