Thoughts on 6ACV05 - The Duh-Vinci Code - SPOILERS

[on:]

Another week, another episode!

The Duh-Vinci Code airs tonight and this is where you can review and discuss the episode (after you have seen it!) Please leave a short review and score on CGEF, too.

Beware, this thread will contain SPOILERs outside spoiler tags!

[Reply #1 on:]

Welp, episode's about to start, unlocking. Expecting this to be a good one!

:edit: Well, I enjoyed it. Lot of good laughs. At the start it seemed like they were trying too hard with the davinci code parody, but it was still funny. The back half, with leonardo turning out to be the dumbest alien on his planet, was better, and leo's doomsday machine was hilarious.

Lots of good little gags along the way, too. Yeah, in my book this was a good one.

Of course, your mileage may vary; let the nit-picking begin.

[Reply #2 on:]

I loved it. It had a great sci fi story, and a touching end. 10/10

[Reply #3 on:]

That was, without a doubt, the worst episode I can remember seeing. Even "That's Lobstertainment" was better than this.

[Reply #4 on:]

This episode was so bad I think it gave me cancer!

[Reply #5 on:]

If you think this was a horrible episode, you're an idiot that didn't realize the over-arcing character development of it. You have Fry feeling horrible for being stupid at the beginning and the Professor making fun of him throughout, then the table's turn at Leonardo's planet and the Professor feels stupid. It was a touching episode that had some good laughs and running gags. Definitely liked that they referenced back to the opening scene throughout and didn't just have it be a random loose end. That was probably Morbo's best appearance since WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. Good episode, I'll hold off on rating it until I get the HD version.

[Reply #6 on:]

I liked it.  It wasn't as good as PI, but I liked it better than the first 3 episodes of the season.  I liked all the examples of Fry's stupidity (especially bringing back the nail on the nail bit).  The Professor was also his old self, and the Bender vs. Fountain Beast was great.  I just didn't like Leela's acceptance of the mile deep club, the joke about taking random bits of information and coming up with a conclusion (South Park did it first and better I think), and the fact that Da Vinci's robot and Da Vinci himself spoke modern English.  

[Reply #7 on:]

Character development? They're in season 6. There is no need for that anymore.  Plus, since when has the professor worshiped Davinci?

If you think this was a horrible episode, you're an idiot that didn't realize the over-arcing character development of it. You have Fry feeling horrible for being stupid at the beginning and the Professor making fun of him throughout, then the table's turn at Leonardo's planet and the Professor feels stupid. It was a touching episode.

Alright people I mean this kind of character development where they don't even act like themselves. Its too late to be doing that.

[Reply #8 on:]

I thought this was a pretty good episode out of the season so far. There was evidence of character development, funny jokes, and an overall content storyline. The quote from Hermes was definitely one of the better jokes.. made me lol.

The first 2 acts were a bit slow... however I believe it picked up towards the end. The way they used the nail bit throughout the entire episode was smart. I'm also glad to see this episode didn't have so much social jokes like "Prop", and "App" had. I hope the season continues to do this.

I think Fry was pretty much golden in this epsiode, his quick confused remarks had me laughing throughout the episode. He may be my favorite now.. Ha.

Overall, this episode was really good and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

[Reply #9 on:]

If you think this was a horrible episode, you're an idiot that didn't realize the over-arcing character development of it. You have Fry feeling horrible for being stupid at the beginning and the Professor making fun of him throughout, then the table's turn at Leonardo's planet and the Professor feels stupid. It was a touching episode.

That much is readily apparent to anyone. Just because the episode is all pretty and symmetrical like that does not make it a good episode. The opening scene with Morbo was pointless and had no context, the second act was simply one "DA VINCI'S LOST X OMG" scene after another and the bit about Da Vinci and the professor being the dumbest people on the colony of nerds was just another pointless plot twist that seems to be the hallmark of this season. In short, the whole episode was exceedingly pointless.

All my opinion of course, I'm not going to call you an idiot for thinking otherwise.

[Reply #10 on:]

Not the best, but I'd say it was pretty good. There were a few things I liked: the squid clogging the drain, Bender's arm coming off when he put the coin in the Vitruvian Man, the mace replacing his arm, and a few other jokes. In fact, one joke I just got while typing this post was that Dr. Zoidberg got his doctorate in Art History, and not anything related to medicine.

As far as the plot went, I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code-esque conspiracy in the first half, considering how rediculous some of the connections were (like that Neptune statue leading the gang to that fountain). However, the ending didn't sit well with me; neither the Professor or Da Vinci are stupid people, so I don't like that the episode tried to convey the moral that there's always someone better at you at something.

To quote Hermes, "Didn't we used to be a delivery company?"

7/10

[Reply #11 on:]

I'll agree about the opening Millionaire gag; that was a bit of a manatee joke, amusing but largely irrelevant. It did set up the various nailing nails with nails jokes later, though, and I lol'd when fry managed to flick the nail into his eye at the end.

[Reply #12 on:]

That quote from Hermes was about the only funny part.

[Reply #13 on:]

They both spoke Early Modern English, also known as Shakespearean or Elizabethan English; note that the robot used "thou" and "thy" a lot. About 50 years before its time, but still not Modern English at all.

I liked it.  It wasn't as good as PI, but I liked it better than the first 3 episodes of the season.  I liked all the examples of Fry's stupidity (especially bringing back the nail on the nail bit).  The Professor was also his old self, and the Bender vs. Fountain Beast was great.  I just didn't like Leela's acceptance of the mile deep club, the joke about taking random bits of information and coming up with a conclusion (South Park did it first and better I think), and the fact that Da Vinci's robot and Da Vinci himself spoke modern English.  

First you all get mad that Leela is so easy to forget Fry, now she wants to do him and you get angry again!

They both spoke Early Modern English, also known as Shakespearean or Elizabethan English; note that the robot used "thou" and "thy" a lot. About 50 years before its time, but still not Modern English at all.

Character development? They're in season 6. There is no need for that anymore.

I stopped reading this post and went to the next when you said there wasn't a need for character development anymore. How much do you like Family Guy?

If you think this was a horrible episode, you're an idiot that didn't realize the over-arcing character development of it. You have Fry feeling horrible for being stupid at the beginning and the Professor making fun of him throughout, then the table's turn at Leonardo's planet and the Professor feels stupid. It was a touching episode.

That much is readily apparent to anyone. Just because the episode is all pretty and symmetrical like that does not make it a good episode. The opening scene with Morbo was pointless and had no context, the second act was simply one "DA VINCI'S LOST X OMG" scene after another and the bit about Da Vinci and the professor being the dumbest people on the colony of nerds was just another pointless plot twist that seems to be the hallmark of this season. In short, the whole episode was exceedingly pointless.

You do realize the Second Act was a parody of Dan Brown's novels, right?

And you're not getting a lot out of life if you don't appreciate the art of symmetry. The opening scene had context as it set up the "Fry is stupid, Professor is smart" arc of the episode. It also set up the nail joke's return later on.

That quote from Hermes was about the only funny part.

It was funny, but it wasn't the only funny part. You should really rewatch the episode.

[Reply #14 on:]

Character development? They're in season 6. There is no need for that anymore.  Plus, since when has the professor worshiped Davinci?

I totally disagree. You want to see the characters in some sort of stasis now that we're almost a hundred episodes deep? That makes no sense to me, seeing as how the characters--not the gags, not the wacky sci-fi plots--are what make this show worth watching.

Anyway, the review: I liked this one. The first act didn't thrill me--it seemed rushed, and the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? opening not only seemed ripped from an early issue of the comics (number...five, I want to say?), but not exactly timely. I did enjoy the conflict between Fry and Farnsworth (his hatred of dummies is well-established, what with all that Igner business in "Bender's Game"). No one visiting Fry in the hospital for two weeks--not even a card!--was pretty great. And I enjoyed seeing the Professor as less of a senile old kook and more as a man who genuinely values science and intellect. It makes perfect sense that Da Vinci would be one of Farnsworth's heroes.

Act two definitely picked things up; I've never seen nor read The Da Vinci Code, but I still enjoyed the madcap race through Rome. Fry asking Leela to join the Miles-Deep Club was kind of random (and again I still don't know where those two stand, but it didn't really matter for the purposes of this episode, so I didn't really ponder it extensively), but it made me laugh. Oh, and Animatronio was great; he reminded me of the Gypsy fortune-teller and, like, that crazy, I-Choose-to-Believe-What-I-Was-Programmed-to-Believe robot from "The Honking": mystical and crazy and fun. I loved that he was powered by a mouse on a wheel.

Act three was...I don't know. You'd think a story in which it is revealed that Da Vinci is an alien would be too crazy. But it worked here. I liked that he felt inferior, and creating a doomsday machine/ice cream maker was the perfect revenge. Fry's speech, about always being dumber than somebody, was great. Like I said, I enjoyed the examination of Fry's intelligence vs. Farnsworth's, and the way that, ultimately, anti-intellectualism is sort of embraced. And Fry is right--he does have a good heart. That moment between he and Farnsworth was too sweet for words.

I'll need to give this episode another go to be sure, but for now it's a solid 7/10--it loses a point or two for that lousy opening and some weird pacing in act one (and that damn Leonardo DiCaprio shit in act three; it was mildly amusing the first time (if not too pop-culture-y for my tastes), but it was totally lame thereafter). Still, it's another solid episode, and that's all I can really ask for.

[Reply #15 on:]

That was so bad it gave me cancer! Simpsons and South Park did them better. It was hard to watch!


I agree with Krusty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhe3vSe-mmw

[Reply #16 on:]

This episode was the first episode this season that I felt was a real 'Futurama' episode. All the previous ones so far have been alright and maybe even mediocre at points, but this one made me laugh and feel like I was watching something from season 3 or 4. Great jokes, good character story, and a thorough plot. The "Didn't we used to be a delivery company?" line had me sold.

[Reply #17 on:]

They both spoke Early Modern English, also known as Shakespearean or Elizabethan English; note that the robot used "thou" and "thy" a lot. About 50 years before its time, but still not Modern English at all.

I liked it.  It wasn't as good as PI, but I liked it better than the first 3 episodes of the season.  I liked all the examples of Fry's stupidity (especially bringing back the nail on the nail bit).  The Professor was also his old self, and the Bender vs. Fountain Beast was great.  I just didn't like Leela's acceptance of the mile deep club, the joke about taking random bits of information and coming up with a conclusion (South Park did it first and better I think), and the fact that Da Vinci's robot and Da Vinci himself spoke modern English.  

First you all get mad that Leela is so easy to forget Fry, now she wants to do him and you get angry again!

They both spoke Early Modern English, also known as Shakespearean or Elizabethan English; note that the robot used "thou" and "thy" a lot. About 50 years before its time, but still not Modern English at all.

Character development? They're in season 6. There is no need for that anymore.

I stopped reading this post and went to the next when you said there wasn't a need for character development anymore. How much do you like Family Guy?

If you think this was a horrible episode, you're an idiot that didn't realize the over-arcing character development of it. You have Fry feeling horrible for being stupid at the beginning and the Professor making fun of him throughout, then the table's turn at Leonardo's planet and the Professor feels stupid. It was a touching episode.

That much is readily apparent to anyone. Just because the episode is all pretty and symmetrical like that does not make it a good episode. The opening scene with Morbo was pointless and had no context, the second act was simply one "DA VINCI'S LOST X OMG" scene after another and the bit about Da Vinci and the professor being the dumbest people on the colony of nerds was just another pointless plot twist that seems to be the hallmark of this season. In short, the whole episode was exceedingly pointless.

You do realize the Second Act was a parody of Dan Brown's novels, right?

And you're not getting a lot out of life if you don't appreciate the art of symmetry. The opening scene had context as it set up the "Fry is stupid, Professor is smart" arc of the episode. It also set up the nail joke's return later on.

That quote from Hermes was about the only funny part.

It was funny, but it wasn't the only funny part. You should really rewatch the episode.

Nobody cares about the English they spoke, of course they put their voices in English. If there were subtitles it would have been (more) stupid.

Not this type of character development, no. There's no need for this. Character development is not making the characters do new things.

Also, about the whole "arc" thing, shut up. That was completely and utterly pointless and they don't need to make the characters "learn" like that...

And I said it was about the only funny part, meaning there were parts that made me chuckle but that was the only actually really funny line.

Futurama is dead, just admit it.

[Reply #18 on:]

Not this type of character development, no. There's no need for this. Character development is not making the characters do new things.

Character development has a lot to do with observing the characters in new situations and seeing what they're made of. Fry being a dummy and Farnsworth being a smarty-pants are not new things by any means: this episode just showcased those traits and set them at odds for the sake of propelling the episode and grounding it emotionally. Sounds pretty masterful to me.

Another thing I meant to mention: I kind of liked that this episode began with a focus on the whole crew, but then only took Fry, Leela, Bender, and Farnsworth to Rome. And I liked that it ended with just Fry and Farnsworth in act three. I know that the entire PE crew is important, but I was beginning to miss episodes that focused primarily on the three (four, if you want to count Farnsworth) principals. I may be alone here, but sometimes that dynamic is a lot more interesting to watch (and a lot less crowded; for example, I felt like there was too much, like, unnecessary Zoidberg in "Proposition Infinity"--it made no sense for him to join the crew on their mission to save Amy and Bender).

[Reply #19 on:]

Futurama is dead to you maybe. But I can't wait for next week's episode.

[Reply #20 on:]

I thought this was a pretty good episode. Fry's stupidity was overly done, and more exeplified than usual. Leela seems to be turning into a Amy-esque character, first banging Zapp, then almost Fry. Also, when was the last time the crew went on a delivery. Professor Farnsworth seemed out of character this episode; almost idiotic. Still, this was a good episode, (although this is coming from a guy that liked IaGDL). All-in-all, 7/10. I still have high hopes for the new season.

[Reply #21 on:]

Strange episode.

The individual jokes were funny enough (the two nails, Space Pope acting as air traffic controller, 2^11 - 23*89, calc homework in operatic form, etc.), but the overarching themes about Farnsworth thinking Fry's an idiot and Fry teaching Farnsworth to be humble were very telegraphed and didn't move me as much as I wanted them to, if that makes any sense.  It also didn't help that the whole Da Vinci Code-style adventure was essentially a 15-minute B-plot that was bookended by 3 minutes of the A-plot on either side; the pacing felt very awkward to me.  Far from the worst Futurama I've ever seen, though.


EDIT:  "I'm going to stop this infernal ice cream machine once and for all."  Heh.  Unfortunately, I'm mortified that whoever wrote this episode didn't know or forgot that the series expansion 1 + 1/2^s + 1/3^s + ... for the Riemann zeta-function is invalid when Re(s) < 1, and that it has roots when Re(s) < 0.  It is nice to know that apparently the Riemann hypothesis is true, though.

[Reply #22 on:]

You do realize the Second Act was a parody of Dan Brown's novels, right?

And you're not getting a lot out of life if you don't appreciate the art of symmetry. The opening scene had context as it set up the "Fry is stupid, Professor is smart" arc of the episode. It also set up the nail joke's return later on.

I can certainly appreciate the symmetry just fine, thank you very much. It's just that it was not a WELL DONE plot! And I don't care if it was a parody of Dan Brown's novels, because much like the man's novels and the movies based on them, that sequence WAS DULL and a WASTE OF TIME! And the nail joke just wasn't all that funny in my opinion.

YMMV, of course.

[Reply #23 on:]

Loved it! I love Divinci though cause I'm an artist =)

"Wanna join the mile deep club?"
"SURE WHY NOT."

Professor Cockblock'd!

[Reply #24 on:]

It also didn't help that the whole Da Vinci Code-style adventure was essentially a 15-minute B-plot that was bookended by 3 minutes of the A-plot on either side; the pacing felt very awkward to me.

I agree that the pacing may have been strange, but I think act two kept alive that essential theme of Fry-is-a-dope, and thus when it was reintroduced as the A-plot in act three, it didn't seem as jarring to me. I suppose it's a matter of opinion, though.

[Reply #25 on:]

Wasn't the biggest fan of this.  I laughed a few times (the vincians insults to Leonardo got a big chortle from me, as well as operatic calculus homework), but I just didn't find most of the ep funny.  I really disliked the jokes involving the ancient robot (I forgot his name, even though Fry kept repeating it) - i.e. pretty much everything he said, and the whole accidentally explaining things/pretending to die bit.

I liked the idea of Leonardo as the stupidest person on his home planet, and the parallel to Fry, but in the end I don't think it was executed all that well.  It ended up being the Prof. and Fry acting like extreme caricatures of themselves for most of the ep, which, even if it served the plot, got kind of tiresome and didn't seem all that clever to me.  

Eh, onto next week I suppose.  That promo looked pretty good...

[Reply #26 on:]

Liked it. It had a good plot line with the professor sort of learning his lesson, great individual jokes. Personally I loved the Bender vs. Fountain Monster battle. And Fry was a bit more ignorant in this episode to emphasize the plot. But he's been pretty dumb in plenty of other episodes. You can't say it was out of character.

9/10

 

[Reply #27 on:]

Not a very good episode, despite some good chuckles (the "put on 3D monocle" gag in the opening credits, for example). Honestly, riffing on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Even Slumdog Millionaire was released two years ago.

This is the first ep since the show's return I haven't gotten much out of.

[Reply #28 on:]

Did the Prof's voice sound a bit off at times to anyone else?

[Reply #29 on:]

Billy West is settled into the professor's voice now, if you listen to older episodes it sounds a lot breathier and more monotone.

[Reply #30 on:]

It was mediocre. I didn't like it very much- I could barely understand James the Robot nor Leonardo da Vinci due to their Italian accents (I don't like Italians). They played up the Fry being stupid too much- kind of like Homer Simpson when "The Simpsons" was going downhill.

[Reply #31 on:]

Fry being 'overly dumb' is a pretty common thing in Futurama, i.e. taking a character's trait and putting it to an extreme, e.g. Leela's lack of impulse in "Anthology of Interest I", Farnsworth being senile in "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" and so on.

The "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" part was good because it was short, I was fearing it might take longer than it did.  Besides, you could also argue, what was the point of the horse race in "Luck of the Fryrish"?  To establish that Fry is unlucky, you say.  Well, in this episode, it was to establish he was dumb.

Perfectly comparable.  And you all love "Luck of the Fryrish", right?

[Reply #32 on:]

Billy West is settled into the professor's voice now, if you listen to older episodes it sounds a lot breathier and more monotone.

You mean the world has professors that aren't heavy-breathing monotones???    

[Reply #33 on:]

I guess I'm going to have to draw the Mile Deep Club now.

[Reply #34 on:]

just noticed the professor says 'humdinger'...isn't that a mst3k reference?

[Reply #35 on:]

That's Hamdinger.

[Reply #36 on:]

I think humdinger is just something old people say.

Why did I know Freako was going to draw the Mile Deep Club...

[Reply #37 on:]

Farnsworth's maniacal laugh and girlish squeal were both very Stimpy-esque, I loved it.

[Reply #38 on:]

Fry being 'overly dumb' is a pretty common thing in Futurama, i.e. taking a character's trait and putting it to an extreme, e.g. Leela's lack of impulse in "Anthology of Interest I", Farnsworth being senile in "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" and so on.

The "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" part was good because it was short, I was fearing it might take longer than it did.  Besides, you could also argue, what was the point of the horse race in "Luck of the Fryrish"?  To establish that Fry is unlucky, you say.  Well, in this episode, it was to establish he was dumb.

Perfectly comparable.  And you all love "Luck of the Fryrish", right?

At first though, my money was going on the "Fry thinks up a solution to something related to Leonardo da Vinci" twist for the climax. I guess I might be a bit disappointed- we all know that Fry has some hidden genius deep down inside (well, very, very deep down). I disliked the shots of Fry getting mashed in the cogs of the doomsday device- they were out of character for Futurama (almost like "The Simpsons" after their prime). But, after two more viewings, it wasn't too bad- the 3-D animation of all of da Vinci's inventions were very well done. The Bender and the coin slot gag is up there in my faves. I even saw what I think are South Park references (which they probably weren't).

[Reply #39 on:]

AH, now this is the type of ep Futurama does best - full of wacky humor, inventiveness, clever snippets of dialogue, and even a bit of heart. It was cool to see Fry and the Prof interact the way they did. Personally, I thought it was high time somebody reacted *appropriately* to Fry's foolishness - with impatience and disgust - and the Prof did so admirably. And Fry's feelings being so hurt by it all was a nice touch; it sure beats the obliviousness that too many "stupid" characters in other toons display in regard to the chaos and harm their behavior causes. Fry has seldom been more endearing than he was in this ep. He even had a lesson to teach to all the smart people - "there's always going to be somebody smarter than you, so you have to do your best with what you've got". His straightforward nature sold that line, so that it didn't sound sappy or preachy. Plus, he got hurt a lot in this episode - and that helps some characters become more likable (think Wile E. Coyote), so while I winced a little when he got caught in the gears, I liked it too.

My only quibble: Fry was in the hospital for 2 weeks and nobody visited him - not even Leela? I've seen shows go downhill after they begin selling out a character or a relationship for a cheap laugh; hopefully Futurama will avoid going down that path. That "joke" took me right out of the story for a moment.

I also have to say that the animation for these episodes has been superb, a great improvement over the animation in the show's first run. All of the characters display more expression, and the movement and timing are spot-on.

This ep is a great improvement over last week's. Funnier, and thank goodness, it wasn't trying to ram a social issue down our throats. I'd give this a 9/10.