Thoughts on 6ACV10 - The Prisoner of Benda - SPOILERS

[Reply #40 on:]

Wow, this episode was so great! I loved that they managed to combine a sci fi-ey storyline with so much craziness and hilarity. I was really impressed with the fact that I was pretty much laughing the whole way through, which hasn't happened in even the most joke heavy episodes this season.

I'd give this one a 9/10

Even thinking about the Japanese guy's reaction to his arm being cut off and the whole scene with Scruffy and Amy-Bucket are still making me laugh as I type this.

[Reply #41 on:]

Fantastic. FanTASTIC.

Farnsworth's tone of voice as he says "Math" just killed me. I had to pause the television. Lord.

9/10. This, TLPJF, and Lethal Inspection are my top three so far.

[Reply #42 on:]

Well, I have to admit, when I saw the clip, weeks ago, of Farnsworth and Zoidberg making out on a table, it did NOT occur to me what was really going on. Mostly because it grossed me out so much I didn't even want to think about it.  But WOW what a surprise, and a...pleasant?...one. And also wow, the writers took the old mind-switch saw and made something new. (Get it? Saw? Made? You know, carpentry? Hehehe). All the different switcheroos worked great. Now THIS is Futurama at its best. Clever as hell with a warm subplot. 9/10 (Bender got on my nerves, and hence knocked off a point). Bravo!

[Reply #43 on:]

This episode was great. One of my favs of the season. Like everyone else is saying, it reminded me a lot of Three hundred Big Boys, which is in no way a bad thing.

Yeah, I have nothing new to add really. Solid 8 out of 10 that could become a 9 upon rewatch.

[Reply #44 on:]

Oh god, I loved this episode! Definitely going to rewatch it again within the next day or so.

[Reply #45 on:]

That episode was absolutely ACE!

Especially the first few lines, because I was able to relate and then laugh my ass off. I had to pause the episode until I stopped cackling.

They really know how to twist things up!

[Reply #46 on:]

Here's my review of "Bodyswap" ... (Woops, sorry, wrong series ... "The Prisoner of Benda")

One of the funniest science fiction stories I've ever read/seen, enjoyable throughout. ("Inertia" by Rudy Rucker is probably #1.)

Some of the weirdest pairings so far: the Professor/Zoidberg, Scruffy/Amy. (I'm sure someone at the forum is writing an alternate scene for Scruffy and Amy.)

"Stop kicking me around!" is a funny in-joke. (Nixon said it in 1962 after losing a governor's race.)

Now I need some help from the shippers out there ... I seem to vaguely recall a story where a prince (or someone of royalty) runs across an identical twin who's a peasant, and they agree to switch places. What the peasant doesn't know is that there is a plot to assassinate the prince. It seems like the peasant-posing-as-prince discovers this, and he manages to convince the assassins that a swap has taken place. No, it's not "The Prisoner of Zenda." Any help?

One last thing. Letting the cat out of the bag, I teach mathematics at the college level at a large public university, and my area of research (when I get time to do research) is combinatorics. My initial thought on the "restoring" problem (getting everyone back into their bodies) was that you could do it, but that the extra bodies would get mixed up. (I expected there to be a large pile of monkeys at the end of the episode. This would have been a neat reference to the original Amy/Professor conversation.)

Speedracer seems to have gotten the idea right, but I'm not too happy with his example; it's only a cyclic permuation. What swaps would work if you had seven bodies 1-7, where the minds are in the order 2341675? (This is a "product of two cycles.")

[Reply #47 on:]

I like the way the characters acted like the person who was inside them. Amy acted like the Prof when he was in her.

That and the Scruffy/Washbucket scene.

[Reply #48 on:]

Funniest episode yet, also had the best "flow" of the season. Seemed longer than some other episodes but not in a "boring long" kind of way.

10/10

[Reply #49 on:]

Holy fuck. That was quite possibly the greatest thing ever.

[Reply #50 on:]

I loled. More than one occasion

Yay~!

[Reply #51 on:]

Quality.  A lot of great moments, but I especially liked the chainswords (for some reason), and scruffy's display of high morals.

[Reply #52 on:]

Ha!  Scruffy's reading "Extra Long Honkers"

[Reply #53 on:]

I love the sign at the UN.  Mmm...

Which reminds me, this episode had a lot of freeze frame background jokes.  Moreso than previous episodes.

[Reply #54 on:]

Wow, I really do have a totally different sense of humour to everyone on here, don't I?

I thought the comedy was this episode's weakest aspect. I loved it but it wasn't as funny as A Clockwork Origin or The Late Philip J. Fry for me. The only laugh-out-loud moment I had was "Friends, there are barnacles on my tuckus!"
Still, this seems to be how I feel about Ken Keeler's episodes in general. Good, strong storylines, well plotted, but lacking in laughs.

But yeah, very good episode that was pretty awesome on the Fry/Leela front and is actually the first time Futurama has managed to disgust me, which is a good thing because they didn't do it with any sort of Mr. Chunks type tactics.

[Reply #55 on:]

I thought the comedy was this episode's weakest aspect. I loved it but it wasn't as funny as A Clockwork Origin or The Late Philip J. Fry for me. The only laugh-out-loud moment I had was "Friends, there are barnacles on my tuckus!"

Yeah, you totally have a different humour from the rest of us.  That line was not really a hilarious moment for me.  It was a rather lame Zoidberg moment.

[Reply #56 on:]

Science, hilarity, and a great story that never got boring. Both A-plot and B-plot were excellent. So this gets a well deserved 10/10 from me.

I can't be bothered to go into specifics, I just loved it.

[Reply #57 on:]

I thought the comedy was this episode's weakest aspect. I loved it but it wasn't as funny as A Clockwork Origin or The Late Philip J. Fry for me. The only laugh-out-loud moment I had was "Friends, there are barnacles on my tuckus!"

Yeah, you totally have a different humour from the rest of us.  That line was not really a hilarious moment for me.  It was a rather lame Zoidberg moment.

I think the main reason I found it so funny was that it was so laboured and ridiculous. There was no real reason for him to walk up and announce it other than it served the plot and that amused me.
Plus, his whole 'friends' thing really seems to be getting me this season. I didn't find his ink defence funny in Lethal Inspection but then his "Goodbye friends!" line following it was again, possibly the funniest part of the episode in my opinion.

[Reply #58 on:]

Well, in general, everything Zoidberg says is basically a joke.  This episode relied more on the whole 'absurdity' than actual punchlines.  And I think that is something that Futurama excels at.  Absurdity.

[Reply #59 on:]

IMO you could combine Clockwork and Late Philip J. Fry and it still wouldn't be as funny as The Prisoner of Benda. (Not that those episodes weren't funny)

I fell off my sofa with my sides hurting.

[Reply #60 on:]

Brilliant. 8/10.

Background jokes, a decent and fast-paced plot, awesome humour and sci-fi... and the most disgusting Futurama makeout session yet.

I love this show. Episodes like this help me to remember why.

[Reply #61 on:]

Wow the season really did pick up didn't it? This episode was very funny in an absurd way, and had loads of different stories which made the episode very interesting.   

9/10

[Reply #62 on:]

I'm afraid we're going to have to use..... math!

9/10 and an instant rewatch is on the cards.

[Reply #63 on:]

Absolutely brilliant episode, loved virtually every second of it. Not quite as excellent as TLPJF but I'm thinking I'm actually preferring this one more.

9/10.

[Reply #64 on:]

The way they brought Leela and Fry’s relationship in a sick and twisted way was just brilliant.

[Reply #65 on:]

man, the images. out of my head with you imbeciles. i dont think, ive ever seen a futurama episode so disgusting and awesome at the same time.

[Reply #66 on:]

so at the very end of the episode who switch with who cos it was confusing

[Reply #67 on:]

First off, when are they going to decide what to do with the Fry-Leela relationship? I do not mean that we need a definite "one or the other" but the way they are working with it now is just frustrating, unfunny, and pointless. The opening scene almost made me turn it off right then and there. If it were not for all the pointless Leela/Fry garbage in this episode, I would have been happy to give it a 10/10.... Instead, I give it an 8/10

Besides that, the episode had a great flow for the multiple stories on the go and the minor characters or small one liners saved this episode from being below average. Everything from Morbo being back with Doooooooom!, to Scruffy finally getting more than one line, only to leave us feeling heartbroken for him. Science needing heaps to move forward, to the Globetrotters being back with a need for math.

Some of my favourite moments...

"Dooooooooom!"
"We'll need to use... math!"
"Also, I do not care for these boobs flapping every which way."
"Oh, it would be sweet for a while, but in the back of our minds we would know that I'm a man, and you're janitorial equipment."
"Hoooaaaaaaaaaaa"
"When I grow up, I want to be a diplomat!"

And some amazing background signs...

"Chili Con Carny"
"Rack of Lamprey"
"With opening act, Peaches and Herzegovina"
"Peace Through Speeches"

[Reply #68 on:]

Speedracer seems to have gotten the idea right, but I'm not too happy with his example; it's only a cyclic permuation. What swaps would work if you had seven bodies 1-7, where the minds are in the order 2341675? (This is a "product of two cycles.")

Decompose into disjoint cycles (2341)(675) and apply the trick to each disjoint cycle.  After the trick is applied to each cycle, the net result is that X and Y are swapped, so if there's an odd number of cycles, X and Y will have to perform one final swap at the end.

In the actual episode, the permutation was a product of a 7-cycle and a 2-cycle. (Farnsworth-Bender-Emperor-Bucket-Amy-Hermes-Leela), (Fry-Zoidberg)

[Reply #69 on:]

Can't wait to watch it again.  I had dusted off the old vcr and the d/a converter box for this season and I'm especially glad I did for this episode.  I think I'm going to wear out the tape before the dvd comes out.

One demerit, however, for the now-lame take on the obligitory "What happens in [blank], stays in [blank]" gag in the opening credits.

It's not just another "stays in Vegas" joke.  You do know what Cygnus X-1 is, or are you just a nerd wannabe?

[Reply #70 on:]

Ken Keeler delivers another fantastic episode of Futurama! The storyline of the episode was very interesting and funny, to have characters constantly switch with mixed parings such as Farnsworth and Zoidberg being Fry and Leela (delivering a rather disturbing scene) to Amy switching with Leela and making her fat as a result. The best scene by far is the one with Amy and Scruffy though, since it was in character for Scruffy and not expected, plus its kind of heartbreaking in a way too.

The plot's resolution was quick, but I'm actually impressed on how much content this episode fitted in within the 22 minute mark. Nevertheless, The Prisoner Of Benda had jokes which almost all worked for me (The only one that didn't work too well I thought was the Japanese translator guy one), but other than that, this episode had a strong plot, similar to Three Hundred Big Boys and The Farnsworth Parabox, with plenty of laughs (Zoidberg being Fry, Amy being Leela, and Fry and Leela as a couple... in Farnsworth and Zoidberg's body), many memorable quotes, and is easily one of the best this season. I'm going to give this episode a strong 9/10 on first viewing!

[Reply #71 on:]

Wow, this was definitely the funniest of the second run yet! Definitely reminded me of Three Hundred Big Boys, one of my favorite episodes (at least one of the funnier ones).

Highlights:

* Scruffy and the water bucket. So great, so awesome.
* The Robo-Hungarians and the cannon robot, hilarious.
* Cold opening "Tonight at eleven: DOOOOM!"
* Some shippy and hilarious AND disturbing moments between Leela and Fry that still get nicely into the plot.

[Reply #72 on:]

This was not only the best episode of series 6, but possibly the best episode ever. That is all.

[Reply #73 on:]

That. Was. Awesome.

In my opinion, this is the single most enjoyable episode of the entire series, with a strong The Farnsworth Parabox/Three-Hundred Big Boys feel (both are episodes I love). Absurdity is what Futurama does best, and I hope to see more of it. I never thought Scruffy, of all tertiary characters, could ever evoke so much laughter from me...

As much as I loved the epic feel of The Late Phillip J. Fry, I honestly found this episode to be far more watchable. There's just SO much going on. I'm so happy that the return of Futurama has been able to provide as strong and enjoyable an episode as this one.

10/10

[Reply #74 on:]

If someone had told me Scruffy would have a plot (or well, a recurring appearance, whatever), I would have claimed it an extremely bad idea. But it worked!

[Reply #75 on:]

I just remembered one of my favorite parts:
"A reverse Turing Test, eh?"
"He steps forward, but moves backwards!"
"By the gods, he is a machine!"

Robot humor is always good. And I loved the irony of them thinking a moonwalk can only be done by a machine. Although it could just mean that thousands of today's dancers are actually machines... Whoa, this throws my entire perception of reality into question!

[Reply #76 on:]

Yeah, that's awesome. I also love that Bender couldn't calculate the square root of nine (which would be logical in a sense - he doesn't have the machinery or calculator for it). Even more hilarious, that he wanted a pencil.

[Reply #77 on:]

All I have to say is: YES. That was an amazingly hilarious episode, and I plan on re-watching it some time soon. The Leela-Farnsworth/Fry-Zoidberg relationship was funny and disturbing on so many levels. I commented out loud, "Oh God" during the restaurant scene. I loved the science behind the body switching, too.

Anyway, it was wonderful. 9/10

[Reply #78 on:]

If someone had told me Scruffy would have a plot (or well, a recurring appearance, whatever), I would have claimed it an extremely bad idea. But it worked!

I have been waiting for more than 6-7 years for Scruffy to get more screen time... and he did not let me down in the least. It was perfect.

[Reply #79 on:]