Thoughts on 6ACV14 - The Silence of the Clamps - SPOILERS

[on:]

Being as mArc hasn't opened a thread for discussion... DISCUSS!

[Reply #1 on:]

Another first act that moves quickly, but at least this one had some good laughs. The entire scene at the wedding was funny (I liked Fanny's cameo, and Bender's concern about not hitting on anybody he's already had sex with), and Bender's subsequent freak-out about witnessing Calculon's brutal clamping was amusing. Also, we got yet another delivery in this episode...even if it was just to Long Long Island. In cute moments that I liked for no reason news, Fry falling off of his chair and Leela simply stepping over him to take the package from Farnsworth's hands made me giggle. Just a nice little visual gag there. All in all, the first act was good--not brilliant, but certainly passable.

The second act was...uneven. The courtroom scene seemed a little cheap, and a bit prolonged (I did like Bender having invented a new crime, though). And the writers are certainly playing up Fry and Bender's bromance this season; it's gotten play in the last three episodes. It's not a tired plot point, necessarily, but it's not something I need to see overtly referenced in every episode. Also, I feel like this episode can't decide what it wants to be about: you have Bender entering witness protection, and Clamps joining Planet Express to ostensibly befriend Fry...but then there's all this nonsense with Zoidberg and snipping (that cutting-the-cord gag was too much of a nonsensical non-sequitur; it sort of bugged me), and Clamps being an annoying gangster stereotype. I dunno...most of the stuff in the second act just seemed lazy and tired to me.

The third act improved on the second act, in that unevenness became out-and-out badness. So, actually, it was no improvement at all. I just feel like this episode jerked you around for no reason: Clamps attempts to kill a robot he believes is Bender, Zoidberg stops him, that Bell robot shoots him anyway, the crew mourns, and then in the final minute of the episode it is revealed that Bender was actually working at the pizza place across the street (I'll admit that's an amusing conceit, but still).

Too few of the jokes hit their mark, the plot was all over the place, and I will never find the stinking Robot Mafia funny. On the plus side, I wasn't planning on enjoying this episode anyway, so I can't say I was too disappointed. Still, this was easily the worst episode of the season thus far.

5/10

[Reply #2 on:]

THANK YOU!!!!!

Um, first off, I like the new pissed off Zoidy, but for a minute I thought they are turning bender into the new Kenny.

OMG!! They killed Bender!

Other wise, not overly impressed with this one.

[Reply #3 on:]

My initial reaction was this was a fairly funny episode that goes along with DXC saying that this half-season is better than the last half. Better than Neutopia That being said, why all of the "fucking"? It was funny when Clamps did it since he was the parody of typical gangster characters, and less funny the first time Zoidberg did it, but it was just dumb when he did it the last time.

Also, Bender has now "dies" in 6ACV14, 16, and 19. It seems much more often because the weird airing order has them being back-to-back-to-back. It's like how Scruffy was in the first four episodes aired of the season - he didn't appear here - or now Hedonismbot has appeared in back-to-back episodes.

[Reply #4 on:]

That being said, why all of the "fucking"? It was funny when Clamps did it since he was the parody of typical gangster characters, and less funny the first time Zoidberg did it, but it was just dumb when he did it the last time.

Yeah, I didn't much care for Zoidberg adopting his bad ass mafioso attitude at the end of the episode. I feel like he was shoehorned into the episode anyway. And, I mean, seriously, Zoidberg's status as a snipper has been a big part of his character up until this point? You mean it was important all those times the crew never asked him to snip a thing?

Edit: Also, no poll, Weiner? How ever shall people know what the general consensus of the episode's quality is?

[Reply #5 on:]

You nailed one of my concerns Weiner. I think it could just be the order of airing but it still bugs me. I mean how bout one kill a season lol. I did lol pretty hard when Zoid said his name all bad ass tho, he came out of his shell a little, no pun intended.

[Reply #6 on:]

I enjoyed this, but it wasn't great. I liked the first act and derived some amusement from it. Also, the Billy West line was hilarious, in my opinion. Futurama does a really nice job spoofing itself.

The pacing was rough. I was expecting better after last week's episode being very nicely paced, but then again this episode was actually made before last week's, right? So I guess that was a bad expectation for me to make. And I agree that there was maybe too much going on. I found the Zoidberg plot pretty great, actually, but adding that on top of the Bender plot and the Clamps plot was a bit over-the-top. It was harder to follow than the average episode. I watched it with my sister, who's only seen three or four other episodes ever, and she was extremely confused. Which I understand but also I think is worth noting.

The end, with the Bender reveal, was pretty funny and one of the better endings of the season. I liked the dark humor of it.

6/10 for now.

[Reply #7 on:]

Can't disagree with you more, guys. The wife and I were laughing like crazy through this one. My only complaint really was that the "hillbilly farmer isn't really Bender" twist which I saw coming. But the gags were top-notch tonight. Zoidberg's old west showdown with Clamps had me dying. (Especially the Professor, facing away from the action. Perfect touch.)

[Reply #8 on:]

The Billy West joke was pretty funny.

Not a fan of the swearing though, really isn't needed in Futurama

6/10

[Reply #9 on:]

The Billy West joke was pretty funny.

Not a fan of the swearing though, really isn't needed in Futurama

I second that.

Also, it was nice to see the Crushinator back.

[Reply #10 on:]

You mean it was important all those times the crew never asked him to snip a thing?

He did handle the snipping in "Bender Gets Made" (another Robot Mafia episode, interestingly enough)...but with scissors.

[Reply #11 on:]

He snipped the can in Mother's Day. But that was him being abnormally useful.

[Reply #12 on:]

One thing thats kinda buggin me about this one is the amount of character recycling.

[Reply #13 on:]

Also, the Billy West line was hilarious, in my opinion. Futurama does a really nice job spoofing itself.

Ugh, I thought that was so obvious. I liked the hillbilly robot as a character (though I was almost positive that he wasn't really Bender; I suppose another complaint I have about this episode is that it was predictable in terms of its ending, but still was hard to follow, like you say), but the Billy West joke just seemed unnecessary.

The end, with the Bender reveal, was pretty funny and one of the better endings of the season. I liked the dark humor of it.

Agreed. Leela's line about simply killing a father and husband was so morbidly hilarious.

Also, it was nice to see the Crushinator back.

I did like the callback to "The Series Has Landed," but was as usual annoyed by the entire crew accompanying Fry and Leela (and Clamps) on the delivery. At least in this case it served a greater plot purpose.

[Reply #14 on:]

Well Zoidy has snipped many things, well penises. And Frys arm lets not forget. He uses his snippers to do a lot of medical crap I would guess.

[Reply #15 on:]

Well, I thought it was pretty good. And Bender didn't actually die in this episode, it was established that Billy was NOT Bender in disguise. And it's nice to see they're doing deliveries a lot more this half season. Nice use of characters, pretty good plot, pretty funny jokes. It's definitely not one of the best episodes of the new run, but it's not one of the worst either. I'll give it a 3.5/5

[Reply #16 on:]

I too wasn't a fan of the bleeped-out cursing...I think it's pretty stale at this point, after being done to death on other shows. But I will accept it as them wanting to "mafia up" the episode. I can forgive it as long as it's not done in other episodes.

[Reply #17 on:]

Eh, I suppose you guys are right about the snipping. I guess I just didn't find Zoidberg's shtick amusing is all. I'll concede that there is at least some precedent for it, though.

[Reply #18 on:]

I'd say that, for practical purposes, he died. We saw Fry mourning him, again. I am getting a bit tired of the focus on Fry/Bender thus far. I'm looking forward to Tip of the Zoidberg for that reason; it should be a bit refreshing.

Editing to add: The fact that there has been so much Bender-loss recently made parts of this episode really dry. Like the scene in the ship when Fry's talking about how he hopes Bender's happy or something. I was all "yeah, okay, let's get on with this, in ten minutes we'll learn he's not actually dead/lost/etc."

[Reply #19 on:]

Probably my least favorite of this season so far, but not a bad episode.

I enjoyed the Fanny cameo, and introduction of her daughter Bella
Moon Hillbilly Bender look alike married to the Crushinator
Billy West jokes
Defensive Zoidberg

Didn't like the fact that we got another "Bender might die" episode
Lots of bleeping

Maybe a 6/10

[Reply #20 on:]

And they've even made fun of Zoidberg not being able to snip things despite having claws for hands (The Deep South).

I too wasn't a fan of the bleeped-out cursing...I think it's pretty stale at this point, after being done to death on other shows. But I will accept it as them wanting to "mafia up" the episode. I can forgive it as long as it's not done in other episodes.

I appreciated the "mafia up" when it was Clamps doing it the first time. It was completely random and hilarious that time. Just that time.

And I agree that there was maybe too much going on. I found the Zoidberg plot pretty great, actually, but adding that on top of the Bender plot and the Clamps plot was a bit over-the-top. It was harder to follow than the average episode. I watched it with my sister, who's only seen three or four other episodes ever, and she was extremely confused. Which I understand but also I think is worth nothing.

I think it's more that she's not familiar with the characters. They reference all of the Robot Mafia appearances in this episode and have pretty much canonically solidified Fanny who was "only just introduced" to the series in the movies (comparatively to, say, Calculon and Clamps). I didn't even think there were many plots going on: you have Bender witness a crime and go into witness protection (not even to be seen until the end of the episode, mind you), and the Mafia infiltrates PE to kill him. Zoidberg cutting things more of a running gag in the episode rather than a "plot", since there really isn't a story behind it. That's like saying Bender spraying whipped cream in Fry the policeman's face last episode was a plot.

I'd say that, for practical purposes, he died. We saw Fry mourning him, again. I am getting a bit tired of the focus on Fry/Bender thus far. I'm looking forward to Tip of the Zoidberg for that reason; it should be a bit refreshing.

Editing to add: The fact that there has been so much Bender-loss recently made parts of this episode really dry. Like the scene in the ship when Fry's talking about how he hopes Bender's happy or something. I was all "yeah, okay, let's get on with this, in ten minutes we'll learn he's not actually dead/lost/etc."

Once again, note the airing order versus production order.

[Reply #21 on:]

I should add that I missed the previous two episodes, so Bender "dying" didn't seem unusually overdone.

weiner, Zoidberg couldn't snip that because it was the unbreakable diamond tether.  That was in no way indicative of his snipping skills!

[Reply #22 on:]

I did like the callback to "The Series Has Landed," but was as usual annoyed by the entire crew accompanying Fry and Leela (and Clamps) on the delivery. At least in this case it served a greater plot purpose.

True that. Did Hermes serve any purpose? I remember being annoyed at his presence. Amy had some line about having sex and the Professor was worth it just for that gag with him looking the other way, but ugh.

weiner, that is true, but I even found myself kind of reeling during the commercial breaks. Also, augh, production order. I get confused easily.

[Reply #23 on:]

I'm shocked that this episode got rather lukewarm response from you guys. I'd rank it second behind LAO for this season. Zoidberg stole the show pretty much everytime he was on screen.

[Reply #24 on:]

True that. Did Hermes serve any purpose? I remember being annoyed at his presence. Amy had some line about having sex and the Professor was worth it just for that gag with him looking the other way, but ugh.

Yeah, I don't think Hermes did much of use in the third act, but it would have been jarring for him to be the only crew member absent from the moon delivery. And I did enjoy Amy's line about having sex with her boyfriend on a burning flag, and Farnsworth's line about refusing to believe that anyone could be happy. But still, I could have done without the entire crew being there--even though I understand the necessity of, at the very least, Zoidberg's presence.

Though I am admittedly in a lousy mood, and am probably just nitpicking for the hell of it.

[Reply #25 on:]

[...] and Farnsworth's line about refusing to believe that anyone could be happy.

Oh, yeah, that! I laughed there too. A considerable amount of dark humor in this one. I like it. Just, I could do without the swearing.

[Reply #26 on:]

Oh, I agree about the swearing. I just chose not a complain about it here, as I already had a bit of a diatribe about it in the news thread about a month ago when CC Insider posted that clip of Clamps accosting Zoidberg. I wouldn't have minded it so much if it had been used more sparingly--but, by the end of the episode, it just became so repetitive and unfunny and needlessly (albeit, implicitly) vulgar. It was a lazy gag, in my opinion...like so many gags in this episode.

[Reply #27 on:]

One more thing, maybe I missed it, but.......................... .........WHERE THE FUCK HAS NIBBLE BEEN!

[Reply #28 on:]

Probably plotting silently in a corner somewhere. I haven't particularly missed him.

[Reply #29 on:]

One more thing, maybe I missed it, but.......................... .........WHERE THE FUCK HAS NIBBLE BEEN!

Biding his time, remaining unobtrusive until the next brain spawn crisis.  

Overall I enjoyed this ep.  There were some dud parts, but overcome by the rest.  I know I will like it even better on a second viewing.  The showdown at the end was awesome, and the part with Farnsworth looking the other way nearly had me falling off the couch.   

[Reply #30 on:]

That being said, why all of the "fucking"? It was funny when Clamps did it since he was the parody of typical gangster characters, and less funny the first time Zoidberg did it, but it was just dumb when he did it the last time.

Yeah, I didn't much care for Zoidberg adopting his bad ass mafioso attitude at the end of the episode.

I disagree. I hated pretty much everything about this episode, but the only thing that made me laugh at all was when Zoidberg got angry. In fact, I would pay for a t-shirt that said "JOHN F***ING ZOIDBERG!!!" It's not that I really think bleeped-out swears are the funny...it's just it seemed so hilariously and randomly out-of-character for Zoidberg, in a good way. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Oh well.

In my opinion this is definitely one of the worst episodes ever. The entire plot hinged on the fact that none of the characters recognized Clamps...even though they've seen him numerous times...and had just delivered his clamps to him!

I mean, I know our characters have a tendency to be stupid, but this was just a HUGE stretch that the writers made no attempt to cover or explain whatsoever, and for what? A mediocre plot about Clamps trying to kill Bender for being a witness? How inspired!

Add to that the fact that there were very few gags/jokes that I enjoyed, and this was just a miserable experience for me.

4/10 and keep in mind that I now score episodes only compared to everything from the movies on...not compared to the original run.

[Reply #31 on:]

Another mehfest episode, Much like the first two they showed this time around.

[Reply #32 on:]

That being said, why all of the "fucking"? It was funny when Clamps did it since he was the parody of typical gangster characters, and less funny the first time Zoidberg did it, but it was just dumb when he did it the last time.

Yeah, I didn't much care for Zoidberg adopting his bad ass mafioso attitude at the end of the episode.

I disagree. I hated pretty much everything about this episode, but the only thing that made me laugh at all was when Zoidberg got angry. In fact, I would pay for a t-shirt that said "JOHN F***ING ZOIDBERG!!!" It's not that I really think bleeped-out swears are the funny...it's just it seemed so hilariously and randomly out-of-character for Zoidberg, in a good way. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Oh well.

Agreed. By far the funniest part was Zoidberg swearing for the first time. Only seen it once so far, thought it was predictable. I'll give it another chance in a couple of hours. I'm rather sleepy at the moment. 5am.

[Reply #33 on:]

And the writers are certainly playing up Fry and Bender's bromance this season;

"Bromance"? What, Fry is a robosexual now, is he?

I think the word you're going for here is "friendship."

Also, I feel like this episode can't decide what it wants to be about: you have Bender entering witness protection, and Clamps joining Planet Express to ostensibly befriend Fry...but then there's all this nonsense with Zoidberg and snipping (that cutting-the-cord gag was too much of a nonsensical non-sequitur; it sort of bugged me), and Clamps being an annoying gangster stereotype.

Well, all three of those things were tied together.

Bell robot

Belle. (You a Yankee?) Of course, they played on the Bell/Belle homophone.

I wouldn't know whether I'd make out with a woman who had a clapper, though ...

***

I'm on the side of there having been too much swearing in this episode. Zoidberg seemed out of character, being so agressive, he was.

I liked the flying Fedora (the EBI spaceship). Of course, EBI = Earth Bureau of Investigation. The Billy West joke was the only laughing moment IMO.

Once again, good but not great.

[Reply #34 on:]

I didn't like it. It's not as bad as In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela, Attack of the Killer App or The Holiday Spectacular but it's worse than every other season 6 episode I've seen so far. Here's some sporadic, unstructured thoughts:

The story seemed to be full of rehashed material from previous episodes... it's fun having call-backs in a show once in a while but I'm beginning to get a bit sick of it here. They need to keep showing us fun, new stuff otherwise the show will just go round in circles.

The western angle it took at one point was promising, but it never went far enough with it for my liking. Barely any interesting, western-themed music for example.

I also, as many people seem to have done, saw the twist coming a mile off which didn't help things, although I did find it amusing that Bender was just working at the pizza place over the street.

To be honest though, the episode's biggest flaw was just how unfunny it was. It had a handful of great gags, but the ratio was far lower than I'm used to for Futurama. Much of it felt like it was trying too hard... sort of like a new writer who was a fan of the show had come aboard and was trying desperately to write in someone else's voice... which I think is what actually happened. I won't be looking forwards to any future Eric Rogers episodes.

Zoidberg was the best thing about the episode. I felt that it developed him somewhat and he was being fairly funny. The whole thing with him being used for snipping was funny and I liked him getting angry with everything.

I didn't find it at all funny when Clamps started swearing, but Zoidberg's first bleep was one of the comedy-highlights of the episode for me. Not sure why exactly -I guess it was just set up as something of a running gag and caught me off guard. The last one they threw in was horribly out of place and just over-kill I guess.

And the Billy West joke everybody else seems to love... well, I thought it was extremely weak. I get it, Fry thinks his voice actor has a stupid name. That's it. Brilliant.

I disagree. I hated pretty much everything about this episode, but the only thing that made me laugh at all was when Zoidberg got angry. In fact, I would pay for a t-shirt that said "JOHN F***ING ZOIDBERG!!!" It's not that I really think bleeped-out swears are the funny...it's just it seemed so hilariously and randomly out-of-character for Zoidberg, in a good way. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Oh well.

In my opinion this is definitely one of the worst episodes ever. The entire plot hinged on the fact that none of the characters recognized Clamps...even though they've seen him numerous times...and had just delivered his clamps to him!

I mean, I know our characters have a tendency to be stupid, but this was just a HUGE stretch that the writers made no attempt to cover or explain whatsoever, and for what? A mediocre plot about Clamps trying to kill Bender for being a witness? How inspired!

Add to that the fact that there were very few gags/jokes that I enjoyed, and this was just a miserable experience for me.

4/10 and keep in mind that I now score episodes only compared to everything from the movies on...not compared to the original run.

I pretty much completely agree with this.

And the writers are certainly playing up Fry and Bender's bromance this season;

"Bromance"? What, Fry is a robosexual now, is he?

I think the word you're going for here is "friendship."

Are you unfamiliar with the term 'bromance'? Because Fry and Bender are about as bromance-y as you can get (or should that be 'bromantic'?).

[Reply #35 on:]

And the writers are certainly playing up Fry and Bender's bromance this season;

"Bromance"? What, Fry is a robosexual now, is he?

I think the word you're going for here is "friendship."

Lies! It's totally Bromance! All the fanfiction I read says so!

[Reply #36 on:]

I thought this episode was pretty OK. Not great, but not the worst episode ever, I guess. For some reason it kind of felt to me like an average-ish season 2 episode in parts or something.

Either way, there were some good jokes and I liked some of the callbacks to The Series Has Landed and A Leela of Her Own.

Also There were a few scenes near the beginning that had lots of robots from past episodes in the background and I enjoyed that for some reason.

6/10

[Reply #37 on:]

A bromance is one where you would sacrifice your romance with a woman to hang out with your bro. For Fry, I think that's a better description of his relationship with Scruffy than Bender. I mean, he has an additional phone number for the guy and is asking Leela, his romantic interest, how he's doing in Ghost? C'mon guys, globvious bromance there...


I liked that Clamps's first mission was to the Moon like Fry's was, and that they teased us into thinking they would return to Luna Park. I'm quite happy that it didn't end up thusly. A little reference and tease here and there isn't a bad thing (like Oracle's parody of the pilot).

[Reply #38 on:]

mediocre episode, but that's okay. not every episode can be great.

personally, i can't stand Clamps. he has a one joke pony, and they milked it way longer then necessary. also, the episode played out and felt like one of the comics(obviously, with rogers at the helm), which isn't up to par with the series.

the redeeming part was zoidberg. i knew that he was gonna have a showdown this that idiot, and i'm glad he did. i was silently cheering for him, and he came through.

zoidberg, ftw!

[Reply #39 on:]

I had fairly low expectations for this episode, but ended up liking it a lot. I'm surprised that I seem to be in the minority here. Not necessarily a stand out episode, but solid, and hilarious. I laughed more at this than any other 6B episode so far, Bender and Zoidberg were great throughout. My only complaints were that Clamps was not really that entertaining despite supposedly being the focus, and these "deaths" are starting to get really old and weren't really funny in the first place. 7.5/10