Thoughts on The Bots and The Bees [7ACV01] WARNING-Spoilers

[Reply #120 on:]

For once I agree with Spacedal11.

Normally I would tell Unmentionable to get lost, but that'd get me a third warning from [-mArc-]. I think he understands that I (and others) want him to get lost though...

And I imagine Unmentionable will be severely dissappointed with Wednesday's ep, it involves politics and a flash-forward type plot.

[Reply #121 on:]

yes there is a difference between speaking your mind & being a jerk.

Well at least you recognize the truth of that statement.  Now perhaps it's time for some self-reflection.

Regarding commenting, everyone has an opinion about why they do or do not like in an episode.  Those opinions can be expressed in many and varied ways, but some of those ways will not be productive especially if it gets people riled up.  That's why FishyJoe and Louiswuenator have made the observation they have made.

Anyhow, the episode was well written, but too fast paced.  It was a story that could have played over two episodes.  In fact, had CC premiered season 7a with a part 1 and part 2 of this story it would have been smoother, the jokes funnier, the story more realistic, etc...

[Reply #122 on:]

I'm sorry, I forgot that facebook is so finite and matters a hell of beans.

(sarcasm) For those of us who are young and pretty Facebook is our entire life! (/sarcasm)
 

[Reply #123 on:]

Normally I would tell Unmentionable to get lost, but that'd get me a third warning from [-mArc-]. I think he understands that I (and others) want him to get lost though...

do you even realize how inconsiderate & rude that sounds & how it just makes you look stupid

And I imagine Unmentionable will be severely dissappointed with Wednesday's ep, it involves politics and a flash-forward type plot.

that doesn't mean it's gonna be bad. i used to think you were cool

Regarding commenting, everyone has an opinion about why they do or do not like in an episode.  Those opinions can be expressed in many and varied ways, but some of those ways will not be productive especially if it gets people riled up.  That's why FishyJoe and Louiswuenator have made the observation they have made.

there's no reason for them to be saying all that. holding back is impossible for me

c'mon, Futurama! you can do better

[Reply #124 on:]

c'mon, Futurama! you can do better

It already has. With these two episodes.

[Reply #125 on:]

Normally I would tell Unmentionable to get lost, but that'd get me a third warning from [-mArc-]. I think he understands that I (and others) want him to get lost though...

While it's not for us to say who is a troll the best advice is probably "don't feed the trolls and they will go away."  I'm sure the admin/mods will make the determination soon.

Unmentionable, it's awesome that you have an opinion.  You obviously love Futurama, like we all do, but if it's a nice day where you are get some fresh air.  It might help you calm down a lil bit.  I think I'm going to do that too even though I am already calm.  Ahhh, fresh air!   

[Reply #126 on:]

futuRAmaMA for best n00b ever. EVER.

[Reply #127 on:]

Hmm...this is exactly what happened last season with AdrenalinDragon. He didn't like the episode and had a bitch fit because no one would agree with him.

Unmentionable, you didn't like these episodes. Ok. We're not going to change your mind nor you ours. Let's move on?

[Reply #128 on:]

futuRAmaMA for best n00b ever. EVER.

n00b to the forum maybe, but I've read it for many years and watched Futurama since its original run on Fox.  I'm just not much of a forum person because I have too much work to do.  However, I just had surgery and have plenty of time on my hands for a few weeks.  This gives me an excuse to finally post and it allows me to be both wise and snarky at the same time 

[Reply #129 on:]

It already has. With these two episodes.

again that's your opinion, Danny.

Unmentionable, it's awesome that you have an opinion.  You obviously love Futurama, like we all do, but if it's a nice day where you are get some fresh air.  It might help you calm down a lil bit.  I think I'm going to do that too even though I am already calm.  Ahhh, fresh air!  

i'm glad my opinion can be spoken & i really do love the show. fresh air is nice. i'll take a breather. good advice

Unmentionable, you didn't like these episodes. Ok. We're not going to change your mind nor you ours.

i don't care if anyone agrees with me or not. just want my opinion to be expressed

Let's move on?

OK

[Reply #130 on:]

n00b to the forum maybe, but I've read it for many years and watched Futurama since its original run on Fox.

I meant to the forum. We call every newbie a "n00b" around here.

[Reply #131 on:]

I meant to the forum. We call every newbie a "n00b" around here.

Yeppers, I was just splainin.  The first time I visited this forum was about 2002/2003 back when Nibbler was only 3,277 years old.  But now after ten more years he's really starting to show his age....  and so am I 

[Reply #132 on:]

Was there not any time when you felt like you wanted to add your point of view on a topic? And no offence but I hope you don't recover soon because it's nice to have a fresh mind around here to talk to.

[Reply #133 on:]

Was there not any time when you felt like you wanted to add your point of view on a topic?

Oh of course, many a time!  But it was one of those things where you say "I'll do it tomorrow" ... but tomorrow never comes.   Now with the premier of season 7a (I missed viewing the original run of 6a and 6b due to being out of the loop for about a year) and now recovering from gallbladder surgery it allowed me actually find the tomorrow I wished for.

Edit: I have to take off for a little bit, so I'll TTYL.

[Reply #134 on:]

I was really shocked at how good this episode was, I hope Ben ends up to be a semi-regular character, maybe hanging out with Dwight and Cubert.

This episode has ended up being in my top 15 or so episodes of Futurama.

[Reply #135 on:]

Great episode! Preferred it over "A Farewell To Arms". Ben was a great character and my only problem with it was the rushed ending. Otherwise, 9/10.

EDIT -

Hmm...this is exactly what happened last season with AdrenalinDragon. He didn't like the episode and had a bitch fit because no one would agree with him.

What was it again? It's been a while so I don't remember.

[Reply #136 on:]

Spacedal, are you maybe thinking of this guy? I seem to recall him taking issue with "Ghost in the Machines" last season, and getting...well, not bitchy in his arguments, but certainly, uh, passionate.

[Reply #137 on:]

...oh yeeeeeeeeah.



I'm sorry I ALWAYS associated the name AdrenalinDragon with sorynarkyan's avatar. Don't know why. Many apologies AD!

[Reply #138 on:]

It's sorynarkyan's birthday today!

[Reply #139 on:]

I wish him many thoroughly miserable returns.

[Reply #140 on:]

Just out of curiosity, how did Amy know Randy's name? You know, in the opening sequence when she steals his car, mentions him by name, and then runs him over?

Do they have some history together I'm not recalling right now?

[Reply #141 on:]

He might live next to Amy or something. He was parking his car after all.

[Reply #142 on:]

"The Bots and The Bees"


Bender with his new-born son, Ben


This was a nice little episode. It is nowhere near a classic but it had a nice story, some good jokes and a sweet ending. I could believe the relationship between Bender and Ben so that really helped further the story and give much more impact in the last few scenes. I'd probably compare the ending to that of "Leela's Homeworld", not really recognized for its sweet ending but it still chokes you up.

While the main story was sweet, it did not really supply many jokes and I do think that is why the writers used Fry even-though his story had been done before. While this may not be the funniest episode there were a fair few great moments, including...


* The over-the-top opening
* "Wipe my tiny metal ass!"
* The montage was sweet
* "Quit whimpering or you won't get kidnapped"

Narrator: "Meet Gerald, he is a maturing young robot..."
Teenaged Robot: "Hey, he looks like me!"
Narrator: "... His hideous appearance is a by-product of his hardware gearing up for an important mission ... REPRODUCTION"


While it may not be the most memorable or funny episode I still very much enjoyed it. Characters were used well, nothing felt out of place, it was good. If the Fry subplot had dealt with something else (or if there was no subplot at all) then I'd probably have raised the grade slightly but it didn't take up too much of the time and was mostly seen during Bender's story so it wasn't too bad.


15/20 (B+)   

[Reply #143 on:]

Well Fry and Bender know Randy... so yeah.

I wouldn't be surprised if Randy is Amy's gay best friend.

Anyone notice how much Ben looks like a Kidrobot Bender toy?

[Reply #144 on:]

I watched this with two casual fans on Wednesday, and the verdict was resoundingly "better than the second episode" from them. I have to agree as well. This episode flowed extremely well and got to the plot quickly, which is definitely a plus considering how poorly some of the CC episodes have been structured.

I was a bit odded that they went with a storyline that's been joked about before (Bender having a son), but they explained it well and succinctly enough that us diehards don't have a great deal to complain about. I did enjoy that they recognized how fast robots grow up (Ben's bot mitzvah was on his thirteenth day), which is in line with Bender having been fully an "adult" when he was made. It does call into question why Fatbot and other such units are perennially in a teenaged state despite being obviously over thirteen days old, but that can be explained away as them having been built robots rather than born robots (built robots are made at their permanent "age", born ones grow up to their "adult age").

Now with that possible plot hole out of the way, I have to say now that the humor was spot on with this episode. I didn't very much care for the Fry B-plot (which was more of a C-plot when you think about it, given that he doesn't do anything other than drink Slurm and has no progression), but Bender's jokes and heart were fantastic. I really liked his reaction to the two fembots getting hosed, and the best joke of the night (and in recent Futurama memory) was in this episode: the fembot at the bar ordering a screwdriver, and being given an actual screwdriver. It's one of those jokes that you wouldn't have thought of but are then surprised that Futurama hasn't used before. My two casual fan friends also laughed uproariously at this gag.

Overall, I'd call it a "pretty darn good" episode. It's not the best Futurama's done, but it's clearly above average. It gets a 7 on the poll from me.

[Reply #145 on:]

Personally, I thought URL and Bev's child was much cuter than Ben...

[Reply #146 on:]

That is a nice shot Boxy.

I am downloding it into my safe box.

[Reply #147 on:]

I already introduced myself so I wont do it again.

This episode was pretty disappointing, the emotional ending was contrived and most of the jokes were stinkers (especially the meme reference, what were they thinking?).

 I laughed at Bev smashing her face into everything to compensate for her lack of arms, some of Fry's lines, Bender getting his arms mangled, and the improved animation but that's it. 5/10 for me.

[Reply #148 on:]

I gave it an extra half point just because of the Swing Shift Cinderella style dancing of the woman in the upper left corner at The Hip Joint.   

[Reply #149 on:]

hilarious episode.  Get throwbacks.  Fry drinking Slurm loco is like when he drank 100 cups of coffee and it pays off at the end.  Ben was a cool character, I hope we'll see him again. 

[Reply #150 on:]

Overall a good episode... its the "non relevant and average but good" type.. Futurama humor .... Bender centered episode.. cant complain..

The only down imho was Fry's "glowing" thing. it was totally unrelated/irrelevant to the plot and not worth even a laught... its like "lets have a side laught having Fry doing some krazy easy laught stuff"

[Reply #151 on:]

I am still looking forward to a..."Space Pilot 3000 Movie".

[Reply #152 on:]

Personally, I thought URL and Bev's child was much cuter than Ben...

The cutest child is the Crushinator's daughter.    Probably the only Futurama character I've actually done fanart for.

[Reply #153 on:]

I'm amazed at how positive a reception these premiere episodes are getting. I've held off from posting until I watched them a second time, just to make sure that I wasn't missing something.

I mean... this was far from Futurama's worst, but it was poor effort that was guilty of pretty much every fear I had when I heard they were doing this trite, sitcom-y plot, not to mention some other things.

It had a lot of great gags dotted about but it had a lot more jokes that fell flat than normal, too. The story felt lazy and although it had a nice degree of emotion, the subplot with Fry was incredibly weak and the way it tied together felt like they were trying far too hard. Nothing about the subplot was clever or funny and it just felt like a crappy rehash of his quest to drink 100 cups of coffee.

Not to mention the borderline racism (URL drinks a grape soda - that's the entirety of the joke, there?) and how much of an awful character Bev was.

I'm not impressed and frankly, I'm really worried for this season, now.

2/10 by Futurama's standards.

7/10 by overall TV standards.

[Reply #154 on:]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way.  I was really disappointed by both of these episodes, especially since I went in with high expectations based on the many reviews.

[Reply #155 on:]

Not to mention the borderline racism (URL drinks a grape soda - that's the entirety of the joke, there?)

You make a good point here.  The racism issue has been brought up by a number of people on here, but I didn't agree because nothing about Bev was inherently black other than the fact Wanda Sykes was the voice.  It would have worked equally well with a white actress because Bev didn't look "black".

However, the grape soda thing was over the line.  Thinking of it another way, what if URL was in a scene where he said he couldn't get enough fried chicken, or watermelon?  It certainly would be seen as racist, so after considering your thought on that I'll have to agree there was some racism there, although it was probably unintentional.

There are many eps of Futurama that have a less than "science-fictiony" feel about them.  This was one of those episodes.  It was nice to consider Bender as a daddy, and there were some good lines.  I rated the episode an 8 which to me means "good +" simply because it's Futurama and the level of writing is usually higher.

I think the writers are still in a "getting back in the groove" mode after having been tossed around and cancelled/renewed many times.  Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seems to me.  My expectations are pretty high for the remainder of this season, and once more casual fans realize that the show is on Weds rather than Thurs this season the numbers will go back up to last years numbers.

[Reply #156 on:]

Well..as a German, I do not have problems with the stereotype that we love beer and Sauerkraut. Though I am not overly fond of any of these two (eating/drinking wise) , I just shrug my shoulders at this kind of cliche. So what..."accusing" my ethnic group of generally liking a certain kind of food/drink it not really something I consider insulting/degrading.  Also, I did not see anyone ever complain about that cliche.

So, I do not see much of a point with Blacks being supposed to like Grape Soda and/or Roast Chicken in general

Germans liking Beer and Sauerkraut = All right.
Indians liking extremely sharp food = All right.
Blacks liking Roast chicken = TABOO.

(And I am pretty sure the

Show spoiler

Oktoberfest scene in FaoB

will contain much more German cliches than just the preference for a certain food/drink. And I am also pretty sure none of them will bother any German Futurama viewer.

Okay, we in Germany know that "chicken/grape soda" stereotype just via American sitcoms (that cliche does not exist here).

Accusing a group of being dumber/lazier/inferior to another is racist, all right. But accusing someone of liking roast chicken seems just so pointless to me. Sure it's a generalisation, sure it's a rather dumb one, but the preference for roast chicken or a certain kind of food is just not an insult per se.

[Reply #157 on:]

So, I do not see much of a point with Blacks being supposed to like Grape Soda and/or Roast Chicken in general

Actually it's fried chicken, not roast chicken.  The reason it is such a problem is because these things were common slave cuisine.  For over a century white Americans primarily in the southern regions looked down upon black people as a lazy fried chicken-eating, grape-soda drinking, watermelon-sucking group of "animals".  So, it goes much, much deeper than a joke about Germans liking beer and sauerkraut because of what those things mean.

[Reply #158 on:]

PEELers set their standards way too high.

[Reply #159 on:]

PEELers set their standards way too high.

It might be that those who live in the UK aren't aware of how sensitive such an issue is.  I'm not familiar enough with British history to formulate a proper analogy to what this kind of thing is like in the US, but slavery and racism has been a very divisive issue in the United States for 150+ years.

This isn't to say that the episode was racist, but there are elements that could be interpreted as such.  However, I personally believe that it was entirely unintentional on the part of the writers/producers.