Thoughts on 7ACV03 - Decision 3012 - SPOILERS!

[#40 :]

One thing that bugged me:

I thought it was dumb that Travers was wearing a Hawaiian sash in that one scene but is totally from Kenya.

We get it... he's Obama... but in an Earth election... you ain't gotta be from Hawaii to get elected President of Earth... Kenya alone is fine.

It's on eath.. this is an entire EARTH election... not a simple USA election.

Even if he lived with his grandparents in Hawaii as a young time traveler... why wouldn't he rep Kenya.

It made no sense.

Really dumb error on Futurama's part.. they really over thought things... just to hammer home the Obama vibe.

[#41 :]

Anyone else find it hilarious when Nixon was wishing the squirrel would fall?

[#42 :]

Anyone else find it hilarious when Nixon was wishing the squirrel would fall?

Yes lol. Very reminiscent of a character in a sitcom that me and my friend produce actually, so I appreciated it on that part aswell

[#43 :]

Okay episode, but not great.

I don't mind topicality and I fully endorse the writers being as biased as they want to be. But this kind of verged on the characters just stating the point of the episode aloud a few times. It was way too on the nose and without enough of a real satiric twist (until act three). The characters also seemed to lack any real motivation and were just being pulled along for convenience of the plot, not driving it. Leela decides randomly that she wants to be a campaign manager, and then is easily picked (despite no expertise) in a conversation no longer than 30 seconds? And she shows up at night? (At least a good joke was made of that.) And Bender decides to do the same for Nixon and gets picked....just because he's a jerk I guess? Most of this stuff was workable, but there wasn't much connective tissue to speak of.

That said, it was perfectly passable. There were a bunch of good jokes and the final act was very clever. Loved the callbacks and how they spun off the usual (correct) criticism of Birther idiots that Obama would have had to travel through time and plant his announcement in the paper for their theory to make any sense at all. Taking that literally here was quite funny.

Still, one of the weaker episodes since the show came back methinks, but it was okay. And last week's shows (especially Farewell to Arms) were very strong.

[#44 :]

Anyone else find it hilarious when Nixon was wishing the squirrel would fall?

I sure did! That's why I uploaded it onto youtube! I'll PM you a link.

But yeah, I also thought the Fry remarks were a little bit sucky. I think of it as a B-rated episode. Not Great, but pretty good.

EDIT: This was my 100th post!! Yay for me, SolidSnake!  

[#45 :]

To be honest, I had the lowest expectations from this episode than any other in the new season, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Highlights were Nixon telling the squirrel to fall, the awesome intro and Bender's gasp sucking Leela's hair into his mouth. A very solid 8/10 for me.

[#46 :]

That ending was terrible. More than anything because the time code is a paradox correcting time code, so on top of it being a lazy way of re-setting to the status quo unneccesarily, it's also a gigantic continuity error and one that causes all sorts of other problems for the show's continuity and future episodes.

Anyway, overall it was alright. Probably my favourite episode of the season so far. It had a very shakey opening but once the time-travel stuff kicked in, it was great. It had some great jokes and few that fell horribly flat like in the last two.

As un-Futurama-y as it was, I adored the joke with the lion trying to trick zebras in Kenya.

But based on the three episodes we have so far, it seems like the writers have forgotten how to write a satisfying conclusion to a storyline. Which is a shame.

On the other hand, this is one of the episodes I was looking least forwards to and, in many ways, it exceeded my expectations.

I give it a 5/10 by Futurama's standards, which is an 8/10 by overall TV standards.

[#47 :]

This episode defied my expectations. I was expecting it to be very contrived, but it wasn't. The Obama love got a pretty obnoxious, but it could have been worse. Kenya was unnecessary, but it did give us the giraffe and watchmen herd gags which I thought were hilarious. The actual politics didn't actually stray too far beyond what was necessary to establish the plot, and the odd joke, so that was good.

I enjoyed the opening sequence, which took me completely by surprise. I've always wanted them to merge the opening sequence with an episode, so I was pretty psyched to see them finally do that. The episode really picked up when they revealed the time code from BBS. It added some surprise to what is otherwise a predictable plot twist.

All in all, it holds up well to A Head In the Polls, which I was not expecting. I thought this was going to be this season's real stinker, but it was pretty enjoyable. 7/10

[#48 :]

That ending was terrible. More than anything because the time code is a paradox correcting time code, so on top of it being a lazy way of re-setting to the status quo unneccesarily, it's also a gigantic continuity error and one that causes all sorts of other problems for the show's continuity and future episodes.

Perhaps not. Last time the Time Code was used, it ripped an anomaly in the universe. Maybe now, the effects of using it have a bigger/different impact, to ensure nothing like that happens again.

[#49 :]

I enjoyed this episode more than most since the first cancellation, for the second week in the row I was annoyed by Nixon explaining who/what his Veep was and the anticipated BRB moment at the end but in between it was a good story (probably helps that they could concentrate on jokes with most of it stolen from real life) with good jokes and no what I would call pop culture references (Tron last week stuck out like a sore thumb) and not overdoing call backs over jokes, keep it up writers

[#50 :]

I thought the ending was an allusion to Back to the Future, where much the same thing is about to happen.

I personally thought it worked well for the episode to start out political, then turn science-fiction and then have Bender describe it as 'Politics 101', as if the science-fiction was merely politics as well.  That amused me greatly, but I may be alone.

I assume the episode was initially inspired by A) it's 3012, we need to do another election episode like "A Head in the Polls" and B) let's use some of the famous ridiculousness of the 2008 election, particularly peoples' demand for Obama's birth certificate.

But what bothers me is that Senator Travers is intend on winning the election, to save the future and mankind.  One would assume - knowing what he knew of time travel, which might not be a lot - that he would still be required to go pack in time to save the planet.  But moreover, that he would be less preachy about his messages and just say what people want to hear to get him elected.

Or why not kill Nixon?

Regardless, the political bias seemed obvious, but - to the Mad Capper - despite the fact that there are actual reasons to be disliking Obama, filling the media and coverage with the birth certificate surely did nothing but dividing the political spectrum.  And it silenced out actual concerns against Obama.  Surely, you too can see that.

And furthermore, Nixon is not a Republican in the Futurama universe, he is an independent.  In his mind, the Republican party (or whatever it has become) is way too moderate for hist tastes.  And I don't recall the people asking for his 'Earth certificate' were portrayed as Nixon supporters.

I don't know how I feel about the ending.  I wanted Nixon to remain president.  Who didn't?  And I knew the time travel had to be used as an excuse for it.  But I did like Hermes' comment at the end, that they hadn't left the building at all.

But yeah, that's not how the paradox correcting time sphere works.

[#51 :]

I personally thought it worked well for the episode to start out political, then turn science-fiction and then have Bender describe it as 'Politics 101', as if the science-fiction was merely politics as well.  That amused me greatly, but I may be alone.

Nope.

[#52 :]

Another explanation for the time code issue:

Travers was erased from time anyway before the effects of using the code ended up killing him.

[#53 :]

For those who missed the reference, the line "caught with a dead girl, a live boy or any kind of sexy ghost" referred to Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards' line "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."



link

[#54 :]

Hated the Obamassociations (basically just more current/topical/pop culture fluff that didn't need to be there), but liked the episode overall.

My one major gripe is that the time code does not normally work that way.

I've resigned myself to continuity having become the butt-monkey to jokes though, and this episode was full of good ones. So it is with a heavy heart and a sense of loss at the passing of continuity into the recycling bin that I give this episode an 8/10.

I almost hate myself for enjoying it. I mean, continuity! They killed continuity! I loved continuity! But... it was hilarious. I'm so conflicted.

Edit: Hm. There actually is a way that this could work out. It's convoluted, but ties back to both BBS and TLPJF. We already know that changes made to the timeline happen, and have always happened. Even if they were different before they changed, they'll follow the Douglas Adams rules for time travel.

Which means that the paradox only occurs if the individual ends up not stepping back in time, preventing the formation of a stable loop or an open spiral. Which means we've not seen this before, and that it should now be considered canon for when the actions that an individual takes in the past prevents their journey through the time sphere.

This helps reconcile Bender's changes to the timeline in BBS and the events shown in Old New York previous to BBS that it affects or sets in motion, as well as providing clues to what we see in TLPJF. We know the robot uprising won't take place until at least some time after 3050 (TLPJF), and we know that human civilisation is doomed to be replaced by ape civilisation (and then increasingly unlikely civilisations will supplant that) sometime in the next ten thousand years.

We also know thanks to TLPJF that there will be a robot uprising at some point and that backwards time travel will be the subject of books found on Earth (so: potentially commonplace). We know that humans won't be wiped out, but that they will evolve.

I do have to wonder if perhaps the Nixon years that are about to occur will set any of that up. In which case, I will be forced to conclude that continuity wasn't so much killed as given a concussion.

But it's a stretch, and I know it. I'm not holding out much hope.

[#55 :]

I thought the ending was an allusion to Back to the Future, where much the same thing is about to happen.

In Back to the Future, Marty is about to disappear because he changed time and prevented himself from being born, not because he created an infinite paradox in which he should never have come back from time. The equivalent would be as if Marty had faded away from existence only to spring back into existence because he never existed in which to prevent his own birth - and then that was taken as canon, ignoring the fact that now he exists, he can prevent his own birth again and so forth.

[#56 :]

It is something else, it is just a different way of doing it.  Marty is about to disappear, because events he is about to set in motion may cause him to never be born, Travers set things in motion that would ensure he would never travel back in time.  But both have the ultimate fate; they are now in a place where they ought not to be.  I mean, Marty fixes it, but Travers does not.

[#57 :]

Yet another theory (dunno if this is what tnuk's is about):

Travers travelled to a point where he didn't exist at all, but then a copy of him did come into existence. We dunno the effects then.

[#58 :]

I just can't wait to hear Cohen weasel an answer to this in the commentary.  Hopefully he will give it more explanation than just, "...look at this sweet callback to 5ACVblah blah Bender's Big Butt blah blah, isn't it sweet?"

I agree with cyber_turnip that all three of these episodes have had weak endings.  Interestingly, these have been offset by very strong openings, especially TBATB and D3012.  Hopefully the unfocused endings aren't a new trend, because it can take an otherwise strong episode and leave the viewer out in the water.

[#59 :]

Haha, Mongo that is awesome. Good catch.

And furthermore, Nixon is not a Republican in the Futurama universe, he is an independent.  In his mind, the Republican party (or whatever it has become) is way too moderate for hist tastes.  And I don't recall the people asking for his 'Earth certificate' were portrayed as Nixon supporters.

Not to get too political up in this thread, but what's funny about this is that, here in 2012, Nixon would actually probably be too leftist in a lot of ways for even the Democratic party, let alone the Republicans. Barack Obama could not even begin to run on a platform of forming an environmental protection agency.

[#60 :]

Not to get too political up in this thread, but what's funny about this is that, here in 2012, Nixon would actually probably be too leftist in a lot of ways for even the Democratic party, let alone the Republicans. Barack Obama could not even begin to run on a platform of forming an environmental protection agency.

Indeed.  Nixon's policies would be considered quite left-wing today, well to the left of the current Democratic policies, let alone the Republican positions.  But they were still to the right of the US center at the time of Nixon's Presidency, since the entire country was far to the left of what we see today.

[#61 :]

Yet another theory (dunno if this is what tnuk's is about):

I've simplified my post here.

I just can't wait to hear Cohen weasel an answer to this in the commentary.

They should pay me to come up with a unified set of Futuramaverse time-travel rules that make sense for every episode.

I was trying to do that a while ago, but the framework only makes sense if the events of TLPJF take place inside a cyclical timeline. Over which, there is still some disagreement (partially thanks to Cohen et al. not really bothering to explain things properly in the commentary).

I mean, it's what's portrayed. There's no doubt about that. But is it what the writers were attempting to convey? Outside of the Futurama staff specifically taking time off from producing the show to come up with an answer for us, I don't think we'll know.

We know (thanks to commentaries, again) that it amuses them to put things in that screw with fans. The ship's inconsistent internal schematics are partly the way that they are in order to mess with the fan-made plans that were on ANSTATMAW.

So if Cohen or anybody else makes any comment, I'm sure it won't put anything to rest so much as further muddy the waters.

[#62 :]

We know (thanks to commentaries, again) that it amuses them to put things in that screw with fans. The ship's inconsistent internal schematics are partly the way that they are in order to mess with the fan-made plans that were on ANSTATMAW.

And yet they admit to regularly using fan sites to help them recall information about the show when planning new episodes.  I don't see any irony in that.

Don't get me wrong, I love Cohen and his snarky evasions when inconsistencies are called out in the commentaries and interviews.  However, considering his background, it would be nice of him to throw us a bone and do his own analysis of Futurama's time travel.

[#63 :]

It would be even nicer of him to pay me to do it.

[#64 :]

Isn't it about time for this thread to be put into the sticky list, and for the " Bots and the Bees" and "Farewell to Arms" threads to be removed from said list?

[#65 :]

It would be even nicer of him to pay me to do it.

Hell, you would probably do a more thorough job of it.

[#66 :]

There were things I like and things I don't like ... I give it a 7 out of 10.  (better post later)

[#67 :]

IGN can't even get the name of the episode right.

[#68 :]

IGN can't even get the name of the episode right.

After seeing the order of their "Greatest Futurama Episodes" list,  I knew there is probably nothing they can get right

[#69 :]

Don't go to IGN... they suck at reviews.

Anyway, I keep watching this one and thinking; wow, this show is still the best thing on T.V. and yet only 1.5 million people are watching it brand new each week.

I guess people are just really, really dumbass bottom line rubes....

All these humans not watching the show are bad... and should feel bad.

[#70 :]

Anyway, I keep watching this one and thinking; wow, this show is still the best thing on T.V. and yet only 1.5 million people are watching it brand new each week.

Because a sizable number of casual fans are not aware the show moved to Wednesdays.  It was on Thursdays last year and several of us have been hearing people say "I thought it was on Thursday?". 

[#71 :]

noticed something in bit where Senator Travers describes Nixon's Dyson Fence:



No Mars!  I guess there's a chance that It's hidden by the sun, but the other 8 planets (yeah you heard me) are all there.  Maybe Mars really is gone.

[#72 :]

No Mars!  I guess there's a chance that It's hidden by the sun, but the other 8 planets (yeah you heard me) are all there.  Maybe Mars really is gone.

I noticed that as well... and found it awesome.

[#73 :]

I remember reading somewhere... on this board perhaps? that Mars is still going to orbit Earth as another satellite in future episodes.

Also, I've gotta say that the concept of a half-Dyson fence is so ludicrous that it cracks me up every time I think about it.  A bit like the Land Titanic from last season.

Dude, MuchAdo, quit flying off the handle about everything.  You don't know what's going to happen.

[#74 :]

I kind of wish Daniel Tosh would guest voice in Futurama... but he's got his own animated series coming up which looks absolutely awful. Sigh.

[#75 :]

Tosh?  Hmm, he's a decent enough actor I guess.  Just as long as they wouldn't try to make it a damn skit show or some crap like that.

[#76 :]

MuchAdo, if you want to complain about the shows future, go to the Futurama Ratings Thread (It's called Futurama Returns Strong Ratings!). We still post stuff there.

And if Tosh ever guest voices on Futurama, it would have to be on a pretty bad episode. Knowing Tosh and all, CC would do anything for him.

[#77 :]

I liked this one better than the first two episodes. Though I kind of expected Travis' demise to be somehow linked to the fact that time-code-duplicates are always doomed. Oh, well.

8/10

Also, sexy ghost!

[#78 :]

An overall enjoyable episode, with some great jokes and an interesting plotline. Season seven's turning out to be pretty strong in terms of quality. I enjoyed the fact that they were able to bring in more sci-fi into the plot with the twist of Travers being from the future. Though the episode's conclusion felt somewhat rushed, the episode's overall quality was great.

I also love that they used the full opening sequence, complete with the opening cartoon. It was also clever of them to blend in the actual episode with the opening sequence.

8/10

[#79 :]

Hated the Obamassociations (basically just more current/topical/pop culture fluff that didn't need to be there), but liked the episode overall.

This. It wasn't a bad episode, but the fact that it was so topical and current made me long for the days where the crew actually went on important deliveries and visited interesting planets. This episode was so pedestrian in comparison.

7/10. Meh.