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Author Topic: Thoughts on 7ACV04 - Thief of Baghead - SPOILERS!  (Read 19926 times)
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PEE Poll: Thoughts on 7ACV04 - Thief of Baghead - SPOILERS!
1/10 It was horrible!   -3 (4.2%)
2/10 It was bad   -0 (0%)
3/10 It was no good   -1 (1.4%)
4/10 Not very good   -3 (4.2%)
5/10 I don't know what to make of it!   -6 (8.3%)
6/10 It's okay   -8 (11.1%)
7/10 It's alright, not great   -18 (25%)
8/10 Pretty Good   -20 (27.8%)
9/10 Good Ep.   -9 (12.5%)
10/10 Awesome!!   -4 (5.6%)
Total Members Voted: 72

SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
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« Reply #40 on: 07-05-2012 21:47 »

Yeah, I think it would have been better if they dropped the whole life force thing: everything getting sucked out was goopy meat and organs.  So they should they have referred to that, since the whole life force thing was a bit... confusing. 
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #41 on: 07-05-2012 21:50 »

There are two kinds of confusing.  Necessary confusing and unnecessary confusing.  This was necessary confusing and worked great for this episode.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
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« Reply #42 on: 07-05-2012 21:51 »

I'm not sure.  The whole fungus ego id life force sucking character felt like a first draft of an idea, that could have done with a bit more streamlining and refining.   The explanation for it felt a bit clunky.
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #43 on: 07-05-2012 21:56 »

I wonder if Cobb can survive without his Ego.  He was clearly still alive after his Ego blew up.  I saw his arms flail around after being smothered in a clump of goo and I could swear I heard him gag too.
Mr Snrub

Urban Legend
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« Reply #44 on: 07-05-2012 22:04 »

Bender and Leela in particular don't really get enough stories together (as evidenced by that "So...you're a robot?" stuff from "Law & Oracle" last season)
I find it amazing that there have been so few Bender/Leela episodes, considering they're two of the most important characters in the show. Off the top of my head, there's I Second That Emotion, Raging Bender, The Bird-Bot of Ice Catraz, more recently with Decision 3012 and this one.

But anyway, this episode, I enjoyed it. I was worried it was going to be a bit "That's Lobstertainment"-ish, but it was good. For me, it just about scrapes an 8/10.
Professor Zoidy

Urban Legend
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« Reply #45 on: 07-05-2012 22:07 »

This to me is the weakest episode upon my first viewing of the season. Felt pretty much like a cookie-cutter "Bender stalks Calculon" episode really.
DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #46 on: 07-05-2012 23:00 »

When the Professor is scanning Fry, Amy and Hermes' lifeless bodies, he uses the same device from 'The Late Philip J. Fry' that detects if there is any life in the Universe.
Dorsal Axe

Bending Unit
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« Reply #47 on: 07-05-2012 23:05 »
« Last Edit on: 07-05-2012 23:30 »

This is a weird episode. I kinda liked how Fry, Amy and Hermes weren't really part of the episode, since it left us with a rather interesting grouping of the Professor, Leela, Bender and Zoidberg.

Calculon dying was a strange, strange scene. It kept cutting back to him, as if to reinforce "Yes, he's actually dead", and there was no real payoff at the end. I'm guessing it's the start of his larger story arc this season.

I liked the episode, although it seemed to have less gags than usual. I think it's one that merits repeat viewing to truly get my head around it.

Also, is it me or did Hermes' voice seem really off this episode?
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #48 on: 07-05-2012 23:23 »

I wonder if Cobb can survive without his Ego.  He was clearly still alive after his Ego blew up.  I saw his arms flail around after being smothered in a clump of goo and I could swear I heard him gag too.

Agreed.  Not seeing what happened to him really did bug me.  Hell they didn't even explain why his ego exploded.  If they can suck the life force out of entire planets and thats normal and healthy for them, why would a bit of extra ego stroking make it explode? 
DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #49 on: 07-05-2012 23:52 »

Maybe he was getting an ego boner.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
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« Reply #50 on: 07-06-2012 00:28 »

I've never experienced an exploding boner, and I hope I never do.
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #51 on: 07-06-2012 00:33 »

Maybe the normal way they suck the life force by people looking at their faces doesn't blow them up, but the way the Cobb does it can if he does it too much too fast.  IDK.

Regardless, I hope that Cobb is a recurring character and that they bring him back as a nemesis for Calculon.  Perhaps now that Cobb is missing his Ego he will be on more even footing.
Inquisitor Hein
Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #52 on: 07-06-2012 00:34 »

(Just took a quick glance at the last scene).

Looking at his own photo might have caused some kind of "feedback".
Zed 85

Space Pope
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« Reply #53 on: 07-06-2012 00:56 »

Yep, pretty much that IMO. Suggests to me that his self-admiration could have a far bigger impact on his ego than perhaps an entire planet of admirers. Maybe his ego is actually allergic to self-admiration as it requires the admiration of others to be sustained.
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #54 on: 07-06-2012 01:00 »

So wait, they're telling me that inflating my own ego is a bad thing?  What am I supposed to do with all of the time I spend looking at myself in the mirror every morning?  I need moral guidance!
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #55 on: 07-06-2012 01:01 »

It's so tiresome having to be humble about my own brilliance. 
Zed 85

Space Pope
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« Reply #56 on: 07-06-2012 01:05 »

Hell I don't know. I very rarely pick up morality pointers from Futurama's plots.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #57 on: 07-06-2012 01:09 »

With that kind of attitude, how will you figure out that cigars belong in maternity wards?
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #58 on: 07-06-2012 01:23 »

Or that downloading someone's image from the Internet is wrong. :rolleyes:
cyber_turnip

Urban Legend
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« Reply #59 on: 07-06-2012 03:20 »

Well, it's by far and away my favourite of season 7 so far, but that speaks volumes about how badly season 7 is fairing in my opinion.

The episode worked on a humour level. It had some nice basic sci-fi comedy concepts floating around in the first act and some great gags here and there but the story was just half-baked. I sort of knew what they were to trying to get at, but so much of it didn't really work. I think Spacey hit the nail on the head when she said it felt like a 1st draft.

I mean, the life-force was handled like magic instead of science, which annoyed me, even if they did sort of lampshade it. And the plot wasn't the strongest in the world.

That said, the plot has the best ending so far this season (which is only because the last 3 endings have been so poor). I'm really worried about this season as all 4 episodes, so far, have been quite weak in my opinion. And the next 2 weeks' episodes look like they're going to be poor, too.
But pretty much every episode from then on sounds like classic-material, so hopefully this is just the shakey front-of-the-season like season 6 had and soon we'll be waltzing around in "The Late Philip J. Fry"s.

5/10 by Futurama's standards,
8/10 by overall TV standards.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #60 on: 07-06-2012 03:43 »

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way.  It was a good idea, but the way they handled it felt like a first draft that needed some refinement.

Maybe the "life force" thing was a subtle nod to Metroid? I'm trying to be generous, but Metroid did the whole "aliens sucking away life force" in sci-fi setting.  Skree!
DotheBartman

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #61 on: 07-06-2012 03:45 »

This was the perfect episode to watch after coming back home drunk from a party, because it had such a basic story that it was still easy to follow, even while making comments to my friend watching it with me.

It was okay. I laughed. Obviously, I'll need to watch it a little more properly at some point, but my initial reaction was that it was one of the more forgettable episodes in the show's history. Considering the first two episodes of the season were really great I'm not too concerned, but I'm definitely happy to look onward to next week's. It was reasonably funny, but the plot was really weak.
Spacedal11

Space Pope
****
« Reply #62 on: 07-06-2012 04:16 »
« Last Edit on: 07-06-2012 04:35 »

I had a brain fart and thought since yesterday was the 4th there wouldn't be a new episode. Also I was gone all day and didn't get home until late. Enough excuses I'm watching it now...

EDIT: Well damn. That was one of the best episodes the show has ever done that wasn't grandiose like The Late Phillip J. Fry. It was just a good basic story with a sci-fi twist like My Three Sons, and for that I will have to give it a 10/10. Even if it wasn't that funny and...Calculon is apparently dead (!?). That just felt like the most normal episode of Futurama.
SuperiorKnowledge

Delivery Boy
**
« Reply #63 on: 07-06-2012 04:22 »

I loved that little, like, hand-holding moment the two of them had when they were so moved by Calculon's performance--and their immediate self-disgust; that was the only moment during this episode where I laughed out loud (which probably says more about my tastes than it does about the quality of the jokes, but whatever).
I also loved that moment because I've been a shipper of that for a long time. I had a huge fangirl moment over that. XD

I thought this episode was really good. I would have to agree that the third act was rushed all though I still thought it was good. I also thought this episode had some pretty good lines. My favorite being this exchange:

Leela: Like the noble buffalo.
Farnsworth: It's nothing like a buffalo!

I'm not sure why but that line had me in hysterics.

I didn't really mind the pop culture references because they were pretty mellow and didn't get out of hand like in AOTKA.

I loved Calculon's performance. I've seen that monologue preformed a fair amount of times before but this is the first time it made me tear up.

All in all, I thought this episode was really good. 9/10
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #64 on: 07-06-2012 04:29 »

Agreed.  Trashy celebrity gossip magazines and who is sleeping with who tabloids have been around for decades, and they are not going away any time soon. 
Spacedal11

Space Pope
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« Reply #65 on: 07-06-2012 04:47 »

Gorky is right, Bender's and Zoidberg's reaction to the co-workers being deflated made sense, based on both's inhumanity or lack of understanding of it.  At least Farnsworth was worried, and appropriately.

'Killing them off' allowed the writers to put a more unusual array of main characters together to solve the issue.  It did not bother me in the slightest.  I looked over the popular culture references, because it was a short montage and it lead us appropriately to the important aspect of the plot.  So yeah, a weak act 2, but other than that, decent episode.

And yeah, I liked the science-fiction aspect of the episode.  And above all, the plot was appropriately silly.

Also, while I agree with futurefreak's issue about 'the concept of being dead' to mean something, I do accept it for the purpose of this episode, because there was a solution to this problem.  They had not died naturally, so to speak.  And there was a way to save them.

I agree with everything you've said here. It is kind of odd how Leela wasn't upset that any of them got deflated (Fry especially) but it didn't bother me. I don't know the flow of the episode worked and they weren't technically dead.

As for the growing disdain of mutilating the characters, for me it has worked so far in Futurama. Tip of the Zoidberg, I thought it was funny, because this isn't a gory show and as a horror fan I guess I do find gore to be funny. Farewell to Arms was a bizarrely sweet ending, but I can also understand that the different gravities would have ripped off Fry and Leela's arms, so again didn't bother me. Family Guy loves to go straight to gorey violence to replace humor (American Dad too but it works better there) and that can get incredibly annoying fast. I personally haven't found fault with it in Futurama. They might do something that I do get annoyed with. I understand too that the violence as a humor idea ruins the reality and makes things less dramatic. But Classic Futurama used violence in the past for jokes and that didn't seem to bother anyone. They can still have something violent happen and have it be serious (like Calculon's death) but also do something else violent and have it be funny.

Also I loved Calculon's Romeo and Juliet monologue, it was beautifully done. And I giggled at the Will.I.am Shakespeare joke.

And once again the ending is rushed, that has been a problem since last season. The consistently abrupt endings. That is getting annoying, but I still say this episode to me was like Classic Futurama and I liked it a lot. I hope Langdon returns.
Tastes Like Fry

Urban Legend
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« Reply #66 on: 07-06-2012 05:42 »

They hardly seemed stressed when the others were sucked from their bodies - would have thought there may have been a bit more desperation to bringing the others back.

Love the little Bender/Leela holding hands and then quickly dropping them - also Amys 'Look, Calculon's dead.' and then noone really caring xD

Poor Calculon, died in vain. Wonder how/if they're going to bring him back.
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #67 on: 07-06-2012 06:28 »

I think it's safe to say that Calculon's software is floating around somewhere on the cloud, possibly making a deal with the Robot Devil as we speak.  Oh, the possibilities. :D
flesheatingbull

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #68 on: 07-06-2012 06:50 »

What'd you all think of Farnypoo's line about Kanye and Leela's Will i am comment?

The rest of the references were fine, but these were just bad, especially the Kanye one.
HandsomeInvader

Crustacean
*
« Reply #69 on: 07-06-2012 06:53 »

Dan Vebber is back as Co-Executive Producer. Of course, he penned this [first draft of an] episode, so I don't know if it's coincidence, or if he was absent from the first three episodes of this season for another reason.

Anyway, bring on "Calculon 2.0"! -- I will be interested to see if there are references to his passing before next season.
koldstare64
Delivery Boy
**
« Reply #70 on: 07-06-2012 08:23 »

I didn't like this episode as much as the first 3. It had something... off. While the plot was relatively original, it didn't make much sense. Many random facts, odd explanations, strange exploding fungus...

There was one joke in particular that irked me, where Leela said, "Just like stomping puppies!" She'd never say that. Nibbler? All those animal books she reads? It'd be one thing if she said owls - because they're pests in the future - but puppies? That's just lazy.

In my opinion, the writers need to spend more time making sure one liners like those actually stay in character of the person who says it.
Louiswuenator

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #71 on: 07-06-2012 08:32 »

There was one joke in particular that irked me, where Leela said, "Just like stomping puppies!" She'd never say that.
She said those exact words just last season in FATEM.

Maybe puppies are the equivalent of cockroaches in her mind.
Imy

Bending Unit
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« Reply #72 on: 07-06-2012 08:53 »

There was one joke in particular that irked me, where Leela said, "Just like stomping puppies!" She'd never say that.
She said those exact words just last season in FATEM.

Maybe puppies are the equivalent of cockroaches in her mind.

Let's not forget she happily watches Nibbler devour puppies on a daily basis.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #73 on: 07-06-2012 12:50 »

Ugh.  Puppies.

We had to get the exterminators round because of our puppy infestation.  You see one scurrying around at night, you know you've got thousands of the little fuckers.
BlueZoidberg1

Delivery Boy
**
« Reply #74 on: 07-06-2012 13:07 »

I gave it 7/10, but it kinda is close to 6/10. Some funny gags, to much pop culture tho. A good episode, but one of the better ones. Most likely better on a second watch.
TheMadCapper

Fluffy
UberMod
DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #75 on: 07-06-2012 13:27 »
« Last Edit on: 07-06-2012 13:31 »

I only caught the back half of the episode and it was late, I was tired, had just shooed off the last of my July 4th guests at 12:14.

Was there any explanation for why the egofungus exploded? That thing is supposed to be able to absorb an entire world worth of life force.

And the jokes about "the process" fell flat for me. Too overstated, maybe.
MYK

Delivery Boy
**
« Reply #76 on: 07-06-2012 15:57 »

Yeah, in the episode where Bender flushes Nibbler down the toilet, Amy and Leela are at the pub and this happens:

Amy: I know! You should get a puppy!
Leela: A puppy? (sniffles) Nibbler loved to eat puppies!
(Leela bursts into tears)
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #77 on: 07-06-2012 16:00 »

Was there any explanation for why the egofungus exploded? That thing is supposed to be able to absorb an entire world worth of life force.

I thought it was obvious, since it was looking at the picture.
bankrupt

Urban Legend
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« Reply #78 on: 07-06-2012 16:07 »

I gave this one a 6/10 after the first watch. Just OK.  The water treading T Rex really made me laugh,  but most of the rest of the jokes fell flat on me. The plot wasn't very interesting to me either. Hopefully it will be better on second viewing.
transgender nerd under canada

DOOP Ubersecretary
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« Reply #79 on: 07-06-2012 16:17 »

Was there any explanation for why the egofungus exploded? That thing is supposed to be able to absorb an entire world worth of life force.

Positive feedback loop. It was unable to absorb an infinite amount of attention and life-force, therefore went kablooie.
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