Thoughts on 7ACV11 - 31st Century Fox - SPOILERS!!!

[Reply #40 on:]

I hated how bender suddenly cares for anything other than himself or the immediate crew.  The whole Idea of robot protection from cruelty and death was just dumb.  And robot eggs and meat WTF is a robo pig??  W-E-A-K

Suddenly?  Have you seen Futurama before this episode?

[Reply #41 on:]

My one very prudent concern with this episode is that it doesn't sit well in the Futurama universe - robot pork sausages? Endangered robots? Am I missing something? It's nonsensical. It's been established robots are powered by alcohol, the fact that a robo-butcher operates is just silly.

Honestly, when they saved the fox and brought it back to Planet Express, I was expecting the twist to be that it was a real fox this time.

The huntsman turning out to be a robot I saw coming a mile away, but that wasn't what ruined it for me - just the silliness of it and that fact it wasn't funny/a good twist. Also, I wish they would've utilized Patrick Stewart more than they did. It was a hollow character, I was hoping he'd voice some memorable one-time nemesis.

What I've enjoyed all this season is that they've salvaged Leela's character from the Mary Sue bitch she was quickly becoming. She's finally funny again!

I don't know... 6-7/10?  Make it 7.

[Reply #42 on:]

Mom should have been at the hunt. Mom should have had something to say about robot cruelty. Mom had a potential place here, and wasn't used. Since nearly every time she gets involved hilarity ensues (some of the best lines of the whole run come from Mom, afterall), I think that the episode is somewhat lacking for her absence.

"Cram a robosock in it, stupid!"

Yes, I was surprised that Mom wasn't there. After watching the episode develop, I realized why.

I'm surprised at how many people liked the ice cream joke. I thought it was really cheesy.

Cheese ice cream? I haven't tried that flavor before.

Am I the only one that loved Patrick Stewart's performance?

Nope. Stewart's performance was stellar, it's just the character he was voicing was utterly forgettable.

For all the Stewart fans out there, here's a subtle and brilliant skit from a british sitcom, just in case you've somehow missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M

It's incredible how an accomplished actor like him can still manage to take himself so utterly unserious, in such a serious way. Well, I guess that's one of the things that make him such a fine actor

He seems to enjoy science fiction more than most professional actors; he considered the Captain Picard role to be the highlight of his career (up to that point). He also shows up in the original "Dune" movie, playing a Chapman Stick.

Zoo Station - U2 fan are we?

You know it! They're my favorite band.

Eh, Fruupp is better.

[Reply #43 on:]

I'm going to raise my score to an 7.9/10 after re-watching.

Almost an eight out of ten, but it missed it by that much.

[Reply #44 on:]

Hmm, not always keen on a premise that sounds like the episode is making a political statement, but the episode had more than enough good points to make up for it.

Premise remains a little silly though. Thing is though, people ask what Mom's opinion would be on robot cruelty - I would have thought in terms of the fox, well, supply and demand?

Anyway, nice to see the Accusing Parlour again. And the canon gag was hilarious.

And Patrick Stewart! Wooo!

7/10

[Reply #45 on:]

I hated how bender suddenly cares for anything other than himself or the immediate crew.  The whole Idea of robot protection from cruelty and death was just dumb.  And robot eggs and meat WTF is a robo pig??  W-E-A-K

Suddenly?  Have you seen Futurama before this episode?

Name me one time that Bender has ever cared about anyone but Fry, Leela, or his likeness.

[Reply #46 on:]

Crimes of the hot.

[Reply #47 on:]

The turtle reminded him of himself, too close to his "likeness".

[Reply #48 on:]

Name me one time that Bender has ever cared about anyone but Fry, Leela, or his likeness.

"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz"

[Reply #49 on:]

The turtle reminded him of himself, too close to his "likeness".

And a robot fox isn't? Or standing up for robot rights? Because Bender is totally actually an onion.

[Reply #50 on:]

I hated how bender suddenly cares for anything other than himself or the immediate crew.  The whole Idea of robot protection from cruelty and death was just dumb.  And robot eggs and meat WTF is a robo pig??  W-E-A-K

Suddenly?  Have you seen Futurama before this episode?

Name me one time that Bender has ever cared about anyone but Fry, Leela, or his likeness.

Ok

1. A Flight to Remember- The countess
2. I Second that Emotion- Nibbler
3. Mother's Day- Mom
4. Bendless Love- Anglyne
5. The Cyber House Rules- All of the orphans
6. I Dated a Robot- Lucy Liu
7. 30% Iron Chef- Elizar
8. Love and Rocket- The Planet Express Ship
9. Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV- Calulon
10. Crimes of the Hot- The Turtle
11. Proposition Infinity- Amy
12. Lethal Inspection- Hermes

Is that enough for you?

[Reply #51 on:]

Name me one time that Bender has ever cared about anyone but Fry, Leela, or his likeness.

I can't recall him ever really caring about Leela, and he often abandons Fry...

Is that enough for you?

He helped out the Professor and Cubert in Overclockwise too.

[Reply #52 on:]

Crimes of the Hot- sympathised with turtle because of his inability to get up, he really didn't give a shit about it.  Heremies actually commented on how bender stomps on small animals.
I Second that Emotion- Empathy chip was doing the feeling for him he didn't want to care about nibbler.
Mothers Day- He's programmed to love mom just like every other robot.
Bendless Love- YOU GOT ME!
The Cyber House Rules- YOU GOT ME!... AGAIN!
I Dated a Robot- She was just a temporary floozy.
30% Iron Chef- Idolizes yes, kill him for his fame and success... in a "heartbeat".
Love and Rocket-Another bender floozy
Bender Should not be Allowed on TV- Idolizes yes, kill him for his fame and success... in a "heartbeat".
A Flight to Remember- You Got Me!...AGAIN, AGAIN!
Proposition Infinity- Another bender Floozy
Lethal Inspection- Ok sure
Overclockwise- I think essentially becoming a god kinda changed his perspective of the universe and its inhabitants

Fry- Yes he's abusive, yes he's an ass to him, and Fry is more of a friend to him than Bender is to Fry, but deep down he loves him.  As the saying goes you don't know what you got till its gone.  Also I beleve he said somewere "I know he was just a meatbag but he was my meatbag".  Also "kill all humans.. but fry" does help the argument.

Leela- On second thought maybe he's just less of an ass to her than everyone else.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a caring bender is a rarity and to see him care about the meek little fox, or other robotic animals was a tad strange compaired to all his tendencies.

[Reply #53 on:]

"Kill all humans, except one. Fry was that one!"
The Sting. Therefore it doesn't count cause it's Leelas dream.

[Reply #54 on:]

Whatever Bender still cares about Fry.

[Reply #55 on:]

Which is made very clear in "I, Roommate", you don't need "The Sting" for that.

[Reply #56 on:]

Leela was awesome in this episode. Full Leela-glory. So I gave it an 8/10, because that is how I judge things.

I liked this. I liked that it didn't try to have a super-crazy plot like a lot of season 6 and 7 episodes do. I loved the trio focus in the second half and the ice cream and the "I'll see you in court" scene, that was brilliant. Leela's last line was great. The robot animals scene was kind of lame (why would anyone need robot eggs or sausages?) but altogether it was fun, it was paced well, and I enjoyed it.

[Reply #57 on:]

Never said he didn't care about Fry. Just being nitpicky ~ <3

All three care for each other, you don't hang out in your spare time with your coworkers if you don't like them!

[Reply #58 on:]

"31st Century Fox"


Bender with the Hunts Master after releasing the fox


So we have another Bender episode this season - or was it a Leela episode? I'm not quite sure what this episode wanted to be. It jumped around between being a whole crew episode, to a Leela then a Bender story. I guess they wanted it to be about Bender but they didn't really set it up that way. Although it did jump around a lot it was actually really well paced with the flow feeling rather natural (but then again, most episodes this season have had great pacing besides "Free Will Hunting") as well as being well paced, it was actually quite funny as well. The characters acted how they did in the pre-cancellation years (none of this Leela animal cruelty stuff or an extremely annoying Bender) I did also like how this one contained many sweet Fry and Leela moments (those of which Tastes Like Fry has previously mentioned) without it being so forced into the story.

Although the plot seemed pretty uninteresting in the first and second acts, things really picked up in the third with the hunt for Bender. It was really well done and contained some nice sight gags and beautiful coloring and shading as the robot ran through the forest (especially in the scene where Bender held the gun up to the Hunts Master) One thing that let this one down, for me, was how obvious it seemed that the the Hunts Master would turn out to be a robot. As soon as the hunting dogs and horses were revealed to be mechanical I could see the twist a mile away. I'd also like to mention voice acting. Everyone seemed to be great in this. Amy seemed fine and none of the regulars voices seemed strained. And then there's Patrick Stewart. What a perfect choice for that particular character. He did a great job but who really expected any otherwise. Here are a few things I'd like to say about this...


* "You can't expect me to honor what year ago Professor said, that guy was young and foolish"
* I did wish they'd make a joke about why they suddenly are wearing uniform
* "Join me on the 'morrow as I embark on my maiden hunt - I SAID JOIN ME"
* "Ah yes, fox hunting, if there's one thing I know it's everything about it ... what's that weird cat?"
* I loved Leela's childishness over how she made the sign
* I liked the visual gag of the horse flipping and Bender running with it
* "Congratulations Bender, you've ended robot animal cruelty within a twenty yard radius of this building"
* The transition from Judge Whitey on his horse to the court room was great
* I quite enjoyed the ice cream gags - they were not hilarious but were cute
* "You sir have been out foxed ... I spent all night on that"
* I loved the reveal of Bender only getting so far
* "Fox NEWS everyone!"


Despite it feeling a little disjointed, having a semi-rushed ending and a few poor gags, it was an enjoyable episode. As you can see it had lots of funny moments and the characters were generally on form. It's nothing too special but it's a fairly decent episode and it's definitely in the top half of the season.


14/20 (B)     

[Reply #59 on:]

I liked how it wasn't entirely clear who the episode was "about". It's not like the show's "about" any one character, and it's fine if individual episodes weren't either. This was a solid trio episode and both Bender and Leela had great roles.

[Reply #60 on:]

7.5/10.

This was a solid episode. Considering the episode's plot stemmed out of the title, they did a respectable job. There wasn't anything really negative about the episode (The plot was a little silly and predictable, but this is not a major problem), but it didn't quite distinguish itself like some other episodes. Good interaction between the characters, particularly between Fry, Bender, and Leela. Liked the ending with the trio enjoying their ice creams. Patrick Stewart was great. Most of the humor hit, I was surprised that the slapstick jokes were as good as they were (Leela getting clobbered with the log trap, twice, for instance)

[Reply #61 on:]

I liked how it wasn't entirely clear who the episode was "about". It's not like the show's "about" any one character, and it's fine if individual episodes weren't either. This was a solid trio episode and both Bender and Leela had great roles.

I'd say it was a fairly clear Bender episode. There was the brief B Story with the Fox at PE, but Leela, while funny, didn't do much past act 1. And Fry was just sort of along for the ride all the way through. Not that that's a bad thing.

[Reply #62 on:]

I'm gonna agree with Tnuk and say this should have been a Mom episode.

[Reply #63 on:]

I'd say it was a fairly clear Bender episode. There was the brief B Story with the Fox at PE, but Leela, while funny, didn't do much past act 1. And Fry was just sort of along for the ride all the way through. Not that that's a bad thing.

Well, yeah, if I had to categorize it under a certain character I'd go with Bender. But it wasn't super Bender-heavy like some other recent Bender eps have been. Which was nice, because Bender's not great at carrying entire episodes. He needs someone else around to balance out his insanity (with a different brand of insanity, given the company he usually keeps).

[Reply #64 on:]

I hated how bender suddenly cares for anything other than himself or the immediate crew.  The whole Idea of robot protection from cruelty and death was just dumb.  And robot eggs and meat WTF is a robo pig??  W-E-A-K

Suddenly?  Have you seen Futurama before this episode?

Name me one time that Bender has ever cared about anyone but Fry, Leela, or his likeness.

There's Angleyne (gah, I don't know how to spell her name, but that's how it appears in the InfoSphere) in "Bendless Love." I recall that Bender said he loved her so much, or something like that. Then, he did care for Amy--even if fleetingly--in "Proposition Infinity." He also seemed to have tender feelings for Calculon in "Bend Her." In TMaR he acted selflessly by bending the sewer pipes and thus helping the mutants. Hmmm...what else. Ooops, looks like Manwich has posted some of these already, but I'm leaving my post as is because I feel so smug. Thanks, Manwich. Mmmm, sloppy joes....

I enjoyed this episode, but giving it a slightly above average rating (7/10). I think what I liked most about it was Bender's vulnerability. I always like when Bender's ego is beaten down a few notches, so he's so much of a jerk and my Compassion-o-Meter starts ticking up. When he lost his foot, I felt bad for him. Yeah, yeah--cartoon and he's a robot who doesn't feel pain (I think?). And when it appeared like he was caught in the gravity snare again, I felt a stab of anxiety and extreme dislike for the Huntmaster. I know, I know--should not take this too seriously! But, that was my immediate response nonetheless.

Like a lot of people have said, Leela was very likeable in this episode. I loved the gag about her favorite sign, and how proud she was that she used a ruler and erased all the pencil marks. It reminded me so much of being in elementary and junior high school and making silly handmade signs. I also loved her last joke, about needing to think about whether it was okay to kill the robot Huntmaster, and then the camera immediately cuts to the trophy of his head on the wall, and her "I guess it's okay" quip.

Not the best of the bunch, but entertaining, with the classic trio grouping, and I liked it a lot more than what followed.

[Reply #65 on:]

The Countess too, though he got over her very quickly.  Bender's quite childlike and intense because he suddenly will be full of love and caring towards something or someone, but will lose all interest in a short space of time.  He went from grieving over the death of the Countess, and two seconds later he was considering hawking the only thing he had left of hers.  When he found out it was worthless, he threw it in the trash and never thought about her again and that was that.

We've never heard from Ben again, and we didn't see Bender giving him a thought during AFTA.  You would have thought getting his son onto the escape ship would have been somewhat of a priority for him, considering everything that happened in TBATB

[Reply #66 on:]

It was alright. Just got done watching it.

7/10

[Reply #67 on:]

There's a very simple one of Bender caring about turtles and their inability to get off their backs in Crimes of the Hot.

Someone already pointed that out. I'll just go back to my business.

[Reply #68 on:]

The cruelty to robot animals thing hit a bit close to home for me. Years ago I used to post on multiple forums centered on electronic pets ( Furby, Tamagotchi, Aibo, things like that ). A common discussion was whether it was okay to be cruel to these things ( starving a Tamagotchi or repeatedly punishing it, holding a Furby upside down until it cries or simply just taking them apart to see how they tick ). I was on the side that was against it. My problem was that unlike action figures or stuffed animals these things had personality of a sort and being cruel to something that could simulate suffering seemed wrong. I didn't think they were sentient or anything. I knew enough about robotics and AI to know that we're still far off from a robot that can actually come close to human emotions and suffering. But still abusing these things still kind of squicked me. Still does actually. I took apart a few robot toys to see how they tick and I still feel bad about it. That's just a wierd quirk I have.
Of course this is Futurama and it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. I enjoyed the episode for the most part. It just brought back a few memories for me. I kinda miss those forums.

[Reply #69 on:]

robodog, that really takes me back! Damn, Tamagotchi: that seemed like an eternity ago. I agree, that is a bit disturbing, because it reveals something about the person doing it.

Don't feel too bad; it's not like you kicked a puppy. (I would kick a robopuppy if he commenced barking its fool head off, though.)

[Reply #70 on:]

I feel the same way about someone mistreating an electronic pet.  Disassembling it to see how it works is cool, but "tormenting" it is sick, and as Sparky says, reflects poorly upon the tormentor.

[Reply #71 on:]

robodog, that really takes me back! Damn, Tamagotchi: that seemed like an eternity ago. I agree, that is a bit disturbing, because it reveals something about the person doing it.

Don't feel too bad; it's not like you kicked a puppy. (I would kick a robopuppy if he commenced barking its fool head off, though.)

Well, if robopuppy was anything like the real life Aibo it was obviously based on it should have had an off switch on it's back. No need to kick it. Of course this is Bender we're talking about. He's lazy. He wouldn't have bothered to look for an off switch so he just punted it.

[Reply #72 on:]

Interesting episode. Predictable ending, of course, but interesting take on a heated topic of debate but using robots instead to simulate the discussion. The first fox that was killed just made me think oh wow, in an instant they had their cake and ate it too like when Bender stomped on that baby basket that was empty in the original run heh. Wasn't too bad, the plot itself wasn't that spectacular, but I can't really point out things they did particularly bad, just a mediocre storyline. I'd probably give it a 7/10. Also, yes, Patrick Stewart.

[Reply #73 on:]

You know, this episode grows on me every time I see it.

"Bender's middle finger! I'd recognise that anywhere!"

[Reply #74 on:]

It might with me. I don't despise it as much (or at all) as others like the dreaded Butterjunk Effect...let's face it there were a lot of bad ones this season, the second disc is probably the more favorable of the two in the DVD set.

[Reply #75 on:]

I can honestly say that for me, there were zero bad ones. Not a single episode this season made me hang my head in shame.

On the flip side, I don't consider any of them to be worthy of a 10/10 either, so I guess it balances itself.

TJE was average, but tolerable. Neutopia, Yo Leela Leela, TFHS and several others are much worse in my opinion.

[Reply #76 on:]

I have to second UL. I didn't even dislike TBE until the ending, while 6b alone had 4 episodes I genuinely loathed, which really is too many for a 13 episode season.

[Reply #77 on:]

It might with me. I don't despise it as much (or at all) as others like the dreaded Butterjunk Effect...let's face it there were a lot of bad ones this season, the second disc is probably the more favorable of the two in the DVD set.

You probably want to mentioned "The Thief of Baghead" in that context, right
Personally, I disliked the lazy writing:
The "soul thieving" might have even been an interesting concept, but it somehow seemed as if the writers just wanted to have these characters out of the plot as quickly as possible.

[Reply #78 on:]

I really like this episode. To me it really felt like an original run episode to me. I assume that's because it focused on the big 3, instead of either one character or the entire crew, as well as because it took place entirely on earth. I like the twist at the end, and I must say that I definitely didn't see it coming. Plus, this one has some of the best animation in the series! The backgrounds are all beautiful, and the animation is consistently on-model. Everyone stays in character perfectly, and I enjoyed seeing the eco-friendly side of Leela again in it. I give it an 8.5/10.

^{Yes, I saw this episode a while ago, but I just felt like writing a review for it now.}

[Reply #79 on:]

Screw everyone. This is easily one of my favourite episodes of season 7. Aside from the stupid twist at the end, I think it's genuinely superb.