Thoughts on 7ACV23 - Game of Tones - SPOILERS

[Reply #80 on:]

Man, these review sites are being a bit harsh with the episode.

IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/15/futurama-game-of-tones-review

A.V Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/game-of-tones,101394/

Their main problem with the ep is probably because they think this was just a cheap way to go back to Fry's past. I don't think of it as a cheap way at all. And it actually played out really great. The best since Season 4.

And the main plot with the Nibblonian ship worked for me. These people had a huge issue with how it was barely resolved in the end, and seemed half-assed. I don't think it was half-assed, at all. A bit stupid, yes, but definitely not in any means bad. Actually enjoyable, and very futurama-ey for it to have been done that way. Like what more do they expect?

Yea I think IGN gives horrible reviews. They always review shows too harshly. The A.V. Club review I thought was pretty fair. I feel like an A- on that site is pretty good considering I've never seen them give an A+.

AV Club's highest grade is an A. Not to mention AV Club grade shows against themselves as opposed to universal grading for all shows. This isn't just an A- episode of television, this is an A- episode of Futurama. Basically their second-highest grade possible. How is that "being too hard on it?"

[Reply #81 on:]

Man, these review sites are being a bit harsh with the episode.

IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/15/futurama-game-of-tones-review

A.V Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/game-of-tones,101394/

Their main problem with the ep is probably because they think this was just a cheap way to go back to Fry's past. I don't think of it as a cheap way at all. And it actually played out really great. The best since Season 4.

And the main plot with the Nibblonian ship worked for me. These people had a huge issue with how it was barely resolved in the end, and seemed half-assed. I don't think it was half-assed, at all. A bit stupid, yes, but definitely not in any means bad. Actually enjoyable, and very futurama-ey for it to have been done that way. Like what more do they expect?

Yea I think IGN gives horrible reviews. They always review shows too harshly. The A.V. Club review I thought was pretty fair. I feel like an A- on that site is pretty good considering I've never seen them give an A+.

AV Club's highest grade is an A. Not to mention AV Club grade shows against themselves as opposed to universal grading for all shows. This isn't just an A- episode of television, this is an A- episode of Futurama. Basically their second-highest grade possible. How is that "being too hard on it?"

I know, but I was referring to them being a bit harsh with the anticlimactic spaceship plot.

[Reply #82 on:]

They've also been pretty positive to Futurama most of this season (Fun Pit did get a pretty scathing review, but that was also written by a different reviewer than the one usually assigned to review the show). A- seems pretty fair even if I might rate it higher personally.

[Reply #83 on:]

Ah! I just got it! We had an episode with Fry's Dog, his brother, and his Dad. We hadn't had an episode with his mom, and we got it. Someone probably already pointed this out. By the way, I watched the end again and cried even harder.

[Reply #84 on:]

We almost got one with his fossilised mother in season 4.

They've also been pretty positive to Futurama most of this season (Fun Pit did get a pretty scathing review, but that was also written by a different reviewer than the one usually assigned to review the show). A- seems pretty fair even if I might rate it higher personally.

I'd say an A- is about right. It's not quite a perfect episode but it's about as close as it can get. For what it's worth, I rated this episode a 9/10.

EDIT: Also on the subject of The AV Club, something that was picked up on in the comments there: Fry and Yancy did their bonding in the bathtub together. Recently, the show has had several allusions to Fry and Bender's shared "bath time." Not to mention Bender's "I keep telling you, we didn't grow up together!" To some extent, Bender fills the role of Yancy in Fry's future life.

[Reply #85 on:]

Another thing to remember, the AV Club is pretty adamant that the ratings are sort of arbitrary and don't mean that much, because it's really the content of the review that's important, and plus being really precise about ratings raises the issue of "well, I'm giving this thing a B, but is it really that much better than this thing I gave a B- to?" For that very reason, I don't even bother coming up with actual ratings anymore and prefer to just give my general thoughts. And I kind of miss the days when the AV Club didn't even have ratings at all, but the only reason they started adding them was that they were getting locked out of sites like Rotten Tomatoes because they weren't providing them.

[Reply #86 on:]

Awesome episode! This is probably the first episode of this season I really enjoyed.

It was pretty awesome to see Fry's old breakdancing crew from Luck of the Fryish again, also to get more "myths" concerning that evening of December 31st 1999...
What I did not like however was that they re-did Mr Panucci's "Hey Fry, pizza goin' out! COM'ON!! and Michelle's line. These lines were the original ones from the first episode already in The Why of Fry so why re-record them? I hope they didn't delete their old studio masters or something.
The ending with Fry finally getting together with his Mom and the moment at which he couldn't return to his house in his dream were pretty touching too.

9/10

[Reply #87 on:]

What I did not like however was that they re-did Mr Panucci's "Hey Fry, pizza goin' out! COM'ON!! and Michelle's line. These lines were the original ones from the first episode already in The Why of Fry so why re-record them? I hope they didn't delete their old studio masters or something.

Because it was in Fry's dream. It makes complete sense that he wouldn't remember everything exactly how it was (same way his house was less beaten-up and his family was more affectionate, etc.).

[Reply #88 on:]

B/c it was cute, and obviously Fry's subconscious could influence her dream since he could control himself in her dream as an independent guest.
 
A better question... how in the F did Nibbler do this?
Is he magic now?

Maybe Fry's Mom's head's been preserved?

(Wow, three apostrophe-d words all in a row!)

[Reply #89 on:]

That would be pretty awkward, seemingly fry never knew about it. Also, he could've just visited it then

[Reply #90 on:]

I don't think the emotion was forced, like some here are saying. Upon a rewatch, the seeds are clearly strewn throughout the episode. Fry explores his subconscious and discovers he actually has unresolved feelings for his family. He was so caught up in the resentment of his own life, that he totally misrecognised the reality of it. For all the things they said and did, his family loved him unconditionally. Sometimes, you don't know what you have until it's gone.

Is this the same mom who said "Your brother may be gone, but his crap sure isn't?"

One imagines that her attitude is masking her pain at losing Fry. There's always been a sense that his disappearance took a toll on the family in the long run.

[Reply #91 on:]

They didn't set up a very good reason that Fry needed to talk to his mother beyond missing her in general. They set it up to seem like he had some important things to say to her, but we never got to hear what those things were, in fact we never even got an idea or hint of what those things might be. As far as we know from the series, Fry's mother seems to be a very self-involved woman and not a particularly great parent, and this episode did almost nothing to change that perception beyond the last few seconds where she's happy to talk to Fry in her dream. It seemed to completely come out of nowhere to the point where it felt like mere exploitation of emotions. As if the writer's thought, hm what's an easy heartstring to pull at, and then did so, but without setting it up well even though they had an ENTI.RE EPISODE to do so. They didn't give us any background on why he would want to talk to his mother any more than anyone else in his family, so it just didn't make sense to me as an emotional ending, to focus on that relationship alone for no apparent reason

I kind of agree with you on that part. Although I do think that the Cold Warriors ending had the opposite issue this episode had. That episode had some kind of build-up, but the ending was nothing to sob over. Just a kinda forced awwe moment in my opinion. Liked it, but not anything to make me wanna improve my opinion of the episode drastically.

With this episode, there was no build up, and didn't really give a chance to evoke a whole lot of emotion out. I mean it was a kinda awe, but really needed the build up in order to make you feel anything more.

I think the "important things he needed to say" were that he loved her, and probably a few of the things he has achieved that she'll never know about - falling in love, holding down a job, traveling in space, etc. In the end, he didn't need to actually tell his mother he loved her, because they both knew it. I thought their tearful hug was perfectly played. Fry spent the whole episode desperate to tell her he loved her one last time, but when they came face to face again, he didn't need to.

The Fry family have never been all that great at expressing themselves. Remember Fry telling Leela in Parasites Lost that he keeps trying to tell her he loves her, but every time he tries "my mouth feels like it's stuffed with peanut-butter, even when it's not"? The ineptitude seems to be a family thing. Yancy Sr treats his sons like a platoon leader and is openly scornful of them at times, but obviously loves them underneath it all. Yancy Jr antagonizes Fry at every opportunity, but misses him sorely when he's gone. Fry's mother may be obsessed with sports, but I don't see why that would mean she cares for him any less than his father or brother do. In the flashback sequence of BBS they're openly affectionate toward each other, and Fry mentions in The Duh-Vinci Code that his mom says he has a good heart. Sounds like she cared enough to notice.  

As for why Fry would want to talk to his mother above everyone else in the dream : he has worked through his unresolved issues with (and emotionally let go of) everyone else he encounters in the episode. Michelle returned in The Cryonic Woman for one more doomed stab at their relationship, and he was happy to leave her again. He addressed his rivalry with Yancy and mourned at his nephew's graveside in Luck of the Fryrish. He opted not to clone Seymour and decided to remember him the way he was in Jurassic Bark. He looked back on his relationship with his father in Cold Warriors and realized that though Yancy Sr was hard on him, he loved him and would probably be proud of the man he had become. In each case he took a look at his feelings for that person and accepted them. He has never done that with his mother, so when he suddenly sees her again, it's not surprising his feelings overwhelm him and he feels the full force of what he's lost. Thirteen years is a long time to repress how much you miss someone, and it's obvious that's what Fry has been doing when he tells Seymour maybe he didn't hate his life in the past so much - "maybe I just told myself that because I knew I could never go back".

The only tiny gripe I have - and it's a small one - is that I wish Fry and Leela had interacted a little more as a couple in the episode. They felt quite distant from each other. Considering Leela spent half her life searching for her family, you think she'd show a little more empathy toward Fry when he wanted to stay with his. Her behavior was no different to the rest of the crew, and she does have a much closer relationship with him - I guess I was hoping for some recognition of that. Not much, just something like their interaction at the end of Cold Warriors. It would have been nice. Equally, Fry's family are never going to meet the love of his life in reality, so I'm surprised he didn't try and introduce her to his parents. (I know it was all in his head, but that doesn't seem like a distinction Fry would be smart enough to make. )

This episode concentrated to Fry's relationship to his family, specially to his mom. Certain aspects are used sometimes and other times left unused as they were not existing. In this episode Fry simply misses his family and wants to tell them that, he wanted to enjoy the family life he left behind without thinking the reality. I think there was no "time" for interaction with Leela other than part of the crew.

True, it was a family-centered episode, but I think they could have squeezed in something small. Zapp Dingbat was very much centered on the Turanga family, but Fry was obviously supportive of Leela, as her other half. And Cold Warriors was really all about Fry and his dad, but Leela was there to offer him support when he seemed down. Plenty of episodes do manage the emotional balancing act of a primary (family) emotional plot and a background friendship / relationship in support. In Leela's Homeworld it's Fry supporting Leela. In Jurassic Bark it's Bender diving into the dolomite. Leela and the Genestalk was heavy on the Freela but still found time for Leela's parents. Even something as subtle as Leela telling Bender Fry needed a minute alone, in The Luck of the Fryrish, connects her to him. I don't ask for major relationship focus where it's unwarranted, but when you're upset, you tend to lean on your OH a little, and they pick up on your feelings. It seemed like a missed opportunity for some Fry / Leela relationship continuity before the big proposal in Meanwhile.

But it's a teeny-tiny complaint.  

I agree with you so much. Glad someone else noticed. Wasn't Leela a Crynogenics counsellor in the first place? And yet she left him to cry on the floor of an empty room? She didn't even go and sit by him. And why was he sleeping alone afterwards, despite the double bed? She only need to be there asleep...

I honestly don't think she'd have just left him like that.

[Reply #92 on:]

96% on CGEF...

[Reply #93 on:]

Don't worry, the grade will drop down by New Season Haters eventually.

[Reply #94 on:]

True. If it can stay at the 93% club it'll be an achievement.

[Reply #95 on:]

Don't worry, the grade will drop down by New Season Haters eventually.

Maybe it will, but have there been other episodes that had a rating this good after 50+ reviews?

[Reply #96 on:]

The Late Phillip J. Fry I think.

[Reply #97 on:]

The Late Phillip J. Fry I think.

Yeah, it took around 200 reviews before it started dropping from 97% if I recall.

As for this episode, I had the same problems with it as cyber_turnip and JoshTheatre did. The episode I think suffered from not having enough jokes, but the premise was fantastic and offered some great comebacks from previous episodes. The resolution/pay-off felt a bit lazy though, as even the emotional ending didn't do much for me on first viewing unlike The Luck of the Fryrish, Leela's Homeworld or The Sting did. Like Jurassic Bark on first viewing, it will probably take a few rewatches for me to appreciate it more, but it still gets an 8/10 from me.

[Reply #98 on:]

I genuinely don't know how to rate this episode. I can't say its perfect, because I just don't think it is. I hate to admit to it, but some of it rubbed me the wrong way. My thoughts when the Nibblonian reveal was finally established, and the...er...chauffeur (forgotten his name) flew away, was that that particular part of the plot was extremely silly, and left so many thoughts of "but, surely that would mean ____ and that would mean they _____ which is just stupid!"

But the actual quest inside Fry's dream is very well done, I thought. That said, I can see where people may be coming from, when they view the emotion as somewhat forced, and maybe a mite exploitative.

But as it happens, I've had dreams in which I've gone back in time and attempted to talk to relatives I've lost, and so the episode made me cry. Probably affected me more than most of the other tearjerkers have.

[Reply #99 on:]

I genuinely don't know how to rate this episode. I can't say its perfect, because I just don't think it is. I hate to admit to it, but some of it rubbed me the wrong way.

8/10 maybe?

Also, I think the entire purpose of the anticlimactic ending was to leave us with those questions. It might turn some of us the wrong way, and it may actually leave some of us satisfied.

[Reply #100 on:]

Did Fry become the star child?  This is like that episode of Lexx, right?

[Reply #101 on:]

This was so freaking sad, I give it a *Sob* 10/ *Sob* 10!

[Reply #102 on:]

Man, these review sites are being a bit harsh with the episode.

IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/15/futurama-game-of-tones-review

IGN sucks, they gave TLPJF a 7.5/10, but TFHS a 9/10, don't trust em

[Reply #103 on:]

This was so freaking sad, I give it a *Sob* 10/ *Sob* 10!

I found it to be more touching than sad, personally. Same with all the other emotional Futurama episodes, none of them were truly sad episodes, but there were very touching and heartfelt. A real sad episode would be any of the 'last' epsidoes.
I agree with that 10/10, though, this is the best episode of the season for me.

[Reply #104 on:]

First off, I'll get my minor gripes out of the way: I was disappointed with the Nibblonian plot. For some reason, I was expecting something more epic than what the sound turned out to be. I also completely agree with TSSI about this, which she/he expressed much more effectively than I could have:

The only tiny gripe I have - and it's a small one - is that I wish Fry and Leela had interacted a little more as a couple in the episode. They felt quite distant from each other. Considering Leela spent half her life searching for her family, you think she'd show a little more empathy toward Fry when he wanted to stay with his. Her behavior was no different to the rest of the crew, and she does have a much closer relationship with him - I guess I was hoping for some recognition of that. Not much, just something like their interaction at the end of Cold Warriors. It would have been nice. Equally, Fry's family are never going to meet the love of his life in reality, so I'm surprised he didn't try and introduce her to his parents. (I know it was all in his head, but that doesn't seem like a distinction Fry would be smart enough to make. )

Now onto the good: I loved the Fry family interaction. I thought it was adorable and nice to have more insight into what his life was like before coming to the future. I also thought this episode was consistently funny throughout the whole thing and that the Nibblonian ship Digby was in looked very cool.
Also, wow, the ending of this one really blindsided me; I was not at all expecting something so sweet and touching. It wasn't on the level of "The Sting" or "Jurassic Bark", but it was fairly close. Having "Manchild" play at the end made it even more lovely and was what really triggered my  .
Even though I loved GoT and consider it the best of Season 7 (so far), I can't give it the 10/10 many have since I reserve that for essentially flawless episodes like TLPJF and RTEW. In my opinion, it is a solid 9/10, though.

[Reply #105 on:]

First off, I'll get my minor gripes out of the way: I was disappointed with the Nibblonian plot.

It wasn't a Nibblonian Plot...? The ending was like the only part that really involved a Nibblonian kind of story which I also found to be a bit bland. With many, many questions having yet to be answered. But I think raising questions was Mike Rowes purpose for the ending though. Which I liked, and could see why others wouldn't like it. It's nice to have some speculation in the air, you know?

Like I said before, I really liked it overall, ignoring these little mindtwisters. I mean the first 2 acts had it in the bag. The last act didn't ruin it by any means though. It just didn't top it off as we all may have been expecting.

[Reply #106 on:]

on IMDb, this has an 8.7, the highest score for a Futurama episode.... Ever, the good ones are usually 8.5-8.6 (TWoF, TFS, TLPJF AoI1 WNFHGB ect)

[Reply #107 on:]

It's already down to 8.5, making it the 16th highest rated episode - and it still only has 44 votes, so I guarantee that the score will continue to drop.

[Reply #108 on:]

I think the IMDb score will stay around the 8.3-8.5 area.

[Reply #109 on:]

I think the IMDb score will stay around the 8.3-8.5 area.

I checked, it's 8.7 again

[Reply #110 on:]

For now, anyways. I highly doubt it'll stay there.

[Reply #111 on:]

Wow, it's unusual to see Danny being remotely critical of the show.

Those reasons there basically sum up why this episode left me cold; it was horrendously lazily written.

Futurama has always been so tight and consistent with it's continuity, but lately it really seems to be slipping up, and I'm not angry, just kind-of...I dunno. I feel supportive, I want it to get back on track. Usually when there's a few inconsistencies or plot holes I'll note them in my head and nothing more, but this episode brought up so many I just had to get them out of my system.

The Sophisticated Shut In, some of your answers helped, so thank you for that.

[Reply #112 on:]

For now, anyways. I highly doubt it'll stay there.

But at this point, Leela and the Genestalk was changed to 7.3

[Reply #113 on:]

Game of Tones is now at 95% with 63 reviews on CGEF. Still really good.

[Reply #114 on:]

The only thing that ruined the episode for me was the revelation of the "small spaceship and it's pilot" That was such an anti-climax to such a great build-up. Thought it was going to be much better than that. Very emotional ending, though.

Apart from the anti-climatic space ship and it's pilot revelation, it was another very solid episode.

7/10.

[Reply #115 on:]

I enjoyed the clever aspects of this episode, but as others have stated, I found it lacking in a cohesive plot.  Time travel as a dream was a novel way to revisit Fry's past events while allowing the rest of the crew to easily intrude on it.  I also liked that the writers managed to cram together Star Trek 4 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the alien ship.

I found the reveal of the alien ship as a small Nibblonian vessel funny, but the plot after that point is what I had a problem with.  That the Nibblonian is hoping to find his lost ship 1000 years after the fact is ridiculous even by Futurama standards.  Worse, the ship is still sitting there after all that time and then is just flown away.  The ending with Fry's mom was sweet, but it felt kind of bolted on to me.  The episode just wasn't tight.

Still, it was better than a lot of this season.  8/10

[Reply #116 on:]

The best part of this episode was when Hermes got excited about seeing Manwiches at the table.  I teared up at that but not at the end.

[Reply #117 on:]

Game of Tones is now at 95% with 63 reviews on CGEF. Still really good.

I'm suprised. Sometimes when I'm watching new episodes, I find myself thinking, " Okay. I liked this, but critics and other fans will hate it." Guess I was wrong about this one.

[Reply #118 on:]

The best part of this episode was when Hermes got excited about seeing Manwiches at the table.  I teared up at that but not at the end.

What about Captain Crunch Casserole?

[Reply #119 on:]

First off, I'll get my minor gripes out of the way: I was disappointed with the Nibblonian plot.

It wasn't a Nibblonian Plot...? The ending was like the only part that really involved a Nibblonian kind of story which I also found to be a bit bland. With many, many questions having yet to be answered. But I think raising questions was Mike Rowes purpose for the ending though. Which I liked, and could see why others wouldn't like it. It's nice to have some speculation in the air, you know?

Like I said before, I really liked it overall, ignoring these little mindtwisters. I mean the first 2 acts had it in the bag. The last act didn't ruin it by any means though. It just didn't top it off as we all may have been expecting.

I should have said lack of Nibblonian plot. Going into the episode, I was expecting something with the Nibblonians that was less, like you said, bland; I was hoping for something along the lines of The Why of Fry or TDTESS instead of what it ended up being. Again, that was only a very minor complaint that wasn't really a flaw with the episode; it just wasn't what I expected, which definitely didn't ruin GoT for me either (I actually loved it, even with the minor issues I had).