I'm lazy can someone make me an episode list...

[:]

...of the bare minimum of key episodes I should watch from the last two seasons before watching the series finale?

I'm not going to watch all of them, I don't have the time between video games and drawing underage porn.

[#1 :]

Most of these episodes show Fry and Leela's relationship evolving, which will help you get the full emotional effect of Meanwhile.

Rebirth
The Late Phillip J. Fry
The Prisoner of Benda
Overclockwise
Fun on a Bun
Fry and Leela's Big Fling

[#2 :]

You don't even like Futurama!

[#3 :]

You don't even like Futurama!

Hey, this seems familiar....

[#4 :]

Most of these episodes show Fry and Leela's relationship evolving, which will help you get the full emotional effect of Meanwhile.

Rebirth
The Late Phillip J. Fry
The Prisoner of Benda
Overclockwise
Fun on a Bun
Fry and Leela's Big Fling

Take out Overclockwise, and replace it with "Law and Oracle" and you got yourself a deal......

[#5 :]

Most of these episodes show Fry and Leela's relationship evolving, which will help you get the full emotional effect of Meanwhile.

Rebirth
The Late Phillip J. Fry
The Prisoner of Benda
Overclockwise
Fun on a Bun
Fry and Leela's Big Fling

Take out Overclockwise, and replace it with "Law and Oracle" and you got yourself a deal......

I only put it there because it deals with Fry and Leela's relationship, which is essential to understand the ups and downs of when watching Meanwhile. "Law and Oracle" is a much better episode, though.

[#6 :]

I'd also say Lrrrenconcilable NdNdifferences, and The Mutants Are Revolting.

[#7 :]

Here's two revised Lists from me..
^{They're not in any particular order, by the way.}

Episodes You Should Watch Before Seeing Meanwhile
Rebirth
The Late Phillip J. Fry
The Prisoner of Benda
Overclockwise
Fun on a Bun
Fry and Leela's Big Fling

Episodes you should watch Just Because they're Awesome
The Late Phillip J. Fry
The Prisoner of Benda
Fun on a Bun
Fry and Leela's Big Fling
Law and Oracle
Lrrrenconcilable NdNdifferences
The Mutants are Revolting
A Farewell To Arms
Ghost in the Machines
The Bots and the Bees
Game of Tones
Murder on the Planet Express

[#8 :]

Whatever you do,

DON'T WATCH NEUTOPIA! YOU CAN STILL BE SAVED FROM THAT HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE!

[#9 :]

The misogyny and misandry in that ep was truly cringeworthy, but a lot of the rest was fun.

[#10 :]

There's a severe lack of Reincarnation on that list. Also, I hate Möbius Dick, but everyone else likes it, so I'd shove that in.

[#11 :]

I do wonder if Freako's a little disappointed that so far we haven't suggested any episodes that involve children being raped. Since that seems to be his "thing" these days.

[#12 :]

I do wonder if Freako's a little disappointed that so far we haven't suggested any episodes that involve children being raped. Since that seems to be his "thing" these days.

To be fair, I've drawn more statutory rape than just flat out rape.

[#13 :]

One of these days, Freako will vanish from PEEL and one of the other Aussies will inform us that he is the guest of Her Majesty for six to eight years.

[#14 :]

Bare minimum? Pretty much nothing, to be honest. The finale should make perfect sense without having seen any prior episodes.

Maybe "The Late Philip J Fry", "Fry and Leela's big Fling" and "Game of Tones". Probably "Rebirth" as well, but I'm guessing you've already seen that.

Some of the prior suggestions are pretty bad actually. Don't listen to the people saying Overclockwise is worth watching. They're wrong.

[#15 :]

The bare minimum, I'd say, would be The Late Philip J. Fry and Fry and Leela's Big Fling. Between them, they cover most of the state of the Fry/Leela "ship" as it stands when "Meanwhile" opens.

Rebirth and Fun on a Bun could be seen as useful context, but they're hardly essential (although I think that both are worth watching in their own right).

Paring it down to four (or even two) episodes does remove a lot of good Futurama moments though, such as those found in Murder on the Planet Express, Mobius Dick, and A Clockwork Origin. Each of those episodes has at least one thing somewhere in it that makes it worth watching as a whole.

Of course, Meanwhile does pretty much stand tall on its own. No prior information is really required before watching it. UrinalLegend has a good point there.

It all really depends on what your reasons are for watching, really. If you just want to see how it ends, there's no need to watch anything other than the finale. If you want to see how the story pans out, then MRM's list is a decent "arc" overview.

[#16 :]

I'll just go with monster robot maniac's first list.

[#17 :]

Bare minimum? I would say The Late Philip J. Fry and Fry and Leela's Big Fling cover the Fry/Leela relationship development.

Add The Prisoner of Benda and Murder On the Planet Express for fast-paced ensemble stories that are also awesomely funny.

These four, plus Meanwhile, would be the absolute minimum number of episodes, but be warned that it excludes many other very good episodes.

[#18 :]

I don't think "Fry and Leela's Big Fling" is anything special.

It's a thoroughly underwhelming episode and it doesn't particularly develop Fry and Leela's relationship in any way. It shows that they're a couple, now, but it's not the first episode to do that and it doesn't progress them beyond that, hugely.

Honestly, you ought to watch "Rebirth" to explain the show getting from the end of "Into the Wild Green Yonder" to its usual shtick again.

Then, you should probably watch "The Late Philip J. Fry" because it's the first real time we see Fry and Leela interacting as a couple in any sense (and it's the best episode of the revival by a mile, if you ask me).

And then you don't really need to see anything until "Meanwhile", though, obviously, there are lots of great episodes like "Lethal Inspection", "A Clockwork Origin", "Law and Oracle", "Reincarnation" and "Fun on a Bun" that I'd recommend checking out just because they're good.