Thoughts on Episode 8ACV02 – Children of a Lesser Bog (SPOILERS)

[on:]

Original release date: July 31st, 2023.

Amy and Kif's children emerge from an alien swamp.

Discuss

[Reply #1 on:]

Is the production code for the thread title correct?

TheMovieDB says 'Rage Against the Vaccine' is the 2nd episode (in production order); it lists Children of a Lesser Bog as production show 6 (8ACV06).

I'm not sure how trustworthy TheMovieDB is, though. Or, where they got their information, for that matter.

Regular Wikipedia doesn't have a production number for COALB yet.

[Reply #2 on:]

Changed it to 8ACV06. If the credits match it, I'll start following TheMovieDB's order.

[Reply #3 on:]

Well, it seems Hulu's keeping alive the Fox tradition of completely fucking with the show's production order—so that's at least one thing these new episodes can share with the original run.

[Reply #4 on:]

It's probably for the best to not have the Covid and #cancelled episodes right after that less than stellar season premiere.

Normally I'd prefer production and air date orders to match, but I wouldn't disagree if say, someone back in Season 6A decided to air Lethal Inspection instead of In A Gadda Da Leela to garner more faith about the shows revival from fans.

[Reply #5 on:]

A fair point! (And yeah, 6A in particular was definitely front-loaded with some real duds; it took them a while to get back into the groove with the back-to-back wonder that was "Lethal Inspection" and "The Late Philip J. Fry.") I'm not sure the show's producers or the Hulu executives are self-aware enough to recognize that some episodes may be stronger than others and schedule them accordingly, but it would be a rather canny strategy to do so.

And now I'll stop cluttering the thread with this pre-show chatter, as it were, but will at least note here for the record that I'm coming into this episode with relatively high hopes and pray they're rewarded not expertly dashed!

[Reply #6 on:]

I wonder how much time travellers pay to access accounts on old messageboards and participate in the exciting discussions like these in the before time.

[Reply #7 on:]

OKAY WHO THE HECK POSTED THAT

[Reply #8 on:]

7/10

Glad they culled the children down to three. The age thing was weird, but whatever. Last episode was funnier, but I still enjoyed this. Emotional beats could have hit way, way harder. Liked the bear biologist and hope he survived.

[Reply #9 on:]

Fine. It handled the concept of Amy/Kif having their children fine.

I wish I felt something from that ending, especially hearing how hard Lauren Tom was emoting in the last act. Maybe if I knew more about the kids themselves, or if it focused more on Leela’s thoughts about having/caring for children, just something deeper than the basic story beats on parenting they hit.

Maybe have Fry help care for them, and the two seriously discuss the idea of having kids. Tie it in to that weird OOC moment of Leela being drunk, the kids helping her find purpose in her almost 50 year old life.

I laughed less here than I did with The Impossible Stream. This story was better, I liked the new factoids about Kif’s species, but there was definitely a lot more that should’ve been done with this concept.

Another 7/10.


Notes:
-The top billing acting credit being rotated every week is a neat idea. Wish it could tie in more to which actor had more lines in the episode, would’ve given it to Lauren Tom here.

-The restating of how Kif’s species reproduces and the old educational video felt really unnecessary, that could’ve been explained a lot quicker than they did.

-Kif/Zapp’s story could’ve been cut some to focus more on Amy/Leela. I did like seeing Kif being genuinely tough, felt like a good continuation of his character from Where the Buggalo Roam. The ending with the tardigrade babies was a little much, but thankfully it didn’t focus too much on that.

-Leo was recasted. Fine. I just wish they used someone that sounded closer to West’s high pitch register. Minor annoyance, but he had like 3 lines, so weh.

-I wonder how many times we’ll actually see those kids after this?

EDIT: Ending credits said this was 8ACV02.

[Reply #10 on:]

Was alright, not really a big exciting episode but I liked the focus on more interesting character driven stuff. I prefer weirdo lore-related adventures over the topical plots. Amy / Lauren Tom was the real highlight, real good acting at the end (though it didn't emotionally hit me very hard, either). I'm surprised they didnt acknowledge Fry and Leela's relationship here, when she's literally playing a motherly role around him. My guess is that their relationship more or less isnt going to come up, in general. Either way, pretty middle of the road.

It's neat seeing characters like Zapp or Petunia for the first time in this new season - the art in this episode was especially good, but did anyone else notice everyones pupils are way bigger? Besides the backgrounds and such, everything looks polished, yet slightly off-model. Not a bad thing, it makes sense for these early episodes, but just something I notice.

[Reply #11 on:]

I thought it was better than "The Impossible Stream".

The bear biologist was the highlight for me. Wasn't ever expecting to see him again.

[Reply #12 on:]

Me too Mr. Peanutbutter.

[Reply #13 on:]

I've just watched the episode and it was so wonderful. We all have been waiting for the continue story to Kiff gets knocked up episode and what would their kids look like. I got excited when I saw the little one eye child 💖💖💖

I hope that we get to see more of the children in the upcoming episodes because I just think they are so adorable.

[Reply #14 on:]

This episode felt.... rather tame in many ways. I liked it in the same ways I would like a Season 6 episode of the show. Some things were over-dramatized just like the CC run but it did make a genuine attempt at having heart + consistent pacing, which is something I can't say I was expecting. Even if the attempt at having heart fell flat on it's face on most aspects, the pacing is quite good with this episode. Certainly not as funny as last episode but it is more plot-driven, which is nice to see. Not one bit of this episode felt very rushed to see, and it was a pleasure to see the Marine Biologist again. It definitely felt a bit like a Fox-Era episode mixed with the kind of quality you'd see from the movies. Which was nice. Not even gonna lie, not much felt very forced. If only it was executed better, I would give it a higher rating. I'm a slightly bit hopeful that by the end of this season we'll see a good return to form sort of like the last 2 or 3 episodes of Season 7B. But then again, this was the sixth production episode of the season. Giving them time to get back into the swing of things. I mean, if "Lethal Inspection" can do it, why can't this episode? I get what they were going for, and I thoroughly enjoyed what I watched. But not to the point it's memorable, however. Hoping the "Parasites Lost" sequel episode is executed better than this one was, but that's probably asking for a bit much based on what I saw tonight. This episode does give me hope for what the rest of the season has to offer. No matter how good or bad. I think I'll rate this episode a 7/10 for now. It was a decent episode that felt rather different than the CC episodes that precede it, but it just wasn't very memorable imo.

[Reply #15 on:]

I liked that the plot shed some light on the relationship an "adoptive" mom has with her non-biological kids versus the natural attachment the kids have with their genetic but emotionally detached mom. Leela should've been more serious in this episode, namely about not remembering such a wild, weird, and significant event that occurred in her life and shrugs it off as her being intoxicated at the time (she wasn't, if anything she felt drunk in this episode and sober in the prequel). Really, the entire recap of "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" was not only unnecessary but worked to the detriment of the episode. It sucks that they never touched upon Fry and Leela's interest in becoming parents.

For some reason, the show is so adverse to having Fry be the grown-up in a relationship between him and a kid. Cubert and Dwight are sharper than him, Butch was seen as an equal for the purposes of competition, the orphans were more a nuisance that could be ignored, Ben's story was almost entirely irrelevant to Fry's sub-plot in "The Bots and the Bees", and Jrrr only saw Fry as a pet. It would be so exciting for me to see how Fry conducts himself when placed in a position where he has to be the responsible adult in charge of a child's welfare (and not an animal like with Leelu and Mr. Peppy).

The "challenge" was pretty weak. For what was supposed to be the emotional peak of the episode, it was missing one overlooked point of parenthood in comedy. It's one thing to love your children, but love enough isn't enough to make a good parent. Love doesn't put food on the table. I know I'm being pretty hard on the show, but it's the harsh fact that should be acknowledged in regarding the responsibilities of parenthood. Regardless, I do applaud Lauren Tom for her fantastic performance in delivering Amy's lines in the hut.

One last thing in response to Box Incorporate's post- Leo's recasting is horrendous. I thought when the show was going to return and my ongoing theory of Fry and Leela miss a decade of life would avoid the racial issue and just kill the character off. Leo's not a fan favorite character by any stretch and kind of tiresome. I'd rather have Inez be a crazy rich widow coping with both the lost of her husband and managing the vast wealth she presumably married into.

SolidSnake, do not expect "Parasites Regained" to be a sequel with any real emotional moments. It's about the crew being shrunk down to go into Nibbler's litterbox to exterminate the same parasites that inhabited Fry in "Parasites Lost". They better address why they aren't going with microbot avatars again.

[Reply #16 on:]

At the risk of sounding negative... mid.

Firstly, the candy setup. Oh god, I felt every empty second of that opening sequence plodding along with nary a chuckle to be had. Absolutely overlong candy-manufacturing bit. Why couldn't they go to like a futuristic candy store or something in search of something similar and break their teeth there? I don't mind strange disparate Act I's if they have some world exploring. This is a problem I had during the CC run in fairness, when they forget to explore the futurism part of Futurama. It's fun to explore things like factories and shopping and the internet in high-concept, so why make characters do DIY in-office? Am I insanely nit-picky for having this gripe?

Lauren Tom really voice-acted the heck out of her lines, it almost distracted from how nonsensical the whole 'challenge' complication was. Why couldn't the children's bond with Leela be enough of a challenge to navigate, instead of the midwife hanging around all episode adding no further comic relief? Reeeally wish she had stayed in the swamp.

Bender honest to god had some of his greatest jokes in this, especially screwing his eyes out. 2 episodes into this new revival and I'm reminded why he's such an icon.

I echo everyone else asking why this didn't spark at least one brief exchange with Leela and Fry about children, even just a throwaway line. The acknowledgement at the very end was super safe and blah. Why was everyone tearing up? Not everyone cared that much during the damn episode! We get it, kids/family things are sweet, but they painted with so broad a brush that the kids were hollow avatars and the whole narrative was generic, despite the alien backdrop.

I don't know guys... I don't think I've outgrown Futurama, because there are at least 30 episodes I think are masterful and my exact sense of humor and heart, and the rest are dependably amusing despite the odd super-dud. But I think... Futurama just hasn't grown with us in those 10 years away.

I realise that when Meanwhile aired, everyone truly thought that was the definitive ending for once - it had that air to it. Everyone was satisfied enough that nobody was campaigning for a return from that. So now we're here in 2023, and because of that, I feel like nobody was honing ideas or being inspired for what could come next. This episode in particular felt like they looked to the past for ideas out of necessity, not inspiration.

They can prove me wrong by making that high-concept, certifiable tearjerker of a time-travelling child episode they were lamenting not doing. Somebody open that guy's notebook.

[Reply #17 on:]

What a weird—and largely unsatisfying—episode. It tried to do too many things and follow too many plot threads at once, and the result was rather underwhelming. I had a hard time following the emotional through-line here, especially because the ending

Show spoiler

was super rushed and the characters' own emotional states were rather capricious and difficult to track. The kids seemed indifferent to Amy and enthralled by Leela for 98% of the episode, and even though I never really thought they'd "choose" Leela over Amy I didn't completely buy the happy, huggy ending either. Treacly, indeed.

Leela not immediately remembering her role in Kif's pregnancy was bizarre, and meant that the first act and a half of the episode was mostly wasted on backstory. Similarly, like Box Incorporated said, Kif's subplot with Zapp was completely unnecessary and ate up time that would have been better spent developing the far more interesting Amy/Leela motherhood/custody stuff. (I know Kif's storyline did build up to this metaphor about parenthood or whatever, but it was an unnecessary one because it never really seemed as if Kif was failing to appreciate the magnitude of his role as a father. Also, I found Zapp mostly annoying rather than amusing here—big waste of his character, for sure.)

So the plotting of this episode, in short, was garbage. And while I certainly appreciated what they were going for with the Leela and Amy stuff, the execution was...not great. Like others have said, I wanted to feel something at that ending (which even reused the same music cue from the end of "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," a moment that always chokes me up), but the episode didn't come close to earning it.

Still, there were some things I enjoyed, mainly the return of the whale bear biologist and the Grand Midwife, both of whom were highlights of the episode and delivered pretty much the only laugh-worthy lines for me. But overall I think I liked this one less than last week's, which for all its flaws maintained momentum and focus and delivered more (or at least the same amount of) laughs.

As for this one? I'll give it a 5.5/10, rounded up for the poll 'cause I guess I'm feeling generous.

[Reply #18 on:]

I enjoyed it more than last week's but laughed less. Hmm...

Probably for the best if I don't stop and think too hard about sections of the plot; in some aspects I don't think it was nearly as profound or emotive as it thought it was. ...Question mark? Maybe I'm being unfair. That said, I compare it to other emotive episodes in the past and it doesn't even come close. I think Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch was more emotive, and I don't consider it among the most emotive episodes.

Can't overlook nor overstate Lauren Tom's delivery, though. Really was the star of the show. Also liked the remaining off-spring, I thought they were generally handled really well. Leela was fun (and Katey Sagal excellent) but I don't really respect the re-characterisation of her as always being suuuuch a drunk, apparently, suddenly. Ah well.

Still a little worried about Fry's voice. Add to that Zapp. Hope I can banish that thought soon enough.

Anyway.
7/10
In meiner Meinung.

 

[Reply #19 on:]

EDIT: Ending credits said this was 8ACV02.

Indeed; it looks like TheMovieDB is untrustworthy, unfortunately.

[Reply #20 on:]

Positives:
+ I liked the 'Anything happen while we were out' title gag
+ I like it when The Grand Midwife announces herself
+ I still like the Whale Biologist
+ Axel has cool hair

Negatives:
- The candy making plotline was really uninspired and unfunny.
- I didn't buy Amy as a good mom. Lauren Tom's performance was fine, I just don't think that Amy as a character is believable in this role.
- The plot felt kind of rote. These characters have kids now. Having kids is exhausting. Oh but what if there was some sense of threat to their position as a parent? Its okay because they love their kids. It could have leaned harder into showcasing how the unusual parental circumstances could impact the situation.
- The whole kif vs tardigrades was a waste of screentime
- I like the Whale Biologist but I didn't want him to come back. Part of the joy of that character was the non-sequitur of his attitude and his intensity against whales. Having him be the Creature of the Week Biologist reduces how fun that aspect of him was.
- They clearly wanted this to be an Emotional Impact episode but the abruptness of the ending, and the dubious (and probably unintentional) moral that love is enough to be a good parent regardless of any other circumstance, really made it fall flat for me.
- Also I just don't like Kif and Amy together. This is probably a completely different discussion.

3/10

[Reply #21 on:]

Some interesting comments on this one. I'd kinda love to know which of you are, and which of you aren't, parents. But let's not go there.

There was some good social commentary in this one. I disagree with people on Kif's subplot with Zapp being a waste of screen time - the conflict between the duty of work and the duty of parenthood (especially for those that serve) is very real for many parents, and it's as big an issue as the general feeling of unpreparedness that most parents feel. Yes, this wasn't the emotive high water mark that many seem to have been expecting but I found it really relatable and thought it encapsulated the whole parenting experience (in very broad strokes) really rather well.

It was also another episode with a lots of laugh-out-loud moments. Little throw away one-liners or visual gags were dotted throughout. Zoidberg eating one of Kif and Amy's kids was a real snorting drink out of my nose moment - a level of incidental funny that seems to have been mostly absent from the CC episodes.

I enjoyed it. Not emotional high drama but a solid funny episode.

7/10

[Reply #22 on:]

Was Bender dangling off the Planet Express ship in the intro?

[Reply #23 on:]

Some interesting comments on this one. I'd kinda love to know which of you are, and which of you aren't, parents. But let's not go there.

For whatever it's worth, and speaking as someone who was not especially moved by this episode, I'm not a parent. But I love "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," which I think explores the potential of parenthood in a really lovely and poignant way. Like, the final few minutes of that episode are one of my favorite things the show's ever done—Amy springing to action to protect the tadpoles (and her confident assertion to Kif that she'll be ready for motherhood in twenty years), Leela's ambivalence about her DNA being propagated, those cute little babies fumbling in the water and the one-eyed one winking at the camera as that gorgeous music plays. It's beautiful stuff.

My main complaint about this episode—and maybe it's an unfair one—is that it lacks the subtlety, the light touch, that made the emotional beats in "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" so effective (and affecting). No disrespect intended to Lauren Tom, but I thought Amy's acting was over the top (to match the overwrought dialogue, I suppose). The episode telegraphed pathos without actually making me feel anything. It was all sort of mannered and rote and, dare I say, trite. But obviously your mileage may vary. 

[Reply #24 on:]

As a parent with young kids, I thought this was a great episode.  Lauren Tom did a terrific job, and it was nice to see Amy's character mature a bit.  The Kif part of the story was only decent but I really loved that he was more the exasperated second in command of season 1 and 2 than the whiny wuss from seasons 3 onward.  The only thing I didn't like was that Leela somehow forgot about getting Kif pregnant.  It made no sense and was completely unnecessary.

[Reply #25 on:]

Was Bender dangling off the Planet Express ship in the intro?

He was. But he wasn't singing a saucy folk tune. What's up with that?

In terms of the episode? This should've hit a lot more resonant cues than I think it did, at least for me. Lauren Tom acted the heck outta this episode (for better or worse is up to the individual, but I think that's about the heaviest performance I've heard from her in this show). I felt Kif and Amy themselves were both presented pretty nicely, trying to navigate parenthood. The pitfalls of being new parents was done ok enough, though perhaps a bit rushed in spots. And watching the kids naturally gravitate toward Leela was a very interesting thing to watch play out, and I kind of wish that would've been an even bigger focus than it already was. Take time away from the candy gag at the beginning to do this; that gag didn't need to go on nearly as long as it did to get used as Chekov's Gun later on with Zapp.

I think my biggest gripe of all with this one is why in the heck would Leela fail to remember knocking Kif up? That was a HUGE event in her life. Did they do that merely to give new viewers a shake-down summary of the past? If that was why, bully on the writers. It was a waste of precious screen-time they could've used elsewhere to far greater effect. At most, they only needed to throw a line or two in about KGNUAN like 'Wow, it's really been twenty years since I knocked up your boyfriend?' to get the gist across for 99% of viewers.

I felt it was a smidge odd too that they didn't do anything regarding Leela and Fry discussing kids. I would've been here all day for a moment with real gravitas (like- finding Leela's parents level) but even some throw-away line would've sufficed. A gag. Anything. My only guess as to why they didn't touch the idea at all was so that it didn't potentially detract from Kif and Amy's stuff. Which- if that's the case, valid enough I suppose.

My initial thought is to give this one, for me, a 4/10 and no higher. But perhaps if I re-watch it I'll change my mind. This might be one of those ones I need to sit on and slowly digest like the great sarlacc pit.

[Reply #26 on:]

My main complaint about this episode—and maybe it's an unfair one—is that it lacks the subtlety, the light touch, that made the emotional beats in "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" so effective (and affecting).

For me, the contrast between the two episodes is partly what made it a strong one. Your first pregnancy (all being well) is a time for hopes and dreams, a time when you romanticise parenthood and plan everything out. Everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows, everything is poignant and considered. That's Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch.

Then, when baby comes along, everything changes; it's all screaming and puke and poo and insecurity and sleep loss. Everything happens so fast and all your romanticised ideals are washed away by the harsh realities of having kids. Yes, they covered a lot of ground in this episode and so much could have been explored in more depth, but that's a reflection of confronting those harsh realities - you just don't have time dwell and examine and reflect, you just rattle from one urgent task to the next - it's overwhelming. Even the idea of Amy and Kif having a baby, toddler and teenager, all at the same time, is funny because they grow up so fast you don't have time to get used to it and get comfortable; it's a constant barrage of new challenges.

Even the Midwife is perfect. In the UK, we have "health visitors" that pop around and check up on new parents. They offer helpful advice and make sure you are coping, but they also take notes and you know, that if you fuck it up, child services are going to be paying you a visit.

So, I think the subtleties were there but they may not resonate with everyone.

[Reply #27 on:]

Ah, fair enough! I do think some of my aversion to this episode is simply that new-parents-deal-with-triplets is not a storyline I typically associate with or would expect (or even want) to see from Futurama. There’s nothing wrong with doing an episode on that theme—especially when it ties in to the show’s existing continuity—but it almost felt too…normal to me. There wasn’t enough of a sci-fi spin to it or something. Yes, they’re aliens, and yes, they were conceived via ungloved hand-holding, but all the parallels with adoptive vs. biological parenthood and custody battles just felt too easy and directly 1:1 with corresponding real-world circumstances that it just didn’t do it for me as a Futurama episode specifically.

With that said, I’ll also gladly admit defeat—maybe this episode just isn’t for me, and that’s cool!

We do at least agree on one thing: the Grand Midwife is perfect.

[Reply #28 on:]

I'm reviewing these episodes for Starburst Magazine so my thoughts are more succinctly summed up over here.

But the general gist of how I felt is this episode was a huge improvement over "The Impossible Stream" for me and makes me a lot happier with where things are going. I love that it seems to permanently shake up the show's status quo. Still on the weaker end of Futurama as a whole, but in a way that's better than most of season 7 at the very least.

7/10

[Reply #29 on:]

Something felt off about this episode and the plot was strange and meandering. Amy struggles with motherhood, nearly gets her kids taken away, and resolves the situation by... simply declaring she loves them? Meanwhile the sticky candy subplot ultimately leads to...Kif murdering the Whale Bear Biologist? I mean, huh? This is odd even by Futurama standards.

I guess they were going for some kind of parody of social services with the grand midwife/inquisitor skulking around, but something about it just didn't work for me. I think the story would have worked better if the kids got into danger while with Leela (as she's a drunk now, apparently), Amy rescues them, and overcomes her insecurity by recognising she would do anything for her children. The sticky candy stuff was fine as an opener but got old fast. I also think the episode suffers from spending way too much time recapping "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" instead of trying to make its own plot work.

I liked the kids a lot though (RIP other babies) and I hope we see them again. They're technically Cubert's distant cousins by marriage, so it would be neat to see some interaction between them and Cubert, Dwight et al in the future. Also I appreciate dumb little moments in this episode, like the midwife's wall collapsing. Hell, the grand midwife herself is still entertaining.

Kind of weird we've seen so little of Fry so far. As much as I love the wider cast, I do hope we get an episode that focuses on the trio soon.

Was Bender dangling off the Planet Express ship in the intro?

He was in the first episode as well. I'm guessing it's just a new regular part of the intro now, like the "Hulurama" title card.

[Reply #30 on:]

I'm reviewing these episodes for Starburst Magazine so my thoughts are more succinctly summed up over here.

Very cool—thanks for sharing! I agree that the Bowie song was a nice touch; one of my big complaints about the CC episodes is they relied heavily on montages, but this episode's didn't bother me and I think part of it was because the song was actually, like, good.

Oh, and related to your point about the longer runtimes on Hulu: perhaps having more time to work with will make the writers less inclined to lean on montages. Though I did notice that there were quite a few short, snappy scenes in this episode that made it feel less cohesive than last week's. So maybe having more time will simply wreak havoc on the pacing in a series of diverse but equally annoying ways.

Kind of weird we've seen so little of Fry so far. As much as I love the wider cast, I do hope we get an episode that focuses on the trio soon.

Yeah, I had a similar thought...and then the crueler, related thought that maybe they're deemphasizing Fry because Billy West's voice acting is not up to snuff. It seems the next two weeks ("How the West Was 10100011" and "Parasites Regained") are more ensemble-y episodes with perhaps a slight tilt toward Bender and Leela, respectively—my money's on "Related to Items You've Viewed" to be more of a Fry-heavy episode.

[Reply #31 on:]

I watched this episode straight after watching The Impossible Stream and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t find it as entertaining or funny as that. It might not help that I was never the biggest fan of Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch despite it being from the original run. When the flashback to that episode came up and quoted the 20 years part I couldn’t quite believe it, has it really been that long?...

[Reply #32 on:]

I didn't like this episode as much as the previous one, but it still felt more like classic futurama than the CC episodes.

The Grand Midwife was the highlight of the show.

I didn't like the single-episode-charcter-trait-change tricks pulled (Leela a drunk, Kif an amphibian Schwarzenegger). Thankfully those aspects were used for one-off jokes rather than as a basis for the plot, so they weren't as problematic as they could have been.

I just hope the Mammal Biologist survived.

6/10

[Reply #33 on:]

Am I the only one who liked the joke about Leela being drunk? The fact that it's kind out of random and slightly out-of-character makes it funnier to me. If, for some reason, they kept her like that, then that would be stupid.

[Reply #34 on:]

No, you aren't the only one who found it funny.

[Reply #35 on:]

Another 7/10 episode. My main criticism is that the pacing was to quick, and I didn't feel the connection between Amy and her kids. This is a huge step in her character arc and I didn't feel anything despite Lauren Tom putting in her best performance in the show so far.

I'm surprised the writers didn't take the opportunity to experiment with a little serialization by building on the storyline over multiple episodes opposed to just a single episode.

Perhaps the pacing could've been improved if they didn't waste time on the Simpsons styled non sequitur opening.

Either way I did find the episode funny, and it's nice that the show is allowing the characters to mature and have new status quos

[Reply #36 on:]

7

Another mid-tier episode, another mid-tier score.

Positives abounded in potentia for this one. There could have been so much that the show's writing staff might have run with, but instead we got a fairly standard "these are my children" story. With a fairly standard cast of TV children, a fairly standard "mom has a lot to cope with" story, and a fairly standard "Fun relative takes kids for a fun time, mom gets jealous" cake topper.

So it feels like it wanted to be a "big feels" episode but didn't quite have the heart to pour into actually being one. Which feels extremely meh. Mid-tier nonsense for sure.

The Grand Midwife sneaking around and noting Amy's performance on a clipboard was the thing that saved all of these for me. A solid running background gag that wasn't so subtle anybody could miss it, and also a decent attempt to build some tension into the narrative. It was pretty funny.

But sadly, all of the tension or drama was for naught. There wasn't any grand payoff. Kif went halfway to badass for a moment, but then straight back to not. Zapp felt... ...diminished, somehow. Probably because (for me at least) he became straight-up irredeemable during IAGDL (an episode I will never re-watch). Now he's no longer an amusing parody of 50s and 60s pulp space heroes with a generous dash of William Shatner's ego. He's just a pathetic sack of shit who hasn't met a war crime he hasn't committed.

And that's just not goofy fun anymore. It's time to drop an asteroid on him and send his ashes to a retirement home.

I enjoyed the tardigrades. Kinda want a giant tardigrade plush, but have no room for it.

Leela should probably have remembered getting Kif pregnant. Seems like something most folks wouldn't forget. So that was weird unless it's the start of a multi-episode arc that will reveal Leela is actually a skrull.

Uh, so, yeah, the episode felt like an okay one but at the same time, a strange letdown. There was plenty of continuity woven into the story, some funnies, and there was a healthy dose of the bizarre. But at the same time, it was still a generic American sitcom script. Just adapted to the far future.

I'd be scoring this a lot lower if not for Amy's voice acting, the way that I laughed inappropriately at "the winnowing", the midwife, and the strong continuity ties.

It tried, so it gets the extra couple of points. But it really doesn't deserve them, and I'm getting ready to hand out harsher scores for the next few if they don't start cutting the fucking mustard with a goddamn neutron laser.

[Reply #37 on:]

Pretty much a big fat ok. Most Kif heavy episodes are. Better than last weeks, could have fit in the original run.

[Reply #38 on:]

While watching this ep with my roommate they turned to me and said “they’re doing the whole arc in one episode?” Which I think sums it up nicely.

I’ve always been meh on emotional episodes that feel unearned and I have to say this was one of them. Amys scenes of struggling with the kids was pretty fun and the grand midwife continues to have the highest screen time to laugh ratio of maybe any character, but that’s kinda where the positives end.

Super rushed, short pointless scenes, the honey thing felt like it was setting up something that never came, and they had no idea how to portray leela in this ep at all, I felt. Her perspective never mattered at all, and she was a deadbeat mom, a caring stepmom and a soundboard friend all at once.

Most of all though, it just wasn’t super funny. I’m usually a sucker for old edu-vids but this one fell flat, as did most of the scene punchlines. Under-utilising zapp is pure evil in my opinion and that happened here. Some people have said that this was better than kif gets knocked up a notch and while that ep is no masterpiece, i just can’t agree.

Sorry for sounding very negative, this ones a 5/10 for me. There was just a bit too much that didn’t feel well done.

[Reply #39 on:]

I’ve always been meh on emotional episodes that feel unearned

Yeah, I think that about sums up one of my main issues with this episode. I feel like unearned emotional “payoffs” were the calling card of the Comedy Central seasons, and I bristled at it here, too. Like, there were a few cute/sweet moments with the kids, but Amy retaining custody of them at the end didn’t do anything for me because I never really believed they’d be taken away from her—the emotional stakes were artificially heightened and the ending felt almost manipulative (and, as the episode itself acknowledged, treacly).

Am I the only one who liked the joke about Leela being drunk? The fact that it's kind out of random and slightly out-of-character makes it funnier to me. If, for some reason, they kept her like that, then that would be stupid.

Am I misremembering, or did the CC episodes also make occasional “Leela’s a lousy drunk” jokes? I haven’t rewatched seasons six or seven in a long time, but when the joke occurred (recurred?) in this episode I had a visceral reaction to it along the lines of “Ugh, not this again.”