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

[Reply #40 on:]

This is my slightly modified reaction from Reddit. Mind you that so far, I liked The Impossible Stream best.

OK, I remember pretty much hating "Kif Gets Knocked UP A Notch", so it was going to be interesting how the sequel will fare.... And the result was strangely mixed. While I can´t exactly put my finger on it, episodes still reminiscence the style of CC era, meaning they sometimes feel more like a string of scenes than coherent story but maybe that is too nitpicky. COALB didn´t start too bad but it was a little dosjointed - we had rather unfunny opening that was IMHO by the numbers and loosely connected to the introduction of the main plot. Coming of the children themselves felt good but also kinda mediocre (except of the moment of Zoidberg eating one of them as well).

Really I would say the episode had not much going until the moment Kif joined Zapp on their adventure. That sequence was surprisingly strong, maybe on the level of Star Trek: Lower Decks (not to mention targidrades made it sort of like Discovery). It might have been surprising but I sort of felt unexpected emotional reaction when Kif pulled out from attacking when he found out parents with three young ones. That was the case when subtlety really wasn´t needed and it worked surprisingly well... It was also fine touch that unlike KGKUAN where Amy returned to Kif in the last moment, here it was vice versa.
On the other hand, I am afraid that rivalry/contrast of Amy and Leela was again predictable and uninteresting, made slightly better by the touching final moment.
I´m curious to what extent will be the kids used in the future. I would actually say it´s a little annoying they are voiced by Tom and LaMarche, though, or more specifically, that Axel sounded basically like a raspier Kif.
 

[Reply #41 on:]

The good:
- Two words: WHALE BIOLOGIST. So nice to see him and Grand Midwife back. He's as snarky and jaded as ever. I'd love to see him return alive and well for another cameo.
- The episode did a great job of exploring the "biological parent vs. adoptive parent" trope and gave Amy a lot of opportunities for character development. Speaking of, props to Lauren Tom for giving one of her best performances as Amy throughout the course of the episode.
- The humor was on point. I also admit to laughing inappropriately during "The Winnowing", especially when Zoidberg joined in on the fun.
- Great callbacks to "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch", including the freeze-frame bonus of all of Amy's calendar events.
- The "Did anything happen while we were away?" title card also gave me a good laugh.
- I always enjoy seeing Zapp Brannigan, even though I feel the subplot involving him wasn't necessary (more on that later). He's as douchey and shameless as ever. Although now I wonder is "My scrotums" an example of bad grammar or....?

The bad:
- There were moments when Kif seemed OOC (willingly endangering Whale Biologist's life) amongst all of the moments of plausible character growth (like how he was established in the FOX run as a hidden badass who's quite adept at fighting)
- They completely retconned "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch", especially how Leela believed she had impregnated Kif when drunk. She acknowledged multiple times in the original episode how the children simply had her DNA and that Amy was their true parent. I'm also pretty sure the episode implied some of Amy's DNA made it to their offspring, such as how a couple of them had inherited her clumsiness.
- I felt like the Zapp and candy subplots were completely unnecessary, and they could have used more time to explore how Amy and Kif were adjusting to parenthood and how it affected their relationships with each other. I also think it could have heightened the emotional stakes of Amy regaining her status as the true parent of her children. Those parts just felt like filler.
- I also feel that the children could have been fleshed out better, since they (with the exception of Axl and his teenage angst) seemed more like props.

Overall: This was definitely the strongest of the three new episodes thus far, both in terms of writing and emotional appeal. It also didn't rely on the "commentary on current events" gimmick that made a lot of the CC run feel dated. However, it's no "Luck of the Fryrish", though it did have a lot of potential to become another. 8/10

[Reply #42 on:]

There were moments when Kif seemed OOC (willingly endangering Whale Biologist's life) amongst all of the moments of plausible character growth (like how he was established in the FOX run as a hidden badass who's quite adept at fighting)

Well, for several reasons, he hated him now. I would say it wasn´t so unbelievable. Also, I don´t know if writers even relised it but Whale biologist was the one who sent Kif to jail in 300 Big Boys.

- They completely retconned "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch", especially how Leela believed she had impregnated Kif when drunk. She acknowledged multiple times in the original episode how the children simply had her DNA and that Amy was their true parent.

Amy was suposed to be unquestionably true parent according to everyone yet it was suddenly not true.

I felt like the Zapp and candy subplots were completely unnecessary

Considering the Zapp plot, they needed Amy to be left alone with kids, after all.

- I also feel that the children could have been fleshed out better, since they (with the exception of Axl and his teenage angst) seemed more like props.

Question is if Mandy and Newt will ever be allowed to become characters on their own rights...

Also, it is just me or it seems by the descriptions of this season that odd-numbered  episodes will be trend satires and even-numbered ones more independent stories?

[Reply #43 on:]

Well, for several reasons, he hated him now. I would say it wasn´t so unbelievable. Also, I don´t know if writers even relised it but Whale biologist was the one who sent Kif to jail in 300 Big Boys.

If they did, that was actually quite brilliant. Arresting Kif was a pretty douchey move, especially since the whole thing could have been easily avoided by explaining "you're covered in whale vomit, scrape it off", so I don't blame him for seeking revenge. Killing the guy seemed a little harsh for Kif's character but that's just me.

Amy was suposed to be unquestionably true parent according to everyone yet it was suddenly not true.

That retcon didn't sit well with me, either. The original episode repeatedly made it clear that Amy was the true parent of her and Kif's children, and suddenly in this episode everyone decided "Just kidding, Leela is the true mother because it was her DNA."

Considering the Zapp plot, they needed Amy to be left alone with kids, after all.

That's a valid point! Now that it's sat with me a bit more, I do appreciate how Kif's absence set the conflict of Amy navigating parenthood alone into motion.

Also, it is just me or it seems by the descriptions of this season that odd-numbered  episodes will be trend satires and even-numbered ones more independent stories?

It sounds like that might be the case. I'm cautiously optimistic about the independent stories and hope the writers are able to bring them up to par with the ones on FOX's original run.

[Reply #44 on:]

Solid enough episode, another 7/10 for me. Not as funny as the 1st but good character development, Lauren Tom did some excellent work.

Zoidberg straight up eating one of their babies was hilarious.

I agree Leela forgetting about Kiff gets up a notch was out of character, would have been more fitting for Fry to be the one not to remember it if they needed a good excuse to do a recap. They were probably thinking it's more funny if Leela is the one to forget but the gag didn't really land.

Leo Wong's voice change took me out of the immersion of the show for a minute by how glaringly different his voice was. I hadn't realized they had changed the voice actor when watching so that was distracting. I don't buy into the notion that every voice actor's ethnicity must match their characters but whatever, it's a minor enough role and seems to be the way all shows are going now.

I think they could have used Fry more, have him help out Leela minding Amy's kid's if they want to hint at them being future parents.

[Reply #45 on:]

BTW, this is a little nitpicky but during the winnowing you can see result of slightly cheaper production as all of the kids on display claerly have two eyes.

EDIT: OK, now I think the third act is totally dumb. You can see that in order for it to work, kids can´t say anything about the whole challange thing and must  stay mute in the background until Axl says one line of comfort just before the ritual and Leela is acting as if the whole thing wasn´t concering her at all.

[Reply #46 on:]

I like the humour of this episode a lot, but the plot feels flat and forced to me. Given that was also kind of the deal with the premiere, I fear this might be the trend. Not the worst possible situations possible! Good humour can hold up a bad plot.

[Reply #47 on:]

I like the humour of this episode a lot, but the plot feels flat and forced to me. Given that was also kind of the deal with the premiere, I fear this might be the trend. Not the worst possible situations possible! Good humour can hold up a bad plot.

Sometimes it felt to me that it existed as a mere synopsis for far too long and then the writers had not enough time to flesh it out.

However, the more I think about it, the more I see one fundamental problem with the plot and the last scene. You see, the initial conflict, practically from the beginning is "Whom the children love more?" but sudddenly it whole changes to "Who is the true mother?" which is far from being same thing. Makes you wonder if that wasn´t actually the matter the climax was about originally. 

[Reply #48 on:]

Sorry for double post but this is just one "glaring" continuity issue. When the challenge starts you can see that Leo and Inez are among the crowd but they are absent in the final scene.

[Reply #49 on:]

Lauren Tom does a great job in this episode. Not a very funny script however. A watchable episode.

[Reply #50 on:]

Really, the only way the ending is kinda salvagable is, in my view, if we don´t look at it as drama or plot but as sort of curing Amy of paranoia she acummulates in the second half of the episode. First, the confrontation with Leela, cures her of the delusion that she is somehow trying to take her children away, then she is actually told that what she feels makes her real mother and finally, even Newt confirms that children really love her more. This still makes me wish the episode was more substantional.

In the retropect, The Impossible Stream was complaining/joking about insufficient time and working in television under stress. It looks like the writers knew what they were complaining about and COALB really shows that.

On another matter there was some nice attention given to the models of the children themselves. They represent all three face desings from KGKUAN - two eyes with nostrils, cyclops without them and two eyes without them (although I´m not sure if the last model wasn´t simply graphic mistake), with the boy who was eaten on land as an absolute exception because he actually had a human nose. Also, it looks like the modus was pretty much "sons are like mom, daughter like dad" since boys (apart of obvious things) have somewhat rounder heads, while Mandy has it like Kif.

EDIT: There´s also another case of goofy continuity across the show. When they emerge, children have all (somehow) cloth over their crotches. Because writers forget they already displayed totally nude, genitals-less Kif in "The Beast with a Billion Backs".