Futurama's Goodbye

Topic: Nerd in a Shed

Users: @gkscotty @Graham @SuzyQ Beb Chris Enhas fellgrazer Tony

irc.simpworks.com

[FunkyMonk]

Well, it's over. The last episode of futurama aired yesterday (on my side of the world) AND I MISSED IT!! I knew that fry tries to sing about his love for leela, but did he actually get her to feel the same way about him?! I missed it......man!  

[Wilde Grey Yonder]

My review of "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings". (Note: this is more of a rant than a review. Spoilers occur freely, because what's the point?)

It wasn't the best episode ever, and not quite the blaze of glory in which I had expected the show to go down, but I can't say they didn't give us our thirty minutes of hilarity... one last time.

I was more than delighted to see the holophoner make its comeback. (I'm sure most viewers remarked on Fry's talent, even when improved, not being as impressive as in "Parasites Lost", though.) And then there were those brilliant little things, like the lights seeping through the door with the sound. That's what separates "good ideas" from "brilliance". And as for the plot... well, my third year paper back in gymnasium was on deals with the Devil. I should have known it would come in handy.

The highlights:
+The title.
+"See you on another channel"
+Everything involving the holophoner.
+Everything involving Beelzebot (yay, he makes his return!)
+"Stop being such a baby and chop my hands off!"
+The fact that this is the first "deal with the Devil story" I wot of in which the Devil gets a rawer deal than his victim.
+The return of Hedonism-bot! Double yay! Though that bot creeps me out... he's still funny.
+It was ludicrous!
+The fact that nobody seemed even slightly worried about Fry having red-lacquered metal claws.
+Beelzebot's revenge (especially Bender with a bullhorn on his face and Leela with antennae coming out of her ears).
+The opera (oh, that's got to be the best song on the show since "Robot Hell"!) Some rhymes... "garish-marriage"? Brilliant. I think my favourite moment in the opera proper was "Beelzebot"'s "I'm stupid" aria... but then it just turned into pure genius all over.
+"Why do you make them tell how they feel all the time? That makes me angry!"
+Beelzebot's "dramatic exit" (bursts into flames, then sneaks out through the aisle).
+"Extra! Extra! The greatest opera of all time sucks!"
+The ending. Oh, the music...

The lowlights (that's "low" as in "comparatively underwhelming"):
-The plot seemed a bit slow going.
-Where were the Nubian robots? Not that I'm obsessed or anything...
-It was... somewhat too ludicrous at points.
-Leela apparently being able to listen to and converse with Beelzebot, in spite of apparently being deaf? Weird that. (EDIT: Upon re-watching, I found he was using signs. I was too busy laughing first time over.)
-It's the last one.

[Mattee]

-Leela apparently being able to listen to and converse with Beelzebot, in spite of apparently being deaf? Weird that.

Well, she wasn't really able to listen. Quote: "Whatever you said, forget it!". She understood him because of Beelzebot using sign language: pointing to his ears and her hand to get the point trough.

Anyway, the whole opera was not only the highlight for the show, but absoluetly a highlight for the whole show. Especially the hilarious animation on the opera singers wearing the suits of Futurama characters were pieces of sheer brilliance, as was the gorgeous animation of singing Leela. The rest of the episode was pretty good too. Not as great as many other offerings of the show, but certainly better than most of this season's.

The only thing that bugged me was that the ending had not the impact for me it should have had, as this season already had a lot shipper episodes ending in a similar way, only to be back to Leela disliking Fry in the next episode. But hey, when you get Dan C. performing as a robotic devil and opera singing, can you really complain?

I also noticed that the plot was a bit slow moving, but that only made the episode seem longer. And since it couldn't last forever like I would have wanted, it was the next best thing

9/10

[Jase 3001]

I think it was a pretty good episode. I'm not the biggest fan of Futurama (I simply forgot about it after awhile...damn FOX execs!!), but this one really showcased the show's strongest abilities. Bender was very funny ("Bite my shiny metal...no!!!!!!") and I really enjoyed the Beezlebot. The Opera was sensational, although I agree with Jar Jar that the ending was kind of abrupt and lacked finality a series finale usually has (although I guess they could have done: "Bender's helicopter was shot down over the Sea of Japan...there was no survivors," except Bender is pretty much indestrucatble). Still, it was a pretty good episode to end a pretty good show. I doubt the series finale for the Simpsons could be any better (the Simpsons are going to Indonesia!).

B

[Shockwave]

A very nice episode. Very funny, quite touching, and well-written. The Robot Devil was fantasic throughout, as was everybody else. The Opera has to be one of the greatest musical moments the show has ever had.
To be honest, I was really expecting an ending that might have been a little more.... I dunno.... tragic or at least a somewhat more permanent ending. Still, the ending it did have was very, VERY good.

"Don't stop Fry. I want to hear how it ends"

The more I think about it, the more I think it couldn't have been put any better. A nice ending, and I'm glad they've still got it and Fry and Leela's relationship open-ended (that helps me regarding writing my fanfic too: no lose ends to tie up ).

[Molloy the Catburglar]

-Leela apparently being able to listen to and converse with Beelzebot, in spite of apparently being deaf? Weird that.

Yeah, what Jar Jar said.  A combination of Beezlebot's sign language and her watching his mouth and stuff was what enabled her to understand.

And I have to say...while it was slow in areas, and not the greatest episode ever, I thought it was a damn good way to go out.  Loved the opera, the jokes were great, Fry's passion for Leela was sweet, and Beezlebot was hilarious.  All sorts of things were great about this episode, and while it didn't make me teary-eyed or anything the ending made me smile at the sweetness and sadness of it.

And yes, I loved the opening sub-title and the cartoon-clip on the billboard screen.

Sigh.

[Stretch Dude]

What a way for a show to end. It's not the best episode ever, but it's pretty close. It had everything that made Futurama great: Comedy, emotion, hilarious musical numbers, and ridiculously circuitous plans. The story did seem to move a little slowly, though. Beelzebot was just plain hilarious, as was Hedonismbot. The entire opera scene was spectacularly funny. And the ending...I don't think it could have been done any better. Here's hoping that the opening subtitle proves true. 9/10

[Molloy the Catburglar]

Just out of curiousity, but was there anything special during the end credits?  FOX cut them out again over here.

[Archonix]

Nope.

[Wilde Grey Yonder]

The credits were pretty much the usual stuff to the usual music, as far as I could tell.

About the episode not seeming like a finale: well... judging from the caption, we're not supposed to despair. Yet. Then again, if the show were to keep going, would Leela retain the garish antennae poking out of her ears?  

(I've *got* to find the lyrics to that opera. So delightfully decadent. *laughs like Hedonism-bot*)

[Mattee]

Lyrics: http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/ListsReferences/lyrics.dhtml#Opera

[Molloy the Catburglar]

Heh heh...

Glad I didn't miss anything.  !@#$%! FOX...

If only more shows could start and end like this one.

[Shockwave]

Then again, if the show were to keep going, would Leela retain the garish antennae poking out of her ears?  

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that when Leela asked Fry not to stop because she wanted to hear how it ends, she didn't actually have the robot ears any more, suggesting that she had regained her hearing. Again though, i could be wrong.

[Wilde Grey Yonder]

@Kif: That makes no sense!  

Seriously, it doesn't. Well, unless the soundblast only briefly stunned her inner ears, or something.

Jar Jar wrote:

The only thing that bugged me was that the ending had not the impact for me it should have had, as this season already had a lot shipper episodes ending in a similar way, only to be back to Leela disliking Fry in the next episode.

In fact, though the episode of course wasn't "final" as such, I think this has been as far as the show has ever gone to show Fry and Leela entering a relationship.

Spoilers coming up.

To my knowledge, the idea of a romantic attachment between the two was not even directly handled until possibly "A Bicyclops Built for Two"/"Anthology of Interest I". In the former, it was very subtle, just a suspicion that Fry might not only be concerned for Leela but actually jealous. And the latter was, of course, just a what-if. (Thank goodness.)

Then we got "Parasites Lost", the first episode to show that Fry was indeed in love with Leela. However, it *did* end with the two breaking up, though the ending (love that ending) of course expressed the hope that Fry might win Leela back.

Same thing goes for "Time Keeps on Slippin'". Fry hooked Leela somehow, she ended up divorcing him, and the episode ended on a similarly wistful note, with Fry almost (but not quite) managing to show how much he loved her.

Since then, the show has been pretty thin on outright romance between Fry and Leela, though we've seen some wonderful friendship between them. (I maintain that the romance element in "The Sting", albeit poignant, was secondary to the element of friendship.) An episode where I see your theory working would be "Love&Rocket", though I have only a vague memory of the actual ending. "The Sting", too, felt rather ambiguous, but yet... in spite of Fry telling Leela he loved her, and the dreams indicating that Leela felt more than friendship for him, the ending was (to me) devoid of *that* kind of love. The story would have worked equally well between two close friends, or, say, between siblings or a parent and child.

So I say that Leela's request and the one kiss (by proxy) at the end of "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" is the closest the show has ever got to showing Fry and Leela pairing up, and thus *does* work as an ending. Though I'm not keen on it being one.

[Molloy the Catburglar]

An episode where I see your theory working would be "Love&Rocket", though I have only a vague memory of the actual ending.

*spoiler*

Fry hooked up his oxygen tank to Leela's, sacrificing his air so that Leela could finish her mission.  When Leela discovered this, she resuscitated him and he hacked up a valentine heart that said 'You Leave Me Breathless'.  As he was looking for the perfect valentine message to give her, that was a poignant moment too.

And let's not forget the ending of 'The Why of Fry', even if that was leaning more towards friendly appreciation than romance.