Season 1, Episode 13, "Fry and the Slurm Factory" (B+)
Nov 23, 2014 17:15:59 GMT -5
Electric Dragon and Lady Bones like this
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2014 17:15:59 GMT -5
So this is how the first production season of Futurama ends, not with a bang, but with a “Whimmy-wham-wham-wozzle!!!”
Like last week’s episode, “Fry and the Slurm Factory” is based in parody of, and tribute to, two pop culture icons. However, its usage of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (particularly the classic 1971 film version with Gene Wilder) and Soylent Green goes down much smoother than the previous episode’s disjointed nods to Star Wars, Independence Day, and Ally McBeal. They’re a much more natural fit, since both center on mysterious shenanigans in the food manufacturing industry, but also because they’re used less for specificity, and are so deeply embedded in pop culture, even some un-contacted tribes in the remote Amazon are aware that Soylent Green is people. By contrast, I’m not even sure that kids in college now are aware that Ally McBeal was totally a thing.
The episode also manages a coherent through-line of Fry’s crippling Slurm addiction, and heeds the wisdom of “When Aliens Attack” by leaving things exactly the way they were at the end of the episode -- even though that means letting the “bad guys” win, and keeping Fry in thrall to a highly addictive soda that makes kicking heroin look like giving up red meat for Lent.
There’s a number of wonderful little character notes scattered through the episode that both provide laughs and additional comic depth to the central and supporting cast. I’m particularly fond of the two moments Hermes gets that reveal his passion for cost-cutting and employee abuse: First, when he tells Bender to pay for the incinerated couch he (Hermes) just told him to go lay down on, and second, when he marvels to Slurm factory manager Glurmo, “You're telling me I could fire my whole staff and hire Grunka Lunkas at half the cost?”
Likewise, we see more of The Professor’s gleeful disregard for employee safety (“You may feel a slight stinging sensation -- All of you!”), and Zoidberg’s utter incompetence as a doctor. To say nothing of his pronunciation of the word “robot”, which will never, ever, fail to make me laugh.
But it’s the interactions of the three principals that make the episode really sing. Perhaps more than any episode so far in the series, it gives us a real sense of the friendship between Fry, Leela, and Bender. Other episodes have tried to develop the relationships, with varying degrees of success, but all it takes is that montage of Fry and Bender running around New New York destroying sperm, balloons, and dignity with The Professor’s “F-Ray” device, to know just how much these two think alike and enjoy each other’s company. Plus, Bender finally meets his match in sassiness when the Fembot that’s actually a Manbot being upgraded to a Ladybot asks him, “Why you so stupid, stupid?” “Bite my shiny metal ass,” Bender fires back. “You couldn’t afford it, honey,” replies the Fembot with a snap of her fingers. It’s moments like that -- contemporary attitudes and jokes lifted to another plane by the ridiculous futuristic context -- that highlight for me what makes even mediocre episodes of Futurama reliably funny.
Not that this episode is at all mediocre. The relationship between Leela and the others has been tricky -- too often making her the straight man or scold. This episode doesn’t entirely solve that issue, but it at least shows us that Fry understands and appreciates that she’s the one who’s always there for him, no matter what fresh idiocy and trouble he’s gotten himself into. “My Three Suns” attempted the same character development without making it stick, but when Fry spills a single tear into the vat of concentrated super-slurm, it feels oddly heartfelt and sincere in a way the other episode never achieved. He really is horrified that his inability to overcome his addiction to slurm is going to cost him the friend who’s stuck up for him and protected him (even from himself) when no one else would.
It’s that emotional high point that anchors the final act of the episode -- which would otherwise seem to be utterly bizarre and random, as a Soylent Green homage inexplicably turns into scatological humor and some bizarre Batman (the original, campy, Adam West series) supervillain plot. Strange and clumsy it may be, but forcing Fry to confront his addiction or literally see his friends die is a brilliant move. Plus, it gives us the Slurm Queen’s hilarious “New Coke” plot for Leela, and Fry attempting to gnaw off his own arms to follow the delicious slurm down the drainage grate.
Meanwhile, the grace notes provided by the tribute to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, such as the surprisingly nasty Glurmo, and bitter, song-chanting Grunka-Lunkas, as well as the Spuds McKenzie parody Slurms McKenzie and his bimbos, fill out the rest of the episode with solid, and silly, laughs. The conceit of “what if the Chocolate Factory were actually operated like a business” gets surprisingly solid milage, as Glurmo tells the Grunka-Lunkas that they’re not paid to sing and just lost their bathroom break for the shift.
And what about that ending, that sarcastically hits the reset button as Fry convinces the Commissioner of Soft Drinks, Tobacco, and Firearms that Farnsworth is senile, so that he won’t have to live in a world without Slurm? Well, frankly, I’m okay with it. Overly complicated murderous plans aside, I think the Slurm Queen makes a solid point. As long as it’s not toxic, does it really matter whose behind your milk, honey, toothpaste, or soda comes out of? Sure, it’d be an understandable marketing nightmare, and I can forgive her Highness for wanting to keep it under wraps, but she’s entirely right. If Slurm is harming anyone, it’s sheerly because of its addictive qualities, rather than where it comes from.
Well, at least it hasn’t given Fry any more heart attacks, after the three he had in High School from drinking too much 20th Century soda...
GRADE: B+
This Week’s Opening Title Subtitle:
“Live From Omicron Persei 8!”
(Perhaps an echo from last week’s invasion - last week’s subtitle displayed “Proudly Made on Earth!”)
This Week in Futurama Signage:
711 - Open 28 Hours!
Stray Observations:
FUTURAMA (CLASSIC) SEASON ONE ROUNDUP
Space Pilot 3000: B+
The Series Has Landed: B
I, Roommate: C
Love’s Labours Lost In Space: A-
Fear of a Bot Planet: B-
A Fishful of Dollars: A-
My Three Suns: D+
A Big Piece of Garbage: B+
Hell Is Other Robots: A
A Flight to Remember: B+
Mars University: A
When Aliens Attack: B
Fry and the Slurm Factory: B+
Overall, an impressive first season, particularly for an animated show. Though the writing quality is incredibly uneven, as various approaches are tried, the standouts could easily, unlike first-season episodes of most shows, blend in seamlessly with episodes from later on. Though I realize some viewers may not share my love of “A Fishful of Dollars” or “Mars University”, I think even the most critical <i>Futurama</i> fan would have to grant that at least “Hell Is Other Robots”, of this first production season, is a stone-cold classic.
Thanks for bearing with me as I’ve dipped my toes into the water of long-form television reviewing after so many years sharing snarky comments with you folks! I look forward to keeping it up (and keeping a least a little buffer between me and Handlen) with two episodes a week -- most likely on Sunday, with WOT and/or Simpsons (Classic), as well as over on the TI forum.
Party on, contest losers!
Like last week’s episode, “Fry and the Slurm Factory” is based in parody of, and tribute to, two pop culture icons. However, its usage of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (particularly the classic 1971 film version with Gene Wilder) and Soylent Green goes down much smoother than the previous episode’s disjointed nods to Star Wars, Independence Day, and Ally McBeal. They’re a much more natural fit, since both center on mysterious shenanigans in the food manufacturing industry, but also because they’re used less for specificity, and are so deeply embedded in pop culture, even some un-contacted tribes in the remote Amazon are aware that Soylent Green is people. By contrast, I’m not even sure that kids in college now are aware that Ally McBeal was totally a thing.
The episode also manages a coherent through-line of Fry’s crippling Slurm addiction, and heeds the wisdom of “When Aliens Attack” by leaving things exactly the way they were at the end of the episode -- even though that means letting the “bad guys” win, and keeping Fry in thrall to a highly addictive soda that makes kicking heroin look like giving up red meat for Lent.
There’s a number of wonderful little character notes scattered through the episode that both provide laughs and additional comic depth to the central and supporting cast. I’m particularly fond of the two moments Hermes gets that reveal his passion for cost-cutting and employee abuse: First, when he tells Bender to pay for the incinerated couch he (Hermes) just told him to go lay down on, and second, when he marvels to Slurm factory manager Glurmo, “You're telling me I could fire my whole staff and hire Grunka Lunkas at half the cost?”
Likewise, we see more of The Professor’s gleeful disregard for employee safety (“You may feel a slight stinging sensation -- All of you!”), and Zoidberg’s utter incompetence as a doctor. To say nothing of his pronunciation of the word “robot”, which will never, ever, fail to make me laugh.
But it’s the interactions of the three principals that make the episode really sing. Perhaps more than any episode so far in the series, it gives us a real sense of the friendship between Fry, Leela, and Bender. Other episodes have tried to develop the relationships, with varying degrees of success, but all it takes is that montage of Fry and Bender running around New New York destroying sperm, balloons, and dignity with The Professor’s “F-Ray” device, to know just how much these two think alike and enjoy each other’s company. Plus, Bender finally meets his match in sassiness when the Fembot that’s actually a Manbot being upgraded to a Ladybot asks him, “Why you so stupid, stupid?” “Bite my shiny metal ass,” Bender fires back. “You couldn’t afford it, honey,” replies the Fembot with a snap of her fingers. It’s moments like that -- contemporary attitudes and jokes lifted to another plane by the ridiculous futuristic context -- that highlight for me what makes even mediocre episodes of Futurama reliably funny.
Not that this episode is at all mediocre. The relationship between Leela and the others has been tricky -- too often making her the straight man or scold. This episode doesn’t entirely solve that issue, but it at least shows us that Fry understands and appreciates that she’s the one who’s always there for him, no matter what fresh idiocy and trouble he’s gotten himself into. “My Three Suns” attempted the same character development without making it stick, but when Fry spills a single tear into the vat of concentrated super-slurm, it feels oddly heartfelt and sincere in a way the other episode never achieved. He really is horrified that his inability to overcome his addiction to slurm is going to cost him the friend who’s stuck up for him and protected him (even from himself) when no one else would.
It’s that emotional high point that anchors the final act of the episode -- which would otherwise seem to be utterly bizarre and random, as a Soylent Green homage inexplicably turns into scatological humor and some bizarre Batman (the original, campy, Adam West series) supervillain plot. Strange and clumsy it may be, but forcing Fry to confront his addiction or literally see his friends die is a brilliant move. Plus, it gives us the Slurm Queen’s hilarious “New Coke” plot for Leela, and Fry attempting to gnaw off his own arms to follow the delicious slurm down the drainage grate.
Meanwhile, the grace notes provided by the tribute to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, such as the surprisingly nasty Glurmo, and bitter, song-chanting Grunka-Lunkas, as well as the Spuds McKenzie parody Slurms McKenzie and his bimbos, fill out the rest of the episode with solid, and silly, laughs. The conceit of “what if the Chocolate Factory were actually operated like a business” gets surprisingly solid milage, as Glurmo tells the Grunka-Lunkas that they’re not paid to sing and just lost their bathroom break for the shift.
And what about that ending, that sarcastically hits the reset button as Fry convinces the Commissioner of Soft Drinks, Tobacco, and Firearms that Farnsworth is senile, so that he won’t have to live in a world without Slurm? Well, frankly, I’m okay with it. Overly complicated murderous plans aside, I think the Slurm Queen makes a solid point. As long as it’s not toxic, does it really matter whose behind your milk, honey, toothpaste, or soda comes out of? Sure, it’d be an understandable marketing nightmare, and I can forgive her Highness for wanting to keep it under wraps, but she’s entirely right. If Slurm is harming anyone, it’s sheerly because of its addictive qualities, rather than where it comes from.
Well, at least it hasn’t given Fry any more heart attacks, after the three he had in High School from drinking too much 20th Century soda...
GRADE: B+
This Week’s Opening Title Subtitle:
“Live From Omicron Persei 8!”
(Perhaps an echo from last week’s invasion - last week’s subtitle displayed “Proudly Made on Earth!”)
This Week in Futurama Signage:
711 - Open 28 Hours!
Stray Observations:
- The A.V. Club
Odds of winning statistically insignificant - One more upgrade, and I’ll be more reviewer than you can handle, chico!
- “Tell them I hate them!” is one of my favorite Farnsworth non-sequiturs.
- There’s already a soda made from people: Soylent Cola. How is it? It varies, from person to person.
- Sing it with me!Grunka Lunka dunkity-do,We've got a friendly warning for you,Grunka Lunka dunkity-dasis,The secret of Slurm's on a need-to-know basis.-Asking questions in school is a great way to learn.-If you try that stuff here you might get your legs broke.-We once found a dead guy face down in the Slurm.-It could easily happen again to you folks.So keep you head down,And keep your mouth shut,Grunka Lunka lunka dunkity dut!
FUTURAMA (CLASSIC) SEASON ONE ROUNDUP
Space Pilot 3000: B+
The Series Has Landed: B
I, Roommate: C
Love’s Labours Lost In Space: A-
Fear of a Bot Planet: B-
A Fishful of Dollars: A-
My Three Suns: D+
A Big Piece of Garbage: B+
Hell Is Other Robots: A
A Flight to Remember: B+
Mars University: A
When Aliens Attack: B
Fry and the Slurm Factory: B+
Overall, an impressive first season, particularly for an animated show. Though the writing quality is incredibly uneven, as various approaches are tried, the standouts could easily, unlike first-season episodes of most shows, blend in seamlessly with episodes from later on. Though I realize some viewers may not share my love of “A Fishful of Dollars” or “Mars University”, I think even the most critical <i>Futurama</i> fan would have to grant that at least “Hell Is Other Robots”, of this first production season, is a stone-cold classic.
Thanks for bearing with me as I’ve dipped my toes into the water of long-form television reviewing after so many years sharing snarky comments with you folks! I look forward to keeping it up (and keeping a least a little buffer between me and Handlen) with two episodes a week -- most likely on Sunday, with WOT and/or Simpsons (Classic), as well as over on the TI forum.
Party on, contest losers!