Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 0:42:30 GMT -5
Goodbye, cruel velvet drapes, lined with what would appear to be some sort of cruel muslin...
Cubert Farnsworth is a horrible character. The creators of the show constructed him from a melange of ideas: a character who would stand on the sidelines and point out logical flaws and scientific impossibilities, an irritatingly precocious youngster of the Wesley Crusher variety, and an early Groening sketch with a pug nose. Unfortunately for Cubert, the show found more effective ways to hang a flag on ridiculous ideas, and Cubert wound up more irritating than any of the kid-genius characters he was designed to mock. And then there’s that voice - Kath Soucie absolutely nails the sound of the world’s most annoying snot-nosed 12 year old, but I’m not sure that such perfection helps the situation much in this case. I’m sure that somewhere out in this wide world, you could find someone who loves the character, but I wouldn’t bet any amount of money on it.
The decision to make Cubert not just the Professor’s clone, but also his heir, and also a recurring character forces the show into a bit of a corner. As an antagonist, Cubert is toothless -- all he can really do is waddle about making obnoxious comments. He can’t seriously threaten Planet Express or the crew so as long as the Professor is alive, or so long as the show retains its core premise. The crew can’t effectively do anything to Cubert, either, since he is the Professor’s clone and heir. Given his utter inability to raise stakes, Cubert can’t be of much use to drive plots, and his intentionally irritating character leaves him unable to contribute much in the way of jokes.
The show would later try to remedy this by re-imagining Cubert as less a peer of the crew than a phenomenally poorly-adjusted child. Cubert is arguably more effective in that role, though it still makes one wonder if there might have been some more useful and interesting part to play for a clone of the man who put Hitler’s brain in the body of a great white shark.
Speaking of which, it’s really that old man who gave some of his back-growth cells to create Cubert who is really at the heart of this episode. The script attempts to give Cubert a sort of arc, as he goes from wanting to be nothing like his clone-father to wanting to be just like him, but it’s really the Professor’s story that resonates -- even though it never really resolves.
In a way, this is the second episode (after “Why Must I Be A Crustacean in Love?”) to add some depth to the supporting cast. The Professor’s melancholy and heartbreak over seeing his “Lifetime of accomplishment summed up in a 3-minute film,” is palpable, and Billy West does a fantastic job of finding pathos in a cantankerous, half-mad, half-senile, labor law-flouting genius. Indeed, it’s really the Professor that Cubert winds up antagonizing, as his disdain for Farnsworth’s inventions and work drives the Professor to admit to his real age and call in the Sunset Squad robots to haul him off to the Near-Death Star.
Now, it’s not entirely clear why Cubert comes along on the crew’s quest to get the Professor back, nor why he’d allow it (as the Professor’s heir, wouldn’t he be the boss of Planet Express now), so I’d like to forget about that for a second and call attention to the Professor’s “death” scene. It’s actually a brilliant little segment featuring some excellent blending of 3-D and 2-D animation, wonderfully evocative color work, potent scoring by Christopher Tyng, and a perfect character beat. The Professor goes from sad resignation, to a cry of loss (“Farewell, cruel world!”), to a very Professor-like ramble into senility, as he bids farewell to the various cruel items he passes as he’s escorted to the Sunset Squad space-hearse. Best of all, it’s punctuated with a wang on the head and the accompanying sound of Billy West’s confused disorientation.
Back to the problematic plot, which, making use of the Smell-O-Scope, takes us on the Professor’s trail to the Near-Death Star. Now, the Near-Death Star is a wonderfully Futurama invention, blending elements of The Matrix, Star Wars, Rube Goldberg, Logan’s Run, and every overly-bureaucratic dystopia ever created. It also gives us some of the best use of 3-D animation the series has deployed so far, creating a spectacular little action sequence that pays homage to some of the best moments of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Unfortunately, the resolution is a little less satisfying than Han Solo’s repeated attempts to fix the Millenium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back. A bonk on the head knocks Cubert unconscious, and when he wakes up he not only understands how the Professor’s “impossible” drive works, but also decides he would totally like to be like the Professor when he grows up… And not just genetically. There’s really no explanation for this - or several other dangling threads and questions from the episode - which seems odd, when a character who half-exists to point out such inexplicable contrivances has just been introduced.
So, “A Clone of My Own” suffers from a poorly constructed plot and the introduction of Futurama’s Cousin Oliver equivalent. But what matters in a comedy is whether it makes you laugh and keeps you entertained, and on those counts the episode has a good number of redemptive moments. It’s just a pity that we have to suffer through Cubert to enjoy them.
Grade:C+
This Week’s Opening Title Subtitle:
Coming soon to an illegal DVD!
This Week In Futurama Signage:
(CORRUPTATRON FOR MAYOR)
Fry is so dumb… How dumb is he?
Fry is so dumb, he thinks he can hide his DNA by hiking up his pants!
Stray Observations:
-Bender is actually a pretty good emcee, if you ask me. And he’s his own amplifier!
-This episode is loaded with even more sci-fi references than most, starting with “They Saved Hitler’s Brain” and the pilot of Star Trek, and going all the way through to a fantastic Star Wars trilogy chase sequence and Matrix 270-degree action shot.
-Yet another dig at French, or rather, “an incomprehensible dead language”. I will always enjoy those. Crazy gibberish!
-Talk to your loved ones about Talking Hump Syndrome, or T.H.S.
-Also talk to them about Wandering Bladder.
-Noted in the commentary, this is the first episode in which they employ a bunch of characters all talking at the same time, with one “punchline” sticking out just as everyone wraps up. The first instance is as the Professor explains that he’s not long for this world, and everyone simultaneously delivers some version of “Yes” with Fry’s “One foot in the grave” dangling over the end of the other lines. The second instance is when everyone replies to Cubert’s asking, “You’ve never seen a genius’s wiener before,” with a variety of “No’s” being voiced before we hear Fry say, “Well, once, in the park…” It’s a good gimmick the series will get a lot of use out of going forward.
I like the bit of business with Amy and the Professor’s dentures.
Zoidberg learns that blood… thicker… water. I’m beginning to wonder whether he really lost his medical degree in that volcano…