[FUT] The Beast With A Billion Backs

TV Programme: Futurama
Season: 5
Episode: 5-8
Date I watched this episode: 01/08/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 15 days.

From what I've heard, each of these "films" has a set theme. The last one focussed on time travel paradoxes, which are just inherently funny, or at least lend themselves to humour. This ep was based on dating and relationships though, which just doesn't really leave the way open for a lot of jokes. I think there were a lot of jokes here where, while I could see the humour in them, just weren't all that funny. But this episode is apparently considered by many to be the worst in this fifth season, so hopefully the last two will be better.

I think the only redeeming feature of this episode was that it contained lots of "cool" stuff. I watch Futurama about 70% for the laughs and 30% for the "coolness factor" so I wasn't completely disappointed. To give a few examples: the apartment building which slides down into the ground to let people move in and out, the encasing of the entire planet in glass (or diamondillium), Fry's church, Stephen Hawking's rocket, and the fact that the crew actually visited Heaven (complete with idyllic locations, angels and clouds). Oh and the black-and-white cartoon at the beginning, if that counts; so original. However, definitely the best sequence of the movie was "Deathball"; quite an original idea and looks fun to play, I want one!

As for the love theme, it focussed on several aspects such as being used for "mating" only (for which the episode is named - "The Beast With Two Backs" is an old-fashioned term for sex), breakup and makeup, dating, and most importantly monogamy. All this was slightly humorous as it was on the scale of entire universes dating each other. Bender goes through a bit of an arc, feeling rejected by the human race, finding the worthless League Of Robots, trying to take over the universe, and then finally rescuing the human race from Yivo. Again, this followed a general theme of monogamy and jealousy.

The most obvious example though was with Fry and Colleen's relationship. They did admittedly make a good couple and so it was a shame when it became clear it was never going to work. She got her way in the end though by being with Yivo who is I guess a combination of all the men she's ever had in her life. I suppose I never expected Brittany Murphy to join the regular cast of Futurama though so it was probably never going to last.

I didn't think too much of the Kif/Amy storyline in this episode. The wedding was just pretty boring, non-exciting and seemed to think it was a lot funnier than it was. Admittedly I did think that Kif was really dead, but even that was a pointless waste of time. It's caused some tension due to Amy's affair with Zapp, but I just find myself not caring all that much.

So this episode did have a few recurring themes with love and that's what held it together, but there just wasn't enough compelling story or humour to keep me interested. But it wasn't so terrible to leave me in despair about the other two episodes.