Meanwhile
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Season 7 episode Broadcast season 10 episode | |||||
Meanwhile | |||||
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No. | 140 | ||||
Production number | 7ACV26 | ||||
Written by | Ken Keeler | ||||
Directed by | Peter Avanzino | ||||
Title caption | AVENGE US | ||||
First air date | 4 September 2013 | ||||
Broadcast number | S10E13 | ||||
Additional | |||||
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Season 7 | |||||
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"Meanwhile" is the one hundred and fortieth and last [2] episode of Futurama, the twenty-sixth and last of the seventh production season and the thirteenth and last of the tenth broadcast season. It aired on 4 September 2013, on Comedy Central. Fry asks Leela to marry him, and they face their destiny together as the Professor's latest invention alters the fabric of time.
Plot
Act I: "My little meatbag's growin' up!"
The episode finds Fry, Leela and Bender making a delivery to the moon and visiting the amusement park there. After a ride accident, Leela seemingly dies. Luckily, all is well. She was trapped inside a stuffed animal. The close call was too much for Fry to handle, and he announces to Bender that he's going to finally propose to Leela.
Meanwhile, Professor Farnsworth invents a device that lets him travel 10 seconds into the past. He uses it to steal money from Zoidberg. Fry takes the time machine to steal diamonds, along with Bender.
He uses the stolen diamonds to fashion an engagement ring, which he hides in a clam. When he presents it to Leela, she reaches for the ring and the clam snaps shut, severing her hand and a bloody stump.
Production
This is the fourth series finale that writer and producer Ken Keeler wrote for the show. The other three are "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", Into the Wild Green Yonder and "Overclockwise". The director of the episode — Peter Avanzino — also directed Into the Wild Green Yonder.
In 2012, Futurama writer Eric Rogers made two revelations concerning the episode. On 11 April, he revealed that "["7ACV25" and this episode] now [had] stories". [3] On 20 April, he revealed that the episode was being "[pitched] out" and urged fans to buy merchandise in order for the show to "come back". [4]
On 5 February 2013, Vulture.com released a preview clip for the tenth broadcast season, [5] which contained footage from the episode.
On 22 April, it was announced that Futurama had not been renewed for an eight season, making this the series finale.
On 20 July, the cast read the episode's first act at Comic-Con. [6]
By 29 August, Comedy Central had released a fifty-second preview clip featuring Fry and Leela alone in a time-frozen New New York. [7]
By 1 September, Comedy Central had released a fifty-second preview clip featuring Fry, Leela, Bender, and Albert riding an attraction. [8]
Image gallery
Promotional picture of Leela and Fry on a swing made of people. [9] [10]
Concept art of Ultra Guy. [11]
Concept art of a time shelter. [12]
Promotional picture of Fry falling from a building.[13]
Concept art of Fry in a tuxedo. [14]
Additional information
Trivia
- The episode aired on cast member John DiMaggio's forty-fifth birthday.
- The episode revisits Luna Park, from "The Series Has Landed", which was also written by Ken Keeler and directed by Peter Avanzino.
Another episode written by Ken Keeler and directed by Peter Avanzino is "The Six Million Dollar Mon". - Bender tells Fry that he told Leela that he loved her "like 140 times". This episode is the one hundred and fortieth episode of Futurama.
- The professor says "time-space continuum", but the usual term is "space-time continuum".
- The woman holding the caviar resembles Nixon's campaign manager.
Allusions
- Petunia says "I'll have what she's having", a famous line from the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally....
- The crew delivers a copy of Edvard Munch's The Scream.
- A Spider-Man-like robot can be seen when time is frozen.
- Fry falling on and breaking the time button is an allusion to the Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch", where a man has a stopwatch that can stop time, which he proceeds to break and get stuck alone in a frozen universe.
Continuity
- When Fry is staring at the time button, his eyes narrow. This is a reference to a scene from "The Lesser of Two Evils", which originated an internet meme.
- Fry's tuxedo and Leela's wedding gown are both from previous episodes. The tuxedo is from "Calculon 2.0", and the gown is from "Time Keeps on Slippin'".
- The episode features Fry and Leela's third wedding. Their first wedding was seen in "Time Keeps on Slippin'", and their second was in Bender's Big Score; when Leela was going to marry Lars, a time-paradox duplicate of Fry.
- The man and woman in Paris were previously seen in "Game of Tones".
Goofs
- In the stands at the basketball match, some characters are seen twice.
Appearances
Characters
- 20th-century lecturer
(cameo, unknown moment) - 21st-century girl (cameo, unknown moment)
- Abner Doubledeal
- Albert
- Amy
- Dr Beeler
- Mrs Beeler
- Bender
- Bubblegum
- Censored couple (cameo, 15:12)
- Charles
- Craterface
- Curly Joe
- Dandy Jim
- Elzar
- Professor Farnsworth
- Fry
- Globetrotters
- Hattie
- Hermes
- Hyper-Chicken (cameo, 16:00)
- Debut: Iannos
- Kif
- Last clone of Agnew
- Leela
- Mom
- Moon Patrol
- Morbo
- Nibbler
- Nixon's campaign manager (cameo, 15:12)
- Petunia
- Roberto
- Sal
- Scruffy
- Smitty
- Space Pope
- Sweet Clyde
- Turanga Morris
- Turanga Munda
- Debut: Ultra Guy
- Underwater-house salesman (cameo, unknown moment)
- URL
- Victor
- Zapp Brannigan
- Zoidberg
Places
- Apartment 00100100
- Debut: Bronx Zoo
- Eiffel Tower
- France
- Luna Park
- Madison Cube Garden
- Monument Beach (mentioned in text only, unknown moment)
- Moon
- Paris
- Planet Express hangar
- Planet Express conference room
- Robot Arms Apartments
- Debut: St. Koch's Cathedral
- Debut: Taste of NNY Gourmet Food Fair
- Debut: Ultra Guy's Custom Diamonds
- Debut: Vampire State Building
Miscellaneous
- Chronitons (mentioned in speech only)
- Fry-Leela relationship
- Giraffe
- Debut: Mecha-Hexadecapus
- Owls
- Spice weasel
- Debut: Time button
- Debut: Time shelter
References
- ^ "Meanwhile" Fry & Leela's wedding preview. (Comedy Central.) 31 August 2013. Retrieved on 31 August 2013.
- ^ Snierson, Dan (22 April 2013). 'Futurama' to end seven-season run on Sept. 4 -- EXCLUSIVE. (EW.com.) Retrieved on 22 April 2013.
- ^ Eric Rogers (11 April 2012). ERogTweets2Much. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 12 April 2012.
- ^ Eric Rogers (20 April 2012). ERogTweets2Much. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
- ^ Jesse David Fox (05 February 2013). Watch a Preview of Futurama’s Seventh Season. (Vulture.com.) Retrieved on 17 August 2013.
- ^ David Perra (21 July 2013). Futurama Panel Comic-Con 2013 (Series finale act I). (YouTube.) Retrieved on 22 July 2013.
- ^ Broke The Universe - Video Clip. (Comedy Central.) Retrieved on 29 August 2013.
- ^ Mecha-Hexadecapus - Video Clip. (Comedy Central.) Retrieved on 04 September 2013.
- ^ Countdown to Futurama: Leela and Fry on a Swing Made of People. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 12 June 2013. Retrieved on 18 June 2013.
- ^ Lee Supercinski (18 June 2013). supercinski. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 18 June 2013.
- ^ Countdown to Futurama: Ultra Guy. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 14 June 2013. Retrieved on 14 June 2013.
- ^ Countdown to Futurama: Time Shelter. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 15 June 2013. Retrieved on 15 June 2013.
- ^ Countdown to Futurama: Fry Falling. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 16 June 2013. Retrieved on 16 June 2013.
- ^ Countdown to Futurama: Fry in Tuxedo and Leela in Wedding Gown. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 17 June 2013. Retrieved on 17 June 2013.