Difference between revisions of "T.: The Terrestrial"

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|no=130
|no=130
|image=[[File:7ACV16 infobox.png|225px]]
|image=[[File:7ACV16 infobox.png|225px]]
|image text=[[Jrrr]] and [[Fry]] sharing a laugh in the palace on [[Omicron Persei 8]].
|image text=[[Jrrr]] and [[Fry]] sharing a laugh in [[Omicronian castle|the palace]] on [[Omicron Persei 8]].
|written by=Josh Weinstein
|written by=Josh Weinstein
|directed by=Lance Kramer
|directed by=Lance Kramer
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|title reference=The [[1980s|1982]] {{w|Steven Spielberg}} film ''{{w|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial}}''
|title reference=The [[1980s|1982]] {{w|Steven Spielberg}} film ''{{w|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial}}''
}}
}}
After being marooned on [[Omicron Persei 8|a distant planet]], [[Fry]] is befriended by [[Jrrr|a young]] {{cat|monster}}.
Marooned on a distant [[Omicron Persei 8|planet]], [[Fry]] is befriended by [[Jrrr]], a juvenile inhabitant.


== Story ==
== Story ==
:''The following text was copied from {{w|T.: The Terrestrial|this article's Wikipedia counterpart}}.''
=== Act I: "I got <u>my</u> buddy. Hermes is my buddy." ===
[[Lrrr]], ruler of [[Omicron Persei 8]], endeavors to help his son Jrrr to earn a scouting merit badge by invading and conquering [[Earth|Planet Earth]]. Arriving via flying saucer on the [[White House]] lawn, Jrrr very nervously announces to Richard Nixon's [[Nixon|head]] and the headless [[Headless clone of Agnew|clone]] of Spiro Agnew that he is here to invade Earth. Charmed by Jrrr's naïveté, Nixon and Agnew share a good laugh. Lrrr joins Jrrr with his laser pistol to demonstrate the serious nature of Jrrr's mission. While everyone is still on the White House doorstep, Nixon and [[Zapp Brannigan]] sign a treaty of surrender. Although Jrrr is desperate to exit this embarrassing situation, Lrrr demands that he destroy something with Lrrr's laser before leaving. Jrrr points more-or-less randomly and incinerates the headless corpse of Spiro Agnew, leaving Nixon with only one remaining copy. In retaliation, Nixon decrees an embargo against Omicron Persei 8, including TV broadcast. This is highly distressing for Lrrr, as he considers Earth television to be in its Golden Age, while Omicronian television is terrible.


An invasion of [[Earth]] by [[Lrrr]], and his son [[Jrrr]], of [[Omicron Persei 8]], ends with the [[headless clone of Agnew]]'s death. A furious [[Richard Nixon]] imposes an embargo on their planet in retaliation, forbidding trade and communications with [[list of planets|other planets]]. Due to the embargo, the {{Planet Express|crew}} is sent to Omicron Persei 8 to harvest the "sacred weed of Omicron" for [[Professor Farnsworth]]'s arthritis medication. [[Bender]]'s electric field activates the herb's bioluminescence. The crew are nearly caught by the [[Omicronians]] and quickly escape, however Fry is stranded on the planet after being abandoned by Bender.
At [[Planet Express headquarters]], [[Professor Farnsworth]] has run out of his [[Good News]] brand {{cat|plant|herbal}} {{cat|dietary supplement|supplement}}, leaving him immobile and in terrible arthritic pain. Unfortunately, because the active ingredient in the supplement is produced on Omicron Persei 8, the embargo precludes relief for Farnsworth. He instructs the [[crew]] to fly to Omicron Persei 8, bypass the [[DOOP]] blockade, and retrieve a quantity of the ingredient, which he refers to as "the sacred weed of Omicron". [[Hermes]], discovering that the active ingredient in the supplement is "the Omicronic", energetically approves of this idea and accompanies the crew personally to direct the mission. While collecting the herb on Omicron Persei 8, the crew members notice that [[Bender|Bender's]] electrical field activates the plant's {{w|bioluminescence}} when he is near it. Although Fry and Bender buddy up for safety, Fry wanders off to investigate a castle in the distance. While he is gone, Omicronian soldiers arrive, frightening the Planet Express crew away. Preparing the [[Planet Express ship|ship]] for takeoff, [[Leela]] asks Bender where his buddy is. Although Fry is missing, Bender claims that he is safely on board. The crew depart, leaving Fry behind.


Jrrr discovers and befriends Fry, concealing him in his bedroom, and feeds him on his feces, which resemble {{w|Skittles (confectionery)|Skittles}}. Due to the embargo, Fry is unable to communicate with Earth, but Jrrr helps him create a distress signal. Bender, feeling guilty for his actions, deceives Leela and the rest of the Planet Express crew into thinking Fry is still around using an answer machine recording of Fry. As his scheme becomes successful, it becomes increasingly elaborate. One night, Bender notices Fry's distress signal and steals the [[Planet Express ship]] so he can travel to Omicron Persei 8 to rescue him.
=== Act II: "S.O.S.? Those are the letters that Fry knows!" ===
Neglected by his TV-addicted father, Jrrr goes outside to play by himself. When he throws his skull-ball into the garden shed, he hears a cry of pain, and the ball bounces back out to him. As the frightened Jrrr backs away from the shed, he leaves a trail of what appears to be candy, apparently intended to lure the shed's occupant out. After Jrrr falls asleep in a lawn chair, the occupant, that is, Fry, emerges, eating the "candy" and following its trail to Jrrr. Jrrr awakens with a start when Fry draws near, but calms down when he realizes that Fry is not a monster. Jrrr explains that the "candy" is actually his feces, which he involuntarily produced as retreated when Fry frightened him earlier.


Lrrr discovers an extremely ill Fry in Jrrr's room, and commands his son to kill his friend. Jrrr escapes with Fry on a bicycle powered by love and takes him to a veterinarian, [[Drrr]], where he reveals that he has also been drinking Fry's blood. Drrr prescribes sacred weed to Fry, but suggests euthanizing him. Lrrr manages to track down Jrrr and Fry, and repeats his order for Jrrr to kill him. Jrrr stands up to his father, winning his approval. Fry seemingly dies from his injuries, overwhelming Jrrr and Lrrr with sadness. Bender arrives, and his electric field causes the ingested herbs to glow and inexplicably revive Fry. Drrr explains that the electromagnetic intensity of [[Fry-Bender relationship|Bender and Fry's friendship]] caused the herbs in Fry's bowel to luminesce with love. After saying goodbye, Fry and Bender return to Earth, where a romantic Leela unknowingly reveals just how far Bender went to cover up Fry's disappearance.
While Jrrr and Fry form a bond as playmates, Bender constructs an increasingly elaborate falsehood to hide the fact that he abandoned Fry on Omicron Persei 8. At first, when the other crew members realize that they haven't seen Fry, Bender gives them simple platitudes: Fry is out buying flowers for Leela and burritos for Farnsworth. Bender immediately begins to feel guilty, both for lying to the others and for abandoning Fry on Omicron Persei 8. Bender begins to miss Fry, but consoles himself by listening to Fry's voice on Fry's ancient answering machine. Leela arrives at the apartment to remind Fry that he has a date with her tonight. Bender uses the answering machine and some creative use of the fast-forward and rewind to convince Leela that Fry is drunk and wants her to leave him alone at home. Due to Bender's convoluted ruse, now augmented by his tricks with the answering machine, Fry's popularity at Planet Express headquarters reaches an all-time high.
 
Fry begins to feel homesick, expressing his expectation that he will never go home again. Because of the embargo, he is unable to call his friends on his cell phone, or even to update his Facebook status. Jrrr recalls that his scout manual has instructions for constructing a device that will enable Fry to reach the Planet Express crew. Manual in hand, Jrrr transports Fry on a flying bicycle that is "powered by love" to a dumping ground for radio communications machinery. Fry moves the equipment around to physically spell out "S.O.S." on the ground. When the two return to Jrrr's home, they are discovered by Lrrr, who commands Jrrr to kill Fry as a rite of passage into manhood.
 
Back at headquarters, Bender laments the loss of Fry, apparently even believing that Fry is dead by now. Coincidentally looking through the bottom of a broken beer bottle, Bender sees Fry's "S.O.S." on Omicron Persei 8 and exclaims, "He's alive!" The next morning, he departs Earth in the Planet Express ship to retrieve Fry from Omicron Persei 8.
 
=== Act III: "Bender! I knew you wouldn't abandon me for much more than a week!" ===
Lrrr and his guards take Jrrr and a caged Fry outside for the execution. Lrrr comments that Fry is beginning to look very sick. Jrrr doesn't tell Lrrr that Fry has been eating feces, but it seems apparent that this is the cause of Fry's malady. Rather than killing Fry, Jrrr blasts a hole in the cage and urges Fry to flee with him. They fly away on Jrrr's love-powered bicycle and are pursued on similar bicycles by Lrrr and his guards. Jrrr and Fry outrun the pursuers, whose battle-worn hearts can't love as much as the innocent hearts of Jrrr and Fry. Fry's condition quickly deteriorates&mdash;he is actually dying&mdash;so Jrrr takes him to the Omicronian veterinarian, [[Drrr]], who gives Fry some Omicronic and advises euthanasia. Lrrr arrives and forbids Drrr killing Fry, insisting that Jrrr commit the act. Jrrr refuses. As an aside in his argument with Lrrr, Jrrr mentions that he has been drinking Fry's blood every day; he and Lrrr are unaware that this is the true cause of Fry's impending death. Lrrr, moved by Jrrr's courage and conviction, offers to kill Fry on Jrrr's behalf, but by now Fry is already apparently dead.
 
As Lrrr comforts Jrrr, Fry's butt, or rather, the Omicronic herb in Fry's bowel, begins to glow. This is due to the fact that Bender has just arrived from Earth. Drrr explains that it is not simply Bender's electromagnetic output, but also Bender's love for Fry, that makes the herb glow. When Fry revives somewhat and explains to Jrrr that he must go home, Drrr's explanation gains support as Jrrr's butt begins to glow in synchrony with Fry's.
 
Having returned Fry safely to Earth, Bender convinces Fry to keep his mouth shut about his week-long absence and go along with the ruse. The crew commend Fry on his recent industriousness, most notably a [[Fry-Leela relationship|romantic]] Leela, who unknowingly reveals just how far Bender went to cover up Fry's absence.


== Production ==
== Production ==
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=== Image Gallery ===
=== Image Gallery ===
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Futurama Bender Boxing Fry.jpg|Concept art of a photo of Bender boxing Fry. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/49878206237/countdown-to-futurama-bender-boxing-fry-many-of|title=Countdown to Futurama: Bender Boxing Fry|date=2013-5-7|site=[http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/ Comedy Central's Tumblr page]|accessdate=2013-6-26}}</ref>
File:Futurama Bender Boxing Fry.jpg|[[Concept art]] of a photo of Bender boxing Fry. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/49878206237/countdown-to-futurama-bender-boxing-fry-many-of|title=Countdown to Futurama: Bender Boxing Fry|date=2013-5-7|site=[http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/ Comedy Central's Tumblr page]|accessdate=2013-6-26}}</ref>
File:Futurama Fry Captured in Omicronian Cage.jpg|[[Promotional picture]] featuring the Omicronians and Fry. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/49954343877/countdown-to-futurama-fry-captured-in-omicronian|title=Countdown to Futurama: Fry Captured in Omicronian Cage|date=2013-5-8|site=Comedy Central's {{w|Tumblr}} page|accessdate=2013-6-26}}</ref>
File:Futurama Fry Captured in Omicronian Cage.jpg|[[Promotional picture]] featuring the Omicronians and Fry. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/49954343877/countdown-to-futurama-fry-captured-in-omicronian|title=Countdown to Futurama: Fry Captured in Omicronian Cage|date=2013-5-8|site=Comedy Central's {{w|Tumblr}} page|accessdate=2013-6-26}}</ref>
File:Futurama Jrrr Shows Fry His Fleem.jpg|Promotional picture of Jrrr showing his fleem to Fry. <ref name="7ACV16">{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/50034712260/countdown-to-futurama-jrrr-shows-fry-his-fleem|title=Countdown to Futurama: Jrrr Show’s Fry His Fleem [sic<nowiki>]</nowiki>|date=2013-5-9|site=Comedy Central's Tumblr page|accessdate=2013-6-19}}</ref>
File:Futurama Jrrr Shows Fry His Fleem.jpg|Promotional picture of Jrrr showing his fleem to Fry. <ref name="7ACV16">{{cite web|url=http://comedycentral.tumblr.com/post/50034712260/countdown-to-futurama-jrrr-shows-fry-his-fleem|title=Countdown to Futurama: Jrrr Show’s Fry His Fleem [sic<nowiki>]</nowiki>|date=2013-5-9|site=Comedy Central's Tumblr page|accessdate=2013-6-19}}</ref>
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*This episode has a new shortened [[opening sequence]] that is unlike any other episodes to date. Unlike the usual abridged version found in [[Season 6]], this sequence shows only one shot of the Planet Express ship flying and also has an [[List of opening cartoons|opening cartoon]].
*This episode has a new shortened [[opening sequence]] that is unlike any other episodes to date. Unlike the usual abridged version found in [[Season 6]], this sequence shows only one shot of the Planet Express ship flying and also has an [[List of opening cartoons|opening cartoon]].
*The protagonist of ''[[The Finder Outer]]'' is a detective named [[Detective Klaus Mandela|Klaus Mandela]], and "Klaus" is a [[Germany|German]] name. One of the protagonists of the [[American]] [[TV]] series ''{{w|The Bridge (2013 TV series)|The Bridge}}'', which premiered exactly two weeks after the episode aired, is a detective played by German actress {{w|Diane Kruger}}.
*The protagonist of ''[[The Finder Outer]]'' is a detective named [[Detective Klaus Mandela|Klaus Mandela]], and "Klaus" is a [[Germany|German]] name. One of the protagonists of the [[American]] [[TV]] series ''{{w|The Bridge (2013 TV series)|The Bridge}}'', which premiered exactly two weeks after the episode aired, is a detective played by German actress {{w|Diane Kruger}}.
*When Professor Farnsworth is under the influence of the herbal supplement, he is wearing purple glasses. The hippie parallel version of him in "[[The Farnsworth Parabox]]", Professor Freaksworth, wore purple glasses.
*When Professor Farnsworth is under the influence of [[Good News|the herbal supplement]], he is wearing purple glasses. The hippie parallel version of him in "[[The Farnsworth Parabox]]", Professor Freaksworth, wore purple glasses.
*Jrrr tells Fry that their flying bicycle is powered by love. In "[[Three Hundred Big Boys]]", which is also the sixteenth episode of [[season 4|its season]], [[Kif]] gives [[Amy]] a watch that he says is powered by love.
*Fry uses high-{{cat|s=no|technology|tech}} communications devices to write "{{w|SOS|S.O.S.}}" on the surface of Omicron Persei 8. In "[[Obsoletely Fabulous]]", Bender uses rocks to write a help message on the surface of an {{cat|island}}.
**Fry's distress signal is on screen at 14:14 into the episode. "Obsoletely Fabulous" is episode number 4ACV14. Thus the time of one of the moments at which the signal is on screen contains "Obsoletely Fabulous"' [[production]] code.
*A still from the episode is featured on the back cover for [[Volume 8]].
*A still from the episode is featured on the back cover for [[Volume 8]].


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*When [[Planet Express crew|the crew]] is on Omicron Persei 8, Fry asks Bender if he will let him know if they have to "cheese it", and Bender replies that that is the first law of robotics. The first law of robotics, one of {{w|Three Laws of Robotics|the three}} created by American science-fiction author {{w|Isaac Asimov}}, says that "a {{robot}} may not injure a {{human}} being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm".
*When [[Planet Express crew|the crew]] is on Omicron Persei 8, Fry asks Bender if he will let him know if they have to "cheese it", and Bender replies that that is the first law of robotics. The first law of robotics, one of {{w|Three Laws of Robotics|the three}} created by American science-fiction author {{w|Isaac Asimov}}, says that "a {{robot}} may not injure a {{human}} being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm".
*To cover up Fry's location, Bender says that he saw him in the kitchen with Dinah. This is a reference to the American folk song "{{w|I've Been Working on the Railroad}}", which contains the lyric "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah".
*To cover up Fry's location, Bender says that he saw him in the kitchen with Dinah. This is a reference to the American folk song "{{w|I've Been Working on the Railroad}}", which contains the lyric "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah".
*The scene where Jrrr throws a ball into the shed in his densely tree-lined backyard and has it unexpectedly thrown back to him (by Fry) is a reference to "Those Terrible Toy Breakers", a children's book by David M. McPhail.
*The scene where Jrrr throws a ball into the shed in his densely tree-lined backyard and has it unexpectedly thrown back to him (by Fry) is a reference to ''Those Terrible Toy Breakers'', a children's book by David M. McPhail.
*When Jrrr tells Fry that he is eating his "turds", Fry responds by saying "Feces pieces? Blech!". This is a reference to {{w|Reese's Pieces}}, candy which look like coloured pellets, similar to Jrrr's poop, also featured in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''.
*When Jrrr tells Fry that he is eating his "turds", Fry responds by saying "Feces pieces? Blech!". This is a reference to {{w|Reese's Pieces}}, candy which look like coloured pellets, similar to Jrrr's poop, also featured in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''.
*In Jrrr's room, there is a bowl containing [[Blinky]] the fish, from ''[[The Simpsons]]'', a doll that looks like {{sw|Boba Fett}}, from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise, a {{st|Klingon}} {{st|bat'leth}}, from the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise, and a toy/model of an [[Omicronian saucer]].
*In Jrrr's room, there is a bowl containing [[Blinky]] the fish, from ''[[The Simpsons]]'', a doll that looks like {{sw|Boba Fett}}, from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise, a {{st|Klingon}} {{st|bat'leth}}, from the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise, and a toy/model of an [[Omicronian saucer]].
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*Lrrr watches Earth TV live, but in "[[When Aliens Attack]]", it's stated that it takes a thousand years for signals to get to Omicron Persei 8.
*Lrrr watches Earth TV live, but in "[[When Aliens Attack]]", it's stated that it takes a thousand years for signals to get to Omicron Persei 8.
**Only transmissions from before [[2208]] travel at the old [[speed of light]], {{er|2ACV10}} live transmissions are near-instant. Both sets of transmissions are presumably stopped at the blockade.
**Only transmissions from before [[2208]] travel at the old [[speed of light]], {{er|2ACV10}} live transmissions are near-instant. Both sets of transmissions are presumably stopped at the blockade.
*Fry does not recognise Lrrr's palace, even though he's been there before. {{er|4ACV03|4ACV17}}
*Fry does not recognise [[Omicronian castle|Lrrr's palace]], even though he's been there before. {{er|4ACV03|4ACV17}}
**He may have forgotten since then.
**He may have forgotten since then.


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{{q|
{{q|
<poem>'''[[Professor Farnsworth]]''': [[Good news, everyone]]! I'm in terrible pain.</poem>
<poem>'''[[Professor Farnsworth]]''': [[Good news, everyone]]! I'm in terrible pain.</poem>
<poem>'''[[Kif]]''': Sir, there's an Omicronian ship requesting safe passage home.
<poem>'''Kif''': Sir, there's an Omicronian ship requesting safe passage home.
'''[[Zapp]]''': Home, eh? That's where <u>I</u> live! Let 'em through the blockade.</poem>
'''[[Zapp]]''': Home, eh? That's where <u>I</u> live! Let 'em through the blockade.</poem>
<poem>'''[[Hermes]]''': [[wikt:five-o|Five-O]]! Five-O!
<poem>'''[[Hermes]]''': [[wikt:five-o|Five-O]]! Five-O!
'''[[Amy]]''': Five what?
'''Amy''': Five what?
'''Hermes''': Five Omicronians!</poem>
'''Hermes''': Five Omicronians!</poem>
<poem>'''[[Leela]]''': Bender. Do you know where Fry is? I haven't seen him since we got back from Omicron Persei 8.
<poem>'''[[Leela]]''': Bender. Do you know where Fry is? I haven't seen him since we got back from Omicron Persei 8.
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*[[Omicron Persei 8]]
*[[Omicron Persei 8]]
*'''Debut''': [[Omicron Vet Clinic]]
*'''Debut''': [[Omicron Vet Clinic]]
*[[Omicronian castle]]
*[[Planet Express balcony]]
*[[Planet Express balcony]]
*[[Planet Express conference room]]
*[[Planet Express conference room]]
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{{chars-begin|note=no}}
{{chars-begin|note=no}}
*'''Debut''': ''[[The Finder Outer]]''
*'''Debut''': ''[[The Finder Outer]]''
*'''Debut''': [[Good News]]-brand herbal {{cat|dietary supplement|supplement}}
*"[[Good news, everyone]]"
*"[[Good news, everyone]]"
*"[[I am Lrrr]]"
*"[[Let's go already!]]"
*"[[Let's go already!]]"
*[[YouTube]] {{miso}}
*[[YouTube]] {{miso}}

Revision as of 20:22, 26 May 2014

Season 7 episode
Broadcast season 10 episode
T.: The Terrestrial
7ACV16 infobox.png
Jrrr and Fry sharing a laugh in the palace on Omicron Persei 8.
No.130
Production number7ACV16
Written byJosh Weinstein
Directed byLance Kramer
Title captionOne of the 77 Wonders of the Future World
First air date26 June, 2013
Broadcast numberS10E03
Title referenceThe 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Opening cartoonWot a Night
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript

Pictures

Season 7
  1. The Bots and the Bees
  2. A Farewell to Arms
  3. Decision 3012
  4. The Thief of Baghead
  5. Zapp Dingbat
  6. The Butterjunk Effect
  7. The Six Million Dollar Mon
  8. Fun on a Bun
  9. Free Will Hunting
  10. Near-Death Wish
  11. 31st Century Fox
  12. Viva Mars Vegas
  13. Naturama
  14. Forty Percent Leadbelly
  15. 2-D Blacktop
  16. T.: The Terrestrial
  17. Fry and Leela's Big Fling
  18. The Inhuman Torch
  19. Saturday Morning Fun Pit
  20. Calculon 2.0
  21. Assie Come Home
  22. Leela and the Genestalk
  23. Game of Tones
  24. Murder on the Planet Express
  25. Stench and Stenchibility
  26. Meanwhile
← Season 6Season 8 →

"T.: The Terrestrial" is the one hundred and thirtieth episode of Futurama, the sixteenth of the seventh production season and the third of the tenth broadcast season. It aired on 26 June, 2013, on Comedy Central. Marooned on a distant planet, Fry is befriended by Jrrr, a juvenile inhabitant.

Story

Act I: "I got my buddy. Hermes is my buddy."

Lrrr, ruler of Omicron Persei 8, endeavors to help his son Jrrr to earn a scouting merit badge by invading and conquering Planet Earth. Arriving via flying saucer on the White House lawn, Jrrr very nervously announces to Richard Nixon's head and the headless clone of Spiro Agnew that he is here to invade Earth. Charmed by Jrrr's naïveté, Nixon and Agnew share a good laugh. Lrrr joins Jrrr with his laser pistol to demonstrate the serious nature of Jrrr's mission. While everyone is still on the White House doorstep, Nixon and Zapp Brannigan sign a treaty of surrender. Although Jrrr is desperate to exit this embarrassing situation, Lrrr demands that he destroy something with Lrrr's laser before leaving. Jrrr points more-or-less randomly and incinerates the headless corpse of Spiro Agnew, leaving Nixon with only one remaining copy. In retaliation, Nixon decrees an embargo against Omicron Persei 8, including TV broadcast. This is highly distressing for Lrrr, as he considers Earth television to be in its Golden Age, while Omicronian television is terrible.

At Planet Express headquarters, Professor Farnsworth has run out of his Good News brand herbal supplement, leaving him immobile and in terrible arthritic pain. Unfortunately, because the active ingredient in the supplement is produced on Omicron Persei 8, the embargo precludes relief for Farnsworth. He instructs the crew to fly to Omicron Persei 8, bypass the DOOP blockade, and retrieve a quantity of the ingredient, which he refers to as "the sacred weed of Omicron". Hermes, discovering that the active ingredient in the supplement is "the Omicronic", energetically approves of this idea and accompanies the crew personally to direct the mission. While collecting the herb on Omicron Persei 8, the crew members notice that Bender's electrical field activates the plant's bioluminescence when he is near it. Although Fry and Bender buddy up for safety, Fry wanders off to investigate a castle in the distance. While he is gone, Omicronian soldiers arrive, frightening the Planet Express crew away. Preparing the ship for takeoff, Leela asks Bender where his buddy is. Although Fry is missing, Bender claims that he is safely on board. The crew depart, leaving Fry behind.

Act II: "S.O.S.? Those are the letters that Fry knows!"

Neglected by his TV-addicted father, Jrrr goes outside to play by himself. When he throws his skull-ball into the garden shed, he hears a cry of pain, and the ball bounces back out to him. As the frightened Jrrr backs away from the shed, he leaves a trail of what appears to be candy, apparently intended to lure the shed's occupant out. After Jrrr falls asleep in a lawn chair, the occupant, that is, Fry, emerges, eating the "candy" and following its trail to Jrrr. Jrrr awakens with a start when Fry draws near, but calms down when he realizes that Fry is not a monster. Jrrr explains that the "candy" is actually his feces, which he involuntarily produced as retreated when Fry frightened him earlier.

While Jrrr and Fry form a bond as playmates, Bender constructs an increasingly elaborate falsehood to hide the fact that he abandoned Fry on Omicron Persei 8. At first, when the other crew members realize that they haven't seen Fry, Bender gives them simple platitudes: Fry is out buying flowers for Leela and burritos for Farnsworth. Bender immediately begins to feel guilty, both for lying to the others and for abandoning Fry on Omicron Persei 8. Bender begins to miss Fry, but consoles himself by listening to Fry's voice on Fry's ancient answering machine. Leela arrives at the apartment to remind Fry that he has a date with her tonight. Bender uses the answering machine and some creative use of the fast-forward and rewind to convince Leela that Fry is drunk and wants her to leave him alone at home. Due to Bender's convoluted ruse, now augmented by his tricks with the answering machine, Fry's popularity at Planet Express headquarters reaches an all-time high.

Fry begins to feel homesick, expressing his expectation that he will never go home again. Because of the embargo, he is unable to call his friends on his cell phone, or even to update his Facebook status. Jrrr recalls that his scout manual has instructions for constructing a device that will enable Fry to reach the Planet Express crew. Manual in hand, Jrrr transports Fry on a flying bicycle that is "powered by love" to a dumping ground for radio communications machinery. Fry moves the equipment around to physically spell out "S.O.S." on the ground. When the two return to Jrrr's home, they are discovered by Lrrr, who commands Jrrr to kill Fry as a rite of passage into manhood.

Back at headquarters, Bender laments the loss of Fry, apparently even believing that Fry is dead by now. Coincidentally looking through the bottom of a broken beer bottle, Bender sees Fry's "S.O.S." on Omicron Persei 8 and exclaims, "He's alive!" The next morning, he departs Earth in the Planet Express ship to retrieve Fry from Omicron Persei 8.

Act III: "Bender! I knew you wouldn't abandon me for much more than a week!"

Lrrr and his guards take Jrrr and a caged Fry outside for the execution. Lrrr comments that Fry is beginning to look very sick. Jrrr doesn't tell Lrrr that Fry has been eating feces, but it seems apparent that this is the cause of Fry's malady. Rather than killing Fry, Jrrr blasts a hole in the cage and urges Fry to flee with him. They fly away on Jrrr's love-powered bicycle and are pursued on similar bicycles by Lrrr and his guards. Jrrr and Fry outrun the pursuers, whose battle-worn hearts can't love as much as the innocent hearts of Jrrr and Fry. Fry's condition quickly deteriorates—he is actually dying—so Jrrr takes him to the Omicronian veterinarian, Drrr, who gives Fry some Omicronic and advises euthanasia. Lrrr arrives and forbids Drrr killing Fry, insisting that Jrrr commit the act. Jrrr refuses. As an aside in his argument with Lrrr, Jrrr mentions that he has been drinking Fry's blood every day; he and Lrrr are unaware that this is the true cause of Fry's impending death. Lrrr, moved by Jrrr's courage and conviction, offers to kill Fry on Jrrr's behalf, but by now Fry is already apparently dead.

As Lrrr comforts Jrrr, Fry's butt, or rather, the Omicronic herb in Fry's bowel, begins to glow. This is due to the fact that Bender has just arrived from Earth. Drrr explains that it is not simply Bender's electromagnetic output, but also Bender's love for Fry, that makes the herb glow. When Fry revives somewhat and explains to Jrrr that he must go home, Drrr's explanation gains support as Jrrr's butt begins to glow in synchrony with Fry's.

Having returned Fry safely to Earth, Bender convinces Fry to keep his mouth shut about his week-long absence and go along with the ruse. The crew commend Fry on his recent industriousness, most notably a romantic Leela, who unknowingly reveals just how far Bender went to cover up Fry's absence.

Production

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On 5 February, 2013, Vulture.com released a preview clip for the tenth broadcast season, [1] which contained footage from the episode.

Image Gallery

Additional Information

Trivia

  • This episode has a new shortened opening sequence that is unlike any other episodes to date. Unlike the usual abridged version found in Season 6, this sequence shows only one shot of the Planet Express ship flying and also has an opening cartoon.
  • The protagonist of The Finder Outer is a detective named Klaus Mandela, and "Klaus" is a German name. One of the protagonists of the American TV series The Bridge, which premiered exactly two weeks after the episode aired, is a detective played by German actress Diane Kruger.
  • When Professor Farnsworth is under the influence of the herbal supplement, he is wearing purple glasses. The hippie parallel version of him in "The Farnsworth Parabox", Professor Freaksworth, wore purple glasses.
  • Jrrr tells Fry that their flying bicycle is powered by love. In "Three Hundred Big Boys", which is also the sixteenth episode of its season, Kif gives Amy a watch that he says is powered by love.
  • Fry uses high-tech communications devices to write "S.O.S." on the surface of Omicron Persei 8. In "Obsoletely Fabulous", Bender uses rocks to write a help message on the surface of an island.
    • Fry's distress signal is on screen at 14:14 into the episode. "Obsoletely Fabulous" is episode number 4ACV14. Thus the time of one of the moments at which the signal is on screen contains "Obsoletely Fabulous"' production code.
  • A still from the episode is featured on the back cover for Volume 8.

Allusions

Click here to see cultural mentions made in this episode.

Continuity

Goofs

  • Lrrr watches Earth TV live, but in "When Aliens Attack", it's stated that it takes a thousand years for signals to get to Omicron Persei 8.
    • Only transmissions from before 2208 travel at the old speed of light, [2ACV10] live transmissions are near-instant. Both sets of transmissions are presumably stopped at the blockade.
  • Fry does not recognise Lrrr's palace, even though he's been there before. [4ACV03] [4ACV17]
    • He may have forgotten since then.

Quotes

An E.T. skull in Jrrr's toy closet.

    Professor Farnsworth: Good news, everyone! I'm in terrible pain.

    Kif: Sir, there's an Omicronian ship requesting safe passage home.
    Zapp: Home, eh? That's where I live! Let 'em through the blockade.

    Hermes: Five-O! Five-O!
    Amy: Five what?
    Hermes: Five Omicronians!

    Leela: Bender. Do you know where Fry is? I haven't seen him since we got back from Omicron Persei 8.
    Bender: Fry?! You... just missed him. He went out to buy you flowers. Whatever kind you like best. 'Cuz he loves you and crap.

    Lrrr: Jrrr! How do I watch a funny on the YouTube?

    Jrrr: Can you save him?
    Drrr: I could, but he'd only live another 80 years at most. The humane thing is to put him to sleep.

    Lrrr: What's happening? Why's his butt glowing?
    Drrr: The electromagnetic intensity of the robot's friendship is causing the herbs in his bowels to bioluminesce with love. Prob'ly.

Appearances

(In alphabetic order)

Characters

Places

Miscellaneous

References

  1. ^ Jesse David Fox (05 February 2013). Watch a Preview of Futurama’s Seventh Season. (Vulture.com.) Retrieved on 17 August 2013.
  2. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Bender Boxing Fry. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 07 May 2013. Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
  3. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Fry Captured in Omicronian Cage. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 08 May 2013. Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
  4. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Jrrr Show’s Fry His Fleem [sic]. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 09 May 2013. Retrieved on 19 June 2013.