Going to the World of Tomorrow 04.29.08: The Lesser of Two Evils
Posted by Jerome Cusson on 04.29.2008
Which one is truly evil? Click here to find out
Billy West ... Philip J. Fry / Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth / Dr. Zoidberg / Smitty / Zapp Brannigan / Additional Voices
Katey Sagal ... Turanga Leela
John Di Maggio ... Bender / Flexo / URL / Centipede Alien / Miss Juanta / Additional Voices
Tress MacNeille ... Centipede Alien's Wife / Robot Lap Dancer / Amazon Woman / Additional Voices
Maurice LaMarche ... Traffic Narrator / The Crushinator / Additional Voices
Phil LaMarr ... Hermes Conrad
David Herman ... Mugger / Tudor / Robot Bouncer / Additional Voices
Lauren Tom ... Amy Wong
Bob Barker ... Himself
Byrne Offutt ... Utility Player
Writer: Eric Horsted
Director: Chris Suave
Original Airdate: February 20, 2000
Production Code: 2ACV06
I always like to say that Futurama episodes with Bender as the focal point tend to be on the weaker side. This week’s episode is actually quite funny. The only problem is the ending might leave you a little weirded out. Here we find out that Bender has an “evil” twin. So let’s begin.
Opening Subtitle: The Show That Watches Back
Fry, Bender, and Leela are watching Cop Department, a parody of the FOX show Cops. Leela thinks the robot (What robot?) may have been in this episode, but he was actually on another show. An advertisement comes on for Past-O-Rama, a chance to go back and see what life was like in 2000, cause you know mammoth hunts were big in those days. Leela, Fry, and Bender head off.
The three members of Planet Express begin to enjoy themselves. One of my favorite visual gags comes in the form of a sign. Star Wars 9—Yoda’s Bar Mitzvah. They even meet an authentic mugger who, as it turns out, is for real. A tour guide shows them a “No Parking” sign that was never deciphered. According to Fry, it means “Up yours kid.” Bender thinks he may have found a suicide booth, but it’s just a phone booth. Fry says they used them primarily as bathrooms, so Leela takes this cue inside to use the booth. They also visit an authentic subway and some holy tombs. Fry, Leela, and Bender go on a mechanized tour too. They end up in a 20th century car and hit what appears to be a double of Bender.
Before we move on, I wanted to talk about how this entire sequence is hilarious. It’s very interesting to me that people of the year 3000 think of people in the year 2000 as being so primitive, because this is exactly how we think of people 1000 years ago. Also, the people of 3000 aren’t exactly fully accurate when looking at the people of 2000, which makes me ponder if we’re getting the civilizations before us right.
After an act break, Professor Farnsworth and Amy inform the others that the robot Fry ran over is good as new. He’s also a bending unit named Flexo, and except for a little beard, he looks exactly like Bender. Flexo is very similar to Bender, and boy is he a kidder. The two robots and Fry enjoy some lap dances at a mechanical strip club. Fry doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself as much as the others. He tells the rest of the Planet Express how much he doesn’t like Flexo. Leela thinks Fry is jealous. Professor Farnsworth tells everyone to come to his private bedroom for an exhibition. That’s not creepy at all.
To make matters worse, Farnsworth then invites all of them onto his bed. Thankfully what he has to show them is a glowing atom of jumbomania. The atom lies on a tiara to be used for the “Miss Universe Pageant.” Good putdown of Leela by Amy. Extra security is needed to watch the tiara and Flexo is right there, ready to volunteer. He is hired on, thanks to an unwitting comment by Fry. They take eight-hour shifts, with Bender going first. The robot thinks Fry is prejudiced because Flexo has a beard. Fry is right there and decides to watch Flexo during the second shift.
Eight hours later, it’s Fry’s turn. And he promptly falls asleep. Planet Express arrives at the pageant and the tiara is missing. They go searching for Flexo, even though Bender keeps covering what may potentially be a beard. Idiot. Bob Barker is the host of the pageant and we get to see a variety of different womanoids. Planet Express tells Barker what happened and we get a prompt, bitching out session. Their mission is to get the tiara back before the show ends. The chase is on. Bender and Flexo eventually begin fighting and Leela doesn’t know who to shoot, since they look exactly like each other. Finally, Leela shoots some plastic planets down. They hit Bender and Flexo, causing one of their stomachs to be opened and for the atom to be found. AND, IT’S BENDER WHO STOLE IT! Bender is the evil robot, while Flexo is the good one. He is sickened, just kidding, and leaves. Fry is mad because he can’t tell the difference. Flexo is arrested. Zapp Brannigan pays off a joke from earlier with Amy and Leela, when he announces Leela’s name. Too bad Zapp can’t figure out the envelope. It’s really some other creature and not Leela.
The “Bite my shiny medal ass!” moment for best line/moment : Fry being made fun of by one of the workers at Past-O-Rama for wearing such embarrassing clothing.
The Zoidberg moment for worst line/moment: I guess we all know Bender is evil, but this took it a little too far.
The 411: Very solid work here even with Bender being shown as acting a little too evil. Flexo is an interesting character. We never get an indication if he's truly good or bad, but just a kidder. Act one was very funny as it tends to be with this show. There's usually very little set-up as in most cases, this first half is better then the second
