Going to the World of Tomorrow 05.13.08: A Bicyclops Built for Two
Posted by Jerome Cusson on 05.13.2008
A nod to a great sitcom of the past. And just to think, Christina Applegate AND David Faustino were on it.
Fry/Professor Farnsworth/Zapp Brannigan/Dr. Zoidberg…Billy West
Bender…John DiMaggio
Leela…Katey Sagal
Amy Wong…Lauren Tom
Hermes Conrad…Phil LaMarr
Various Voices…Maurice LaMarche
Writer: Eric Kaplan
Director: Susan Dietter
Original Airdate: March 19, 2000
Production Code:2ACV09
Opening Subtitle: This Episode Has Been Modified to Fit Your Primitive Screen
Open with a mail delivery and Farnsworth, who’s been trying to log onto AOL, finally got online. The rest of Planet Express goes into the world of the internet, thanks to the wonders of virtual reality. We get some interesting social commentary throughout this opening sequence about dating online, as well as the vast amount of pornography. Not to mention all the ads that immediately attack everyone upon entry. Somehow, the gang also has the ability to fly.
Amy and the others enjoy some of the pornographic sites. Leela enters one of the chat rooms and promptly scares all the guys away. This would play into the theme of this episode. Now that Fry’s thirst for sex has been fulfilled, he’s now hungry for violence. He is introduced to a new type of game called a video game. Fry enjoys himself a little too much. Everyone has the ability to shoot each other with their fingers as lasers. If they get hit, they’re automatically signed off. This whole sequence is quite hilarious, especially when
Farnsworth tries to get them to sign off. Fry wins this contest of wills because Leela sees a fellow member of her species, or so she thinks. Leela, boy is she pissed. Fry shoots her anyway.
It’s time to make a delivery. Leela is still not happy about what Fry did. They deliver popcorn to a Cineplex planet. Leela receives a message from Alcazar, the guy from the chat room. That popcorn delivery isn’t so important anymore. Leela, Bender, and Fry land on what they think is Leela’s home planet. As Bender says, “Too bad it’s a dump.” They continue exploring and eventually find Alcazar. The one-eyed wonders embrace while Bender and Fry are left to walk, and in the robot’s case stealing things.
Leela is introduced around Cyclops City, which has a mosaic of a goddess. On the outskirts, they find The Forbidden Valley, which no one is allowed to go because of the dangers contained. Well, you know that’s gonna come back to bite them in the ass. Finally, they reach Alcazar’s castle and Bender has to make some room. Leela wonders what happened to her people, but for Alcazar it’s too painful to talk about.
Later that night, Alcazar is sobbing because of what happened to their people. Cyclopeia was destroyed by some missile. The smartest scientist sent Leela to earth. Because Alcazar was a pool boy, he also survived. Now they’re the last two people left on this planet. Leela shows why she is doomed to repeat her own mistakes, when she once again sleeps with a male after meeting him on the first day. Terrible. The next morning, Alcazar is acting like a real tool. He orders Leela around and is generally being very disrespectful. The running gag with Bender stealing all kinds of stuff is hilarious and makes for great laughs. Alcazar now wants to be called just plain Al and when Leela resists becoming a maid, he threatens to end the relationship and any chance of this race surviving.
Fry smells a rat and heads off into the The Forbidden Valley. Leela is dressed suspiciously like Peg, while Alcazar is suspiciously acting like Al Bundy. And those friends of Alcazar’s are acting like typical lecherous audience members from the show Married With Children.. Fry is laid up in a dungeon, but Leela at least feeds him a taco. Fry yells at Leela for continuing to hang out with Captain Jackass. At dinner, Alcazar announces his intentions to marry Leela and the dumb bitch accepts. Seriously, when you’re letting Fry become the voice of reason, you have a major problem.
The rest of Planet Express arrives for the wedding. Fry pleads to get out, but Leela will have none of it. Fry falls upwards and actually gets out. Bender feels he’s stolen enough for a brief moment. Thankfully, Fry takes care of that. The wedding begins as Fry and Bender make their way through The Forbidden Zone. They see identical castles with identical statues. We’re moving through this wedding quickly and Alcazar wants this whole ceremony to be sped up.
As it turns out, Alcazar is a shape shifter. Even worse, he’s a polygamist who’s trying to marry multiple females from these different species. The real form of Alcazar is a bug. Leela gets in a great dig about Alcazar having a small wang, and Leela has apparently learned her lesson. She’ll eventually find out where she came from. It’ll just take a bit.
The “Bite my shiny medal ass!” moment for best line/moment :
Leela: If you could shape shift, why didn’t you in the one place that counts.
That, my friends, is a burn.
The Zoidberg moment for worst line/moment: How did Alcazar find the time to be with five women in such a short amount of time?
The 411: Logic aside, this was another very good episode. Fry getting to be a hero and the smart one for once helped this show quite a bit, since it changed the flow. Bender got to play the side character, and like I’ve said before, this suits him best. Very funny episode.
