Futurama, Episode 7.03: “Decision 3012”

I should be used to the fact that Futurama has been un-cancelled. I really should. Since its final Fox episode aired in the summer of 2003, we Futurama fans have been privy to 4 feature-length direct-to-DVD movies, plus an initial Comedy Central order of 26 episodes, spread across 2 years: the summers of 2010 and 2011.  Currently, we’re only 3 episodes into Comedy Central’s second 26-episode order, which will tide us over until Labor Day 2013. In fact, if you do the math, the number of post-cancellation half-hours (68 = 52 Comedy Central episodes, plus the 4-part episodic versions of the 4 movies) almost rivals the show’s original 72-episode Fox network run.  Not bad for one of Fox’s most mishandled series, eh? :-)

And yet, in its return, Futurama has had a surprisingly low profile.  Its return to television never got the amount of attention that its fellow cancelled Fox animated series, Family Guy, received… a sticking point that the Futurama fan base will still chide to this day. While its return has been appreciated, the ratings have been adequate, but never tremendous. (Certainly, Fox is looking to make most of its Futurama money off of the DVD/Blu-ray sales, and the syndication rights, rather than its Comedy Central airings.) And yet, of all the rebooted animated series in recent memory, Futurama has managed to be incredibly solid and consistent thus far, picking up from its original Fox run without seemingly missing a beat. (I’d say that Beavis and Butthead’s return last fall was astonishing, although the reboot is operating on a more complex level than the original series ever attempted, so I’m reluctant to make a direct connection between the old and new eras of that series.)  Tonight’s episode, “Decision 3012”, continues that streak with the strong level of writing and pacing that we’ve come to expect from the series.

The episode kicks off in a fun way, with the show’s regular intro segueing directly into the actual plot.  Traditionally, the Planet Express ship crashes into the billboard TV just because, but this time around, Bender crashes the ship because of the giant “FREE BEER” message that it displays.  As it turns out, the free beer is being served up by Earth President Nixon, as a shameless tactic to earn the public’s support for his re-election.  Nixon is running on a campaign to prevent space aliens from entering our planet, and promises to build a fence around the solar system to keep them out.  But during a debate, Nixon encounters a formidable challenger in Senator Travers, a down-to-earth politician who shows actual concern for society’s issues… an aspect that quickly strikes a chord with Leela, who ends up becoming his new campaign manager in the process.  The debate scene is one of the episode’s highlights, partially because of the jabs at endless debate schedules, political sound bites, and unruly mobs – the latter of which evokes golden-age Simpsons.  (“According to reputable scientists—“ “BOOOOOOOO!!!”)

However, the Travers campaign encounters trouble when Bender joins Nixon’s campaign, specializing in dirty tricks.  Bender is unable to find any dirt on Travers… but he and Nixon ultimately start a rumor that Travers himself is an alien… a rumor that gains momentum when Travers is unable to present his certificate of birth.  Now, when my DVR’s plot summary mentioned the birth certificate plot, I was afraid that not only was the show going to go pointedly political and take on the birther movement, but even more so, I was afraid that said satire was going to horribly date this episode.  (Futurama doesn’t have a great history in this respect: Remember the first-season episode that revolved primarily around the Ally McBeal clone Single Female Lawyer? How well has that held up?)

Fortunately, the episode redeems itself (and then some) by adding a nifty twist: Travers doesn’t have a birth certificate because he hasn’t been born yet.  (GASP!)  In fact, he’s been sent back in time from the year 3028, Kyle Reese-style, to prevent a horrific future where aliens are eradicated from Earth, menial jobs like “harvesting crops, teaching math, and curing disease” disappear, humans receive the Soylent Green treatment, and the world is ultimately taken over by robots… who are led by one Mr. Bender Bending Rodriguez.  Fortunately, since Travers will be born in 3012, Leela suggests that Travers’ birth be broadcast on live TV.  And so, we’re treated to a bizarre sequence where news anchors Morbo and Linda report on the birth live from the delivery room. (Quoth Morbo: “Linda, I’m down here at the pelvis, and folks ‘round these parts can’t remember the last time a time-traveling senator attended his own birth. Back to you!”)

Once the baby Travers comes, the adult Travers gains a huge lead, and ends up defeating Nixon in the election.  But, in a wonderful paradoxical ending, Travers’ election ensures that Nixon doesn’t build the space fence that would cause the cycle of chaos.  As a result, the adult Travers is erased from 3012, since he was never sent back from the future in the first place… and Nixon is re-elected, unopposed.

A number of Futurama’s small strengths are on display in this episode.  The show’s deep bench of supporting characters pays off here, with Morbo also serving as debate moderator, Calculon emceeing the political convention, and Hedonismbot playing a 31^st-century version of Deep Throat.  The visual gags come fast and furious in this episode, from the “Thundercrats” convention to “The League of Extraordinary Women Voters”.  Bender’s unlimited transforming abilities are used nicely here, as Bender converts himself into a urinal at Travers’ campaign headquarters… with disgustingly hilarious results.

Between the laughs and the crafty plot, I’d say I was satisfied with this episode.  I’m not exactly sure whether I liked this or the “Bender’s baby boy” season premiere more (hey, that robot baby was cute!), but tonight's show was good nonetheless.  And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to munch on some Soylent Majority! Mmmmmmmm...

Random notes:

• I am numbering episodes of Futurama based on their production cycle, rather than season, due to the unusual airing schedules of the series. (FYI: The Fox network run consisted of four production cycles, the DVD movies were the fifth cycle, and the first two Comedy Central seasons were the sixth.... making the 2012/2013 episodes part of cycle seven.)
• “Bender, you can’t even vote. You’re a convicted felon!” “Convicted, sentenced, and executed!”
• Election 3012: The Choosening!
• Freeze-frame alert: Among the signs displayed at the political convention are: eHio, iOwa, Waterworld, Kardashistan, the Tri-State Area, Panem, and Atlanta.
• “Enviro-mite!!!”
• Nixon: “Are you wearing a wire?” Bender: “I’m 40% wire!”
• “If it’s on TV, it has to be true!” How wise you are, Fry.
• This video has made its way around the Internet for the past several weeks, but since it has pertinence to Futurama, I’ll link to it again: Here’s a panel from the Emerald Comic-Con in Seattle, in which many notable voice actors read scenes from Star Wars, including Futurama cast members Billy West, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche.  You’ll hear Bender, Professor Farnsworth AND Dr. Zoidberg as Luke Skywalker, and Morbo as R2-D2, among many others.
• Next week, Bender joins the paparazzi! See you then!

True Blood, Episode 5.03: "Whatever I Am, You Made Me"

When you think of HBO, “cult TV” is probably one of the last things you think of.  Back in the early days of HBO original programming, before “It’s not TV, it’s HBO” became their mantra, HBO gave us several cult/genre series, led by the anthology series Tales from the Crypt, which lasted seven seasons (plus two theatrical films: Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood).  In addition, HBO gave us three seasons of the Spawn animated series with Keith David, plus short-lived cult comedies as Mr. Show and Tenacious D.  But, triggered by the one-two punch of The Sopranos and Sex and the City, HBO aggressively rebranded itself as the home of prestige television, opting for high-caliber writers and Emmy wins over anything that could remotely be considered “genre television”… a mantra that they still follow to this day. (Case in point: following tonight’s episode, HBO debuted The Newsroom, the new series from Emmy-/Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin. HBO loves its awards ringers!) And so, HBO spent nearly a decade avoiding the genre waters… until True Blood, that is.

True Blood tore onto the HBO stage in September 2008, guided by creator Alan Ball, who had previously gained a lot of clout at the network by masterminding one of their signature prestige series, Six Feet Under.  (Prior to that, Ball had won an Oscar for writing 1999’s Best Picture winner, American Beauty.)  Certainly, you’d think that HBO would have been above making a series about vampires… but Ball’s clout, combined with the network’s ability to allow gratuitous vampire gore and sex, seemed unbeatable.  The timing worked wonders, as True Blood’s first season dovetailed with the release of the first Twilight film, helping to create an insatiable pop culture craving for vampires. As a result, True Blood became a breakout hit, which the network oh-so-desperately needed in the aftermath of The Sopranos’ final season.

Flash-forward to the present-day, where True Blood has entered its fifth season... and fatigue has set in. Season 4 was not well-received at all, thanks to numerous ineffective plot lines (Arlene’s potentially evil baby! Jason Stackhouse, werepanther breeder! Any plotline involving the werewolf pack!) and, in Marnie, a main villain who just couldn’t hold a candle to the grandiose personality that was Season 3’s Russell Edgington.  From a popularity perspective, True Blood has also faded: AMC’s The Walking Dead managed to build onto its already-staggering success in its second season, officially ensuring that zombies have replaced vampires as television’s favorite undead creature. Heck, even True Blood’s status as HBO’s genre jewel has fallen considerably, thanks to the ecstatic critical and audience response to Game of Thrones.  Finally, there was the news that Alan Ball would step down as showrunner of True Blood after Season 5 in order to work on a new series for HBO’s little brother, Cinemax.  Certainly, all was not well in Bon Temps.

So, now that we’re officially 25% into the new season, what do we know?  Well, as any True Blood fan will attest to, each season is a slow build, taking 4 to 6 episodes in order to truly get into a narrative groove.  And even in tonight’s episode, the show’s still moving all of its chess pieces into place… but there’s bits and pieces that indicate that we’ve got some meaty potential for the rest of the year.  But we’ll get to that. :-)

Let’s start where the episode began, with Vampire Tara becoming accustomed to her new vampire super-skills, before stumbling across a stranded motorist who’s changing her tire.  It only takes a few seconds before Tara cracks out her fangs and holds her down to suck her blood… but then, Tara wises up and says “I’m sorry” (her second line of dialogue so far this season), before zooming off.  Tara then makes her way to Merlotte’s, and encounters Sam, who serves her at least a dozen bottles of True Blood.  Tara makes Sam promise that he won’t contact Sookie or Lafayette as to her whereabouts… which leads to an awkward scene the next morning where Sam tries – and fails miserably - to hide his knowledge of Tara from Sookie’s mind powers. (“Boobs boobs boobs…”) Turns out, Tara’s spending the day in the walk-in cooler…  which almost works, until Tara, woken up by Lafayette, emerges from the cooler in front of the entire Merlotte’s staff, all vampired out and positively ticked-off.  She then races off into town, and as the episode ends, Tara enters a tanning bed and decides to toast herself to the True Death.  Pam senses Tara’s screams from within her Fangtasia office, and simply responds, “You stupid bitch,” as we cut to black.

At this point, the best thing that I can say about the Vampire Tara plot is that it’s a sizable – and wonderfully welcome - change of pace from all the other Tara plots we’ve had to endure thus far in the series.  Let’s face it: Weren’t you getting sick of the whole “Tara unwittingly stumbles into the big bad villain’s evil plan” plot that dragged down Seasons 2 & 4? This is why I was so excited at the end of Season 4, when Tara was knocking on death’s door… and which I was a little bit disappointed that Ball and his writing staff decided not to actually kill her off in the Season 5 premiere.  (That’s one of the problems with a show like True Blood: Given the variety of supernatural elements in play, no character ever really dies, which diffuses a lot of dramatic tension. See also Heroes, which took this rule to extremes.)  As long as Tara’s vampire growing pains remain the focus of this season, I think things will work out okay… but again, it’s still too early in the season to say.

As for Tara’s reluctant maker, Pam, she had some nice moments, beginning with the fun scenes of her speed-texting and speed-calculating at Fangtasia, further solidifying her position as the show’s best comic relief.  (Unfortunately, we didn’t get any further scenes of Wal-Mart Sweatsuit Pam, but we can’t win ‘em all.)  In addition, we also got a continuation of last week’s 1905 flashbacks, where Eric stops by Pam’s whorehouse, and makes it very clear that he’s interested in Pam, and not any of her “merchandise”.  After a brief run-in between Eric and Bill (with a special guest appearance by Lorena!), Eric and Pam head to bed, where Pam begs Eric to turn her into a vampire.  Eric is reluctant, mentioning that he doesn’t want to take on the responsibilities of being a maker, but Pam forces Eric’s hand by slitting her wrists and bleeding nearly to death.  Whereas last week’s flashback didn’t serve much purpose, this week’s events make things quite clearer, in an effort to set up parallels between Pam as maker and as make.  It’s another indication toward the long-term payoff of the season-long plot structure… and why it can occasionally be hard to judge pieces of a True Blood episode on their own, without being able to see the larger picture.  (Case in point: the abrupt scene where Terry tells Arlene that he and his war buddy Patrick are taking off immediately for Who Knows Where.)

A loose story thread from last season comes back in full force this episode, with Debbie’s parents coming to town to try and find their missing daughter… whom, as you know, had her head blown off by Sookie in the final minutes of last season’s finale.  There’s a fair amount of dilly-dallying and obscuring the truth… but it pays off near the end when Sookie reveals all to Alcide.  As you can imagine, Alcide doesn’t respond well… but we’ll have to wait until next week to really get into the fallout from that revelation.

Now, onto the sexcapades of the Bon Temps Sheriff’s Department, with Andy’s bare-bottom photo from the season premiere making its way to Facebook… and which Andy, in all of his inexplicable charm, manages to twist into a positive, as he uses it to segue into asking Holly to go steady with him.  The whole “I’m a witch”/”I’m an alcoholic/V addict” back-and-forth was sweetly amusing in its own right… and it certainly helped distract from Jason Stackhouse’s latest dilemma, as he contemplated how he had been taught all his life to fill all his emotional holes with sex.  And when I say “taught”, I mean that he boinked his old teacher, whom he encountered tonight during a critical pickle-purchasing mission at the supermarket… and whom eventually got to see Jason’s pickle, ifyouknowwhatImean. (His teacher, Miss Steeler, was played by Melinda Page Hamilton, who TV fans will recognize as Anna Draper from Mad Men.)  Who knows if Jason’s newfound self-realization will make an impact on the rest of the season… personally, I give it no more than two episodes before he’s back in the swing of things. ;-)

Finally, there’s the continuation of Bill and Eric’s plotline, as they desperately try to convince the Authority to spare their lives in exchange for handing over Russell Edgington, whom we briefly saw at the end of last week’s episode recuperating from his one-year stay in a cement grave.  (In case you’re wondering why we’ve barely seen Russell to this point, it’s because the start of True Blood filming overlapped with the end of filming for Denis O’Hare’s other series, FX’s American Horror Story.)  Ever on the cusp of vampire technology, the Authority outfits Bill and Eric’s chests with cross-shaped devices called iStakes, which serve not only as tracking devices, but also as actual stakes should the two mess up or act against the Authority’s wishes. (I do not see an iStake app in the iTunes store… yet.  Don’t let me down, HBO… or True Blood super-fans!) It also serves as an obligatory moment to get Bill and Eric’s shirts off… but let’s be honest: there are certain quotas that this show needs to meet. ;-)  Later on, both Bill and Eric get one-on-one moments with Salome, who seduces both of them for the purposes of, shall we say, a more intimate form of interrogation than what we saw last week.  Fortunately, both of our guys come up clean… while Nora cracks in the interrogation room, receiving a nice hot dose of silver.

We’ve yet to get any significant time with Christopher Meloni’s big bad, Roman, but so far, he's been spouting a lot about the “mainstreaming” of vampires: trying to counteract the public’s negative perception of vampires, which has been fueled primarily by moments such as Russell’s epic on-air spine-ripping from Season 3. Now, at first, working Russell back into the True Blood proceedings seems like a desperate act by a long-in-the-tooth series… but at least they’re setting things up in the right way by creating opposition to Russell from within the vampire community.  One of the angles I’ve always enjoyed about True Blood is the whole aspect of how vampires have been incorporated into the show’s fictional society, and humans' reaction to it.  It's led to some fun, entertaining, and insightful angles (such as Season 2’s trip to the Fellowship of the Sun).  If the show can milk this aspect for all its worth, while at the same time re-introducing the show’s greatest villain into the mix, we could have a great season… but we’ve got a ways to go before we reach that level. And since we only have nine weeks left, I certainly hope the show gets there soon.

Other notes:

• The rebooting of Rev. Steve Newlin continues to have potential, especially in his new position as “the new Nan Flanagan”.  Certainly we’ll get the opportunity to see more of the public reaction to his about-face, like what we saw last week when Sookie went to the stake shop.
• So, umm, Hoyt at Fangtasia… that was unexpected.  I’m still trying to process that particular image.
• “You guys are too cute to be goo!”
• Enjoy tonight’s brief scenes of Anna Paquin in her Merlotte’s outfit: Paquin was pregnant during the filming of this season, so expect a fair amount of TV trickery later this season to obscure her baby bump (as the show will not write her pregnancy into the story).
• Lafayette only uses the finest bleach in his gumbo. Mmm-mmmmm….
• That was Tina Majorino (Deb from Napoleon Dynamite, and also from Waterworld) as the Authority's version of Q.
• Crunchy or sweet? America needs to know.
• Coming Wednesday: We join the new season of Futurama, already in progress.