Futurama Season 2 (1999)

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Futurama Season 2 Movie Review

The second season of Futurama is a very uneven one thanks to its fair share of clunkers, but it has even more classic, simply terrific episodes.

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“Valentine’s Days coming?

Oh, crap.

I forgot to get a girlfriend again.“

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I Second That Emotion is such a weak, passable episode that features solid Bender and a good use of Nibbler, but the sewer setting is dull and the execution is fairly disappointing. Every episode concerning Zapp is bound to be great and sure enough Brannigan, Begin Again is an excellent part and different than usual as we watch him lose his position and at his lowest in the series so far.

A Head in the Polls is without a doubt one of the second season’s weakest episodes as I never found this subplot with heads of 20th century famous people all that interesting in the first place and Nixon is here very dull and annoying. Xmas Story has its annoying parts, but it is mostly a great exploration of Fry and Leela’s loneliness and the two share a couple of heartwarming moments together.

Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love? is the season’s first true classic and one of the finest Futurama episodes so far. Not only is this episode hilarious and delightfully weird, but it also finally gives us a great role for Dr. Zoidberg and he finally came to his own during this season. The Lesser of Two Evils has a predictable twist in it, but the overall plot is very good and I liked Flexo’s character quite a bit and it was interesting having another robot on the team.

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Put Your Head on My Shoulders is another great Fry/Leela episode that also features a solidly developed Fry/Amy romantic relationship plus that restaurant scene is so funny and well executed. Raging Bender is the weakest episode of the season owing to its very boring boxing plot. I have never liked this sport and I do not like it in Futurama either.

A Bicyclops Built for Two is without any doubt the very best Leela episode thus far. It finally makes use of her origin really well, the twist is obvious, but still very well done and the episode is not only emotional, but also extremely funny with Alcazar being such a hilarious sexist character. A Clone of My Own features not that memorable character in Cubert Farnsworth plus those action sequences weren’t particularly exciting, but the professor is excellent and relatable here and the series’ take on elderly care is very amusing.

How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back features a hilarious affair with Fry and a woman who is a neat freak attracted to filthy people, but the other half concerns Hermes and he is as boring as ever and I just don’t like him at all. The Deep South isn’t the most original Futurama episode, but it’s more than satisfying with a well crafted storyline and another excellent role for Fry.

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Bender Gets Made is so mediocre. As was the case with Raging Bender, I just dislike this subject matter immensely (this time gangsters) and thus the entire episode was so tedious to me. Mother’s Day finally features a good use of Mom and she is quite funny and memorable here. I loved that Professor Farnsworth was her old flame and their erotic scene was so funny. The highlights are her “sons” who are just hilarious when reacting to their Mom having just had sex.

The Problem with Popplers is certainly one of the season’s finest parts thanks in large to a great presence of the funny alien species and an environmentalist plot that is more entertaining than preachy. It is the season’s best made and fun episode. Anthology of Interest I is weak. it is okay if you like this kind of alternate realities and stuff, but I do not find that interesting so the episode was merely a filler to me.

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War Is the H-Word is just so entertaining with an again superb use of Zapp. Bender is quite funny here to, but it is Zapp and Leela who shine in a very amusing situation after situation and many hilarious sexual moments. The Honking features a great feud between Bender and Fry, but is otherwise not fitting in plot and tone to the overall show. The Cryonic Woman is a very good finale for this season with again excellent Fry who has a fling with his former girlfriend this time around plus the attack on L. A. at the end was just hilarious.

In the end, Futurama Season 2 is a very uneven show which has a couple of truly mediocre episodes, but it also has a lot of excellent episodes, more actually than the first season had, with this time around Zoidberg, Fry and Leela being the highlights. The characters and the story continues to expand and the season reached greatness frequently which is why I’ve had a great time watching it and I am looking forward to the third season and hoping it will be even better.

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Worst Episodes: A Head in the Polls, Raging Bender and Bender Gets Made.

Best Episodes: Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?, Put Your Head on My Shoulders, A Bicyclops Built for Two, The Problem with Popplers and War Is the H-Word.