And now, a season finale that earns its accreditation to an anonymous (?) pseudonym. Futurama Season 12 episode 10 was written by “Nona di Spargment” (see also: Futurama Season 11’s “How the West was 1010001”) and directed by Ira Sherak. Opening gag: “We’re not out of networks yet!” Note: seasons are referred to by their categorization on Hulu.
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The Planet Express ship is in flames and tumbling through space. Philip J. Fry (Billy West) believes they are under attack. But Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal) corrects him: she tried to lean her seat back and the ship activated “catastrophe mode.” When she tries to activate the sprinklers, she learns the wires are crossed. This results in Bender Rodriguez (John DiMaggio) tumbling into the previously seen giant can opener, now located on the bridge. Fry pulls him free, but not after the opener has dealt Bender’s head serious damage.
Futurama Recap, “Otherwise”
At the Planet Express building in New New York City, Hubert J. Farnsworth (West) and Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) are playing three-dimensional Alienese Scrabble. Hermes asks if Farnswroth hears a sound like “a screaming coming across the sky.” Shortly, the PlanEx ship violently crashes in the hangar.
The can opener opens an escape hole in the side of the wreckage. Fry, Leela and Bender emerge. Hermes and Farnsworth approach and ask the can opener and the ship if they’re all right. The can opener is, but the ship isn’t. Farnsworth mourns “Old Bessie” (see: Season 10’s “2-D Blacktop”).
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A procession of ships follows the wrecked PlanEx ship as it is towed to the Graveyard of Spaceships. According to Farnsworth, the graveyard is the plasma sea at the bottom of the multiverse. On an island in the sea, the PlanEx crew gather to pay their respects to the ship. This includes Fry, Leela, Bender, Farnsworth, Hermes, Amy Wong (Lauren Tom), John Zoidberg (West) and Scruffy the Janitor (David Herman).
Amy asks about the weird currents in the plasma sea. Farnsworth explains these are jetstreams of alternate realities. Bender mocks the alternate realities, prompting Leela to hurl the bouquet she’s holding at him. She misses, but in the alternate reality reflection, the flowers cause Bender to fall to pieces.
They’re joined by Zapp Brannigan (West) and Kif Kroker (Maurice LaMarche). The latter is playing the bagpipes. Soon Brannigan is (musically) eulogizing the ship. But there’s over 20 minutes before the ship is permanently sunk in the plasma sea. Brannigan offers the opportunity for the PlanEx crew to board the ship and say goodbye. The crew boards to view the ships remains.
Near Death PlanEx-perience
On the dirty bridge, the PlanEx laments the loss of the ship. Bender is unaffected, but Amy points out he once had a torrid affair with the ship (Season 4’s “Love and Rocket”). Fry visits the quarters he shared with Bender. Sitting on the hammock, he recalls his memories on the ship. But then he recalls too many memories. He subsequently collapses on the floor beside the dirty blastoff sundae glasses (Season 2’s “Bender Gets Made”).
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew disembarks from the ship. Brannigan tells them the explosives will detonate in 15 minutes. Leela wonders where Fry is. But Brannigan corrects himself: the explosives will detonate in 15 seconds. The crew hurries back on the ship to locate Fry. From the island, Brannigan, Kif and Scruffy implore them to return. But the charges detonate and the ship falls into the plasma sea and sinks.
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After the adbreak, Fry wakes up on the island coughing. The rest of the PlanEx crew surrounds him, wet but intact. Kif, Brannigan and Scruffy are also present. Fry asks what happened. Amy explains they were all on the ship when it sank, and nearly drowned saving him. Fry explains that he didn’t come out sooner because he had some kind of attack. He saw flashes of things that had happened, plus things that hadn’t happened or would happen.
Back in NNYC in the PlanEx break room, Fry reflects that they could have died on the ship. Leela doesn’t look up from reading Easy Squirrel Riddles. Fry says this means they never would have gotten… but stops himself. Instead of finishing he pretends he was asking about tattoos.
Hey Universe, Check Out the Dude in the Rolex
At Fry, Leela and Bender’s apartment in the Robots Arms Apartments, Fry dresses in his formal outfit. Bender arrives wearing a Rolex. Fry explains that tonight, he’s meeting Leela at the top of the Vampire State Building to propose (see: Season 10’s “Meanwhile”). Bender consults his watch and tells Fry he’s late.
At the Vampire State Building, János (Herman) pours two glasses of champagne at a rooftop table occupied by Fry. Leela arrives and is wowed by the experience. Fry prepares to give a toast. But then he says he feels strange, as though they’ve had this experience before (see “Meanwhile”). Nevertheless, he presents Leela with an engagement ring.
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Leela is impressed. But Fry insists he’s sure this has happened before. Fry says it’s like watching a movie when he’s half-asleep. He has visions of the events of “Meanwhile.” This causes him to freak out. He nearly falls off the building. But fortunately, he collapses beside the table.
Back at the PlanEx building, Fry is assessed by Zoidberg. Fry explains what happened. Leela asks if Fry’s seeing an alternate universe or a time loop. But Zoidberg says it’s probably deja vu. Fry insists it’s not deja vu, and the things he’s seeing are real. He asks if Leela thinks he’s crazy. She says she doesn’t know what to think. Fry says he loves her so much, and only wants to marry her. But he says he must understand what’s happening to him first. Leela says she’s not going anywhere. Farnsworth enters and tells them to go to the hangar to see the new ship he built.
Raiders of the Lost Ship
In the hangar sits a sleek new black-and-white PlanEx ship. Farnworth explains it has cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Furthermore, he hired the world’s greatest voice actor for its voice, Tress LaMarche (Tress MacNeille). Farnsworth says it has a cloaking device and a cloakroom. Leela settles into the comfortable captain’s chair.
But Fry is distracted. He misses the old ship, and feels like they left something important aboard. Meanwhile, the can opener now has its own sleeping quarters. Bender is incensed. The PlanEx ship takes off for a delivery to a tropical paradise planet. But the ship is so effective, they don’t even need to land to complete the delivery, and almost immediately depart.
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Bender challenges the can opener to a sword fight. The can opener steals Bender’s sword from out of his hands. Bender uses a handgun to kill the can opener. He justifies this by citing Raiders of the Lost Ark. Bender is horrified that he killed his nemesis. But in attempting to revive the can opener, the sword it’s holding cuts off Bender’s right hand. Bender demands to be called “Bender One-Hand” moving forward.
Meanwhile, the new PlanEx ship approaches the Graveyard of Ships. A ship shows up on the radar but Leela doesn’t see anything. However, Fry insists he sees Old Bessie. Leela assures him that a little psychotic break from reality is normal. She sits in the captain’s chair, which engages the butt warmer. Fry laments the lost ship. This offends the new ship.
Ghost Ships
Back in the PlanEx breakroom, the crew watches a news report hosted by Linda van Schoonhoven (MacNeille) and Morbo the Annihilator (LaMarche). The report is on “ghost ships.” Linda interviews Brannigan about ghost ships. Brannigan explains sensors have detected a ship in the quadrant that is invisible to the “nude eye.” Pirates are suspected.
Fry says he saw the ghost ship, and it’s Old Bessie. Farnsworth asks why no one else can see it. Fry doesn’t know. But he insists something important went down with Old Bessie. Fry convinces Bender and Leela to return to the graveyard with him to ensure the old ship is still sunk.
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The new PlanEx ship approaches the graveyard. They’re cut off and hailed by the Nimbus. Brannigan says no one is allowed in or out of the graveyard. But Leela evades the Nimbus. She activates the cloaking device to shake the Nimbus. Subsequently, the Nimbus activates its cloak and smashes through the graveyard gate, causing it to fall open and allowing the new PlanEx ship to enter.
Inside, our heroes search for Old Bessie’s wreckage. But they’re fired upon (and badly missed) by a cloaked ship. Assuming it’s the Nimbus, the new PlanEx ship returns fire. Soon weapons are being fired all over the place by the invisible ships. Eventually, the Nimbus is hit and de-cloaks. Then it falls into the plasma sea and sinks. An escape pod is launched. Leela places Bender in the captain’s chair. From the escape pod, Brannigan contacts them and surrenders, asking to come aboard. Leela orders the ship de-cloaked. The escape pod is taken aboard.
They Do…?
Kif and Brannigan reach the bridge. Brannigan says Leela will face consequences from DOOP for destroying the Nimbus. But Leela places blame on Bender. They’re interrupted by another missile being fired at them. They suspect the ghost ship. Leela says they must escape. But Brannigan says running away from ghosts only encourages them. He takes command of the ship.
Brannigan orders they fire in all possible directions. But Fry reports they have zero missiles. Brannigan orders all the escape pods to be fired instead. Immediately afterwards, they’re hit by a missile. The new ship reports a hull breach is imminent. Leela takes Fry’s hand. Fry says he doesn’t mind dying, so long as it’s with Leela. But he regrets that they were never married. Leela appeals to now-Captain Brannigan to marry them. Brannigan agrees to perform the ceremony, and does so. Now pronounced husband and wife, Fry and Leela kiss. Another missile hits the new PlanEx ship. It explodes.
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From the bridge of Old Bessie, the PlanEx crew celebrate their victory. Amy asks who the ghost ships were. Farnsworth says that since going back to Old Bessie and rescuing Fry, the voyage has been “an incomprehensible nightmare.” As they drifted through the sea of all possible timelines, they rallied to repair the ship.
Fry says he was having visions of things he couldn’t possibly remember. He draws a picture of Fry and Leela as old people embracing one another. Leela says they look awful, but happy. She asks what it means. Fry says he doesn’t know, but that they’ll find out. Old Bessie flies off into the stars, fading into invisibility against the starfield before the credits roll.
All 10 episodes of Futurama Season 12 are currently available for streaming on Hulu.
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