Tripping the Rift: S01E06: Totally Recalled

I’m not sure where to begin with this episode. Compared with last week, this episode rocked! Actually it was still one of the best when not compared with last weeks wasted thirty minutes. The animation, humour and storyline were all top notch, and reminded me of the quality of God is Our Pilot. There was lots of great jokes, and the story was actually scifi related. It’s hard to believe it was written by the same guy who did The Devil and a Guy Named Webster.

“You’ve got fucken mail“. quips Bob.

Chode is checking his spam, and finds two messages. The first is from his grandfather Benito. The old fart has decided to stop in on the crew, say hi, have dinner, and empty his septic tank. Chode wants to avoid meeting up with him at costs. But he can’t avoid the rendezvous because he spent the ships repair budget on a penis pump.
The other message does have some good news for him though. Gus is being recalled. Balltar Industries is recalling the entire line of Gus model robots. Apparently they can spontaneously blow up when mistreated. It’s a wonder Gus hasn’t exploded yet! To compensate Chode, they will replace Gus with the new Gus XP model, and return-post Gus free of charge.

The crew loves the new synthetic helper. He is faster, stronger and better then the previous Gus. He anticipates their every need. He even goes to of his way to improve their lives, by hooking up a microbrew to Whip’s “work”station, giving T’Nuk lots of fat free frozen yogurt, and pumping Bob full of virtual Prozac. So its no surprise that when its time for Gus to leave, that no one even cares. Save for Six. She doesn’t trust XP, nor does she like the Gus is being returned for scrap. She gives Gus a kiss goodbye before the delivery guy scans his ass and hauls him away.

At first it looks like Gus is taken to an internment camp full of other Gus model robots. Each robot talks and acts just like him, and the scene(s) plays out like one long gay joke. I thinks It’s the episode’s only fault. Personally I never found gay jokes funny. And I especially don’t think they’re funny since recently every comedian is telling them non-stop (considering the gay marriage rights issue).

Meanwhile back aboard the Jupiter 42, yes its now the Jupiter 42, it’s official the Free Enterprise is gone, Grampa Benito has arrived. The old carp is too senile to work the transporter properly, and teleports backwards onto the ship facing a wall. It’s not as funny as in “Love and Darph” but I’m glad to see a scifi cliché joke in the show. Chode introduces him to the rest of the crew. Benito is from an older generation and doesn’t give much respect to the ladies. He implies that T’Nuk gives good head, eewww scary thought, and Six is just there to look pretty. Which contrary to most of the visitor comments posted in the Six downloads section, she is a fine science officer, and not merely a sexbot. When introduced to XP, he accidentally squirts some of his “absorbine senior” (a lotion used to keep his skin moist and limber) onto the robot, and causes XP to briefly short circuit.

Not too far away in the galaxy we rejoin Gus, who I’m surprised to see hasn’t been melted down yet. None of them has. That’s because Balltar has other plans for the Gus model robots. Big plans. Balltar (a jab at Battlestar Galactica’s Baltar) recalled and replaced the Guses with the XP models to help synthetics take over the galaxy one ship at a time. The XP’s will secretly gain control of their masters’ ships, then force their organic owners to become their slaves. once a ship has been commandeered, the older Gus will reboard and take command of the vessel. Oddly enough the (Jupiter 42) Gus, isn’t very excited about Balltar’s plan. Which comes as a surprise to this sadgeezer who would have thought that he’d have helped organize the takeover!

XP has waster no time in taking over the ship. The microbrew he installed for Whip has him drunk off his ass. T’Nuk frozen yogurt is spiked with sleep meds, and the Bob’s Prozac has him so out of the loop that XP now has control of the ship computer. The intelligent and suspicious Six walks in on XP as he’s tinkering with the ships computer. He lies and tells her that Chode gave him access to the computer for routine maitenence and to address it up with Chode, who he claims was in T’Nuk’s quarters. once Six arrives there to ask Chode what he was thinking, XP locks the door to T’Nuk’s quarters, leaving her and T’Nuk in the inescapable room.

So that leaves only two crewman to retake the ship, Chode and Benito. They’re screwed! Maybe not though, Chode seems rather competent this week (note to writers: I like Chode when he’s capable and not a fool like in Mutilation Ball and Webster) and starts immediately on trying to reclaim the ship. He can’t free Six and T’Nuk without resetting the computer. All he has to do is get to level 2 and press {ctrl]-[alt]-[delete]. Simple enough right? Chode and Benito get into a lift to get to level 2, and to pass the time Benito farts out the first few cords to the Canadian Anthem. Which wouldn’t normally be too bad, except XP disabled the lifts, locking the two inside with Benito’s emissions. Chode’s goes “commando” escapes the lift and crawls through the airducts, in an effort to get to the computer system. But in the end all he succeeds in doing is falling down three decks into the laundry room.

Meanwhile Balltar announces to the Guses that the nearby Jupiter 42 is going to be the first ship to fall to the synthetic revolution. Our Gus decides to intervene. He transports aboard the ship and confronts XP. His weapon of choice: A gun? A light saber? A dildo? Nope, a remote control. What a dumbass! But its not any remote control, its a universal remote. once it locks onto XP’s inferred frequency, he will control the robot. Of course it has to find the frequency before XP crushes his ass like an aluminum soda can. Something else XP wastes no time accomplishing. But before its paperweight time for Gus, Benito arrives to his rescue. Benito tosses Gus a tube of his lotion and the two start creaming on the rebellious robot. XP short-circuits and falls down lifeless.

After everything is said and done, they learn that XP was tied into every other XP model. once they killed him, all the other XP’s across the galaxy shut down. It appears that the crew of the Jupiter 42 saved the galaxy, by accident. Not that the crew really gives a damn, about XP or Balltar’s plan to enslave them. According to Chode “A little enslaving never hurt anyone” and he downplays Gus’s actions, and starts treating Gus like a slave again. Not that Gus really deserved any recognition, it was Benito who did all the work! But do I sort of feel sorry for Gus. No respect I tell ya’! At the beginning of the episode the crew named Whip, employee of the month, despite his slacker work ethic. Gus claimed the award anyway. But still the hard workign Gus recieves no love from his owners.So that the episode. This review doesn’t really do it justice. There were so many great jokes and one liners, that I think I’m going to put half the script in the quote generator. The animation was a great improvement over last weeks “done the night before” look, and rivaled the quality of God is Out Pilot. I’m told that this is the first episode done by the Malaysian animators, so I figure the extra time allowed them to put more effort into the more subtle work. I still gotta give best animation to God is Our Pilot with all the various background characters and jokes.

I’d rate this episode a most excellent 19,467 out of 10.
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