Futurama: S01E07: My Three Suns

The fact that Bender wants to cook tickles me just a tad. Every other thing that humans do offends the hell out of him, I would think cooking and eating would be right up there. This episode sets the stage for a later episode in the series that deals with Bender’s cooking fetish in more depth. Elzar makes his first appearance here, as the future’s answer to Emeril Lagasse. We see more of Elzar in several future episodes, where they develop his personality a bit further.

Bender goes through the robot wash, singing to the tune of “Car Wash” no less, ending with a semi-gratifying undercoating. The minute he steps out into the sunshine, a rainstorm comes up.It’s happened to all of us with a car at one time or another.

Bender is watching TV in the Planet Express lounge, taking in a cooking show called the Essence of Elzar. It’s hosted by a purple, pig-snouted Neptunian with four arms. I enjoyed watching Elzar cook with four arms, which must have been an interesting animation feat. When Fry and Leela walk into the room, he tries to cover his interest but they notice anyway. They think his interest in cooking is cute.

Hermes calls Bender into his office and tells him he’ll have to come up with an actual job at the company in order to keep getting paid. Bender appoints himself the ship’s cook. Leela is concerned that he has no taste buds now that he’s the cook and it’s not just an academic notion.

Bender, Fry and Leela set off for Little Neptune to purchase some ingredients for his first feast. Fry becomes entangled with a street vendor trying to sell organs, but Leela counsels him about being careful in this new world. He tells her he’s a child of the streets; she shouldn’t worry. While Leela and Bender shop, Fry sneaks back to the vendor and prepares to trade his lungs for gills. Leela rescues him at the last minute and lectures him again once they are safely back at Planet Express. He tells her he can make his own decisions as the professor comes in with their next delivery assignment.

Amy, Fry, Leela, Zoidberg and Bender all set off on a mission to planet Trisol, a desert planet with three suns. The nearest I can gather, the suns rarely all set simultaneously. Bender makes his first official meal with disastrous results. The meal is over salted to the extreme and he gives them salt water as a beverage.

Soon after, they arrive at their destination and Fry must travel across the vast amount of desert to get to a palace. Why do they never land near where they have to be? I’m aware the journey provides half the entertainment sometimes, but REALLY. He doesn’t encounter a soul, just finds a bottle of what appears to be water sitting nearby. Suffering from the salty meal and his arid trek, he quaffs it in one gulp. Two armed liquid men rush up claiming he drank their emperor.

Fry fears the worst, but they bow to him as their new ruler. The rest of the crew join Fry in his palatial new digs. Leela can’t believe Fry’s stupidity and/or dumb luck. She feels there must be a catch somewhere. Everyone else takes advantage of the pampering and attends a banquet in Fry’s honor. While there, Leela calls him away to explain that he’s in danger. All of the previous emperor’s were assassinated in less than a week and he must deliver an oath from memory at his coronation or the Trisolians will kill him. He once again tells her to basically mind her own business and let him live his life the way he sees fit. She gets angry and leaves him to rot; she’s going to the ship and he’s on his own.

Fry manages to get through his oath at the coronation (with the help of a few notes scribbled on his arm). As the sun sets, the inhabitants of the planet begin to glow. It’s at this point I really began to pay closer attention to the Trisolians. The glowing effect turned the mundane into interesting. Their movements seemed much more musical after that. As Fry is about to be crowned, the emperor he drank begins to glow inside his stomach. The emperor calls to be cut out of Fry and the crowd rushes in. The crew flees and barricades themselves in the throne room.

They eventually decide to call Leela for help, although Fry feels she’ll refuse. She’s kind enough (and self-righteous enough) to come to the rescue anyway. They all try to think of a way to get the emperor safely out of Fry. The Trisolians are waiting outside with a giant juicer that will pulp Fry. The emperor refuses to be urinated, vomited or sweated out. Frankly, he’d have dealt with whatever the hell I’d have wanted at that point. They settle on getting Fry to cry him out, but no amount of insults or harsh truths will get him started. Leela has to fight her way through the crowd to the palace, giving Bender an idea after seeing Fry’s concern for her well-being. He tells Fry that they have captured Leela and juiced her, starting his tears flowing at last. Leela shows up before he can get the emperor out and upon hearing the plan, apologetically begins to beat Fry up. They all take turns beating the crap out of him until the emperor shows up for his own turn. The task may be done, but Bender takes his turn next and the episode closes to the sounds of Fry’s needless beating.

What a heart-warming way to end an episode, huh? It definitely had its high points. It was a more even episode than the previous ones and had good flow. The voices and characters seem to be well-defined now. All in all, basically solid.

I’d have to rate this one a rather decent 7.5 out of 10.

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Futurama reviews are © 2006, 2007 Chrystal Litchford.
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