The Why of Fry
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| Futurama episode | |
| "The Why of Fry" | |
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| Episode no. | 64 |
| Prod. code | 4ACV10 |
| Airdate | April 6, 2003 |
| Writer(s) | David X. Cohen |
| Director | Wes Archer |
| Opening subtitle | Dancing Space Potatoes? You Bet! |
| Opening cartoon | unknown |
| Guest star(s) | Bob Odenkirk, Frank Welker |
| Season 4 January 2002 – August 2003 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"The Why of Fry" is the tenth episode in the fourth season of the animated television series Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 6, 2003.
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[edit] Plot summary
Fry realizes that the crew is not really in need of him after Leela and Bender come back from a delivery mission with great success and medals. Leela then asks Fry to take care of Nibbler while she's out on a date with Chaz, the mayor's aide (voiced by Bob Odenkirk). While walking Nibbler, Fry feels that he is absolutely useless, only to have Nibbler speak up and tell him otherwise. Nibbler then knocks Fry out, drags him to his small spaceship, and takes him to the Nibblonian home planet, Eternium.
After being introduced to the wise Nibblonians, Fry's importance is revealed. He has a unique genetic disorder, caused by being his own grandfather, which has resulted in him lacking the Delta Brainwave. This rendered him immune to the attack of the Brainspawn a few months ago, an attack which no-one else on Earth remembers.
The Nibblonians reveal the Brainspawn's grand plan; they have been collecting every piece of information in the universe into a giant InfoSphere, and they are nearing completion. To prevent any more new information appearing, they will destroy the universe as soon as they have finished. Fry, because of his immunity, is the only person who can stop them. The Nibblonians have made a 'Quantum Interface Bomb' which will send the InfoSphere into an alternate dimension forever, and Fry's mission is to implant it inside the InfoSphere.
The Nibblonians bring Fry to the InfoSphere just as it collects the last data from the outside universe. It then opens up to scan itself, the final piece of information. This is the only chance anyone will ever have to get in. The Nibblonians send Fry in on a toy-like space scooter,the Scooty Puff Jr..
Fry arrives at the main Brainspawn at the center of the sphere, rendered invisible to them by his genetic abnormality. He is about to activate the bomb, but realises that while he is here, he can find the answers to any question in the universe. After making frivolous inquiries of the main Brainspawn, he is discovered. They try to stop him, but his immunity protects him, and the Brainspawn realise they are in the presence of 'the fabled one'. He plants the bomb and tries to escape, but the Scooty Puff Jr. falls apart, trapping him. Fry is doomed to enter the alternate universe with the Brainspawn, but is glad that his life had a purpose, that he was able to fight on the side of good.
While the bomb counts down, the Brainspawn question his motivation, suggesting that the Nibblonians are not as good as they appear. They offer to show Fry something that happened on December 31st, 1999 - the day Fry was frozen. The Nibblonians, panicked, tell Fry not to look, but Fry is intrigued. It is revealed that Nibbler himself unbalanced the chair that Fry was sitting on that night, tipping him into the cryogenic chamber. The Nibblonians are responsible for Fry being sent to the future. Fry is upset by this, but does not disable the bomb. He and the Infosphere are sent to the alternate universe.
Meanwhile, Chaz, with his influence, reserves the entire ice rink specially for Leela, effectively denying its use to the orphans who were supposed to visit the rink. Leela, having grown up as an orphan herself, tries to persuade Chaz to allow the orphans to use the ice rink, but he refuses. Leela, realizing that Chaz abuses his position and completely ignores needy ones, takes his badge and shoves it in his mouth.
In the other dimension, the Brainspawn are trapped. However, they find that Fry is not. They can send him back in time to December 31st, 1999, to stop Nibbler freezing him. This would prevent Fry from having been sent to the future, and would also remove the only obstacle to the Brainspawn's plan.
Fry accepts their offer and is transported to the cryogenics lab on that fateful night. He appears behind Nibbler under the desk, just before his past self is frozen. He restrains Nibbler, who protests, insisting that Fry must be sent to the future to stop the Brainspawn. Nibbler asks if there is anything he'd want to save in the future that the present doesn't have. Fry then realizes that the only thing worth saving in the future is Leela. Fry mentions this to Nibbler, who mysteriously notes that Leela may be the 'Other', and advises Fry not to give up on her. Fry gives in, and unbalances the chair himself, freezing his past self. Before he fades away, he tells Nibbler to remember that the "Scooty Puff Jr. sucks!". Nibbler takes note of it.
Back in the future, Fry escapes the InfoSphere on a much larger and more powerful Scooty Puff Sr. (AKA the Doom Bringer). Nibbler returns Fry to Earth, then blanks Fry's mind of what happened in order to remain undercover, but not before handing Fry a flower. Back at Planet Express, Fry gives Leela the flower. The episode ends with Leela giving Fry a sweet kiss.
[edit] Cultural references
- The InfoSphere constructed by the Brainspawn bears a striking resemblance to the Death Star from Star Wars: A New Hope.
- When Fry reveals his Quantum Interface Bomb to the Brainspawn, a panicked brain asks him if he is "insane in the membrane". This is a lyric from the song "Insane in the Brain" by Cypress Hill. The episode "Insane in the Mainframe" was also named after this lyric.
- When trapped in the alternate reality one of the brains suggests that they sing "American Pie".
- When the Huge Brain explains how Fry can return to the past, a light cone diagram is shown on the display, used in general relativity to illustrate the past and future boundaries of an event.
- When the Nibblonians are telling Fry that he is very important, Fry incredulously asks "So the way I feel when I'm drunk is correct?". The Nibblonians reply: "Yes, except that the Dave Matthews Band doesn't rock".
- The flashing light Nibbler uses to erase Fry's memory is a reference to the movie Men in Black.
- After having his memory erased, Fry asks "Did everything just taste purple for a second?" This is a reference to Synesthesia, a neurological condition that is characterized by the mixing of sensory input. Fry also demonstrates this condition when he smells the color blue in "Roswell That Ends Well".
[edit] Goofs
- When Nibbler gives Fry the flower, Fry is then shown without the flower, then Fry again has the flower when he arrives back at Planet Express.
[edit] Ties to other episodes
- The Nibblonians, the brains, and Fry's lack of the Delta brainwave are all previously discussed in "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid".
- Fry's "nasty in the pasty", or "past nastification" as Nibbler refers to it, was a major plot device in "Roswell That Ends Well".
- It is finally explained why Nibbler's shadow was seen in the very first episode, "Space Pilot 3000", and why Fry's shadow was seen with Nibbler's as well as Nibbler's antenna being seen in a trash can in "Jurassic Bark"
- Nibbler tells Fry in 1999 that he is stationed on Vergon 6, but offers to transfer to Earth in the future to help him. Vergon 6 is the planet upon which Leela discovered Nibbler in "Love's Labours Lost in Space".
