A Clockwork Origin

A surprisingly good episode!

Very funny. Possibly the funniest episode of season 6 so far. But also, the plot was surprisingly interesting and full of cool science-fiction (and the science that goes with that). It tackled the whole evolution vs creationism debate brilliantly. Offering a decent argument for both sides whilst very clearly sitting on the sane side.

The subplot was absolutely hilarious too. It's rare to get such a good, funny subplot in such a cool, science-y 'epic' of an A-storyline.

To top it off, there was some lovely bits of art-direction and animation.

All in all, one of the best episodes so far this season.

The episode was good, but a little shaky in the first act. The evolution proving part with the Professor and Dr Banjo was maybe dragged out a little too long, but other than that, most of the first act was good. The episode gets better once they get onto the planet with the robotic dinosaurs, as the jokes pop up and work more often, and its more memorable due to the animation and well placed quotes during the dinosaur/robot encounters.

As for the rest, I thought the subplot with Zoidberg and Cubert was quite good, though it doesn't really have a full conclusion, ending with a quick quote to end the subplot, but both Zoidberg and Cubert come out with some funny moments. Other things I liked were the courtroom scene with Bender in those suspenders, but like I said, most of the jokes were in the 2nd act, but it's still good enough to give the episode an 8.5 out of 10, and I personally thought it was an interesting take on evolution/creationism.

"A Clockwork Origin" attempts to address the question of whether or not evolution is responsible for the existence of all biological life. It comes to the conclusion that the possibility of a scientifically unexplainable creation event in the past need not diminish the substantial insights and achievements of the theory. Unlike "Proposition Infinity", however, the focus is clearly on entertainment and not on proselytizing, making it a much more enjoyable episode.

The episode starts with Professor Farnsworth addressing an anti-evolution crowd at Cubert's school, with the Flying Spaghetti Monster making a cameo appearance. Farnsworth and the crew then head off to an archeological dig and discover a fossil of a primitive human which turns out to have existed during the time of the dinosaurs; a defeated and despondent Farnsworth decides to leave Earth and take up residence on an uninhabited asteroid. While attempting to get settled, Farnsworth deploys an army of nanobots to purify some water, and overnight he and the crew discover that the bots have developed into more complicated forms, and a bizarre robotic version of the origin of species plays out. The sideplot of Zoidberg babysiting Cubert is unnecessary and detracts from the episode, but otherwise "A Clockwork Origin" offers a funny, satirical twist on the science of evolution.

A surprisingly good episode, "A Clockwork Origin" is slightly above average - it's good, but it could have been so much better.

Creationism v evolutionism is a constant debate that really shouldn't be - one is a theory with wellgrounded facts to support it, one is a theory with no support at all - and Futurama really discussed the matter the best way possible, making fun of both sides. The part with the Professor and Banjo discussing missing links had me cracked up, even though I hear many others thought it went on too long.

The idea of creating a hyperfast evolution on the planetoid is brilliant, and Bender's throwaway joke about robots doing everything faster is hilarious, as is many other one-liners from the episode ("This is a cool way to diiiie!" a constant highlight). We also get some nice action and even a nice little sideplot with Zoidberg and Cubert, which some thought was unnecessary but I rather call too short. They are a nice little pairing after all.

What I miss is a proper ending - it feels as if the writers suddenly realised they were running out of time and finished it off all too easy. I also miss the Galactic Entity cameo I was hoping for.

Overall, a slightly above average episode that I can't help but feel could have been much better.