The Duh-Vinci Code

So here we have a futuristic take on The Da Vinci Code by Futurama. Overall, the episode is decent, though maybe slightly out of character. Is Fry really THAT stupid? Well, I'm not sure. What I really did like about this episode was how Fry and Farnsworth related to each other, and gave out some good quotes, both humourously and touching. As for the others, well... they weren't as important, though Hermes does deliver one of the best quotes in the episode. Seriously, does Planet Express actually do deliveries anymore?

The episode's first 2/3rds of the episode are very good, and you definatly get that old Futurama feeling out of it. Starting off with a spoof on Who Wants To Be A Millionare presented by Morbo, the episode kicks in when the crew investigate Da Vinci's works. After discovering a hidden robot in the painting, the crew head to Rome and are given air-control traffic by The Space Pope (that was awesome!). Once heading into the ruins of Rome, they revive a Da Vinci robot who tries to stop them from discovering Da Vinci's secret.

Farnsworth figures out the location of Da Vinci's secret and they find out it's an invention he made. Fry and Farnsworth accidently start it up, and it turns out to be a space-like ship which travels to a planet. The rest of the crew are taken a backseat and do not appear, in which in my opinion is where the episode goes slightly downhill, as it goes a little silly.

Fry and Farnsworth arrive at a planet called Vinci , and they discover Da Vinci. It turns out that Da Vinci is the stupiest person there, so Fry relates to that almost automatically. Farnsworth takes a lecture course there and ends up feeling stupid as well compared to the others. Fry and Da Vinci create the invention Fry discovered earlier on Da Vinci's paper, and it turns out he invented it to kill the people he hated. Farnsworth joins in to with the killings, though Fry decides to stop the machine, by accidently getting himself jumbled up inside the machine's mechanics, also resulting in Da Vinci also accidently killing himself too. Heading back home, Fry admits to the professor he may be a little stupid, but he has a good heart.

So what was different about this episode compared to the ones before in Season 6? Well, the humour wasn't quite as dumb, though there were still parts that made me cringe a little (Fry constantly mentioning Leonardo DiCaprio, getting hit by traffic and no one visiting him the whole time while recovering, people reacting to Da Vinci's dumbness), though a small reference of the Fry-Leela relationship is in there with the "Mile Deep Club" quote Fry says. As mentioned before, the episode is quite strong for the first 2/3rds of the episode, but goes a little downhill on the final act, since you'll notice a huge Back To The Future reference sticks out like a sore thumb, and its slightly distracting when used in Futurama. Nevertheless, this episode had alot of memorable moments, but it still a little iffy in its jokes, continuity (1 month stuck in a bare-bones spaceship with no food or drink?), and pacing, but felt more like the original run of Futurama and had me laughing out loud in parts, so I'll give it a 8.5, rounded up to a 9/10.

"The Duh-Vinci Code", though with a truly annoying name, is the best of the season so far. This is a mindblowing episode with great humour, an interesting plot and some wonderful character development as well as beautiful animatics when showing the da Vinci inventions. If I said that "Proposition Infinity" was the return of traditional Futurama, this is "Roswell That Ends Well".

The episode had some wonderful one-liners, sight gags and recurring jokes, but what I want to emphasise was how wonderfully executed the b-plot (or recurring mention, name it what you will) with Fry being dumb was. As in other episodes where this is part of the story ("The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", "Parasites Lost") it was emphasised early on, leading to many good jokes and a whole sequence with Morbo leading Who Dares to Be a Millionaire. I at first imagined this would lead to Fry finding out about the invention ("I'll show them!") but it did not, and instead it continued until they were on Planet Vinci, where the tables turned and the Professor was the stupidest on the planet along with da Vinci and Fry. What the ending showed, to me, was that when the intellect is taken away, Fry is superior to both the Professor and Leonardo in heart, and deep down he is as valiant and heroic as shown in eps like "The Why of Fry" and "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid".

What I did not like about this episode is that sometimes the Da Vinci Code references gets too far. Most of the time I'm surprised they managed much more nicely than in other parody rich episodes like the recent "Attack of the Killer App", but at other times it's annoying. The most prominent example of this is the Da Vinci Code style choral music used at scene change; it's funny the first time but it gets boring quickly. But mainly, it's well done and most jokes are clear for anyone who has never heard of Dan Brown. Another tiny annoyance is the character of Animatronio, that could have been done so much better, but the characters of Planet Vinci are just awesome, so it weighs up. Also, as in the other episodes of this run some voice actors are a bit off, especially Billy West as the Professor. Though not very disturbing, it reminds me more of season 1 than 4.

This is an adventurous episode, and episodes that come in mind are those many consider the best of Futurama, including "Roswell That Ends Well" and "The Why of Fry", leading to me saying that I'm not surprised if this one will be remembered as one of the best, at least from the second run if anything. And alike those other ones, it includes both great adventures, emotions and jokes. Some of the jokes are truly memorable, including Hermes' "didn't we use to be a delivery company?", the recurring mention of Braino in the background, the Professor finding the clues in a really Brownesque way, and of course the Space Pope.

As I am reviewing this episode, I consider myself largely biased. Why? Because I am a sucker for mystery plots, and this episode simply parodies this fantastically. And while funny and filled with its great gags, this episode is, however, not perfect.

The pacing of the episode makes great sense during their tour through Rome, which is very fast, because of the supposedly large mystery which is basically resolved on quick assumptions and badly kept secrets (which in itself is pretty hilarious). I personally, however, don't know what to think of the robot, it's not entirely a new gag for someone to constantly speak over themselves. I am sure that you could have written a new twist on that old gag.

But I do like an adventure episode, and this one nails it for me. While Fry and Farnsworth are both on the extreme ends of their spectrum in this episode, it doesn't matter, because it creates an interesting dynamic between the characters, and serves for a touching end.

However, plot-wise, the episode is not really that original. It has a mystery plot first (solving some sort of ancient secret), which is okay, since it is parodying just that (oh, and for the record, this isn't a direct parody of "The Da Vinci Code", but rather mystery plots of this kind in general), then the episode leads into a whole new story on Planet Vinci. Here the upside down world is okay and does leave for Fry becoming the one making the right decisions.

And what Fry does makes sense at the end. Farnsworth, whom is usually used to being the smart one, surely won't be glad to be a position where he is the dumbest one. And being the character Farnsworth is, it makes sense for him to join Leonardo in his revenge. Fry, on the other hand, whom has always been dumb, know how it is, so it makes the right decision of helping them, which resolves in a common fate for Fry as he is hurt in a slapstick fashion between clogs.

Overall, an episode that require some repeat viewings to get all the gags and nerd jokes (there are MANY mathematics jokes in this episode), but at least Futurama gets back at appeasing its inner geek.

When I first heard the episode title "The Duh-Vinci Code", I cringed. It reminded me of a late-seasons Simpsons episode title. Actually, I'm quite surprised they haven't used that one yet. However, once I watched this episode, my opinion could not have taken more of a reversal.

The plot's theme is around being smart. Fry's stupidity has become a running gag on the show, especially in comparison to the Professor's genius, but it has not been tackled as much as it had been in this episode. The opening scene sets the stage for a look at Fry's stupidity, with Farnsworth then making fun of Fry throughout the first two acts for his idiocracy. Finally, in the third act, when Farnsworth's dream of being on a planet full of geniuses comes true, he realizes it's not all it's cracked up to be. Hubert finally feels how Fry does; he's the stupidest person on the planet. When they leave the Planet Vinci, they have a whole new understanding of each other.

Not only does the episode display some of the show's signature heart, but it also features a nice B-plot (if we can call it that?) of a Da Vinci Code parody. For me, this was great and produced plenty of quality one-liners and gags (Most indeededly, My doctorate's in Art History, Didn't we used to be a delivery company, Bender's arm coming off). And let us not forget the nail hammering a nail running gag! And the geek humor on Planet Vinci!

One detraction is the Professor's maniacal laugh. It felt totally off.

'Proposition Infinity' was a gigantic improvement from 'Attack of the Killer App' and 'The Duh-Vinci Code' is a gigantic improvement from 'Proposition Infinity'. Firstly, this is by far the episode that resembles classic Futurama the most so far this season. Last week did a pretty good job but the characterisation was off. This week is the same except that the characters are spot-on albeit exaggerated in certain aspects somewhat for the purposes of the plot. Fry is far stupider than usual because the episode requires it from him, but his intelligence and common sense have always been flexible so it doesn't bother me and character traits have always come in and out of play depending on what was needed. 'The Luck of the Fryrish' for example, makes Fry incredibly unlucky -far more than usual -because it's plot-relevant. That remains one of the very best episodes of Futurama ever.

The episode begins with Fry on a parody of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which serves as a lovely segway into duscussion of how stupid he is. A small detail I loved is how Leela actually defends his stupidity -it's a subtle hint at the way that she is warming to the idea of him, setting up their dating for later this season. And whilst we're on the topic of characters, I love the pairing of Fry and the Professor -something we get here -and I adore this episode for finally exploring their relationship as relatives somewhat in-depth -something that they should have done in the first season in all honesty.

The plot itself is nice and fast paced despite a lot of weaknesses and little flaws. It slows down in the final act, but it also gives a nice little sci-fi twist and one that compliments the episode's overall theme of intelligence beautifully. It's very well written in terms of structure. It is a parody of The Da-Vinci Code to an extent, but really -there's very little beyond the basic concept of someone uncovering some sort of conspiracy and Rome being a setting. I haven't read the book and I despised the film (and can't remember any of it) and I was never left not getting the jokes.

It's also a very funny episode. Not one of Futurama's all-time funniest, but on par with their average output. The animation is also top-notch and the music is utterly brilliant. Also, on a minor note, I actually like the title now. At first I hated 'The Duh-Vinci Code' as a name. It seemed incredibly lame, lazy and just a cheap way of referencing The Da Vinci Code, but given that the episode is both about Leonardo Da Vinci and Fry being an idiot, it actually works quite nicely.

If Futurama continues to improve like this, then season 6 could be something special afterall! Here's to the future(ama).

"The Duh-Vinci Code" is partially a madcap caper episode and partially a development of Farnsworth and Fry's characters, and while the structure of the episode is a little unbalanced, it's entertaining enough to be one of the stronger episodes of the new season.

After Fry busts out in the first round of "Who Dares to Be a Millionaire", Farnsworth begins to berate Fry for his stupidity, but takes pity upon him long enough to show him his secret shrine to his idol Leonardo da Vinci. Fry and Farnsworth accidentally discover a piece of parchment containing plans for the "Machina Magnifica", and the gang quickly mount an expedition to locate da Vinci's lost invention. They outwit da Vinci's robotic sentry Animatronio and discover da Vinci's lost workshop, which includes a mysterious spacecraft. After Bender and Leela overcome Animatronio, the spacecraft launches Fry and Farnsworth into space and lands on the planet Vinci, where Fry and Farnsworth learn that Leonardo is an alien who traveled to Earth to take refuge because he felt like an outcast among his intellectual superiors on his home planet. Farnsworth too begins to feel ashamed of his inferiority to the Vincianis, and he and Leonardo attempt to exact revenge upon their tormentors before Fry intervenes in comic fashion.

The pacing of "The Duh-Vinci Code" is a little uneven, as the adventure part of the episode spills out of the second act into the first and third acts, leaving only a few minutes on either end for Fry and Farnsworth to work out their issues, but Fry and Farnsworth are both so consistently funny throughout that they manage to hold the episode together. As might be expected from the nature of the episode, the animation is top-notch, and the musical score captures both the thrill of the quest for Leonardo's lost invention and the artistic and technological splendor of the planet Vinci -- the attention paid to the artistic aspects of the episode really help bring it to life.