The Late Philip J. Fry

Easily one of the best episodes of Futurama ever! The episode was very funny, but what made it stand out for me was the time-travel storyline. I liked catching all the past Futurama references, as well as the changes of history throughout time travel, plus I loved that song they used for it. The animation was beautiful, and the whole thing was well written and Emmy worthy indeed.

Not only was the episode exciting and full of good jokes, but the emotional aspect of Leela missing Fry was also very touching. The message that she leaves for him is tearjerker worthy, as Fry realises he has to move on and accept that he had a great life with her, was kind of a happy-sad moment. Despite realising that the whole universe was in a repeated time-loop, it was nice to end the episode with Fry reaching on-time for the date with Leela. Overall, I'm going to give this one a 10/10, and it's by far the best episode of this season so far!

Amidst a series of new episodes, many which are blamed to have "lost the charm" of Futurama, comes "The Late Philip J. Fry", and everyone immediately calls it not only an extremely great episode, but the greatest episode of all time.

This has everything. Not only does it carry a great plot (though semi-parody of "The Time Machine"), it also carries an extremely emotional core with Fry and Leela, it is well character-driven with many emotional moments in the midst of action-packed adventure, and both the animation and music is stunning, leading to an experience that forever change ones view on not only Futurama or comics but on television, on entertainment, on life itself. Similar to "Godfellas" it carries a metaphysical, philosophical ideology that leaves a searing mark never to be forgotten, but it is so much more. It carries through not only through the history of the show with numerous callbacks, but the history of history itself, as we experience the entire world change into a vast desert, before the universe itself collapse upon us destroying all that ever has been. One cannot help but feel a chill as the Professor declares life extinct in the world of, in his words, the end of all things. I couldn't help weeping when Leela finally found Fry's card or when Fry, relieved of Leela's message decides to take a beer with his friends and watch the universe collaps around them.

There we have it. The best episode of season 6 so far, the first episode to be better than the movies. Wonderful. This episode features the best concept in Futurama's entire history (something I used to say about Roswell that Ends Well) and whilst its execution of the concept isn't as good as some other episodes, it's still pretty sublime work. This episode is a science fiction epic, it's another brilliant entry into the Fry and Leela saga and it's the funniest episode of season 6 so far which evens out to make it one of the best episodes in the entire history of Futurama. I have very little to say which means I have very little to complain about, meaning that they got it pretty much spot-on. When I ranked the episodes to figure out what rating to give this, it sat between my favourite 9/10 episode and my least favourite 10/10 episode, so I thought I'd round up and give it a 10. Oh, and there's a hilarious musical number which I wasn't expecting.

Heartbreaking. Irreverent. Awe-inspiring. Affirming. Philosophical. Metaphysical. "The Late Philip J. Fry" is all of these things and much more, and it'll be a horrific shame if it's not remembered as one of the greatest episodes in the recent history of televised animation.

After a particularly sleepless night, Fry arrives late for work and late for Leela's birthday lunch. Fry apologizes profusely and offers to take Leela out for dinner at the swanky Cavern on the Green, passing up an opportunity to attend Hedonismbot's lavish bachelor party. As Fry is about to leave work for the day and get ready for dinner, the Professor detains him and forces him and Bender to test out a time machine by traveling one minute into the future. Fry begins recording a message on a video greeting card for Leela, but loses it when the Professor accidentally sends the machine forward to the year 10,000. As a hilarious sendup of Zager and Evans' "In the Year 2525" plays, the lads make a series of unsuccessful pit stops as they search for a time in which backwards time machines exist to take them home. After Leela gives up on waiting for Fry, she searches for him and is led to believe that he, Farnsworth and Bender perished in a fatal accident at Hedonismbot's party, leaving her simultaneously angry and crushed. Later glimpses of Leela's life in the 31st century without Fry show her growing Planet Express into an industrial behemoth, yet unable to let go of her memories of Fry and settling into an unhappy marriage with and subsequent divorce from Cubert Farnsworth.

Eventually Fry, Bender and Farnsworth end up one billion years in the future and discover that all life is extinct. Fry discovers that the Cavern on the Green still exists and walks inside to deliver a belated apology to Leela, where he finds a shocking message addressed to him. With no hope of ever finding a backwards time machine, Fry, Bender and Farnsworth content themselves with watching the end of the universe, an absolute tour de force of animation. To everyone's surprise, the utter nothingness of the end of the universe leads to another Big Bang and the creation of another universe almost exactly like the previous one. After a trip through primordial history, some scenes from human history and a couple hilarious accidents, the guys end up back home, and Fry rushes off to meet Leela, about 10^40 years late and yet just in time.

The humor throughout the episode ranges from wacky (the various futures of Earth) to irreverent (the jokes about the philosophical questions raised by watching the end of the universe) to black (Bender wanting to decamp in the year 10,000,000 where robots wage war on mankind, then pulling the plug on the paradise of the year 50,000,000, as well as his attempt to exterminate land-based life), as many of the great Futurama episodes do, and the dual plotlines intersect very precisely. As funny as the episode is, the humor is firmly grounded in the tale of Fry and Leela. Instead of portraying their relationship as a one-sided quest by the buffoonish but good-natured Fry to live up to the standards of the superior Leela, we see scenes where Leela is finally able to express her feelings to Fry in earnest, and we see Fry come to understand his solemn responsibility to protect Leela's precious heart and the special connection that they share. That "The Late Philip J. Fry" is able to do this by simply considering the natural tragedy of two lost lovers without resorting to flowery prose and without sacrificing Fry's quirky goofishness or Leela's tough-yet-vulnerable personality is a major triumph.

A strong candidate for the best episode ever, and easily one of the top four if it's not quite as good as one of the other contenders.

TLPJF has caused me some annoyance, as people have needed to have the time travel elements laid out and explained to them multiple times before they finally get what's going on. Some, in fact, persist in being wrong. It's like they enjoy it.

But this episode (which is what the review is about, not the stupidity of many of Futurama's fans) is a treat. Visually breathtaking, with voice acting and music to match up to it, it's a tour de force for the production crew. It's touching, hilarious, somewhat scientifically oriented, and absolutely thoroughly well and truly a pleasure to watch.

It's proof that the Futurama writers, animators, and general staff have still got it. Despite having been cancelled and taking a long hiatus from TV.

I can't bring myself to score any aspect of this episode below a "9".