The following contains spoilers for Futurama season 12 episode 9, “The Futurama Mystery Liberry,” now streaming on HuluFuturamahas steadily transformed one classic way of raising tension into a punchline, and it could have a negative impact on the way the show approaches stakes going forward.Futuramahas always had an interesting relationship to stakes, given how the sci-fi setting and comedic tone could theoretically make anything possible as episodes demanded it. This flexibility has been a real strength of the show, allowingFuturama’s sci-fi comedy to blend philosophical musings and epic storytelling with bizarre, dark, and often consistently goofy comedy. The show can even take on other genres with ease, as seen inFuturama’s horror episodes.
However, this verstility has been impacting the stakes in-universe and the subjects the show takes seriously. As a result, there are some common dangers in stories aren’t treated with nearly the same gravitas inFuturama. InFuturama, the emotional core of the characters is at the focus of every stort. This approach has produced some fantastic episodes. However, multipleepisodes ofFuturamaseason 12have highlighted how a fundemntal way to raise tension and heighten the stakes of any adventure story have become a much more throwaway concept inFuturama, often used for a quick gag than a genuine moment.
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How Many Futurama Characters Die In Season 12’s “The Futurama Mystery Liberry”
The Latest Non-Canon Anthology Hints At A Series-Wide Issue
Futurama’s latest anthology episodekills most of the cast multiple times, highlighting how the show has transformed death into a pure punchline. “The Futurama Mystery Liberry” is the latest example ofFuturama’s anthology episodes, featuring a non-canon set of rules for the show’s creatives to play with. As with many previous anthologies, the episode is a three-part parody of different types of stories. This time, the focus is on famous literary characters targeted towards children. The three segments reimagine Leela as Nancy Drew, Fry as Tintin, and Bender as Encyclopedia Brown (and recast them in new roles in other segments).
Each short fuses their sci-fi riff on those stories with a lot of dark comedy, including the deaths of several characters. The first short even ends with all of the world being sucked into a dimensional rift save for Amy and Zoidberg, the latter of whom is later executed by electric chair while a different character in the third segment. The non-canon status of the episode means there’s no consequence for the deaths, but it highlights how death has changed from a mortal stake in the early seasons ofFuturamaand has evolved into a punchline more than anything else.
Futurama Used To Be Far More Cautious With Death
Notably,Futuramaused to be a lot more cognizant of the danger of death. During the early episodes of the animated comedy, the possibility that an unwitting Fry could get himself killed was one of the only consistent sources of tension and genuine stakes. Concepts like the suicide booth in “Space Pilot 3000” or running out of air on the moon in “The Series Has Landed” established the life-threatening elements that casually fill the 31st century. It was a great way to naturally add stakes to the cartoon comedy, with the fatal nature of the danger bringing tension toFuturama.
In those early episodes,the danger was underscored with a tone shift, highlighting the threatening nature of the situations. Even when deaths were fake-outs (as in season 3’s “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid” and season 5’s “The Sting”), they carried real emotional weight. Death was a very real element of the stakes. This helped elevate tension whenever it was needed, and could often be subverted for a laugh. However, as time as gone on, the series has become more overtly silly and emotionally resonant. This might be why death changed inFuturamaand stopped being used to raise tension.
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Death Stopped Becoming A Legitimate Fear & Problem In Futurama
Death Has Become A Punchline Or An Emotional Turn — But Not A Way To Raise Tension
There’s no clear exact point when death stopped mattering as much inFuturama. It may have been when the direct-to-video movies that comprised season 6 casually undid the most tragic element of the dog death from season 5’s “Jurassic Bark,” or when the movies repeatedly took the scope of the series to a galactic level. Apparent deaths were quickly undone, as seen with Kif’s demise and prompt resurrection in season 6’s “The Beast With a Billion Backs.” By the time of the Comedy Central revival with season 7, apparent deaths (and their subsequent reversals) became increasingly commonplace in the show.
This was especially true in the anthology episodes, which always utilized their non-canon status to dispatch the main cast in creatively brutal ways. This steadily became more pronounced, with later anthologies like season 11’s “The Prince and the Product” killing the entire cast multiple times. Death just became another punchline of the show, which can undercut any danger the crew finds themselves stuck dealing with. This means when it does appear as a threat, as in season 12’s “Cuteness Overload,” there’s no genuine tension or fear. The stakes have been rendered moot by the overall goofier tone of the show.
Futurama Can’t Fully Ignore The Importance Of Deaths Mattering In The Show’s Future
FuturamaNeeds To Rediscover The Balance Between Dark Comedy & Genuine Stakes
The stakes naturally associated with mortal peril is somethingFuturamacan still mine for dramatic effect when it wants to.Season 10’s “Meanwhile” and season 12’s “Quid Games” had clear fake-out deathsthat still explored the impact those fatalities have on characters. However, the assurance of resurrection (courtesy of time travel or alien technology) still removes the tension that naturally comes from that kind of situation. Even the darkly comedic element of seeing regular characters killed off brutally loses some of its luster over time, as seen with many of the sudden and blunt demises from “The Futurama Mystery Liberry.”
IfFuturamakeeps using death as a punchline instead of a threat,the show risks losing active tension in stories. Some episodes ofFuturamastill explore death as a genuine danger, and those episodes are usually among the most emotionally resonant. However, it’s worth considering ifFuturamacan find the proper balance between those stories and the more darkly comedic sensibilities where characters are casually killed off with no real consequence. That might even be a tonal trick that the show can’t ever fully replicate, given the way the sci-fi rules ofFuturamahave evolved over the last twenty-five years.
Futurama
Cast
Futurama is an animated science fiction series that follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from late-20th-century New York City. He is accidentally cryogenically frozen for a thousand years and becomes an employee at Planet Express, a delivery service in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
