Futurama's Revival Proves How Brilliant Its Last Ending Was

Summary

Futurama season 8 has mixed reception, with inconsistent episode quality. Some standout episodes feature returning supporting characters. The COVID-19-based episode “Rage Against the Vaccine” feels both dated and too soon, as it reflects on working from home during the pandemic. “The Prince and the Product” is the most criticized episode of the season, as it goes against the romantic ending of season 7, with Leela falling in love with someone else.

Futurama season 8 part 1 was made available on Hulu in 2023, 10 years after the perfect ending of season 7, but the revival proves how great the Futurama ending is. Almost all of the original Futurama cast members returned for the revival series, and it’s a bumper 20 episodes full of over-the-top and hilarious characters in the galaxy. John DiMaggio, who has voiced Bender in every season of the animated series since the beginning, almost didn’t return following salary negotiations, but that was thankfully settled. Overall, the new season of Futurama hasn’t changed, as it still parodies current events and pays homage to beloved sci-fi movies.

One of the longest-running storylines of Futurama is the romantic relationship between Fry and Leela. Though the pair have come together a few times during the series, Fry’s undying and often unrequited love for his co-worker has been a longtime staple of his character. The show has devoted a number of stories to the potential couple, but it was the final episode before Futurama’s most recent cancellation that took things to the next level – and did so in a way that the Futurama ending left the door open for future episodes. The paradoxical element in the season 7 finale, “Meanwhile,” makes the idea of the reboot perfect.

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How Futurama Season 7 Ended

The final episode of Futurama season 7 centered around two things – a time-travel device and Fry’s marriage proposal to Leela. After an accident breaks the device, Fry and Leela alone are trapped in a single moment in time. They take advantage of this to live out the rest of their lives together, traveling the world and enjoying one another’s company. It’s a romantic and hugely satisfying way to end the pair’s relationship, but what’s more, the episode ends with a surprise appearance by Professor Farnsworth, who repairs the time travel device.

Where to Watch Futurama

What Makes The Futurama Ending Of Season 7 So Perfect

Farnsworth gives Fry and Leela the chance to go back in time just before the events of the episode without the knowledge that any of it ever happened. Although time travel is a staple of Futurama (with a fun nod in Disenchantment), the final moments of the Futurama ending are perhaps some of the strongest in the entire series. Fry’s final words in Futurama season 7 are “What do you say? Do you want to go around again?” It’s unlikely that the writers believed another season would happen, but the choice to make a finale that was both emotionally satisfying and full of reset potential was a forward-thinking one that paid off.

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How Futurama Season 8 Has Been Received

The prince of space holds Leela in Futurama

Overall, Futurama season 8 has had a mixed reception, and the quality of the episodes has been inconsistent. The best episodes in the season rely heavily on returning supporting characters, such as Mom in “Related to Items You’ve Viewed” and Bad Santa in “I Know What You Did Next Christmas.” Outside of those and the part 1 finale, “All the Way Down,” few of the new episodes have been exciting. Two episodes of Futurama season 8 in particular are among the worst-received Futurama episodes yet. The first of which is “Rage Against the Vaccine,” a COVID-19-based episode where a pandemic ravages Earth and the Planet Express crew works from home.

The episode finds itself in this weird limbo where it’s both dated and too soon. Endless jokes about working from home and video calls were made in media during the pandemic, three years before the episode was released, and nobody wants to reflect on that moment in their lives already. However, the Futurama anthology episode, “The Prince and the Product,” is by far the most criticized of the season for the very reason the ending is perfect. Even though Fry and Leela are in a relationship, Leela falls in love with the Prince of Space, and Fry sits by as it happens, which is the very opposite of the Futurama season 7 ending.