Futurama

Godfellas

s03e20

2025-09-05

It seems appropriate to start with my favorite episode of my favorite show. That might not be the same thing as my favorite episode of television, but it's up there. Where to even begin? If my memory serves me, this episode starts with space pirates. Fantastic. I love the throwaway joke of the pirate realizing what is important in life much too late, it's something I relate to all too much. Bender is launched into space and there is a humorous element of respecting physics in that the ship is going maximum speed when it happens, so it can't catch up to him. Something about the absurdity of the inconsistent scifi propulsion tickles me. After some initial loneliness, we come to a narrative about being god and then meeting god and finally coming home to one's friends. I don't know about you, reader, but the relatability is again so far off the charts for me that I had to take a deep breath just now.

I love Futurama for innumerable reasons, but most of all perhaps because it's just smart people making sense of the world through humor however they can. I mean the writers. Actually, the main reason is because it's familiar to me, including that bit I just mentioneed. It aired on [Adult Swim] every night for my formative years, usually twice right as I fell asleep. That bell from the theme song is deeply ingrained in my subconscious. One reason this episode stands is because I remember one of the [Adult Swim] bumpers playing a moment from it. It is the initial loneliness, where Bender plays the piano (Chopin, Polonaise Op. 40 No. 2 and Etude Op. 10 No. 3) declaring:

The only thing that keeps me sane is the thought that I have all eternity in which to perfect my art.

As he plays, he recites a silly pastiche of John Donne's Meditation XVII:

Ah, the pity! Fated to drift forever through the Void as gravity's plaything.

Oh, cruel fate! To be thusly boned.

Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.

It's a dense reference, highlighting mortality, and the source is also a favorite of mine for its treatment of interconnectedness in "no man is an island." The story progresses from there in the manner I described above. Throughout, there is a B-story of Bender's friends trying to save him. First they replace him, uselessly. Then they try religion. Finally they try a Himilayan sect which has been searching for God for many years using a giant telescope. Given where I ended up religiously, I can't help but wonder if the episode played a part!

Finally, there is the ending. Bender meets an entity with a galactic appearance that is "a robot that collided with God" (Star Trek reference!) who hears Fry's wish for his friend and sends him back. But they have locked some monks in the closet who can't get out on their own and Bender insists on helping them, because you can't count on God for jack. With a laugh:

If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.