Futurama’s the latest reboot to hit Hulu, and in case you haven’t caught up with it yet, the writers are knocking it out of the park. The series’ return has been well-received for its fresh take on the characters, but that doesn’t mean its callbacks haven’t been appreciated as well. The creative team is committed to bringing back familiar and well-loved storylines while still adding their own twist to the proceedings, and it’s paid off nicely so far.
The show’s latest episode, “Children of a Lesser Bog,” manages to continue a storyline from 20 years ago while still bringing the characters forward in their development. That’s always been something Futurama has excelled at, actually: there are plenty of moments that hint at a larger arc behind-the-scenes that the audience is unaware of, only for a later episode to entirely re-contextualize that small moment into something larger.
So it won’t be a shock if the reboot continues down this path of crafting episodes that fit into the series’ greater mythology. With that in mind, here’s a list of 10 plot lines we wouldn’t mind seeing revisited on Futurama.
10. “Ah, she must be the Other.”
Starting off the list with a deep cut: in “The Why of Fry,” Fry learns that his freezing was orchestrated by Nibbler’s species, the aptly-named Nibblonians. When he travels back in time and confronts Nibbler over this, Nibbler manages to convince Fry to allow events to unfold as they must, by getting him to think of his friends and loved ones in the future. When Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler comments, “Ah, she must be the Other.”
While this small moment can be dismissed as a Star Wars reference, it’s exactly the kind of moment that Futurama likes to revisit down the line. It’s been clear for a while that Fry and Leela’s relationship is special, but it appears that their love really is written in the stars. But Leela’s never just been ‘Fry’s girlfriend,’ so her relation to the Nibblonians probably goes beyond that. Maybe the possible movie that “The Impossible Stream” teased could provide a little more insight into what her role is in all of this.
9. Mom & Farnsworth’s complicated relationship
Although Mom has been used sparingly in recent years, her relationship with Professor Farnsworth is always entertaining to watch. With the revelation in Bender’s Game that Mom’s dim-witted youngest son, Igner, is actually Professor Farnsworth’s son, there’s potential for exploring the family’s dynamic, but it hasn’t really come up much since then. There’s also the possibility that the father of one or both of Mom’s elder sons, Walt and Larry, is Professor Farnsworth’s greatest rival: Wernstrom. Mom is one of the series’ most iconic characters, and more development for her would be more than welcome.
8. Robot Santa
If you can believe it, Robot Santa’s last big appearance was way back in 2007, when Bender’s Big Score came out. Since then, he’s mostly been relegated to cameos (he had a minor role in “The Futurama Holiday Spectacular”). It’s high time the series revisits the murderous, robotic St. Nick. With 10-episode seasons now being the norm, it often feels like the art of the holiday special is a lost one. Some of Futurama’s characteristic Yuletide slaughter might just bring Yuletide cheer to the season. It’s not like Robot Santa needs a big, flashy episode to shine — Futurama just makes fun holiday specials, and it would be fun to see what this iteration of the series would do for one.
7. Zoidberg & Marianne
Zoidberg actually had a fairly sweet ending when the Comedy Central era of Futurama came to a close: he finally found love in Marianne, a woman who was unable to smell and could therefore stand to be around him. When she finally does gain the ability to smell, she finds Zoidberg’s… aroma to be a pleasant one. He’s the kind of character that deserves doses of happiness here and there after the abuse the writing puts him through, and exploring their relationship might be interesting. There may be an issue with actor availability, but more Emilia Clarke is never a bad thing.
6. The sewer mutants
The sewer mutants actually made a pretty big step forward in “The Mutants Are Revolting.” In the series’ 100th episode, anti-mutant discrimination is officially ended and the mutants are finally allowed to walk above ground with un-mutated humans. But since that episode aired, their society hasn’t really been visited all that much. Leela’s probably used to most of the mutants’ particularities by now, so it might be a bit harder to come up with a plot point that relies on Leela exploring her heritage, but the crew’s ventures into the sewers are always entertaining. Maybe we’ll even get to finally see the mythical sub-sewers.
5. Ben “Vending” Rodriguez
You might not remember Ben — it’s been a while since he appeared. The character was born in “The Bots and the Bees,” and rapidly aged to his college years over the course of the episode. He’s actually Bender’s son, the result of a one-night stand with the company’s vending machine. Unfortunately, because he’s only half bending unit, Ben lacks the capacity necessary to become a fully-fledged bender like his father. Seeing how much his dream means to him, Bender urges Ben to undergo a procedure which removes his memory card clot in order to gain the hardware needed to become a bending unit. He loses all memory of his father, which leaves Ben’s fate very open-ended, to say the least.
4. Floyd Farnsworth
Floyd Farnsworth is mentioned only once. In “Near-Death Wish,” Professor Farnsworth reunites with his parents, who had been living in retirement on the Near-Death Star. All parties involved had a strained relationship due to Farnsworth’s obsession with science, which drove him to madness at a young age. At the end of the episode, though, it’s revealed that his parents actually thought him to be their younger son, Floyd, whom they kept away from science and helped obtain a rodeo degree. Bender implies that Floyd stopped by the Planet Express building, remarking that he sent a rodeo clown once stopped by the office. He’s cut off before he explains what happened after, but his tone didn’t bode well for Floyd. Seeing Professor Farnsworth deal with his rodeo clown brother sounds very Simpsons-esque.
3. The Nibblonians
The Nibblonians are the ridiculously cute guardians of the universe. They’ve existed for untold eons; in fact, their species was already 50 years old when the universe came into being (before you ask, apparently all major religions are wrong in how that went down). They tend to only show up in plot-heavy episodes. The return of the Nibblonians almost feels like a given — it’s all a matter of when. Though they’ve really put Fry through the wringer, they’ve also demonstrated a reticence to share all of their secrets, so they may not be done with him just yet.
2. The trouble with time travel
Time travel has naturally become a recurring plot point on Futurama. It’s woven into the show’s very DNA, and every episode dealing with time travel almost invariably ends up becoming a classic. Now, this entry does come with a caveat: too much time travel can definitely start to wear down the integrity of the story. Although Futurama’s a comedy, some of its emotional beats risk becoming weaker in retrospect if they’re not handled properly in a time travel story. But, if done right, the current reboot has the perfect chance to put its own spin on the well-worn trope. In fact, the trailer shows off the return of the Professor’s time machine (that can only move forward in time), so this plot line may be coming to fruition sooner than you think.
1. Fry’s importance
Fry’s importance is one of Futurama’s main recurring plot points. He starts off the show thinking his life is worthless: in his mind, he’s ‘just’ a delivery boy. When he reaches the future, it becomes clear to him that there’s a life of adventure out there, and, while he doesn’t always succeed at what he’s aiming for, he always takes the shot. His importance to the universe would later be confirmed by Nibbler: Fry’s been destined to save everyone on multiple occasions.
There’s never really been a capstone moment on the plot line, though. There’s no moment where everything’s all tied up; even up to the last season before the current reboot, Fry’s still struggling to accept that his thousand-year cryogenics freeze was a necessity. Though the Brain Spawn are gone, and the Dark Ones are dead, Fry probably has some more important tasks to fulfill.
Hey, it’s called the rule of three for a reason, and it’s the kind of plot that’s perfect for a movie. Of course, such a plot could also serve as a potential grand finale when Futurama‘s time finally comes, should the writers ever want to give a more definite end to the show.