Futurama’s latest episode, “Related to Items You’ve Viewed”, officially threw the status quo out the window. While the show has been sheepish about progressing Fry and Leela’s relationship in the past, the two decided to finally move in together in Monday’s episode. After twenty-three years, the lovebirds are finally changing things up.
It’s an unusual move for multiple reasons. Although Futurama isn’t the most plot-heavy show, its writers love to include callbacks and continuity throughout the series. For instance, while Amy Wong began the series as an intern, she earned her PhD in “That Darn Katz!” and retains the title of Dr. Amy Wong thereafter. But these character developments seldom happen and, because the show’s been cancelled multiple times, it might take years for a character’s storyline to advance.
The Futurama continuation on Hulu has eschewed this; practically every episode has been dedicated to setting up new circumstances and situations for its characters. Amy and Kif have kids now, Fry and Leela went through “Meanwhile” together and are now permanently “on” after being on-and-off all throughout the Comedy Central era, and so on. While previous eras of the show might be known for being episodic, Hulu era might be defined by its tighter continuity.
In some ways, it’s a reflection of the times, something Futurama has always excelled at. The first run of the series was evocative of the Golden Age of The Simpsons, the movies are reflective of un-cancellations that were happening at the time (Family Guy‘s revival had just proven itself popular), while the Comedy Central era is reminiscent of other shows from the ‘10s like Bob’s Burgers. Meanwhile, as continuity-heavy shows have become more popular, it looks like Futurama has hopped on that trend.
It’s a promising turn for the sitcom. The character development displayed in these past few episodes has been phenomenal. What Futurama fans have always loved about the show is its authenticity; the greatest episodes are the ones where Futurama gets serious and decides to traumatize its characters for half an hour. Whatever the writers are doing, they’re knocking it out of the park. Frankly, there hasn’t been a dud in Futurama’s latest season. After ten years, Futurama is finally back, and it’s like it never went away.
Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration – time changes everything. Futurama is different. It’s adapted to a new time period, which is what makes it such an appealing, long-running show. But at its core, the series has never lost its identity. All of the voice talent slides into their roles like wearing an old glove, there’s still a lot of heart in it, and the humor is as sharp as ever.