I wasn’t sure what to expect from this episode. I only knew it involved Zoidberg, which made me happy. While Dr. Zoidberg is great as a side character, he’s so sweet and zany that it’s fun to see him take center stage every once in a while. The crew finally asks why Zoidberg is still employed at Planet Express after years and years of negligent medical practices. The fans have always assumed the answer was “Because it’s funny,” but considering he somehow made Bender (the robot) incontinent, the crew does have a point. When we see the friendship between Zoidberg and Farnsworth, it starts to make sense. The animators did such a good job capturing how sad Zoidberg was in this episode — I just wanted to give him a big hug. His smile at the end had me smiling, too. What can I say … I’m a big softie for that giant red mud bug.
Besides the emotional side of things, there were some great funny bits. I adored the different illnesses Fry endures, especially the Simpsons and Muppet varieties. The animators also nailed Jim Davis‘ art style. While Zoidberg had some sweet moments in the episode, my favorite was when he pronounced sprinkles as “shprinkles.” That’s heart melting stuff right there. The mystery was fun, as was the Professor and Zoidberg’s actual arrangement. Did anyone else think of two particular characters from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Another favorite moment of mine was when the music played backwards as Zoidberg creeped out of the room backwards. Very clever. We also get the murdolator, the most ridiculous mercy-killing machine ever created. And considering this is the same universe that has the suicide booth (“since 2008,” no less), that’s saying a lot.
It was a fun duo episode, even if it didn’t have the same punch as “Lethal Inspection” from earlier in the season. I love Zoidberg, and I’m glad he’s been used so much since the revival. Oh, and did I mention that we finally — finally — find out Mom’s first name in this episode? And it is … Carol! Yes, the Machiavellian and merciless Mom is named Carol. To refresh, Leela is Turanga, Fry is Phillip, Zoidberg is John and now Mom is Carol.
I love this show.
All the best quotes:
“It’s tentacular!” — Title card
“Contents: More crates” — Label on crates
“Once and for all, Fry, even though it’s the future, most objects are just objects … not aliens who look like objects. — Leela
“So my efforts to establish diplomatic relations with the cactus people were doomed from the start!” — Fry
“I’m afraid Fry lost a lot of juice. He’s developed ‘Simpson’s Jaundice.'” — Zoidberg
“Aye Carumba!” — Fry
“Careful, Leela. He knows less about human anatomy than I do, and I can’t even find my own uterus!” — Fry
“Hm. What started out as a pleasant afternoon of drugs and surgery has not gone as planned!” — Zoidberg
“Actual Doctor’s Office” — sign above doctor’s office
“It wasn’t a shark! It was an awful, incompetent doctor.” — Leela
“Wow. He must’ve been a total Zoidberg.” — Real doctor
“It was Zoidberg!” — Hermes
“You’re making a mistake! I was only trying to kill the professor!” — Zoidberg
“I need the thing. The thing from Triton.” — Zoidberg
“It’ll cost you, John. How much are you worth now?” — Mom
“I live in a dumpster.” — Zoidberg
Clacked by Katie Schenkel 
on Aug 19, 2011 @ 08:02 EST5EDT
