Assie Come Home

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Season 7 episode Broadcast season 10 episode
Assie Come Home
Bender pointing at where his shiny metal ass used to be.
No.	135
Production number	7ACV21
Written by	Maiya Williams
Directed by	Raymie Muzquiz
Title caption	FEATURING A NEW INVISIBLE CHARACTER WHO DOESN'T SPEAK
First air date	31 July, 2013
Broadcast number	S10E08
Title reference	The 1943 film Lassie Come Home
Additional
Commentary (Transcript) Transcript Pictures
Season 7
The Bots and the Bees A Farewell to Arms Decision 3012 The Thief of Baghead Zapp Dingbat The Butterjunk Effect The Six Million Dollar Mon Fun on a Bun Free Will Hunting Near-Death Wish 31st Century Fox Viva Mars Vegas Naturama Forty Percent Leadbelly 2-D Blacktop T.: The Terrestrial Fry and Leela's Big Fling The Inhuman Torch Saturday Morning Fun Pit Calculon 2.0 Assie Come Home Leela and the Genestalk Game of Tones Murder on the Planet Express Stench and Stenchibility Meanwhile ← Season 6 Season 8 →

"Assie Come Home" is the one hundred and thirty-fifth episode of Futurama, the twenty-first of the seventh production season and the eighth of the tenth broadcast season. It aired on 31 July, 2013, on Comedy Central. Bender searches the universe for his missing shiny metal rear end.

Story

Act I: "The ship's still here, and nothing was stolen."

Farnsworth sends the crew to deliver a mysterious crate to Peoples α, "the planet of gangs, thugs, and hustlers". At Peoples α, Fry and Leela complete the delivery while Bender guards the ship. Fry and Leela deliver the crate, barely surviving a gang battle between the blips and the cruds. They return to the ship only to find that thieves have bot-jacked Bender, having made off with all of his body except his eyes and mouth.

Act II: "I never even knew you had an ass."

Bender's RoJack leads the police to the chop-shop of Yuri, who provides them a list of the buyers of Bender's parts. The Planet Express crew search the galaxy and find all of the parts except for Bender's ass, which turns out to have been on the freighter Floatwell when it sank in the Sargaseous Sea. This "sea" is actually a nebula, but traveling there is like sailing an ocean: asteroids rise from dense fog like icebergs, and ships can sink.

Act III: "Maybe I have been selfish, hiding my ass under a bushel."

Navigating the Sargaseous Sea with difficulty, Leela crashes the ship into an inadequate lighthouse, whose keeper, Tarquin, helps the crew to recover Bender's ass. While they relax back at the lighthouse, the cruise ship S.S. Miami Muy Caliente approaches the lighthouse on a collision course, the ship's captain unable to see its feeble light. Celebrating Bender's reunion with his ass, Fry takes flash photos of Bender posing with it. The light reflecting from Bender's ass is brighter than the lighthouse, enough to alert the crew of the Caliente just in time to avoid disaster. Seeing its potential as a highly effective lighthouse mirror, Tarquin, Fry, and Leela convince Bender to leave his ass behind.

Although Bender accepts his loss, his ass finds it unbearable to listen to Tarquin reading bible verses. It escapes from the lighthouse and returns to Bender. Upon the reunion, fireworks appear in the sky, but they turn out to be ships exploding in the Sargaseous Sea, where the lighthouse beacon shines no more.

Production

This section is in need of expansion. The reason given is: Countdown to Futurama Please add more content or information.

On 5 February, 2013, Vulture.com released a preview clip for the tenth broadcast season, which contained footage from the episode.

By 26 July, Comedy Central had released a two-minute preview clip featuring a fight between the crud gang and the blip gang.

Image Gallery

• 

  Promotional picture of Bender's mouth and eyes in a trash can, after his body is stolen by the crud gang.

• 

  Concept art for the crud gang.

• 

  Promotional picture of Leela, Bender and Fry underwater.

• 

  Concept art for Tarquin, a lighthouse keeper who helps in the search for Bender's ass.

Additional Information

Trivia

• The episode's title caption is very similar to that of "Möbius Dick", which was also the eighth episode of its broadcast season, and also featured a sea setting.
• To blend in with the cruds, Leela takes off her shirt and reverses it, simultaneously showing Fry her breasts. She also does so wearing a bra.
• Bender gets his arms and hands back from the Borax Kid. In "Zapp Dingbat", Bender loses his hands to the Borax Kid.
• The ship's deck is filled with crates. The first labelled crate to be seen supposedly contains the Ark of the Covenant, which was the focus of the first Indiana Jones film, and the third labelled crate to be seen supposedly contains the Holy Grail, which was the focus of the third Indiana Jones film. The fourth crate contains the jewel from the 1997 film Titanic, which was released after the 1980s Indiana Jones trilogy.
• In "Space Pilot 3000", upon being told to "bite my shiny metal ass" by Bender, Fry remarks that "it doesn't look so shiny to me". However, in this episode it is shown that Bender's ass shines brighter than "the brightest object in the known universe", i.e. the original lighthouse light.
• The piece of music that plays at the Galactic Bazaar is used on the main menu for the second disc of Volume 8.
• According to the commentary, the episode's title was Ken Keeler's idea.

Allusions

Click here to see cultural mentions made in this episode.

• The episode's title is a reference to the 1943 movie Lassie Come Home, directed by Fred M. Wilcox.
• The concept of a planet run by gangs may be a reference to the Star Trek episode "A Piece of the Action".
• The blips and the cruds are named after the African American gangs the Bloods and the Crips.
• The concept of a planet whose inhabitants are separated based on different placement of the same two colors is reminiscent of the planet Cheron, as seen in the Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
• Peoples α is very similar in colour and design to the city of Detroit in the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, where rival gangs are a major plot point. The planet also contains references to Detroit's real life issues with crime and poverty (in fact the city filed for bankruptcy almost two weeks before the premiere of this episode).
• Fry getting his head stuck in a honey jar marked "HUNNY" is a reference to the fictional bear Winnie-the-Pooh. He also says "oh, bother", which was Pooh's catchphrase.
• Fry asks Leela if she thinks that they "walked straight outta Blipton". Blipton is a reference to Compton, California, which is in the vicinity of where the Bloods and the Crips originated. It may also be a reference to the tea brand Lipton. The phrase "straight outta Blipton" is likely a reference to the N.W.A album Straight Outta Compton.

The robot chop shop.

• Many robots from other works are seen in the chop shop.
  • C-3PO, from the Star Wars franchise
  • The title character from the 1999 film The Iron Giant
  • Rosie the Robot Maid, from the animated sitcom The Jetsons
  • What appear to be the robot versions of Bill and Ted from the 1991 film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
  • Alpha 5, from the children's TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
  • The title character from the anime TV series Tetsujin 28-go, adapted in the United States as Gigantor
  • A Dalek, from the science-fiction TV series Doctor Who
  • Clank, from the Ratchet & Clank franchise
  • A Cylon, from the Battlestar Galactica franchise
• At Hedonismbot's mansion, a scientist from the Academy of Inventors is spanked by a robot resembling R2-D2.
• The hospital's name may be a reference to the Christian martyred saints Faith, Hope, and Charity.
• The name "Sargaseous Sea", which Leela pronounces as "Sargashes Sea", is a pun on the name "Sargasso Sea" and the word "gaseous".
• The lighthouse, its tenant, and his lines reference the 2005 video game Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.
• According to the commentary, the name "Tarquin" is a play on "Quint", the name of a character in the 1975 film Jaws.
• The bathysphere and diving suits are a possible reference to the video games BioShock and BioShock 2.
• Tarquin's boat is marked "FLOTSAM & JETSON", a reference to the maritime terms "flotsam" and "jetsam" and The Jetsons.
• The head of a corpse missing an eye floating out of the ship's wreckage mirrors an identical scene in Jaws.
• Johnny being the name of a boy trapped in a well may be a reference to the 1899 film Ding, Dong, Dell, Johnny's in the Well.
• Bender hugging his ass and saying "you came home!" is reminiscent of the story of the Prodigal Son, from the Bible.
• One of the blips practises tsujigiri, the samurai custom of trying out a new weapon on a random passer-by.

Continuity

• Bender was previously seen with only his mouth and eyes in "Obsoletely Fabulous".

Goofs

• When Fry and Leela are looking at the blips' reflection in the mirror, the thing that Leela wears on her wrist is on her left arm, even though only the aliens are in the mirror.
• One of the blips' hat changes colors.
• When Bender is found by Fry and Leela, he only has his mouth and eyes. However, since he doesn't have a brain, he shouldn't be able to speak.
  • There may be a secondary brain inside his mouth or his eyes.
  • It's possible that his brain still controlled his mouth and eyes wirelessly, just as his arms have been seen to move independently in various episodes.
• Without his ass, Bender has a lot of exposed circuitry, but, in "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", his container unit is shown to be empty.
  • Bender's design constantly changes throughout the show. This may be due to Bender getting modifications.

Quotes

Bender with only his mouth and eyes in "Obsoletely Fabulous".

Fry: Uhm, Leela, remember when we were trying to guess what would happen if someone stuck a gun in my face and you said I'd probably crap my pants? Well...

Moustached crud: We are the cruds, but we're over here. And don't shoot. That crate is a gift from us.
Leela: What?!
Fry: Huh?!
Blip #2: For real?!
Moustached crud: There's been enough violence on these streets, too many lives and mirrors have been shattered, so yo, we sent you a crate o' weapons as a sign o' trust. Together, we can use them to rid our streets of the real enemy: giant spiders!
Fry: I knew it!

Bender: They stole everything except my mouth and eyes! I guess they didn't like all my screamin' and winkin'.

Ship captain: I thought we were near the rocks, but I don't see the lighthouse, so...everything is fine and we can relax. [He speaks through the intercom.] All hands on deck...for mojitos.

[Bender is sat looking miserable at the table in the Planet Express employee lounge, whilst Fry, Leela, Amy, Hermes and Zoidberg are sat watching the TV.]
Amy: Bender, come join us, we're watching Rear Window!
Bender: I used to stick my rear out the window...
Zoidberg: If you prefer, we could watch Behind the Music.
Bender: My behind used to make music...
Hermes: Backdraft is on.
Bender: Even my ass wouldn't watch that.

Appearances

(In alphabetic order)

Characters

• Debut: Alejandro
• Amy
• Bender
• Debut: Blip gang
• Borax Kid
• Debut: Captain of the S.S. Miami Muy Caliente
• Debut: Crud gang
• Dean Streptococcus (cameo, 9:40)
• Doingg (cameo, 7:34)
• Fat-bot
• Feffernoose (cameo, 7:34)
• Flabby (cameo, 9:40)
• First Robot capable of qualifying for a boat loan (cameo, 8:30)
• Fry
• Garbly (head only) (cameo, 7:34)
• Gearshift
• Hedonismbot
• Hermaphrobot
• Hermes
• Human-horn dealer
• Debut: Johnny
• Debut: Johnny's parents
• Lady Buggle (cameo, 7:34)
• Leela
• Mrs. Astor (deleted scene)
• Oily
• Pimparoo (cameo, 7:33)
• Princess Num Num (cameo, 7:34)
• Professor Farnsworth
• Rosie the Robot Maid (cameo, 6:26)
• Smitty
• Debut: Tarquin
• Tinny Tim
• Unnamed clown (cameo, 8:30)
• URL
• Yuri
• Zoidberg

Places

• The Beast With Two Bucks
• Debut: Blip Turf (mentioned in speech only)
• Debut: Blipton (mentioned in speech only)
• Feldspar Queen
• Galactic Bazaar
• Mars University
• Miami (mentioned in speech only)
• Debut: Peoples α
• Planet Express conference room
• Planet Express employee lounge
• Planet Express lobby
• Debut: Sargaseous Sea
• Debut: Scenic Detroit (mentioned in text only, 3:17)
• Debut: South Beach (mentioned in speech only)
• South Street Spaceport
• Debut: St. Hope's Charity Hospital for Robot Orphans
• Waldorf Asteroid (deleted scene)

Miscellaneous

• "Bite my shiny metal ass"
• Debut: Floatwell
• "Good news, everyone"
• Human horn (mentioned in text, 7:40)
• Mobile app (mentioned in speech only)
• Debut: S.S. Miami Muy Caliente
• Whale oil

References

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