Leela and the Genestalk

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Season 7 episode
Broadcast season 10 episode
Leela and the Genestalk
Leela and the Genestalk infobox.png
A more mutated Leela noticing the beanstalk in front of Planet Express.
No.136
Production number7ACV22
Written byEric Horsted
Directed byLance Kramer
Title captionSPOILER ALERT: ROBOTS AND WHATNOT
First air date7 August, 2013
Broadcast numberS10E09
Title referenceThe folk story "Jack and the Beanstalk"
Opening cartoonRocketeers
Special guest(s)Adam West
Burt Ward
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript

Pictures

Season 7
  1. The Bots and the Bees
  2. A Farewell to Arms
  3. Decision 3012
  4. The Thief of Baghead
  5. Zapp Dingbat
  6. The Butterjunk Effect
  7. The Six Million Dollar Mon
  8. Fun on a Bun
  9. Free Will Hunting
  10. Near-Death Wish
  11. 31st Century Fox
  12. Viva Mars Vegas
  13. Naturama
  14. Forty Percent Leadbelly
  15. 2-D Blacktop
  16. T.: The Terrestrial
  17. Fry and Leela's Big Fling
  18. The Inhuman Torch
  19. Saturday Morning Fun Pit
  20. Calculon 2.0
  21. Assie Come Home
  22. Leela and the Genestalk
  23. Game of Tones
  24. Murder on the Planet Express
  25. Stench and Stenchibility
  26. Meanwhile
← Season 6Season 8 →

"Leela and the Genestalk" is the one hundred and thirty-sixth episode of Futurama, the twenty-second of the seventh production season and the ninth of the tenth broadcast season. It aired on 7 August, 2013, on Comedy Central. It guest-stars Adam West and Burt Ward as themselves. After a rare condition causes Leela to grow tentacles, she stumbles upon a secret genetic-engineering facility.

Story

Act I: "There were still so many things I wanted to let go of."

While riding a mechanical buggalo at Tex 1138's, Leela finds that she is breaking out in suction cups. Dr. Tenderman explains that due to a genetic condition, her body has begun a process called squidification, in which her limbs "will be gradually transformed into a slithering mass of tentacles." There is no cure, and a very expensive surgery can only delay the symptoms for a few months. In spite of these drawbacks, the crew send Fry to sell the company ship to pay for the operation. At the market, a con artist buys the ship for two gigantic, magic beans that are supposedly a miracle cure for Leela's ailment. Back at headquarters, Farnsworth is so angry that he knocks the beans out of Fry's hands, causing them to fly out the window. The beans fall onto fertile soil and grow in a few hours into a beanstalk that reaches the clouds. Leela realizes that she doesn't want to share her misery with her friends, and decides to cut off contact with them and live in the sewer. As she opens the manhole leading to the sewer, she notices the new beanstalk and decides to "take the beanstalk less traveled."

Act II: "It's some kind of de-luxe apartment in the sky."

At the top of the beanstalk, Leela finds a flying castle grounds occupied by colorful flying fish and a unicorn that eats them. She is suddenly captured by Mom's three sons and taken to Mom, who explains that the castle is her genetic engineering facility, where she conducts experiments such as creating gigantic beanstalks for feeding the hungry. In spite of the arguably philanthropic nature of Mom's experiments, Leela is offended, considering the experiments to be crimes.

After three weeks go by, everyone realizes that they don't know Leela's whereabouts. Fry and Bender, after both being hit in the head by Leela's boots, which have fallen from the sky, fly together to Mom's facility to rescue Leela. To Fry's horror, Leela's entire body except her face has been transformed into the mass of tentacles that Dr. Tenderman predicted.

Act III: "Don't report them missing till after we max out their credit cards."

While trying to escape from the lab, Fry, Leela, and Bender encounter a giant, bound to an operating table connected to medical machinery. Believing that he is suffering Mom's genetic experiments, Leela frees the giant, who then chases the escapees until they flee down the drain of the giant's bathroom sink. Strangely, the drain carries the three back to the bridge of the facility, where Leela confronts Mom. In order to put a stop to the experiments, Leela causes the facility to fly out of control. As it nears the ground, it passes close by the Planet Express headquarters, to which Fry, Leela, and Bender jump to safety.

Later, Mom drops by to thank Leela for helping her to "engineer the perfect bean." Leela is still horrified by genetic engineering in principle; Mom attempts to sway her by re-introducing her to the giant, whom she has cured of hereditary gigantism and reduced to a normal-sized man. Leela is still not impressed, but quickly changes her mind when Mom announces that she can cure Leela herself.

The episode ends with Fry and a cured Leela walking hand-in-hand through New New York City, which has been transformed into a jungle of giant beanstalks.

Production

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On 5 February, 2013, Vulture.com released a preview clip for the tenth broadcast season,[1] which contained footage from the episode.

By 1 August, Comedy Central had released a two-minute preview clip featuring Fry sell the Planet Express ship to pay for an operation for Leela. [2]

On 6 August, it was revealed that the characters Finn and Jake, from the animated TV series Adventure Time, would appear in the episode. [3]

Image gallery

Additional information

Trivia

  • Amy's mother, who was featured in the first promotional picture, was replaced with a random man for the episode. It's possible that the scene originally took place at the Wong Ranch.
  • The name of the doctor from "The Tip of the Zoidberg" is revealed to be Dr Tenderman.
  • It is revealed that Leela occasionally lays an egg.
  • In "Fry and Leela's Big Fling", Leela stated that her arm bracelet could only be removed via cutting off her arm. She takes it off without difficulty while packing her things.
  • In "Yo Leela Leela", Leela tells the Cookieville orphans about a one-eyed princess who lived in a magical, one-room castle. "Yo Leela Leela" was also written by Eric Horsted.
  • John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender, provides the voice of Jake in Adventure Time.
  • Squid Leela is featured in the cover art for Volume 8. An image of Leela riding the mechanical buggalo is used on the episode menu, along with a piece of music from the episode.
  • In "Mars University", the Professor calls genetic engineering "preposterous science-fiction mumbo-jumbo".

Allusions

Click here to see cultural mentions made in this episode.
  • The episode's title is a reference to the folk story "Jack and the Beanstalk".
  • Many scenes reference fairytales.
  • The concept of "fake" wild west, reveled when a bar owner calls a command center, when mechanical Buggalo breaks down, is a reference to a 1973 SF movie Westworld.
  • The name "Tex 1138's" is a reference to the 1971 film THX 1138, directed by Star Wars creator George Lucas.
  • The way Leela uses her tentacles to swing her way up the beanstalk is reminiscent of the way Spider-Man swings amongst New York's buildings.
  • Leela's phrase "dee-luxe apartment in the sky" is a reference to the theme song of the sitcom The Jeffersons.
  • The concept of a castle in the clouds may be a reference to the 1986 film Castle in the Sky. The concept of a flying castle may be a reference to the 1986 novel and 2004 film Howl's Moving Castle.
  • Momsanto is a parody of the agricultural-biotechnology corporation Monsanto.
  • Leela letting her "hair" down so that Fry and Bender can climb up the tower is a reference to the German fairy tale "Rapunzel". Burt Ward also says "holy Rapunzel, Manbat".
  • Adam West and Burt Ward's appearance at the window for a cameo during the vertical wall climb is a parody of the running gag in Batman where Batman and Robin would scale a wall with their bat-ropes and encounter a special celebrity looking out the window.
  • Burt Ward tells Adam West that there is a duo there to rescue them, and West asks how dynamic they are. This is a reference to the term "dynamic duo", used to refer to Batman and Robin.
  • After Fry and Bender find Leela in Momsanto, Bender offers to "bend the door open" to get them out. Fry tells Bender that he can't bend a wooden door, but Bender does it anyways. This is likely a reference to the gag from the BBC show Doctor Who, which has the title character's sonic-screwdriver accessory be able to affect anything but wood.
  • When Bender runs into Finn and Jake, Jake asks Bender what time it is, alluding to Adventure Time.
  • In the closing scene, the camera pans out to reveal a street becoming overgrown with vines. We see a traffic light with a red stop hand, but instead of a normal hand it is the Vulcan sign for "live long and prosper", from the Star Trek series.

Continuity

Goofs

  • After Leela is declared the winner, two of the same man can be seen clapping.
  • When Fry insists that the crew must find a way to pay for Leela's operation, Hermes is seen in front of a fence where there is no place to stand. He is seen behind the fence a couple seconds later.
  • Leela reveals that her wristlojackimator belongs to her, since she used it at the cryogenics lab (although it could belong to the lab given the circumstances when she quit), however when leaving Planet Express she places it in her locker.
  • Before Leela climbs the beanstalk, she has four tentacles on each side of her neck, but after she climbs the beanstalk she only has three.
  • In this episode, Leela is strictly against genetic engineering, but in previous episodes [citation needed] she seemed to be okay with it.
    • She may have changed her mind.
  • In the scene where Hermes explains his plan to get his missing coworkers' money from their credit cards, the chairs' disposal changes when Fry, Bender and Leela arrive. Hermes' chair between Zoidberg and Amy disappears and a new empty chair appears next to the professor. Moments later, that same chair disappears.

Quotes

The episode menu for Volume 8, featuring Leela riding the mechanical buggalo.

    Professor Farnsworth: Wha?
    Leela: It's called line dancing, Professor. It's fun, 'cuz there's no touching and lots of rules!

    Leela: Let's just get outta here.
    Bender: No problem. I'll bend the door open.
    Fry: You can't bend a wooden door!
    Bender: [whispering] I know that and you know that, but this door looks pretty stupid.
    [The door bends.]

    Jake: What time is it?
    Bender: Time for you to shut up!

    Zoidberg: Squid attack! Hit the deck!

Appearances

(In alphabetic order)

Characters

Places

Miscellaneous

References

  1. ^ Jesse David Fox (05 February 2013). Watch a Preview of Futurama’s Seventh Season. (Vulture.com.) Retrieved on 17 August 2013.
  2. ^ Magic Beans - Video Clip. (Comedy Central.) Retrieved on 01 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b Charles Webb (06 August 2013). Algebraic News, Everyone! ‘Adventure Time’ Crosses Over With ‘Futurama’ This Week!. (MTV Geek.) Retrieved on 06 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b Countdown to Futurama: Adam West and Burt Ward. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 29 May 2013. Retrieved on 31 July 2013.
  5. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Planet Express Crew Line-Dancing. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 30 May 2013. Retrieved on 30 May 2013.
  6. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Cloud Castle. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 31 May 2013. Retrieved on 31 May 2013.
  7. ^ Countdown to Futurama: Mom Poking Leela. (Comedy Central's Tumblr page.) 01 June 2013. Retrieved on 31 July 2013.