Parasites Regained

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Season 8 episode Broadcast season 11 episode
Parasites Regained
The Worms have returned!
No.	144
Production number	8ACV04
Written by	Maiya Williams
Directed by	Corey Barnes
Title caption	Find The Hidden Story!
First air date	14 August, 2023
Broadcast number	S11E04
Title reference	The previous episode in the story, and Paradise Regained by John Milton
Opening cartoon	Betty Boop's May Party by Fleischer Studios (1933)
Special guest(s)	Ego Nwodim Kyle MacLachlan
Additional
Commentary (Transcript) Transcript Pictures
Season 8
The Impossible Stream Children of a Lesser Bog How the West Was 1010001 Parasites Regained Related to Items You've Viewed I Know What You Did Next Xmas Rage Against the Vaccine Zapp Gets Cancelled The Prince and the Product All the Way Down ← Season 7

"Parasites Regained" is the one hundred and forty-fourth episode of Futurama, the fourth of the eighth production season and the fourth of the eleventh broadcast season. It aired on 14 August, 2023 , on Hulu. Leela and the crew fight to save Nibbler from some all-too familiar parasitic worms, which are diminishing his intelligence.

Production

The writer of record for this episode is Maiya Williams. Much like "Children of a Lesser Bog," the overseas production for this episode was handled by Digital eMation.

Additional information

Trivia

• At the pet clinic, Nibbler exclaimed "Mon Dieu!" which is French for "My God!"

Allusions

• The title of this episode is a reference to the 1671 poem Paradise Regained.

• Scoopy-Poo Dog Park is a portmanteau of Scooby-Doo and the word "poo".

• The name of the alien movie is Quizblorg, Quizblorg ℵ₁ and is being played at Loew's ℵ₀-Plex. The mathematical symbol ℵ₁ (pronounced "aleph-one") is the next cardinal number after ℵ₀, hence this is likely a sequel to Quizblorg, Quizblorg. The movie has won the "Palme d'Oorknob", alluding to the Palme d'Or prize.

• In the game of 3D crossword, the puzzle is "What's a 2x3x5 letter name, for a 3x23x29 number name, for a movie featuring a 1x4x9 object?" with the answer being 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here, 2x3x5=30 is the number of letters in "Two Thousand and One A Space Odyssey", 3x23x29=2001 is the year that appears in the name of the movie, and 1x4x9 is the ratio of the monolith featured in the movie.

• The game of Quantum Wordle alludes to the word-guessing game Wordle, and the word is seen flashing between boson and meson.

• "Betty Cockroach" frosting is a parody of the brand "Betty Crocker".

• Nibbler says that his mind has degenerated to the point where he "can no longer predict the ending of an M. Night Shyamalan movie", poking fun at the fact that many movies of the said director actually feature a twist ending.

Dune references

The episode heavily relies on references to the Dune franchise, including both the books and the movie adaptations. Here is a list of all spotted references.

• The native people are dung beetles who pronounce the word "dung" as "dune-g".

• The dung beetles consider spitting and tear-shedding signs of respect (also Fry's pissing) due to the importance of moisture in the desert, just like the Fremen people in Dune.

• Their messiah is referred to as "Kwiznos Cadillach", where as the original name is "Kwisatz Haderach". The dung beetle who pronounces that line is voiced by Kyle MacLachlan, the actor who portrayed the main character (i.e., the messiah) in the 1984 film adaptation.

• The roach-thopter spoofs the ornithopters.

• The dung beetle guide is named "Bilgar", spoofing the character Stilgar.

• The glitter chamber visually resembles the spice gas tank used by the Spacing Guild in the 1984 film adaptation (picture). The orange glitter is clearly a spoof of the drug melange.

• The sandworms as well as their attraction to the rhythmic pattern of footsteps are directly taken from Dune. The pounder spoofs the original Thumper. (Sandworms that are actually giant have previously appeared in Into the Wild Green Yonder.)

• The music, especially the tonal desert sounds and the mythical female vocals, is a reminiscence of the acclaimed music from the 2021 film adaptation.

Continuity

• Dave Spiegel, and his owner, Fluffers, from the episode The Day the Earth Stood Stupid, are seen in Scoopy-Poo Dog Park.
• The coffee shop across the street from the Planet Express Headquarters is seen again, this time visited by Leela and Nibbler

Alien Language Sightings

Time: 2:03
Location: Quizblorg, Quizblorg ℵ₁ film
Language: AL1
Translation: Laughter [then seconds later] Sorrow
Note: The audience are crying at the first scene while laughing at the second one. The joke is that despite the subtitles, nobody actually understands the dialogues in the alien film.

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

• Amy
• Bender
• Debut: Bilgar
• Dave Spiegel and Fluffers
• Debut: Dung Beetle Shaman
• Farnsworth
• Fiona (no lines)
• Fry
• Hermes
• Ken
• Leela
• Linda
• Lord Mayor Worm
• Morbo (no lines)
• Debut: Narlo
• Nibbler
• Vet Jeffrey Grant
• Worms of Colon
• Zoidberg

References

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