Fry-Leela relationship
The relationship between Philip J. Fry and Turanga Leela is a recurring theme and a story arc on Futurama.
Development
Initial development
Upon Fry's initial arrival in the future, he shows a physical interest in Leela. This is quickly squashed when she turns to face him, revealing her eye. Later in the episode, Fry and Leela begin to form an emotional connection, as both are entirely alone in the universe. In "My Three Suns", it is shown that although Fry routinely rejects her advice, landing him in a great deal of trouble, he ultimately cares for her, as evidenced by the fact that the thought of Leela dying was the key to make him cry out the Trisolian emperor.
It can be debated whether the initial beginnings of the actual relationship started in "Space Pilot 3000" or "A Flight to Remember", but there is a certainly a difference; in the first episode, Fry is immediately interested in Leela, while in the latter episode, Fry and Leela actually kiss for the first time, which may indeed have sparked Leela as a love interest for Fry.
Not much mention is made of Fry's interest in Leela during the second season. Hints at Fry's continued affection mainly focus around the jealousy he shows towards other men in Leela's life, such as Al.
Leela has been quoted as saying that she loves Fry's boyish charm, but hates his childishness.
The one-sided quest
The relationship is indeed one-sided throughout the show, with Fry's numerous and fruitless attempts at winning Leela's heart. In "Parasites Lost", Leela begins to fall for Fry's new intelligent and capable personality, but this proves to be the work of the worms inside Fry. After the worms leave, Fry reverts to his awkward self, and Leela immediately loses interest in him.
In "The Cyber House Rules", Fry is the only member of the Planet Express crew who believes Leela is beautiful as she is, and doesn't need phaser eye surgery to make her fit in with "average" people.
Once, in "Time Keeps on Slippin'", he manages to get her to marry him, but unfortunately time skips past what he did to make her love him. Leela believes Fry tricked her into marrying him, and before anyone can prove otherwise, another time skip leaves them divorced.
In the episode, "Love and Rocket", Fry saves Leela's life on Valentine's Day when her portable oxygen tank runs out during a desperate attempt to halt the insane autopilot of the Planet Express Ship. Fry and Leela appear to grow closer, and may have even shared a romantic moment together on the balcony of Planet Express, if only Dr. Zoidberg hadn't interrupted them.
In "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles", teenage Leela and Fry go on a date, though this apparently never leads to anything else.
Fry once again puts Leela's safety before his own in the episode "The Why of Fry". When Fry travels back to the year 1999 to stop Nibbler from freezing him, Nibbler asks Fry, "Is there nothing in the future worth saving [from the brainspawn]?" Fry decides that Leela is the one thing worth saving, and allows himself to be frozen so that he may save her 1000 years in the future.
Love's a two way street
The viewer is finally afforded a glimpse into Leela's mind in "The Sting", which is set almost entirely in her dreams. From this perspective, it is clear that she cares greatly about Fry as well. When Leela awakens from her coma in the hospital, it is revealed that Fry stayed by her side the entire time, once again demonstrating his continued loyalty and faith in her. In "The Farnsworth Parabox", Fry and Leela see what their lives would have been if they had got married. In an alternate universe, "Universe 1", Fry-1 and Leela-1 have apparently been married at least one year prior to Fry-A and Leela-A's arrival.
At the end of the original run, in "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", Fry trades his hands for those of the Robot Devil in order to win Leela's heart with his holophonor, which he was unable to do when he last played for her, in "Parasites Lost". Fry's newfound skill wins him great fame, and he is commissioned by Hedonismbot to write an opera. He decides to write the opera about Leela. After Leela is deafened by Bender's airhorn, the Robot Devil makes a deal with her for Calculon's ears. The Robot Devil then crashes the opera, and presents Fry with a terrible choice: Give up his hands and be left unable to complete the opera which may finally cause Leela to return his feelings for her, or lose Leela to the Robot Devil forever. Fry gives up his opportunity to win her heart in order to save her life, and the Robot Devil takes back his hands. After Fry's terrible attempt at playing his holophonor with his regular hands, the audience leaves, except for Leela. As Fry is about to leave the stage, Leela, the only patron left in the audience, stops him, and asks him to play the end of his opera. Fry plays the last scene, in which Holo-Fry and Holo-Leela turn to each other, kiss, and walk off towards the horizon. Unfortunately, Leela's reaction is never shown, although it is clear by events of the next season that Leela still remains "just friends" with Fry.
Into the wild green yonder
In Bender's Big Score, Leela's love interest becomes Lars Fillmore, whom she claims to Fry is "the only man she could ever love". When she realizes Lars was actually Fry's time paradox duplicate, her statement suddenly gains new significance.
At the end of The Beast with a Billion Backs, after Yivo dumps the universe (except for Colleen), Fry returns to his quest for Leela's love, although she is angry that Fry went out with Colleen. There was no development of the relationship in Bender's Game save for Fry commenting on how he enjoyed riding Leegola, although he could not find an explanation for this.
And it is not until the very end at Into the Wild Green Yonder, that Leela finally returns Fry's affection, and kisses him. It's quite possible that she was caught up in the moment due to the circumstances that she may not come back after the end. Of course, we'll see what happens when Futurama makes its triumphant return.
The upcoming season 6
While there has been no confirmation of their romance continuing in season 6, there have been few hints of it. Executive producer David X. Cohen declared that the first episode of the season, Rebirth, would be mainly about their relationship. Also, in a recent commercial for the new season, aired on Comedy Central, a short clip is shown, in which Fry and Leela are kissing in the foreground, while Bender is reacting surprisingly to it in the middleground. Still, there is no proof of them dating or marrying yet.
Additional Info
Quotes
Fry: You're smart, you're beautiful, and best of all, you'll go out with me-e?
Leela: Fry, please try to understand: You're a man, I'm a woman. We're just too different.
Leela: Fry, I don't care if you're not the most important person in the universe. It just really means a lot to me that you're here right now.
Fry: Then I am the most important guy in the universe.
Appearances
- This list is incomplete.
