Difference between revisions of "Overclockwise"

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<poem>'''Larry''': Even an idiot like me knows he'll be ruined.
<poem>'''Larry''': Even an idiot like me knows he'll be ruined.
'''Mom''': An idiot like you is correct!
'''Mom''': An idiot like you is correct!
''{She slaps him]''
''[She slaps him]''
<poem>'''Professor Farnsworth''': You overclocked Bender?! What did I teach you about tinkering with machinery?
<poem>'''Professor Farnsworth''': You overclocked Bender?! What did I teach you about tinkering with machinery?
'''Cubert''': How. You taught me how.</poem>
'''Cubert''': How. You taught me how.</poem>

Revision as of 01:51, 3 May 2012

Season 6 episode
Broadcast season 8 episode
Overclockwise
Overclockwise infobox.png
Bender creates new heavy elements.
No.113
Production number6ACV25
Written byKen Keeler
Directed byRaymie Muzquiz
Title captionSOON TO BE A HIT TELEVISION SHOW
First air date1 September, 2011
Broadcast numberS08E12
Title reference"Overclocking" and "clockwise"
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript
Storyboard

Pictures

Season 6
  1. Rebirth
  2. In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela
  3. Attack of the Killer App
  4. Proposition Infinity
  5. The Duh-Vinci Code
  6. Lethal Inspection
  7. The Late Philip J. Fry
  8. That Darn Katz!
  9. A Clockwork Origin
  10. The Prisoner of Benda
  11. Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences
  12. The Mutants Are Revolting
  13. The Futurama Holiday Spectacular
  14. The Silence of the Clamps
  15. Möbius Dick
  16. Law and Oracle
  17. Benderama
  18. The Tip of the Zoidberg
  19. Ghost in the Machines
  20. Neutopia
  21. Yo Leela Leela
  22. Fry Am the Egg Man
  23. All the Presidents' Heads
  24. Cold Warriors
  25. Overclockwise
  26. Reincarnation
← Season 5Season 7 →

"Overclockwise" is the one hundred and thirteenth episode of Futurama, the twenty-fifth of the sixth production season and the twelfth of the eighth broadcast season. It aired 1 September, 2011 on Comedy Central. Bender evolves into a godlike being after vastly increasing his processing power.

Plot

Act I: "Don't you ever wonder about the future?"

Cubert overclocks Bender to improve his performance while playing an online game. Walt, Larry, and Igner are defeated by Bender and complain to Mom, who sues both Cubert and Professor Farnsworth for overclocking Bender, which is a violation of Bender's contract of ownership. She also sends an army of robots to capture Bender so he can be reset to his original, slower programming. Due to his heightened intelligence caused by his overclocking, Bender begins processing countless books and hooks himself to a water cooler to prevent himself from overheating. He then steals the processing chips of Mom's robots, increasing his capacities even further before leaving Planet Express to find a new, larger coolant.

Act II: "I really shouldn't agree to things I don't understand, but I'm slightly thirsty."

During their trial, Farnsworth and Cubert are ordered to bring in Bender as evidence of their contract violation, and are forced to pay $10,000 every day until Bender is found. With Planet Express running out of business, Leela, weary of her on-again, off-again relationship with Fry, decides to leave Planet Express. Heartbroken, Fry attempts to commit suicide by going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. There, he discovers a cave behind the falls where Bender has developed into an omnipotent being capable of foreseeing the future, using the falls as his new cooling system. Fry tries to convince Bender to help Farnsworth and Cubert, but Bender refuses, unconcerned with their troubles and predicting that they will be found guilty. Fry then asks Bender whether what his future with Leela would be like if they came together, after which Bender gives him a sad look and tells him to leave, saying nothing about Leela.

Act III: "We've had some tough times, but at least we won a Tony!"

After Fry returns to Farnsworth and Cubert's trial, Bender has a change of heart and appears in court, accusing Mom of unfairly trying Cubert, a minor. Fearing that Cubert will gain the jury's sympathy, Mom drops charges against Cubert while still attempting to sue Farnsworth. However, Bender declares that by dropping charges against Farnsworth's clone, she is unable to press charges against Farnsworth for the same crime because he and Cubert are technically the same person. Enraged that she is unable to sue Farnsworth, Mom captures Bender and has him reset to his original programming, returning him to normal. Leela also returns to Fry, who still wonders what the future holds for him and Leela. Bender reveals that he had written down his prediction of their future, which Fry and Leela silently read together. The two don't reveal to the viewer exactly what the prediction says, but their facial expressions indicate that they will have their ups and downs, and will ultimately have a happy ending.

Production

"Overclockwise" was originally planned to be the series finale of season 6, but it was later moved to the penultimate episode to make "Reincarnation" the finale. As "Reincarnation" is a non-canon segmented episode, however, "Overclockwise" is seen as the "proper" season finale. The episode was written in 2010, before the series had been renewed for another season, and much like "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" and Into the Wild Green Yonder, "Overclockwise" was written as if it was the last episode ever of Futurama. As such, Ken Keeler was once again in charge of the writing, making this his third "last episode ever" for the series.[1]

During June 2011, Countdown to Futurama released four items of promotional material for the episode: concept art of the interior of transfigured Bender's head on 7 June, concept art of Fry's character in World of World War II 3 on 8 June, part of the storyboard showing Mom's sons release hoverfish on 9 June, and a video clip featuring Fry talking to the transfigured Bender on 20 June.

Two promotional pictures for the episode were released by Comedy Central Press.[2]

Image gallery

Reception

In its original U.S. broadcast on 1 September, 2011, "Overclockwise" scored a 0.8 share among adults aged 18-49, and 1.571 million total viewers.[3] Both numbers were up compared to the previous week's broadcast of "Cold Warriors".

Additional information

Trivia

  • It is among the few one-word titled media.
  • It was written as the last episode because the show hadn't been renewed at the time of the writing.
  • This is one of four episodes of broadcast season 8 to be broadcast in production order. The other three are "Fry Am the Egg Man", "Cold Warriors" and "Reincarnation".
  • This episode marks the first time that Randy Munchnik is referred to by name.
  • This is the first episode written by Ken Keeler in which Ben Beeler, who was named after Keeler, appears.
  • The Region 4 version of Volume 6 lists this episode as "Over Clock Wise".

Allusions

The poster of Mom is very similar to that of a classic Farrah Fawcett photo.
  • The X-Cube 360 is a parody of Xbox 360 (including Kinect) and Nintendo GameCube.
  • World of World War II 3 is a parody games that combines online FPSes such as Call of Duty: World at War and MMORPGs with advanced Motion Sensing Controls. World War II is often seen as an overused setting for war videogames.
  • Bender says that he is 12 years out of date which is a reference to Futurama's run so far from 1999-2011 (12 years).
  • A processing chip inside Bender's lower body is labelled an AMD Athlon II.
  • The German commander character in World of World War II 3 resembles Colonel Klink from Hogan's Heroes.
  • Walt slaps himself and says, "Ach! I could haf fired a V-8!" This is a parody of the famous advertising campaign "I could've had a V8!". It could also be an upgrade to the V2 rocket.
  • When Professor Farnsworth and Cubert are in jail, there's a Kilroy was here drawing on the wall.
  • Nibbler suggests putting on a show called Nibbler on the Roof, a parody of Fiddler on the Roof. He is later seen dressed as the lead character, Tevye.
  • The hoverfish resemble the Sentinels from the The Matrix films.
  • Mom ordering the hoverfish to "Bring me the clock of Bender Rodriguez" is a reference to the film Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
  • Judge Whitey says to Cubert, "That'll do, pig," a famous line from the movie Babe.
  • The King of Space is a reference to the King of Spain.
    • Alternatively, it could be a reference to The King of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy video games.
  • The German commander mentions listening to German electronic music group Kraftwerk.
  • On Mom's sons' wall, there is a poster of Mom sitting in a pose. This poster is very similar to that of a classic Farrah Fawcett photo.
    • There is also a poster of the Hypnotoad in the "black light" style popular during the Sixties.
  • The first time Bender, Fry and Cubert play World of World War II 3, Bender's character is very clunky and glitchy, which may be a reference to Microsoft's Kinect and Nintendo's Wii, motion controlled consoles that often feature very unresponsive characters and avatars.
  • Bender "[hacking himself] inside out and now the entire universe [being his] processor" may be a reference to A. C. Clarke's The City and the Stars, a classic science fiction novel featuring a being of "pure intellect", named Vanamonde, whose consciousness is described as a "quantum lattice wrought into the very fabric of the Universe". In that novel, Vanamonde is the one who reveals the true history of the human race to the protagonists in what is commonly rated among the best science fiction plot twists of all time. Since The City and the Stars (published 1956), the theme of beings similar to Vanamonde has been adopted many times for extremely old and powerful entities throughout science fiction.

Bender's reading list

Some of the books that Bender reads while overclocked include:

Quotes

    Cubert: You know... I might be able to speed up your reflexes by overclockin' ya.
    Bender: Eh... What's that, sonny? You say it'll put some whoopiee in my cushion?

    Bender: There's three-thousand-eighteen jelly beans in that jar.
    Cubert: Damn, I'm good.
    [Cubert eats a handful of jelly beans]
    Bender: I mean three-thousand-eighteen rat kidneys.

    Mom: It violates the licence agreement. And that means I've got 'im right by his little—
    [Cut to.]
    Smitty: Ding dong. I'm sayin' "Ding dong" 'cause you don't 'ave a doorbell.

    Larry: Even an idiot like me knows he'll be ruined.
    Mom: An idiot like you is correct!
    [She slaps him]
    <poem>Professor Farnsworth: You overclocked Bender?! What did I teach you about tinkering with machinery?
    Cubert: How. You taught me how.

    Bender: Guys! Guys! I discovered I have an extra processor in my compartment o' mystery. Bein' overclocked was a start, but, once I activate this processor, I'll be all like, "You're a big dummy, Einstein! Get a haircut!"

    Bender: Ten more processors for me. Once I install these, I'll have access to the loftiest realms o' thought!
    Zoidberg: Anyone have access to a lofty realm of gravy?

    Bender: Farewell, monobrains.

    Yellow and red lawyer: Your Honour, Mom is a poor, frail industrialist with three special sons who require constant neglect.

    Ron Whitey: I'm holding the defendants in contempt and fining them ten-thousand dollars a day until they produce the Robot.
    Hermes: Oh! At that rate, Planet Express will be bankrupt in... Four fingers!

    Nibbler: We'll call it Nibbler on the Roof!

    Fry: But— Bender?! What happened to you?
    Bender: I'll try to put it in terms you can comprehend. I passed the existential singularity.
    Fry: Try harder!

    Ron Whitey: Not only have the defendants failed to rebut the charges, they've not even presented any mitigating factors to recommend leniency. It strikes me as an extra-risky strategy.
    Hyper-Chicken: Did you say "extra-crispy recipe"?
    Ron Whitey: You know I didn't.

    Fry: Bender doesn't care about us anymore.
    Zoidberg: Someone used to care about me?! Hooray!

    Ron Whitey: Silence! One more in-burst like that an' I'll have this courtroom removed from you!

    Bender: There's no time now. Quick, Zoidberg! Take three steps to your right!
    [Zoidberg takes three steps to the right and a ceiling fan falls on him]

Goofs

  • When the scene where Fry and Leela talk about their relationship in the Planet Express balcony starts, the railing of the Planet Express headquarters spells out PLANET EXPRESS. But, on close shots of Fry and Leela talking, it does not.
  • Smitty says that the Planet Express building does not have a doorbell, however a doorbell has been heard in previous episodes.
    • With so many things falling apart in the building (ceiling fans, for example) the doorbell might have been broken.
  • Bender addresses Cubert as a twelve-year-old, but Cubert turned thirteen in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television", which is set years earlier.
    • It can be argued that the characters don't age. It can also be argued, however, that they do, because Farnsworth's age changes from season to season.
  • When Bender interrupts Fishy Joe as he is about to read the jury's verdict, there is a sound effect of Bender quickly sliding his chair back to stand up. However, in the next shot there are no chairs near Bender, and he has been standing up the entire time anyway.
  • When Leela returns to the Planet Express headquarters, Bender has his back to the door, but, in the next camera angle, he has his back to the screen.
  • Leela returns to the Planet Express headquarters through the left door, but, after a few camera-angle changes, is suddenly at the right door.
  • During the in-game scenes, Bender is seen wielding an M16, which was designed in 1957, but the game is set during World War II.

Continuity

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

References

  1. ^ "Now I will say at this point, having written the last episode for FOX, and the last DVD for the DVD releases, and now being back again, and being pretty far along in production, we’re the show with the most experience in writing our last episode ever. We’re getting good at it – we’re doing our third one that we’re actually working on here at the moment – they’ve all been written by Ken Keeler, I should mention, who is writing his third last episode ever."Cohen, David
    Zalben, Alex (22 June 2010). "Exclusive: Futurama Creator Spills on Special Last, Last Episode!". UGO. Retrieved on 22 June 2010.
  2. ^ Comedy Central Press | Futurama
  3. ^ Gorman, Bill (02 September 2011). "Thursday Cable: Even 'Jersey Shore' Repeats Can't Be Beaten; 'Burn Notice,' 'Suits,' 'Project Runway' & Lots More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved on 02 September 2011.