Futurama Season 12 Secretly Introduces A Sequel To A Divisive 23-Year-Old Episode

The following contains spoilers for Futurama season 12 episode 3, “The Temp,” now streaming on Hulu

Futurama season 12’s “The Temp” is quietly a sequel to a 23-year old storyline that has become one of the more controversial episodes in the show’s history. While many episodes of Futurama function just fine as stand-alone storylines, there are some overarching plots that factor into multiple season long arcs of the show. The character relationships have evolved across the course of Futurama, while the events of some episodes can come back to haunt the Futurama cast in surprising ways. This is at the heart of “The Temp,” which reveals the Planet Express Crew previously had another member.

“The Temp” focuses on his return and his genuinely diabolical plan. While the titular temp is largely removed from the actual history of the show, his original connection to the Planet Express Crew is set in motion by the fallout of a season 3 episode. It’s an interesting choice, as it does connect the new episode to the established continuity while also referencing an Emmy-nomiated episode that has become increasingly divisive within the fanbase. It all highlights to Futurama‘s Hulu revival cleverly using past episodes and history to build future stories.

“The Temp” Is A Sequel To Futurama’s Divisive Season 3 Episode “Amazon Women In The Mood”

Flashbacks In “The Temp” Directly Connect It To Fry’s Fate In “Amazon Women In The Mood”

Futurama season 12’s “The Temp” is quietly a sequel to season 3’s “Amazon Women In The Mood,” a controversial episode from Futurama‘s third season. Most of “The Temp” focuses on Frank, a temp worker who tries to take over Fry’s life after using hypnosis on the rest of the crew. It turns out they actually briefly worked with Frank twenty-three years previously when he replaced Fry in the aftermath of “Amazon Women In The Mood.”

A flashback in “The Temp” reveals that after the physical trauma of surviving that episode’s plot, Fry ended up going on a brief vacation. Frank was hired to briefly fill his role, until he was left behind during a delivery and forgotten about. By the time the rest of the crew returned to Earth, Fry’s vacation was finished and he quickly slid back into his role as delivery boy. This places a chunk of “The Temp” during the events of season 3, and brings attention back to one of the more controversial episodes in the show’s original run.

Why “Amazon Women In The Mood” Is One Of Futurama’s Most Controversial Episodes

The Initial Popularity Of The Problematic Episode Has Transformed Into A More Divisive Reception

“Amazon Women In The Mood” was the season 3 premiere of Futurama, and is quietly an important episode for Kif and Amy within the show’s overarching continuity. After a double-date between Amy, Leela, Kif, and Zapp crash lands on a world populated by giant amazonians, Fry and Bender’s attempts to save them only get them captured too. As punishment for trespassing on the world, Fry, Zapp, and Kif are sentenced to death by “snu-snu” and forced to have painful sex with many of the inhabitants. When it was initially released, the episode was popular and even earned an Emmy nomination.

However, retrospections on the show has called into question some of the more questionable elements of the episode. Aspects of the episode like the consent of the characters in the event and the trivialization of sexual assault against Kif (who is shown clearly trying to escape the Amazonian’s attempts to copulate) gives it many elements that modern audiences find distasteful. Coupled with the episode’s constant jokes about gender norms and stereotypes, “Amazon Women In The Mood” has grown more controversial in the years since it first aired.

Related

Futurama Season 12 Just Made The Show’s Grossest Fry Twist Even Darker After 23 Years

Fry’s family tree has been affected by time travel, and while this storyline has been weird for years, Futurama season 12 just made it even weirder.

Futurama Season 12 Is Continuing The Hulu Revival’s Sequel Episode Focus

Futurama Season 12 Is Building Off The Past And Bringing Back Surprising Storylines

Notably, this isn’t the only time season 12 of Futurama seems to be pulling from past episodes and storylines. “Quids Game” built upon Fry’s personal family history in some effectively tragic ways, while “The One Amigo” retconned some of Bender’s backstory and expanded his family. Other teases for season 12 have suggested audiences will also be getting a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed “Meanwhile,” as well as a possible return of the golden alternate universe Bender from season 4’s “The Farnsworth Parabox.”

Even the initial delivery assignment for the Planet Express Crew in the episode’s opening is building on previous plot threads. The marriage between the Omicronian rulers Lrrr and Ndnd has been a factor in episodes like season 4’s “Spanish Fry” and season 6’s “Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences.” It’s been interesting to see the newest season of Futurama explore previous storylines and characters, especially in something like “The Temp” where a minor ret-con sets the stage for a new story. It’s an exciting way for Futurama to continue charting its future forward, without forgetting the memorable (and controversial) turns of previous seasons.

Futurama

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Futurama follows the exploits of Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from 1999 who is cryogenically frozen for 1000 years. Waking up in the year 3000, Fry befriends a cyclops named Leela and a roguish robot named Bender, and the three find employment with Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery service. Their work takes them to all corners of the universe, exploring space and the future as imagined by Matt Groening and the creators of The Simpsons.

Cast

Katey Sagal , Billy West , Lauren Tom , Maurice LaMarche , David Herman , Tress MacNeille , John DiMaggio , Phil LaMarr

Release Date

March 28, 1999

Writers

Matt Groening

Directors

Matt Groening

Showrunner

Matt Groening

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