This recap of Futurama Season 11 Episode 3, How the West Was 1010001 , contains spoilers.
How the West Was 1010001, which has a fantastic title and is reminiscent of many other parody episodes, parodies Western genre cliches while making fun of modern technologies and trends in an antiquated setting.
Yes, Bitcoin gets the full treatment.
Futurama Season 11 Episode 3 Recap
The criticism on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in this episode, written by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, and Ken Keeler, isn’t subtle, just like Futurama. The obviousness is kind of the goal of The Impossible Stream, much like in Episode 1.
Contrary to that first episode, the Old West setting actually enhances the overall impact, and the half-hour serves as both a parody and a reflection on the absurdity of invisible mechanical money. Additionally, it provides an excellent justification for satisfying recurring character traits, like Bender’s folk singing.
Who cameos in How the West Was 1010001 ?
A few stalwarts make cameo cameos in the third episode, including Roberto, the Borax Kid, and the Robot Mafia.
Roberto currently attends anger management classes. The Robot Mafia only really makes an appearance at the beginning and the end of the episode, with Fry serving as the Borax Kid’s sidekick for the majority of it.
The animation goes all-out for a late stand-off and some brutal sight-gags, which I enjoyed, but these are clever cameos that really fit into the context and play off the exaggerated genre stereotypes.
Through Hermes and his apathetic son Dwight, this episode thematically refers to the second episode of the season, Children of a Lesser Bog. Although it isn’t particularly heartwarming or even shocking in its beats, it does provide a strong throughline that lends the season’s overall narrative some consistency.
The episode’s main flaw is how it downgrades Fry, keeping him confined to the sidekick role and making jokes about his one-note intelligence while doing so. He is jealous of Leela’s flirtations with the Borax Kid, but other than that, their love relationship is kept at a distance in this situation. His relationship with Leela is likewise hazy.
Overall, it unquestionably succeeds. The setting is new and exciting, there are some snappy one-liners, and the critique on modernity is biting, albeit a little obvious. Furthermore, seeing familiar faces brings back a lot of memories, and the season’s continuous theming gives us optimism that it will ultimately say something about these characters and their relationships.
Only on Hulu can you watch Futurama Season 11 Episode 3: How the West Was 1010001.
Additional reading:
- Futurama Season 11 Episode 4 Recap
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