Rate/Review "Rebirth"

[TriforceBun]

Great to see Futurama back. Personally, I was quite happy with both episodes, and I thought Rebirth in particular fit in well with the established quality of the series. It's not up there with The Sting or Godfellas, but it's a decently clever adventure that mixes in a little bit of everything that is Futurama in a funny, fast-paced story.

In fact, I was a little surprised by how genuinely funny it was. Even the movies had some slow spots and rarely got to the point of rapid-fire joke-telling like the series, but Rebirth brought that back really well, particularly with Farnsworth (just about every line of his was great). There were a few weird or flat moments (the umbilical cord gag was done better in The Simpsons and doesn't really make sense here--I mean, Hermes doesn't even flinch...how much would that hurt!?), but I'd say this is on par with Futurama's sense of humor. Bender's subplot was enjoyable, mostly due to a bunch of fun background moments and they never dwelled too much on him. I also liked the return of Randy: "Do the Bender!" "No thank you." "I SAID DO IT."

The story was also enjoyably creative, and supplied a twist I didn't see coming. There was quite a number of plot points stuffed in here, which made some of it feel rushed (Leela awakening from the coma, Bender's doomsday device not really being a big explosion at all, Fry coming out of the birthing machine just in time). And the Terminator thing was sort of goofy; I think it'd be cooler if they went off together but didn't shed their human shells, and possibly had a role as doppelgangers in a future episode.

The other scene that felt strange to me was the professor's invention, which essentially cheated death itself. Since death was handled with a lot of weight in several past episodes (most notably The Sting), it makes it feel like our heroes are practically invincible. I mean, Fry was revived after being crushed into a gooey cluster of cells and hair! I'm worried this will cause story problems in the future if it involves death or near-death experiences.

Also, why were Zapp and Kif's heads unharmed when the shields only covered the PE crew?

Anyway, some story snafus aside, I liked it quite a bit. I wasn't really feeling the emotion as much, but the gags and creativity made for a very entertaining return to form. Looking forward to seeing more Futurama!

4/5 B+

[Disgruntled Goat]

Not a bad start to the season, but it was a bit all over the place. Some good jokes dotted around, I loved Bender's constant dancing in the background.

But something didn't gel with the plot really. I think it was pacing more than anything else. Parts seemed to drag on for a while, but when they got to the end I thought "is that it?" - it didn't feel like a proper end to the episode.

Nonetheless, great to have it back. Hopefully when they get back to normal episodes, this will pick up again.

[Snaked]

Even after the original run with 72 episodes, 4 Direct-to-DVD movies and an official comeback on TV starting with this episode, Futurama has never lost it's sense of humour and quality and there doesn't seem to be anyway it will for quite some time.

4/5

I'm glad your back, Planet Express Crew!

[SIR oinks alot]

ahhh... good to be back...

anyways a great, if not greater, return to the episodic adventures back to futurama. I'll break it down into parts.

Plot:
The best part of the episode is the plot. Its just so intricate and thick, and it all came together in a smart and witty fashion(making 2 throwaway jokes major plot points), which is also why I loved Benders big score so much. Plus I did not see the twist of Fry being a robot too(it may be cause I'm kinda dumb at times..... nevertheless) and it was just classic futurama all over again.

The Jokes
the jokes, they were hit and miss, but a healthy 6:10 ratio of hits, ranging from broad to subtle. Some jokes that I loved was the Amy getting the comedy central joke, Fry talking in the urinals, I thought the leela screaming was OK, and so on. I also thought that the Bender being forced to party was kinda fun, But would probrably be annoying on rewatches.

the jokes that miss however, often are self referencial, like

Fry: But how did this happen?
Proffesor: Who know?! Oh I do.

I dunno, those just annoy the hell out of me for some reason, plus they did a simular and better executed joke in arrested development.

Animation

IDK, Futurama in HD just feels.....Right. the animation is fluid and alive(Bender dancing, leela Vs. Leela Fight), yet the designs & backrounds are detailed and beautiful(the cyclophage planet, plus the stem cell machine), where in the current HD simpsons its all looks and no depth. anyways, my point is is that the animation is great.

ehhhhhh..... a 4/5 seems right

[Jesse Pinkman]

I liked it. The twist with Fry (the fry in the episode) being a robot I thought was clever. I thought it had some funny jokes about it being canceled and returning and I liked the plot. 5/5, great to have futurama back

[Mt. Doom]

Pretty much agree with what Triforce said. Glad to have Futurama back, loved the Hypnotoad beginning

4/5

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

Rebirth

What a great return I really enjoyed it. The plot was very good and flowed very well the jokes were good and Bender was hilarious as per usual. The cyclops island and the cyclops itself were wonderfully animated and so was the whole show infact. Though it was not up there with fantastic Futurama episodes (Parasites lost, War is the H-word, The Bird-bot of Ice-catraz) it was still as funny and creative

Score: (A well deserving) B+, 4/5, 8/10, Excellent

[Mira]

I enjoyed it almost 100%. I don't see why people are being so hard on it either when Futurama has always been a bit hit or miss with both full episodes and gags within. This ranks in the middle 3/5 to 4/5 range by Futurama episode standards. (I gave it a 4/5). I loved Amy's talk about having an orgy; that probably made me laugh more than anything we they all saw her and said yes, and then looked at each other and changed their minds. =D

Also, It was an episode made to re-introduce the characters, so I can see why it wouldn't be perfect and there'd be some lame/ odd gags. All in all though, there weren't even that many.

[TriforceBun]

I enjoyed it almost 100%. I don't see why people are being so hard on it either when Futurama has always been a bit hit or miss with both full episodes and gags within. This ranks in the middle 3/5 to 4/5 range by Futurama episode standards. (I gave it a 4/5). I loved Amy's talk about having an orgy; that probably made me laugh more than anything we they all saw her and said yes, and then looked at each other and changed their minds. =D

That scene was actually from the second episode.

I mostly agree with you though. While this episode wasn't up to the level of the show's absolute best, I thought it was still a very good showing that'd have no problem fitting into the third or fourth season. I think people shouldn't expect every episode to be Parasite's Lost or Roswell That Ends Well.

[Whip-Smart]

Not the best start IMO 2/5

[Bella Drape 'er]

Not the best start IMO 2/5

this

Although there was a few smart jokes, it didn't have a smart plot which I would have ignored if the episode had actually been funny.

[♩ ♪ ♫ ♬]

have only glanced at this thread so appologies if it's been mentioned already, but I rewatched this episode today and noticed a sign gag that made me smile



1^2 x 2^1 x 3^3 = 1 x 2 x 27 = 54

studio 54

[Shaunbadia]

5/5! IMO they couldn't have done a better job of bringing Futurama back as a series.

The cold open with Hypnotoad and the "Wild green yonder" recap was great. The crew hanging above the Rebithing machine is one of my favourite visuals of the season.

Bender's "Party for your life" plot just seems like a way of showing people new to the series or reminding casual fans that "LOLZ BENDER IS TEH BREAKOUT CHARATCER DEEDEEDEE!!!" Though it was still really enjoyable nonetheless, especially the way it moved along the scenes with the Cyclophage. And Bender's eye falling out completely was a great callback to the first time it comes loose not to mention it was a pretty good twist.

And speaking of twists......wow just wow with the explaination for what really happened the day ship crashed. I sort of guessed the robot Fry thing when Leea said "I'd probably build a copy of you too" but the way it was all explained was great.

One minor nitpick though....when Zapp came out at the end it made me think, did the crew just sort of leave Zapp for dead or did he just take a long time in the rebirthing machine like the real Fry did?

THAT is the one thing we'll never truly understand

[CousinMerl]

Watched this episode for the first time a couple of days back (got the DVD set with all the 26 episodes from season six for my birthday); for the first new episode I've watched since the movies, it's definitely a fun start. Bender having to party in practically all of his scenes to avoid blowing up maybe got a little overdone (at least it was good that this was used as a plot device to get rid of the cyclophage monster) but this was an overall fine re-introductory episode; I also really liked the robot Fry plot twist at the end.

4/5