Some time ago I wrote a review on Futurama as a series, which predictably was rated by fellow-users as "not useful," inevitably since I only gave the series 8 stars when most others were giving it 9s and 10s. Perhaps I should explain: 9 is typically as high as I go, for what I consider to be outstanding, and I put Futurama a notch below because so many of its episodes fall just short of that. However, there are some episodes that succeed brilliantly. The Sting is definitely one of them. I see a fellow-reviewer called this episode "Easily the best episode of the series," and I think if Futurama was the best show of all time, choosing the best episode should be harder. But make no mistake: I think The Sting is one of the best episodes I've seen from any series, ever. It was nominated for the Emmy for outstanding animated program. It lost, and although I haven't seen what won, I doubt it was as good.
Here, the delivery crew go on a mission that killed the Professor's last crew- to collect honey from deadly giant space bees. (Although according to Futurama's Pilot, the last crew was actually killed by space wasps.) Fry, Leela and Bender take some honey, only for a bee to sting Fry and Leela simultaneously- apparently killing Fry and leaving Leela mourning and feeling guilty for his death. She begins to dream that Fry is still alive some how, and slowly seems to be losing her mind. She eats the space honey, only later being told that eating too much of it could cause her to sleep forever. It turns out that Fry is alive, and that the sting had put her in a coma, in which she dreamed the whole thing.
As always, Futurama's animation is beautiful. Here it's used to take us to a giant bee hive, and then on a sleigh ride through an ice world- the animation brings Leela's surreal dreams to life. Futurama, like some of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons, manages to be funny and moving at the same time. Here we can laugh at the Professor's age (he loudly says he's lying to comfort Leela), his guillotine, his making himself feel bad. The laughs aren't major, but this episode isn't aiming to be the funniest Futurama. It moved me to tears, not at Fry's apparent death, but at the end where Leela almost gives up on real life and almost overdoses on the honey, while Fry's spirit urges her to fight. That's a powerful scene, making this a most impressive episode, and making Volume 4 of Futurama a great addition to my DVD collection. 9.4/10
Here, the delivery crew go on a mission that killed the Professor's last crew- to collect honey from deadly giant space bees. (Although according to Futurama's Pilot, the last crew was actually killed by space wasps.) Fry, Leela and Bender take some honey, only for a bee to sting Fry and Leela simultaneously- apparently killing Fry and leaving Leela mourning and feeling guilty for his death. She begins to dream that Fry is still alive some how, and slowly seems to be losing her mind. She eats the space honey, only later being told that eating too much of it could cause her to sleep forever. It turns out that Fry is alive, and that the sting had put her in a coma, in which she dreamed the whole thing.
As always, Futurama's animation is beautiful. Here it's used to take us to a giant bee hive, and then on a sleigh ride through an ice world- the animation brings Leela's surreal dreams to life. Futurama, like some of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons, manages to be funny and moving at the same time. Here we can laugh at the Professor's age (he loudly says he's lying to comfort Leela), his guillotine, his making himself feel bad. The laughs aren't major, but this episode isn't aiming to be the funniest Futurama. It moved me to tears, not at Fry's apparent death, but at the end where Leela almost gives up on real life and almost overdoses on the honey, while Fry's spirit urges her to fight. That's a powerful scene, making this a most impressive episode, and making Volume 4 of Futurama a great addition to my DVD collection. 9.4/10