There's few problems with The Problem with Popplers, making it a highlight of volume 2 of Futurama. In it, Fry, Leela and Bender are out of food while in space and go looking for something to eat on a strange planet. They find tasty meat they call popplers, which Fry describes as being "like sex," except he's having it. They bring a ship load of popplers back to Earth and begin selling them, but Leela turns against the consumption of popplers when she finds out they're not only alive, they're intelligent. Indeed, popplers are the young of Omicron Persei 8, which had previously invaded Earth in When Aliens Attack. The aliens return to Earth looking for revenge.
This is a funny episode for a few reasons- we can laugh at Fry and Bender's dubious business skills and the even more dubious claim that no one can own property. The episode makes fun of hippies, who are apparently still around in the year 3000, and the jokes about Lrrr being fascinated by his hands, and Bender's remarks about titanium and aluminum, are priceless. Mainly though, this episode stands out for its dark humour, as popplers, a monkey, a hippie, and even a dolphin are eaten. This raises the question as to what animals are okay to eat- the popplers aren't human, so it's not cannibalism for people to eat them, but if intelligence is taken into consideration, the popplers are an alien equivalent of humans. The same paradox exists regarding Leela, an alien woman who sleeps with the human Zapp, and who's loved by the human Fry- given they're different species, this is potentially bestiality, but no one seems to think of it that way (probably, rightfully so) since Leela is like a human. At any rate, this is a good episode.
This is a funny episode for a few reasons- we can laugh at Fry and Bender's dubious business skills and the even more dubious claim that no one can own property. The episode makes fun of hippies, who are apparently still around in the year 3000, and the jokes about Lrrr being fascinated by his hands, and Bender's remarks about titanium and aluminum, are priceless. Mainly though, this episode stands out for its dark humour, as popplers, a monkey, a hippie, and even a dolphin are eaten. This raises the question as to what animals are okay to eat- the popplers aren't human, so it's not cannibalism for people to eat them, but if intelligence is taken into consideration, the popplers are an alien equivalent of humans. The same paradox exists regarding Leela, an alien woman who sleeps with the human Zapp, and who's loved by the human Fry- given they're different species, this is potentially bestiality, but no one seems to think of it that way (probably, rightfully so) since Leela is like a human. At any rate, this is a good episode.