This episode of Futurama has quickly become one of my favorite's, it's full of great one liners and oh my goodness the ending was so so so sad I actually started to cry! This episode and the one about his dog are the most emotional episodes this show has ever produced. I would definitely recommend this but only if you can handle It. I take my hat of to Matt Groaning and all the writers and actors, absolutely amazing. Even though It starts of a very generic episode, the end scene saves the whole episode and maybe even the whole season, as you know many of these kind of TV shows become tired and un-funny but episodes like this really give hope back to the viewers and loyal fans. Genuinely happy about this.
8 Reviews
A dream of thee...
Foreverisacastironmess12315 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This episode really pleasantly surprised me, because to me in the later final seasons where the majority of the episodes were fine but noticeably missing that certain special something, this one turned out to be a real deep and heartwarming gem of a story that had the emotional punch of "Luck of the Fryish" and "Jurassic Bark", to name two of the most memorable examples. I think this was a very worthy successor to those beautiful moving stories. The mystery of the powerful alien tone that Fry knows he's heard before but cannot place is compelling and drives the first part of the plot forward nicely. I frankly really didn't like what the noise turned out to be, I thought that was a bit lame. But I did love the direction the story ended up in and how it set it up so well with the far out and awesome concept of Fry's consciousness being sent into the past in a way, via his dream memory of the day that he slipped into the fateful cryogenic tube. It's really well thought out and rather mind-bending, I didn't get how some of the characters knew they were in his dream, but I loved the stuff like how when he had no memory of something in his dream-scape there was just a white empty space, that was awesome, Futurama could always do awesome very well! It's very poignant and touching the way Fry wanted to keep spending time with his dream family rather than find the origin of the noise right away. And anyone who's ever seen Jurassic Bark will know that it means a lot when he gives Seymour the dog a big hug! It's beautiful at the end where Fry is given the gift of visiting his lost mother in her own dream, giving her comfort as well as a new memory of him, as seen when she wakes up and smiles at his picture. It really is something akin to that sometimes in dreams, a lot of the time when you dream about people and animals that you cared about who are long gone the dream ends just as you reach them, but sometimes you do reach them and get to look in their eyes, hold and even smell them again. Dreams like that almost feel like precious offerings from beyond that are meant to give us hope and maybe more... Sorry to ramble there but it's a lovely episode that moved me and even made me think a little! Thanks so much Futurama team, fantastic job, you knocked this one out of the park! Everyone please take care and be as happy as you possibly can be! X
Jurassic Bark doesn't hold a candle to this
Sikamixoticelixer5 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Jurassic Bark (and the luck of the Fryish) are two of the most talked about episodes when futurama is the topic of conversation. They both have great humour and end on a big emotional note. They are both bittersweet and rightfully get the attention they deserve.
But then in the last season, seemingly out of nowhere, this episode shows up. The ending brought tears to my eyes. I am not ashamed to admit that I actually cried watching this. I've seen this episode numerous times and it still hits as hard as ever. The final shot of Fry's mum waking up and just smile is such a bittersweet moment.
But then in the last season, seemingly out of nowhere, this episode shows up. The ending brought tears to my eyes. I am not ashamed to admit that I actually cried watching this. I've seen this episode numerous times and it still hits as hard as ever. The final shot of Fry's mum waking up and just smile is such a bittersweet moment.
The dream is what gets me nowadays
10086cn11 April 2021
An excellently funny, but touching episode.
AdmiralBlindMan7918 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
**May Contain Spoilers**
When I first saw this episode, I was unprepared for the raw emotion at the end, but I'll save that for later. As usual, Futurama writers gave fans the humor we've come to know and love over the past 13 years (at the time of this review, Futurama had been canceled since September of 2013). We've gone from one ride to another with several versions of "finale" episodes designed very cleverly to allow for an opening in case the show somehow would get resurrected. The writers were especially careful to give fans the ability to occasionally laugh at the brilliant references to several of science fiction's greatest TV shows and movies, pay homages to shows long gone, and to celebrities whose fame had long passed.
That said, I very much thought this was going to be a play on "Game of Thrones". A show I've never seen, nor cared to see for any reason. It may have been a tribute to the HBO series, but to me I didn't see any real tribute to the show. If there was any, I didn't see any sort of references. If anyone would care to enlighten me, I'd be happy to discuss it another time, perhaps.
So, in an effort to get vital information to (once again) save Earth from terrible destruction at the sound of devastating tones destroying Earth's atmosphere, we get to see Fry having his brain tapped into by Professor Farnsworth's dream device inducing a lost memory that Fry somehow remembers the tones from.
This where it gets a little funny, a little weird, and a little sad. Again, I remind the readers there may be spoilers here if you have not seen the episode. We see our good pal Fry going about his last day on Earth in his memories as though he was living it out as normal, trying desperately to cherish every last moment, even if it wasn't particularly pleasant. He tries so hard to enjoy every moment that his friends from Planet Express, his co-workers, had to drag him away from his family home while trying to have a New Year's Eve (1999 to 2000) dinner. When he tries to re-enter, it is clear that Fry is saddened that he cannot ever see them again since he never returned home. We know this for a fact since Fry got accidentally frozen (by the hand of "Nibbler" who would later reveal this information in the future and admit fault) taking him 1,000 years into the future.
At the end, the conclusion is presented as sort of a minor deal. A fellow "Nibblonian" had lost his spaceship 1,000 years earlier during the moment Fry would get frozen in a cryogenic sleep. After hundreds of years searching, destroying planets in the process, they finally find the ship on top of a nearby building. What's interesting to note here is that Fry helps identify the correct sequence of music tones to reply to the devastating tones destroying Earth's atmosphere. At first, we the audience are left to believe that "Nibbler" will pay back Fry somehow, some way. We do not know when or how, but the Nibblonians are once again in Fry's debt.
Just before the final close of the episode, we see Fry fast asleep back at his shared apartment with Bender, and as he tosses and turns, he starts to dream about his mother. She's at the home sitting on their couch cheering on what I believe to be a football game. Judging from her "fan gear", I'd say they were Green Bay Packers fans, but I could be wrong. Fry wants to ask her something important and she responds with "There's nothing more important to me than to listen you, except after this game!" (or something to that effect). Calmly, she turns to him a moment later to address her son.
In a touching moment, Fry asks his mom if she ever thought about him after he was gone. For a brief moment after she answers, he quickly realized it wouldn't be possible for her to answer in his dream. A briefly smart moment for Fry, but this is where we see Nibbler enter the dream, and says to Fry that this was his race's repayment for the debt to Fry having her brief memories given to him in a dream. At last, Fry has closure with his family, and can now move on as he hugs his dream based mom, and wants to hold her forever.
I'm not a guy who displays emotions very often, but this episode had me rolling with tears as I thought about my own mother, and how I would deeply miss her when she's gone, or if I am gone and she's left here alone without myself or my older brother. It was a very powerful ending to an episode of a series that originally vowed never to take anything seriously, and here we are having a serious, but very emotional moment in an animated series. If you have loved ones, watch this episode with them, and have a tissue box at the ready. You'll need it at the end.
When I first saw this episode, I was unprepared for the raw emotion at the end, but I'll save that for later. As usual, Futurama writers gave fans the humor we've come to know and love over the past 13 years (at the time of this review, Futurama had been canceled since September of 2013). We've gone from one ride to another with several versions of "finale" episodes designed very cleverly to allow for an opening in case the show somehow would get resurrected. The writers were especially careful to give fans the ability to occasionally laugh at the brilliant references to several of science fiction's greatest TV shows and movies, pay homages to shows long gone, and to celebrities whose fame had long passed.
That said, I very much thought this was going to be a play on "Game of Thrones". A show I've never seen, nor cared to see for any reason. It may have been a tribute to the HBO series, but to me I didn't see any real tribute to the show. If there was any, I didn't see any sort of references. If anyone would care to enlighten me, I'd be happy to discuss it another time, perhaps.
So, in an effort to get vital information to (once again) save Earth from terrible destruction at the sound of devastating tones destroying Earth's atmosphere, we get to see Fry having his brain tapped into by Professor Farnsworth's dream device inducing a lost memory that Fry somehow remembers the tones from.
This where it gets a little funny, a little weird, and a little sad. Again, I remind the readers there may be spoilers here if you have not seen the episode. We see our good pal Fry going about his last day on Earth in his memories as though he was living it out as normal, trying desperately to cherish every last moment, even if it wasn't particularly pleasant. He tries so hard to enjoy every moment that his friends from Planet Express, his co-workers, had to drag him away from his family home while trying to have a New Year's Eve (1999 to 2000) dinner. When he tries to re-enter, it is clear that Fry is saddened that he cannot ever see them again since he never returned home. We know this for a fact since Fry got accidentally frozen (by the hand of "Nibbler" who would later reveal this information in the future and admit fault) taking him 1,000 years into the future.
At the end, the conclusion is presented as sort of a minor deal. A fellow "Nibblonian" had lost his spaceship 1,000 years earlier during the moment Fry would get frozen in a cryogenic sleep. After hundreds of years searching, destroying planets in the process, they finally find the ship on top of a nearby building. What's interesting to note here is that Fry helps identify the correct sequence of music tones to reply to the devastating tones destroying Earth's atmosphere. At first, we the audience are left to believe that "Nibbler" will pay back Fry somehow, some way. We do not know when or how, but the Nibblonians are once again in Fry's debt.
Just before the final close of the episode, we see Fry fast asleep back at his shared apartment with Bender, and as he tosses and turns, he starts to dream about his mother. She's at the home sitting on their couch cheering on what I believe to be a football game. Judging from her "fan gear", I'd say they were Green Bay Packers fans, but I could be wrong. Fry wants to ask her something important and she responds with "There's nothing more important to me than to listen you, except after this game!" (or something to that effect). Calmly, she turns to him a moment later to address her son.
In a touching moment, Fry asks his mom if she ever thought about him after he was gone. For a brief moment after she answers, he quickly realized it wouldn't be possible for her to answer in his dream. A briefly smart moment for Fry, but this is where we see Nibbler enter the dream, and says to Fry that this was his race's repayment for the debt to Fry having her brief memories given to him in a dream. At last, Fry has closure with his family, and can now move on as he hugs his dream based mom, and wants to hold her forever.
I'm not a guy who displays emotions very often, but this episode had me rolling with tears as I thought about my own mother, and how I would deeply miss her when she's gone, or if I am gone and she's left here alone without myself or my older brother. It was a very powerful ending to an episode of a series that originally vowed never to take anything seriously, and here we are having a serious, but very emotional moment in an animated series. If you have loved ones, watch this episode with them, and have a tissue box at the ready. You'll need it at the end.
Just when I thought it was all over for Futurama
engr-uzairali13 September 2013
Futurama was one of my favorite shows, and I say 'was', because the new season was not that Epic... I couldn't believe it was the same team that gave three of the best movies for a series, with great concepts and twists and perfectly adjacent story lines. But, just as I was thinking of quitting following the show... just then, it hits back with a superb episode of Game of Tones. Like the previous three four episodes I thought it was another take on some famous drama or film, but believe me when I say it was completely different. The whole episode is filled with drama, which is good, and once again takes us back to the past of Philip J. Fry. I won't say anymore, watch this one! oh and also that.... I miss my mom too :(
Oh yes! the writers indeed redeemed themselves here, so the show is again on my top list.
Oh yes! the writers indeed redeemed themselves here, so the show is again on my top list.
The feels...
steve-5070125 February 2021
One of my new favourite episodes
hannahcurwen_arsenal20 November 2020
This episode had pretty much everything there is to love about Futurama: impending doom, eventually solved in the strangest way possible with plenty of laughs. In addition it had one of the show's most heartfelt and emotional moments and the ending did have me shedding a few tears. Overall a really enjoyable episode!
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