A Taste of Freedom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Futurama episode | |
| "A Taste of Freedom" | |
 Zoidberg eats Old Freebie. |
|
|---|---|
| Episode no. | 59 |
| Prod. code | 4ACV05 |
| Airdate | December 12, 2002 |
| Writer(s) | Eric Horsted |
| Director | James Purdum |
| Opening subtitle | OR IS IT? |
| Opening cartoon | Unknown |
| Guest star(s) | Phil Hendrie |
| Season 4 January 2002 – August 2003 |
|
|
|
| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"A Taste of Freedom" is the fifth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The crew celebrates Freedom Day, a day where you can do anything you want, regardless of the consequences. Dr. Zoidberg seems affectionate about the holiday, as he loves the idea of freedom, something he did not have on his home planet Decapod 10. At the big Freedom Day celebration in Washington, D.C., Earth President Richard Nixon's head unveils the Earth flag "Old Freebie" to celebrate the spirit of the holiday but the flag is eaten by Zoidberg. Zoidberg feels this is an expression of his freedom on Freedom Day; however, the rest of the crowd sees him as a traitor. Zoidberg is chased around town and takes cover in his planet's embassy.
Zoidberg is put on trial and the crew hires lawyer Old Man Waterfall to represent him. Zoidberg, however, is found guilty and sentenced to death when he refuses to apologize publicly. After Earth's army storms the Decapodian embassy to seize Zoidberg (which constitutes an act of war, since the embassy is technically on Decapodian mud), the Decapodian ambassador to Earth summons the Decapodian military to retaliate. The Decapodian army easily defeats Earth's defense forces (thanks in no small part to Zapp Brannigan's incompetence, after he hands over the activation codes for the entire global defense network to a thinly disguised Decapodian operative named "Hugh Man") and Earth is enslaved by the crustacean extraterrestrials.
Zoidberg does nothing to help his former coworkers, claiming that Earth didn't deserve its freedom. Later, Fry, Bender, Leela, Zapp, and Kif find a heat-seeking missile and launch it toward the Decopodians' newly-constructed Mobile Oppression Palace (a gigantic vehicle left behind by the Decapodians to keep the people of Earth subjugated, as it is much cheaper than an occupation force and just as effective). However, the palace is "cold-blooded," like the Decapodians themselves, and the palace continues its destructive rampage. It eventually crushes Old Man Waterfall for standing in its way, whom Zoidberg respected for defending him when no one else would. Zoidberg then lights a flag on fire and throws it toward the Mobile Oppression Palace, attracting the missile and thus destroying the palace. Zoidberg is declared a hero and is honored by Nixon at a ceremony, where he unveils a new Earth flag, out of which Zoidberg is allowed to take a bite. Zoidberg concludes that Earth, not Decapod 10, is now his true home planet.
[edit] Characters
Characters who first appear in this episode are:
- Chief Justice Myrtle Fu
[edit] Cultural references
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The episode is based on the famous flag burning controversy.
- The "Old Freedom" Anthem is very similar to the Dutch National Anthem.
- The embassies of the Neutral Planet, the Globetrotter Homeworld, and the Klingon planet are seen on the row of embassies.
- The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is Myrtle Fu, while the Associate Justices are Abe Vigoda, Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Snoop Dogg. Except for Vigoda and Snoop Dogg, all of the Associate Justices mentioned were actually Associate Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court at the time the episode was made.
- In this episode it is revealed that Washington, D.C was renamed after Washington the Sweathog from Welcome Back, Kotter in 2475.
- The president of the ACLU sings a song parody of the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas", "Don't Mess with Earth".
- Earth's "Freedom Day" holiday is very similar to the "Do What You Feel" festival seen on The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child". Both series were created by Matt Groening.
- The outfit Amy wears to Zoidberg's trial resembles that of Jacqueline Kennedy.
- Zoidberg states that "now the rubberband is on the other claw" when the tables turn in his favor, a lobster variation on the turn of phrase "now the shoe is on the other foot." Also, in "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?" Zoidberg's claws were held shut by rubberbands in one scene.
- During the Freedom Day Parade, there is a performance by the "Fighting Dukaki" a reference to Michael Dukakis's campaign stunt at the General Dynamics plant in Michigan.
- Hermes calls Zoidberg a "turkey of the sea", a reference to Chicken of the Sea, a brand of canned tuna.
- The Mobile Oppression Palace flag resembles a Claw and a Hammer. It also looks like the nazi flag: a white circle over a red square.
[edit] Continuity
- This episode features Phil Hendrie playing Old Man Waterfall. He played Free Waterfall Jr. in "The Problem with Popplers" and Free Waterfall Sr. in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". Old Man Waterfall's great-grandchild (casually referred to as "Frieda Waterfall" by the show's producers) appears at the end of the episode. Save the latter, all of these characters die in the episodes in which they appear. However, Old Man Waterfall was introduced immediately after the death of his predecessor, just like Frieda, so it's possible she will be brought back and killed off in a future episode, continuing the running gag.
- Zoidberg says that two of his three hearts are having attacks while in court. In the earlier episode "Roswell That Ends Well", Zoidberg states that he has four hearts; but the doctors performing his live alien autopsy in that episode took one, leaving him with three.
- In the flashback of how Zoidberg's planet isn't as free as Earth, Zoidberg lives with his aunt (and Zoidberg's aunt implies that Zoidberg's parents are dead). In the season two episode, "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?", Zoidberg reveals that after his species has sex, they die.
[edit] Production notes
- The episode originally featured the Decapod 10 spaceships destroying buildings, but the writers felt it was tasteless due to the September 11th attacks and animated replacement scenes (such as the one showing the men dressed as Uncle Sam on stilts getting cut down and the Clinton monument getting its tip cut off).
- This episode on Fox was rated TV-14 for suggestive dialogue (D) and violence (V); but on Adult Swim, it is rated TV-14 with no sub-rating letters. This is the sixth time this has happened for Futurama.
|
|||||||||||||||||
