Futurama (TV Series) Roswell That Ends Well (2001) User Reviews

One of the best Futurama episodes

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 14 June 2012]

When the crew goes to observe a supernova Fry makes the mistake of microwaving some popcorn in a metal container; the resultant radiation reacts with that from the nova to throw them back in time to 1947! Without the usual navigation systems operating on Earth Leela crashes the ship… near Roswell, New Mexico! During the crash Bender is thrown through the windscreen and Zoidberg gets captured by the army while retrieving the pieces. Needing a new microwave to the can replicate the accident to get home Leela and the Professor head into town while Fry goes to visit his grandfather on the army base. Grandfather Enos is an accident waiting to happen so Fry is terrified that something will happen to him… surely a remote shack will be a safe place to leave him; well it would have been if it wasn't on an atomic test site! With Grandpa Enos dead Fry will have to find a new way to continue existing. Having thoroughly messed with time already the Professor decides to just steal a microwave transmitter and rescue Zoidberg from the army and not worry about any consequences.

This is a classic episode with a constant stream of hilarious scenes from start, when Fry removes the 'do not microwave' sticker from the popcorn, to the end when they retrieve Bender's head after an accident left it in the past. The funniest jokes involved the doomed (and probably gay) 'Grandfather' Enos and Fry's incestuous solution to ensuring his father would be born! Zoidberg also provided a few good laughs as he was interrogated then partially dissected! This is certainly one of my favourite episodes; if you want to show somebody one episode of Futurama to show them why it is so good then this would be a good choice.

The One Where Fry Is His Own Grandfather...

[taylorkingston · 10/10 · 20 October 2014]

I love this episode. It's so funny and brings in such a good concept and idea. I love that they talk about something that is quite recent, but a really long long time ago, for them.

In this episode, an unfortunate mash of a microwave oven and a Supernova, throws the Planet Express crew into a space-time warp. It sends them back into the year 1947, roughly, one thousand and fifty years earlier. They accidentally get a man killed and Fry goes to comfort his finance', or wife, I'm not sure which. They hit it off, but it turns out that the man he got killed, was his grandfather, which makes his girlfriend, his grandmother. Before realizing this fact, Fry had slept with her, and he became his own grandfather. Yeah. Not only is he his own grandfather, but he slept with his grandma. Ew. Meanwhile, Zoidberg gets captured by President Truman, and experimented on, but it's okay because Zoidberg gets all the food he wants, so he's happy.. Leela and The Professor try to work out a way to save him and fix the Planet Express ship, so they can return home.

Overall, I give this episode a 10 out of 10.

Futurama at its best

[gizmomogwai · 9/10 · 26 January 2009]

Seasons 1-9 of The Simpsons are still Matt Groening's true masterpiece, but Futurama was often good too. The Simpsons produced more classics, but sometimes Futurama came out with classics of its own. There's The Sting and Godfellas. Then there's Roswell That Ends Well- which won the show an Emmy for outstanding animated program. And indeed, it's outstanding. In it, the Planet Express crew accidentally travel through time and wind up in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. As every alien conspiracy theorist knows, in Roswell that year there were reports that a flying saucer crashed there, but the government later claimed it was a weather balloon. It was really neither- it was a top secret surveillance balloon for the Cold War. But the Roswell incident has since become legend, and Futurama uses it to make a legend of its own. In this episode, Bender's body is mistaken for the flying saucer, and Zoidberg is the alien the government seizes.

What's good about this episode? First and foremost there's Zoidberg, who manages to be a good sport during his own autopsy. Who can resist that great spirit? Then there's Fry being overprotective of his gay, stupid grandfather who was a soldier in New Mexico at the time. Fry tries to keep him safe, only for him to perish when Fry puts him in the middle of an atomic bomb testing site. When Leela asks how Fry's still around after this happens, Fry suggests God loves him and Bender bursts out laughing. That's nonsense, of course. There's the clever- and famous, and perverted- way that the episode resolves that paradox, with Fry becoming his own grandfather. Then there's the woman jokes made stemming from the attitudes of both the Professor and those back in 1947 when the Professor and Leela go to a store (Leela wears sunglasses to hide her one eye). With good humour, appealing characters and clever twists, this episode is a stand out. 9.3/10

Nice twist on the killing your own grandpa paradox.

[celiawatsonanime · 8/10 · 28 February 2022]

I love how freaked out the people at Area 51 are about Zoidburg and Bender. Didn't expect them to actually be able to find a microwave. It's a miracle that they got Bender back.