One of the best science fiction ideas was body-swapping, so it would only be a matter of time before Futurama took a swing at it. Futurama's attempt at a body-swapping episode was very good. It starts with Amy and the Hubert Farnsworth switching bodies, leading to a bunch of stories all told well. Great episode of Futurama.
3 Reviews
A work of demented genius
RobT-26 January 2011
As someone who has watched all of the original "Futurama" episodes several times each, I've mostly enjoyed the new episodes while making some allowances for a creative team getting its act together. Some of the episodes were very good, some just OK, none quite up to the level of the best original Fox episodes. As it happens, "The Prisoner of Benda" was the last of the new episodes I had a chance to watch, and it knocked me for a loop!
"Prisoner" makes use of the old science-fictional device of mind-swapping along with the associated themes of making use of the potential for freedom in being someone other than one's self, the discovery of unexpected limitations in one's "new self", and the renewed appreciation of one's previously taken-for-granted advantages. One new wrinkle is the condition that two given minds, once switched, can't be switched back (an inconvenience initially known only to the first two mind-switchers, and discovered by them the hard way). Add to this various personal hangups on the part of the Planet Express crew (does Fry only love Leela for her body? might Zoidberg be less repulsive if he was a human?) and Bender's limitless capacity for troublemaking, and things spin out of control very quickly.
This is perhaps the least predictable "Futurama" episode ever; it keeps adding new surprises and plot twists right up to the end. Among other treats, it includes some sexy "fan-service" bits as well as one scene that can only be described as the very opposite of "fan-service", both to hilarious effect. The episode's tone can turn on a dime, though; some scenes possess unusual emotional depth, including one bizarre, funny and touching scene featuring Scruffy the janitor, usually the series' most enigmatic figure. Remarkably, "Prisoner" stays true throughout to "Futurama"'s well-established characters, maintaining their believability even while putting them through one weird change after another.
I found "Prisoner" the most uproariously funny "Futurama" episode since "Roswell That Ends Well". Both episodes take outrageous delight in stretching the show's continuity fabric beyond previously imaginable limits, and the sustained possibility of breaking the show beyond repair powers the episodes' humor. One reason I've been on the fence with the new episodes of "Futurama" is because episodes like "Roswell" set such a high standard, but now I'm ready to stay with them until they come up with another one. (I just hope we don't have to wait another nine years for one this funny!)
"Prisoner" makes use of the old science-fictional device of mind-swapping along with the associated themes of making use of the potential for freedom in being someone other than one's self, the discovery of unexpected limitations in one's "new self", and the renewed appreciation of one's previously taken-for-granted advantages. One new wrinkle is the condition that two given minds, once switched, can't be switched back (an inconvenience initially known only to the first two mind-switchers, and discovered by them the hard way). Add to this various personal hangups on the part of the Planet Express crew (does Fry only love Leela for her body? might Zoidberg be less repulsive if he was a human?) and Bender's limitless capacity for troublemaking, and things spin out of control very quickly.
This is perhaps the least predictable "Futurama" episode ever; it keeps adding new surprises and plot twists right up to the end. Among other treats, it includes some sexy "fan-service" bits as well as one scene that can only be described as the very opposite of "fan-service", both to hilarious effect. The episode's tone can turn on a dime, though; some scenes possess unusual emotional depth, including one bizarre, funny and touching scene featuring Scruffy the janitor, usually the series' most enigmatic figure. Remarkably, "Prisoner" stays true throughout to "Futurama"'s well-established characters, maintaining their believability even while putting them through one weird change after another.
I found "Prisoner" the most uproariously funny "Futurama" episode since "Roswell That Ends Well". Both episodes take outrageous delight in stretching the show's continuity fabric beyond previously imaginable limits, and the sustained possibility of breaking the show beyond repair powers the episodes' humor. One reason I've been on the fence with the new episodes of "Futurama" is because episodes like "Roswell" set such a high standard, but now I'm ready to stay with them until they come up with another one. (I just hope we don't have to wait another nine years for one this funny!)
Body-swapping leads to hilarity
Tweekums5 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
As this episode opens Bender is plotting to steal the crown jewels from the Emperor of the Robo-Hungarian Empire; to do this he will need the help of other members of the Planet Express crew; something they aren't so keen on. Meanwhile the Professor has developed a machine that enables two people to swap consciousness. He wants a younger body and Amy wants a chance to eat vast amounts without getting fat so they swap. Soon they realise that they'd rather be in their own bodies unfortunately it emerges that they can't swap back directly. Bender learns of the machine and decides that he can use it to facilitate his plan to rob the emperor without the permission of his colleagues
he starts by swapping with the Professor to get Amy's body. In what follows numerous characters, including all of the main cast, swap for one reason or another. Eventually Leela is in the Professor's body and Fry is in Zoidbergs; will this kill their passion for each other or is their love more than skin deep?
This episode is classic 'Futurama' with some great science fiction; a mathematical problem and some hilarity as the characters swap bodies. Some expected clichés are avoided; for example the Professor isn't happy to have breasts when he is in Amy's body. The plots involving the Emperor and Fry and Leela's relationship were both pretty funny and in the latter case a little disturbing! The subplot were the Professor, in Bender's body, joins the circus was also rather funny. It is surprising just how much got packing into this single episode without it feeling like any plot line was under-explored. Overall I'd say this was a top-notch episode that I'm sure most fans of the series will enjoy.
This episode is classic 'Futurama' with some great science fiction; a mathematical problem and some hilarity as the characters swap bodies. Some expected clichés are avoided; for example the Professor isn't happy to have breasts when he is in Amy's body. The plots involving the Emperor and Fry and Leela's relationship were both pretty funny and in the latter case a little disturbing! The subplot were the Professor, in Bender's body, joins the circus was also rather funny. It is surprising just how much got packing into this single episode without it feeling like any plot line was under-explored. Overall I'd say this was a top-notch episode that I'm sure most fans of the series will enjoy.
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