Such a beautiful and emotional episode, especially the ending.
6 Reviews
Beautiful
laiks-8393920 August 2021
Leela's origins revealed
gizmomogwai1 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Contrary to what the other reviewer says, I don't think Futurama sacrificed humour in favour of emotion in this episode. True, the laughs aren't major, but there are some. This is an episode where Bender stuffs a whale carcass down in a sewer. That and a strange pop culture reference (the mutants make a balloon out of Bart Simpson and Jon Arbuckle floats) make this episode interesting. But more than that, it's sweet and touching.
Leela wins an award from the orphanage for being successful in life, but returning to the orphanage seems to remind Leela of the pain of never knowing her parents, and she cries later that night. Meanwhile, Bender starts throwing waste down the sewers, not caring how this affects the mutants who live down there- including two, as we find out, who are Leela's true parents. The mutants bring Fry, Leela and Bender into the sewer and attempt to punish them for Bender's misdeeds, but Leela's parents get the other mutants to banish them from the sewer instead. Nevertheless, Leela pursues the mutants wanting to know how they know her. She ultimately learns the truth.
This episode has the important revelation that Leela is not the alien we always thought she was- she's a mutant instead. The episode actually reveals that early when her parents are seen looking up at her from the sewer. I'm still not sure if that was the best thing to do- it takes away from the mystery of why Leela doesn't mutate when she lands in the sewer water or why these two strange mutants have pictures of her in their home. Then again, a lot of fans might have figured it out anyway, so maybe there was no reason to try to keep it a surprise. Either way, with a touching ending (with a good use of song, as we also saw a little later in Jurassic Bark), this episode is solid.
Leela wins an award from the orphanage for being successful in life, but returning to the orphanage seems to remind Leela of the pain of never knowing her parents, and she cries later that night. Meanwhile, Bender starts throwing waste down the sewers, not caring how this affects the mutants who live down there- including two, as we find out, who are Leela's true parents. The mutants bring Fry, Leela and Bender into the sewer and attempt to punish them for Bender's misdeeds, but Leela's parents get the other mutants to banish them from the sewer instead. Nevertheless, Leela pursues the mutants wanting to know how they know her. She ultimately learns the truth.
This episode has the important revelation that Leela is not the alien we always thought she was- she's a mutant instead. The episode actually reveals that early when her parents are seen looking up at her from the sewer. I'm still not sure if that was the best thing to do- it takes away from the mystery of why Leela doesn't mutate when she lands in the sewer water or why these two strange mutants have pictures of her in their home. Then again, a lot of fans might have figured it out anyway, so maybe there was no reason to try to keep it a surprise. Either way, with a touching ending (with a good use of song, as we also saw a little later in Jurassic Bark), this episode is solid.
Where is Leela from?
Tweekums23 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
After getting the 'Orphan of the Year' award Leela looks are the sky and wonders what happened to her alien parents... as two one-eyed mutants look up at her from a sewer grate. Bender meanwhile has gone into the waste disposal business; which incurs the wrath of the sewer mutants as he is just pouring the waste down the nearest drain! As he is trying to force a whale carcass into the sewers the ground gives way and the mutants reach up and grab him along with Leela and Fry. As punishment for the pollution they say that they will throw the trio into the mutagenic swamp, which will turn them into mutants. They flee and hide; in the room they hide in they find something rather surprising... the walls are covered with pictures of Leela. Leela is disturbed at the idea of having a mutant stalker but before she cam worry about it too much they are captured. This time the mutants announce there intention to kill them; until two hooded characters have a word in the chief-mutants ear... then they say they will expel them from the sewer. As they are climbing the ladder to the hatch Leela looks back and dives back down into the lake... she much know who has been spying on her and why somebody would want to set them free. Fry meanwhile heads to the Orphanarium to see what he can find out about Leela in order to get her to come back.
This was a fine episode; far more emotional than most yet still packed with plenty of laughs. It was great to finally learn just what Leela was even if she was a mutant! It was touching how her parents cared so much for her that they could give her up for a better life on the surface even though it meant she would probably never know them. The scene where she finally realises that they are her parents is one of the most touching in the series so far, and I loved the 'Baby Love Child' montage at the end. Comedy highlights included Bender and the whale and Leela getting out of the swamp with what looked like an octopus on her head... it was actually a mutated blonde girl!
This was a fine episode; far more emotional than most yet still packed with plenty of laughs. It was great to finally learn just what Leela was even if she was a mutant! It was touching how her parents cared so much for her that they could give her up for a better life on the surface even though it meant she would probably never know them. The scene where she finally realises that they are her parents is one of the most touching in the series so far, and I loved the 'Baby Love Child' montage at the end. Comedy highlights included Bender and the whale and Leela getting out of the swamp with what looked like an octopus on her head... it was actually a mutated blonde girl!
one of Those futurama episodes
ajpugh-7423030 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
You know, the ones that'll have you laughing for the first 15 minutes then sobbing in the last 5. This episode has it all: clever dialogue, great humor, a big realization. The show doesn't explain this so much as it drops breadcrumbs and allows you to draw conclusions at your own pace, which sets the scene for a joke later on. It doesn't take a detective to figure out what's going on pretty quickly, but one thing I love about Futurama is its ability to make 'smart' jokes that are easily accessible. It's something it does very well, in my opinion, so I wouldn't expect any less. The ending is touching, realistic, heartfelt, funny. But the rest of the episode is, too. It's well-paced, well-written, and highly enjoyable all around. There are lots of great Futurama episodes, but this is one of the ones worth writing home about.
Damn...
10086cn10 August 2021
It's all fun and games and everybody gangsta till... we realise that there could have been a high chance that Leela could have actually shot her parents and then took their disguises off, to then realise that the people she shot were her parents. I mean, that almost certainly would have happened had Fry not come in and stopped Leela. Just think about that for a second. It's all fun and games and everything might have seemed innocent and all till you come to the realisation that things could have potentially gone very wrong. And I don't know about you, but I just cannot take in the pressure had that actually happened.
This is where it all began
ericstevenson10 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This may have been the only old episode of "Futurama" that I've never seen before and BOY was it worth to watch! This episode was pretty amazing as we finally get to see Leela's origin. Now, early in the episode, it's already kind of revealed. It still manages to be perfectly paced. Leela simply ponders about her biological parents as she's an orphan. The characters are grabbed by sewer dwellers for polluting them further.
She finds pictures of herself in an old house, meaning that some mutants have been watching her, her whole life. Fry, Bender and Leela are about to be thrown into the sewage to mutate, but two cloaked figures manage to save them. Leela stays behind to find out who they are and how they know about her. We then see her true origins, that she was the least mutated mutant to ever be born, so her parents left her at an orphanage so she could live a better life. I had seen clips of this episode before, but never the whole thing. Boy, am I glad to have seen this episode.
Leela doesn't find out until the very last part of the episode. Maybe it ended a little abruptly, but we still get this great montage of how her parents were secretly helping her all those years and giving her gifts. It's really one of the most heartwarming moments of the series. It makes me realize how much they got done before the show was ever renewed at all. Sure, we get great jokes, but this was really one of the most significant and heart tugging episodes ever. A hilarious show can have touching moments like this. ****
She finds pictures of herself in an old house, meaning that some mutants have been watching her, her whole life. Fry, Bender and Leela are about to be thrown into the sewage to mutate, but two cloaked figures manage to save them. Leela stays behind to find out who they are and how they know about her. We then see her true origins, that she was the least mutated mutant to ever be born, so her parents left her at an orphanage so she could live a better life. I had seen clips of this episode before, but never the whole thing. Boy, am I glad to have seen this episode.
Leela doesn't find out until the very last part of the episode. Maybe it ended a little abruptly, but we still get this great montage of how her parents were secretly helping her all those years and giving her gifts. It's really one of the most heartwarming moments of the series. It makes me realize how much they got done before the show was ever renewed at all. Sure, we get great jokes, but this was really one of the most significant and heart tugging episodes ever. A hilarious show can have touching moments like this. ****
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