This review contains spoilers.
7.6 The Butterjunk Effect
Another Leela episode, two weeks in a row? Wha?? Yes, but his time she's paired-up with Planet Express colleague Amy Wong in an episode that, to some extent, revisits their bitchy relationship.
And if you miss their cattiness, augmented by Fry's delight-filled cat-howls, the phrase "Chinese skank" will certainly make you sit up and raise an eyebrow. The two women are keen to point out, however, that this is merely playful banter (slightly reminiscent of Oscar Wilde's "women only call each other sister after they've called each other a lot of other things" line from The Importance of Being Earnest).
But the two are quickly bonded as they take part in the Butterfly Derby - a "sport" that involves scantily-clad women fighting each other (whilst wearing wings, enabling flight).
After being pummelled by duo the Murderflies, they're offered a deal to continue by thirties-fast-talking-type and sports agent Abner Doubledeal (making a welcome return to Futurama). Leela and Amy continue their losing streak, however, resulting in the pair indulging in the performance-enhancing drug, Nectar.
Calling themselves the Wingnuts they soon rise to the top, though their personal lives see their "boyfriends" (Fry and Kif, in case you've forgotten) cower in fear of a beating and mistreatment due to the girls' mood swings. Refreshingly there's no discussion of the morality of the drug-taking - the gals just do it; and the ramifications aren't addressed (and why should they be?).
Sadly, for the Wingnuts, their supply runs out though they find a pure source on Kif's homeworld (again, another welcome return for the show) where we find some giant butterflies producing the goods. More interesting though is the threesome that erupts between Leela, Amy and Fry (who once also dated the Martian doctor of physics) after the delivery boy is sprayed in the face by butterjunk from a male butterfly (yup, it ain't subtle).
The denouement comes rather quickly and could have perhaps been structured a little more carefully - it feels as if a couple of minutes extra were needed to fully complete the story.
The Butterjunk Effect is a return to the early years of Futurama in tone with the previously mentioned returns and another journey to the moon (featuring an excellent "over the shoulder boulder holder" gag) fleshing out the nostalgia. It's a ridiculous story (and that's not a negative, I should say) that darts all over the ship in terms of what it's saying (which, ultimately, isn't anything).
Best of all though, is Bender. The shiny metal assed one pops up every now and again with a line or a move reminding us just why he's still TV's funniest character.
Read our review of last week's episode, Zapp Dingbat, here.
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