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Futurama Reviews: S09E08 -"Cuteness Overload"

"Cuteness Overload" reminds me of "That Darn Katz" from season six, only a little better. "That Darn Katz" wasn't particularly good, so that's not saying a lot -but it is I think the better execution of a show that relies on characters being enamoured with cuteness, because it comes with a bit more of that cynicism Futurama has often done well. It looks at the toy industry and collector sensations -notably Beanie Babies and Pokémon. And while it mostly just scratches the surface of that corporate culture, it has fun satirizing the compulsive consumer -through several characters (everybody in this world is so quick to jump on the latest trend -pretty repetitive plotting at this point to be honest), but most explicitly Amy.
After "Children of a Lesser Bog", I was looking forward to Futurama integrating Amy's family into the show and it seems like the people on the other side of it have been just as eager. Axl, Mandy, and Newt have made a number of return appearances, and Mandy specifically is vital to this episode, which sees Amy -concerned over how spoiled the kids are- taking them to Cookieville Minimum Security Orphanarium to humble them. Mandy strikes up a quick and close friendship with Sally (the cute one with the ear on her forehead) who introduces her to Fuzzy Funbags. Amy very swiftly is suckered into collecting them all, for the thrill of it and then because of their skyrocketing market value -something which affects the Planet Express crew as well, themselves unable to get enough of the toys' intense cuteness.
This episode is credited to Kristin Gore, a long-time veteran of the show who also conveniently wrote and directed the film The Beanie Bubble. And apart from this clear understanding of the topic, I respect that she remembered that, even though she's one of our beloved lead characters, Amy is still extremely rich, privileged, and out of touch -and not just in funny ways. We see a nasty side of her here as she is appalled by Mandy befriending Sally, and later even takes Sally's rare Fuzzy Funbag to complete her collection. Amy's arc of out-of-control obsession and subsequent guilt may be boilerplate, but it feels like it comes from a moderately new vantage point here and it tests Amy's convictions as a mother.
As for the rest of the gang, they more or less sit in a B-plot of random jokes or entranced by the Fuzzy Funbags as the Professor explains the (likely real) scientific theory behind cuteness and the attraction to it -a modestly interesting diversion yet a sign of the show's declining efficiency of focus. More relevant is the thread of Zapp and Kif hunting down a mysterious threat to Earth that took down a D.O.O.P ship. 
Obviously of course, this threat turns out to have been the Fuzzy Funbags -composed of sentient seeds that reproduce like Tribbles and cuddle their victims to death. The only way they can be stopped is with the death of their leader -the rarity that Amy has obtained. Narratively, this is more in keeping with Futurama's classic sensibilities than say last week's episode, but it's still a little tame as the Fuzzy Funbags aren't played in any kind of subversive way even with their malicious intentions. They remain a bunch of cute, mostly silent stuffed toys hugging people -and even then, just in the Orphanarium where the climax is set. It's creatively underwhelming and almost feels like the show playing things safe.
Certainly, that can be said about the resolution, where it is essentially Mandy and Sally's friendship that saves the day -or rather their monster hug that destroys the Fuzzy Funbag leader. But this beat I don't mind. The episode openly discusses cuteness in a superficial sense -or as something that can be quantified, however this is cute in a genuine sense, imbued with emotion and coming itself off of Amy's small but sweet redemption.
The show goes out on a decent joke, and while the episode isn't very consistently funny, it has several good moments throughout -particularly the little sketches within the larger stories of Amy and of the Planet Express gang. The old favourites about the forever dilapidated state of the Orphanarium come back -including a raccoon that Leela remembers from childhood and Hermes handing out "donations" from the trash can. The episode takes its fair share of pot shots at economic bubbles and the collectors’ industry. And some silly gags throughout stand out, like Zapp's reactions to the sensual Admirella or Leela casually offering to kick Mandy as she whines about not having grubby toys; and there's some really great voice-work from Lauren Tom, who between Amy and Mandy I don't think has ever been featured more prominently.
Though it feels again like ever so slightly grading on a curve, "Cuteness Overload" is enjoyable enough, even through clear mediocrity. I appreciate aspects of the writing and what the episode does with its characters. And the subject matter is better done than I expected, even if let's be real, the Fuzzy Funbags aren't all that cute.
Now some stray observations:
  • Kristin Gore, of course the daughter of Futurama’s favourite guest star Al Gore, has been a staff writer going back to the original run but has only had one other writer’s credit and that was for the classic “Leela’s Homeworld”, also dealing with an orphan. I wish “Cuteness Overload” could be that good.
  • I know I make this kind of observation a lot, but gee all of those orphans are still enduring Cookieville after twenty years. That’s got to be a special kind of hell.
  • Minor Futurama voice actress Nicole St. John came back to voice Sally after all these years. You gotta admire the dedication of seemingly everyone who’s been part of Futurama.
  • “Admirella” is great, and a nicely chosen opportunity to shout-out a genre classic that Futurama actually hasn’t done before. And her sheer mockery of Kif’s assumption his home-world is the one in danger when obviously the only planet that matters is Earth is a pretty good mean bit.
  • “Your whatsit’s too old to play with kajiggers!”
  • So, that Bart Simpson bit in the cuteness lecture… I don’t mind it, even if it is a patently indulgent joke about Matt Groening’s art style, the Futurama cast included in that indictment. As far back as the first season The Simpsons was confirmed to exist in the world of Futurama (let’s not talk about that crossover episode), so I don’t think its so cheap. But it also isn’t worth the lengths the Professor goes with it.
  • “They just made a harmless delivery and stole some stuff -nothing illegal about that”.
  • Well this has been a season for landfills, hasn't it? First one of books, than one of clothes, and now discarded Fuzzy Funbags.
  • It occurred to me with this episode that the episode titles this season aren’t as clever or interesting as they used to be. Sure puns on famous books, movies, songs, or phrases have long been a staple of this and other sitcoms, but “Beauty and the Bug”, “Attack of the Clothes” -really? And “Cuteness Overload” is just a term on its own that millennials coined. Surely somebody in that writers’ room has better suggestions?

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