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Futurama Reviews: S11E02 -"Our Flag Means Medical Coverage"

Now here is an episode that really doesn’t waste a moment. I really like when Futurama decides to explore a corner of its universe that is relatively untapped. Space pirates are an established element, even if just on a couple occasions (“Godfellas” most notably), but “Our Flag Means Medical Coverage” now gives them greater attention and a funny and interesting context. Of course it is also an episode about one of the regular structures of the series, D.O.O.P, and some interrogation of its own practices and leadership in a curious if thinly explored political conflict. A nice dichotomy to present alongside some enjoyable new worldbuilding.
It begins with D.O.O.P President Glab marking a controversial new allegiance with the dictatorial Vampire Empire by delivering to them a grand gemguliam crystal piano. Zapp Brannigan and Kif are of course assigned with its transport while Fry and Bender have been hired to make the actual delivery. But D.O.O.P’s Admirella is suspicious of the whole allegiance, noting to Leela that Glab’s final term as President is coming to an end (it’s apparently been only two terms though she’s been President since at least “Brannigan Begin Again” in 3000). It’s a fascinating spotlight cast on a character who has been largely in the background through most of the show’s run but is no doubt a very powerful figure. She’s always been a voice of calm rationality as well, but then the show has never really looked closer at her or the politics around D.O.O.P. It has existed as largely a likeness of the Federation from Star Trek, but like the Federation from Star Trek, could use some ideological confrontation.
And it gets that here in good form from the pirates we eventually meet. Shortly into the delivery the D.O.O.P cargo vessel is attacked. Fry manages to contact Leela for help before being cut off, so she and the rest of the crew immediately depart to go rescue them. After a lengthy search they come across the shipwreck of a pirate vessel where they discover, in addition to fun features like a bowling alley and Officer’s Disco, Zapp left for dead. Zapp explains that they encountered the crew of Long John Longjohns of the Republic of Pirates, that his own methods of attack -including a Zapp-shaped ram- were useless and they made off with the piano along with Fry, Bender, and Kif. Following a radiation trail from the gemguliam Leela pretty soon tracks the pirates down. They are a motley bunch -including a Spanish robot, a skeleton, and an annoying talking parrot called Buddy. But they are also a democratic collective open to compromise -or bribery as the case may be. The Planet Express crew avoids a positive vote on their hanging by trading loot -in the form of Amy’s $500,000 Starbucks gift card. Off this, they are welcomed as guests into the pirates’ thriving social democracy society. They even sing a song about their lawful and elected democratic culture. Fry and Bender are found unharmed and everyone agrees it is a mostly decent system, past all the piracy.
The episode does not grant a similar look at the vampire society, though we do learn the nefarious machinations going on with regards to them. Kif is a bit of a mystery through this section of the episode. In Zapp’s flashback we see that Kif had let the pirates aboard presumably in accordance with space law given the state of their vessel, but Zapp makes the suggestion which Amy is reluctant to believe that Kif betrayed D.O.O.P. And sure enough this appears to be true when they finally find him with Longjohns and the piano seemingly splitting the bounty. It’s a great look for Kif, in power for a change. It lasts just a minute though before Admirella is revealed to be behind the whole incident, having arranged the abduction of the piano to foil what she has discovered is a corrupt plot by Glab to engineer a third presidential term through buying votes from several dictatorships she has allowed into D.O.O.P -the Vampire Empire being the last. To top it off, the Professor deduces that the gemguliams are highly reactive and thus the piano is a weapon of mass destruction. There are a couple different political parallels here for the style of Glab’s power seize -obviously the illegal third term talk has been a recurring subject through the second Trump administration, while the weapon selling to the vampires rings a little of Iran-Contra. But of course at the centre is just the irony of the Democratic Order of Planets being on the verge of despotism while the pirate society which is built on plunder is a model democracy.
With the Pirates, the crew manage to return to D.O.O.P headquarters in time for the vote to elect Glab to a lifetime reign. Rather than expose her in a more traditional light, they simply invoke the rule that the anthem of a new D.O.O.P member be played before recognition. For the Vampire Empire that happens to be “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Jerry Lee Lewis, which Bender enthusiastically performs on the piano. Tortured by the rockabilly music, Glab gradually relents, allowing the Presidency to pass to Admirella, which itself is not very democratic but allows for a quick excuse to expel the vampires and instead admit the Republic of Pirates into D.O.O.P -who also save the day by having stolen the lethal piano jewels.
A bit of an anticlimax to the episode and thematically a bit muddy given the solution to the democratic erosion of D.O.O.P is an entirely undemocratic transfer of power. But the episode is pretty good anyways. It was written by Ken Keeler (though once again under that ‘Nona di Spargement’ pseudonym) and it is his best episode of the Hulu run. A pretty good premise and subject executed in a solid way that expands the world with equal parts consequence and silliness.
Now to plunder some stray observations:
  • This is the first time we have heard of the Vampire Empire, but there was that vampire maitre'd at the Vampire State Building in “Meanwhile”. So presumably they have had a presence in D.O.O.P’s orbit at least for some time.
  • On the one hand, elevating President Glab from minor figure of world-building consistency to an episode antagonist could feel like creative desperation, but I don’t mind seeing this kind of recontextualization. Futurama has a great sandbox that it is worth digging deeper into.
  • “They must have been just about to do the Hustle when something terrible happened!”
  • “Space laws were made to be space broken”.
  • Leela tries to give intimidating pirate names to her crew when they meet the pirates for the first time. Zapp christens himself “Zapp Sparrow” complete with eyeliner. I appreciated the later remark from Longjohns that he saw through the disguise and didn’t care.
  • “Our halls run red with tape”.
  • Fry repeating the parrot was a funny gag. But I remain a touch dismayed at just how stupid the show is occasionally portraying him -a guy still meant to be something of a relatable avatar, seemingly just for easy (and usually not very funny) jokes. Last season did a better job moving away from that.
  • Bender considering pilfering gold doubloons from the bathroom toilet has got to be one of the funniest Bender gags in a while. Both the animation and John DiMaggio’s agitated vocal performance -excellent execution!
  • Ken Keeler had no confirmed credit last season, although 'Ken Walsh' who wrote “The Numberland Gap” I guessed was really him given the episode's subject and style. Yet this season he is back to “Nona di Spargement” so it may be that he took a season off scripting. Again it is unclear exactly why he’s not using his own name (we can only infer by the obvious anagram of his pseudonym), but he is indeed still with the show and even proved the fact by appearing at the Comic-Con panel this year. It’s good, because Keeler’s voice is arguably as integral to Futurama as Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s.

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