by Bob Teoh
Leela’s mutant parents, Morris and Munda, are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary when the couple descends into a heated argument that causes them to split up in front of all their friends. While recounting their love story, the pair realized how different they truly are. Morris was a laid-back surfer who dreamed of surfing the world’s sewers, while Munda was an aspiring student of alien languages who dreamed of traveling into space.
Leela’s mom, Munda, moves in with her in her small apartment. During a night out, Leela and her mom stumble upon the incompetent Zapp Brannigan, whose peace treaty with an alien race is on the verge of break-down. Munda intervenes and defuses the situation, earning Zapp’s interest. The two eventually go out, and Zapp officially hires Munda as his translator, much to Leela’s dismay.
Leela believes that Zapp is dating her mother to get back at her, so she tries to seduce him. Surprisingly, Zapp seems genuinely in love with Munda, and he proposes to her. Leela finally accepts the fact that Zapp makes her mother happy.
Just as Munda is about to marry Zapp, the wedding is interrupted by the alien species that have returned to sign the peace treaty. Munda finds out that Zapp is trying to cheat the aliens in an attempt to eradicate their species, and angrily storms out. This ignites an all-out invasion that puts everybody on-board Zapp’s ship in danger. Suddenly, Morris, who has been extremely laid-back about his divorce, appears to steer the ship to safety and win back Munda’s affections.
While this episode was not gut-wrenchingly funny, it was a great example of “Futurama” doing what it does best. Relying on an outlandish world and well-defined characters, the episode produced a highly enjoyable storyline that focused on lesser-developed characters like Munda and Morris. Though not as interesting and outragerous as Bender, Leela truly excelled as the lead in this episode.
Bob Teoh is a staff writer. Email him at entertainment@nyunews.com.
