Analysis: Spider-Man (2017) Season Two Episodes 1-13

After what I felt was an exciting and acceptable first season, the new Spider-Man animated series began its second season back in June and just recently wrapped up the first half. As I've done before, its time to look at this new batch of episodes to see what worked and what didn't.

The season opener is a unique one, with five short stories connected by the plot thread of Peter trying to enjoy his summer vacation. A day at the beach, a baseball game, a concert, and a camping trip all get interrupted by supervillains and him having to suit up as Spider-Man to stop him. It's not a bad experiment, as most modern superhero cartoons tend to have full 20 minute stories. The last story though is more about Peter trying to find a new job to help pay for school, as his assistant job from the previous year is only for freshman. This leads to Peter finding out about the Daily Bugle looking for usable footage of Spider-Man.

As opposed to the photographer he was for years, this version of the character sets up a video drone to record his battles as Spider-Man. It's not a bad modernization to this aspect of the character, especially since we've already seen this slightly in the MCU with Peter recording his trip to Berlin during the events of "Civil War". Plus, it's certainly more interesting than being the Bugle's web designer in the Ultimate comics.

And since we have the Daily Bugle, that means one thing: J. Jonah Jameson! While Jameson was in the previous "Ultimate Spider-Man" show, he really had no depth. He hated Spider-Man for apparently no reason, the two never met, and in one episode where Harry Osborn had the symbiote and operated as a black suited Spider-Man, Jameson for some reason gave this Spider-Man praise. Like many things about Ultimate, that made no sense. Here though, it's classic J. Jonah Jameson. He makes it clear that he doesn't like Spider-Man, not trusting a masked hero compared to the Avengers. At first I thought JK Simmons was once again playing the character, but it turned out to be voice actor Bob Joles, though he does a very good impression of Simmons like Daran Norris did back in "Spectacular".

The second episode of the season sees Otto Octavius, after becoming Doctor Octopus in the previous season, claiming that he's reformed his ways and requesting to be reinstated as a teacher at Horizon High. After the expected distrust, Otto's able to prove himself by giving insight on the school's Neuro-Cortex project and saving it from being stolen by a group of mercenaries called the Wild Pack, earning back his position and the school's trust. Now, anyone who knows anything about Doc Ock should expect it all to be an act and set things in motion to make himself look good. Thankfully this isn't a farce that's played out for long, as he reveals his villainous intentions the very next episode. Ock's plan all along was to take the Neuro-Cortex for himself to amplify his mind. After strapping Miles, Gwen, and Anya into a machine to charge the cortex with their brain powers, it allows him to remove the robotic arms fused to his body and gives him telekinetic abilities, much similar to the Ultimate comics version of the character.

It's worth mentioning that this episode also introduces Carolyn Trainor, the female Doctor Octopus who debuted in the comics in the 90's (also known as Lady Octopus). I love how this show gives some attention to the more obscure characters of the Spider-Man mythos. Much like the comics, she idolizes Ock, but unlike them, Ock takes advantage of Carolyn by having her (with her own robotic arms) to keep Spider-Man distracted while he completed his project. Now this is definitely in line with Ock's character on the show, considering he had his mind controlled Sinister Six last season. He uses people, and he even boasts about it when Carolyn learns the truth.

After being able to reach Miles, Anya, and Gwen and tell them to fight back against Ock mentally, Spider-Man and Caroyln are able to defeat Ock physically. This leads to the machine shutting down and Ock is left in a coma, but there's a hint that his mind is still alive when the light turns on in one of the tentacles. More on that later though.

As I was hoping for from before, this season also introduces Eddie Brock. He's established as another Bugle videographer also trying to get Spider-Man footage. I was a little worried how he was going to be handled in this series though, as for quite awhile, he had no lines of dialogue, though he shows clear disdain for Peter as Jameson praises him for his work. The build-up was worth it though when Eddie finally bonds with the symbiote, becoming the new (and true) Venom. Unlike with Flash last season though, the symbiote shares its knowledge of Peter with Eddie, considering their mutual hatred. This leads to Eddie showing up in Peter's bedroom in a really creep scene, and he hadn't even revealed he had the symbiote yet. Though to be fair, having a co-worker almost twice your age show up in your bedroom is bad enough to begin with (and let's keep in mind Peter's probably 16 at this point). He states how jealous he is at all that Peter has with his friends and family, and feeling threatened since Eddie's job is all he has. Eddie then transforms into Venom and after a fight with both Peter and Miles, he goes off to capture Jameson, Gwen, Max Modell, and Aunt May, webbing them to the roof of Horizon. Much like his sudden appearance in Peter's bedroom, there's a real horror aspect to Eddie's actions, especially in his kidnappings of the Gwen, Max, and May. Peter's able to rescue all but Jameson before Venom stops him, and even takes off Peter's mask in front of Jameson after the other three get to safety. While this would have been a major status quo shift, Miles enters the scene in a spare Spider-Man costume of Peter's, claiming Peter was acting as decoy while he, as the "real" Spider-Man, worked on a way to stop Venom. They're able to defeat Venom by blasting him with an intense sonic device that would separate Eddie from the symbiote and leave it catatonic. However, before the process is complete, Eddie grabs on to the pieces of the symbiote, stating "I'm nothing without you." The symbiote rebonds with Eddie before the two enter a coma. While it's not as poetic as Eddie's line from "Spectacular" ("It only loves me for the hate"), I really liked Eddie's line here as it says a lot about the tragedy of his character. My point is that I quite enjoyed how this version of Venom was handled, making Eddie look just as angry and dangerous as the symbiote.

One unique aspect in this version of the character is that they give both Eddie and the symbiote their own personalities. While that is kind of a cool thing to do, this however leads to my only gripe, in that they weren't really consistent. The symbiote has its own grudges and recounts how it had been experimented on, but considering that Eddie is covered in the suit most of the time, it isn't always clear which one is talking. Traditionally, Eddie as Venom typically uses "We" instead of "I" in his speech pattern, making it clear the idea of Venom was a partnership between the two entities. Here, the two pronouns are practically interchangeable, and saying "We are Venom" every so often isn't enough in my opinion.

One consequence of this arc though is that Jameson fires Peter, feeling he put people in danger by working with Spider-Man. At this point, Peter is still unemployed. If we're going by other versions of Spider-Man though, Peter's been fired multiple times by Jameson and usually comes back. Though considering the liberties this show does take with the mythos, I'm not sure if this will happen or not, but I'm hoping so.

The next story arc is the four part "Bring on the Bad Guys", where a mysterious benefactor puts a bounty on Spider-Man's head, leading him to be attacked by a barrage of supervillains. Honestly, I feel this was mostly an excuse to introduce more obscure villains from the Spider-Man mythos, including Overdrive, Spot, Prowler, and Silvermane. There's also Mysterio, but I hardly count him as obscure. And much like the season opener, these are shorter stories, usually giving one villain half the episode to try and defeat Spider-Man.

It's during this arc that one of my theories from last season proved true: Anya retained her spider-powers from the Spider-Island arc. While she does have a costume and uses the Spider-Girl codename, she doesn't want to be a full-time superhero. I can respect that, but much like we've seen from Gohan in the Dragon Ball franchise, it's best to keep your powers at peak condition in case the need arises. Gwen is the only one who knows at first, and Miles learns later. It's at this point where I really wish everyone in Peter's friend group just knew each other's identities. There's no real reason for them not to, considering how much they help each other in and out of costume. It'd be much like the Arrow and Flash TV series where they have a network of allies to work with.

This arc unfortunately brings a real low point to the series with the use of the villain Jack O'Lantern. They make this version obsessed with Halloween, making constant unbearable puns that make me long for Arnold Schwarzenegger's version of Mr. Freeze. He even had a gun that shoots candy corn. A candy corn gun. Repeating that doesn't make it less stupid. Jack also apparently got itching powder into Peter's costume, forcing him to strip down to his mask, gloves, socks, and underwear. I mean, why was there need to do this? Does anyone really want to see teenage Spidey in his underwear? My point is, I feel like this was an idea someone had left over from "Ultimate" and wanted to throw it in.

This four-parter also introduces the latest version of Electro from the comics, Francine Frye. I probably wouldn't have felt the need to talk about this segment, but when I watched a clip of this episode before it aired, there were a good chunk of comments complaining how they "gender-bent" the character, comparing it to introducing Carolyn Trainor this season and Sandman's daughter Kemia last season. I know not a lot of people are privy to comics, but all three of these characters are sourced from them. There's no need for this "outrage" when a quick look on Wikipedia can see there's precedence. I'll give them a little leeway since they didn't use the original version in Max Dillon, compared to having Flint Marko and Otto Octavius present, but this is another instance where the show wanted to do its own thing. Honestly, the Electro story they did would have worked whether they used Max or Francine.

Spider-Man finally encounters Chameleon, the benefactor behind the bounty. This version is voiced by Patton Oswalt, who coincidentally also provides Uncle Ben's voice in flashback scenes on the show. Because of that, it gives me the feeling that Uncle Ben is behind Chameleon's holomask, despite how ludicrous that idea that sounds. I mean, there's no real difference in the inflection in his voice between the two roles. He attempts to frame Spider-Man for robbing a bank, and then leads Spidey on chase through the streets, constantly changing his appearance. It ends up with the two running into J. Jonah Jameson and Chameleon changes his appearance to match. Not wanting to put up with two Jamesons, Spidey punches one immediately, thankfully knocking out the Chameleon. When asked how he knew which one was fake, Spidey says he guessed. It's a hilarious moment coupled with Jameson's outrage at the comment, but I'm pretty sure Peter's spider-sense clued him in. But as Chameleon's placed in prison, he's contacted by his employer, the TRUE benefactor behind the bounty.

This leads to the two-part mid-season finale, where we learn Doctor Octopus is the mastermind behind the bounty. After being defeated earlier in the season, Ock's mind was left in the Neuro-Cortex, that not only allowed him access to cyberspace to contact the villains to announce the bounty, but give the students at Horizon designs to build a robot body for the Neuro-Cortex called the Living Brain. While a lot of this is lifted straight from the comics, I'd like to think that first time viewers lacking the knowledge of the source material will get a real shock when Ock reveals himself. Even I get a bit of a kick out of hearing Ock elaborate his long-term plan.

Now between being attacked by villains wanting to collect on the bounty and having school projects to work on, Peter has been placed through the wringer, constantly tired with his spider powers in flux. This has been Ock's plan all along to tire out Spider-Man so he could achieve his endgame: to transfer his own consciousness to Spider-Man's body. Now, an animated adaptation of the Superior Spider-Man story arc has been something I've been wanting even while "Ultimate" was still going. But watching this, part of me was still kind of hoping Peter would stop Ock from doing so. Much like Amazing Spider-Man #700 where that storyline began though, Ock succeeds in taking Peter's body, leaving Peter's mind in the Neuro-Cortex. I guess what makes me feel uneasy about this version is that we don't really have any inclination of Ock wanting to use Peter's powers for heroic reasons. There is some indication though that like in the comics, Ock will have Peter's memories to go off of, allowing him to assume Peter's life flawlessly, and also most likely influence Ock's behavior to act altruistically.

It's worth mentioning that mostly due to Jameson, public perception of Spider-Man has been mixed this season. Some people still like him, some see him as a menace, and some want him arrested. This leads to Spidey making an uneasy alliance with police chief Yuri Watanabe. Now with Ock in control, how his actions as Spider-Man will impact his perceptions and partnerships will be interesting to see, not to mention how he'll affect Peter's life as well.

If I had to guess where the rest of the season will go, I'm thinking that much like the comics, Norman Osborn will return and lay siege to the city, forcing Otto to give Peter back control of his body to save everyone. Until then, there's a lot of room to work with and what they can do with this storyline. The Superior Spider-Man is one of my favorite comic runs of the character, and I hope they do it justice.

Also, Ock better use one or both of his costumes. (I suddenly feel the need to reread the series before the show comes back.)

Top 10 Futurama Episodes

Matt Groening's other well known cartoon series, "Futurama", has really stood the test of time. For those who are unaware of the show, it is set in the 31st century and mostly follows Philip J. Fry, a slacker from the 20th century 'accidentally' frozen in a cryogenic tube, awakening in the future and getting a job at his distant relative's interstellar delivery company, working with a quirky staff of characters. In addition to the comedy and science fiction, it also had a lot of drama that really made you feel for all these strange characters, caring for them as if they were real people. And unlike the Simpsons, Futurama never really had a major dip in quality, indicating how much everyone cared about working on it.
Much like my SpongeBob list from 2015, I wanted to take a look back and share what I feel are the 10 best episodes of Futurama. And while I will keep spoilers to a minimum, there still will be some.

10. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MON

PREMISE: Hermes keeps upgrading his body with robotic enhancements to feel adequate in his job and as a man.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The episode begins with Hermes conducting the annual performance review and planning to fire the least necessary employee. We get a montage of the Planet Express crew doing their usual thing, which makes for some funny moments. Ultimately, Hermes decides to fire himself due to his constant performance reviews (oh sweet irony). He's replaced by a new robot, and coupling that with him and his wife Labarbara being mugged by psychotic robot Roberto (who ends up being executed for the crime), Hermes has Bender use his black market connections to get a robotic enhancement to initially get his job back. But as feelings of inadequacy continue, he keeps getting robotic enhancements to the point where the only human part of him left is his brain.
The real star of this episode though is Zoidberg. While he's usually the most hated member of the Planet Express crew, he takes it in strides, even considering Hermes his best friend. As Hermes continues to upgrade himself, Zoidberg is the only one noticing Hermes' personality becoming less and less like himself, indicated by how tame his insults toward Zoidberg become. Missing his "friend", Zoidberg creates a ventriloquist doll from Hermes' discarded body parts. It sounds morbid, but it's funny when he actually puts on an act with the "doll" at a comedy club.
Eventually, Hermes wants a robot brain, even going with Bender and the Professor to rob a robot graveyard (unknowingly robbing Roberto's grave). While the Professor is asked to do the procedure, he changes his mind due to the pleas of Labarbara. When Hermes doesn't take "no" for an answer, Zoidberg offers to do it, even doing the procedure while singing an entertaining parody of "Monster Mash". But it's all a ploy so Zoidberg can put Hermes' brain back into the fixed up body of Hermes he was using before (which apparently still had all his working organs since Hermes is able to function it before).
But the threat isn't over as Roberto does take over the Mecha-Hermes body, though there's a bit of a continuity error as the body acts like Roberto before putting his brain in. Ignoring that however, Roberto is defeated after he eats a piece of Hermes' skin, but it's so saturated from Labarbara's spicy cooking that it causes him to melt into a puddle.
Overall, it's just a fun and weird episode, and part of it is thanks to Zoidberg. It shows that even with the way he's treated by everyone, he still cares for his friends and not really expecting anything in return. It's a good personality trait.

9. LUCK OF THE FRYRISH

PREMISE: After a day at the horsetrack leads to many losses and an electrocution, Fry travels underground to the ruins of old New York to find his lucky seven leaf clover.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The heart of this episode is through the flashbacks told of Fry's life growing up with his family, including his over-patriotic/doomsday prepping dad, his sports obsessed mother, and his jerky older brother Yancy. The relationship with Yancy is the main focus, as it shows how much they fought and how Yancy always felt the need to copy his brother in all their activities from basketball to break-dancing. I think it indicates a hint of jealousy over how creative his brother appears to be, going so far as wanting to steal the seven leaf clover, forcing Fry to hide it in a record vault.

When Fry, Bender, and Leela go to retrieve the clover, they discover it missing where Fry left it. Soon enough, they discover a statue of a man in a business suit that looks like Yancy, including the likeness of the clover in the lapel. Noticing the name on the statue read "Philip J. Fry", Fry theorizes that Yancy stole his clover and his name and used it for his own success, later learning that "Philip J. Fry" was also a rock star and the first person on Mars. Finding out that the clover was buried with him, Fry leads Leela and Bender to steal it back from his grave (and I just realized that's two episodes already on this list that involve grave robbing).

Without spoiling too much about how the episode goes from there, I believe this is the first overly emotional tear jerking ending to come from Futurama, a trope that would come when you'd least expect it on the show (and prepare for more of those episodes on this list). I will just say that it's a real eye-opener for Fry, and I love how the episode is bookended with the births of both Philip J. Frys.

8. LETHAL INSPECTION

PREMISE: With the aid of Hermes, Bender seeks "Inspector #5", the main who approved Bender despite him not being built with a back-up program.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: After the episode opens with a reenactment of the "Sith-al War", which is the Planet Express crew in Union soldier costumes play-fighting with a group of nerds in Star Wars costumes and lightsabers (which was pretty funny), Bender discovers an oil leak. Upon inspection, the Professor discovers Bender to be defective, being built without a back-up program. This means if Bender's body is destroyed, his programming can't be transferred to a new one. Realizing his mortality, Bender seeks revenge on "Inspector #5". Hermes aids Bender by going to the Central Bureaucracy to discover the inspector's identity, only to find no trace of him. A dejected Bender then calls Mom, the head of the robot company who built him, to file a complaint. However, not wanting a defective robot under her name running around, Mom sends a group of killer robots to eliminate Bender. They're not very competent though, as they continue to shoot and destroy each other in hilarious fashion. Bender and Hermes eventually wind up in Tijuana, where Bender was built, leading Bender to believe Inspector #5 may still live there, only to find his house abandoned.

Hermes comforts Bender in the fact that he may never find Inspector #5 or the answers he seeks, telling him that he should enjoy his life even if it is finite. This is actually why this episode makes my list. Before this, we never had any real extended interaction between Bender and Hermes, and this episode shows them become true friends.

Watching the episode the first time, I was able to figure out that Hermes was Inspector #5. However, that didn't take away any emotion from the flashback at the end of the episode, showing a young Hermes and baby Bender. Despite Bender being defective, Hermes couldn't bring himself to throw the cute little robot away, overriding the system so Bender could live.

7. THE DUH-VINCI CODE

PREMISE: The Professor leads the Planet Express crew to discover the dark secrets of Leonardo Da Vinci.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Much like how "Lethal Inspection" focused on Bender and Hermes, "The Duh-Vinci Code" gives the relationship between Fry and the Professor much needed spotlight. It's very easy to forget the two are actually related. The episode shows Fry wanting to be closer with the Professor, but finds Fry's stupidity too off-putting. Trying to explain to Fry how he was inspired by the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, the Professor discovers the blue prints to Da Vinci's lost invention in his beard (which he bought from a famous people's body parts auction). Inspecting the "Last Supper" painting, they discover that St. James was a robot, leading them to Rome to find his body. In the tomb of St. James though is a robot known as Animatronio, the guardian of Da Vinci's greatest secrets. Fortunately for the Professor, Animatronio is very bad at this job, letting clues slip out of his mouth. This eventually leads to Fry and the Professor to blast off into space after accidentally assembling a spaceship from multiple inventions in Da Vinci's lost workshop. They end up on the planet Vinci, a utopia for geniuses, where they meet Leonardo himself. While the Professor takes part in the society, Leonardo laments to Fry that on his own planet, he's considered an idiot and mocked mercilessly for it. When Fry gives Leonardo the lost blueprints he found, the two work to build it, only for Fry to find out that it's a doomsday device for Leonardo to get revenge on everyone who tormented him. Even the Professor wants in on it after he has been mocked by the planet's inhabitants himself ("Just because I'm dumber than them, they think they're smarter than me!"). This leaves Fry of all people to be the voice of reason, saying that there's always going to be someone smarter than you and that people should make due with what they have. In his own klutzy way, Fry disables the doomsday device, which smashes down on Leonardo, killing him.

The episode ends with Fry and the Professor making amends, and I think there's a good lesson in this. No matter how smart or dumb someone is, it's how you treat people that matters. The people of Vinci mocked Leonardo and the Professor, who in turn wanted to make them pay for how they made them feel. You can be a good person or an asshole no matter your level of intelligence.

Besides that, this episode has some of my favorite Futurama moments. It's here we learn that Zoidberg's doctorate is in art history (keeping in mind he works at Planet Express as its physician) and Hermes questioning "Didn't we use to be a delivery company?" which is so funny considering all the crazy adventures they go on. And of course, you have Fry casually saying "Hi Animatronio" to the robot, no matter how tense the situation. It's just funny every time I hear him say it. 

6. A FLIGHT TO REMEMBER

PREMISE: The Planet Express crew take a vacation on a space cruise called the Titanic.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As you can probably tell from the premise, this is a parody of the 1997 Titanic film, so that involves some romantic plots and a doomed voyage (that part being thanks to the ineptitude of Captain Zapp Branigan).

One of the main storylines of the episode involves Fry being caught up in some charades by having to pretend to be boyfriend to both Leela, who is trying to avoid the advances of Branigan, and Amy, who is trying to avoid being set up with someone by her parents. While this involves some hijinks, the episode is really the first hints of Fry and Leela's relationship, from their "first kiss" which was just Leela trying to avoid Zapp, to Leela's jealousy having to watch Fry and Amy kiss. This leads to a deep moment between the two that almost leads to their first real kiss before the ship begins getting sucked into a blackhole.

In being one of the earliest episodes of the show, the relationship between Fry and Leela isn't the only recurring plotpoint that would run for the rest of the series. It's in this episode where Amy meets Kif, where the chemistry is so instant that the two immediately kiss. Of course, the two don't officially become a couple for over another season due to Kif's shyness. I know that sounds weird considering how forward he was in this episode, but I'm willing to chalk it up to the adrenaline rush of the terrifying situation they were in. We also learn in this episode of Hermes' past as an Olympic level limbo competitor; Hermes' limbo skills become a running gag for the rest of the series.

There's one element of this episode that I don't think gets enough attention, that being Bender's romance with the rich fembot, Countess de la Roca. While Bender initially intends to steal from her, the two truly fall in love with each other. In true tragic romance though, the Countess sacrifices herself to the Black Hole so Bender and his friends can escape. This is the obvious Jack and Rose relationship stand-in for this Titanic parody, but in rewatching this episode for this list, I've developed a theory: the Countess was Bender's true love. Of all the relationships Bender has had in the show, the Countess is the only one Bender never felt the need to test or have a change of heart about. You could even say that losing the Countess is what makes Bender unable to keep any relationship for the rest of the series.

Even watching this episode for the first time as a kid, it really resonated with me for some reason, so its place on my list was assured.

5. JURASSIC BARK

PREMISE: Fry discovers the fossilized body of Seymour, his dog from before he was frozen.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: It's another tear jerker episode, and one that should hit the dog and pet lovers right in the heart.

After Fry discovers the fossilized body of his dog Seymour on exhibit in a museum, he attempts and succeeds to reclaim it, with plans for the Professor to clone the canine. This leads to jealousy from Bender, who thinks he's losing his best friend. Bender gets so mad that he throws Seymour into the lava that was powering the cloning machine. After seeing Fry cry, coupled with the fact Seymour was encased in the durable mineral dolomite, Bender feels remorse and saves Seymour at risk to himself.

Much like "Luck of the Fryrish", the heart of this episode is in its flashbacks. We start with Fry first meeting and becoming friends with Seymour, followed by Seymour becoming the unofficial of Panucci's Pizza, the place Fry used to work as a delivery boy. This includes some cute yet unhygienic moments at the restaurant. Fry also taught him to sing "Walking on Sunshine", and every time I hear that song, I can't help but think of this episode (as well as Charlie from "Supernatural). We also see that Seymour may have been the smartest person in Fry's life back in the 20th century. He tried to keep Fry from going on the delivery that would lead to him being frozen, sensing something bad would happen. Afterwards, he was the only one who tracked Fry down to his cryogenic tube, as no one else afterwards were smart enough to listen to him.

The end of the episode sees Fry discovering that Seymour lived for 12 more years after he was frozen, deciding to not clone him believing Seymour most likely forgot about him. But it turns out Fry was wrong. Following Fry's last command to wait for him, the final scene shows Seymour outside Panucci's through the years waiting for Fry to return, all the way to his death by natural causes. This is regarded as one of the saddest endings to not only a Futurama episode, but in all of TV history. Even the mere reference to this episode's ending can stir up sad feelings. It just goes to show not to underestimate the loyalty pets can feel towards their owner.

4. LEELA'S HOMEWORLD

PREMISE: Leela seeks answers when she finds a shrine built to her within the lair of the sewer mutants.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: One of the long running mysteries since Futurama began was Leela's lineage. Orphaned as a new born, Leela was believed to be an alien from an unknown planet, and she always longed to know where she came from and who her parents were. This episode adds a real twist to the mystery as instead of looking up, we should have been looking down.

As Fry, Leela, and Bender are being chased through the sewer by its mutant inhabitants (due to Bender pouring toxic waste into their lair), they discover in one of the mutants' homes a shrine to Leela, made up of newspaper clippings of her and personal belongings she discarded. Believing two cloaked mutants to know something about her past, Leela leaves Fry and Bender to escape while she goes after answers. Fry does some investigating on his own, by having the Professor examine the note left with Leela at the orphanage. First off, I like this subplot because it continues to show how much Fry cares for Leela and what he'll do to try and make her happy.

If you hadn't already guessed, it turns out Leela's parents were mutants, making her one herself. In a flashback scene to the day Leela was born, seeing how normal looking she is, with the doctor claiming her to be the least mutated mutant in history, her parents decide that she deserves to have a happier, normal life than one of a mutant. So they decide to leave her at an orphanage, making it appear that she's an alien, hoping she never has to learn the truth of what she is. Back to the present, Leela tracks down the cloaked figures, theorizing that the two killed her parents and plans to do the same to them. Rather than tell the truth, the two accept their impending fate until Fry drops in (literally) to reveal their true identities. This results in a tearful family reunion that always makes me join in with them. And if that wasn't enough, the final moments of the episode are a montage of scenes showing Leela's parents in the shadows looking out for their daughter through her own life. It's a nice touch, showing that they didn't outright abandon her.

It's an intense, emotional episode that wraps up a long running mystery. If I had any gripes, it's that they could have built up the reveal a little more, but it's easy to overlook.

3. GAME OF TONES

PREMISE: The key to Earth's survival lies within a memory of Fry's from the day he was frozen.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As an alien ship approaches Earth continually blasting 4 musical tones, sending shockwaves that will soon destroy the planet, Fry recognizes the tones but can't recall from where. A brain analysis concludes that the memory originates from the day Fry was frozen. To discover its origins, Fry is put into a dream state that allows him to relive his last day in the 20th century to find the source of the tones. But Fry goes off plan as he begins to spend time with his family, and it's actually nice to see. Episodes like "Luck of the Fryrish" or "Jurassic Bark" kind of made it look like Fry's past kind of sucked. But here, even if it is supposed to be a dream, it shows that Fry supposedly did have good times with his family. With time running out though, the rest of the Planet Express crew, as well as President Richard Nixon's head, enter the dream to drag Fry out of his house and continue with the rest of the day. This devastates Fry, who only wanted to find closure with his mom. Fry, along with everyone else, begrudgingly goes through the rest of the day up until he gets frozen, where he hears the tones from the ship, followed by two more. With that information, Fry plays back the two tones, leading to the ship landing in front of them. It's revealed that the pilot of the ship is another Nibloian named Digby, who had helped Nibbler ensure Fry would end up in the future (for more on that, see the episode "The Why of Fry"). The sound Fry heard was Digby locking up their ship. Celebrating their mission accomplished, the two get drunk and lose the keys to their ship, having to take a space cab off Earth. Digby had only been using a spare set of keys to find the "company car". All ends well with Fry leading them to the ransacked ship on top of the cryogenics building, with Nibbler saying he'll repay Fry for his help.

Later that night, Fry has a dream about his mother watching the 2000 Rose Bowl, confusing Fry since that game happened after he was frozen. Nibbler then enters stating that he (somehow) transported Fry into a dream of his mother's in the past, giving Fry the chance to say what he wanted. When his mom asks what he wants to talk about, the only thing Fry can do is hug her. And honestly, that's all that's needed to end the episode.

This episode has a good traditional sci-fi threat to deal with an unexpected twist to its conclusion and gives us yet another look at Fry's past, albeit a happier one compared to others. But that ending is probably the most tear-jerking of all the tear-jerking endings the show has had. Hell, I'm tearing up thinking about it while typing this out. Even if you never watched an episode of Futurama before this one, if you're not crying like a baby by the end of this episode, you may not have a heart.

2. THE STING

PREMISE: Leela is racked with guilt after Fry dies on a mission.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The episode begins with Leela forcing Fry and Bender to take on a mission that killed the Professor's last crew: collecting honey from giant space bees.

I'm actually not that far off with that reference, as the mission does wind up with Fry being impaled by a bee's stinger as he tries to protect Leela. Despite the nature of cartoons and how things do tend to go back to normal by the end, it was a real shock to me when I saw Fry die for the first time. I mean, they killed off the essentially main character of the show. And considering that this was during what was meant to be the final season of the show, it might not have been that far out for the creators to go this route. Fry's funeral included quite a few minor characters in attendance, with Terry from the cryogenics lab bidding him "Farewell from the world of tomorrow!", a callback to his line from the first episode ("Welcome to the world of tomorrow!")

The focus of the episode is on Leela. This all started with her wanting to prove herself, which is reasonable for her character (especially compared to a later episode, "Mobius Dick"). So she definitely feels responsible for Fry's death. Soon after, Leela begins having dreams of Fry, believing him to actually be alive and contacting her in her sleep. Everyone at Planet Express believes she's going crazy from guilt. They actually have some merit to this, as Leela's insanity begins to intensify, from imagining the crew performing a musical number to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and even seeing each character on the walls and floor of her apartment chanting "You killed Fry!" over and over. You really start to wonder what's real and what's happening in this episode.

We then get the twist ending: it turns out Fry survived the impalement from the bee sting while the tip still poisoned Leela, placing her in a coma. Leela lies in a hospital bed for two weeks with Fry not leaving her side, continually talking to her hoping he'll get through. It's a really admirable act on Fry's part as another display of his love for Leela.

This is another pretty good story twist and it makes sense when you look back at it. In her coma, Leela was happier in her dreams with Fry while appearing to go crazy in the real world. She has the chance to sleep forever, but it's Fry's words getting through to her telling her not to give up. Leela is essentially hanging by a thread between life and death, and Fry is the beacon trying to bring her home.

Besides all that, this had a couple of my favorite Professor moments from the series. The first is at Fry's funeral when he's trying to console Leela as she blames herself for his death, the Professor then turns to Bender and unknowingly shouts "I'm lying to make her feel better!", causing Leela to cry harder. The other is later on when the Professor tries to cut off Leela's head with a guillotine. Leela asks "Can't you examine my brain without removing it?" to which the Professor replies "Yes. Easily." and then pulls out a device to do such.

And finally, in my opinion, the best episode of Futurama is...

THE DEVIL'S HANDS ARE IDLE PLAYTHINGS

PREMISE: Fry makes a deal with the Robot Devil to trade hands.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: This was intended to be, and for five years was, the final episode of Futurama due to its cancellation by Fox. And for what it's worth, it was really damn good finale.

The episode is actually a follow-up to a previous episode, "Parasites Lost", as Fry continues to perfect his skills on the holophonor, a musical instrument that also produces a holographic story, to woo Leela. He is so desperate that Bender leads him down to Robot Hell to make a deal with the Robot Devil. The Robot Devil offers Fry to switch his hands with that of a random robot in the universe. Fry accepts and the Robot Devil spins the Wheel of Robots to see who Fry will swap hands with; as it turns out, the wheel lands on the Robot Devil and the two switch hands. Thanks to the Robot Devil's hands, Fry becomes a sensation on the holophonor, putting out his own albums and being commissioned to write an opera, which he decides to make about Leela. However, the Robot Devil wants his hands back and creates a convoluted plan to do so. He engineers it so Leela will be deafened, making her unable to hear Fry's opera. Desperate, Leela makes a deal with the Robot Devil for robot ears in exchange for one of her hands. As the opera goes on, the Robot Devil is angered by how he is depicted and interrupts the show, leading to a musical number involving him, Fry, Leela, and the rest of the Planet Express crew. It's a really entertaining moment and I find myself thinking about and singing it in my head from time to time. It's during this number where the Robot Devil reveals he tricked Leela and that the contract she signed said she would give him her hand in marriage ("You should have checked the wording in the fine...print.") The Robot Devil tells Fry he'll call off the marriage if he returns his hands. Fry reluctantly agrees, and when he's asked to continue the opera, his skills on the holophonor revert back to miniscule levels. It's here where the show gives birth to what would be one of its most famous memes:

Everyone storms out except Leela, who wants to hear how the show ends. And with that...the show ends. At least for five years, as thanks to fan support, Comedy Central picked the show up, and ran it for five more years before ending it again.

"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" was an excellent episode in its own right and what would have been a great finale. It signified the official beginning to Fry and Leela's relationship, although it would take another whole season before they actually became a couple for the rest of the series. The series' actual final episode "Meanwhile" was also very well done, but it was done with the possibility of another season pick-up. With "Devil's Hands", there was more of a sense of finality to everything. In any case, "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" is without a doubt of my favorite episode to come from such a spectacular series.

My Top 5 Non-DC/Marvel Villains

Whether you've been following my blog for awhile or just take a first glance at it, it's painfully obvious that I have very heavy focus on DC and Marvel in all forms of media. If you dig deep though, you'll find the rare music review (which I haven't really done one since 2014's "Dream Walker" review) or the occasional look at other shows like SpongeBob or Dragon Ball GT (and on a related note, be on the lookout for my upcoming "Top 10 Episodes of Futurama" post). Also taking into account that all I've really done this year is reviews, I figured I kill two birds with one stone in a top five list.

It's easy to love the hero of a story, but when there's a villain you just love to hate, that's what makes them memorable. With that said, let me share my top five villains from outside DC and Marvel comics.

5. Destroyah

Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995)

As the Godzilla series was going on hiatus once again in the mid 90's, they wanted to give a proper conclusion with the death of the title character. So what better opponent for the King of the Monster's last stand than a creature born from the Oxygen Destroyer that apparently killed him in his very first movie in 1954. Enter: Destroyah, a colony of Precambrian organisms mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer. Destroyah starts off as multiple man sized crab creatures, combining into larger crab creatures and soon enough into the giant satanic looking figure pictured above. All of Destroyah's forms are pretty scary, but his final form really takes the cake. His personality is one to match his namesake, as he only lives to kill. This leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the Godzilla franchise. Once Destroyah evolves into his final form, he attacks Godzilla Junior, who bested him in battle earlier, taking him high into the air and dropping him onto sports arena. And if that wasn't bad enough, Destroyah continues to blast Junior with his energy beam, leading to Junior's death.

Destroyah may have likely killed the senior Godzilla as well, had it not been for the over abundance of radiation in Godzilla's body at that point, giving him enough power to take down his son's killer. So while it wasn't Destroyah himself that killed Godzilla, it was a driving factor; between the anger of losing his son and the battle pushing his power to dangerous levels, Godzilla's meltdown was all but assured. I won't go into what happens at the end of the movie to avoid spoilers for those who haven't seen it, but I will say that "Godzilla vs. Destroyah" is one of my favorite Godzilla movies along with 1991's "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah".

On that note, while King Ghidorah is without a doubt Godzilla's biggest and most well known adversary, I partly chalk that up to overexposure. Don't get me wrong, I love Ghidorah, but Destroyah has a little more edge over him, dealing the most devastating blows to Godzilla.

4. The Psycho Rangers

Power Rangers in Space, (1998), Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (1999)

I knew I had to pick someone from Power Rangers for this list, but after nearly 25 years, I asked myself who stood out the most and had a major impact? While many villains from the Zordon era are iconic, I think the Psycho Rangers are probably the best. I already talked about the Psychos way back in my Power Rangers retrospective, but it's worth going into again.

While beforehand there were evil copies or attempts to make evil versions of Power Rangers, the Psycho Rangers stood out by having a unique design. Created by Astronema using energy from an unknowing Dark Specter, the Psychos had a never ending drive to defeat their respective Ranger. In fact, in their first appearance, the Psychos nearly did destroy the Space Rangers, only to be teleported away by Astronema, as she want to use them as long as she could so they could steal all of Dark Specter's energy so she could usurp him as the monarch of the United Alliance of Evil.

While the Psychos were created as a team, they only worked well when it served their interests, that being to destroy their own Ranger. They would even attack each other if they got in the way of their goal. Despite their lack of teamwork, they were still a formidable force against the Rangers, only able to take down one at a time with Pink and Blue before destroying Red, Black, and Yellow with combined might of the Megazords.

But they couldn't keep the Psychos down for long, as a year later in "Lost Galaxy", Deviot revived the Psychos to destroy the Galaxy Rangers, and it took the combined might of the Space and Galaxy Rangers to defeat them again. However, Psycho Pink survived and while she was finally defeated, her actions resulted in the death of Kendrix, the Pink Galaxy Ranger, this being the first death of a Ranger in the franchise at this point.

The Psycho Ranger story arc is one of the best parts of "Power Rangers in Space" and they were involved in one of the franchise's greatest team-ups. While there have been attempts at more evil Rangers afterwards, none of them match the impact the Psychos did. It's probably unlikely, but I would love if the Psycho Rangers were to come back in another anniversary special.

3. The Master/Harold Saxon

Doctor Who (2007, 2009-10, 2017)

Doctor Who has a lot of iconic villains. Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Sontarans, the Silence, I can go on. And then you have the Master. Admittedly, I've only really watched the modern era of Doctor Who, and while I know there have been past Masters, John Simm was my first Master.

For those who don't know, the Master is a Time-Lord like the Doctor, who seeks both power and to see the Doctor suffer. In the arc that introduced me to the Master, he fabricated the identity of Harold Saxon and was able to hypnotize the populace of the United Kingdom into electing him Prime Minister. His personality is very unprofessional for a politician (boy, isn't that relevant?), which annoys some of his colleagues, who eventually wind up dead at his hand. But really, it's his personality that makes him stand out to me. He has fun in the evil things he does, and it's when he gets serious when you should be scared of him. One of the fascinating aspects of this version of the Master is that he's driven mad by a constant drumbeat in his head, placed there from when he looked into the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of space and time, during his initiation as a Time-Lord. It's this sound of drums that makes for one of my favorite scores; it's a catchy beat I find myself thinking about from time to time.

In his first arc, the Master's endgame was to take over Earth by bringing from the future the Toclafane, the cybernetic remains of humanity from the future. In addition to this, he puts the wife he had taken through psychological hell and made servants out of the family of the Doctor's then current companion, Martha Jones. This really speaks to how demented the Master is. His plan ultimately fails though, leading to him being shot by his own wife. As the Doctor cradles him in his arms claiming he can regenerate, the Master chooses death as it would be a loss for the Doctor. Years later in "The End of Time", the Master is revived by his disciples, leading to his new plan to turn all of humanity into clones of himself. This involved John Simm wearing all kinds of different clothes, and you just know he had to have fun filming these scenes.

After his defeat there, this was believed to be the last of this version of the Master, as a new female regeneration of the character appeared, going by the name "Missy". Missy would start off again as the Doctor's enemy, but as time went on, she would become an unlikely ally. A wrench is thrown in the gears though as the Harold Saxon version of the Master returned once again in all his crazy glory, playing a hand in the creation of the Mondasian Cybermen, even turning the Doctor's then current companion Bill Potts into one. The interaction between the two Masters was fun to see, especially with Missy's conflicting loyalties to the Doctor and her old self. This would actually be the last we see of both versions of the Master though, as they end up fatally wounding the other. But while Saxon would regenerate into Missy, Saxon's blow to Missy was meant to disable her regeneration abilities, most likely leading to her death. His reasoning is he can't bear to see himself becoming an ally of the Doctor. While we may never see Missy again, I very much doubt that's the end of the Master. (And for those who wonder why Missy doesn't remember meeting her future self, the time travel rules of Doctor Who include characters being unable to retain memories of meeting with their future selves, so as not to disrupt the timeline of events.)

All in all, John Simm was great as the Master, bringing a gleeful psychopathy that's entertaining to watch. He's a truly dedicated villain in that even if he can't win, he'll make sure the Doctor doesn't have a full victory.

2. Bill Cipher

Gravity Falls (2012-16)

"Gravity Falls" is definitely one of the best cartoons in modern history. It's full of comedy, drama, mystery, action and horror; there's pretty much something for everyone, keeping you hooked all the way until the finale. One of the big parts of the series is its main villain, Bill Cipher, an interdimensional demon from the Nightmare Realm bent on taking over the real world. He's very conniving and manipulative, tricking others, even possessing them, in order to further his own goals. In a way, he's kind of a shifty salesman, and this can really be heard in his speech pattern. He talks fast and has very upbeat personality, despite the demented things he says and does. Hell, in his first appearance, he rips all the teeth out of a deer and offers them as a gift. And during the final arc of the series, he shuffles the functions of a man's face. 

(There's your nightmare fuel for tonight.)

But it's when he gets angry that you should really be scared as his voice deepens to a demonic level and he'll sometimes shapeshift into a form to match.

Whenever Bill's on screen, he's always entertaining to watch since he's so different from other villains and unpredictable in his actions. He very well would have won had he not underestimated the main characters of the show.

I highly recommend checking out "Gravity Falls", and Bill Cipher is just one of the many reasons to watch.

And my number one non-DC/Marvel villain is...

Frieza

Dragon Ball (1990-present)

Frieza may very well be the most feared villain in all of anime, and his reputation preceded him before he even made his first appearance in Dragon Ball Z. Even when he did appear, there was so much build up of just how much of threat he was all the way to the point where he actually decided to take matters in his own hands. And that threat just kept building after three transformations that increased his power and gave him a new terrifying form. Of all the villains of Dragon Ball, Frieza has to be the most pure evil of the bunch. King Piccolo was Kami's expunged evil half, we had villains created from science or magic (Cell, Buu, Baby), and even Zamasu believed his evil acts were for the good of the universe. Frieza was just straight up born evil, seeking nothing but absolute rule of the universe. He brought out an immense feeling of terror from not just his opponents or intended victims, but from his own soldiers, who he would kill for something as small as bringing him bad news. This is a character who destroyed the home planet of Goku and Vegeta, and wiped out all the Namekians (including the children) in his quest for their Dragon Balls. Despite most of the Namekians being revived with Earth's Dragon Balls, that's essentially two acts of genocide (that we know about). And you just know he did it partly for his own enjoyment; he's just that sadistic. For a show that is marketed to kids, that's some pretty heavy stuff. Not only that, but Frieza built up a galactic empire that even over a decade after his death, his loyalists still remained to the point where they revived him with Earth's Dragon Balls. And even years after his initial defeat, the thought of Frieza returned from the dead still brought fear to the Z Fighters.

For the longest time, I considered Cell to be the best Dragon Ball villain. I mean, he was made up of the DNA of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza, and many others. He was essentially the ultimate enemy, and much like Frieza, Cell was meant to be the final villain of the series until creator Akira Toriyama decided to continue with the Buu saga. But I've had a revelation recently: Cell only works within the context of his own saga. Cell may still be powerful, but after increasing threats like Buu and Beerus (a literal god), Cell kind of seems insignificant. Even with his appearance in GT, he didn't seem like much of a threat to Goku, who had reached Super Saiyan 4 at that point. Cell's flaw is that he's limited by the characters he's made up of, not really having any unique techniques of his own.

With Frieza though, after he was resurrected, he learned from his past mistakes and decided to train and increase his power, eventually reaching his golden form, becoming strong enough to fight Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form. If Cell were to return, I feel his personality would keep him from bettering himself, as he believes himself to already be perfect.

In a way, Cell is still my favorite DBZ villain for what he represents, but in terms of character, Frieza really has him beat as the undisputed best villain of Dragon Ball as well as my favorite non-DC/Marvel villain.