The Farnsworth Parabox

Infobox Futurama episode
episode_name = The Farnsworth Parabox
episode_no = 66
prod_code = 4ACV15
airdate = June 8, 2003
country = USA
writer = Bill Odenkirk
director = Ron Hughart
opening_subtitle = BEATS A HARD KICK IN THE FACE
opening_cartoon = Unknown
guest_star =


caption = The Planet Express crew sit with their alternate reality selves.
season = four

“The Farnsworth Parabox” is the fifteenth episode of the fourth production season of "Futurama". It first aired June 8, 2003 as the tenth episode in the fifth broadcast season. The episode was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by Ron Hughart.

Plot summary

After nearly dying because of an experiment, Professor Farnsworth decides to destroy the experiment—a yellow box—by dumping it into the sun. Keeping it overnight in the lab, he forbids the Planet Express staff to open it and assigns Leela as a guard to make sure. However, after her shift is over, Leela is tempted by curiosity, flipping a coin to decide whether to open the box. The flip ends in favor of looking in the box, and she does. She falls into it, ending up in a parallel universe where coin flips come out with the opposite result. Consequently, though everyone in the parallel universe has identical personalities to their counterparts, nearly everyone has a different color scheme (e.g., Bender is gold-plated, Zoidberg is blue, Leela has red hair). Also, Fry and Leela dated and then got married after Leela flipped a coin to decide whether to go out with him or not, and Farnsworth performed an experiment wherein he tried to remove his own brain.

At first, the parallel universe staff believe Leela is evil, and the parallel Leela forces the original Leela’s colleagues (except for Hermes) into the parallel universe. The two Farnsworths discover that, just as the original Farnsworth created a box containing the parallel universe, the parallel Farnsworth created a box containing the original universe. The two Leelas dub the original universe "Universe A", and the second "Universe 1". The two groups agree to watch their counterparts to determine if the other is evil, but after studying the Scriptures, the Professors decide that nobody is evil after all.

When Universe 1’s Hermes comes in to destroy the Universe A box by throwing it into the sun, the crew realize that Universe A’s Hermes must be doing the same thing. They decide to go back through the box to stop Hermes-A. However, the Universe A box is missing, stolen by the two Zoidbergs, who are tired of everyone in both universes ignoring and being disrespectful to them. The two Farnsworths try to recreate the Universe A box, but wind up creating a large number of boxes, all connected to different universes.

The two Zoidbergs return, and everyone else tries to get the box from them. The Zoidbergs jump into another box to escape, and in the process bump into the bookshelf containing the boxes, causing all of them to fall. Unable to tell which box the Zoidbergs jumped into, everyone selects a box to jump into to try to find them, grabbing a length of wire so they can find their way back. Eventually finding the two Zoidbergs, everyone makes their way back to Universe 1, then leaps into the Universe A box.

Meanwhile, in Universe A, Hermes-A, aboard the Planet Express Ship-A, has reached the Sun-A and is about to eject the box-1. At the last moment, everyone else pops out of the box into the airlock. Farnsworth-A orders Hermes-A not to push the eject button. After several moments of consideration, Hermes shrugs and obeys.

Back on Earth, both Farnsworths exchange their boxes by pulling each box into the other’s universe simultaneously. Farnsworth tells the staff to treat the box very carefully as it contains their own universe. Bender then shakes the box, causing earthquake-like effects. Afterwards, while the rest of the staff are watching television, Fry comes into the room and sits on the box, causing the universe to become short and squat. This anomaly goes unnoticed by the characters.

Broadcast and reception

In 2006 this episode was ranked 17th on IGN's list of the top 25 episodes of "Futurama". The episode was noted for its humor as a stand–alone episode and in particular for Universe #420 where Professor Farnsworth tells his hippie counterpart to get a job.cite web| url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/716/716663p1.html| title=Top 25 Futurama Episodes| author=Dan Iverson| date=2006-07-07| accessdate=2007-09-21]

Continuity

* In a prior episode, "I Dated a Robot", Farnsworth tells Fry that there is only one parallel universe. The only apparent difference between that parallel universe and the original "Futurama" universe is the presence of cowboy-style clothing. In the commentary, the writers claim that the other universe is the one that has many alternative ones. In the commentary of "I Dated a Robot", the writers say that there is only the one parallel universe, and that the ones in this episode are perpendicular (perhaps because the box is where they cross/become perpendicular). However, these universes were created by Professor Farnsworth, so it is quite possible that until this point, the cowboy universe was the only other alternate universe. It is also possible that Farnsworth is unaware of other universes, while many others might exist.

* Before deciding to look in the box, Leela picks up a copy of the Nosy Enquirer (a parody of "The National Enquirer") with the headline "Bigfoot Turns 80!" Bigfoot is later revealed to exist in "Spanish Fry" and an animatic of The Beast with a Billion Backs.

Character Counterparts

*Fry-1's hair is black, his coat is green, and he's married to Leela-1.
*Leela-1's hair is bright red and is married to Fry-1.
*Bender-1's finish is a shiny gold color.
*Professor Farnsworth-1's skin has a slightly greenish tint and has a number of stiches on his head.
*Zoidberg-1 is entirely blue.
*Amy Wong-1's hair is brown and coat is yellow.

Perpendicular universes

* Universe A—The normal "Futurama" universe. Boxes in this universe are yellow.
* Universe 1—The first alternate universe seen; coin tosses have opposite outcomes and almost everything is a different color. The sky is a spiraling array of vibrant colors. Boxes in this universe are light blue.
* Universe XVII—It appears to be an alternate universe in which the Roman Empire never fell, hence the use of Roman numerals (and the professor's use of latin). Boxes in this universe are purple.
* Universe 25—Everyone is born without eyes and are blind. Boxes in this universe are white.
* Universe 31—Everybody is a clockwork robot version of themselves. Boxes in this universe are green.
* Universe 420—A hippie universe where in pot smoking is implied both by its smoky haze and its label 420. There appears to be a shortage of boxes in this universe—only one is seen. Boxes in this universe are orange.
* Universe 1729—Everybody is an extremely rude bobblehead version of themselves. Boxes in this universe are pink. It is possible that 1729 was intentionally chosen to represent this universe by the "Futurama" writers, because 1729 is the Hardy-Ramanujan number.
* Other universes—One is very cold, freezing anything that enters it; another contains nothing but women and another is inhabited by beings who have tentacles. Also, the Benders steal treasure from both a leprechaun universe (Bender-1) and a pirate universe (Bender-A).

Cultural references

* According to the audio commentary, it was decided to make Zoidberg in the alternate universe blue because approximately one of every two million lobsters is blue.
* A woman who opens a box that should not be opened is the center of the story of the Pandora's box.
* The Universe 1 Farnsworth's statement that it is common knowledge that parallel universes are evil is a play on the episode "Mirror, Mirror", where Kirk, Uhura, Scotty and McCoy are sent to the mirror universe.
* The gold Bender-1 could possibly be a reference to protocol droid C-3PO, a notion reinforced by his exclamation, "Our universe is doomed! Doomed!"
* Farnsworth's use of the word "Baldercrap!" is a portmanteau of "balderdash" and "crap."
* The labeling of alternate universe by using numbers is similar to that seen in DC comics and Marvel Comics.
* The title of this episode may be a reference to the EPR paradox.
* The Benders saying "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold" is a quote from a children's campfire song.

References

External links