Parasites Lost
Encyclopedia
"Parasites Lost" is the second episode in season three of Futurama
. Although the title is a play on John Milton
's epic poem Paradise Lost
, the episode is a parody of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage
. The plot also borrows from the novel Flowers for Algernon
. It originally aired in North America
on January 21, 2001.
buys and eats an extremely old egg salad
sandwich
from a vending machine
in the restroom. On returning to Earth
, Fry and Bender are assigned the task of fixing the plasma
fusion boiler
, which promptly explodes. Bender is not damaged, but Fry is impaled by a large pipe. Despite the severity of the injury, Fry's damaged body repairs itself in seconds, and the subsequent medical examination reveals to the crew that Fry is infested with microscopic worms from the egg salad.
To eliminate the infestation
, Professor Farnsworth
makes miniature robotic versions of the crew, except for Fry and Leela. Because the worms know all that Fry knows and would thus defend themselves if Fry knew about the mission, Leela is assigned to distract Fry, who is not told what is happening. Controlling the micro-droids using virtual reality
gear — which is apparently cheaper than actually shrinking the crew themselves — the crew board a miniature Planet Express ship, and enter Fry's ear. Throughout the travel, the crew discover that the worms are drastically improving Fry's intelligence, health and fitness.
The crew make their way into Fry's bowel, and fight their way to the pelvic splanchnic ganglion
, intending to cause a massive bowel movement to expel the worm society (or, as the Professor puts it, "Listen, this is gonna be one hell of a bowel movement; afterwards, he'll be lucky to have any bones left"). Meanwhile, Leela is enchanted by the now intelligent and muscular Fry. He then reveals that he loves her but only recently was he able to articulate his thoughts. She realizes that the worms are responsible for the new, improved Fry, and sets out to stop the Professor. Her micro-droid reaches the nerve, and hacks the rest of the micro-droid crew to pieces with an axe. The Professor tells her that the worms will burrow so deep into Fry's body, he will be stuck with them forever, but Leela reasons that Fry is better off with the worms.
Fry is informed of what has been happening, but is more interested in romancing Leela than clearing the worms out of his body. Although the two share a romantic evening at Leela's apartment — made more powerful when Fry composes Leela a sonnet
on the complex musical instrument the Holophonor — Leela tells Fry that she loves the new him. Worried, Fry tells her that he needs to find out something, leaves and, using his own micro-droid, enters his own body.
Fry confronts the worm leader and engages him in a swordfight after asking the worms to leave so he can learn if Leela loves him or just what they have made of him; he eventually blackmail
s the worms into leaving by threatening to kill himself by destroying the medulla oblongata
, and they comply. With the worms gone, Fry returns to Leela's apartment, intent on finding out if Leela can love him as he truly is. Fry explains to Leela about the worms, and his decision to dispose of them. His awkward attempts at being romantic end when he mentions his previous relationship with Amy
, and Leela kicks him out of her apartment. Back at his apartment, Fry begins to re-learn the Holophonor, and creates a crude image of Leela.
, director of the first four broadcast seasons of Futurama and two of the straight-to-DVD movies, has stated that episodes with challenging new scenes to draw are his favorites. In particular he notes that he thinks this episode is fun because "It has microscopic characters inside a human body, a 3-D colonoscopy
, a sword fight, a holophoner sequence (involving otters and characters dancing on Saturn
's rings), some sweet sweet lovemaking, and a space-truck stop."
in 2001 for "Individual Achievement in Animation". This episode is also a fan favorite and in 2006 IGN
named it as number four in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes. IGN praised the episode for both its humor and the deepening of Fry and Leela's relationship, particularly the scenes where Fry is willing to "hurt himself and lessen what he has become for Leela". In 2007 Entertainment Weekly
named Futurama number 21 on their list of the top 25 science fiction
movies and TV shows of the last 25 years (1982–2007). In the article, this episode was identified as the "best bit" of the series.
In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 4.8/8, placing it 79th among primetime shows for the week of January 15–21, 2001.
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
. Although the title is a play on John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's epic poem Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
, the episode is a parody of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
. The plot also borrows from the novel Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...
. It originally aired in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on January 21, 2001.
Plot
While making a pit stop at an interstellar truck stop, FryPhilip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
buys and eats an extremely old egg salad
Egg salad
Egg salad is part of a tradition of salads involving a high-protein and low-carbohydrate food mixed with seasonings in the form of spices, herbs, and other foods, and bound with mayonnaise...
sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
from a vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
in the restroom. On returning to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, Fry and Bender are assigned the task of fixing the plasma
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
fusion boiler
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
, which promptly explodes. Bender is not damaged, but Fry is impaled by a large pipe. Despite the severity of the injury, Fry's damaged body repairs itself in seconds, and the subsequent medical examination reveals to the crew that Fry is infested with microscopic worms from the egg salad.
To eliminate the infestation
Infestation
Infestation refers to the state of being invaded or overrun by pests or parasites. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host.-Terminology:...
, Professor Farnsworth
Hubert J. Farnsworth
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery...
makes miniature robotic versions of the crew, except for Fry and Leela. Because the worms know all that Fry knows and would thus defend themselves if Fry knew about the mission, Leela is assigned to distract Fry, who is not told what is happening. Controlling the micro-droids using virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
gear — which is apparently cheaper than actually shrinking the crew themselves — the crew board a miniature Planet Express ship, and enter Fry's ear. Throughout the travel, the crew discover that the worms are drastically improving Fry's intelligence, health and fitness.
The crew make their way into Fry's bowel, and fight their way to the pelvic splanchnic ganglion
Pelvic splanchnic nerves
Pelvic splanchnic nerves or nervi erigentes are splanchnic nerves that arise from sacral spinal nerves S2, S3, S4 to provide parasympathetic innervation to the hindgut.-Structure:...
, intending to cause a massive bowel movement to expel the worm society (or, as the Professor puts it, "Listen, this is gonna be one hell of a bowel movement; afterwards, he'll be lucky to have any bones left"). Meanwhile, Leela is enchanted by the now intelligent and muscular Fry. He then reveals that he loves her but only recently was he able to articulate his thoughts. She realizes that the worms are responsible for the new, improved Fry, and sets out to stop the Professor. Her micro-droid reaches the nerve, and hacks the rest of the micro-droid crew to pieces with an axe. The Professor tells her that the worms will burrow so deep into Fry's body, he will be stuck with them forever, but Leela reasons that Fry is better off with the worms.
Fry is informed of what has been happening, but is more interested in romancing Leela than clearing the worms out of his body. Although the two share a romantic evening at Leela's apartment — made more powerful when Fry composes Leela a sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
on the complex musical instrument the Holophonor — Leela tells Fry that she loves the new him. Worried, Fry tells her that he needs to find out something, leaves and, using his own micro-droid, enters his own body.
Fry confronts the worm leader and engages him in a swordfight after asking the worms to leave so he can learn if Leela loves him or just what they have made of him; he eventually blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s the worms into leaving by threatening to kill himself by destroying the medulla oblongata
Medulla oblongata
The medulla oblongata is the lower half of the brainstem. In discussions of neurology and similar contexts where no ambiguity will result, it is often referred to as simply the medulla...
, and they comply. With the worms gone, Fry returns to Leela's apartment, intent on finding out if Leela can love him as he truly is. Fry explains to Leela about the worms, and his decision to dispose of them. His awkward attempts at being romantic end when he mentions his previous relationship with Amy
Amy Wong
Amy Wong, voiced by Lauren Tom, is a fictional character, one of the main characters from the Fox and Comedy Central television animated series Futurama. She works as an intern at Planet Express...
, and Leela kicks him out of her apartment. Back at his apartment, Fry begins to re-learn the Holophonor, and creates a crude image of Leela.
Production
Peter AvanzinoPeter Avanzino
Peter Avanzino is an American animation director. He has directed several episodes of Futurama, and currently serves as supervising director on the 6th season of the series. He has also directed episodes of Drawn Together, Duckman, The Wild Thornberrys, Sit Down, Shut Up, and The Ren and Stimpy Show...
, director of the first four broadcast seasons of Futurama and two of the straight-to-DVD movies, has stated that episodes with challenging new scenes to draw are his favorites. In particular he notes that he thinks this episode is fun because "It has microscopic characters inside a human body, a 3-D colonoscopy
Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the large bowel and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It may provide a visual diagnosis and grants the opportunity for biopsy or removal of suspected...
, a sword fight, a holophoner sequence (involving otters and characters dancing on Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's rings), some sweet sweet lovemaking, and a space-truck stop."
Broadcast and reception
The storyboard artist for this episode, Rodney Clouden, was honored with an Emmy awardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 2001 for "Individual Achievement in Animation". This episode is also a fan favorite and in 2006 IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
named it as number four in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes. IGN praised the episode for both its humor and the deepening of Fry and Leela's relationship, particularly the scenes where Fry is willing to "hurt himself and lessen what he has become for Leela". In 2007 Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named Futurama number 21 on their list of the top 25 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
movies and TV shows of the last 25 years (1982–2007). In the article, this episode was identified as the "best bit" of the series.
In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 4.8/8, placing it 79th among primetime shows for the week of January 15–21, 2001.
Continuity
- This episode is the first to introduce the Holophoner, a fictional musical instrument similar to the clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, which creates a series of abstract holographHolographA holograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose signature it bears. Some countries or local jurisdictions within certain countries give legal standing to specific types of holographic documents, generally waiving requirements that they be witnessed...
ic scenes when played. It is apparently extremely difficult to play. The instrument returns as a major plot element in the episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle PlaythingsThe Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings"The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" is the eighteenth episode in the fourth production season of the animated television series Futurama, and was aired for the first time in the United States on August 10, 2003 as the sixteenth episode of the fifth broadcast season...
". The Holophoner also strongly resembles the visi-sonor played by the MuleMule (Foundation)The Mule is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. One of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to reach into the minds of others and "adjust" their emotions, individually or en masse, using this capability to forcibly enlist...
, a mind-controlling mutant, in Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Foundation and EmpireFoundation and EmpireFoundation and Empire is a novel written by Isaac Asimov that was published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book published in the Foundation Series, and the fourth in the in-universe chronology...
.
External links
- Parasites Lost at The Infosphere.