I loved the premise of Fry and Bender joining the Army jus to get a discount on gum, but ended up going to war. The story of Leela disguised as a man to get into the military had funny moments, like the shower scene. One of the best parts of the episode was that Bender could destroy the world all in one word. I thought this was a really funny army-spoof.
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AnimatedCritic30 April 2021
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Loosely based on Starship Troopers, this episode contains one of the highest good joke/minute ratio of the series. A giant load of hits and few if any misses. The war hospital scenes blow most of the rest out of the water:
Zoidberg: "I'm afraid he's gone" Patient: 'Whoa doctor I'm not dead' Zoidberg: "I believe I'm the doctor"
The voice actor's delivery gets the maximum out of the writing, the funniest character for me will always be Zoidberg because the writers go into all kind of directions with him, pitiful, childishly honest, just plain weird, vulnerable, clueless, attention hungry, he's all that and much more. If anyone could be the 'Homer' of Futurama, it's Zoidberg. Although Professor Farnsworth and Bender come close to absolute hilarity too. 'Leela' will always be the slightly nerve-wrecking voice of reason, the 'Lisa' if you will.
I've always adored the end of the episode, where Bender tries to guess the word that'll detonate the bomb inside him...euhm...dare I say...anticking?
Some of the episodes most memorable jokes to go out on.- Bender's top 10 most used words: 8. Yours 7.Up
- Zoidberg: Scalpel (short pause) Blood Bucket (short pause) Priest
- Brannigan: Look at this sissy Kiff. While others were fighting and dying pointlessly, he was hiding in a hole wallowing in a pool of his own cowardice. Fry: That wasn't cowardice!
- Nurse: leave doctor Zoidberg alone, he's got twice the training you do! Other surgeon: Yeah, he's a doctor and a butcher (chuckling while the sedated patient he's operating on chuckles heartily too).
- Brannigan: here lies the bravest soldier I've seen since my mirror got grease on it. I hereby order that in Bender's honor, he be melted down and made into a statue of himself.
I bet you got in the mood to revisit this episode now. :-) -
After seeing a soldier get a five percent military discount Fry and Bender decide to sign up themselves with the intention of quitting as soon as they have made their purchase... too bad war is declared only seconds after they sign on the dotted line! Knowing that they are doomed without her Leela attempts to sign up too but Zapp informs her that there is no place for women in his army. On arrival on the alien planet the troops find themselves pitched into battle against a race of bouncing balls! Soon after arrival a new recruit catches Zapp's eye; Pvt. Lee Lemon. Lemon; the best recruit by quite some way is strangely familiar... perhaps it is the purple hair; perhaps it is the slightly feminine voice. The battle doesn't go well and Bender is taken to the field hospital where his bravery is spotted by President Nixon... he comes up with a plan to beat the balls; he will plant a bomb in Bender and detonate it at the peace talks.
If you've seen Starship Troopers or M*A*S*H you are probably going to enjoy this as both are heavily referenced; it isn't essential to have seen them though as only one or two jokes require knowledge of them to be amusing; the iHawk robotic doctor being the most obvious. Once again Zapp provides plenty of good laughs; mostly when he finds himself strangely attracted to Lee Lemon... how he, and Fry and Bender, didn't realise it was Leela is a mystery as it was obviously her... that is what makes it so funny of course! I was a little surprised at the number of 'ball jokes' some viewers mind find them too crude but I expect most will have a good laugh! -
taylorkingston31 October 2014I love this episode. It's so funny. Fry is just so dumb and lovable, that you can't help loving him.
In this episode, Fry and Bender decide they want some bubble gum. So after choosing it, from the wide selection that the future has to offer, they go up to pay for it. They find out that if they're in the army, they get a discount and will save like 35 cents. So they go and enlist and come back and pay for the gum. With the discounted price. Then they get drafted. Bad idea. Leela knows that they won't last without her help, so she dresses up as a man and joins as well. For some reason, they wouldn't let her join when she was just a woman. Fry doesn't realize that it's Leela and hangs out with him slash her. And he begins to grow really attached.
Overall, I give this episode a 10 out of 10.