Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.
It's been a while since we've seen an episode of All My Circuits, hasn't it? It was great to see the return of the ever self-centered Calculon at the start of "The Thief of Baghead," still plugging along as the world's greatest actor of all time. Futurama has always done an excellent job of satirizing the soap opera genre, and the beginning of this week's episode was no exception. Putting twists on the traditional genre conventions never ceases to entertain, and Calculon's opening monologue about a murderer being in the room ("It's me!") firmly established that notion.
The aquarium scene had some good moments, particularly Fry's fascination with 31st century fishtanks. It was also "Neat!" to see Bender's frequent picture-taking become a central focal point of the episode. The chemical darkroom and lens gags were pretty funny, as was Bender's shutterbug stalking of Calculon. ("At last, we can enjoy our studio-mandated quality time!")
Bender's turn as a professional paparazzo had some okay jokes, but it wasn't until we learned about Langdon Cobb that the story really began to pick up. Easily one of the best scenes in the episode was Bender showing his Cobb snap to Fry, Amy and Hermes. His deduction process was one of the funniest bits of the episode. ("The evidence is mounting! Although two times hardly establishes a pattern.")
As for the actual Langdon Cobb character, his whole bag-over-the-head schtick provided a few chuckles -- mostly in his personal documentary -- but the bit grew a little tiresome by the end of the episode. However, the Professor's "quantum lycan" explanation for why Cobb's face couldn't be revealed was pretty enjoyable, especially his fastidious distinction between souls and "life forces." But it was the World Acting Championship where things really got cooking.
It will be interesting to see if the writers actually follow through on Calculon's food coloring suicide. On the one hand, it'd be a shame if that was really the end of his character. On the other, if that truly was Calculon's demise, I don't know if I could come up with a better way to write him off. In either case, it was a nice touch leaving his motionless corpse up on stage for the rest of the episode, and it was almost funnier that it was never directly addressed.
The results of the giant fungal brawl also tied things up in a nice, roundabout way. The covert mission with the Professor and Zoidberg on one end with Leela and Bender on the other was a fun pair up on both sides. Bender's darkroom sequence was also a great way to bring the story back around to Bender's central arc, and it's always a treat when the writers can work his character into inadvertently saving the day.
Overall, "The Thief in Baghead" was another quality entry to Season 7. This episode was a great example of how Futurama can veer off into radically bizarre territory while also capturing the quirky behavior and mannerisms of its eccentric characters. It's always a plus, too, when the writers can incorporate the principle cast into the main storyline (even if that means turning some of their bodies into inanimate husks).
Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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