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| Futurama |
| A Taste of Freedom |
Series 4, Episode 4
"Zoidberg is brought to trial for eating Earth’s flag"
Episode Guide -
Quotes -
Analysis - Notes |
| Episode Guide |
Opens with Zoidberg dancing on the table as people sit round clapping him on. Fry enters the room and jobs onto the table too, Zoidberg introduces the day as freedom day.
Later everyone is outside at a party eating stuff, wearing hats, etc. The Professor mentions the traditional freedom tub and everyone strips off for nude hot tubing. Zoidberg explains how freedom is good on Earth but you have to fight for freedom.
Cuts to a scene of Washington DC as the Planet Express ship flies in. There is a big parade of random things, a lot of military might, etc. Morvo and Linda are commentating on the parade. It arrives at speech time and the sectary of transportation carries Nixon’s head onto the podium.
Nixon gives a quick speech and the fireworks begin. Nixon introduces the Earth flag and more fireworks continue. They raise their eyes to look at it to find that Zoidberg has eaten the flag. He makes a speech about freedom but the mob decides to try and kill him instead; he scuttles off.
He runs down embassy row and arrives at the Decapodian Embassy. He hides out inside. Nixon wants to storm the place but Lela says that he can’t do it. Nixon takes the case to the supreme court who accept the case while people continue to protest outside the Decapodian Embassy.
Lela and Fry find an old man who has fought in loads of wars and such; he says he is a lawyer willing to defend Zoidberg. Back at the Supreme Court the judges’ heads are wheeled in and the trial begins.
The judges confer and announce that eating of the flag is not protected by the constitution. The court orders a public apology. Zoidberg refuses though and so the court orders Zoidberg to be killed.
Brannigan is preparing to storm the embassy however the ambassador reminds them that this id Decapodian land and that storming it is an act of war. Decapodian warships arrive and prepare to do battle with Earth’s fleet.
The Nimbus arrives to join the battle and they prepare the global defence network activation codes. However Brannigan gives the codes to a Decapodian double agent and the global defence network is deactivated.
The Decapodian’s win and the humans are forced to make big piles of mud as slaves. That night they decide it is time to fight back. Brannigan points out that their modern technology is useless but Fry has an idea. They go to museum to stock up on weapons.
Next day the Mobile Oppression Palace is introduced – allowing a few dignitaries to oppress the entire planet cheaply. The warships are dismissed and the Mobile Oppression Palace begins destroying things. It kills Zoidberg’s lawyer and Zoidberg begins to have second thoughts about the oppression.
Fry reveals the plan and fires a heat seeking missile but it is pointed out that all Decapodian technology is cold blooded like they are. However Zoidberg lights a flag on fire and throws it into the Mobile Oppression Palace – the missile senses the heat and flies into the Palace, blowing it up and covering everyone in mud.
Everyone cheers Zoidberg and later they hold a ceremony on Capital Hill. Zoidberg takes a bite of the flag for the papers. He raises it as everyone cheers and it cuts to credits. |
| Quotes |
Fry: “So what is freedom day? It sounds like a feminine hygiene product”
Fry: “Wow, nude hot tubing. That’s all I need to know about freedom day”
Zoidberg: “Then consider the following lecture a bonus”
Nixon: “We’re free to choice which hand our sex monitoring chip is implanted in. And if we don’t want to pay our taxes, why, we’re free to spend a weekend with the pain monster”
Pain monster: “See you April 15th folks”
Nixon: “We’ve never lost our sense of what’s truly important – the great taste of Charleston Chew!”
Benders: “Posers. I was hating Dr. Zoidberg before it was cool”
Souter: “He shut you up O’Conner”
Bender: “Courts’ kind of fun when it’s not my ass on the line”
Judge: “The court orders an immediate public apology”
Zoidberg: “Apology accepted; just don’t let it happen again”
Brannigan: “Alright Kiff, let’s show these freaks what a bloated military budget can do”
Brannigan: “You ensign, what’s your name?”
Decapodian: “Hue Man sir”
Brannigan: “Hue Man. Now that’s a name I can trust”
Fry: “I’m no good at being a slave. I’m thinking about graduate school”
Lela: “This can’t go on – today is the day we fight back”
Bender: “It’s already 10 o’clock”
Lela: “Oh, your right. Tomorrow is the day we fight back”
Fry: “We need something big enough to take out an entire army. Something you could commit a war crime with”
Fry: “You didn’t expect us to even go to a museum. Even less to steal this ancient heat seeking missile.” |
| Analysis |
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| Notes |
The text under the big Futurama text in the opening credits is “or is it?”
The embassies on embassy row are the Neutral Planet Embassy, the Klingon Embassy, the Globetrotter Home World Embassy and finally his own – the Decapodian Embassy. |
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