# Futurama: Bender's Big Score (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604 "2007-11-24T13:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/81 "2007-12-25T00:55:50Z")
Maybe I’m asking this too complicated-ly. Let’s try this: “Why did Lars get a tattoo of Bender with the time code? Or who put it on him?” He got the tattoo between 2000 and 2012, so he can’t have known the code’s significance. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/82 "2007-12-25T01:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Maybe I’m asking this too complicated-ly. Let’s try this: “Why did Lars get a tattoo of Bender with the time code? Or who put it on him?” He got the tattoo between 2000 and 2012, so he can’t have known the code’s significance. [/QUOTE] That’s what makes it a paradox. It’s just a version of the old information paradox: You go back in time to tell your past self the secret to sustainable nuclear fusion, so you can invent it and get rich. But then when your younger self gets older, he has to remember to go back in time to tell _his_ younger self the secret again. So where did the original information come from? It’s a paradox, and so is Fry’s buttocks. There is no resolution – and pretty much every science fiction time travel story has to deal with this sort of thing in some way. The “paradox-free time travel sphere” is pretty much a nod to all the nutty things science fiction authors have come up with over the years for avoiding time travel paradoxes. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/83 "2007-12-25T05:49:57Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] “Why did Lars get a tattoo of Bender with the time code? Or who put it on him?” He got the tattoo between 2000 and 2012, so he can’t have known the code’s significance. [/QUOTE] Because Bender went back in time to put it on his ass while he was frozen in the tube, so it would all make sense. Even if it doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/84 "2007-12-25T06:51:31Z")
And all the Benders in the basement were there because Bender-from-the-end invited them “to stick around instead of coming up when they were logically supposed to.” None of them gave the loot they stole to the nudists, thus they became paradoxes, and were all doomed. They began to self-destruct simultaneously and the universe crapped itself. If Bender-from-the-end did not tattoo Fry’s ass, He too would have been a paradox, so that means that Bender must be the original, uh, tattoo-er. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/85 "2007-12-25T15:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=pesch] What seemed to help kill it is that they spent a lot of time rehashing the secondary characters and the secondary situations. Remember the Harlem Globetrotters? Let’s bring them back for math jokes. Remember Zapp? He leads the charge that’ll get them foolishly killed. Remember Hermie’s rival? Let’s retread that. Al Gore? Bring him back! [/QUOTE] Yeah, this was my biggest complaint as well. Bringing everything back at once seemed to overpower the movie. I hate to use the word “complaint” since the biggest complaint of all was having no futurama for the past few years. And I’ll add the disclaimer that even “below-average” Futurama is still better than just about everything else out there. They seemed to bring back just about all the things fans loved in the original series, but it was too much. I’ll add to your list talking nibbler, fry’s dog, and fry’s four-leaf clover. In any event, hopefully they got all that out of their system and I look forward to the remaining movies. Also, I think cartoon network is doing a Futurama marathon between now and new year. I will say that Futurama handles time-travel better than most series out there. The dvd commentary track is interesting during the portion where they keep going back to dec 31 1999. They actually lined up the shots so that the viewers could not see all the different bender/fry combinations which would be there at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/86 "2007-12-25T15:09:38Z")
Moderator’s Note: I’ve changed the thread title, from “Futurama” to “Futurama: Bender’s Big Score” at request of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/87 "2007-12-25T15:10:51Z")
Wow, I requested a new thread title to replace the generic “futurama” about 5 minutes ago, and it’s done already. Impressive. Sounds like one of the mods has the secret time code. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/88 "2007-12-25T22:09:03Z")
What I never caught was-who created the time-travel tattoo in the first place? Was it Nibbler? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/89 "2007-12-26T01:29:41Z")
[QUOTE=Love Rhombus] What I never caught was-who created the time-travel tattoo in the first place? Was it Nibbler? [/QUOTE] Nope. It’s a paradox. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/90 "2007-12-26T18:37:49Z")
Okay, the tattoo is a paradox. And I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but isn’t there a spare Fry that didn’t get taken care of? Maybe I’m just not good with recursive time loops, but Lars was doomed and got killed, and the ‘original Fry’ lives. But there were three Frys at one point (around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2000). One in the tube, one who becomes Lars, and one who has the warm pizza. Does one just become Lars and get factored out of the equation? ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/91 "2007-12-26T19:46:23Z")
The one who has warm pizza is _also_ original fry. He confronts himself from 15 minutes earlier. Early Fry is disgusted by Warm Pizza Fry’s wanton use of the time code and _doesn’t_ go back for warm pizza (thus creating Lars). After lars leaves, Warm Pizza Fry remembers that there’s money in 1999 Fry’s wallet. Grossed out by touching his own butt, warm Pizza Fry falls into 1999 Fry’s tube. When 1999 Fry wakes, Warm Pizza Fry freezes himself for another (4? 5?) years, and then shows up at his own funeral. Oh, time travel. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/92 "2007-12-26T20:03:27Z")
Woo timeline. I don’t remember the date the movie was supposed to be set in, so I said 3006. A-1999: Fry freezes for 1000 years. B-2999: Fry wakes up. C-3006?: Fry goes back to 1999 D-1999: Fry avoids getting killed by bender, goes to get pizza. It’s cold so he goes back 15 mins. E-1999: Fry meets himself from step D. Lars is created by this meeting. F-1999: Fry freezes himself, again, alongside Fry from step A G-2015?: Lars freezes himself H-3003?: Lars wakes, works at museum. I-3006?: Fry from step F wakes, goes to funeral J-3006?: Lars is doomed. Oh, time travel. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/93 "2007-12-26T20:16:08Z")
How does it all fit in with _The Luck of the Fryish_? You know, the episode where we learn about Fry’s 12 leafed clover, and that Fry’s jerk of a brother so missed Fry that he named his son Philip in honor of Fry who’d suddenly disappeared. Note that Yancey didn’t know where Fry was when he got married and violated Fry’s Ronco Record Vault[sup]TM[/sup] in order to have music to play at his wedding reception, one of the album’s being the soundtrack to _The Breakfast Club_, which Yancey really wants. This put’s their birthdates roughly in the late 1960s/early 1970s, so when 2006 rolls around, they’d all be pushing 40, and the impression we have is that Yancey lives at home up until he’s married. I suppose it’s _possible_ that someone who lived at home until they were almost 40 could find someone to marry them, but the odds are pretty much against it. (And why the _hell_ am I able to retain this information, but I can’t remember dick about what I did last week?) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/94 "2007-12-26T20:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=Aioua] The one who has warm pizza is _also_ original fry. He confronts himself from 15 minutes earlier. [/quote] Right, okay. I guess it’s no problem for two of him to be in the same place if none is a paradox-causing double. **Tuckerfan** makes a good point about Luck of the Fryrish, except it’s a seven-leaf clover. Fry is supposed to be about 25 when the series starts, I think, so he’d have been born around 1974. They could cook up some other reason Yancy misses Fry, but the emotional payoff of reversing that episode was so worthwhile that it doesn’t bother me. Nor does it bother me that they made Jurassic Bark a lot less sad, since the reason it’s touching in the movie is that you know how sad the original reality was and I felt good that Fry had a chance to set it all right. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/95 "2007-12-26T20:33:06Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] How does it all fit in with _The Luck of the Fryish_? You know, the episode where we learn about Fry’s 12 leafed clover, and that Fry’s jerk of a brother so missed Fry that he named his son Philip in honor of Fry who’d suddenly disappeared. Note that Yancey didn’t know where Fry was when he got married and violated Fry’s Ronco Record Vault[sup]TM[/sup] in order to have music to play at his wedding reception, one of the album’s being the soundtrack to _The Breakfast Club_, which Yancey really wants. This put’s their birthdates roughly in the late 1960s/early 1970s, so when 2006 rolls around, they’d all be pushing 40, and the impression we have is that Yancey lives at home up until he’s married. I suppose it’s _possible_ that someone who lived at home until they were almost 40 could find someone to marry them, but the odds are pretty much against it. (And why the _hell_ am I able to retain this information, but I can’t remember dick about what I did last week?) [/QUOTE] Yancey doesn’t want _The Breakfast Club_ because he likes it, he wanted it to clear the guests out at the end of the night. Wiki says Fry was born in 74, so he would have been 11 when the movie came out. I could see Fry really liking an oldish, dorky movie when he was a teen. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/96 "2007-12-27T04:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=Aioua] Yancey doesn’t want _The Breakfast Club_ because he likes it, he wanted it to clear the guests out at the end of the night. Wiki says Fry was born in 74, so he would have been 11 when the movie came out. I could see Fry really liking an oldish, dorky movie when he was a teen. [/QUOTE] I can see that, too. I bet he really liked Judd Nelson’s character. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/97 "2008-01-02T16:44:23Z")
I did notice that Lars sounded like Fry, but Billy West does a ton of voices so I thought it was just that. One thing that bugged me is I don’t think Lars looked good enough for Leela. I mean he’s this bald guy, and I think they gave him bags under his eyes, and she practically falls in love at first sight. I thought that something was wrong with that from the start. I didn’t understand the thing with Bender and the bathroom. Why did the one who stayed there not need to go to the bathroom? He made he same comment about complication that the original Bender did before he needed to go. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/98 "2008-01-02T16:54:17Z")
[QUOTE=riker1384] I didn’t understand the thing with Bender and the bathroom. Why did the one who stayed there not need to go to the bathroom? He made he same comment about complication that the original Bender did before he needed to go. [/QUOTE] He did need to go. He just stayed put because he was told to. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/99 "2008-01-02T19:51:16Z")
I watched this along with _Pan’s Labrynth_ while stoned. After watching Futurama, I was in Bender Mode the entire time through Pan. When the opening monologue in Pan mentioned something about the secret of immortality being contained in a field of heart-breaking thorns, I in my Bender voice (which sounds nothing like Bender) said, “What, thorns? I’ll just get out this nuclear weedeater! WHIRRRRRRR! No more thorns. There’s immortality, and I get it all to myself. Hah, that was easy!” I also commented on how Bender gets really despondent and sorry when he screws somebody over, then decides he needs to screw them over even worse so he can be properly sorrowful for screwing them over the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604/100 "2008-01-02T20:40:21Z")
[QUOTE=riker1384] I did notice that Lars sounded like Fry, but Billy West does a ton of voices so I thought it was just that. One thing that bugged me is I don’t think Lars looked good enough for Leela. I mean he’s this bald guy, and I think they gave him bags under his eyes, and she practically falls in love at first sight. I thought that something was wrong with that from the start. I didn’t understand the thing with Bender and the bathroom. Why did the one who stayed there not need to go to the bathroom? He made he same comment about complication that the original Bender did before he needed to go. [/QUOTE] Though we all love Leela (because we know her character so well), superficially she’s not the best catch ever. She’s only got one eye, remember. Lars isn’t nesecerially bald, he could’ve just been shaving his head once his hair burnt off. Plus, deep down Leela really loves Fry, he’s just so immature she can’t stand him. Throw a mature Fry and Leela and she’s all over it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-benders-big-score-open-spoilers/427604.md?page=6)