TV Review: FUTURAMA – Season 7 – “Decision 3012”

By CARL CORTEZ / Contributing Editor

Posted: June 28th, 2012 / 11:42 AM

Stars (voices): Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, Dave Herman
Writer: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Director: Patric M. Verrone
Network: Comedy Central, Wednesday nights
Airdate: June 27, 2012

It was a smart move by the FUTURAMA writers to use this year’s election to do their own sci-fi take on campaigning and how society views on voting for a President just never change.

And “Decision 3012” is a smart piece of political satire, even if it isn’t the type of laugh-out-loud funny we come to expect from the show.

The concept is simple. The head of Richard Nixon is running for President of the World once again, and yes, he’s the frontrunner. Then a new candidate shows up named Chris Travers. He speaks his mind, has thoughtful answers and everyone hates him. So Leela decides to get involved and be his campaign manager. She finds a way to get his message across to the world, so even dumb people can understand it.

However, Bender, working with the head of Nixon, try to find dirt on the candidate, but he’s clean. When Bender learns of his middle name “Xazzar“ (which sounds very alien), he tries to make the world think he wasn’t born on earth and they demand to see is earth certificate (which is in a hospital in Kenya).

The twist, he was born on earth, but in the future, sent back to win the election so Nixon doesn’t have another term which causes a robot uprising. The surprise twist at the end is classic FUTURAMA science-fiction and one of the best uses of time travel logic ever.

“Decision 2013” targets everything from the last political election, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, TERMINATOR and even immigration. While not as over-the-top as the animated satire of SOUTH PARK, it still resonates. And, the topic and events will still be relevant and timeless when the series hits reruns.

It’s great when FUTURAMA steps outside of its box to do something different like this episode and again, writer Patric M. Verrone has much more on his mind than simply going for the obvious jokes. A lot of thought and care went into crafting this episode and making a statement without being too heavy-handed. And again, I’ve never seen time travel logic handled so brilliantly. You’ll never look at the TERMINATOR movies the same way again.

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD – COMMENT BELOW!

Related: Exclusive Interview with FUTURAMA voice actor Maurice LaMarche

Related: TV Review of FUTURAMA – Season 7 – “Decision 3012”

Related: TV Review – FUTURAMA – Season 7A – “A Farewell To Arms” – Season Premiere

Related: TV Review – FUTURAMA – Season 7A – “The Bots and the Bees” – Season Premiere

Related: Futurama Season 6B review – “Reincarnation” – Season Finale

Related: Exclusive Interview with David X. Cohen on the future of FUTURAMA – Part 2

Related: Exclusive Interview with David X. Cohen on Season 6B of FUTURAMA – Part 1

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “The Tip of the Zoidberg”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Fry Am The Egg Man”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Mobius Dick”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “All The Presidents’ Heads”