This week, Futurama takes a turn for the adorable in a very loose parody of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.  Beer actually plays a life-saving role in this episode, which is excitingly relevant for me.  Onto the recap then!

When going to the store this week to pick a random beer to pair with my recap, I thought’d I’d choose something different than a pilsner.  What I opted for instead was quite the opposite — a heavy, dark, oatmeal stout.  It wasn’t until writing the recap right now however that I realized I had purchased yet another beer from Southern Tier Brewing Company.  Not that I condone it, but this beer would make a great breakfast for someone trying to mix oatmeal, coffee, and alcohol together.  When poured into a pint glass, this beer looks almost black and is capped with a short, mocha-colored foam.  I will say that if you don’t find oatmeal in liquid form appealing, you won’t like this beer.  The first sip is overwhelming with flavors of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and oats.  This strong combinations lasts as an undertone for the entire beer.  Throughout the (not very carbonated) beer, you’ll notice sweeter notes of fruits, caramel, and quite a bit of licorice.  Very heavy, very strong, very velvety.  Not for everyone, but worth a try!

T.: The Terrestrial

In the golden age of television, the cop who can neither read minds nor see the past nor receive help from Angels is the cop with no special powers: The Finder Outer.  At least, that’s what Lrrr, Ruler of Omicron Persei 8, thinks.  All his son Jrrr wants though is his father’s attention and help in getting a merit badge.  So why not take over Earth? Well, that’s exactly what Jrrr tries to do.  Recall that the first time we met Jrrr was all the way back in Season 2 in “The Problem with Popplers.”  He’s come such a long way!

Invading Earth obviously doesn’t go over well with President Richard Nixon; Jrrr doesn’t event want to be there in the first place.  We do get to hear Lrrr coach his son though, “Well go ahead, his bowels aren’t gonna disem themsevles.”  I almost cried.  But anyway, Jrrr blows up Nixon’s body and he gets so furious that he sets up an embargo on all goods imported from Omicron Persei 8.  Unfortunately for Professor Farnsworth, that’s where his “Good News! Herbal Supplements” come from.  This also means that Omicron Persei 8 doesn’t get their cultural a.k.a. television imports.  So really, this embargo isn’t good for anyone.

After smelling the herb, Hermes is convinced to help the professor and get the herb from it’s natural source on the forbidden planet of Omicron Persei 8.  Just before the Omicronians catch the Planet Express crew, everyone takes off and Fry is left behind.  To Fry’s luck, he’s found by Jrrr, the kindest and least harmful of the Omicronians.  When introducing each other, we get to hear how Jrrr really feels about his father.

Fry: Your father must be Lrrr–
Both: Ruler of Omicron Persei 8! Haha.
Jrrr: He’s a terrible father.

With Fry stranded on the planet, Bender is left to cover his shiny metal ass for not bringing home is buddy on the trip.  Bender does a decent job, keeping the charade up for a week.  In his drunken depression though (here’s where beer saves the day!), he happens to drink from a broken beer bottle pointed at the sky, and it magnifies an SOS message left on Omicron Persei 8.  “SOS?  Those are the letters Fry knows!”  Hah.  It turns out, Bender loves Fry a lot, because Bender carries around a voice mail greeting of Fry’s that he plays in mashed up order on a tape player so he can have fake conversations with him.

Fry is homesick and Jrrr is sympathetic and helping with the escape.  It took me a while to understand that “T text home?” was alluding to “ET phone home?”  Who knows what else I’ve missed this episode.  Oh, and the Omicronians have flying bicycles powered by love.  (Let me know in the comments if you found any other references!)  Unfortunately, Lrrr finds Jrrr and Fry and gets furious, ordering Jrrr to kill his new pet.

Bender flies the Planet Express (by himself!) to Omicron Persei 8 just in time to save Fry. Or does he?  Fry’s ended up quite sick after eating nothing but Feces Pieces for a week.  The Omicronian herb saves him, and in an E.T. moment, both Fry and Jrrr have glowing butts that they touch before Fry departs with Bender.  Upon returning to Earth, everyone is really proud of Fry, which is hilarious, because Fry is 1) the laziest character in the show and 2) because Bender was pretending to be Fry for a week with a tape recorder.  Turns out a lot of deliveries got done and Leela even got some make out sessions in.  Wow, what a week.

Recap: This week’s episode was sweet and closely (ish) followed the film E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.  We got to see Jrrr of Omicron Persei 8 all grown up, and he adopted Fry to be his secret pet.