Why ‘Meanwhile’ Remains Futurama’s Definitive Ending

Why ‘Meanwhile’ Remains Futurama’s Definitive Ending

How the finale provides narrative closure and why any continuation is pointless

Credit: Comedy Central

I don’t know what specifically caused my militant stance on the Hulu reboot of Futurama. I mean, it’s nothing new for the show. It was cancelled and renewed twice across its original run.

The question we should ask is what makes this time different?

This series was such a key part of my childhood and continues to evoke such a great deal of nostalgia. I suppose it’s natural and inevitable that I get defensive.

I think what leaves such a sour taste for me, is the fact that the reboot exists at all. In the past, I could argue that there was more Planet Express story to tell. New situations that could breathe some life into the long-running series.

I’d say possibly even after the ending of the magnificent classic episode, “The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings,” there was definitely more for the show to do. For such a turbulent production, the conclusive and utterly definite ending of “Meanwhile” was miraculous.

When looking back on the series, I take the position that the first 6 seasons were all excellent, followed by a lesser but still great 2 seasons. Just as diminishing returns were beginning to creep in, the Futurama team hit us with this ambitious finale.

This episode is such a fantastic way to end a series, and at the perfect time. The most surprising part of this was the team being able to end it on their terms for a change.

The final season did a lot of the legwork to bring the main characters their own spotlight episodes, giving individual examples of closure and final interactions with each other. Hell, the episode “Lethal Inspection” did this in one fell swoop with Hermes and Bender. This allowed the finale room to focus almost entirely on Fry and Leela, specifically, by exploring their dynamic. We see their relationship as it stands a decade after their first meeting. We really get a sense of what these two people mean to each other and how far they’ve come. After all the missed opportunities of the past, it’s immensely satisfying to receive such an uninterrupted display of affection.

The ending itself is a work of pure artistry. With the time button broken and the world and all its inhabitants frozen in time apart from Fry and Leela, the most beautiful montage of the couple living out their life in this frozen world unfolds.

As the couple reach the end of their lives to reflect on the lives they’ve had, the professor appears before them through a portal. Utilising a loophole in the space-time continuum, he informs them of an opportunity to go through the loop to the point the professor conceived of the time button (likely before the couple met). This allows them both an opportunity to experience all of their adventures again, with no knowledge of having done so prior. This would result in a never-ending loop where they constantly live out their lives the same way, but will never know it. This is such a profoundly emotional note for a cartoon series about a pizza delivery boy in the future to end on.

The Hulu reboot retcons the entirety of this episode by highlighting that the couple only forgot about the events of “Meanwhile” and find themselves in 3023 living life as they know it. It completely deflates the impact of the finale and the lifetime of memories both characters shared in that episode. I don’t know why, but this really rubs me the wrong way and devalues the brilliance of what was the perfect send-off.

I can understand why Hulu would want to bring Futurama back so badly. It’s a show that means so much to so many. Similar to The Simpsons, it’s such a central part of modern pop culture. Unlike The Simpsons, Futurama was actually allowed to end. There was a sense of relief after ‘Meanwhile’ in knowing there will be no uncomfortable downward spiral the show would embark on. The cherry on top is that they created such a well-written and thoughtful final episode and really executed it all so well.

I feel there’s a possibility that I channelled all of my resentment for late legacy sequels of classic series all onto the Hulu reboot of Futurama. Usually, when a series is brought back following a conclusive ending, I’ll just shrug my shoulders and get on with my day. The fact that it was destined to happen to one of my favourite shows, a show so intrinsically linked to my childhood nostalgia, must have intensified any sentiments I had regarding this reboot.

Alas, I haven’t watched past the first episode of the reboot. I have no need to do so. Similar to Fry choosing not to bring Seymour back, I’ll look fondly on the series’ first run, but leave it in the past.

For me, Futurama ended in 2013, and I’m happy with that.