Review: Futurama “Late Bloomers”
Overview
Hermes tries to save his dying father, as Zoidberg reunited with an old flame.
Our Take
On one side of the aisle, we finally answer the burning question no one asked: Where the hell has Marianne been? It turns out Zoidberg has quietly been funneling all his hard-earned cash into funding her botany degree at Mars University. That’s genuinely sweet, until Marianne returns and reveals her heart has been stolen by a giant, foul-smelling Corpse Plant. What follows is a bafflingly explicit romantic triangle where Zoidberg, Marianne, and a literal plant engage in a threesome—complete with a post-coital cigarette moment that will make you question the writers’ room sanity.
Meanwhile, Hermes is dealing with his dying father, whose soul is somehow trapped in a Baddrick coffee plant. The plant only talks when Hermes is alone—or at least it does until it’s magically blinking at a wedding ceremony by the climax. Oh, and the fan-favorite “Whale Biologist” shows up as a Plant Biologist, maintaining his signature burning hatred for his own profession.
“Late Bloomers” has some heart buried deep under its soil, but the episode stumbles under the weight of its own absurd premises. While it’s great to see Marianne back and Zoidberg getting some focus, the bizarre botanical love triangle and mean-spirited side gags keep this one from reaching the heights of classic Futurama. It’s memorable, but mostly for the wrong reasons.
