Good news, everyone! I was so late with this week's recap/review that it's almost time for the next episode! You're welcome for making the pain of waiting an entire week seem less excruciating. The fifth episode of Futurama's seventh season kicks off with Scruffy flushing his pet goldfish down the toilet and consequentially into Zoidberg's stomach. This, of course, gives us a great segue into the sewers, where Leela is throwing a party for her parent's fortieth anniversary. Mutants will be mutants, and the Turangas end up getting a divorce. To cheer her mother up, Leela takes her to a space bar that looks like we should be meeting up with Han Solo. Instead, we find his brain-damaged third cousin Zapp Brannigan. A negotiation with shark people goes horribly wrong, but Munda Turanga happens to be an expert in alien languages and saves him. In a rather Graduaty-esque twist, Zapp and Mrs. Turanga fall in love and eventually end up engaged.

Meanwhile, Mr. Turanga follows his life's dream and surfs all of the great sewers of the world, like Dublin's on Saint Patrick's Day. Fry gets almost every disease known to man, and Zoidberg shows an uncharacteristic knowledge of human pathology by naming and treating all of them. Nothing too exciting happens in terms of a long term plot - everything ends pretty much the same as how it started. The only drop that hinted to a potential future episode was Fry's comment on Zapp not being the only one who's marriage material (wink wink), and Leela's response of, "You're getting there." Aww, aren't they cute?

What is it with Futurama this season? One week the episode is great, the next it's so lackluster I doubt the integrity of the entire season. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every other episode changes my entire perspective on the show as a whole. Is anyone else noticing this?  Anyway, this episode just so happens to continue this pattern; it was really good, all things considered. A lot of references, great one-liners, and one of the most perfect "Oh God, not again" returns of one of the most perfect "Oh God, not again" characters. I feel like it's been awhile since Zapp was really involved with the plot of the episode rather than just a line or two, and even though he's one of the most obnoxious characters on television, I enjoyed seeing him again. As for the Turanga couple, they aren't the greatest characters in the world, but it's hardly worth complaining about. They only show up about once a season, which seems like the perfect amount to me; enough to remind us of why we moved away from our parents, but not so much that we feel like we're living there again.

Aside from Leela's relationship with her mother, there was very little character development. Fry still loves Leela, Zapp's still an idiot. Other than that, hardly any character said anything - which was fine, of course. Fututrama has a tendency to focus on only one or two characters at a time. I just hope that they'll do one with the full cast soon. Maybe next episode! I'm not one to believe in superstitions, but I don't have high hopes for episode six. Patterns are patterns, guys. At any rate, I'll see you in a few days with what will probably be a disappointed review consisting of me bashing my head on a keyboard.