Was revealing Leelas origins good?

[on:]

I think it was a stupid Idea it took away some mystery from leelas character

[Reply #1 on:]

I think it shouldn't have happened for another 4 seasons, just like I think The Why of Fry shouldn't have happened for at least another 2.

[Reply #2 on:]

^ There's no part of that post I didn't agree with.

I've said it many times before, but I'll gladly reiterate: they never used the initial idea about Leela being an alien desperately wanting to find her own people. Besides "A Bicyclops Built For Two" (and then it still only took up 2/3 of the episode, plus they crammed in a gigantic MwC homage too), how many episodes really dealt with Leela as an alien? None, nada, zilch. 2 or 3 episodes could easily have been made about, over the stretch of 3-5 seasons without it feeling crammed, afterall how many episodes did Fry coming to the future cover? But, no, if was just "hi, I'm an alien, and I'm longing to find my people"-"whoops that was just a creep posing as my race"-"oh guess I'm a mutant".

That said, the mutant storyline did work reasonably well, and I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, it just came much too early.

Edit: plus "one-eyed alien babe" rolls so much easier of the tongue than "one-eyed mutant babe". 

[Reply #3 on:]

There are 4 episodes that relate to Leela's knowledge of her origin (or lack there of.)

X-Mas Story -- tangental, yes, but it touches on that Leela is alone and miserable without knowing what she is. It can be inferred that her species' identity goes through her mind often around X-Mas.

A Bicylops Built For Two -- a "Leela in search of her origin" episode.

Anthology of Interest 2 -- "What if I found my true home?"

Leela's Homeworld -- Oh, I'm a mutant.

I think, since the writers knew that the show would end, yes, they did speed up Leela's search for her parents. On the other hand, if the show continued and there were 4 or 5 episodes of Leela going to different planets and being disappointed at each one, then it wouldnt have the impact. Unless the writing was remarkably well done, we would know that "oh, she's not going to find her parents here, either."

[Reply #4 on:]

And when the second series came out on DVD then we'd instantly realise (listen to the i second that emotion commentary) and it would no longer be a surprise.

[Reply #5 on:]

If "Leela's Homeworld" hadn't aired, I'm sure they wouldn't have been so upfront about it. Besides Leela's parents were spotted in ISTE long before the DVD's were released (I think FrysGIRL brought the news to PEEL all those moons ago).

 

Originally posted by evan:
Anthology of Interest 2 -- "What if I found my true home?"

I'll agree on "Xmas Story", being about Leela being alone and feeling isolated, that could tie into her background.

But the AOI 2 thing is a stretch. She only ask what will happen, not how, where and when it will happen (much more important if you're trying to locate something) plus if Leela really was this determined to find her people/homeworld, how come we never saw any of it? 

I just think they could've focused a little more on this, rather interesting, part of Leela's background before discarding it.

[Reply #6 on:]

They could have stretched it out a little longer, but I'm glad that they did have an episode where she found her parents, as it was as touching and exciting as I thought it would be.  I was still surprised at the ending, as I thought up until the end it was just some mutants that had known her parents.

[Reply #7 on:]

It was a good thing because Leela has been trying to find them for so long and she found them.

[Reply #8 on:]

 

Originally posted by evan:
I think, since the writers knew that the show would end, yes, they did speed up Leela's search for her parents. On the other hand, if the show continued and there were 4 or 5 episodes of Leela going to different planets and being disappointed at each one, then it wouldnt have the impact. Unless the writing was remarkably well done, we would know that "oh, she's not going to find her parents here, either."

I agree totally with evan.  Remember all those episodes of Star Trek: Voyager where they supposedly found a way back to Earth, only for it to fall through at the end of the episode?

As for "Were Leela's origins revealed too early?", exactly when shouldthey have been revealed?  Season 5?

[Reply #9 on:]

If the show didn't get cancelled it would be stupid to show it. But of course it was. If it went on, it should be shown in the second to last season, so the creators could have them in one or two eps, which is good since you don't want to over use them.  I'm sure Futurama could be even more enjoyable if it was strectched out more, but I have no complaints, there was not one bad episode.

So the answer's yes, yes they should have shown it.  It would be cruel not to before the show stopped.

[Reply #10 on:]

   

Originally posted by PCC Fred:
 I agree totally with evan.  Remember all those episodes of Star Trek: Voyager where they supposedly found a way back to Earth, only for it to fall through at the end of the episode?

Ah, but wasn't V'Ger not also the Trek show to totally abandon any and all cool and promising plotlines early on and opt for the mainstream space-opera path, rather than doing something with a little suspense and panache? And look where it brought that show. All I'm asking for is a little courage to explore an interesting aspect of a character. And I have every bit of confidence in the writing staff of Futurama to be able to pull it off, without doing a "Voyager".
   

As for "Were Leela's origins revealed too early?", exactly when shouldthey have been revealed?  Season 5?

Ideally season seven-ish (no pun intended). In hindsight they did make right decision, but ideally 7 or so seasons would allow them to progress it more naturally.

[Reply #11 on:]

I get the feeling MG and co. weren't planning to reveal Leela's origins as early as they did, but had their hand forced by the possibility of cancellation.

[Reply #12 on:]

Yeah, as was the case with most of the 4ACV production. They hade way too many loose ends to tie up for it all to be done gracefully in 15 episodes.

So we agree to blame FOX?

[Reply #13 on:]

always

[Reply #14 on:]

I'm happy with that too.

I think it is kind of wierd that Leela is a mutant, and I hate her parents the most out of any characters on the show.

[Reply #15 on:]

Bad idea.

Either keep Leela an alien or never reveal her parents at all.

Blaming FOX is too easy and pointless.
The fact her parents were annoying to the nth degree didn't help matters.
And they were sewer mutants (which I was never a fan of in the beginning). 

[Reply #16 on:]

I think it was good, just for the fact that it gave us a great ep in Leela's Homeworld.  You can debate about bad timing and continuity issues all you want, but the doesn't change the facts.  I have no problem at all with it.

EDIT:

Many thanks to Edel for the stylin' new avy 

[Reply #17 on:]

 

Originally posted by evan:
There are 4 episodes that relate to Leela's knowledge of her origin (or lack there of.)

X-Mas Story -- tangental, yes, but it touches on that Leela is alone and miserable without knowing what she is. It can be inferred that her species' identity goes through her mind often around X-Mas.

A Bicylops Built For Two -- a "Leela in search of her origin" episode.

Anthology of Interest 2 -- "What if I found my true home?"

Leela's Homeworld -- Oh, I'm a mutant.

Don't forget SP3K!
 

[Reply #18 on:]

Am i the only one who actually likes Leela's parents? I mean, i agree that it would have been nice if they had been allowed to let it progress more naturally, but hey that's Fox for ya..

[Reply #19 on:]

So exactly what would a "searching for her origin" episode be like?  The problem is that she couldn't search for her origin, unless they just showed her landing on a planet, saying "Nope, this isn't it," and then going somewhere else.

Anyone who claimed to know about her origin would have to be lying, and they did that in "Bicyclops."  Maybe they could have gone to a planet where there were legends or something about her "race" (which of course would turn out to be inaccurate).

[Reply #20 on:]

Leela's parents annoy me more than Kif and Amy, and that means a lot.

I hate that they revealed her to be a mutant.  It cheapens her whole character, in my opinion.

[Reply #21 on:]

At first glance, it does seem a cop-out to have Leela revealed as a mutant rather than an alien.  But if you think about it awhile it does seem to make more sense that way...

(Even though this UK-dwelling, terrestrial-only viewer has yet to see 'Leela's Homeworld, of course).

[Reply #22 on:]

It does seem stupid that she's a mutant (alien just sounds cooler), but in the end it made for a good plottwist of her character and if it had gone on a little longer, it would've been extremely welcome...  The Why of Fry would've been cool to have come later too, I thought it was cool how many episodes actually came to tie in with it...  So the question remains, if Futurama ever does get started up again, what do they have up their sleeves now?

[Reply #23 on:]

the meaning of: the other.

[Reply #24 on:]

I think it was good, even though till that episode aired I was part of the "Leela is an alien not a mutant" group.

[Reply #25 on:]

 

Originally posted by Action Jacktion:
So exactly what would a "searching for her origin" episode be like?  The problem is that she couldn't search for her origin, unless they just showed her landing on a planet, saying "Nope, this isn't it," and then going somewhere else.

You could do an episode where Leela hears about a legend of a cyclops race.  She finds the planet to find that it is inhabited by cyclops who are a foot tall.  However, she is hailed as a god by the tiny cyclops.  We have seen Fry as Emperor, Bender as God, why not Leela?  Especially given that she has a bit of a self-confidence issue.

However, if they didn't speed it up, they could have done an episode reflecting on Leela's youth (like the montage at the end of Leela's Homeworld, but go into it in depth, and you could put hints in it (the suddenly appearing presents, for instance)).  You could still do this episode, but it wouldn't have as much of the emotional impact as it would when you didn't know she would find her parents.

[Reply #26 on:]

Yeah, that flashback idea would have made a good episode.  They did occasionally flashback to Leela's childhood ("Raging Bender" and "The Cyber House Rules" ), but never in any great detail.

[Reply #27 on:]

Interesting question.  I have mixed feelings.  Yes, I think it was a good idea to reveal leela's origins.  But I really resisted the discovery that she was a mutant.  I took me a while to accept it.

So, the fact a revelation was made was good, but I'm still not a big fan of the revelation itself.

[Reply #28 on:]

 

Originally posted by Nixorbo:
I think it shouldn't have happened for another 4 seasons, just like I think The Why of Fry shouldn't have happened for at least another 2.

If Futurama had continued, then I agree. But as things are, I think they were both shown at perfect times, and I'm very glad Leela's origins were revealed before Futurama ended 

[Reply #29 on:]

Primary question if it was good so early was allready answered.
So I personally also don´t think that the WAY which it was done was good. Year ago in time of Leela´s homeworld it was maybe touching and so but now i don´t now if its there (for fans) some great or good change. Leela was interesting as alien of unknown origin and she would be even more interestng as alien of known origin. Now she has the parents who just appeared in two sub-plots (after LH) which one was boring (Less than hero) and one good but not great (TMLH). What I  would like now is an episode when Leela wants to give Morris and Munda better life(as they do for her) on some uninhabited planet. It could be conected with that flashback idea which I also like.

[Reply #30 on:]

They had to do it sinze the show was going to be cancelled..

I would prefeer an alien origin.. but saw the situation i agree that they had to tell it before cancellation

[Reply #31 on:]

whatever makes Leela happy is fine with me. I think she was happy to know where she came from so im happy they told us. It also gives you a better understanding of Leela i think.

[Reply #32 on:]

It was obvious she was a mutant anyway.
From episode 1 I figured she was just some genetic freak who was abandoned by parents who were scared of her, and then of course the mutants were introduced and it became obvious.
Also, she looks 100% human (in the futurama world) so...

[Reply #33 on:]

I'm glad Leela was a mutant and not an alien. It means we didn't have to have a "Leela chooses between her parents and her friends" episode.

What were all the unfinished plot lines that had to be crammed into season four?

-Leela's Orgin
-Why Fry's in the Future
-Leela & Fry's relationship
-Amy & Kif's relationship
-Fry & the holophoner
...and?

[Reply #34 on:]

Um... Fry's past? No wait that was in The Luck of the Fryish. Sorry.

[Reply #35 on:]

 

Originally posted by BNLbum:
. . .

What were all the unfinished plot lines that had to be crammed into season four?

...

-Why Fry's in the Future
...

I might be missing something here, but isn't that The Why of Fry?

[Reply #36 on:]

I liked it better when Leela was a alien, instead of a mutant.

[Reply #37 on:]

I like it when characters are more mysterious. Like the way Boba Fett was cooler before you knew so much about him.

[Reply #38 on:]

I don't think it was a bad chice to show Leela's origins. I do feel like they rushed it, but that's because they DID rush it because the show was bound to be (and was) cancelled, so they tied the loose ends. And yes, they still have things up their sleeves :

1.- What did Nibbler meant when he said Leela was "the other"?
2.- Are we gonna see Fry and Leela toghether or what?
3.- Is Bender really as they portray him to be (rude, insensitive and selfish) and always will?
4.- What happened to the brain spawn? will they come back?

There's really no way a good writter can run out of ideas, or can't make new ideas fit into a plot.

[Reply #39 on:]

i was unhappy about leela being a mutant. i fell in love with her aa a sexy alien chick and thats how it should have remained.