Episode Capsule: [4ACV12] The Sting

Title: The Sting
Written by: Patric M. Verrone
Directed by: Brian Sheesley
Opening theme promotion: A BY-PRODUCT OF THE TV INDUSTRY

Synopsis

After arriving at an asteroid field in deep space, Fry, Leela and Bender attempt to collect honey produced by vicious space bees. Leela decides to take a baby queen bee that incidentally kills Fry! While at Fry's funeral, guilt ridden Leela has a romantic dream that causes her to believe that Fry is still alive. As Leela's bizarre dreams continue to develop, she sinks into a much stranger sleep.

Voice Credits

Starring

Billy West (Fry, Prof. Farnsworth, Zoidberg)
Katey Sagal (Leela)
John DiMaggio (Bender)
Tress MacNeille (Queen Bee, Amazonian)

Guest Starring

Frank Welker (Nibbler)
David Herman (Priest?)
Dawnn Lewis (LaBarbara Conrad)
Lauren Tom (Amy)
Phil LaMarr (Hermes, former Planet Express captain)

Did You Notice…

that Farnsworth is wearing slippers during the funeral? — Marc Wichterich
that Petunia claims to have had sex with Fry? — Marc Wichterich
that Farnsworth changed the logo of Planet Express a bit since his last crew died? Bad reputation? — Marc Wichterich

External References

2001: A Space Odyssey (movie)

Leela floating through space to the music of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is a reference to this classical sci-fi movie from 1968. — Marc Wichterich Don't Worry, Be Happy (song)
"Bee happy" was of course a parody of this song by Bobby McFerrin. — Marc Wichterich Swiss Miss Cocoa
Fry pours Leela some Semitic Miss Cocoa, which is a reference to this brand. — edel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (movie)
Scruffy playing bagpipe while Fry's coffin is ejected into space is akin to Scotty playing bagpipe while Spock's torpedo-coffin is sent out into space. — Marc Wichterich

Futurama References

[1ACV01] Space Pilot 3000

Farnsworth tells about his old crews and has their career chips in an envelope labeled "Contents of space wasp's stomach". He must've mistaken the bees for wasps at first. — Marc Wichterich
The "World of Tomorrow" guy does his famous showmanship pose. — Marc Wichterich
Fry's 20th century girlfriend Michelle (later frozen) can be seen at the funeral. — Marc Wichterich [3ACV04] The Luck of the Fryrish
We see the Orbiting Meadows the first time when Fry looks for his brother's grave. — Marc Wichterich [4ACV07] Jurassic Bark
The dark stone (dolomite) dog standing next to the coffin is Fry's former dog Seymour from this episode. — Marc Wichterich [3ACV20] Godfellas
The priest holding Fry's funeral speech is wearing the traditional dress of the First Amalgamated Church introduced here. — Marc Wichterich
Floating through space to the song from 2001 (Also Sprach Zarathustra) — Marc Wichterich [3ACV03] A Tale of Two Santas
The two gay Neptunians are sitting at the funeral. — Marc Wichterich [1ACV07] My Three Suns
Leela has a spoon showing a picture of Fry as the Emperor of planet Trisol. — Marc Wichterich
Two water beings appear at the funeral. — Marc Wichterich [1ACV11] Mars University
The FOX Executive monkey Guenther from this episode is attending the funeral. — Marc Wichterich [3ACV01] Amazon Women in the Mood
Fry's affair from the Amazonian planet tells us about his snoo-snoo skills. — Marc Wichterich [2ACV06] Lesser of Two Evils
Fry tells us that he made it with a radiator woman from the radiator planet. The funeral shows a radiator questioning his bed skills. — Marc Wichterich [2ACV11] How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
Bureaucrat Morgan Proctor is sitting among Fry's exes during the funeral. — Marc Wichterich
The PI-in 1 oil (seen in Leela's memory box) was used by Fry here. It had a different design though. — Marc Wichterich [4ACV03] Love & Rocket
The "U Leave Me Breathless" candy in Leela's box of memories comes from this episode. — Marc Wichterich [4ACV10] The Why Of Fry
Fry gave Leela a flower at the end of this episode which can be seen in Leela's box of memories. — Margarita

Freeze Frame Fun

Bender playing virtual golf:

17th Hole, Par 4           Rating:
                               Pro
                            Duffer
                     Go Fish, Jerk

Orbiting 
     Meadows

Beloved Man           R.I.P. Meatbag
   And                  From Bender
Delivery Boy

Memories of Fry:

* a white flower
* a photo
* a slurm can
* Pi-in-1 Oil can
* a fake beard?
* "U Leave Me Breathless" heart candy
* "I'm with stupid on the moon" magnet

Semitic Miss 
   Cocoa

Animation, Continuity, and Other Goofs

During the funeral, the garland is suddenly much farther away from the coffin than before (standing on the carpet then). Also, Seymour vanishes. — Marc Wichterich

Comments and Other Observations

Goofs noticed between the initial bee sting and the hospital scene can be discounted with just being more of Leela's dream craziness. Still, to keep the illusion up, they were probably not meant to be in there. — Marc Wichterich

Original capsule author: Can't get enough Futurama <www.gotfuturama.com>