Futurama Wiki
Advertisement
Futurama Wiki
Episode
References
Appearances
Transcript
Goofs
Gallery

"With the working class gone, robots were forced to do all the menial labor. Before long, they rose up in revolt. Led by a bending unit named B.B. Rodriguez."
Chris Z. Travers
"Wait...I know a robot named B.B. Rodriguez! Wait...I am a robot named B.B. Rodriguez! So, I become ruler of earth?"
Bender
"Indeed."
Chris Z. Travers
"Yes! In your face, high school guidance counselor!"
Bender

"Decision 3012" is the third episode of Season 7. It premiered on June 27, 2012.

Opening Sequence[]

Futurama logo with subtitle, Alienese and (often), cartoon.

Plot[]

Decision 3012

Bender and Nixon plotting

It is the 3012 Presidential debate and everyone but Leela decides to vote for Richard M. Nixon's Head, who promises a fence around the solar system to keep away "illegal space aliens." Leela agrees with the views of one senator named Chris Z. Travers and becomes his campaign manager. Bender and Nixon attempt to find embarrassing facts on Travers, as Nixon is losing ground in the campaign, but nothing arises except his middle name "Zaxxar", which Nixon then turns into the rumor that Travers was not born on Earth. Bender then throws a rally in front of Traver's campaign headquarters, demanding that Travers show his "Earth Certificate." Fry, Leela and Bender (Bender going with his political enemies to prove that crime knows no political boundaries) go the hospital that Travers admitted he was born in and find a file with his name. However, there is no certificate, but states his mother was admitted to the maternity ward that morning. 

Travers appears and tells the crew that he was born the next day and that he time-traveled back from the year 3028. In the future where the fence Nixon builds did keep out aliens, but there is an unforeseen side effect of this fence: there is no longer a source of "cheap alien labor," specifically for important jobs such as farm workers, math teachers and "the ones that do all the immunizations" (doctors). The economy soon collapses, and Nixon turns the "Silent Majority" into Soylent Majority, a take on Soylent Green. After the financial crash of the possible future, robots were forced to do all the work. Soon the robots, led by Bender, rebel against humanity, driving the remaining humans underground. Only 15 at the time, Travis was trusted with humanity's last suit and traveled back in time (by using the same code used in Bender's Big Score) to run against Nixon and prevent this future from ever occurring. In a bold move to secure the voter's confidence, his live birth is broadcast on national TV, in which Travers assists his mother to deliver himself. This pleases the patriotic Earthicans, who had agreed with Travers that "being born in front of them" would certainly prove that he was from Earth.

Travers wins the election. As he approaches the podium to give his victory speech, Amy turns and asks Bender if he was upset at the result. However, Bender casually states he doesn't care who won and nothing was going to change. When an offended Leela ask him why he would say that Bender calmly says, "watch and learn." As Travers begins his speech, he begins to glitch out of existence. Bender explains that since Nixon lost, the future that produced Travers and the time-travel scheme no longer exists, therefore the Travers that won the election no longer exists. Travers screams as he disappears, along with every trace of him. With no opposition, Nixon wins the election in a landslide. As the crew ponder this strange turn of events, all the actions of the past few days get erased. Leela struggles to remember the name of the person she has been working for, as Hermes mentions that they "never even left this building" in the Planet Express Building.

Ongoing Themes[]

Advertisement