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- "In the game of chess, you can never let your opponent see your pieces."
- ―Zapp Brannigan
"Love's Labours Lost in Space" is the fourth episode in Season One of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 11, 1999. The episode was written by Brian Kelley and directed by Brian Sheesley. This episode introduces the recurring character Zapp Brannigan when he attempts to prevent the Planet Express crew from completing their mission. It also introduces the character Nibbler whom Leela adopts as a pet.
Plot
After an unsuccessful attempt by Amy to introduce Leela to eligible bachelors at The Hip Joint, a New New York nightclub, the crew gets sent on a tax-deductible charity mission. The uninhabited planet Vergon 6 has been mined hollow, and is about to collapse. The crew is sent to recover two of each kind of animal native to the planet for breeding purposes.
Unfortunately, Vergon 6 has been declared restricted due to its undeveloped status, under Brannigan's Law. The Planet Express crew are arrested by legendary space captain Zapp Brannigan, who immediately attempts to seduce Leela. Leela initially rebuffs Brannigan, but eventually succumbs to pity for the desperate fool, a fact that Brannigan brings up in every later appearance in the series.
The sexually-satisfied Brannigan allows the Planet Express crew to depart for Vergon 6, and the crew proceed to collect the strange animals. While working on their checklist, they discover a small black and white creature with a third eye on a stalk. Leela decides to rescue it as well, names it Nibbler, and places it in the cargo hold with the other animals. When Fry, Leela, and Bender return with the last animal, they discover that the mystery creature has devoured all the other animals.
The planet begins to collapse, and when the crew try to escape, they discover that the ship is out of fuel. Leela refuses to beg Zapp Brannigan for assistance, and the crew settle in for their inevitable deaths. The ship shifts to one side, and the crew discovers that Nibbler has defecated a small pellet of dark matter, which is the fuel the ship runs on. Bender tosses the ultra-dense pellet into the engine, and the crew returns safely to Earth.
Trivia
- The episode is named after the 1598 William Shakespeare play "Love's Labour's Lost" and the 1960's CBS science-fiction series Lost in Space.
- Brannigan's Law is a parody of Star Trek's Prime Directive.
- One of the animals on the list is a "Gretchen Mole." Gretchen Mol is an American Actress.
Memorable quotes
- Leela: "They say Zapp Brannigan single-handedly saved the Octillion system from a horde of rampaging killbots!"
Fry: "Wow."
Bender: "A grim day for Robotkind. Eh, but we can always build more killbots."
- Fry: "I heard one time you single-handedly defeated a horde of rampaging somethings in the something something system"
Brannigan: "Killbots? A trifle. It was simply a matter of outsmarting them."
Fry: "Wow, I never would've thought of that."
Brannigan: "You see, killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shut down."
- Brannigan: "As my protege, you should know that the only way to deal with a female adversary is to seduce her."
Kif: [sighs]
Brannigan: "This time we are sure she's a woman, right?"
Kif: [exasperated] "Yes!"
- Brannigan: "You look like a woman who enjoys the finer things. Come over here and feel my velour bedspread."
Leela: "I'm not really in the mood."
Brannigan: "Leela, it's real velour. Just let yourself go."
- Leela: "Look, last night was a mistake."
Brannigan: "A sexy mistake."
Leela: "No, a regular mistake."
Debut Appearances
- Bolt Rollins
- Kif Kroker
- M5438
- Nibbler
- Zapp Brannigan