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{{Tab|Eps}}
Episode Number: 46
 
  +
{{Quote|This chronological wang-dang-doodle could destroy the very matrix of reality.|[[Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate]]}}
  +
{{Infobox television episode
  +
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
  +
| image =[[File:Globetrotters.png|250px]]
  +
| image_size =
  +
| episode = 46
  +
| prod_code = 3ACV14
  +
| season = 3
  +
| airdate = May 6, 2001
  +
| runtime = 30 minutes
  +
| director = [[Chris Louden]]
  +
| guests =
  +
| writer = [[Ken Keeler]]
  +
| storyboards =
  +
| subtitle = For proper viewing, take red pill now
  +
| cartoon =
  +
| preceded_by = "[[Bendin' in the Wind]]"
  +
| followed_by = "[[I Dated a Robot]]"
  +
}}
   
 
== Plot ==
Production Code: 3ACV14
 
 
The crew of [[Planet Express]] is relaxing near Central Park Lake, when suddenly a U.F.O lands in the park. A Team of [[Globetrotter]]s step out of the vessel and their leader, [[Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate]] challenges [[Earth]] to a [[Basketball]] tournament "for no reason," and with "nothing at stake, beyond the shame of defeat".
   
 
Professor [[Hubert J. Farnsworth]] accepts the challenge with his team of [[Mutant]] [[Atomic Supermen]], who're unfortunately, currently "superboys". In order to speed up their growth he orders the [[Planet Express crew]] to pick up [[chronitons]], which destroyed an entire civilization from the Tempus Nebula.
Title: Time Keeps on Slippin'
 
   
 
In the nebula, it's obvious the harvest is causing some sort of tear in space, but the crew pay no attention to it. [[Fry]] tries get [[Leela]] to go on a date with him by showing her that his face can survive decompression multiple times. She simply tells him to cool his jets, literally since his jet pack was melting [[Bender]]'s face.
Original Airdate: May 6, 2001
 
   
 
When the crew returns to Earth, Farnsworth notes they got back "none too soon" since while they were gone the Globetrotters held a news conference stating he was a "jive sucker" and feeds the mutant boys the chronitons. The results are immediate and drastic. They all age into adults: [[Grotrian]] grows to nearly double normal human height, [[Armo]] gets three extra arms, [[Thorias]] gets a cannon in his chest, [[Arachneon]] turns into a human/spider hybrid, and [[Lazar]] the ability to shoot energy beams from his eyes. Farnsworth rejoices at his creations, [[Amy]] flirts with the spider superman.
Starring:
 
   
 
In [[Madison Cube Garden]], the game begins, with Marv Albert's head as the commentator, who thinks it "promises to be a by-the-numbers athletic competition with no surprises whatsoever."
Also Starring:
 
   
 
By halftime, the score is Globetrotters: 42 Supermen: 48. Albert again notes how dull this showdown is. The game resumes shortly after, but suddenly there's a flash and everyone is in different places. After another flash occurs, Farnsworth calls a time-out and realizing time is skipping ahead, assumes his use of chronitons is ripping the seams of time and space.
Special Guests:
 
   
 
Thorias, the mutant with the chest cannon, panics on hearing this and fires accidentally, pulverizing his human/spider team member. Wanting to impress Leela, Fry offers to take the dead mutant's place, noting that they are 35 points ahead with two minutes left in the game, so there's no way putting him in would cause a problem. Unfortunately, there's another time skip and they find themselves at the end of the game: the Globetrotters win 244 to 86. Albert finishes with the comment that it's a dark day for humanity: losing in basketball. The Globetrotters gloat and Leela notes that she doesn't know what Fry did during the time skip, but thanks to him all the other planets will be cracking wise about their mamas. Hermes breaks down in tears, thankful his "fat, ugly mama isn't alive to see this day."
Intro Promotion:
 
   
 
However, despite the apparently severe humiliation, Farnsworth immediately reminds everyone that the time skips are far more serious. Tate offers his assistance since he's the senior lecturer in physics at [[Globetrotter U]]. After some technobabble, it is concluded that the universe is doomed unless something is done soon. They are forced to leave the stadium when a time-skip puts them in the path of a charging elephant, part of the circus that takes place the day after the game.
Caption: For Proper Viewing, Take Red Pill Now.
 
   
 
Back in the [[Planet Express building]], time skips are becoming more frequent and oddly plot/humor relevant. Farnsworth observes that people act normally during the time skips, but end up having no memory of what they did. Bender starts sucking up to Tate hoping to become a Globetrotter.
Intro Cartoon:
 
   
 
Fry continues to try and romance Leela, stating a romantic bed in a closet is a time-proof shelter "cause when we're together in here, baby, time will stand still". Time skips and it's apparent she hit him and refused to join him in bed. Leela later complains about Fry's many flaws to [[Zoidberg]], but due to a skip it is not shown. Zoidberg guesses it was boring anyways since after the skip he was watching television while Leela talked. Leela summarizes that while she likes Fry's kindness and boyish charm, his immaturity is far too annoying. Zoidberg simply says, "you don't wanna end up old and lonely like ''Zoidberg''" and breaks down in tears, but immediately recovers his composure.
Directed by: Chris Louden
 
   
 
Meanwhile, using the [[Smell-O-Scope]], Farnsworth has located "time leaks" in the Tempus Nebula. He surmises that when the crew removed the chronitons, it destabilized the nebula, disrupting time throughout the universe. Tate summarizes that when the nebula bounces time particles on matter, bouncing basketballs on Benders head as an analogy, it causes dents, or time skips. He realizes that diverting a bunch of stars could redirect the time particles to the empty side of the universe via their gravity. Unfortunately, such an undertaking would take all of Earth's money, and months to build and install on the [[Planet Express ship]]. Thanks to convenient skips however, it all gets done in seconds of perceived time.
Assistant Director:
 
  +
[[File:FryandLeela'swedding.jpg|thumb|right|Fry and Leela's wedding]]
 
Near the nebula, we see Leela moving the last sun into position, surrounding the nebula with a circle of suns and apparently stopping the skips. Fry congratulates her with a moderately priced, domestic, non-vintage champagne and showers her with compliments in his quest to get a date, but she still refuses. With advice from Tate he tries again by showing her he learned how to operate the Planet Express ship. This does impress her, but also makes her utterly exasperated and forces her to state in certain terms that "they'll never ever..." but time skips interrupt her and the two find themselves married.
   
 
An angry Leela accuses Fry of tricking her into marriage, but neither has any idea how this happened. Fry denies being capable of such things and makes a heartfelt speech about giving the marriage a chance. One skip later finds them divorced. A heartbroken Fry first tries to figure out what exactly he did to win Leela's heart.
Written by: Ken Keeler
 
   
 
Farnsworth determines that Tate's math was utter nonsense since chronitons can't be moved. Meanwhile, time skips are getting worse with isolated areas moving forward decades. Luckily, the skips allows him and the best minds in the universe, which happen to be the Globetrotters, to come up with another solution quickly. Farnsworth suggests destroying the entire nebula but [["Curly" Joe]] states that it would take out half the universe. [["Sweet" Clyde Dixon|"Sweet" Clyde]] suggests that they implode the nebula into a black hole, to prevent more chronitons from escaping. Tate hesitates, noting they'll need a [[Doomsday Device]] to pull off something like that, but the Professor simply responds by pulling six devices out from his collection, musing he could part with one and still be feared. Tate, elated, makes everyone in the room honorary Globetrotters, but, to his chagrin, Bender isn't there. In a final act of desperation Bender pleads with Tate before they leave, but is forced to admit he's not funky enough to be a Globetrotter.
Storyboarded by:
 
   
 
Back at the nebula, a heartbroken Bender sets the doomsday device and a heartbroken Fry apologizes for the possibility that he tricked Leela into a marriage, since he still doesn't know what happened. Leela tries to cheer him up, stating they'll always be friends, but it doesn't work, so she tries again by letting Fry move the ship to a safe distance while she preps the doomsday detonator.
==Plot==
 
The crew of Planet Express is relaxing near Central Park Lake, suddenly a U.F.O lands in the Park. Members of the Harlem Globe Trotters planet step out of the vessel, and their leader Bubblegum Tate challenges Earth to a basketball tournament "for no reason," and with "nothing at stake, beyond the shame of defeat."
 
   
 
At the helm, Fry realizes he previously moved the stars to spell "I LOVE YOU, LEELA" as an ultimate declaration of love. ''That'' was the thing that finally won Leela's heart. Unfortunately, the implosion device sucks up all the stars a few seconds later. A frantic Fry asks Leela if she saw "it", but unfortunately she didn't. A depressed Fry simply says, "it" was nothing, and the credits roll.
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth accepts the challenge with his team of mutant atomic supermen, who're unfortunately, currently superboys. In order to speed up their growth he orders the Planet Express crew to pick up chronitons (which destroyed an entire civilization) from the Tempest Nebula.
 
   
  +
==Ongoing Themes==
In the nebula it's obvious the harvest is causing some sort of tear in space, but the crew pay no attention to it, and Fry tries get Leela to go on a date by showing her his face can survive decompression multiple times. She simply tells him to cool his jets, literally since his jet pack was melting Bender's face.
 
   
  +
===Time-Travel===
Back to Earth, Farnsworth notes they got back "none too soon" since while they were gone the Trotters held a news conference stating he was a jive socker, and feeds the mutant boys the chronitons (which is apparently liquid in room temperature). The results are immediate, and drastic. They all age into adults, while one grows to nearly double normal human height, another gets three extra arms, another gets a cannon in his chest, another turns into a human/spider hybrid, and finally the last gains the ability to shoot energy beams from his eyes. Farnsworth rejoices at his creations; Amy flirts with the spider superman.
 
  +
Even the diehard Futurama fan may find it a bit strange that the series has progressed all the way to the end of the third season before the first actual time-travel. There was the ''appearance'' of time-travel in [[Anthology of Interest I]], but that was "fictional", being the product of the "What If" machine. The chronotons move time forward only, never backward: this principle is echoed much later in [[The Late Philip J. Fry]], where Farnsworth bullies Fry into testing his time machine, which also can go forward only.
   
  +
===Fry and Leela===
In Madison Cube Garden, the game begins, with Marv Albert's head as the commentator, who thinks it "promises to be a by the numbers athletic competition with no surprises whatsoever."
 
  +
Fry is suddenly in love with Leela again. He starts off cool, offering Leela a ''romantic'' ride in one of the swan "boats" that aren't actually swans. While they're in space collecting chronotons, he comes on again, suggesting that she and his face get to know each other better. When she rejects him, he says, "Come on, Leela, why won't you go out with me? We both know there's something there." This is sudden, of course. Other than the one-episode fling of [[Parasites Lost]], Fry has expressed little more than lust and occasional, loneliness-induced desire.
   
  +
When the Earth basketball team loses Arachneon to a cannon incident, Fry volunteers to replace him, expressing a desire to show Leela his skills. Later, Fry lures Leela to a love nest, claiming that it's a time-proof chamber that will protect her from the time skips. A time-jump occurs just after he says something crude--now Leela is gone and Fry has a black eye.
By halftime the score is Globe Trotters: 42 Supermen: 48, and Albert again notes how dull this showdown is. Tate claims the Trotters planned to trail in halftime while contradicting himself in the next sentence asking "what game are the refs watching." The game resumes shortly after, but suddenly there's a flash, and everyone is in different places. After another flash occurs, Farnsworth calls a time-out, and realizing time is skipping ahead, assumes his use of chronitons are ripping the seams of time and space.
 
   
  +
Leela talks to Zoidberg about Fry, indicating that she likes him but is turned off by his immaturity. Again, other than the short-lived fling of Parasites Lost, this is the first positive sign of any kind from Leela. Still, when Fry barrages her with flattery and asks her out, she says that they are just too different, he being a man and she being a woman. She walks away from him without hesitation when Bender asks her to teach him to make cupcakes.
The mutant with the chest canon panics hearing this and fires in accident, pulverizing his human/spider team member. Fry offers to take the dead mutant's place wanting to of course impress Leela, noting they're 35 points ahead, with 2 minutes left in the game, so there's no way putting him in would cause serious issues anyways. Unfortunately, there's another time skip, and we're at the end where Trotters win 244 to 86. Albert finishes with the comment that it's a dark day for humanity; losing in basketball. The Trotters gloat of course, Leela notes, while she doesn't know what Fry did due to the skip, he screwed up, and thanks to him all the other planets will be cracking wise about their mamas, and Hermes breaks down in tears thankful his "fat ugly mama isn't alive to see this day."
 
   
  +
Fry makes another attempt to impress Leela by showing her that he has learned how to pilot the ship. She is impressed with him, but she is totally turned off to think that he learned the skill strictly to impress her. Just in the middle of her exclamation that there's no way they could ever be together, time skips forward to their wedding ceremony. But Leela is convinced that she has been duped and after time skips forward a couple more times, they are divorced.
However, despite the apparently severe humiliation, Farnsworth immediately reminds everyone that the time skips are far more serious, and Tate offers his assistance since he's the senior lecturer in physics at Globetrotter U. After some techobabble it is concluded that the universe is doomed unless something is done soon, but they're forced to leave the stadium when a time-skip puts them on the path of a charging elephant, part of the circus that takes place the day after the game.
 
   
  +
They have one last conversation about their relationship, in which they agree that Leela will never feel about Fry the way he feels about her, under any circumstances. Fry obsesses about and eventually discovers the means by which he convinced Leela to marry him, but Leela never gets to see it.
Back in the Express Delivery office time skips are becoming more frequent, and oddly plot/humor relevant. Farnsworth observes that people act normally during the time skips, but end up having no memory of what they did. Bender meanwhile starts sucking up to Tate hoping to become a Globe Trotter.
 
   
  +
===Hermes and Zoidberg===
Fry continues to try and get Leela, stating a romantic bed in a closet is a time proof shelter "cause when we're together in here baby, time will stand still." Time skips, and it's apparent she hit him, and refused to join him in bed. Leela later complains about Fry's many flaws to Zoidberg, but due to a skip it is not shown. Zoidberg guesses it was boring anyways since after the skip he was watching TV while Leela talked. Leela then summarizes that while she likes Fry's kindness, and boyish charm, his immaturity is far too annoying. Zoidberg simply states "you don't wanna end up old and lonely like ZOIDBERG," and breaks down in tears, but immediately recovers his composure.
 
  +
In the opening scene, Hermes and Zoidberg play frisbee together.
   
  +
===Death, near-death, mutilation===
Meanwhile, using the [[Smell-O-Scope]], Farnsworth has located "time leaks" in the Tempest Nebula. He surmises when the crew removed the chronitons, it destabilized the nebula, disrupting time throughout the universe. Tate summarizes that when the nebula bounces time particles on matter (bouncing basketballs on Benders head as an analogy), it causes dents, or time skips. He then realizes diverting a bunch of stars could redirect the time particles to the empty side of the universe via their gravity. Unfortunately, such an undertaking would take all of Earth's money, and months to build and install on the Planet Express ship. Thanks to convenient skips however, it all gets done in seconds of perceived time.
 
  +
Fry decompresses his spacesuit, causing his head to comically swell to fill the helmet (though without seeming harm to Fry, except a slight coughing fit).
   
  +
Bender's face is subjected to heat blasting from Fry's propulsion pack jets.
Near the nebula we see Leela moving the last sun into position, surrounding the nebula with a circle of suns, and apparently stopping the skips. While Bubblegum and Bender go bake cupcakes, as well as the former planning a lawsuit against the latter for making a copy Globetrotter t-shirt, Fry congratulates her with moderately priced, domestic non-vintage, champagne, and showers her with compliments in his quest to get a date, but she still refuses. With advice from Tate he tries again by showing her he learned how to operate the Planet Express ship. This does impress her, but also makes her utterly exasperated, and forces her to state in certain terms that they'll never ever... time skips and the two are married.
 
   
  +
Arachneon is gruesomely liquefied during a timeout by an accidental blast from Thorias' chest.
An angry Leela accuses Fry of tricking her into marriage, but neither has any idea how this happened of course. Fry denies being capable of such things, and makes a heartfelt speech about giving the marriage a chance. One skip later, they're divorced, breaking Fry's heart again.
 
   
  +
Pop singer Wendy's career is reported by Linda through a series of time skips, ending after the third skip with the news that she has been found dead.
A heartbroken Fry first determines to figure out what exactly he did to win Leela's heart, and we get to know it's not because he's great in bed, but breaks down a few seconds later with pessimistic words.
 
   
  +
===Character Arcs===
Farnworth determines that Tate's math was utter nonsense since chronitons can't be moved. Meanwhile time skips are getting worse with isolated areas moving forwards decades. Luckily, the skips allows him and the best minds in the universe (which happen to be the Globetrotters) to come up with another solution "quickly." Farnsworth suggests destroying entire nebula but [[Curley Joe]] states that it would take out half the universe. [[Sweet Clyde]] suggests that they'd implode the nebula into a black hole, to prevent more chronitons from escaping. Tate hesitates, noting they'll need a doomsday device to pull off something like that, but the professor simply responds by pulling out six from his collection musing he could part with one and still be feared. Tate elated makes everyone in the room honorary Globe Trotters, but Bender isn't there, to his chagrin. In a final act of desperation Bender pleads with Tate before they leave, but is forced to admit he's not funky enough to be a Globe Trotter.
 
  +
Bender is obsessed for the duration of this episode with the idea of being a Globetrotter.
   
  +
===Doppelgängers===
Back at the nebula, a heartbroken Bender sets the doomsday device, and a heartbroken Fry apologizes for the possibility that he tricked Leela into a marriage, since he still doesn't know what happened. Leela tries to cheer him up, stating they'll always be friends, but it doesn't work, so she tries again by letting Fry move the ship to a safe distance while she preps the doomsday detonator, which seems to work.
 
  +
Bubble Gum refers to Bender as "hot plate", but it is clear that the term is a deliberate pejorative.
   
  +
{{EpisodeListBroadcastOrder}}
At the helm Fry realizes he moved the stars to spell "I LOVE YOU, LEELA" as an ultimate declaration of love. ''That'' was the thing that finally won Leela's heart. Unfortunately, the implosion device sucks up all the stars a few seconds later. A frantic Fry asks Leela if she saw "it", but unfortunately she didn't. A depressed Fry simply says, "it" was nothing, and the credits roll.
 
  +
{{EpisodeListProductionOrder}}
 
==Quotes==
 
 
'''Fry''': So, Leela, how about a romantic ride in one of those swan boats? They're kinda dangerous but I finally mastered them.<br>
 
'''Leela''': Those aren't swan boats, they're swans.<br>
 
'''Fry''': Oh. That explains these boat eggs.<br>
 
 
==References==
 
*The title references a line from "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band: "Time keeps on slippin'...into the future".
 
*Various elements of the story (a challenge from extraterrestrial basketball players, growth of mutant basketball players) parody the film Space Jam, in which [[Billy West]] voiced Bugs Bunny. The song "Fly Like an Eagle" was featured in the movie.
 
*The Globetrotters' saucer looks identical to the one Klaatu lands on Earth in the classic 1950s sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.
 
*This episode introduces [[Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate]], who appears in the later episodes [[The 30% Iron Chef]] and [[Less Than Hero]], as well as the first DVD movie, [[Bender's Big Score]].
 
*The Globetrotter named "'Curly' Joe" is a dual reference to real Harlem Globetrotter Fred "Curly" Neal and to Joe DeRita, who was one of The Three Stooges from the late 1950s into the 1970s, and was called "Curly-Joe" to distinguish him from the original "Curly," Jerome Howard.
 
*In a previous episode, [[A Fishful of Dollars]], Professor Farnsworth states he was called mad because he "dared to dream of my own race of atomic monsters, atomic supermen".
 
*Farnsworth's nuclear mutant with a chest-mounted cannon backs up his claim made in the episode "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" that he could graft a cannon on Fry's chest, to "crush those who disobey him".
 
*The game takes place at [[Futurama Wiktionary#M|Madison Cube Garden]], a reference to Madison Square Garden; the 30th C venue is also featured in [[Raging Bender]].
 
*The mutant with the dark skin and yellow hair is modeled after Dennis Rodman, according to the audio commentary. The mutant's glowing eyes...hmm...
 
*The Professor throws (or, at least, attempts to throw) a folding chair onto the court. This references former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight throwing a chair in a fit of rage during a 1985 game against Purdue.
 
*The concept of a peculiar time distortion is the main plot of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “We’ll Always Have Paris”.
 
*Fry wants to be put in the game to show Leela his skills; Professor Farnsworth replies: "Hmm. Will said skills pay the bills?". This references the song "Skills To Pay The Bills" off of The [[Futurama Wiktionary#B|Beastie Boys]] 1999 album The Sounds of Science; the album is itself a reference to the Simon and Garfunkel song "The Sounds of Silence". The Beastie Boys appeared in the earlier [[Hell Is Other Robots]].
 
*The song Bender whistles at the end is [[Futurama Wiktionary#S|Sweet Georgia Brown]] which is the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters.
 
 
==Goofs==
 
 
== External links ==
 
* [http://www.futurama-madhouse.com.ar/scripts/3acv14.shtml Episode Transcript]
 
 
==Footnotes==
 
<references/>
 
{{Episodelist}}
 
 
[[Category:Season Three]]
 
[[Category:Season Three]]
[[Category:Help]]
+
[[Category:Episodes]]
  +
[[Category:Fry Episodes]]
  +
[[Category:Episodes in which Fry almost loses Leela]]
  +
[[Category:Leela Episodes]]

Revision as of 03:59, 17 August 2019

Episode
References
Appearances
Transcript
Goofs
Gallery
"This chronological wang-dang-doodle could destroy the very matrix of reality."
Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate


Plot

The crew of Planet Express is relaxing near Central Park Lake, when suddenly a U.F.O lands in the park. A Team of Globetrotters step out of the vessel and their leader, Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate challenges Earth to a Basketball tournament "for no reason," and with "nothing at stake, beyond the shame of defeat".

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth accepts the challenge with his team of Mutant Atomic Supermen, who're unfortunately, currently "superboys". In order to speed up their growth he orders the Planet Express crew to pick up chronitons, which destroyed an entire civilization from the Tempus Nebula.

In the nebula, it's obvious the harvest is causing some sort of tear in space, but the crew pay no attention to it. Fry tries get Leela to go on a date with him by showing her that his face can survive decompression multiple times. She simply tells him to cool his jets, literally since his jet pack was melting Bender's face.

When the crew returns to Earth, Farnsworth notes they got back "none too soon" since while they were gone the Globetrotters held a news conference stating he was a "jive sucker" and feeds the mutant boys the chronitons. The results are immediate and drastic. They all age into adults: Grotrian grows to nearly double normal human height, Armo gets three extra arms, Thorias gets a cannon in his chest, Arachneon turns into a human/spider hybrid, and Lazar the ability to shoot energy beams from his eyes. Farnsworth rejoices at his creations, Amy flirts with the spider superman.

In Madison Cube Garden, the game begins, with Marv Albert's head as the commentator, who thinks it "promises to be a by-the-numbers athletic competition with no surprises whatsoever."

By halftime, the score is Globetrotters: 42 Supermen: 48. Albert again notes how dull this showdown is. The game resumes shortly after, but suddenly there's a flash and everyone is in different places. After another flash occurs, Farnsworth calls a time-out and realizing time is skipping ahead, assumes his use of chronitons is ripping the seams of time and space.

Thorias, the mutant with the chest cannon, panics on hearing this and fires accidentally, pulverizing his human/spider team member. Wanting to impress Leela, Fry offers to take the dead mutant's place, noting that they are 35 points ahead with two minutes left in the game, so there's no way putting him in would cause a problem. Unfortunately, there's another time skip and they find themselves at the end of the game: the Globetrotters win 244 to 86. Albert finishes with the comment that it's a dark day for humanity: losing in basketball. The Globetrotters gloat and Leela notes that she doesn't know what Fry did during the time skip, but thanks to him all the other planets will be cracking wise about their mamas. Hermes breaks down in tears, thankful his "fat, ugly mama isn't alive to see this day."

However, despite the apparently severe humiliation, Farnsworth immediately reminds everyone that the time skips are far more serious. Tate offers his assistance since he's the senior lecturer in physics at Globetrotter U. After some technobabble, it is concluded that the universe is doomed unless something is done soon. They are forced to leave the stadium when a time-skip puts them in the path of a charging elephant, part of the circus that takes place the day after the game.

Back in the Planet Express building, time skips are becoming more frequent and oddly plot/humor relevant. Farnsworth observes that people act normally during the time skips, but end up having no memory of what they did. Bender starts sucking up to Tate hoping to become a Globetrotter.

Fry continues to try and romance Leela, stating a romantic bed in a closet is a time-proof shelter "cause when we're together in here, baby, time will stand still". Time skips and it's apparent she hit him and refused to join him in bed. Leela later complains about Fry's many flaws to Zoidberg, but due to a skip it is not shown. Zoidberg guesses it was boring anyways since after the skip he was watching television while Leela talked. Leela summarizes that while she likes Fry's kindness and boyish charm, his immaturity is far too annoying. Zoidberg simply says, "you don't wanna end up old and lonely like Zoidberg" and breaks down in tears, but immediately recovers his composure.

Meanwhile, using the Smell-O-Scope, Farnsworth has located "time leaks" in the Tempus Nebula. He surmises that when the crew removed the chronitons, it destabilized the nebula, disrupting time throughout the universe. Tate summarizes that when the nebula bounces time particles on matter, bouncing basketballs on Benders head as an analogy, it causes dents, or time skips. He realizes that diverting a bunch of stars could redirect the time particles to the empty side of the universe via their gravity. Unfortunately, such an undertaking would take all of Earth's money, and months to build and install on the Planet Express ship. Thanks to convenient skips however, it all gets done in seconds of perceived time.

FryandLeela'swedding

Fry and Leela's wedding

Near the nebula, we see Leela moving the last sun into position, surrounding the nebula with a circle of suns and apparently stopping the skips. Fry congratulates her with a moderately priced, domestic, non-vintage champagne and showers her with compliments in his quest to get a date, but she still refuses. With advice from Tate he tries again by showing her he learned how to operate the Planet Express ship. This does impress her, but also makes her utterly exasperated and forces her to state in certain terms that "they'll never ever..." but time skips interrupt her and the two find themselves married.

An angry Leela accuses Fry of tricking her into marriage, but neither has any idea how this happened. Fry denies being capable of such things and makes a heartfelt speech about giving the marriage a chance. One skip later finds them divorced. A heartbroken Fry first tries to figure out what exactly he did to win Leela's heart.

Farnsworth determines that Tate's math was utter nonsense since chronitons can't be moved. Meanwhile, time skips are getting worse with isolated areas moving forward decades. Luckily, the skips allows him and the best minds in the universe, which happen to be the Globetrotters, to come up with another solution quickly. Farnsworth suggests destroying the entire nebula but "Curly" Joe states that it would take out half the universe. "Sweet" Clyde suggests that they implode the nebula into a black hole, to prevent more chronitons from escaping. Tate hesitates, noting they'll need a Doomsday Device to pull off something like that, but the Professor simply responds by pulling six devices out from his collection, musing he could part with one and still be feared. Tate, elated, makes everyone in the room honorary Globetrotters, but, to his chagrin, Bender isn't there. In a final act of desperation Bender pleads with Tate before they leave, but is forced to admit he's not funky enough to be a Globetrotter.

Back at the nebula, a heartbroken Bender sets the doomsday device and a heartbroken Fry apologizes for the possibility that he tricked Leela into a marriage, since he still doesn't know what happened. Leela tries to cheer him up, stating they'll always be friends, but it doesn't work, so she tries again by letting Fry move the ship to a safe distance while she preps the doomsday detonator.

At the helm, Fry realizes he previously moved the stars to spell "I LOVE YOU, LEELA" as an ultimate declaration of love. That was the thing that finally won Leela's heart. Unfortunately, the implosion device sucks up all the stars a few seconds later. A frantic Fry asks Leela if she saw "it", but unfortunately she didn't. A depressed Fry simply says, "it" was nothing, and the credits roll.

Ongoing Themes

Time-Travel

Even the diehard Futurama fan may find it a bit strange that the series has progressed all the way to the end of the third season before the first actual time-travel. There was the appearance of time-travel in Anthology of Interest I, but that was "fictional", being the product of the "What If" machine. The chronotons move time forward only, never backward: this principle is echoed much later in The Late Philip J. Fry, where Farnsworth bullies Fry into testing his time machine, which also can go forward only.

Fry and Leela

Fry is suddenly in love with Leela again. He starts off cool, offering Leela a romantic ride in one of the swan "boats" that aren't actually swans. While they're in space collecting chronotons, he comes on again, suggesting that she and his face get to know each other better. When she rejects him, he says, "Come on, Leela, why won't you go out with me? We both know there's something there." This is sudden, of course. Other than the one-episode fling of Parasites Lost, Fry has expressed little more than lust and occasional, loneliness-induced desire.

When the Earth basketball team loses Arachneon to a cannon incident, Fry volunteers to replace him, expressing a desire to show Leela his skills. Later, Fry lures Leela to a love nest, claiming that it's a time-proof chamber that will protect her from the time skips. A time-jump occurs just after he says something crude--now Leela is gone and Fry has a black eye.

Leela talks to Zoidberg about Fry, indicating that she likes him but is turned off by his immaturity. Again, other than the short-lived fling of Parasites Lost, this is the first positive sign of any kind from Leela. Still, when Fry barrages her with flattery and asks her out, she says that they are just too different, he being a man and she being a woman. She walks away from him without hesitation when Bender asks her to teach him to make cupcakes.

Fry makes another attempt to impress Leela by showing her that he has learned how to pilot the ship. She is impressed with him, but she is totally turned off to think that he learned the skill strictly to impress her. Just in the middle of her exclamation that there's no way they could ever be together, time skips forward to their wedding ceremony. But Leela is convinced that she has been duped and after time skips forward a couple more times, they are divorced.

They have one last conversation about their relationship, in which they agree that Leela will never feel about Fry the way he feels about her, under any circumstances. Fry obsesses about and eventually discovers the means by which he convinced Leela to marry him, but Leela never gets to see it.

Hermes and Zoidberg

In the opening scene, Hermes and Zoidberg play frisbee together.

Death, near-death, mutilation

Fry decompresses his spacesuit, causing his head to comically swell to fill the helmet (though without seeming harm to Fry, except a slight coughing fit).

Bender's face is subjected to heat blasting from Fry's propulsion pack jets.

Arachneon is gruesomely liquefied during a timeout by an accidental blast from Thorias' chest.

Pop singer Wendy's career is reported by Linda through a series of time skips, ending after the third skip with the news that she has been found dead.

Character Arcs

Bender is obsessed for the duration of this episode with the idea of being a Globetrotter.

Doppelgängers

Bubble Gum refers to Bender as "hot plate", but it is clear that the term is a deliberate pejorative.