- "Damn, chico. One more upgrade and I'll be more lady than you can handle. Why you so stupid, stupid?"
- ―Robot Drag Queen to Bender[source]
Fry & the Slurm Factory is the thirteenth episode of Futurama, and the fourth of Season Two. It was written by Lewis Morton, and directed by Ron Hughart.
Synopsis
The episode opens with an advertisement for Slurm. The ad announces the beginning of a contest: whoever finds a golden bottlecap inside a can of Slurm wins a free trip to the Slurm bottling plant on Planet Wormulon, as well as a party with Slurm mascot Slurms MacKenzie. Fry resolves to find the bottlecap by drinking massive quantities of Slurm.
"That's no lady!"
Bender walks in sick, and Professor Farnsworth uses it as an excuse to test his experimental F-ray, a device that enables people to look inside anything. After repairing Bender, the professor leaves the F-ray in the custody of Fry and Bender. Bender uses it on Fry, leaving him infertile. After trying the F-ray out on random objects, Fry realizes that they could use the F-ray to scan Slurm cans for the golden bottlecap. After checking thousands of cans, they give up on finding the winning can, and return the F-ray. Fry settles in to relax with a Slurm, and chokes on the bottlecap.
The Planet Express crew arrives at Slurm Centralized Industrial Fabrication Unit and are greeted by Glermo. The crew takes a riverboat tour down a river of Slurm through the factory, and see the Grunka-Lunkas sing their song. Overwhelmed with thirst, Fry tries to drink from the river (not realizing that it's not in fact Slurm), and falls in. Leela dives in to save him, and Bender joins them for no good reason. The three are sucked into a whirlpool and deposited in a cave under the factory.
Under the factory, they discover that the factory they toured was a fake. Making their way through the tunnels, they discover Slurm's true nature: it is a secretion from the rear orifice of a giant worm, the Slurm Queen. They are discovered and captured by the worms. The three are placed into overly complicated death traps and left unguarded. They escape, but are pursued by the Slurm Queen. Slurms MacKenzie, exhausted from his years of partying, arrives and sacrifices himself to save Fry, Leela, and Bender.
When they escape, the Slurm Queen bemoans that the company is ruined, and disgustingly drinks her own Slurm, direct from the source, as a comfort. However, Fry is so addicted to Slurm that he keeps the nature of Slurm a secret so that it can continue to be produced.
Memorable quotes
- Fry: This is nothing. Back in high school I used to drink 100 cans of cola per week. Right up to my third heart attack.
- Professor: Who are those horrible orange creatures over there?
- Glermo: Why those are the Grunka-Lunkas. They work here in the Slurm factory.
- Professor: Tell them I hate them.
- Glermo (to the Grunka-Lunkas): Hey! I don't pay you to sing! You guys just used up today's bathroom break.
- Grunka Lunka: Hardass.
- Glermo: I heard that!
- Fry: What if the secret ingredient is... people!?
- Leela: Oh, there's already a soda like that. Soylent Cola.
- Fry: Oh, how is it?
- Leela: It varies from person to person.
- Glermo: There will be no further questions!
- Fry: Why?
- Fry: That's the secret ingredient of Slurm?
- Leela: That's the only ingredient of Slurm!
- Slurms McKenzie: I'm so tired of partyin'. So very tired. I'll save you the only way I know how... BY PARTYIN!
- Fry and Bender have just taken the F-Ray.
- Fry: Hey, try it on me!
- Bender points it at Fry's crotch.
- Fry: OWWW!!! My sperm!
References Explained
- The "Soylent Cola" joke is a reference to the movie "Soylent Green", a classic science fiction B-movie starring Charleton Heston. The big surprise at the end of this film is that the most widely-distributed food, Soylent Green, is actually made out of people.
- The entire episode is a parody of the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The dance moves performed by the Grunka-Lunkas whilst they sing are all taken directly from the Oompa-Loompas in the movie and Glermo is based on Gene Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka.
Easter Eggs
When Leela and the Professor are playing Scrabble, the Professor can spell the word "f u t u r a m" with his extra letters.
Goofs
Bender's hole in the side of his body that he acquired when going through the machine disappears when the crew is escaping, but then reappears in the final scene.