The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings

The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings
Episode Information
Air date	August 10, 2003
Credits
Written By	Ken Keeler
Directed By	Rich Moore

The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings is the original last episode of the Futurama series.

Plot

After a disappointing holophonor recital, Fry enlists the help of the Robot Devil to improve his holophonor skills through hand transplants. After randomly determining the robot “donor” (by spinning a wheel which seemingly contains all of the robots featured on the series), Fry’s hands are switched for those of the Robot Devil himself. Fry then becomes a skilled holophonor player and attempts to win the heart of Leela with an opera commissioned by Hedonismbot.

The Robot Devil, who is unhappy with the trade, decides he has to get his own hands back. He gives Bender a stadium air horn so that he can annoy people. When Bender uses the air horn on Leela, she becomes deaf. Leela can’t tell Fry that she is deaf (for fear that he will stop composing his opera), so she attends the opera as though she can still hear the performance. During the intermission, the devil offers Leela robotic ears (which previously belonged to Calculon) in exchange for her hand. Leela, who is thrilled she will hear the end of Fry’s opera, agrees.

The Robot Devil interrupts the opera when Fry’s portrayal of him states that the Robot Devil is stupider than Fry; he demands that Fry give back his hands. When Fry refuses, the devil says that he will take Leela’s hand… in marriage. Fry has no choice but to trade the Robot Devil’s hands back for his own.

With his own hands, Fry can no longer play the holophonor, and the remainder of the opera is terrible. Everyone in the audience leaves, except for Leela who asks that he not stop playing, as she wanted to “hear how it ends.” The finale of Fry’s opera shows a very crudely-animated Fry and Leela kissing, then walking into the distance hand-in-hand.

Trivia

The title of this episode is a parody of the classic proverb "Idle hands are the devil's play things".

When Leela states that she wants to hear how Fry's opera ends, it is a reference to the fact that this was the series finale, as this was the last real episode.

This is the last episode of the Futurama series before its cancellation.

Quotes

Bender: Isn't it time you gave up all hope of ever improving yourself in any way?

Fry: I know I should, but I just can't.

Leela: But it's beautiful

Fry: So's a Peacock, but you don't eat it until its cooked.