The Tip of the Zoidberg

Episode	References	Appearances	Transcript	Goofs	Gallery

The Tip of the Zoidberg
Season	6
Episode	18
Episode Information
Production Code	6ACV18
Air date	August 18, 2011
Episode Guide
Preceded by	"Fry Am the Egg Man"
Followed by	"Cold Warriors"

Synopsis

The Planet Express crew learn something shocking about Farnsworth and Zoidberg's pasts.

Plot

Frustrated with Zoidberg's incompetence as a doctor, the Planet Express crew starts a labor union mob, betrays Zoidberg and rudely demands Professor Farnsworth to fire him. The professor refuses, and the crew question why Zoidberg was ever employed in the first place. A series of flashbacks reveal that Zoidberg first met and befriended Farnsworth in 2927, during a mission to kill a Tritonian yeti for Mom. During the mission, Farnsworth became susceptible to hypermalaria, a fatal, incurable disease which can either strike instantly or remain dormant for years. As a favour to Farnsworth for killing the yeti and saving his life, Zoidberg agrees to an arrangement: when Farnsworth begins to experience symptoms of the disease, Zoidberg will have to perform a mercy killing before the disease can fully manifest. As a result, Zoidberg was employed by the professor for the sole purpose of carrying out the task.

In the present, the professor begins to experience the symptoms of hypermalaria. The now arrogant, angry, and selfish Planet Express Crew then enters Zoidberg's office in a mob fashion and starts yelling at him and bullying him. They say very cruel, harsh, unacceptable, and hateful things to Zoidberg, leaving him defensless until Professor Farnsworth tells Zoidberg to come to his office, while the crew thinks that the Professor is going to fire Zoidberg. The Professor does not fire Zoidberg and instead tells Zoidberg that the hypermalaria is starting to kill him after 80 years of torment and insists that Zoidberg must kill him by surprise because Farnsworth perfers it that way. Zoidberg attempts to kill the professor multiple times but they all fail and backfire. The crew catches Zoidberg attempting to mercy kill the Professor, and fires him unfairly, restrains him with the professor's lab coat, and imprisons him in his own office. Zoidberg cuts himself loose from the coat notices a single white hair on the professor's coat and deduces that he does not have hypermalaria. Rather, he has contracted yetiism after being scratched by the Tritonian yeti. The illness mimics the symptoms of hypermalaria, but results in its victims transforming into a yeti and unlike hypermalaria, yetiism is curable.

Zoidberg escapes from his office prison by "sandcrabbing" his way out and woops himself over to Mom, exchanging a coupon for a free tanning session for the yeti's head so that he may use its pineal gland as an antidote. Meanwhile, the professor reveals the entire truth to the crew, who decide to kill him themselves, using an elaborate and way overdone mechanical Rube Goldberg killing machine. The machine works with a wheel covered with axes on a metal grid that surrounds the room. The crew each take a bottle of cyanide to add to the wheel to share the guilt, which is called a killcheck. There are six killchecks in all and when all of them are performed, the professor will die. Hermes performs the first killcheck and Fry performs the second killcheck. When Bender performs the third killcheck and makes a delicious salad in the process, Zoidberg returns to announce his discovery to the crew, just as the professor begins transforming into a yeti. Leela and the entire crew apologize to Zoidberg for mistreating and imprisoning him and tells him that they are killing the professor for him. Zoidberg forces him to swallow the yeti gland, successfully curing him. As the crew goes to a tanning salon to celebrate, Zoidberg laments giving away his coupon. A grateful Farnsworth offers to treat Zoidberg to a free session, and they both depart as friends.

Production

While originally known as "Nine-tenths of a Zoidberg is Underwater", the episode title changed in the process.

On 12 August, Comedy Central released a video clip featuring Zoidberg performing surgery on Fry, Leela, and Hermes.

Guest stars

To be added