Hot diggity daffodil! Even after all this time, there’s still plenty of gas in the Planet Express ship.
Back for its 13th season, Futurama finally lands with new episodes and new shenanigans. Now firmly established on Disney+, the Professor and his delivery crew tackle a wide range of challenges, ranging from the discovery of Leela’s true soulmate to the rapture itself!
Though, strangely, in some ways, the return of Futurama feels less ‘glamorous’ than the previous two years. By releasing all 10 episodes on the same day, somehow the series feels as though it is receiving less fanfare than before. (Is it possible that the revival of Phineas and Ferb stole some of Fry and Leela’s summer thunder?) Still, fans of the series need not be concerned about the change in release as any concerns about the series’ quality. Futurama seems to be that series that never truly loses steam. (In fact, even its weaker episodes still manage to make you laugh out loud in spots.)
Thankfully, with the triumphant return of Planet Express, the series still manages to maintain more hits than misses. And, there’s still character development to mine, even though everyone seems to have settled in. For example, even though they’ve moved in together, there is still room for Fry and Leela’s relationship to grow. Admittedly, some of the episodes do feel like they’re retreading plot threads from other episodes (ie. Is Fry really Leela’s soulmate? and Bender becomes gigantic). However, even in these instances, the series manages to offer a fresh spin on the material.
And, honestly, the new batch of episodes have some truly (and bizarrely) hilarious material worth catching. And, once again, the series’ most relevant episodes stem from its willingness to tackle modern issues. Amy and Kif feel distanced from their kids because of too much screentime. Bender faces unrealistic beauty standards based on his height. Facing off with Fishy Joe’s mega pizza franchises, the local pizza owners are faced with a scandal that could derail their small business (and taps into a ‘fake truth’ vibe). All of these episodes tap into the very real anxieties of our culture at the moment yet do so with their trademark satirical and sassy tone.
However, one of the other more unspoken aspects of Futurama is its attempt to grapple with existential realities. Strangely, there’s always been a battle between science and faith that ungirds the series and that continues to be on display here. Whether it’s the perils of mathematics or belief in the rapture, Futurama still knows how to balance its passion for science and its penchant for the spiritual. This is a show that acknowledges that celebrates what can be proven, at the same time, never fully loses its ability to believe in something more than what’s tangible. While their animated cousins, The Simpsons, have tackled this tension more than once, somehow it’s Futurama that continues to do so most effectively.
It’s that incisive wit to the series that proves sharper than Roberto’s knives. But let’s not overplay the seriousness of the topics at hand. After all, Futurama buries its subtext underneath its sci-fi silliness so that, even in its more dramatic pauses, the humour reigns supreme.
And so, once again, Futurama proves to be a series worth singing its praises. Even after a quarter of a century (ya know, off and on…), Fry, Leela, Bender and the crew still have the keenest animated eye on television. And that truly is ‘good news, everyone’.
Futurama Season 13 is available on Disney+ on Monday, September 15, 2025.
