"Stench and Stenchibility" is the twenty-fifth episode of the
seventh season of the animated sitcom ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
''. It originally aired on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
on August 28, 2013. The episode was written by Eric Horsted and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson. It is the last episode to use the full intro sequence.
Dr. Zoidberg
Dr. John A. Zoidberg, often referred to only by his last name, is a fictional character from the animated series ''Futurama''. He is a Decapodian, a crustacean-like species of alien, who works as the staff doctor for ''Planet Express'', despite hi ...
falls in love with a human flower merchant while
Bender competes in a deadly tap-dancing contest.
Plot
Dr. Zoidberg manages to make a face-to-face date with an alien woman he's been seeing online, despite the other Planet Express crew members warning him that his date will be repulsed by his disgusting stench. After buying flowers from a merchant named Marianne (
Emilia Clarke
Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal as Daenerys Targaryen in '' Game of Thrones''. She has received various accolades, including an Empire Award, a Saturn Award, ...
), it turns out the crew was right, and Zoidberg's date is driven away by his horrible armpit odor. Depressed that he has once again failed at a relationship, he returns the flowers to Marianne. Suddenly,
Roberto
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
appears and tries to mug Marianne and Zoidberg, but the latter's odor chases him away. Marianne is grateful towards Zoidberg, who is surprised that she was not disgusted by his stench. Marianne reveals she has
no sense of smell, and the two date, leading to a happy relationship. The Planet Express crew are surprised that Zoidberg managed to go out with a normal woman, and encourages him to use his medical knowledge to give Marianne a sense of smell, though Zoidberg is afraid she will reject him like many others have. After Marianne expresses her desire to smell flowers, Zoidberg decides to give her a nose transplant that will allow Marianne to smell, much to the latter's joy. After she awakens from the surgery, however, she finds she is repulsed by the smell of flowers (she never learned what are supposed to be good or bad smells) and attracted to Zoidberg's odor, stating she "likes
issmell because
helikes
im. Zoidberg is happy with this and continues his relationship with Marianne, who becomes a garbage truck driver and "dumps" Zoidberg out of his home dumpster into the truck with her, and the two ride off.
Meanwhile, Bender, in a panic, steps on several bugs crawling all over him and accidentally tap dances as a result. Randy Munchnik sees this and invites Bender to a tap dance competition he happens to be holding at a rec center. Bender agrees to feed his ego, but finds that he is rivaled by Tonya (
Tara Strong
Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...
), a young girl with a heart condition. Bender attempts to sabotage Tonya, but the latter turns out to be just as malevolent as the robot, and breaks his leg. Bender recovers quickly and dances against Tonya, who wins but suffers a heart attack and dies. Insensitive, Bender tap dances on her body, but his taps restarts her heart and brings her back to life, much to his dismay. Later, Bender and Tonya decide to join forces to rob people under the guise of street performers.
Reception
''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave this episode a B−, remarking: "It's an okay episode with a shaky start that works largely because the end is near; and it'd be nice to see the final credits roll knowing that all these characters will go out with a smile". Max Nicholson of
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the episode a 7.3/10 "Good" rating, saying "''Futurama''
's penultimate episode featured a nice ending for Zoidberg and another average subplot for Bender."
References
External links
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{{Futurama episodes, 7
2013 American television episodes
Futurama (season 7) episodes