‘Futurama’s latest episode proves the Hulu revival is already a worthy continuation

It’s not often that a reboot proves itself worthy right out of the gate, but that’s precisely what the writers and crew members of Hulu’s Futurama reboot have accomplished. The show’s latest episode, “Children of a Lesser Bog,” provides a fresh story that still calls back to some of the show’s older plot lines.

In a moment of perfect serendipity, it’s been twenty real-life years since “Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch” first aired. At the end of that episode, Amy and Kif promise they’ll be ready to raise their alien/mutant hybrid offspring in twenty years when the tadpoles grow legs. Well, Futurama’s never been one to forget an appropriate callback, and it looks like the revival has fully bought into that tradition, as “Children of a Lesser Bog” finally brought back Kif and Amy’s offspring.

It’s an episode that easily could’ve fallen into nostalgia bait. Other shows might’ve taken the easy way out and simply dangled references in front of the audience’s eyes for twenty-five minutes, but writer Eric Horsted, who’s been with the show since the first season, instead chose to advance the characters in new and novel ways. It’s a daring writing choice — when a show returns for a reboot, the apparent impulse is to give the audience more of the same. Familiarity is safe.

Horsted instead opts to showcase how two of Futurama’s longest-serving supporting characters have changed — and how they’ve stayed the same. Amy’s as ditzy and uncertain as ever, but her character has truly grown over the years. She’s no longer presented as someone immature and unwilling to grow up; here, she’s ready to take on motherhood, and it’s a choice that feels entirely natural. This is an Amy who’s gone through “That Darn Katz!” and “Viva Mars Vegas”.

It’s important to note that “Children of a Lesser Bog” still gets Futurama‘s famous emotional beats just right. Amy’s worry that she may be an unworthy mother is one that Lauren Tom — who’s been playing Amy Wong for 24 years now — knocks out of the park. The emotional embrace with her children at the end of the episode, who are sure to become background mainstays like Cubert Farnsworth or Dwight Conrad, is sure to go down as one of Amy’s finest moments.

But Futurama is primarily a comedy, and the humor in “Children of a Lesser Bog” does not disappoint. The episode is full of one-off gags and one-liners that evoke that classic Futurama feel while still providing an unexpected punchline (Whale Tardigrade Biologist, we hardly knew you).

One can only hope that the quality we’ve seen Futurama maintain over these last two episodes is what we see from the rest of this season. Last week’s “The Impossible Stream” was good, this episode was better, and with the season sitting at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, the reboot’s future looks great.