Line #16 Recap/FuturamaS4E9TeenageMutantLeelasHurdles


1	[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmtyymjg4mdu3ml5bml5banbnxkftztgwnda2mdiymje_v1_6.jpg]]
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3	''[[CouchGag Now interactive! Joystick controls Fry's left ear]]''
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5	A close encounter with rejuvenating tar at a Neptunian spa regresses the Planet Express staff back to their early teens (except for Professor Farnsworth, starts out as a 53-year-old before regressing to a child). While the Professor tries to find a cure, Leela returns to the sewers so she can have the teen experience with her mom and dad that she never did the first time around.
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7	!!Tropes
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9	* EleventhHourRanger: Pazuzu shows up at the very end to save Farnsworth from the Fountain of Aging.
10	* AllMythsAreTrue: Leela finds out about the Fountain of Aging from "A Child's Garden of Space Legends" and tells Farnsworth about it.
11	-->'''Farnsworth:''' The Fountain of Aging? Hmm. It is just a legend. Still, they called the Tooth Fairy a legend, and now he's head of the FBI!
12	* AmbiguouslyEvil: Pazuzu is heavily implied to be plotting ''something'' nefarious, but we never get any concrete proof.
13	* BigDamnHeroes: After hiding under the crew's rocket ship, the Professor's gargoyle comes to save his master from the Fountain Of Aging.
14	* BizarreAlienBiology: Zoidberg's "teenage heartthrob" phase of life bears a strong resemblance to a cuttlefish; his earlier phases, in order, see him resemble a trilobite, a clam, a lamprey, an anglerfish, a sea urchin, a starfish, a hydra, and finally a coral with multiple sibling buds.[[note]]Amusingly, the equivalent Earthican species are nowhere near related to each other, or to the crustaceans that Zoidberg's adult form resembles.[[/note]]
15	* BodyHorror: One of the Professor's youth-a-sizing involves him being massaged so hard his skin starts to liquefy. A subversion, in that he actually finds it relaxing.
16	* BoyishShorts: Kid Hermes wears shorts with a sailor top, toddler Fry wears shortalls, and young Professor Farnsworth wears shorts with a button shirt and bow, high socks, and black shoes in the more nerdy/old-fashioned style.
17	* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: Leela and Fry accidentally demolish much of the mutant's school. Leela's parents aren't remotely bothered, and the teachers don't seem to have any reaction either.
18	* ChekhovsGunman: Pazuzu disappears after the first five seconds of the episode, only to reappear after the characters and audience have forgotten about him in order to save the Professor from the Fountain of Aging.
19	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Morris tries to give his now teenaged daughter alcohol. Leela's protest results in him adding a silly straw to the bottle.
20	* ContinuityNod: The tar contains chronotons, the particles from "Time Keeps on Slipping" that causes time to skip.
21	* DeathByCameo: [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]] appears and is promptly blown up by the Professor using the ship's high beams.
22	* DeathByDeaging: The Professor's cure for the FountainOfYouth backfires as they don't just become younger, but keep de-aging. They have to get to the Fountain of Aging to not de-age out of existence.
23	* DirtyOldMan: The Professor's immediate complaint on learning he's been de-aged to fifty-three? "Now I'll need a fake I.D. to rent ultra-porn..."
24	* DisneyDeath: Zoidberg falls into the Fountain of Aging and promptly [[RapidAging dissolves into dust]]. It's then revealed it wasn't actually Zoidberg, but one of his brothers instead.
25	* DyingCurse: PlayedForLaughs. When the Professor is about to drown, he screams: "With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg!"
26	* EmotionalMaturityIsPhysicalMaturity: While de-aged, the crew acts like the teenagers/children that they look like. Averted with Zoidberg, who behaves the same regardless of age.
27	* ExpositionAlreadyCovered: When searching for the Fountain of Aging, Farnsworth and Leela notice everything in the solar system they're currently in is getting older the closer they get to an ancient, burnt-out sun. Before Farnsworth could state the Fountain of Aging is located on the burnt-out sun, Leela beats him to it, which angers him.
28	-->'''Farnsworth:''' News flash! Everything's getting older the closer we get to that ancient, burnt-out sun.\
29	'''Leela:''' Dude, the Fountain of Aging must be on the sun itself.\
30	'''Farnsworth:''' Shut up! I was gonna say that!
31	* {{Fanservice}}: When all return to normal age, their clothes (minus Leela) are all ripped. And Amy is barely covered by some shred.
32	* FateWorseThanDeath: Pre-life! Then death.
33	* FountainOfYouth: The tar, obviously. One of the Professor's cures causes those exposed to further regress. This is solved by the [[InvertedTrope Fountain of Aging]].
34	* FriendOrIdolDecision: Leela is forced to choose between reliving her childhood with her parents or saving her friends from DeathByDeaging. She chooses her friends.
35	* GoodParents: Leela's mom states that if Leela really wants to move in with them as a teenager, she states they'll try their best to respect her independence and boundaries. Hilariously, Leela demands they don't as she wants the typical adolescent experience of strict, nagging, controlling parents. Which her father responds to by offering her tequila.
36	* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Heather, the "youth-a-sizer" at the spa. As a Neptunian, she has four arms and purple skin, but is still quite good-looking by the standards of Groening's animation style.
37	* GrumpyOldMan: The Professor, willingly.
38	-->'''Farnsworth:''' I don't have time for this! I have to go buy a single piece of fruit with a coupon and then return it, making people wait behind me while I complain!
39	* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Parodied with Teddy-Bear Junction, "the worst scum-hole in the universe".
40	* IWantGrandkids: Inez Wong still really wants grandchildren (despite, y'know, already having them, though she probably means "human grandchildren" and doesn't count the offspring Kif made since Leela is biologically the mother). She's annoyed by Amy being de-aged.
41	* InopportuneVoiceCracking: Fry, as a teen.
42	* {{Jerkass}}: Leo Wong, taunting his de-aged daughter about being chubby again.
43	-->'''Leo:''' "Stay in room"? You so fat, you gonna stay all around room!
44	* LastGraspAtLife: The Professor's raised fist while uttering his DyingCurse.
45	* LateArrivalSpoiler: The title gives away that Leela has since discovered she isn't actually an alien, but a mutant.
46	* MerlinSickness: The entire Planet Express team starts aging backwards until they face a FateWorseThanDeath: pre-life! Then death.
47	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The Professor goes bathing naked in searing hot tar, despite being told it's a bad idea.
48	-->'''Heather:''' Sir, it's not necessary, or wise to be naked.
49	-->'''Farnsworth:''' You sound just like my tennis instructor.
50	* NoodleIncident: The Professor paying for Pazuzu to go to college, and the time The Professor was told by his tennis instructor that it's not necessary or wise to be naked.
51	* PermissiveParents: Leela's parents are willing to let their de-aged daughter have an independent life but Leela actually ''wants'' the strict parenting a teenager normally gets. Leela's dad responds by giving her a bottle of tequila with a crazy straw.
52	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: In his hunt for Pazuzu, the Professor takes over flying the Planet Express ship, dismissing Leela's demand to drive.
53	-->'''Professor:''' I'm trying to catch a monster, not find the quickest route to the mall!
54	* SecretMessageWink: Fry tells Leela's parents he's taking her to a movie on their date, but winks at Leela to show he's lying. Her dad responds with, "Well, whatever you're ''really'' doing, don't wake us if you get back after 12:00." He actually takes her to a diner popular with sewer teenagers.
55	* SeriesContinuityError:
56	** Zoidberg is shown going through different transformations before reaching his adult form. The flashbacks from Zoidberg's youth in "That's Lobstertainment!" showed that Decapodian children are miniature versions of adults. One possible explanation is that Zoidberg's various larval stages are from a point ''before'' he 'evolved' into the more familiar humanoid form.
57	** Similarly, in "Bendless Love", Bender's recollection of his "birth" shows him being fully assembled already as an adult. Possibly justified as either a false memory or him getting a new body, and later a flashback in "Lethal Inspection" shows that Bender was originally built with an infant body.
58	* ShoutOut:
59	** The title parodies ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. Coincidentally, Fox had recently started airing the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 series of this franchise]] when this episode first aired.
60	** The cover of "A Child's Garden of Space Legends" features a screaming child's head being bitten by a Gorn from the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena Arena]]". One of the stories in the book is "[[Literature/CharlottesWeb Charlotte's]] [[Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb Tholian Web]]".
61	** While looking for Pazuzu, the Professor accidentally blows up [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]].
62	** Norm Zoidberg's death in the Fountain of Aging is more than a little reminiscent of Walter Donovan's ageing to death after drinking from a false grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.
63	* StinkSnub: Little Amy tells little Hermes that he stinks.
64	* UsedToBeASweetKid / WideEyedIdealist: Young Bender.
65	* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The entire episode is revealed to be Pazuzu recounting to his son how he got his freedom.
66	* WholePlotReference: To the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E7Rascals Rascals]]".
67	* YouthfulFreckles: Teen Leela has these.

Context Recap / FuturamaS4E9TeenageMutantLeelasHurdles