Line #104 Recap/FuturamaS2E4XmasStory


1	[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmjiynda5otkxof5bml5banbnxkftztgwmde2mdiymje_v1.jpg]]
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3	''[[CouchGag Based On a True Story]]''
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5	In the first [[ChristmasEpisode Xmas episode]] of the series, depression hits Fry when he realizes that the future changed a lot of 20th century Christmas customs, and this is his first Xmas without his loved ones. He makes his complaints heard, which leaves Leela in tears due to the fact that she's never celebrated Xmas with her family. Desperate to make up for what he did, Fry searches for the perfect Xmas present for her, but must hurry before a [[BadSanta robotic, homicidal Santa Claus]] finds him, cuts his head off and stuffs his neck full of toys from his sack of horror.
6	----
7	!!Tropes:
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9	* AIIsACrapshoot: Poor programming made Robot Santa [[KnightTemplar have improbably high standards of morality]].
10	* AllCrimesAreEqual: If you're on Santa's Naughty List (and everyone is, except Zoidberg, due to faulty programing), he considers you naughty enough to kill off.
11	* AlmostKiss: Fry and Leela almost kiss under the mistletoe, but they're interrupted by an actual missile.
12	* AmusinglyShortList: Zoidberg is the only person from planet Earth on Santa's "nice" list... at least this Xmas.
13	* AssShove: When Fry tries to placate a homicidal Santa robot with milk and cookies:
14	-->'''Santa:''' You dare bribe Santa? I'm gonna shove coal so far up your stocking you'll be coughing up diamonds!
15	* AxCrazy: Santa Claus. Due to faulty programming, his Naughty and Nice list has everyone listed as Naughty (besides Zoidberg)
16	* BadSanta: Santa Claus again, this time as a [[KillerRobot homicidal robot]] that judges everyone (except Zoidberg) as naughty because his morality standards were set too high.
17	* BaitAndSwitch: When Robot Santa accuses Fry and Leela of ignoring their other coworkers, he asks "Did you ever stop to consider... Dr. Zoidberg's feelings?"
18	** While the Professor, Hermes and Amy are watching Santa chasing down Fry, Leela and Bender:
19	--->'''Professor Farnsworth:''' Dear God, they'll be killed on our doorstep! And there's no trash pick-up until January 3rd.
20	* BigDamnHeroes: Leela saving Fry via TakeMyHand.
21	* BribeBackfire: Santa doesn't take Fry's attempt of bribing lightly.
22	-->'''Fry:''' [[AintTooProudToBeg Please let us live!]] We'll put out milk and cookies for you!
23	-->'''Santa:''' You ''dare'' bribe Santa?! I'm gonna [[AssShove shove coal so far up your stocking]] you'll be coughing up diamonds!
24	* CelebrityCameo: Creator/ConanOBrien performs some comedy at the beginning.
25	* ChimneyEntry: How Santa gets into the house.
26	* ChristmasEpisode: Xmas Episode. Fry gets depressed because old Christmas traditions changed too much and he misses his family. Leela is depressed because she never had a family. The crew celebrates Xmas together, which means they must hide from evil murderous robot Santa. They are all brought closer by their shared fear and the fact they survived Santa's rampage.
27	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Inverted and then Subverted. Bender tries to get rid of evil Santa by encouraging everyone to stop believing in him to invoke CessationOfExistence, only for Santa to prove that belief is not required.
28	-->'''Bender:''' Yeah? Well I don't believe in Santa Claus. Come on, everybody. If you don't believe in him, he can't hurt you. ''(Robot Santa hits Bender with his toy sack)'' [[InstantlyProvenWrong Oh, God, the pain!]]
29	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Santa demands to know if Fry and Leela ever considered Zoidberg’s feelings, Fry has this to say:
30	-->'''Fry:''' No! I swear!
31	* ContrivedCoincidence: Leela and Fry are saved from Santa's TOW missile when the [[ChekhovsGunman parrot Fry bought earlier]] flies into the way.
32	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Fry's plan to get some mercy from Santa.
33	-->'''Fry:''' [[AintTooProudToBeg Please let us live!]] We'll put out milk and cookies for you!
34	-->'''Santa:''' You ''dare'' bribe Santa?! I'm gonna [[AssShove shove coal so far up your stocking]] you'll be coughing up diamonds!
35	* DisproportionateRetribution: Robot Santa rewards everyone on the Naughty list (no matter how slight the infraction) with a gruesome death, or at the very least, great bodily harm.
36	* TheDogBitesBack: After being insulted by Hermes several times beforehand, Zoidberg takes glee in pushing him down the bobsled course after his bobsled flips upside down.
37	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
38	** This is the only episode where Robot Santa is voiced by Creator/JohnGoodman. In all subsequent appearances, he's voiced by Creator/JohnDiMaggio instead.
39	** It's also the only time his trait of having overly high standards is played straight, instead of being [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] into being a psychopath that sees literally everyone as naughty rather than almost everyone.
40	* EasyRoadToHell: Something went wrong with Santa Claus's programming when he was built, which led to his standards being set too high, putting everyone except Dr. Zoidberg on the naughty list.
41	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even the AxCrazy BadSanta thinks Bender trying to pass the buck onto an orphan is abhorrent.
42	-->'''Robot Santa:''' My God, Bender! Framing an orphan? That's so naughty I'll have to add it to my list right now.
43	* ExtinctInTheFuture: According to the Professor, pine trees went extinct in 2200 and palm trees replaced them as Christmas trees. Poodles are also extinct.
44	* FanDisservice: This episode starts a running gag of the ancient Professor and fat Hermes getting naked or dressed in skimpy clothes for little to no reason, aside from proving the future's left behind such primitive concepts as "modesty".
45	-->"Ah, brisk."
46	* GiftOfTheMagiPlot: Parodied. Zoidberg gave combs to Amy, who sold her hair to buy combs for Hermes, who sold his hair to buy combs for Zoidberg. Zoidberg thanks him, saying this will go great with his new hair—then removes his hat to reveal Hermes' and Amy's hair.
47	* GroinAttack: While skiing, Leela uses a verbal command to have a grove of trees retract into the snow. Fry decides to test whether they can stand up again ''while'' skiing through them. Cue GroinAttack.
48	* HangingByTheFingers: Fry falls off a clocktower and hangs on for dear life. In an update of the old cliche, the clock is ''digital'' and Fry is hanging on to the actual LCD display, losing his hold as the digits change.
49	* HeroicSacrifice: The parrot Fry originally got for Leela stops Santa's missile from hitting them. Probably inadvertently, but it still counts.
50	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Robot Santa gives Dr. Zoidberg a pogo stick. Once Santa slips into self-destruct mode, Zoidberg uses the pogo stick to hop up to cut a wire, electrocuting and disabiling Santa long enough to force him into the chimney.
51	* HypocriticalHumor:
52	-->'''Farnsworth:''' You should be ashamed of yourself, Fry. You'd have to be blind not to notice Leela's a cyclops.
53	-->''(zoom out to reveal Hermes)''
54	-->'''Hermes:''' Fry's over there, mon.
55	-->'''Farnsworth:''' Oh? ''(adjusts glasses)''
56	* IShallReturn: Despite being beaten, Santa promises he'll come back.
57	-->'''Robot Santa:''' I'll be back, back when you least expect it... [[CaptainObvious NEXT XMAS]]!
58	* IncompetenceInc: The Professor mentions the Friendly Robot Company were the ones who made Robot Santa. What relation, if any, they have to Mom's Friendly Robot Company is unclear, but they've got the same success rate.
59	* LanguageDrift: Although the show uses EternalEnglish, this episode establishes that in the 31st Century, Christmas is referred to as Xmas, and "ask" is now pronounced "aks/axe".
60	* LaserGuidedKarma: Bender is told he's going off course and ignores the man telling him so. He promptly skies off a cliff.
61	* LonelyTogether: The episode that [[TropeNamer coined the term]]. Fry misses his family and Leela never even had a family. Their friendship deepens as they realize they can share these feelings.
62	-->'''Leela:''' It's okay. You're lonely and I'm lonely. But together, we're lonely together.
63	* LoudGulp: Fry gulps when Amy warns him that Santa might decapitate him, and again when he drops the birdcage from the top of the clock tower.
64	* MoodSwinger: When Santa corners the rest of the crew:
65	-->'''Robot Santa''' ''(Threateningly)'': You've all been very naughty, VERY naughty indeed! ''(Cheerfully)'' Except for you, Dr. Zoidberg. This is for you. ''(Hands Zoidberg a pogo stick)''
66	* MoralityPet: Zoidberg is the only person Robot Santa is nice to, giving him a pogo stick and citing Fry and Leela not thinking about him as a reason to kill them.
67	* MurderousMalfunctioningMachine: Santa becomes one due to some malfunctioning in his circuits.
68	* NoodleIncident: What exactly did Zoidberg do (or avoided doing) that was enough to meet Robot Santa's ridiculous standards?
69	* NotHelpingYourCase: After Robot Santa menacingly asks if Fry or Leela ever stopped to think about Dr. Zoidberg's feelings, Fry responds by swearing he didn't, not understanding this trope.
70	* ObstacleSkiCourse: The professor has some mad skiing skills... when he's asleep. He wakes up confused, wearing a bronze medal.
71	* PetTheDog: The only one on Santa's nice list was Dr. Zoidberg, who was awarded with a pogo stick.
72	* PlummetPerspective: The birdcage falling off the [[ThePrecariousLedge clock tower ledge]]. The sight elicits a LoudGulp from Fry.
73	* ThePrecariousLedge: Fry on the clock tower trying to catch the parrot.
74	* ShoutOut:
75	** To ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', when Bender crashes into the kids skating on a frozen pond.
76	** Bongo from ''ComicStrip/LifeInHell'' is among the animals Fry considers buying Leela.
77	** The clocktower scene spoofs ''Film/SafetyLast''.
78	** The gift trio of Hermes, Zoidberg, and Amy is a direct reference to ''Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi''.
79	* SkiResortEpisode: The beginning of the episode happens in a ski resort. Fry is delighted to see some snow and he's glad global warming never happened (actually it did, but nuclear winter evened it out). They all ski or enjoy other winter sports. Fry gets injured by some artificial pine trees.
80	* SongParody: At the end of the episode, of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"; a variation in that, in-universe, this may be the actual version of this song in the 31st century, but from a meta-standpoint, it's this.
81	-->'''Amy:''' He knows when you are sleeping,\
82	'''Farnsworth:''' He knows when you're on the can,\
83	'''Leela:''' He'll hunt you down and blast your ass from here to Pakistan!\
84	'''Zoidberg:''' Oh,\
85	'''Hermes:''' You better not breathe, you better not move,\
86	'''Bender:''' You're better off dead, I'm telling you, dude,\
87	'''Fry:''' Santa Claus is gunning you down!\
88	'''Everyone:''' Yayyyyyyy!
89	* SpecialGuest: John Goodman as Robot Santa. Subsequent appearances of Santa are voiced by John [=DiMaggio=].
90	* SpitTake: Bender when laughing about Conan O'Brien's first joke.
91	* StockClockHandHang: Parodied. Fry ends up hanging from a number on a giant ''digital'' clock. He's fine until the time changes.
92	* TheTwelveSpoofsOfChristmas: Bender and the homeless robots sing this afternoon robbing an old lady.
93	-->'''Bender:''' On the fourth day of Xmas, I stole from that lady,\
94	'''Robot 1:''' Four family photos,\
95	'''Tinny Tim:''' Three jars of pennies,\
96	'''Robot 2:''' Two former husbands,\
97	'''Bender:'''And a slipper of a shoe tree.
98	* UnderTheMistletoe: Fry and Leela almost had a kiss under the mistletoe, until Robot Santa interfered.
99	-->'''[[BadSanta Robot Santa]]:''' Your mistletoe is no match for my T.O.W. missile!
100	* UnnecessarilyCreepyRobot: Sure, Santa's evil ''now'', but was his original design really that creepy?
101	* VillainHasAPoint: While obviously taking the punishment too far, and there's obvious hypocrisy considering his actions are worse than anybody else', when Santa brings up a reason for somebody being on his naughty list, it's perfectly valid, pointing out how Fry and Leela never did anything nice for Zoidberg, Bender's actions speak for themselves, and he tries to weasel out of it by framing an orphan.
102	* WaxingLyrical: "I am telling you why. [[KillerRobot Santa Claus]] is coming to town!"
103	* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: Amy is smitten with injured men.
104	* YouMeanXmas: The TropeNamer. When Fry mentions Christmas, the others correct him by telling him it's now Xmas; he must be using an archaic term.

Context Recap / FuturamaS2E4XmasStory