Professor Farnsworth's latest invention has got everybody curious, as he has kept it in a cardboard box, refuses to show it to anyone, and plans to destroy it. He tasks Leela with guarding the box, but curiosity eventually gets the better of her and she takes a peek inside, sending her through a portal to an entirely different universe where the only thing different is the outcome of coin tosses.
Tropes present:
- All Women Are Lustful: When Farnsworth sticks his head into a universe populated by only womennote he pulls it back out covered in multiple kiss marks. Apparently the women in question found this strange withered old man whose head was jutting out of a box in the middle of the room irresistible.
- Alternative-Self Name-Change: Leela suggests naming the universes "Universe A" and "Universe B" to avoid confusion. The parallel Planet Express crew object to being given the inferior letter and settle on "Universe 1" instead. Parodied towards the end of the episode:Narrator: Meanwhile, in Universe A, Hermes-A heads towards the Sun... -A.
- Bigger on the Inside: When Leela first peers inside the box, she remarks that it's "deep... deeper than a small box should be". She then falls into it, and we learn the trope has been taken up to eleven: the box contains an entire parallel universe despite being roughly the size of a shoebox.
- The Dog Bites Back: The Zoidbergs steal Box-A in order to get back at their coworkers for constantly mistreating them.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: The parallel Benders do a nifty reverb-double- DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
- Emergency Multifaith Prayer: At the start of the episode, Farnsworth can be heard doing this when his latest experiment goes horribly wrong:Farnsworth: Oh Lordy Lou, help! Buddha, Zeus, God! One of you guys, do something! HELP! Satan! You owe me!
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: The Professors, when they stop Hermes-1 from destroying Box-A, and realize this means if that Hermes was going to do it, then Hermes-A, who's unattended and doesn't know what's going on, is probably about to do the same thing.
- Eyeless Face: When the group is going through various alternate universes, the alternate Amy stumbles upon a universe where everyone is eyeless.Eyeless Hermes: We didn't see anything... EVER.note
- Fearful Symmetry: The "perfectly symmetrical violence" between the two Leelas.Farnsworth-1: [as Farnsworth-A shakes his head] Now, now, perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything.
- Heads or Tails?: The only thing different about the two universes is the outcome of coin tosses. Turns out that actually affects more than you would think.
- High Times Future: It's shown that many alternate universes exist, and one of them is a Planet of Hats for stoners. It's named Universe 420.
- Hurl It into the Sun: How Hermes almost gets rid of the box containing the other universe. Both Hermes.
- I Have to Go Iron My Dog: Some of Leela's excuses to Fry are pretty pathetic. Fry-1, having married Leela and realized they were bunk, thinks in hindsight they're pretty funny. Fry-A does not.
- I Kiss Your Foot: Zoidberg-A hails Zoidberg-1 as the king with the box, and kisses his foot.
- Interdimensional Travel Device: Farnsworth invents the parabox, which allows travel to different universes.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: This conversation:Amy-A: Is that pink nail polish?
Amy-1: Is that not-pink nail polish? The Professor was right, you are evil! And shallow!
Amy-A: I am not evil! - Jerkass: The bobble-headed inhabitants of Universe 1729.
- Large Ham: Farnsworth has a truly spectacular example of this near the end of the episode:Farnsworth: This box contains our own universe!!!
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Fry refers to how the parallel universe is different from the main Futurama universe seen since the show started.Fry: We called it first! Besides, this universe kinda feels like a "B", y'know.
- Meanwhile, Back at the…:Narrator: Meanwhile, in Universe A, Hermes A heads towards the Sun. [Beat] A.
- Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: Hermes-A almost ends up unwittingly destroying Universe 1 by throwing Box-1 into the sun, and is moments away from doing so before the gang warns him not to.
- Mind Screw: This episode is all over this, starting with the creation of a box that contains a parallel universe (while simultaneously, the parallel universe creates a box containing the other parallel universe) and ending with the two Farnsworths somehow pulling each other's boxes through each other so that both universes now contain a box containing their own universe (and the boxes themselves are probably worth something too).
- Mirror Universe: Parodied. Though each of the Planet Express crews immediately assumes the other is evil, the differences are mostly cosmetic; Leela has bright red hair, Bender is golden, and so on.
- Never My Fault: While the Zoidbergs are complaining about their mistreatment, we learn that some of the things they're complaining about are requests like "put on pants, Zoidberg!" and "stop spraying me with ink, Zoidberg!"
- Oh, My Gods!: At the beginning of the episode, the Professor (in the middle of making the universe boxes) is having difficulty (read: lots of explosions that shake the building). He cries out "Buddha, Zeus, God! One of you guys do something!"
- Other Me Annoys Me: Pretty much everyone is irritated by their alternate counterpart at first, except for Bender who gets along swimmingly with his doppelganger. Professor-A is unimpressed by his hippie counterpart from Universe 420.
- Painting the Medium: A universe with Roman-style architecture and fashion is called Universe XVII and has the Professor speaking in Latin.
- Palette Swap: All of the parallel universe characters resemble their main universe counterparts, just with different colors.
- Planet of Hats: Every other alternate universe after Universes 1 and A is defined by a single characteristic.Bender-A: Yeah, Leprechaun Universe is fine... if you haven't seen Pirate Universe!
- Priceless Paperweight: The box's ultimate fate.
- Recursive Reality: At the end, the Professors from both universes grab the other universe's box and end up with the boxes containing their own universe.
- Seven Minute Lull: When Fry asks Leela out, the noise from Farnsworth's experiment stops right before she excuses herself by yelling, "I have sweaty boot rash!" Amy says that's why she is sitting on the other side of the room.
- Shovel Strike: Bender initially offers to destroy the box with a shovel, but the Professor thinks this isn't good enough.
- Similar Squad: The alternate coin toss outcome universe.
- Tempting Fate: The Professors hid Box-A in Professor-1's coelacanth tank, reasoning that only a "crazy lobster" would look there. The Zoidbergs have by that point already stolen the box.
- Thermostat Tamper Tantrum: Farnsworth-1 and Farnsworth-A alternate turning up and down the "Chandelier-o-stat", a giant hex nut on the wall with an equally-giant wrench, turning the lights up and down.Farnsworth-1: Well, that was pointless.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Leela has been rejecting Fry's attempts to ask her out on a date for nearly four years now; and this episode reveals that her excuses come from coin flips. Near the end of this episode, she gives Fry another coin flip... ...and decides to just accept without looking at the outcome.
- Trail of Bread Crumbs: When the two Planet Express crews are forced to search through the multiverse in pursuit of the Zoidbergs and Box-A, they each tie a length of wire to themselves so they can find their way back to Universe 1 afterwards.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Lampshaded when Hermes-1 walks in and starts chiding everyone for not destroying Box-A yet:Leela-1: Hermes, aren't you curious about the fact that there's two of everybody?Hermes-1: No.
- What You Are in the Dark: Played for dark laughs. Hermes places the box containing the parallel universe in the airlock and is about to jettison it into the sun when the Professor leaps out of the box and begs Hermes not to do it. Hermes thinks for an uncomfortably long time, his eyes darting between the Professor trapped in the airlock with the box and the eject button, before reluctantly listening to him.
- Your Head Asplode: Robot Fry after Leela rejects him.
