Years ago, in 3001, Fry is sent on vacation to recover after the events of ‘Amazon Women in the Mood’. Frank the temp (David Herman) replaces him, has the time of his lie and is forgotten. Until, 23 years later, the Planet Express crew remember where they left him…

This has been an uneven season so far but, oddly, this episode embraces that. The off-hand cruelty of the crew, which seemed so odd in recent episodes, feels very much more in service to the plot here. David A. Goodman, like the other writers so far this season, has a good grip of the characters but is also the first to embrace how they’ve changed and how they really, truly haven’t. Like their spiritual crewmates aboard the Nostromo and the Red Dwarf, they’re not actually very good at being people. More interestingly, they’re not actually that aware of it and Goodman gets some surprisingly nuanced comedy out of that.

Herman’s work as Frank is great and, surprisingly, poignant. Frank’s a good guy and a good temp. He’s actually better at the job than Fry, and the fact he’s just sort of skated over by the crew is played with a very odd, but very successful mix of comedy and horror. Goodman also gets the parody and reference ratio right, with a cold open that feels like classic Star Trek, a pinch of Twilight Zone and Frank becoming a cheerier version of his namesake from Simpsons classic ‘Homer’s Enemy’, Frank Grimes. The script doesn’t feel beholden to the references and by acknowledging how different  the show is now, it feels like it takes Futurama a step closer to becoming whatever its next stage will be. Herman’s great in the guest role, there’s a brilliant side gag involving the wedding the team are catering and the direction bounces along with wit and energy even during the darker moments.

If there’s a problem here, it’s perhaps the show itself. Frank, who he is and what the team have done to him, is very interesting and he feels a little brushed aside as everyone dives for the reset button.

Verdict: Futurama has proved, for the 23 years this episode covers, that it’s at its best when it embraces change and I’d like to see Frank again, or at least see this approach taken more. The show is stronger, cleverer, and funnier, when it does. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart