'Futurama' Season 9, Episode 3 Recap - 'Decision 3012'

Opening Credits Gag: "Made From 100% Recycled Pixels." Ah, so that's why this episode smelled like a burned-out Dell.

The Highlights: It's an election year, and things usually get pretty good on "Futurama" when politics are involved. Or technology. Or religion. Okay, pretty much anything that can be harshly satirized is great on this show. Truth.

This time around, it's all about getting that rotten Nixon out of office. Everybody seems pretty much set on voting for him except for Leela, who wants change. And who is synonymous with change? Obama!

Only this episode didn't go exactly for Obama, as race was left out of it. Maybe (hopefully) in the year 3012 race isn't as much of an issue, so it wouldn't work in this scenario. Birthplaces still do, though.

While all of the other candidates make lame statements and sound bites, senator Chris Travers actually answers questions thoughtfully and rationally... which is of course met with a chorus of boos. Leela agrees to help him, though, and with a new social media platform Travers becomes the candidate who will run against Nixon.

There's a problem though: Travers' middle name is Zaxxar, which is awfully alien-sounding. Bender uses that information to his advantage, starting rumors that Travers wasn't born on Earth and demanding to see his long-form Earth certificate. Sounds familiar, right? Oh, and did I mention Travers is from Hawaii?

Eventually Leela finds Travers' files, but there's no certificate of birth. That's when the truth comes out: Travers is from the future. When Nixon was re-elected, it started a chain of events that ended with robots taking over the Earth (led by Bender, of course). As humanity's last hope, Travers was sent back in time to beat Nixon and alter the course of history.

So to prove that Travers was born on Earth, Leela decides to televise his actual birth... Travers was born in 3012, you see. With that, Travers wins the election.

That proves to be his undoing, though, as his victory alters the future: since Nixon lost, the robots never took over and Travers never had to be sent back to the past in the first place. So, Nixon wins by default. But wait, shouldn't Travers be back, then? Man, time travel confuses me.

It probably wouldn't have ended well for Travers anyway: he used a time portal from the code on Fry's ass, which means that his body would be doomed as soon as the other Travers was born. I think. Again, confusing.

The Heartstrings: Pretty much zero this episode. No Fry and Leela, and no heartwarming stuff of any kind. Just cold, pure political satire.

Notes & Quotes:

- "Beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer !"

- "I'll stick with the evil maniac I know, thank you!"

- Very nice touch having Travers be born in Kenya

- Also a great callback having them get the code from Fry's ass

- "C'mon fall! Fall!"