Reincarnation (Futurama)

Plot

A brief introduction is given by the God entity from the 2002 episode "Godfellas", speaking about reincarnation. The first segment, animated in a 1930s black-and-white Fleischer and Walter Lantz style, follows Professor Farnsworth discovering a diamondium comet, the hardest substance in the universe. He sends the crew to gather diamond dust from its tail to polish a doomsday device. Fry sneaks onto the comet, finds a large gem he hopes to give to Leela as an engagement ring, and plants the doomsday device on the comet.

The explosion splits the comet in half; one half creates a rainbow, the other flies into it and creates an entirely new color, depicted in grayscale. Before Fry can propose, the comet crumbles to dust that crystallizes, trapping Fry and Leela in a giant diamond. One billion years later, an alien proposes with a ring containing that diamond. The second segment, in 1980s low-resolution 8-bit video game style, shows Professor Farnsworth using debris from the diamondium comet to create a microscope lens powerful enough to find the smallest unit of matter, depicted as a single black pixel.

He forms an equation explaining the mysteries of the universe from this unit, depicted as a squiggle of pixels, but becomes depressed upon realizing there are no further scientific questions. Fry cheers him by noting that the reason why the laws of the universe are what they are remains unsolved, giving scientists a reason to keep searching.

Reception

The episode received highly positive reviews from critics and fans. IGN gave it an 8.5 out of 10, calling it a fantastic way to close the season. Matt Zoller Seitz of Salon described it as brilliant and pop culture history-conscious, packed with Easter egg-style visual gags and an orgy of nostalgia and visual invention demanding repeat viewings; he found the final segment, Action Delivery Force, to be the craziest. Zack Hendlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, writing that it was so much fun and playful with its form, paying homage to three different styles without missing a beat or coming across as self-indulgent. In 2013, it was ranked #9 as voted on by fans for Comedy Central's Futurama Fanarama marathon.