Planet Express Crew Explores Crypto Country

After nearly ten years of being stuck in frozen time, the Planet Express crew is back and topical as ever. Hulu’s revival of the beloved adult animation series Futurama made it clear from the first episode—which poked fun at the practice of rebooting classic shows for the sake of more content rather than good storytelling—that Season 11 will have plenty more of the series’s signature sharp social commentary. Episode 3, titled “How The West Was 1010001,” looks to deliver more of the same as it explores the crypto market which has boomed since the show went off the air. Collider can exclusively reveal a clip from the episode which sees the entire crew take a trek into the wild West of Crypto Country.

The brief clip titled “Doge City” opens up with the entire crew aboard a covered wagon as they near the crypto boom town that presumably revolves around the almighty Dogecoin. Professor Farnsworth (Billy West) remarks on the wonders of Crypto Country including the “priceless toxic Thallium” in them hills which he tests out by biting with his prospecting teeth. They soon arrive outside of Doge City where a friendly prospector greets them and adjusts the population sign accordingly. Just like the crypto market itself, Crypto Country is lawless and volatile and Leela (Katey Sagal) reminds them to wear their protective prospecting hats to protect themselves while out and about. It seems the crew will be doing some literal crypto mining in this adventure, but, sadly, they won’t get any help from their greeter. The prospector suddenly dies of a heart attack, though not before reducing the population to account for the change.

Aside from crypto and streaming, Season 11 promises to visit other hot-button contemporary topics including a new pandemic and the future of vaccines as well as cancel culture. Fans of Futurama can expect the return of more beloved side characters too as the crew explores the secret history of the evil Robot Santa, the contents of Nibbler’s litter box, and the future of Fry and Leela’s relationship. Episode 2 most recently revisited Kif and Amy’s tadpoles and put the ditzy but well-meaning Planet Express intern’s motherly love to the test in a heartwarming and hilarious story.

Good News Everyone! The Futurama Revival Has Been a Success So Far

Hulu has seemingly pushed their chips in hard on Futurama, even making it a centerpiece in their San Diego Comic-Con Animayhem activation. So far, the decision to revive the series seems to be paying off in spades. Although viewership for the new episodes isn’t known, reviews have hailed the return for maintaining the series’ high level of quality. Collider’s Nate Richard gave the new season an A- in his review, saying “The passion that the Futurama team has for these characters and this world is clear in every single moment of these new episodes. Some of the jokes do feel a bit dated and don’t stick the landing, but on the whole, it’s a strong return to form for a beloved series.”

One reason why the show’s return hasn’t missed a beat in the eyes of critics and audiences is that the excellent Emmy-winning cast and crew behind the series have all returned for the revival. That includes West and Sagal alongside John DiMaggio, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and David Herman among others. The revival even managed to bring back rapper Coolio who finished recording his lines as Kwanza-bot weeks before his untimely death. Both Matt Groening and David X. Cohen are back at the helm this time around too with a team of talented writers both old and new to the series to bring it back to life.

New episodes of Futurama arrive every Monday exclusively on Hulu. Check out the exclusive clip for Episode 3, “How the West Was 1010001” below: