Futurama boss explains meaning behind season 11's mid-season finale
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Futurama spoilers follow.
Futurama executive producer Claudia Katz has revealed the multiple meanings behind season 11's mid-season finale episode.
In 'All the Way Down', Professor Farnsworth creates a simulation of the universe that inadvertently causes the Planet Express Crew to doubt whether they're real.
The episode deals with heady themes like what actually accounts for reality, as the simulations also question their existence and try to test their reality with the implosion of a magnetar.
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Professor Farnsworth ultimately is able to use his supercomputer to cause time within the simulation to slow down significantly — and it remains running without the simulations ever knowing.
Speaking about this mindbending mid-season climax, producer Claudia Katz told Digital Spy exclusively that there's no "singular correct interpretation or meaning" behind the episode.
"'How do we really know we're not living in a simulation?' is a classic sci-fi conceit," Katz said.
"How each person sees themselves and their place in the universe is unique to them. To some, the universe revolves around them. To others, they are a relative speck in the expanse of space and time. Does it matter if we're really in a simulation if we have a good life and are surrounded by people we love?"
Katz continued: "Bender is driven to such empathy for the simulated crew [that] he is willing to sacrifice himself — very un-Bender. At the end, Fry and Leela choose to stare into each other's eyes instead of watching the magnetar implode like the rest of the crew.
"Simulation or not, love is real."
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The animated series returned this year with much of the original voice acting cast back, including Billy West as Fry and Zoidberg, Katey Sagal as Leela and John DiMaggio as Bender.
Futurama is currently streaming on Hulu in the US and Disney+ worldwide.
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