Futurama Season 11 Episode 7 Review: Rage Against the Vaccine

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Futurama Season 11 Episode 7, “Rage Against the Vaccine,” is the most timely episode of the show this season. It cleverly satirizes the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines, and other related issues.

The best part of the episode is its focus on Hermes (Phil LaMarr), who had previously been given little to do this season.

This episode, written by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, and Cody Ziglar, is hardly subtle when it comes to pandemic-related references.

It seems, at times, that the writers may be trying a bit too hard. Then again, Futurama is hardly known for its subtlety. 

“Rage Against the Vaccine” is a pun of sorts — this time, for the band Rage Against the Machine. It’s a clever title that summarizes the episode’s plot with only four words. In 3023, the COVID-19 pandemic has finally ended, directly connecting to the world we know now.

Despite the futuristic setting featuring fantastical creatures, Futurama has perhaps never felt so close to home. 

This episode fails to mention that Fry brought back the previously-extinct common cold on Futurama Season 8 Episode 11, “Cold Warriors.” While the show is often known for its [relative] consistency, this is one instance of inconsistency. 

Perhaps the viewer is meant to assume that the characters didn’t need to mention it because it had been around for so long. Too, Fry would not have known about the pandemic as he left in 1999. 

Regardless, this episode satirizes different aspects of the pandemic, such as the swab test, people wearing masks differently, and believing in hoaxes and conspiracy theories. 

This episode features the introduction of a brand-new pandemic: Explovid-23, a clever name and explanation for what it entails. Like the common cold and other mild illnesses, Explovid is seemingly spread through the air and close human contact. 

Instead of making Explovid just like the COVID pandemic, the writers expertly turned it into an “anger pandemic,” leading individuals to become angry suddenly. This could be related to how the COVID-19 pandemic made people angry (albeit indirectly), creating a frenzy.

This episode tries a bit too hard to reference the pandemic, although it’s hard to deny the amusement of seeing characters work remotely over “Gloom” (basically Zoom). How each character uses this app is true to their personalities, with Zoidberg unsurprisingly having trouble with his video. 

The scene on the ship in which passengers refuse to follow directions is all too relatable, even if it is probably unnecessary.

It’s a delight to see a Hermes-centric episode after mostly seeing him relegated to the sidelines this season of Futurama. 

We also see New New Orleans for the first time, which is just as interesting as New New York. Some fans may wish we’d gotten more of a look at this 31st-century version of New Orleans. 

On this episode, so-called “voodoo” also becomes an integral part of the narrative.

It calls back to Hermes’ supposed experience with zombies. On Futurama Season 8 Episode 4, “Law and Oracle,” Farnsworth and Hermes mention that Scruffy (David Herman) is a zombie; and, in “Rage Against the Vaccine,” we finally get some more backstory on Hermes’ relationship with voodoo. 

Like the rest of this season, “Rage Against the Vaccine” features numerous character reappearances, such as Leela’s mutant parents, President Nixon’s head, Lrrr and his family, and Ogden Wernstrom and Dr. Banjo (both voiced by David Herman). 

Some of the jokes on this pandemic-centered episode don’t land as well as they might have, say, three years ago, when we were at the height of COVID-19.

Also, this episode probably won’t age as well as others this season, which is perhaps too topical and dated to be rewatchable. 

Nevertheless, this outing of Futurama is too clever and relevant to be ignored; it may be the weakest episode of Season 11 thus far, but it’s still entertaining, stays true to the characters, and is (at times) funny. 

Stray Observations:

• Once again, Futurama has recast a couple of roles: Kevin Michael Richardson replaces John DiMaggio as Barbados Slim, and Feodor Chin replaces Maurice LaMarche as Scoop Chin. Even though Chin’s Scoop sounds different, at least the casting is appropriate. 
• For the first time this season, we hear Bender’s famous line: “Kill all humans!” It works well in context, too. 
• It’s still unclear whether or not magic exists in the Futurama universe, as we see [supposed] spirits and voodoo (which is complex science).
• This episode brings back too many villains, none of whom receive enough screen time to stand out as the villain of the narrative.

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