I loved this episode. There's a lot to talk about that are interesting that I don't really feel like going over... the humor (top notch), the sappiness (which maybe went too far by the Eiffel Tower), the pacing, the use of the characters, the callbacks, and whether the episode did justice to whatever elements of the show we personally think are most important. I'm very pleased with those, though the fact of it being the last episode probably helped shield me from being so critical.
Now, there's one thing I do want to talk about. The outlandishly stupid idea of a time button was both so huge and ridiculous that I simultaneously loved it and became very skeptical. I loved the scientific explanations behind the episodes of yore; they struck the perfect balance of sci-fi and absurd hilarity. They cheekily sent the message that the whole story unfolding before your eyes (and maybe the whole of Futurama) is just a vehicle for your enjoyment and for your consideration. And this crazy concoction of a time button upped it all tenfold. I mean, it's a small clicker that acts so powerfully on the universe that it's unfair, and there are immediately a million things that could go wrong and a trillion more possibilities for what it means to have a universe in which anyone can do weird things to the whole of the universe's time, not to mention all the contradictions to the series' previous dozen weird scientific explanations for time, time travel, chronotons, and so on. There were also a bunch of questionable events that came from using the time button and the immunity bubbles, Fry and Leela having a conversation while Fry's falling, just to name one. The wonkiness of the episode's sci-fi concept is more or less standard fare for the show, and the issues that arise
almost aren't worth even talking about.
So yeah, pointing out the bigness and absurdity of the time button was a roundabout way to pose that the craziness of "breaking the universe" broke and opened Futurama up infinitely, and beautifully. (Wasn't this show written by that jerk who thought up Principal and the Pauper?) The whole premise -- a button that the user pushes to alter or redo the history of the universe endlessly -- is somewhat reminiscent of the idea (and philosophy) that
all permutations of the universe do exist, in a way that sort of detaches the viewer from any one particular permutation playing out as "real life" or as the real narrative. After all, the episode ends with Fry and Leela agreeing to hit the big red retcon button, looking fondly on the life they've lived but ready in an instant to throw it all away and let another reality to the forefront. It makes you almost indifferent to which one really is the real one anyway.
And I think it's a cute way for the writers of the show to tip their hand: Just as we see our favorite characters standing lifelessly as dolls with time standing still, able to be placed on an altar or as links on a swingset, every Futurama episode begins with the writers looking at a frozen series universe, picking up the lifeless Bender and Amy dolls from wherever the last writer left them, playing with them, and making a new adventure. Even though there's a loose continuity, episode after episode is an isolated universe and a unique story, an encapsulated day in the life of any of the zillion possible Futurama universes the writers decided to take us to. I think this episode helped to share really get across the perspective that, whether the series is done or not (hint: it's done), Futurama will always live on in those 140 episodes and beyond.
