[Planet Espresso]

[classicswim]

 Hermes Conrad by definition is a brilliant character.

And not because of that Bender origins episode from Comedy Central which everyone highlights.

I mean, in general. Hermes went from being at risk of meeting the chopping block, to being one of the most greatly developed anti-stereotypes ever to be seen in a scripted comedy.

Have I complained about Barbados Slim? Yes! Last season! Only because that type of plot should’ve died after Bender’s Big Score. Otherwise? I try to welcome any story with Hermes thrown my way.



It took a whopping 7 episodes of this shit season before I could finally - - at last - - encounter an episode I thought was relatively good.

I internally groaned sooooo fucking hard during the worker strike bit because goddamn just fucking please. Not tonight. And finally, modern Futurama knows when to end a not so funny joke rather than senselessly regurgitating. But that was the only real bit of strife this week.

I can’t be biased about Kyle MacLachlan’s 5-10 second cameo because I mentioned how Bill Nye was phoned in last week. So was Kyle, but it’s fine. They got him to say the thing. (1997 Homer Simpson still has no idea what’s going on.)

I like how fair they were with Hermes. Usually when a TV dad dies, there’s a grieving character who has to sulk about being a disappointment, never meeting up to satisfaction or approval. Only, this is Hermes Conrad. So you’re spared that for a change and are given something more dignified and blunt than usual.

And very rarely am I able to appreciate the role of Hermes’ family alongside Hermes. Dwight and LaBarbara actually didn’t stink. Hermes being able to recognize his hypocrisy as a shitty inattentive dad made for a very decent bite. 

 

You can criticize the episode for showing plenty of the dumb coffee shit, but not enough of core flashbacks between Hermes or his dad or both. I don’t think there was much to be desired with Hermes’ father besides him dying. The closure near the end delivered and was about all that was needed for that dynamic. I thought it was handled well.