In Monday’s new episode of the re-defrosted Futurama, Bender and the whole Planet Express crew head west to join the bitcoin mining rush. Debuting August 7 on Hulu, “How the West Was 1010001” also features appearances by the Robot Mafia, stab-happy Roberto and the return of the Borax Kid — introducing Rusty the Donkey!
Featuring the voices of original cast members John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman, Futurama and the new Season 11 are created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen. Executive producers include Groening, Cohen, Ken Keeler and Claudia Katz.
Check out sneak-peek clips below, followed by full episode description.
S11 Episode 3 Summary: The Professor unwisely invested in bitcoin and lost everything. Now, he’s in debt to the Robot Mafia.
His one slim hope: the crew will need to join the gold rush of people flocking west to seek their fortune in the bitcoin mining frenzy. The Professor’s plan is to mine for the rare mineral Thallium, needed to make advanced computer chips used in the bitcoin operations stationed near the mines.
They re-outfit the Planet Express ship as a wagon and journey west to “Doge City.” There, massive bitcoin farms use such gross amounts of electricity that there is no power at all for the mining camps… so life is much like in the old west, with campfires, horses, whiskey, poker, player pianos, panning for nuggets, etc.
Several intertwining stories take place in the old west town: Fry joins forces with a renowned gunslinger, the Borax Kid. Leela takes a job in the local saloon. Hermes tries to keep his son Dwight from a life of crime. Zoidberg becomes a frontier doctor, and Bender buys a donkey. And all the while, insane robot Roberto terrorizes the town with his patented knife-gun.
Things come to a head when Amy discovers the largest Thallium nugget in history… enough to pay off the ransom. But… they have to guard it through a long, tense night from Roberto before it can be weighed and sold. The climactic scene features a sci-fi gunfight for the ages.
