We tuned in expecting jokes and space hijinks.
What we got… was Seymour.
This wasn’t just a cartoon episode. It was a punch to the soul.
No dialogue. No manipulation. Just one dog… waiting.
Futurama showed us that animated stories could hit harder than real life.
Some of us still aren’t over it.
#JurassicBark #FuturamaFeels #SeymourForever #SignalPost
“I’ll never forget him. But he forgot me a long, long time ago.”
If it takes forever
I will wait for you
For a thousand summers
I will wait for you
This was the first time a cartoon made silence feel louder than any scream. No dialogue… just loyalty.
Curious—did this scene ruin you instantly, or was it one of those slow ache moments that hit after the episode ended?
Ruined instantly, and still gets me to this day. While they retconned it, the Seymour we see clearly never saw Fry again, so even if that timeline was erased, it still happened at one point!
Exactly. The retcon doesn’t undo the experience we had watching Seymour wait. That pain existed. That version of reality played out—and it wrecked us. Canon might shift, but memory doesn’t.
I’ll die on the hill that Luck of the Fryish is sadder. One is a relationship between a human and a dog. The other is a relationship between two brothers. You really trying to say the dog is worse?
I’ll also put Game of Tones above Jurassic Bark. Fry getting to actually say goodbye to his mom and tell her how much he loved her? No contest.
Besides the fact that they totally retconned Seymore anyways and he doesn’t die alone anymore. It’s the first movie. He lives out the rest of his life with Fry when he returns back in time.
Luck of the Fryish ≥ Game of Tones > Jurassic Bark
Luck of the Fryrish is about a human connection that becomes more meaningful after Fry disappears. Yance honors his brother’s memory and Philip becomes the first person on Mars, possibly because of the influence of Fry’s memory. It’s a story of triumph and victory, although also sad.
Game of Tones is a victorious story too.
Jurassic Bark takes a look at Fry in a low point of his life and the joy that Seymour gives him. The reward for that joy is tragedy. Seymour is left on his own, waiting for Fry. Retcon be damned, the story contained in that episode is devastating. There’s no reunion, no understanding of old relationships that enrich them, just a long slow sad end.
In regards to Jurassic Bark: I’ll give you that, absolutely. It is pretty devastating and I don’t want to deny that. Blind, trusting loyalty. It’s really beautiful and crushing that he doesn’t get closure. I’ll even give you the retcon not counting since it probably only exists as a fan service.
That said, I disagree that Fryish is 100% triumph. Yancy has missed his brother for years at this point. He still keeps around the drawing Fry did. He doesn’t have to say the name and his wife already knows. He mentions that he still thinks of his brother every day. He clearly carrys a deep weight. Naming his son after Fry was symbolically giving Fry a life Yancy thought he didn’t get. There’s a lot of pain there in my opinion.
I will absolutely give you that Game of Tones is a victory, but honestly, that one always makes me tear up. That one just feels.
You’re spitting pure logic and I respect the hill you chose. But there’s something primal about Seymour’s wait—it taps into the kind of loyalty we wish people had for us.
That said: “He named his son after me” in Luck of the Fryish still punches me in the soul every time.
Real question: what’s the most underrated emotional Futurama episode?
Why would you remind me of this on a Monday morning. Haven’t I suffered enough :(
In all seriousness, great episode, definitely still makes me sad every time even when I know it’s coming. Unpopular opinion, I think Futurama was on par with the best Simpsons seasons, and way better than most Simpsons seasons.
That’s an unpopular opinion??