Number four of Futurama 2024 will probably be known as “Bender goes Buggalo-Fighting” but thankfully there’s more to the second Bender-centric story of the new season than meets the eye. First, Beauty and the Bug is a return to Mars and that means the return of Amy’s parents Leo and Inez Wong and their Martian empire – and we get to see more about what’s happening on the red planet culturally. This time it’s Bender who gets involved into something new and also falls in love again with a special robot lady.

The secret star of the story are, of course, the Buggalo – the space livestock that had been introduced in the very first episode all those years ago and have occasionally been part of the series since. For the first time, an old lingering question is also answered: we’re having space bug cows, but where are the bulls? Even the story has a bit of fun with that, so suddenly the big black one-horned buggalo bulls are introduced and apparently have always been there.

Bender’s story is the classic bullfight romance plot adapted to the Futurama universe and could have been thoroughly uninteresting, but this episode was written by Futurama veteran Patric Verrone, who knows the characters perfectly. He came up with a surprisingly genuine but also funny and satirical love story built around Bender and a robot lady bugfighter named Marquita. It’s exciting, dramatic and overall successful – and it doesn’t take itself all to seriously. The story has a bit of a fairy tale aura, underlined by the first ‘on screen’ appearance of narrator Don Cunningham – maybe this is an “Anthology” episode after all?

As in the previous episode there is no sharply delineated b-plot, only a mystery revolving around the buggalo that has a strong animal rights angle – and this time it’s Amy who is fighting for the buggalo’s rights. But where is Leela? Curiously she doesn’t care this time, but probably just for storytelling reasons and the episode actually works that into the dialogue in a very funny casual way. It’s not really a gross misinterpretation of her character, just a way to fit the plot into 22 minutes.

It’s also nice to see the whole crew go together and be there in the background supporting the main plot without going on with some other unrelated things. This is peak Futurama writing like in the early seasons, very polished with great dialogue for everyone and a very tight plot that makes the 22 minute episode feel much longer.

The voice actors are having a lot of fun again and are in their best mood – especially of course John DiMaggio as Bender. The guest star is American-Puerto Rican actress Ana Ortiz as Bender’s love interest with the impossibly long name, perfectly but unobtrusively channeling her native roots. Beauty and the Bug is also the first big appearance of Feodor Chin, the busy Asian-American actor and voice talent who took over Leo Wong from Billy West last year – he does sound almost the same, but gives the acerbic Leo a bit more edge and authenticity.

Visually, this episode is another absolute marvel with the animation surpassing the previous episodes once again. It’s not just the new and expanded view of the martian landscape, but also the details in the Spanish influences in the scenery and character design that makes this episode instantly re-watchable to discover even more details. With the addition of some flamenco tunes, the atmosphere is certainly there.

I did not expect The Beauty and the Bug to be so much fun and thought the “Bender does a new thing” formula was bound to fail – but I was wrong. This is not just a random Bender episode, but also a wonderful Martian adventure with a twist that will long be remembered in the series’ legacy.