The Futurama Plothole That Should Have Changed The Crew's Lives
For some television programs, continuity is everything, and without it, the entire narrative crumbles. For others, it's less important that a show makes sense from episode to episode than it is that the world and characters stay consistent throughout. The result is a whole bunch of plotholes, big and small, that if addressed, could change the program for good and send the story in a direction for which the creative minds behind it didn't necessarily account.
In the case of animation, this is especially prevalent, because watching the episodes in order isn't typically necessary to understand the series. The Simpsons is riddled with continuity errors and plotholes because it tells the vast majority of its stories this way, but more often than not, they aren't a big deal. As for one of Matt Groening's other hit series, Futurama, the discussion gets a bit more involved.
There's no question that the team behind Futurama cared about what they were working on a great deal — after all, the production schedule for a single episode encompassed nearly an entire year. There is, however, one particular plothole that, to this day, remains a sticking point for some fans thanks to its implications for the entire Planet Express crew and the trajectory of Futurama.
Where did the money the Planet Express crew made on Popplers go?
In the season 2 episode "The Problem with Popplers," the crew lands on an unnamed planet to scavenge for food. To their surprise, they uncover a delicacy they refer to as Popplers and elect to harvest them to sell. As it turns out, their new money-making scheme is based on living beings, but the crew doesn't care since they're making a fortune on their KFC-esque snacks. Fry and the gang went in on the venture with Fishy Joe and make $1 per sale while he makes $.99.-Together, they sell over 198 million Popplers and rake in an astounding $16.335 billion.
That's an insane profit, enough to retire and live comfortably for a few lifetimes. Had there been some kind of explanation as to where all of that money went, there would be no discussion as to why the Planet Express crew's lives didn't change dramatically. No one ever said a word about it, however, leaving viewers to wonder why Fry and friends didn't live lavishly for the rest of the series. With Futurama's finale in the dust, it's highly unlikely anyone behind the show will fix this plothole any time soon, and the mystery of the Poppler fortune will never get a proper answer.