Episode 6 starts at Hermes’ house, where he’s watering a coffee plant that is actually his dead father. LaBarbara and Dwight don’t believe him, so Hermes tries to get him to talk but he just sits there. After his wife and kids leave the room, Hermes’ dad starts talking, and reveals he’s dying, telling Hermes to toss him in the compost. Hermes has none of that, so he takes him to Planet Express.
Arriving a bit late, he tells everybody about his dad, and they of course also don’t fully believe him. Zoidberg then mentions that his old flame Marianne is studying to be a botanist, so she can help him out. Zoidberg then gets Marianne to Planet Express, who says that Hermes’ father has mocha light, meaning he will be dead soon.
She says they will have to move him to a special habitat, so they head to the Professor of Plant Botany in the Arboretum, who says there is a chance to save him. After they plant him in a special spot, everyone heads off for bed. That night, a corpse flower blooms and makes everyone except Marianne and Zoidberg recoil. After the biologist seals off the plant, everyone else heads to bed while Zoidberg and Marianne enter the sealed dome and end up having a romantic moment.
The next morning, Hermes goes to take care of his father, who is now in worse condition. Zoidberg goes to tell Marianne about it, when she lets him know that she believes that the corpse flower is trying to communicate, because the smells are so complex that it’s like a language. She then tells Zoidberg to smell the flower with her, and they begin to hear the corpse flower speak. The plant allows her to collect samples, and Marianne starts getting a little too excited, which makes Zoidberg jealous and upset.
After Farnsworth tells him she is a botany nerd, and that she is just nerding out, he goes to talk with Marianne about it. She reveals she’s in love with the corpse flower, but she’s also in love with him. She then proposes that the three of them be together. Zoidberg at first is hesitant but then goes along with it.
We then see Hermes speaking with his dying father, who says he is proud of him, and tells him to take his beans and make one last pot of coffee. After everyone, including LaBarbara and Dwight come to mourn, Zoidberg and Marianne try to surprise the Corpse Flower with a picnic. She then confesses that she fell in love with coffee. Hermes then comes out of the foliage, and reveals that his father has been cured, and has grown all new beans. Hermes dad and the Corpse Flower then get married, Zoidberg and Marianne decide to keep trying in their relationship, while everyone has fun at the reception.
This was an interesting episode. It was good. It wasn’t crazy funny, but it didn’t have to be. The corpse flower three-way relationship between it, Marianne, and Zoidberg was kind of unexpected, and was that bizarre kind of funny. Like a “what the hell is going on?” kind of moment. Overall though, the episode was a nice little watch.
Rating: 7.5/10
