Now that the Futurama season 12 episode titles have been released, there’s a specific installment that I’m especially looking forward to, despite a similar effort from the season before falling flat for me. Futurama season 12’s release date has been announced to be July 29. However, Hulu is releasing the run weekly. As such, I’ll have a little while longer to wait before I get to see the episode I’m so excited about.

The Futurama season 11 ending brought about many questions that I’m sure Hulu will answer when the show returns in July. While I look forward to these answers being provided, I’m more focused on what I’m sure will be a standalone and very fun episode in Futurama season 12. While the Matt Groening animated show doesn’t particularly have a set formula, it does have certain episodes that can sometimes be sorted into specific categories. The installment I’m eagerly anticipating in Futurama season 12 is very much shaping up to be one of those episodes.

Futurama’s Upcoming Squid Game Parody Can Redeem The Show’s Failed Dune Spoof

“Quids Game” could be the parody I’ve been waiting for

Futurama season 11, episode 4, “Parasites Regained,” openly spoofs the sci-fi epic, Dune. Unfortunately, I found the parody to be incredibly lacking, with very few of the jokes managing to land and the references to its source material not offering much in the way of entertainment. Futurama has parodied plenty of other properties in the past, but its take on Dune ranks somewhere near the very bottom of my list. Thankfully, Futurama season 14, episode 2, “Quids Game” suggests the show is getting ready to redeem itself by taking on Netflix’s South Korean battle royale story.

“Quids Game” is a hilariously lazy anagram of Squid Game, so the episode title makes it much easier to predict the potential parody than “Parasites Regained” did. This is perhaps because the biggest pull for “Parasites Regained” was that it was a sequel to Futurama season 3, episode 4, “Parasites Lost.” So, Futurama season 12 seems to be taking a much more direct approach to making its parodic intentions known to the viewers going in.

Squid Game Offers Futurama Far Better Parody Opportunites Than Dune Did

Ironically, Squid Game provides a bigger narrative sandbox for Futurama than Dune offered. Granted, “Parasites Regained” mainly used Dune as a vehicle to continue “Parasites Lost,” but it doesn’t change the fact that I found a Futurama episode set in a litter tray an unsurprisingly unrewarding experience. Futurama parodying Squid Game brings a smile to my face before I’ve even seen a single frame of the episode. The Netflix show’s premise will allow the Futurama writers to think up a whole host of crazy games for the characters to compete in, which is a very exciting prospect.