Anna Daniels
It’s hard to hold Leela entirely accountable for her behavior while she was all hopped up on “Nectar,” an addictive nutritional supplement, but even in cases of substance abuse, there has to be some degree of personal responsibility.
On the Futurama season 7 episode “The Butterjunk Effect,” Planet Express’ purple-haired captain gives into the allure of performance-enhancing drugs. On a mission to return stolen rocks to the Moon, the crew attends their first Butterfly Derby, a brutal bloodsport event wherein women adorned with flying wingsuits battle it out to the almost-death. Leela and Amy (Lauren Tom) are enamored with the concept, and when the announcer asks for amateur volunteers to fly into the ring, they both step forward and are promptly trounced. Despite their failure, the women are invited to continue their participation in the league. That’s when things get hairy. Leela and Amy witness some of the other butterfly combatants purchasing an illicit substance in the locker room after the game. Intrigued by the potential performance-enhancing benefits of Nectar, they both jump on board.
The effects are almost instantaneous: both women bulk up and see an immediate improvement in their derby game. They go off on a long winning streak, but the drug has some unpleasant side-effects. Leela’s ‘roid rage causes her to abuse her boyfriend Fry, both physically and emotionally. And that’s not even the reason Leela finally quits the juice. While her treatment of Fry is deplorable, she doesn’t decide to drop the Nectar cold turkey until she realizes its effects make her susceptible to butterfly pheromones. Unwilling to leave herself in the thrall of any chemical aphrodisiac, she and Amy both decide it would be best to go au naturel. You’d think abusing your boyfriend would be enough of an incentive, but guess not.
As bad as this behavior sounds, it still wasn’t Leela’s absolute worst moment.
Written by: Looper
