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Episode Recap: Fry and the Slurm Factory

Fry wins a contest that takes the crew on a tour of the Slurm factory...and exposes its terrible secret.

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Fry and Bender watch All My Circuits on television. A commercial for the
beverage Slurm appears during the broadcast. It features the drink's
mascot, Slurms McKenzie, who tells viewers about a chance to win a trip
to the Slurm bottling plant on the planet Wormulon. Fry becomes obsessed
with winning the contest, but first he must find a special golden bottle
cap inside a can of Slurm. But despite the consumption of a lot of
Slurm, he does not achieve his goal. Meanwhile, Bender complains of
feeling under the weather. The Professor notices a rattling sound
emanating from somewhere deep inside the robot. Using his special
invention, the F-ray, the Professor peers into Bender's body cavity. He
discovers Amy's watch lodged within. Bender retrieves the watch, ending
his illness. The Professor hands the F-ray device to Fry and Bender and
instructs them to lock it up. Instead, the pair take it outside into the
city, hoping for some fun. Eventually, it occurs to Fry that the device
could be used to scan Slurm cans for the rare golden bottle cap. But
after inspect some 90,000 cans, the pair still come up empty-handed.
Shortly thereafter, a thirsty Fry pulls a can of Slurm from the
refrigerator and chugs it down. Suddenly, Fry begins to choke, having
ingested the winning bottle cap.

Fry and his friends fly to the planet Wormulon, where they are welcomed
by Glermo, an alien in a purple tailcoat and top hat. Before the group
can party with Slurms McKenzie, they will first be taken on a guided
tour of the Slurm factory. As the tour begins, the crew boards a
steamboat and sail down a river of Slurm. They float into a beautiful,
lush garden, populated by the Grunka-Lunkas, small, orange people clad
in stripped costumes. Glermo explains that the diminutive workers
combine some 900 ingredients to make the special drink. The very last
step is the addition of the secret ingredient that makes the beverage so
addictive. Fry becomes intrigued with this secret additive, but Glermo
refuses to reveal its name. The Grunka-Lunkas break into song, warning
Fry not to be so inquisitive. As the tour continues, Fry grows
increasingly thirsty. He leans over the edge of the boat and cups his
hands. Unfortunately, he loses his balance and falls overboard. Leela
and Bender jump in after him, and the threesome are sucked into a
whirlpool. Fry and his friends are propelled into a dark, forbidding
cave. They eventually make their way to the end of the Slurm production
conveyor belt. They enter a large cavern, where they discover a Slurm
Queen, which resembles an insect, squirting liquid from the tip of its
abdomen into Slurm cans riding on the conveyor belt. Fry, Leela and
Bender are disgusted by the sight.

Fry, Leela and Bender inadvertently call attention to themselves. The
Slurm Queen lifts her abdomen and slams it down repeatedly, trying to
crush the threesome. The group runs down a corridor, hoping to scape,
but ends up right where they started. Glermo and his armed guards step
forward, taking them prisoner. Leela springs into action and
karate-chops Glermo, splitting him in half. Both halves turn into
smaller versions of Glermo, who gang up on Leela and overpower her. The
threesome are escorted to a torture cave, where Bender is to be turned
into Slurm cans; Leela is to be submerged in the liquid and transformed
into another Queen; and Fry is fed SuperSlurm, which is so concentrated
and delicious that it will cause him to eat until he explodes. After the
Wormulans exit the cave, Fry attempts to free himself from the addictive
drink and rescue his friends. When he cannot summon the strength, Fry
decides to continue eating from a trough and rescue Leela
simultaneously. The idea works, and Leela soon rescues Bender from
certain death. The threesome escape into a tunnel, where they encounter
Slurms McKenzie, who begs them for a ride to Earth. The Slurm Queen
bursts through a wall and launches another attack. This time, McKenzie
switches on a boom box and turns the bass up high. The walls vibrate,
causing a cave-in that buries McKenzie and prevents the Queen from
reaching Fry and his friends. As the crew rockets its way back to Earth,
the Professor contacts a bureaucrat and announces that Slurm comes from
a "colossal worm heinie." When the bureaucrat threatens to outlaw the
now-insidious drink, Fry, fearing his supply of Slurm will evaporate,
states that his "grandfather" is just making up stories.