“Dead? I thought I had anti-gravity and laryngitis.” – Bender
After Fry saves a man from impending Parade Day doom instead of a Robot, Bender discovers that his best friend thinks human lives are more valuable than robot lives. Upset at Fry’s callousness – and probably just craving more attention – Bender threatens to actually kill himself, and heads outside to the Suicide Booth on the corner.
If you’ve seen the Futurama pilot episode, you’ll remember that Bender and Fry discover that Suicide Booths have a “blind spot” of sorts where you can avoid being killed. Unfortunately, the nearest Suicide Booth is Bender’s ex-girlfriend, who doesn’t let him escape his fate this time.
“Dead? I thought I had anti-gravity and laryngitis,” Bender says.
Back at the newly insured Planet Express building, a DeadEx package has just arrived with Bender’s body. After taking off their “Taking-Off hats” once they realize he’s dead, the crew starts taking their pick of Bender’s body parts. Meanwhile, the Robot Devil has arrived outside (his hands still smell like candy corn, in case you’re wondering) in order to bring Bender to Robot Hell. Furious with Fry for letting him die, Bender signs a deal with the Robot Devil: he promises to scare Fry to death in exchange for not spending eternity in Robo-Hell. Set on his mission, Bender returns to Earth as a ghost. As disembodied software stuck in robot limbo, (yes Hermes, someone DID say “Limbo” Bender is able to download himself into electronic devices.
I felt bad for Fry in this episode. I have enough problems keeping my computer and its accessories in a functioning capacity for more than two months at a time – if electrically-powered devices ever started haunting me, I would become ascetic and live my life meditating under a tree. As for Fry, he eventually lets his guard down and has a heart attack, and is forced to live out his days on an Amish planet, away from machines.
“That’s the closest thing to ‘Bender is Great’ somebody else has ever said.”
Feeling remorseful about what he’s done to Fry, Bender abandons his contract with the Robot Devil and travels with his friend to the planet of the Space Amish. When the Robot Devil comes to collect, Bender takes over his body and throws himself in front of a rolling barn, saving Fry and sending both himself and the Robot Devil to their Hell. For sacrificing his life for another, Bender is brought up to Robot Heaven, where he will be rewarded for eternity in light of his heroism… except he takes over Robot God’s body and punches himself until he’s sent back to Earth to restore the declining “Bite my shiny metal ass” rate at Planet Express.
The creative genius behind this episode certainly passed up an opportunity to develop the themes established in last year’s “Lethal Inspection,” where Hermes and Bender investigate the mystery behind Bender’s mortality defect. Although it had its tender moments, (Bender’s ghost-hug could have been built up to a little better) this week’s episode opted to ride the wave of last week’s successful Bender-bender, making it a perfect early-season episode for new and seasoned viewers alike.
Some stats and info about Futurama, “Ghosts in the Machines”
TV SHOW – Futurama
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 8, Episode 3
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX/Comedy Central
GENRE – Comedy, Animated Shows, Science Fiction
CREATED BY – David X. Cohen, Matt Groening
This review was originally published on TV Geek Army.