Insane in the Mainframe

"Insane in the Mainframe" is the forty-third episode of Futurama, the eleventh of the third production season and the twelfth of the third broadcast season. It aired 8 April, 2001 on FOX. Fry and Bender are admitted to an insane asylum for criminal insane robots after being arrested for holding up a bank. Fry becomes so deluded by the place and begins to believe he is a robot, and is released from the asylum.

Act I: "Hooray for Zoidberg!"
Following a celebration of Zoidberg's ten years with Planet Express, Fry realizes that he hasn't planned for his future, so he spends 94% of his retirement fund (a $100 bill, stored in his sock) on Whif -N- Win lottery tickets. After winning nothing, he decides to open a retirement account for $6, making him immediately $4 overdrawn. At the bank Bender meets his old friend, Roberto, and he and Fry accidentally help him rob the bank.

Act II: "What do you say we plead insanity?"
Fry and Bender appear in court, represented by the Hyper-Chicken. Fry is going to reveal that it was Roberto who robbed the bank, but is cut short after Roberto calls and threatens to kill him. Hyper-chicken convinces them to plead insanity under the reason that he is their lawyer, and is successful. Both Fry and Bender are sent to the HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots because being poor was recently classified as a mental illness and the human asylum is overfilled.

Act III: "I find that offensive!"
Fry finds the physical exam, designed for robots, quite painful, but is still thought to be a robot, due to the simple fact that the asylum is for robots. He is put in a room with Malfunctioning Eddie, who explodes when introduced to Fry. Unit 2013 shows him around the building and introduces him to the other robots. Bender enjoys himself, but Fry is taking the experience badly, and starts going insane. Eddie is discharged and Fry's new roommate is Roberto, who is in the asylum because he robbed the same bank again. Soon, Fry is "cured"--believing he is a robot.

Act IV: "I need to get a disguise!"
Fry returns to Planet Express, where he tries to find his primary function. After trial and error, Fry determines he is not a tool bot, a calculator or a food-mo-tron. Fry drinks an exorbitant amount of alcohol to "fuel his power cells" and passes out. Meanwhile, Bender and Roberto escape the asylum.

Act V: "Fire lasers! Duck, lasers!"
Roberto holds up the same bank a third time and he and Bender flee to Planet Express. Roberto uses Zoidberg, Hermes, Leela, Amy, the Professor and Bender hostage. He decides to kill some of them, but Fry wakes up and informs everyone that he has found his primary function--battle droid. Fry engages Roberto in battle by swinging his fists in circles around his body. Roberto stabs him, but hits a can of pi-in-1 oil in his coat pocket, which starts leaking and convinces Roberto that he is a battle droid. Roberto throws his knife at Fry, cutting his arm, and jumps out the window where he is arrested. Fry notices the blood from his cut arm and finally realizes he is a human.

Trivia

 * The title of the episode is a reference to a lyric from the song "" and s. "Insane in the Brain" would later be referenced in "The Why of Fry", in which one of the Brain Spawn says "are you insane in the membrane?"
 * Electroshock therapy is currently a rare last-option treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and depression. In the future, however, it is a pleasant treatment that helps robots relax. This is due to electricity being the equivalent of cannabis for robots.
 * Hermes has a button on his calculator labeled "Carry The One".
 * Fry, believing he is a Battle Droid, begins attacking Roberto with a "fighting style" similar to the one used by Bender against El Chupanibre in "I Second that Emotion".
 * This episode is the last to feature a sponsor before "Bender's Big Score Part 1".
 * There appear to be two incinerators in Planet Express, on the wall of Hermes' office and in the Planet Express hangar.

Continuity

 * Bender's banjo makes its third appearance.
 * Bender is later seen dressed up as again in "Godfellas" and "Decision 3012".

Goofs

 * When Fry and Bender are boxed up and rolled out of the courtroom, Fry shouts "ow, my head" when he is on his side then "ow, my feet" when he is on his head.
 * Bender is raised off a conveyor belt with a giant magnet, but it doesn't corrupt his inhibition unit.
 * Magnets only affect him when they go near his upper chest or head.
 * Bender exclaims "Je suis Napoleon" at one point in the episode, which means "I am Napoleon" in French, but the French language is supposed to be dead and not understood by anyone in the future. Then again, speaking a language that's been dead for years might be a sign that he's mentally ill (and, in a lot of old cartoons -- specifically the Looney Tunes and MGM ones -- a character claiming that he was Napoleon was a sign that he was crazy).
 * Wouldn't it be easier just to scrap and recycle the robots deemed "crazy" rather than waste taxpayer money on a mental hospital for them?
 * Since when is stuff in the future supposed to be easy?

Outside References

 * Nurse Ratchet is a reference to the character Nurse Ratched from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and perhaps also the Autobot Medic Ratchet who is a character in numerous Transformers series.
 * Another robot is modelled off the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.
 * Dr. Perceptron is a reference to a concept from artificial intelligence.
 * The HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots is a reference to the computer HAL, from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Debut: Big Apple Bank Surveillance Camera
 * Debut: Dr. Perceptron
 * Debut: Frankie
 * Fry
 * Hair Robot
 * Debut: Mad Hatterbot
 * Hermes
 * Hyper-Chicken
 * Judge Whitey
 * LaBarbara
 * Leela
 * Debut: Linctron
 * Malfunctioning Eddie
 * Richard Nixon (on 1000 dollar bill)
 * Debut: Norm
 * Debut: Nurse Ratchet
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Randy Munchnik
 * Debut: Roberto
 * Smitty
 * Big Apple Bank teller
 * Debut: Unit 2013
 * URL
 * Victor
 * Zoidberg

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Bill Odenkirk
 * Director
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * David Herman
 * DVD Commentary
 * Bill Odenkirk
 * David X. Cohen
 * Matt Groening
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Rich Moore