Bender Gets Made

"Bender Gets Made" is the twenty-sixth episode of Futurama, the thirteenth of the second production season and the seventeenth of the second broadcast season. It aired 30 April, 2000 on FOX. Bender becomes a member of the Robot Mafia after serving them at Elzar's.

Act I: "Hey Elzar, think fast!"
When Fry, Bender and Leela go to see an episode of Elzar's show being made, Bender takes a picture of Elzar while he is using a spice weasel and spice gets in Leela’s eye blinding her. Leela has to wear a patch for a week and Elzar makes it up to them by cooking them a meal. The crew ends up getting a bill and when they can’t pay for it the cops arrest them.

Act II: "You flatter me, kind goon"
Bender agrees to work for Elzar if the crew are released. While working at the restaurant, the robot mafia visits and Bender does everything he can to satisfy them, Donbot likes his attitude so he hires Bender as a goon. Bender is given a lottery disk to deliver and notices the cops and gives it to Tinny Tim to deliver as the cops inspect him. Bender then helps in a large crime under the name Blotto and pretends to be sick while the Planet Express crew are on their mission. The mafia are stealing Zuban cigars from the Planet Express Ship.

Act III: "You're a freakin' genius, you idiot!"
Bender has to prevent the Planet Express crew from being killed and to not blow his cover. The mafia shoots the Planet express ship and due to Leela’s blind flying, the mafia manage to get into the ship. Bender uses a "king" accent and helps tie up the rest of the crew while they are blindfolded. Bender then lets the mafia leave while he burns down the ship, but instead releases Fry and Leela pretending to have also been tied up. At the Planet Express building Tinny Tim gives Bender his share of money and he decides to give up organised crime.

Reception
This episode was subject to censorship by Adult Swim, and BBC Two.

Trivia

 * There was originally going to be a scene that would have revealed that the Bender we've known since "The Lesser of Two Evils" has actually been Flexo. This idea was abandoned, as evidenced by "Bendless Love".
 * Bender's delivery for the Robot Mafia is to "Pat's Pool Hall: Rich Beginners Welcome".
 * The Planet Express ship's steering wheel is made by the Turnmaster Steering Wheel Co.
 * This episode slightly refrences The Simpsons episode "Bart the murderer", because:
 * Bart and Bender both work for the mafia and
 * they both have murder cases. But, people thought Bart killed skinner, and the robot mafia told bender to kill Leela and Fry, and the mafia thought he killed them.

Allusions

 * When being inducted into the Robot Mafia, Bender says "I always wanted to be a gangster," a reference to the famous opening of the film .
 * When in the emergency room, we see a Chihuahua doctor saying that woman patient has a "grande" cyst. This dog seems to be an allusion to the taco bell commercials that featured a similar dog.

Goofs

 * Bender says he is excited to finally meet Elzar, but he already met him in "A Clone of My Own".
 * The glasses of oil-ade on Tinny Tim's stall start off in a straight line along the stall, then go diagonal to the stall after Bender picks the first glass up. When he picks up the second glass the camera angle changes and the first glass is full again, then the jug disappears when Bender notices the police officers.
 * At the end of the episode when the crew is back at the Planet Express building, the establishing shot shows the ship crashed into building. In the background as Leela opens her eye, though, the ship can be seen intact in its usual place.
 * The ship's steering wheel is shown to be an actual wheel as opposed to how it normally is with two handles.
 * Smitty says that he became a cop because of people who didn't pay at his father's restaurant, but, as we learned in the first episode, people are assigned their jobs.
 * It's possible that Smitty, seeing how others cheated his father, may have deliberately chose to train for policehood, and the computer, seeing as how he was well-skilled in that area, assigned that career to him (much to Smitty's delight).
 * It might be a different system within the police force. In "Law and Oracle", Fry is able to quit his job and become a police officer. Similarly, on the sign in front of the police station it can be seen to say "Angry? Frustrated? Become a cop!" which implies you may be able to apply.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Debut: Clamps
 * Debut: Donbot
 * Elzar
 * Fry
 * Hattie McDoogal
 * Hermes
 * Vet Jeffrey Grant
 * Debut: Joey Mousepad
 * Leela
 * Nibbler
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Smitty and Url
 * Debut: Taco Bellevue Doctor
 * Tinny Tim
 * Zoidberg

Alien Language Sightings
Time: 2:37

Location: Ambulance hood

Language: AL1

Translation: MEAT TRUCK (text is mirrored)

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Eric Horsted
 * Director
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Lauren Tom
 * Frank Welker
 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Eric Horsted
 * Peter Avanzino
 * John DiMaggio