Review: "Fear of a Bot Planet" (Season 1, Episode 5)

Even Judge Judy would call this a kangaroo court.

Airdate: April 20th, 1999

Synopsis: While at a blernsball game (Blernsball being the 31st century version of Baseball), Bender goes on a soapbox on how he feels robots have been mistreated and reduced to second-class citizens on Earth. Ironically, the trio have to go deliver a package to Chapek 9, a planet operated by Robot Separatists that has no tolerance for humans. Having to deliver the package himself, Bender gets carried off, and Fry and Leela have to disguise themselves to enter the planet. They eventually do come across Bender- who's become an anti-human radical, leading human-hunts.

Review: Before I begin, I must warn those that the following review discusses topics which might be considered sensitive.

It's no surprise that Futurama is heavily influenced by Star Trek. To this effect, I felt that, before I typed out a full review of this episode, it was necessary to watch two other episodes of Star Trek: "The Measure of a Man", from The Next Generation, and "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield", from The Original Series. (Ironically, both episodes are outstanding efforts in otherwise weak seasons.) The reason why is that, along with "Bot Planet", "Measure" and "Battlefield" discuss discrimination in a speculative fiction setting. "Measure" connected more to the episode, as in that one, there is actually a trial to analyze if androids are property of Starfleet, or second-class citizens.

A similar discussion develops in this episode- are robots permanently in the lower rungs of a caste system, and is the only way to break it outright separation? Of course, we can't answer that directly- robots aren't the same here than they are in Futurama. (It's fiction, damnit!)

Yet, we can see the effect that radical viewpoints, in either direction, has- irrational decisions that ignore the real problems facing society, leading to a cycle of insanity.


Besides, once you think about it, Bender's complaints might just be a bit over-the-top... maybe self-serving. After all, it appears that All My Circuits is the most popular show on TV, and it's main character is a robot. Maybe Bender just feels slighted because, well, he's Bender. The bot's ego is massive.

Anyway, on to the rest of the show.

It's been established that Bender has an unceasing ego - nothing seems enough for him. His anger at what, is in his eyes, discrimination against robots is at least inflated because he doesn't get what he want. Frustrated with this, he turns radical rapidly.

However, this episode also allows some development to trickle in- his radicalism is but a mere reaction to disappointment. When it comes time to walk the walk, he can't bring himself to discriminate against his friends. What this really does is reinforce how much bender has developed as a character over the past five episodes- being workmates with Fry and Leela, he seems to have developed a fondness for the two "meatbags".

Fry and Leela's partnership is still very much professional- there is no hint that the two will develop a more romantic relationship here. Still, compared to their semi-antagonistic relationship in "The Series Has Landed", the two are somewhat more in sync- if only to get their best friend back.

Chapek 9, for a one-off planet, is a relatively well-built world. It has it's own job system, a well-developed moral code (radical as it is), a government with warts and all, and believable characters- one-liners or otherwise. Going back to my reference to "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield", this looks like what a predecessor to the fate of Cheron would be- bigotry leading to fear, as indicated by the daily human hunt, ignoring other failures in the system.

If there's any problem in this episode... actually, there are two I can think of right now.

A) It's not really subtle. Same goes for the aforementioned Trek episodes, but that doesn't excuse the fact that this episode is quite unsubtle.

B) The comedy in this episode is pretty light. There's not a lot of memorable scenes and lines.

As it is, it's a decent enough episode... it's just a bit weaker compared to "Love's Labours" and "Series Has Landed".

Tidbits:

• The planet Chapek 9 is named after Karel Capek, the writer who coined the term Robot. Interesting stuff!
• Strangely, this episode, one that focuses on Bender's resentment against humans and the murder of every human that dares enter Chapek 9, aired on the day of the Columbine High School Massacre. Awkward.
• Still alive. Writers block.
• The B-movie parody is excellent! Fake FX, bad acting, cheesy plot... beautiful.
• The end of the first act, howerver, had the worst. Commercial. Transition. Ever. Dialogue was clunky, just to make a commercial break joke.

Favorite Scene: Tie between the blernsball jokes and the B-Movie. Hear that, Doug Naylor? That's how you parody a B-movie. (Then again, this episode had substance!) 

Least Favorite Scene: Again, the commercial transition was just stupid.

Memorable Quote: "Your honor, I intend to demonstrate beyond 0.5% of a doubt that these humans are guilty of the crime of being humans... come to think of it, I rest my case!" - Robot Mayor. The entire court scene was funny, but this was the icing on the cake.

Score: 7.5