Review: Season 1, Episode 9: "Hell is Other Robots"

Airdate: May 18th, 1999

Synopsis: While at a Beastie Boys concert, Bender's old friend hooks him up to a dose of extra electricity... essentially, a drug for robots. He quickly becomes addicted, and one instance of his desire for extra electricity almost kills Fry and Leela in an electric storm. His friends disappointed in his addiction, Bender turns to the Temple of Robotology- essentially, a robot version of a Baptist church. He tries to lead a clean lifestyle, yet goes too far in the other direction, becoming boring and tedious. Fry and Leela try and bring the old Bender back by taking him to Atlantic City... where he gives into temptation. Unfortunately, the Robot Devil takes notice, and Bender is promptly taken to Robot Hell. For all eternity.

Bender: "Ah, hell! Oh - I mean 'heck!'"

Robot Devil: "S'alright. You can say that here!" 

Review: This is the last episode of the 1st broadcast season, but not the last episode of the production season. (Thanks a bunch, FOX.) Worth noting because I'm doing the reviews in production order, not broadcast order.

Anyway... religion, death, sin, and all that.

Futurama's sci-fi setting, as I may have mentioned before, provides a fantastic vehicle for social commentary, subtle or otherwise. Here, Bender literally gets addicted to a drug- electrical current. Those who claim that addictions only hurt the person ingesting the addictive are proven wrong by Bender's decision to pilot the ship into the electrical storm- thank God nobody died, but Fry was certainly stunned. What makes this episode unique is that it doesn't show addicts and drug users as necessarily evil- even though Bender himself has other vices. Instead, it shows the bot that hooked Bender up as an average joe, and even extends a bit of pathos to Bender- somewhat mitigated by his other vices, but still.

Now, religion. Futurama chose to explore the born-again aspect of religion via the "Temple of Robotology", a very flamboyant church much like the ones you see on teevee stations who need to license out airtime in the early hours of Sunday Morning. One refreshing twist in this is that, as devout as Bender gets, he doesn't really display many of the purely negative stereotypes- the fundamentalism. It's a sympathetic portrayal, yet the shock is enough for the others to detest him. Given the show's cynicism, it doesn't come off as too out of character for Fry and Leela to try and convert Bender back- they both fall victim to moments of selfishness and id-ness.

Indeed, once Bender is un-converted, the show takes a trip to robot hell. The Robot Devil might be my favorite antagonist in the show- for the personification of Robot Sin, it seems like he runs the place more than created it. He's like a warden- you do bad things, you go to hell. Worst he does here is sing Bender's faults and felonies. That, and threaten Fry's life should he lose a fiddle contest. Who knows- maybe Dan Castellaneta (yes, Homer Simpson himself) makes him so affable. Or maybe he just adjusted to the "Fairness in Hell Act" that leads to the fiddle contests.

Interestingly enough, the religious imagery is a-plenty. The "10 SIN 20 GO TO HELL" sign, Bender having a halo at the end of the episode despite escaping hell, prayer being in code... it's either hilarious, symbolic, or hilariously symbolic.

There's a whole lot more to say about this episode. However, I'm gonna limit myself to just saying this is a pretty damn good episode.

Tidbits:

• Apologies for the long, long hiatus. I lost track of time - read, got too distracted by waiting for Gravity Falls. I'm serious - did you see that episode?
• The Beastie Boys make three appearances through the episode.
• First is the concert, where they lay down a killer live version of "Sabotage".
• Second, Robot Hell, where the Robot Devil notes that Bender bootlegged tapes.
• "Hey, Bender, gonna make some noise!
• "With your hard drive scratched by the Beastie Boys!"
• "That's what'cha, what'cha get on Level Five!"
• Third, over the end credits, they basically make a few comments about the show.
• Love Fry's story of how his friend betrayed him - it's those small stories that develop character, and seem to do it subtle, that I love.
• Loved the send-up to the Divine Comedy in the "Robot Hell" song. 

Favorite Scene: The fiddle contest is pretty damn kickass. "Here comes the drum solo!"

Least Favorite Scene: I dunno- I think there could've been other ways to lure Bender away from his born-again state than just going to Atlantic City. Then again, AC is in Jersey.

Memorable Quote: "If you lose, you'll only win a smaller silver fiddle. Also, I guess I'll kill one of you." - Robot Devil. He immediately points to Fry. Remember this.

Score: 8.5