Lethal Inspection
Encyclopedia
"Lethal Inspection" is the sixth episode of the sixth season
of the animated sitcom, Futurama
, and originally aired on July 22, 2010 on Comedy Central
. In the episode Bender learns that he suffers from a terminal manufacturing defect, effectively rendering him mortal. Bender must cope with his new found mortality and employs Hermes Conrad
's help to track down the mysterious quality inspector—Inspector #5—whom he blames for allowing him to enter the world only to die.
The episode was written by Eric Horsted
and directed by Ray Claffey. From June 8 to June 15, as part of its "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of Bender and Hermes' entry into the Central Bureaucracy and character designs for the war reenactment
sequence. "Lethal Inspection" received positive reviews from critics, who viewed the emotional ending to be a return to form that the season had been missing.
-al War
", Bender touts his perfection and "immortality", specifically citing his ability to download a back up copy of himself into a new working body should anything happen to his present one. Bender soon discovers that he suffers from a terminal manufacturing defect: he is built without a back up unit, making him mortal. He is devastated by the revelation of his mortality and of Inspector #5, believing the inspector's careless error resulted in him being sent out into the world only to die. He becomes determined to find Inspector #5 and demand an answer to why he allowed Bender to exist despite his fatal flaw.
Hermes
agrees to help Bender in his quest to discover the identity of Inspector #5, which is locked in the Central Bureaucracy. While at the Central Bureaucracy, Hermes logs into the computer system with his ID to look up Inspector #5's records. However, he and Bender find that the electronic record on Inspector #5 has been deleted and that the physical file is also missing. Bender calls Mom's Friendly Robot Company, who created him, and tells her he is defective. Mom
attempts to have Bender destroyed to cover up the existence of a defective robot. The two flee from Mom's Killbot
s by train and arrive in Tijuana
—where Bender was manufactured.
The original manufacturing plant is abandoned, but Bender finds an old directory listing Inspector #5's address. However, upon reaching the home, they also find it abandoned. Realizing that he may never find the answers he seeks, Bender is forced to confront the reality of death. Hermes consoles him, telling him that now life is precious and he should not spend it bitter and angry. The two bond and soon the Killbots arrive and begin shooting into the house. Hermes tells Bender to flee while he attempts to hack into Inspector #5's old Central Bureaucracy computer and fake Bender's death. Successful, Hermes uploads false information to the Killbots claiming Bender has been eliminated, which ends their pursuit and he narrowly escapes the burning wreckage of the house.
Back at Planet Express, Hermes secretly burns Inspector #5's file, whose cover falls away to reveal that he was Inspector #5. A flashback reveals that he overrode the "defective" assessment on Bender to prevent him from being scrapped, then resigned from the company immediately afterward. Hermes' personnel file was deleted, and he stole his own physical file from the Central Bureaucracy; the computer at the Tijuana house was his own, so he did not have to hack into it. In the present, Hermes smiles quietly over the burning file, happy in knowing he did the right thing.
The episode was written by Aaron Ehasz
and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson. From June 8 to June 15, as part of its 2010 "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of Bender and Hermes' entry into the Central Bureaucracy and character designs for the war reenactment
sequence. The episode is one of the few times where Hermes plays a major role and is key to the plot. The episode ends with "Little Bird, Little Bird," an American children's song, performed by Elizabeth Mitchell
.
. When Hermes's cubical stop, he says, "This is mine, right next to the center square", a reference to the television show Hollywood Squares
. The bureaucrat next to Hermes makes a comment and a red 'X' pops up on his desk. This is a reference to actor and comedian Paul Lynde
, who was the regular "center square" on the show. The song during the final moments of the episode is "Little Bird, Little Bird" by Elizabeth Mitchell
.
. In its original American broadcast, "Lethal Inspection" was viewed by an estimated 1.920 million viewers. The episode had a 1.3 rating/2% share in Nielsen ratings
and a 0.9 rating/3% share in the 18–49 demographic, meaning 1.3% of households with televisions were watching the episode and 2% of television viewers during the half hour were watching this episode. "Lethal Inspection" was down two tenths of a point from the previous week's episode "The Duh-Vinci Code
".
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
gave the episode an A- and praised the unlikely pairing of Bender and Hermes, writing: "If I had to name a character on the show least likely to pluck at my heartstrings, Bender and Hermes would be near the top of the list...and yet they pulled it off. I'm not sure if Baby Bender violates continuity or not, but I don't care. It worked." Handlen called the episode "more thoughtful" and also felt that the episode provided depth and growth to both Bender and Hermes without compromising characterization. In the case of Hermes, Handlen stated, "Hermes can be an obsessive, number-loving accountant, and still have that memory of his younger self saving Baby Bender from the trash heap. It works because the twist is the discovery of compassion in someone we liked and wanted to love." Danny Gallagher of TVSquad felt that the episode marked the return of the Futuramas "true sense of emotion," comparing it to previous episodes like season four
's "Jurassic Bark
". In particular, Gallagher noted the highly effective use of the Central Bureaucracy, stating that it allowed the show to use a Douglas Adams
-feel. Merrill Bar of Film School Rejects stated that the episode worked "99.9%" and that it recovered what he felt had been lacking from the previous episodes of season six. While he disliked the opening Star Wars gag, he felt that the rest of the episode made up for it, stating that "Lethal Inspection" was "by far, the funniest episode since the shows[sic] return. If the writers can keep this up, then my faith will have been fully restored."
Robert Canning of IGN
was also pleased with the episode, noting that Hermes and Bender's team up worked well and that the ending was cathartic. He found the episode to be his favorite of the new season, giving it a 9/10 and stating, "after an okay start, [it] turned out to be my favorite episode of this comeback season so far. The more I think about it, the more pleasure I find in it. It was an episode full of laughs, action and the kind of emotional tug the series has been missing of late." Sean Gandert of Paste
gave the episode a rating of 8.7/10 and wrote: "Judging from this episode and the last it seems like Futurama is intentionally straying away from its old groupings and trying new things. The sixth season is moving off from the repetition of its first two episodes and is all the better for it." Though he felt the episode was weaker with its jokes, he noted that this "is frequently the case in with episodes that deal more with the characters and less about making jokes in a wacky world. But this isn't something I think will bother real fans, as that's part of what's given Futurama its cult audience in the first place: that the show gives a damn about its characters."
Futurama (season 6)
Futurama sixth production season originally aired on Comedy Central from June 24, 2010 to September 8, 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox to Comedy Central.David X...
of the animated sitcom, Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, and originally aired on July 22, 2010 on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. In the episode Bender learns that he suffers from a terminal manufacturing defect, effectively rendering him mortal. Bender must cope with his new found mortality and employs Hermes Conrad
Hermes Conrad
Hermes Conrad is a fictional character in the Futurama animated series. He is voiced by Phil LaMarr.- Appearance and personality :Born in 2959, Hermes is a grade 36 bureaucrat from Jamaica. He manages the Planet Express delivery business with responsibilities that include paying bills, giving out...
's help to track down the mysterious quality inspector—Inspector #5—whom he blames for allowing him to enter the world only to die.
The episode was written by Eric Horsted
Eric Horsted
Eric Horsted is an American television writer. He has written for several shows, including Home Improvement, Coach, Futurama and Out of Jimmy's Head.- Coach episodes :*"About Face"*"Uneasy Riders"*"The Devil in Mrs...
and directed by Ray Claffey. From June 8 to June 15, as part of its "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of Bender and Hermes' entry into the Central Bureaucracy and character designs for the war reenactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
sequence. "Lethal Inspection" received positive reviews from critics, who viewed the emotional ending to be a return to form that the season had been missing.
Plot
After a reenactment of the "SithSith
-Sith:The Sith is a name applied to certain characters in the Star Wars universe. In the films they are the central antagonists. They are capable of using the dark side of the Force.-The Invention of the Sith:...
-al War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
", Bender touts his perfection and "immortality", specifically citing his ability to download a back up copy of himself into a new working body should anything happen to his present one. Bender soon discovers that he suffers from a terminal manufacturing defect: he is built without a back up unit, making him mortal. He is devastated by the revelation of his mortality and of Inspector #5, believing the inspector's careless error resulted in him being sent out into the world only to die. He becomes determined to find Inspector #5 and demand an answer to why he allowed Bender to exist despite his fatal flaw.
Hermes
Hermes Conrad
Hermes Conrad is a fictional character in the Futurama animated series. He is voiced by Phil LaMarr.- Appearance and personality :Born in 2959, Hermes is a grade 36 bureaucrat from Jamaica. He manages the Planet Express delivery business with responsibilities that include paying bills, giving out...
agrees to help Bender in his quest to discover the identity of Inspector #5, which is locked in the Central Bureaucracy. While at the Central Bureaucracy, Hermes logs into the computer system with his ID to look up Inspector #5's records. However, he and Bender find that the electronic record on Inspector #5 has been deleted and that the physical file is also missing. Bender calls Mom's Friendly Robot Company, who created him, and tells her he is defective. Mom
Mom (Futurama)
Mom, real first name Carol, is a character from the animated television series Futurama. Voiced by Tress MacNeille. Mom is one of the show's two main antagonists, the other being Zapp Brannigan...
attempts to have Bender destroyed to cover up the existence of a defective robot. The two flee from Mom's Killbot
Killbot
A Killbot is a generic term for a type of stereotypical fictional robot character, commonly appearing in works of science fiction. Killbots are usually large, menacing machines created to perpetrate murder or other damage....
s by train and arrive in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
—where Bender was manufactured.
The original manufacturing plant is abandoned, but Bender finds an old directory listing Inspector #5's address. However, upon reaching the home, they also find it abandoned. Realizing that he may never find the answers he seeks, Bender is forced to confront the reality of death. Hermes consoles him, telling him that now life is precious and he should not spend it bitter and angry. The two bond and soon the Killbots arrive and begin shooting into the house. Hermes tells Bender to flee while he attempts to hack into Inspector #5's old Central Bureaucracy computer and fake Bender's death. Successful, Hermes uploads false information to the Killbots claiming Bender has been eliminated, which ends their pursuit and he narrowly escapes the burning wreckage of the house.
Back at Planet Express, Hermes secretly burns Inspector #5's file, whose cover falls away to reveal that he was Inspector #5. A flashback reveals that he overrode the "defective" assessment on Bender to prevent him from being scrapped, then resigned from the company immediately afterward. Hermes' personnel file was deleted, and he stole his own physical file from the Central Bureaucracy; the computer at the Tijuana house was his own, so he did not have to hack into it. In the present, Hermes smiles quietly over the burning file, happy in knowing he did the right thing.
Production
Aaron Ehasz
Aaron Ehasz is an American television writer and producer whose body of work primarily consists of animated series, although he did serve as a producer on the live-action series The Mullets and Ed.-Career:...
and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson. From June 8 to June 15, as part of its 2010 "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of Bender and Hermes' entry into the Central Bureaucracy and character designs for the war reenactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
sequence. The episode is one of the few times where Hermes plays a major role and is key to the plot. The episode ends with "Little Bird, Little Bird," an American children's song, performed by Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell (musician)
Elizabeth Mitchell, a Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist, has been recording and performing music for children since 1998. Elizabeth was the first new children's music artist signed to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in the 21st century...
.
Cultural references
When Hermes and Bender enter "cubical room 729", the cubicals are set up in groups of nine, three rows across and three columns down. In order to get to Hermes cubical, the group rotates right and left and up and down in the same fashion as a Rubik's CubeRubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
. When Hermes's cubical stop, he says, "This is mine, right next to the center square", a reference to the television show Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
. The bureaucrat next to Hermes makes a comment and a red 'X' pops up on his desk. This is a reference to actor and comedian Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
, who was the regular "center square" on the show. The song during the final moments of the episode is "Little Bird, Little Bird" by Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell (musician)
Elizabeth Mitchell, a Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist, has been recording and performing music for children since 1998. Elizabeth was the first new children's music artist signed to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in the 21st century...
.
Theme
The episode deals with the concept of realizing one's mortality and discovering that life is more precious because of it. Learning that he is in fact not immortal as he once thought, Bender initially feels that living a life that is anything less than immortal is worthless. He deals with the devastating news of his new found mortality by trying to find the one person who he believes can answer his questions about the reason for his life and why he was allowed to "be born" only to die. Though Bender cannot find the answers to his mortality, he ultimately ends up developing a new outlook on life, believing it to be more precious than it was before now that it is finite; he resolves that life is worth living no matter how brief it is.Reception
"Lethal Inspection" originally aired on July 22, 2010 on Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. In its original American broadcast, "Lethal Inspection" was viewed by an estimated 1.920 million viewers. The episode had a 1.3 rating/2% share in Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
and a 0.9 rating/3% share in the 18–49 demographic, meaning 1.3% of households with televisions were watching the episode and 2% of television viewers during the half hour were watching this episode. "Lethal Inspection" was down two tenths of a point from the previous week's episode "The Duh-Vinci Code
The Duh-Vinci Code
"The Duh-Vinci Code" is the fifth episode of Futurama sixth season. In the episode, Fry finds a drawing of a lost Leonardo da Vinci invention which leads him and Professor Farnsworth to planet Vinci....
".
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode an A- and praised the unlikely pairing of Bender and Hermes, writing: "If I had to name a character on the show least likely to pluck at my heartstrings, Bender and Hermes would be near the top of the list...and yet they pulled it off. I'm not sure if Baby Bender violates continuity or not, but I don't care. It worked." Handlen called the episode "more thoughtful" and also felt that the episode provided depth and growth to both Bender and Hermes without compromising characterization. In the case of Hermes, Handlen stated, "Hermes can be an obsessive, number-loving accountant, and still have that memory of his younger self saving Baby Bender from the trash heap. It works because the twist is the discovery of compassion in someone we liked and wanted to love." Danny Gallagher of TVSquad felt that the episode marked the return of the Futuramas "true sense of emotion," comparing it to previous episodes like season four
Futurama (season 4)
Futurama fourth season began airing in 2002 and concluded after 18 episodes on August 10, 2003. The entire season is included within the Volume Four DVD box set, which was released on August 24, 2004.- Episodes :...
's "Jurassic Bark
Jurassic Bark
"Jurassic Bark" is the seventh episode of season four of the television series Futurama, airing November 17, 2002. It was nominated for an Emmy Award, but lost to The Simpsons episode "Three Gays of the Condo".-Plot:...
". In particular, Gallagher noted the highly effective use of the Central Bureaucracy, stating that it allowed the show to use a Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
-feel. Merrill Bar of Film School Rejects stated that the episode worked "99.9%" and that it recovered what he felt had been lacking from the previous episodes of season six. While he disliked the opening Star Wars gag, he felt that the rest of the episode made up for it, stating that "Lethal Inspection" was "by far, the funniest episode since the shows[sic] return. If the writers can keep this up, then my faith will have been fully restored."
Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
was also pleased with the episode, noting that Hermes and Bender's team up worked well and that the ending was cathartic. He found the episode to be his favorite of the new season, giving it a 9/10 and stating, "after an okay start, [it] turned out to be my favorite episode of this comeback season so far. The more I think about it, the more pleasure I find in it. It was an episode full of laughs, action and the kind of emotional tug the series has been missing of late." Sean Gandert of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
gave the episode a rating of 8.7/10 and wrote: "Judging from this episode and the last it seems like Futurama is intentionally straying away from its old groupings and trying new things. The sixth season is moving off from the repetition of its first two episodes and is all the better for it." Though he felt the episode was weaker with its jokes, he noted that this "is frequently the case in with episodes that deal more with the characters and less about making jokes in a wacky world. But this isn't something I think will bother real fans, as that's part of what's given Futurama its cult audience in the first place: that the show gives a damn about its characters."