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- "Don't kill me yet! I'm starting to come down with Stockholm Syndrome... handsome."
- ―Bender
Opening Sequence[]
Futurama logo with subtitle, Alienese and (often), cartoon.
Plot[]
The episode opens with a celebration of Dr. Zoidberg's tenth anniversary at Planet Express. After finding out that Zoidberg's pension fund is empty because he never paid into it, Fry realizes his retirement is also in question. After blowing most of his savings ($100) on lottery tickets, Fry opens an account at the Big Apple Bank. While at the bank, Bender meets an old acquaintance, Roberto, who then robs the bank.
Unfortunately, Fry and Bender are both arrested for the robbery and, due to the aloof attitude of Judge Ron Whitey, are sentenced to stints in the Hal Institute for Criminally Insane Robots. Fry is sent there because the Home for Criminally Insane Humans was full after Judge Whitey declared poverty to be a mental illness.
Once there, they both take a body test, much to Bender's enjoyment and Fry's horror (the test involves being stripped, prodded, drilled and x-rayed, as well as being violently dropped into the evaluation room). Dr. Perceptron refuses to acknowledge that Fry is a human, due to the logic that, if Fry is a patient in a robot asylum, he must be a robot. Fry is taken by Nurse Ratchet and becomes cellmates with car-dealer Malfunctioning Eddie, who is undergoing treatment for his exploding problem when surprised or shocked. Fry perseveres, surviving on food coughed up by a Sick Vending Machine Robot.
However, just when Fry thinks he is going to be released, Eddie gets released instead and Fry gets a new cellmate: Roberto, who was captured after robbing the Big Apple Bank again. The day after suffering a complete mental breakdown, Fry is released, having been "cured" of his delusion of humanity. Roberto, already fed up with life in the asylum, escapes by disguising himself as a doctor and takes Bender with him.
Roberto then robs the Big Apple Bank for a third time to thank Bender for helping him escape, but it's a sting and the pair flee to Planet Express to escape the police. When the police surround the building, Roberto takes the entire Planet Express crew hostage. Fry concludes that he must be a battle droid and attacks Roberto to save his friends. In the scuffle, Fry is cut by Roberto's knife and, after seeing his own blood, realizes that he is human after all.
Ongoing Themes[]
Hermes-isms[]
"Sacred hog of Prague!"
Death, near-death and mutilation[]
- When they meet in the bank line, Roberto punches Bender and slaps his head, causing it to spin.
- Fry kicks a woman during the bank robbery.
- When Fry is boxed up for shipment to the robot asylum, his head, feet and chin are injured.
- Malfunctioning Eddie blows up on more than one occasion. In one case, Fry is in close proximity, and is singed; in another, Eddie explodes during a visit from Victor, knocking the salesman over. When told he is 'cured', Eddie has a very minor explosion on his shoulder; Dr. Perceptron states that this can be controlled with medication.
- Fry is subjected to numerous assaults in the robot asylum - a drill in his mouth, electric shocks from Dr. Perceptron and being knocked about during mealtime. He also mentions having discs crammed into him.
- Roberto murders and dismembers Dr. Perceptron in order to use his body parts as a disguise.
- Amy slaps Professor Farnsworth for making a sexist remark.
- Roberto nicks Professor Farnsworth's neck during the hostage-taking.
- Roberto viciously stabs the oil can in Fry's jacket and then throws his knife, causing an injury to Fry's shoulder.
- Roberto jumps through a window of the Planet Express building and crashes onto the sidewalk, doing a great deal of damage to himself.
Hermes & Zoidberg[]
- When reading the mandatory speech for Zoidberg's anniversary, Hermes is mechanical, as he probably would have been with any other employee. But when Zoidberg laments his empty pension account, Hermes calls him a "dumb stinkbug".
Fry & Leela[]
- Lamenting Fry's "deprogramming", Leela presses Fry's head to her chest, and Fry's heart rate increases noticeably.
- Later, Leela gives Fry a romantic kiss in an attempt to reawaken his humanity. They both smile afterward, but Fry continues his robot persona: his only comment on the kiss is a single beep.
- After Fry rescues the crew from Roberto and remembers that he is human, Leela thanks him by giving him a kiss on the cheek. Fry says that he will "continue never washing that cheek again".