Bendless Love

Infobox Futurama episode
episode_name = Bendless Love
episode_no = 38
prod_code = 3ACV06
airdate = February 11, 2001
country = USA
writer = Eric Horsted
director = Swinton Scott
opening_subtitle = Torn From Tomorrow's Headlines
opening_cartoon = Unknown
guest_star = Jan Hooks as Angleyne


caption = Bender and Angleyne fall in love.
season = three

"Bendless Love" is the sixth episode in season three of "Futurama". It originally aired in North America on February 11, 2001.

Plot

After an overly dramatic takeoff results in an inelegant crash onto the streets of New New York, Leela discovers that the Planet Express ship's essential L-unit has been straightened. After discovering that other objects in the office (including Professor Farnsworth) have been bent, suspicion naturally turns to Bender. In order to confirm their suspicions, Hermes plays the security tape from the night before, which shows Bender sleep-bending. The Professor sends Bender away to satisfy his psychological need for bending (throughout the episode, the Professor annoys everyone with his fascination of looking up at the sky now that he is bent backwards).

Bender gets hired at a bending plant as a scab worker during a strike, and discovers that Flexo, who was sent to prison in Bender's place in a previous episode, is also employed as a scab. Also working at the factory is a solidly-built fembot named Angleyne. Bender quickly develops an affection for Angleyne, and they begin dating. Their relationship goes well, until Bender discovers that Angleyne and Flexo were previously married and then divorced, and that they may still be affectionate.

In an attempt to discover Angleyne's true feelings, Bender disguises himself as Flexo, and meets her at an orbital night club. While there, Bender flashes the wad of cash he has made as a strikebreaker, which angers the members of the Robot Mafia who are present. Bender (as Flexo) succeeds in seducing Angleyne, but when she discovers his identity, Bender rushes off to kill Flexo.

Bender arrives at the bending plant where Flexo is working the night shift, and starts a fight. Meanwhile in the crane control booth, the Robot Mafia moves an unbendable girder into position above Bender and Flexo. Because they don't know that Bender was disguised as Flexo, the Robot Mafia wants Flexo dead for Bender's monetary indiscretions. The girder is dropped on top of Flexo, which crushes him. Angleyne confesses that she still loves Flexo, and Bender decides that her happiness is more important than his, and resolves to save Flexo by bending the unbendable girder. After a mighty struggle, he frees Flexo, earning Angleyne's appreciation, but not her love. Having satisfied his need for bending, Bender returns to his job at Planet Express (however, he bends the Professor's back even further back, though no one really cares).

Continuity

This is the second episode where Bender keeps his sanity while wearing a magnet (the Flexo goatee on his date with Angelyne as Flexo), the other is "A Flight to Remember" while wearing a magnetic bowtie: both the goatee and the bowtie are below his head, and therefore don't affect Bender [from remarks by David X. Cohen in the commentary] .

In this episode, Bender reveals that he was built in a Mexican factory and had his bending knowledge installed in his head, though in "The Series Has Landed", it was implied that Bender went to high school (cf. the part where the crew is on the Whalers on the Moon ride, one of the robots yells "Bender! Hey, Bender, over here!" and Bender sheepishly replies that he went to high school with that robot); and in "Mars University", he tells Leela that he went to bending school to major in bending (and minored in Robo-American Studies). Bender previously revealed that he was made in Mexico in "Amazon Women in the Mood".

Despite the fact that the wheel is no longer recongised by the world, the show depicts bicycles with wheels moving them, as well as on the support that the professor uses.

Production notes

* The design of Angelyne was originally going to be based around Audrey Hepburn.Fact|date=July 2007
* When Elzar's restaurant is first seen in the episode, a sign in front shows that the special is "blackened leftovers". After the commercial break, Elzar's restaurant is shown again, but the special has been changed to "blackened blackened leftovers".

Awards

Actor John DiMaggio (Bender, Flexo, Sal, Joey Mousepad, Elzar) won an Annie Award for "Outstanding individual achievement for voice acting by a male performer in an animated television production" for his performance as Bender in this episode.cite web |url=http://www.annieawards.com/29thannieawardwinners.htm |title=29th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners
publisher=International Animated Film Society |date=2001 |accessdate=2007-06-28 ]

Cultural references

* The title of this episode is a reference to both the 1981 film "Endless Love", and the song by the same title.
* The "L-unit" in the beginning is made of "340 pounds of Tonka-tough steel."
* After the group watches Bender bend the Professor, Zoidberg yells at him, "J'accuse!" (even though in "A Clone of My Own", it was implied that French is a dead language in the 31st century).
* In order to bend the unbendable girder Bender applies "Bendgay"; this is a reference to Bengay.
* The scene where Bender helps Angelyne bend a girder is a parody of a similar scene between Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in the film "Ghost".
* The montage between Bender and Angelyne is appropriately set to "Bend Me, Shape Me" by The American Breed
* Zoidberg makes a reference to Scooby-Doo near the beginning of the episode. He says, "Well gang, looks like we have another mystery on our hands!". This line is frequently said by Fred at the beginning of the original Scooby-Doo series.
* At the end when asked to bend the professor back to his former erect posture (which would also bring him to his former rather dark mood), Bender responds by saying "every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in.", an adaptation from Michael Corleone's line in "The Godfather Part III".
* At one point, Hermes mutters "Haile H. Selassie!" This is a reference to both Haile Selassie I, God incarnate in the Rastafari movement, and the exclamation "!"
* Professor Farnsworth begins singing a new song based upon his newly 'bent' outlook, the tune of which is that of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the end of "Monty Python's Life of Brian".
* Angleyne is a parody of California model Angelyne, although the two names are pronounced differently, with the robot character's name being pronounced with a hard 'g', a play on the word "angle".
* The Bender/Angelyne relationship is similar to the plot of the Mozart/da Ponte opera Così fan tutte, in which two men disguise themselves and woo their girlfriends, to see if they're faithful.

References