Insane in the Mainframe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Futurama episode | |
| "Insane in the Mainframe" | |
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|---|---|
| Episode no. | 43 |
| Prod. code | 3ACV11 |
| Airdate | April 8, 2001 |
| Writer(s) | Bill Odenkirk |
| Director | Peter Avanzino |
| Opening subtitle | Bender’s Humor by Microsoft Joke |
| Opening cartoon | Unknown |
| Guest star(s) | unknown |
| Season 3 January 2001 – December 2002 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
“Insane in the Mainframe” is the eleventh episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired April 8, 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
While at Big Apple Bank to open a retirement fund, Fry and Bender become involved in a holdup. The criminally insane robot Roberto hands them bags of cash for their trouble, and after he runs off, Fry and Bender are arrested for the robbery. At the trial, Roberto surreptitiously threatens to kill Fry should Fry testify against him. After pleading insanity, both Fry and Bender are sent to the HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots.
Once there, the doctors refuse to acknowledge that Fry is human, due to their use of the logic that, if Fry is a patient in a robot asylum, then he must be a robot. Fry is roomed with car-dealer Malfunctioning Eddie, who is undergoing treatment for his exploding problem. Fry perseveres, surviving on food coughed up by a sick vending machine robot.
But just when Fry thinks he is going to be released, he gets a new roommate: the insane bank robber Roberto, who was captured after robbing the same bank again. Shortly after, Fry is released, having been “cured” of his delusion of humanity. Roberto, fed up with life in the asylum, breaks out and takes Bender with him. Back at the Planet Express building, Fry attempts to discover his function as a robot.
A newly escaped Roberto robs the Big Apple Bank a third time, and Bender takes him back to the Planet Express building to hide out. New New York police surround the building, and Roberto takes the staff hostage. Fry, now convinced that he is a battle droid, takes on Roberto, who jumps out a window and is apprehended by the police. Fry, seeing that he was cut by Roberto, realizes that he is human.
[edit] Characters
Characters who first appear in this episode include:
[edit] Cultural references
- The title comes from the song Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill, in particular, the line, “Insane in the membrane.”
- The character Nurse Ratchet is based on Nurse Ratched from the book and film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, who runs the ward with an iron fist, causing the newly admitted R.P. McMurphy to stir up the ward.
- The robot in the cafeteria that constantly tells everyone to “change places” is a reference to the Mad Hatter from the story Alice in Wonderland; his hat displaying the fraction "5/3" is a parody of the tag reading "In This Style 10/6" attached to the Mad Hatter's hat (10/6 is equivalent to 5/3 in fractions, although the original tag referred to the hat's price of ten shillings and sixpence).
- The HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots is a reference to HAL 9000, the murderous artificial intelligence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Bender claims to have Stockholm Syndrome while being held hostage by Roberto.
- The security robot that testifies at the trial sounds similar to the educational robotic toy, 2-XL. The robot in the episode even uses the phrase “Well, my memory’s a little fuzzy…” which 2-XL was known to frequently utter.
- Dr. Perceptron’s head resembles a plasma lamp, a device commonly found in novelty shops.
- The robotic Abraham Lincoln is partly a homage to the animatronic Lincoln in Disneyland's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction, especially in how Lincoln rises from his chair very slowly.
[edit] Continuity
- In this episode Bender says “Je suis Napoléon!” despite the fact that the French language was previously stated as being an “unintelligible dead language”. (“A Clone of My Own”) However since he was pretending to be insane using a dead language makes sense.
- Immediately following the visitation scene, an establishing shot of the asylum at night shows a crescent moon, with lights (possibly stars) visible inside what should be the dark portion of the Moon’s disk. This could be an error or yet another example of the subtle humor typical of Futurama. It should also be noted that the second episode of the series, The Series has Landed, the moon is in fact shown to have half of its mass missing.
[edit] Production notes
- When Bender passes in front of a gamma ray scanner, there’s a bat in his belly. Fry is seen shortly after this getting his turn in the scanner, leading to a sort of pictogram which can be construed as “Bats in the belfry,” an expression meaning crazy which is quite fitting for the episode.
