Lethal Inspection
| "Lethal Inspection" | |
|---|---|
| Futurama episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 6 |
| Directed by | Ray Claffey |
| Written by | Eric Horsted |
| Featured music | "Little Bird, Little Bird" by Elizabeth Mitchell |
| Production code | 6ACV06 |
| Original air date | July 22, 2010 |
| Opening caption | "Made you look!" |
"Lethal Inspection" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television sitcom Futurama. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 22, 2010. In the episode Bender learns that he suffers from a terminal manufacturing defect, effectively rendering him mortal. Bender must cope with his newfound mortality and enlists Hermes Conrad's help to track down the mysterious quality inspector, Inspector No. 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's 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.
After a reenactment of the "Sith-al War", Bender touts his perfection and "immortality", specifically citing his ability to download a backup 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 backup unit, making him mortal. He is devastated by the revelation of his mortality and of Inspector No. 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 No. 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 No. 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 No. 5's records. However, he and Bender find that the electronic record on Inspector No. 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 Killbots by train and arrive in Tijuana—where Bender was manufactured.
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