Recap / Futurama S 7 E 18 The Inhuman Torch

As seen at the 1939 world's fair

The Planet Express crew becomes firefighters after saving sun miners, but Bender discovers the cause of the fires they've fought is a sapient solar flare inside him that seeks to turn Earth into a second Sun.

Tropes for this episode:

• Accidental Hero: Bender wanted to bail on rescuing the helium miners on the Sun, and just needed to put out one more flame before he could head back to the ship. He ends up putting too much power into his hoses, sending him rocketing back into the mine and unintentionally carrying the first miner on his way back out.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Fry's pretty incredulous about Bender's claims about an evil alien who came from the Sun. But considering all the weird things he's seen in the 31st century, it's far from the strangest thing Fry has come across.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: When discussing how he could escape Bender keeping him contained in the arctic, Flamo seems really excited about hitching a ride on "a nice, flammable polar bear".
• Bait-and-Switch: Farnsworth takes the Planet Express crew to the lava pit in sub-basement to test out his new heat-exclusion spray. To test it out, he takes an ice cream cone away from Dr. Zoidberg... and sprays him before dunking Zoidberg in the lava.
• Bridal Carry: How Bender catches Fry after they fall into Planet Express's basement.
  Fry: If you're done saving me from the fire monster from the sun, I'll be on my way. (heads for the stairs)
  Bender: I guess some grown men just don't like being carried.
• Cassandra Truth: Bender isn't lying when he claims he wasn't responsible for the recent fires and later tries to warn Fry about Flamo. Nobody believes him, and everyone thinks Bender was the one who started the fires in the first place. Even when Bender tries to save Fry from Flamo, Fry STILL assumes that Bender started the fires and refuses to let Bender save him.
• Comically Missing the Point: When the Planet Express crew realize that Bender happened to be in the same location as all the recent fires moments before they started:
  Amy: Hmm, I think I'm noticing a pattern.
  Fry: My god, you're right! The locations form a perfect shape of some kind!
• Crisis Catch And Carry: When Fry refuses to be rescued, Bender just tosses him over his shoulder
  Bender: I don't have time for this shazbot! You're getting heroed, whether you like it or—(falls through the floor)
• Engineered Heroics: Circumstances conspire to make Bender appear to be this. Fry initially insists that it's where he'd draw the line, but even he begins to have doubts. Though it turns out he was originally correct.
• Even Evil Has Standards: According to Fry.
  Fry: How dare you murmur about Bender like that! He would never burn something down to get attention! For insurance money? Yes. Revenge? You bet. To give an autumn night that crisp, chestnutty smell? Absolutely. But not for fame, women or thrills!
• Evil Living Flames: The fires were all caused by Flamo, an evil being of solar energy who hitched a ride with Bender after he saved the helium miners on the Sun. Flamo was imprisoned for attempting to overthrow the mystic aldermen of the Sun and hopes to transform the Earth into a new Sun where he can rule unopposed.
• Firefighter Arsonist: The Planet Express crew put out a series of high-profile fires, all at places that Bender previously visited while off-duty, making people suspect that he started those fires so he could claim the fame for putting them out. It was actually a fire monster from the Sun riding along in his pilot light.
• Firefighting Episode: The Planet Express Crew become professional firefighters for one episode.
• Firehouse Dalmatian: Since the Planet Express does not have an actual Dalmatian, they end up painting Nibbler white with black dots to act as this.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: Bender ends up saving the entire planet from Flamo and is declared the world's greatest hero by the aldermen of the Sun. However, Bender begs Fry not to tell anyone about his heroics, as everyone will just think he caused the fire at Planet Express. Fry reluctantly agrees and takes the blame for starting the fire in the first place.
• Helium Speech: While trapped inside the helium mine, the miners end up inhaling a lot of helium and beg for their lives in high-pitched voices. Fry, Leela, and Bender can't help but snicker at their perilous predicament.
• Irony: The Robot Devil, who rules over a Fire and Brimstone Hell, is terrified of a small fire in a nearby garbage can and calls the Planet Express crew to deal with it. The newspaper headline even lampshades it.
• Jerkass Ball: Fry becomes a total Jerkass towards Bender by refusing to believe him about a tiny flame monster and thinking he caused the fires. He even gets petty about this by refusing to let Bender save him from the Planet Express building in the climax.
• Noodle Incident: When Bender takes Flamo to the Arctic, Flamo claims it'll only be a matter of time before he hitches a ride on a "nice, flammable polar bear". Bender tells him that polar bears don't burn as he's "tried many times".
• Not Helping Your Case: Bender's reaction to being accused (falsely) is "What? The very idea!" From there he doesn't even try to defend himself.
• Not Me This Time: Evidence begins piling up suggesting Bender was starting fires, just so he could put them out and claim all the fame for being a hero. It turns out that Bender was innocent the whole time, and that an evil solar creature was responsible for setting all the fires across the city.
• Sand In My Eyes: Morbo starts tearing up during the rescue of the helium miners. He tries to brush this off by saying that he has a parasite in his eye.
• Saying Too Much: Flamo's curious about the pit in the sub-basement, only for Bender to accidentally blab out how it's a lava-pit that goes directly to the Earth's core. He realizes too late that he probably shouldn't have told this to a being who can control fire.
• Sudden Anatomy: Bender suddenly gains a pilot light in his body when Fry opens him up in the Arctic, which Flamo uses to hide from Fry. He apparently always had a pilot light, as this is what convinces Fry that he's lying and that he started the fires after Bender told him about the evil fire alien Flamo.
• What You Are in the Dark: Bender traps Flamo in his chest cavity and travels to the Arctic Circle to ensure they're nowhere near anything flammable. Bender is willing to spend the rest of his life there to keep the world safe, even when no one else is aware of the sacrifice he's making. He also turns down Fry as a Character Witness at the end, convinced that it wouldn't be enough.
• You Have to Believe Me!: Bender is so bad at explaining himself that Fry manages to get convinced of his guilt.
  Bender: It was a psychotic flame creature from the sun who set those fires!