WARNING: DO NOT SHOW TO HORSES
Bender contemplates the many decisions he could make and becomes a college drop-out addicted to the robot drug "Spark," with a questionable loan from the robot mafia, leading to his arrest and trial. But because the lawyer argues that he has no free will, he is ruled innocent, depressing Bender, leading him to go on a spiritual odyssey.
Tropes
- An Arm and a Leg: Bender vows he'll never let go of the five dollars Joey Mousepad tries to take from him. The struggle ends with Bender's hand being ripped off, while still holding the dollar.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When Leela tells Fry she assumes that Bender is shuffling off sadly into the distance, Fry says, "Oh, Lord...", which is usually said by Leela.
- Continuity Nod: The crew returns to Chapek 9, first introduced in "Fear of a Bot Planet". Several characters from the same episode also, return, notably, the Robot Eld—SILENCE!!!!
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Mom had all robots designed with a slot for inserting a free will unit, for if and when someone finally invented one, even decades after the Professor supposedly failed.
- Professor Farnsworth designed all modern robots so they can't physically harm him.
- Glad I Thought of It: Inverted - at one point Bender gets an idea, then credits Fry for it, much to his confusion.
- Informed Flaw: Done very intentionally. The episode repeatedly claims Bender has no free will when he quite obviously does.
- Jump Scare: Mom gives one to Fry, Leela, and Bender when she swivels in her chair to reveal herself. Made more hilarious by the bulb horn sounds coming from the speakers installed onto the chair.
- Just a Machine: This is a source of angst for Bender. He is acquitted of his crimes because the court rules that as a robot he has no free will.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Mom's original evil plan for giving robots free will was the hope they would inevitably turn on mankind, then get the commission to build more robots to fight them.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Bender is acquitted in court because, as a robot, all decisions are dictated by his programming and he is thus not responsible for his actions. This depresses Bender, since it means he has no choice in how he acts, and goes on a spiritual journey (which he hates doing).
- Not With the Safety On, You Won't: Turns out Bender's problem with shooting the Professor was partly also because he had the gun's safety on. Once it's off, he shoots the Professor repeatedly.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: To Good Will Hunting.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Fry and Leela are seen together in his bed while Leela tries to comfort Fry over Bender not being there.
- Shout-Out: In the monastery, the cranking room is patterned after the M.C. Escher painting, Relativity, which was previously parodied in "I, Roommate".
- Slapstick: Both Fry and Leela suffer mishaps breaking into Mom Corp's research lab.
- Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate: Bender starts out having no free will, and then moves to fully possessing this by the end of the episode.
- The Smurfette Principle: Previously, the Robot Elders were all guys. Now they have a gal in their number, though she's just as nuts as the rest of them.
- Snap Back: "Fear of a Bot Planet" ended with the robots of Chapek-9 supposedly getting over their hatred for humans, but here they're just as jumpy and suspicious as they used to be.
