- "Well I don't feel as bad as you look! [He laughs.] Nah, I'm just messing with you, kid. You're alright. That's some face you got, though. I think they got a cream for that. [He laughs again.] Nah, you're great. "
- ―Flexo to Fry[source]
Like Bender, Flexo is a Bending-Unit 22 robot. Flexo's serial number is 3370318, a taxicab number; his and Bender's serial numbers gave both robots much amusement as both their serial codes are expressible as the sum of two cubes. Flexo has a habit of speaking contrary to how he actually feels, before correcting himself; this is seen most often when he slanders or insults an individual only to add, "Nah, I'm just messin' with ya; you're all right." When Bender shoves Flexo, the latter says "Thanks, I appreciate that," laughing but then adding, "Nah, I'm joshing you. That was quite annoying."[1]
Flexo looks and sounds exactly like Bender with the exception of having a small triangular metal goatee on his chin. When Fry accidentally runs him over with a 20th century gasoline-fueled car, a 1992 Latoura, and gives him "ass-whiplash". He becomes good friends with Bender, inspiring jealousy and suspicion from Fry, especially as Flexo often plays cruel jokes on him such as shooting a jet of poisonous chlorine in Fry's face for no reason. Fry originally believes that Flexo is an evil twin of Bender and suspects that he will try to steal the crown from the Miss Universe pageant. However, it turns out that Bender is the one attempting to steal the crown and Flexo is actually trying to stop him, therefore making Bender the evil twin. The confusion surrounding whether Flexo is good or evil is also not helped by his rather sinister laughter. When the police arrive at the scene, they mistake Flexo for Bender and, at the behest of Bob Barker's head, arrest him instead, sending him to a South American-Turkish prison.[2]
More proof that Bender is Flexo's evil twin; Bender says that "there must be robots worse than me!", only to have the Robot Devil say that he "checked around, there really aren't."[3] Therefore, if Bender is the evil robot, Flexo is less evil than Bender.
In a deleted scene, Bender is shown scratching out his serial code so the robot mafia will not find him, however the code scratched out is Flexo's, not Bender's. This scene was cut as it was thought to be too confusing and would infuriate fans; the implication seems to be that it was Bender, and not Flexo, who was arrested previously, meaning the Planet Express crew, if not police, had identified the wrong robot.[4]
Bender briefly dates Flexo's ex-wife Angleyne. Once Bender discovers that Angleyne used to be married to Flexo, Bender impersonates Flexo, and, for the second time, Flexo is punished for Bender's behavior when the Robot Mafia drops a large, unbendable metal beam onto Flexo, crushing him. This could have killed him had he been trapped under it for an entire year, but Bender rescues him. Flexo then gets back together with Angleyne, and the two have sex "right there on the factory floor," apparently with Bender still in the room.[5]
Bender later discovers Flexo in a dumpster behind CitiHall during a community recycling event.[6] Flexo is the only recurring robot not to appear at Robot Party Week.[7]
Allusions
Flexo's goatee is a reference to the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," in which Kirk and Spock's more aggressive alternates in the parallel Mirror Universe both wore facial hair while the originals did not. That the goatee-wearing Flexo is a "good" version (relatively speaking) of Bender is an inversion of the natures of our universe and the Mirror Universe on Star Trek.
Appearances
Footnotes
- ↑ "Bendless Love"
- ↑ "The Lesser of Two Evils"
- ↑ "Hell is Other Robots"
- ↑ "Bender Gets Made" DVD commentary
- ↑ "Bendless Love"
- ↑ "Attack of the Killer APP"
- ↑ "Crimes of the Hot"