The Honking
From Futurama Wiki
Episode Number: 2ACV18
Title: "The Honking"
Original Airdate: November 5, 2000
Abstract: Bender becomes a were-car and tries to kill his best friend (Leela not Fry) making Fry upset.
Also Starring: Calculon, Fortune-Teller Machine, Project Satan
Intro Promotion: Smell-O-Vision Users Insert Nostril Tubes Now
Intro Cartoon: "Bold King Cole"
Directed by: Susie Dietter
Assistant Director: ??
Written by: Ken Keeler
Storyboarded by: ??
Contents |
[edit] Act I: "B-E-N-D-E-R- BENDER!"
Bender's uncle Vladimir dies and every member of his family is invited to his castle in Thermostat for his funeral and will givings. After a short talk, they encase Vladimir's chassis in a box filled with styrofoam. The next day, the lawyer gives out the will; the butler gets a very small pittance; his son Rodney, who never understood the value of a dollar, is given a million bucks; Bender, who Vladimir assumes is not responsible for his death, is given his castle under the condition that he spends one night within its walls.
[edit] Act II: "That's what they said about bein' alive!"
That night, Bender is enjoying his time, until he sees a painting's eyes move (which are actually motion sensors), blood numerals written backwards and the ghosts of the castle's paintings come to life. He then runs away. The crew investigates and find out that the poorly protected robots' programmings leaked through the castle's wirings where they could appear holograms. They try to explain to Bender but he encounters a car that runs on all fours. When they come back to New New York, Bender thinks the car has followed him. Next night, two vandals are wrecking a hover car, which prompts one on all four to attack them. The next day, Bender finds himself in a parking lot. Seeking help, he goes to a robot gypsy, who tells him he has become a were-car. Every night when the clock strikes zero, his clock would reboot and the transformation will take place. Soon he will be compelled to kill his best friend. The only way to cure him is to seek out and destroy the original, so its uninstalling program would rid the curse.
[edit] Act III: "THAT'S MY LAST BEER!!!"
For the next night, Fry and Leela weld Bender to a wall in his apartment. But it doesn't stop him from transforming. But instead of going after Fry, he goes after Leela. They managed to subdue him with a huge magnet. The next morning, Fry is very angry at Bender for not trying to kill him. They then return to Thermostat to hunt down the original were-car. They track the trail to an old birdwatcher, who got his curse from the North Pole, where people call it, the Abominable Snowmobile. The robot there tells them she got the curse from Calculon. In Hollywood, Calculon confesses he was run over by the original were-car, a thousand years ago (he changes his appearance every two decades so no one gets suspicious). When he was once a car manufacturing machine, he assisted in creating the most evil of cars, Project Satan. Some of its parts were made from steering wheel from Adolf Hitler's Mercedes Benz, the left-turn signal from Charles Manson's VW bus and the windshield wiper from that car that played Knight Rider. But unknown to the scientists... it was pure evil. It ran over Calculon, the first victim. He pointed them that Project Satan can be found in either France or the old abandoned Toyota factory.
The crew locate the car but Bender then transforms, choosing to kill Fry. Satan tries to kill Leela only to run into a furnace, melting him, relieving the curse. Fry, who was inside Bender at the time, is assumed dead but fitted perfectly in his chassis. They celebrate with Bender's last beer, which then caused Bender to strangle Fry.
[edit] Quotes
Vladimir: Come Bender. You like being dead.
Bender: That's what they said about being alive!
[edit] References
- The writing on the wall through the mirror, 1010011010 is binary for the number, 666. The idea of an ominous phrase which only makes sense when viewed in a mirror is a reference to The Shining.
- The painting with the moving eyes is of a robot named Commodore LXVI (Commodore 64, a popular early home computer).
