Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.
In this week's episode, "Free Will Hunting," we took a soul-searching journey with Bender, who wandered to the robot home world and back again to find out if life was worth living with a predetermined set of decisions and outcomes. While this certainly wasn't the most radical odyssey we've taken with our amoral metal comrade, it did have its short bursts of novelty, all the same.
The episode really started out quite strong as we saw Bender go from becoming a college student, to joining a gang, to becoming a drug addict, to turning tricks, to eventually hitting rock bottom, beaten all to hell in the middle of an alleyway. The first few minutes were perhaps the most enjoyable sequence of the episode, which opened to a frantic and eventful pace. ("We have a rival gang? I hate them!") Quick one-liners and a barrage of high-speed shenanigans turned Bender's day out into one of the best opening acts of the season.
Unfortunately, the identity crisis that followed jarringly switched to a snail's pace. Watching Bender trudge through the gloomy robot home world really pumped the breaks on what felt like a promising jumping-off point.
That's not to say these scenes didn't have their moments. The Robot Elders' perpetual silencing of one another was a strong bit -- funny enough to give their otherwise pointless conversation with Bender some momentum. However, Bender's subsequent stint as a robot monk was somewhat less entertaining.
The story started to pick back up again upon the discovery of the coveted free will unit. Fry, Leela and Bender's infiltration of Mom Corp. had a few nice sight gags, and Bender's confrontation with the Professor at the end was a clever, roundabout way to bring the arc back to Planet Express. ("Thanks to you, I went on a soul-searching journey. I hate those!")
Overall, though, aside from the first seven minutes, this was a fairly uninspired arc for Bender, the likes of which we've seen on numerous occasions in previous seasons. The episode definitely had a few standout moments early on -- and even throughout, it was pleasant enough -- but considering the intriguing setup, I think the rest of Bender's trek deserved an equally riveting course of events.
Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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