Futurama (1999–2013): Season 3, Episode 13 - Bendin' in the Wind - full transcript

After being crippled, Bender gets a new career as a folk rock singer. Fry, Leela, Amy and Dr. Zoidberg follow him around the country.

Bendin' in the Wind

BENDER: Froggy went a-courtin '
And he did ride, uh-huh

Froggy went a-courtin ' and he did ride
Blah, blah, Bender's great

Froggy went a-courtin '
And Bender is great, uh-huh

[SMASHING]

Oh, my God! They dug up a bag
of olestra chips from my time!

[METAL CLANGS]

[GROANS]

There must be layers and layers
of old stuff down there.

[FRY GASPS]

- Is that one of those Led Zeppelins?
- No, it's an old Volkswagen van!



Mind if I take this old van?

Sure. You wanna dump
the corpses out of there, it's yours.

Yeah, I've gotten used cars before.

[GRUNTS]

[BENDER GULPS]

What's that?
One of those Jefferson Starships?

It's called a van.

And in light of the fact it's not
rocking, I invite you to come knocking.

- Ooh.
AMY: Neat.

It's a triumph of German engineering!

The speedometer only goes up to 80.
It can't go faster than 80,000 mph?

No, but it's got a driver's-side floor
and an eight-track player!

Where's the device that lets you
speed or slow the passage of time?

Under the seat.



[ENGINE SPUTTERS]

- Why won't it start?
- It needs gas.

Wrong again, idiot. There is no gas.
Petroleum reserves ran dry in 2038.

Gas was an environmental disaster.
We use alternative fuels.

- Like what?
- Whale oil.

- Bender, lift it up to the can opener.
- Oh, no!

Last time, that magnetic psycho
nearly cut my head off!

Plus the magnet impairs your inhibition
unit and makes you sing folk songs.

What? Who said anything about me
secretly wanting to be a folk singer?

If you don't open that can now, your
fear will own you, and nothing's worse!

Okay! Okay, I can do this.

It's time to take life by the cans.

[GRUNTS]

- Come on, you can do it!
- Go on, you dummy!

Jimmy cracked corn and I don 't care
Ah!

Jimmy cracked corn and I don 't care
Ah!

Oh, no!

'Cause the master's gone away

It's toe-tappingly tragic!

Doc, I can't move my arms and legs!
What's wrong with me?

- This is the worst part of the job.
- Good news?

Bender, your hydraulics are shot.
You'll never move again.

- You mean...?
- Sorry, you'll have to get a new one.

[BENDER SOBS]

Oh, no!

- Poor Bender!
- Well, let's drag him to the curb.

Wait! Bender is my best friend.

We can't just dump him in the gutter
like Grandma's ashes.

Oh, my life is over.
I'll never know happiness again!

[HORN HONKS]

- Hello, there.
- Look! It's Patch Cord Adams!

- He heals with the power of laughter.
- Come on, take it.

- Can't move your arms?
- No, or I'd be strangling you right now!

Here's a giggle!

Why do they use Windows 3000
as a prison guard?

- Why?
- Because it always locks up.

- For God's sake, somebody kick his ass!
- Well, so long. Get well soon.

Oh, well, so long anyway.

I'm doomed.
Everybody leave me alone!

I don't want to be seen this way.

You look so sad. Do you want me
to send Patch Cord Adams back in?

[SOBS]

[HARMONICA PLAYS]

Hey, the blues! The tragic sound
of other people suffering.

That's kind of a pick-me-up.

- That was great!
- Thanks. Are you a fan?

I don't know. Let me see.

Oh, my God, you're Beck!

I'd get up to shake hands and steal
your wallet, but my body crapped out.

I used to miss my body too...

...but then I fished this mannequin
out of the 92c Store dumpster.

We've got a lot in common. I always
dreamed of being a musician-poet...

...who transcends genres even
as he reinvents them.

- So do it. It's easier than it looks.
- Thanks, but it's hopeless.

- I'll never be a musician now.
- Or maybe...

...you'll be the best musician ever.

[WHISPERS]

What's this for?

Try and scrape it across your chest
like a knife on burnt toast.

Move those arms! Use the power of
mental thinking. Make it dynamic!

Yeah! Congratulations, my friend.

- Why, 'cause I made an annoying noise?
- I use those all the time in my music.

Bender, I want you to be
my new washboard player.

All right! Go Bender!
Go Bender! Go Bender!

[HORN HONKS]

That's my good friend Beck. I'm off
to rock a series of midlevel venues.

Kudos, Bender! You got mangled,
and now you're a singer.

Both our dreams came true.

[HORN HONKS]

Who wants to cram in my van, follow
Bender on tour and live in the van?

[ENGINE SPUTTERS]

I don't know, Fry. I think I'm too
poor to follow a band around in a van.

[HORN HONKS]

Move it! We gotta get to the concert
and make the audience wait!

- Bad news, friends. My shell ran.
- Zoidberg, you idiot!

- My outfit! It's...
- Kind of cool!

- I like it!
- Me too, now that I'm used to it.

Then it was all on purpose!
You're lucky to have me as a friend.

But cross me,
and I'll turn on you like that!

[YELLS]

There's a destination
A little up the road

From the habitations
And the towns we know

A place we saw the lights turn low

The jigsaw jazz and the get-fresh flow

Pulling out jives and jamboree handouts

Two turntables and a microphone

Bottles and cans
Just clap your hands

Just clap your hands

Where it's at

Got a washboard stomach
And a microphone

That was a washboard break

One bowl of Jell-O knuckles.

That'll be three pictures
of George Washington.

- Oh, no! My beautiful money!
- It got ruined in the wash!

- Mine too, even my change.
- Get lost, you moneyless hippies!

You heard him, freaks!
We don't like your type around here!

These are the types we like.

That was the best 40-minute
washboard solo I've ever heard.

The parts when I was awake
blew my mind!

[METAL CLANGS]

Check out all those broken robots.
Howdy, fellas!

I don't believe my broken eyes!
It's Bender, the washboard player!

- We caught your concert from here.
- You rock!

Bender, sign my chest!
It's in that bin behind me!

Thanks for showing
that broken robots are still useful.

Hang in there, folks. I bet
before you know it, you guys will be...

[GRINDING]

That's so wrong! They can't
just melt down broken robots!

- Not right when they're kissing my ass.
- Just cold chill.

When I'm upset, I write a song.
I wrote "Devil's Haircut"...

...when I was feeling...
What's that song about?

Yeah, I could write a song! With real
words, not phony ones like "odelay."

Odelay is a word.
Look it up in the Becktionary.

BENDER:
Ooh.

[BENDER HUMS]

I'm working on my song.
Hand me the Becktionary.

No, the rhyming Becktionary.

I'd like to raise awareness
about broken robots...

...but what can I do?
I only weigh 8 pounds.

Wait! You know lots of rock stars,
and they like to look like they care.

We can all do a big benefit concert
in San Francisco!

- We can call it "Bend-Aid," after me!
- And you can sing your song!

And I'll let you sing backup! But
remember who the star is. Me, Bender.

All right. "Hands in the air" rhymes
with "just don't care"...

...and finished!

[SNIFFS]

- Smells like something died in here.
- Surprise!

Can we crash here?
The colors in the van keep us awake.

All right, but hands off the minibar.

I forgot about TV. Living on the road,
you realize life is better without it.

Well, let's see what's on.

ANNOUNCER: Tuesday, Golden Gate Park!
Monsters of folkish alterna-rock...

... will strum your brains out
at Bend-Aid!

Featuring: Beck, Wailing Fungus,
and special guest, Bender!

A portion of the proceeds might go
to help broken robots.

- Yeah!
- Hooray, robot!

Bender, you're famous!

Yeah.

This coming together of superstars
really means a lot to you, doesn't it?

Uh-huh.

Helping my defective brothers is the
first thing I've ever cared about.

You know, when I first got broken,
I thought my life was over.

But look at me now.
I've got fame, money, groupies...

...and it's all thanks
to being completely immobilized.

That's why I'll be proud to go up
on stage and say, "Look at me...

...I am a broken robot!"

- Bender! You can move! You're cured!
- Oh, crap! It's a miracle.

I can move again.

My music career is over.

I don't understand the biz,
but wouldn't being able to move help?

No! Don't you see? I was a hero
to broken robots. I was one of them.

How can I sing about being damaged
if I'm not?

That's like Christina Aguilera
singing in Spanish.

Wait! That's it! I'll fake it!

[HAWKS]

- Don't do that at the concert.
- I can't stop.

When I eat too much dirt,
I get stuff in my throat.

You are so disgusting! L...

[GASPS]

- They're beautiful!
- Ew. You're touching them!

I've never seen pearls like this.
You're amazing!

I am? At last! Recognition!

[HAWKS]

EMCEE: Put your hands together
for the folk stylings...

... of Cylon and Garfunkel!

Here's a song that was beautiful
when performed by my ancestor Art.

Are you going
To Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

[VAN ENGINE ROARS]

CYLON:
She once was a true love of mine

- We're home.
- Let's earn some bread.

Get your love beads! Can't journey
to your mind's center without them!

Look at the colors!
These will go great with my soul.

Glad you like them. I've been making
fine jewelry for years, apparently.

- I'll take three!
- Give me one, man!

I'll trade you a bad poem!

EMCEE: And now, stand up and turn on
your hidden tape recorders for... Beck!

With special guest,
Bender, the broken robot!

- Bender rules!
- Groove on, man!

LEELA:
Rock it, Bender!

Can 't you hear those cavalry drums

Hijacking your equilibrium?

- Whoa-oh, yah!
- Midnight hags in the mausoleum

That song doesn't usually
last three hours...

...but we got into a serious thing,
and then I forgot how it ended.

Anyway, one last item
of business before we go.

Bender, to start your foundation
for broken robots...

...here's a big cardboard check
for $ 14,000.

- It's been an emotional day for me.
- I don't know what to say.

Then maybe you should sing it.
Lay it down, boys.

Ladies, gentlemen,
smoking heaps of machinery...

Whoo!

...this is a song called
"My Broken Friend."

People say my broken friend is useless
But I say his mind is free

There's lots of things
My mangled robot friend could be

BECK:
Kick it.

- He could make a good hatrack
- He only has to stand there

- Or a cheap doorstop
- He doesn 't need to move

- Or a great big, giant thermos
- Giant thermos

With a twist-off top

- That would be good for soup
- He could be a storage closet

For outdated pants

I like 'em tight

BENDER:
My broken friend could do it all

Just give him a chance

That robot has a tragic secret
That I'd like to share

- For real?
- My broken friend is closer to me

- Than an ass to a chair
- Hm.

- That robot's name I never told you
- Who's that?

- You could not foresee
- Give it up.

I'll say it loud and sing it proud

His name is you and me

- Don 't melt me into a crowbar
- It suffers alone

Just 'cause I can 't move
my arms and legs

BECK: Hey.

BENDER: Or toss me into a trashcan
- What are you doing?

- Because I can 't cook eggs
- What are you doing?!

- Don 't crush me into an anchor
- What's up?

- Because I can 't dance and sing
- Hold it!

- I'm telling you, my broken friend
- Bender...

Put your hands in the air

Like you just don 't care
I'm telling you, my broken friend

- Can do most anything
- Cut it! Cut it!

- Yeah!
- Cut it!

[BOOING]

- Curse my natural showmanship!
- You big fat fraud!

- You're not really broken!
- But you will be!

Bum rush the stage!

FEMALE ROBOT: Get him!
MALE ROBOT: Get him!

[YELLS LIKE TARZAN]

[GRUNTS]

Whoa!

Oh, harsh!
I didn't get my beads!

[ZOIDBERG VOMITS]

You, minion, lift up my arm.
After him!

Everyone, prepare to get your guts
kicked out by folk singers.

What is this, the Year of the Jerk?!

The Golden Gate Bridge! Put the metal
to the pedal to the other metal!

Oh!

I forgot it's a hoverbridge!

- I forgot this isn't a hover car!
- Is that a problem?

Not if you've lived a life
without regret.

[SCREAMING]

- I'll save me!
- Quick, grab his foot cuffs!

BENDER: Whew.
- Phew.

[SCREAMS]

Bummer.

BENDER:
Someone fat, get in my way!

Ah. I'm broken again.
I can't move any part of me!

- Good!
- I'm sorry I lied, Beck.

I just wanted to make music with you.
I never meant to hurt anyone...

...or help anyone.
- That's some played-out horsecrap!

But I know you don't mean it.
Apology accepted.

- So I can keep the check?
- Over my dead career.

Well, it was worth a shot.

If you're done scamming Beck,
we're heading home!

All right. Let me just do one thing
to cheer myself up.

[BEEPING]

Fry crack corn
And I don 't care

Leela crack corn
Still don 't care

Bender crack corn, and he is great
Take that, you stupid corn