The Prisoner of Benda story
"The Prisoner of Benda" is the 10th episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama. It aired on Comedy Central on August 19, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth and Amy build a machine that allows them to switch minds so that they may each pursue their lifelong dreams. However, they learn that the machine cannot be used twice on the same pairing of bodies. To try to return to their rightful bodies, they involve the rest of the crew in the mind switches, leaving each member free to pursue their own personal endeavors in a different crew member's body. The episode is composed of multiple subplots, with the main subplot being Bender attempting to steal a crown, but ending up switching places with the Robo-Hungarian emperor. Directed by: Stephen Sandoval. Story by: Ken Keeler.
8 total · 3 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| body swap | major | The Planet Express people were switching bodies left, right, and center. |
| greed for riches | major | Bender sought riches and powers first by steeling from, then impersonating, the Robo-Hungarian emperor. |
| humanoid robot | major | The Robo-Hungarian Empire was an empire populated by mechanical men. The Professor experienced that it was like to inhabit Bender's body. |
| disembodied head | minor | Richard Nixon's head introduced Emperor Nikolai at the United Nations. |
| gluttony | minor | Amy was overeating in other people's bodies. |
| lookism in society | minor | Leela and Fry cared about looks and argued about it. |
| sexual norms in society | minor | Fry in a lobster body dated Leela in an old-man body. Scruffy spurned the advances of wash-bucket in Amy's body. |
| the flip side of being in power | minor | Bender quickly learned that being an emperor was not all leisure and fun when his subordinates tried to assassinate him. |