A Sith-war reenactment leads Bender to a startling discovery - he was built without a backup unit, rendering him mortal. His death could occur anywhere from one second to a billion years from now, Professor Farnsworth warns. Incensed at his subpar production, Bender vows to track down the incompetent Inspector #5. His surprise companion on this quest is Hermes Conrad, determined (and boy, I do mean determined) to prove that not all bureaucrats (literally) melt into the background. There are a few surprises for everyone in store at the end of this "Lethal Inspection", the 6th episode of the 6th series of Futurama, and maybe the best installment of the revival yet.

Furious and embarrassed at his oil leakage (which, according to Fry, doesn't taste like the urine that humans are so proud of), Bender and Hermes head to the Central Bureaucracy office - only to find that Inspector #5's digital file has been erased. A quick trip to a secure room containing only one filing cabinet reveals that the hard copy of Inspector #5's file is similarly missing. Dejected, Bender makes a call to tech support, who attempt to wipe him out . Bender and Hermes escape and find themselves in Tijuana, Bender's birthplace. They track down Inspector #5's house, but find themselves taking cover from Mom's Killbots (who take their orders a little too literally). Amidst a hail of bullets (and an inspector's trail gone long cold), Hermes convinces Bender that mortality is not a bad thing, and that backup unit or no backup unit, he will always be Bender. Bender is touched , and promises to put Hermes on his "do-not-kill" list.

While all the previous episodes this series had what we love about Futurama, "Lethal Inspection" has the honor of all the pieces coming together and clicking quite nicely. Humor is dime a dozen, but it's the emotional punch that Futurama did better than many hour-long drama shows with bigger budgets on bigger networks, that made it such a great television show. Episodes like the Emmy-nominated "Jurassic Bark", "Time Keeps On Slippin'", the Annie Award-winning "The Luck of the Fryish" and the Emmy & Annie-nominated "The Sting" showed that Futurama was far more than an animated comedy series and offshoot of The Simpsons - it cared about its characters and had big things in mind for them. That spirit continues with "Lethal Inspection", and I dare anyone to not be surprised - and touched - at the final reveal of the episode.

Bender has gotten his fair share of feature episodes, but it's nice to see him in a more sympathetic light in "Lethal Inspection". Angrily punching through the decrepit wall of Inspector #5's home, you'd think there was a gag coming - like the wall would give way to reveal the mysterious inspector's hiding place - but instead, Bender simply sinks to the floor, dejected. And you know this is for real. This is good. It's also nice to see Hermes' character being taken to new places, his presence in this adventure being far more than comic relief. The Sith-war opening doesn't really work for me (but then again, my ignorance of all things Star Wars doesn't help), but Zoidberg ripping his clothes off and squirting ink on everyone is a classic moment I shall treasure forever.

It's a relief to see Futurama lay off the pop culture pastiche that dominated recent episodes - apart from the Star Wars-influenced opener, "Lethal Inspection" has a story to tell, and it tells it quite well. While the series may have been based around the true identity of Nibbler, the story behind Bender's "birth" serves to make Futurama's universe richer and deeper. If there's any doubt about it, the answer is saved for one the last scenes - a baby Bender being spared the scrap pile by a young, bespectacled Inspector #5. If the previous episodes of the series put the show back on track after years in the wild, "Lethal Inspection" takes the show forward with a laugh and a tear. 4.5/5 - not legendary, but excellent.