The Other Reset Button

[on:]

This bugs me more than the Fry/Leela Reset Button, Bender gets a ton of money and treasure in a lot of episodes, but he is still living in Robot Arms and works for Planet Express.  Does he blow it on hooker bots or something?

[Reply #1 on:]

Bender does not seem to be interesting in luxury and whatnot.  He likes his friends, you know, Fry and whatnot.

But he also likes stealing.  Not because he needs it, but because he likes doing it.  I mean, if someone says he can't have a thing because he cannot afford it, well, obviously he will take that as a challenge.

He might possibly even throw the stuff he steal away eventually.

[Reply #2 on:]

No offense, PatchChord, but I think your definitition of resetting is kind of vague. I mean, every episode resets the previous episodes, to an extent. Sure, there are important bits of characterization that carry over from episode to episode (Bender likes to steal things, Leela is the captain of the PE ship--the basics of the show), and there are story points that remain consistent (Zapp and Leela did the nasty, Fry did the nasty in the pasty).

But one-off jokes, or quick references to, say, Bender amassing large quantities of money? Eh, the writers are more lenient when it comes to consistency on those fronts. I mean, Fry is fired at the end of "The Cryonic Woman", but he's working for Planet Express again in the next season's episodes. Bender presumably explodes at the end of "War is the H-Word", thus destroying the planet--and yet all is well next week. There's a difference between an important piece of continuity, and a gag. I consider Bender's pseudo-wealth to be the latter.

[Reply #3 on:]

We've seen what Bender does with vast amounts of wealth. He spends it. When he hocked his body, he got servants and a tiny teeny car. When he got his tax rebate, he invested in burglary tools - but had he been able to afford it, he would have bought the cigar instead. Which he later stole.

He likes stealing, but can't resist buying things with the proceeds of his crimes.