Forty Percent Leadbelly

Plot

The Planet Express Discount Prisoner Transfer crew are transferring Dr. Brutaloff, a supervillain with Freddy Krueger-style finger-knives encased in a Han Solo-style block of frozen carbonite, to Elevenworth Variable Security Prison. At the prisoner discharge office, Bender spies Silicon Red, "the universe's greatest folk singer," retrieving his belongings and preparing to depart. Bender abandons Fry to chase down Red. Brutaloff escapes from the carbonite, beats Fry up, and freezes Fry back into the carbonite up to his neck.

Bender catches up to Red and takes a picture of his guitar, intending to use a 3-D printer to create a perfect duplicate. Dr. Beeler finds the image in Bender's file system and turns a crank in Bender's compartment of mystery, causing Bender's components to wirelessly transmit the image to the printer. Bender then walks around Planet Express wearing a flannel shirt and playing his duplicated guitar. Fry, mostly encased in carbonite, begins making periodic sarcastic comments about Bender's mistreatment.

The crew tells Bender he does not know enough about folk music, so he explains his analysis of "every folk song in the universe" – a bad-hearted woman cheats on her good man with a rambler – and uses this formula to create his own songs. He crashes a performance by Silicon Red and performs one of his songs while Red is distracted, billing himself as "Ramblin' Rodriguez." The audience hates it, and Red explains Bender's song is insincere since he has not experienced a folk life himself.

Leela echoes Red's comments, and Fry sarcastically suggests Bender write a song about a heartless robot who leaves his best friend to be murdered. Bender follows Zoidberg's suggestion to go work on "the railroad" to gain experiences. In the Rusty Rail, a bar on "the wrong side of the tracks," Bender meets Big Caboose, a "steel-drivin' man workin' the Trans-Universal line." Bender sees Caboose as exactly the kind of exciting personality for a good folk song.

Caboose introduces Bender to his colorful acquaintances, and Bender takes notes. At the work site, Bender's job is to lead the singing of the laborers and drink cocktails. After living this grueling life, he begins to create his song. By the time Fry and Leela arrive at Bender's railroad camp to deliver explosives, Bender's song includes the main character, Jezebel, and the rambler.

Fry is still angry at Bender, and when he makes a mean comment, Bender adds a verse for him telling how Bender needs help to escape the angry Caboose, but Fry, still holding a grudge, sends him away. Bender adds a verse where his main character begins his quest to avenge himself on the rambler when Caboose bursts in and eagerly introduces Bender to his new fiancée. She flings herself at Bender as soon as Caboose leaves the room. Bender and the fiancée have sex, inspiring him to add another verse.

The fiancée reveals her name is Jezebel. Bender sees this as a lucky coincidence, not realizing its significance. While Fry and Leela are on a date at Fry's house, Caboose bursts in the door with a shotgun, saying he is here to shoot Bender down for sleeping with Jezebel. Fry and Leela realize that Bender's song is playing out in real life.

Back at camp, Bender has the idea for his hero to run over the rambler with a train. When Bender has this thought, his transmitter sends a train image from Bender's file system to the 3-D printer, and the printer begins to fabricate a train. Just as Bender is saying goodbye to Jezebel, Caboose crashes through the wall in the train from the printer, yelling that he has come to run Bender down. Caboose follows as Bender flees to the apartment on Earth he shares with Fry.

He bangs on the door and begs to be let in, but Fry mocks him, reminding him of the verse he added for Fry. Bender flees to Planet Express with Caboose not far behind. He finds Fry, Leela, and Professor Farnsworth trying to locate him. Bender is confused to see Fry, given that Fry had just mocked him at their apartment in his underwear, but Leela explains that his song is coming true.

Bender finally realizes he is transmitting his thoughts to the 3-D printer, resulting in duplicates even of people, such as the duplicate Fry who mocked Bender at their apartment. After some brief trouble with a band of gigantic octopuses, Leela realizes Bender can "write his way out of" the problem. Leela suggests Bender make up any old ending that saves him from Caboose. Bender refuses on the grounds of artistic integrity, as he still wishes to create "the best folk song in the universe."

Just as he begins to add the next verse, Caboose appears in his train and runs Bender down. At Bender's memorial service, it is revealed that this is not really Bender, but a duplicate fabricated by the 3-D printer. The real Bender arrives and sings the rest of his song, explaining that during the octopus trouble, he made a duplicate of himself with a fatal weakness that the real Bender does not have: artistic integrity. Bender and Red decide to sell out, and they are last seen performing a rap concert.