Buddy Cop

« Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy ep 35 »
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME STEALTH?
"Buddy Cop"
Production code	135
Season	1
No. in season	35
Production company	Allspark Animation
Airdate	October 5, 2019
Writer	Jodi Reynolds
Director	Ray Quigley
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio
Watch this episode on YouTube

When the recruits take part in a training exercise for covert policing, Hot Shot is partnered with the least stealthy of all Rescue Bots, Grimlock.

Synopsis

Hot Shot attempts to sneak into class late. He's unsuccessful, which prompts Chase to decide they should work on their stealth skills. He sets up an exercise for them in Griffin Rock, a scenario in which Tough Luck Chuck has stolen the Settlers' Bell. The recruits must track down Chuck and retrieve the bell, while also not being caught by Chase. When he tells them to pair up, Hot Shot finds himself on his own, but Chase has a answer for that as well and Hot Shot is going to be partnered with a teacher. He's initially enthusiastic until it turns out he's being paired with Grimlock, who as the others observe is not particularly known for his stealthiness.

Grimlock and Hot Shot are soon sneaking around the park. Hoist and Whirl find a clue pointing them to an abandoned barn. Hot Shot and Grimlock don flowery hats and find a clue of their own — crash test yellow paint. They head towards town square to look for clues, but while Grimlock is distracted by a hat shop, Hot Shot ditches him to go it alone. Whirl and Hoist successfully find Chuck in the derelict barn, but Whirl manages to demolish the structure while searching for the stolen bell. As they stand in the ruins, Chase catches them.

Wedge and Medix have been fruitlessly searching possible hiding places for the bell. After evading Chase, they pursue a garbage truck, believing it to be another potential hiding place. Hot Shot also manages to evade Chase, and decides to use his jet mode so the teacher can't catch him. Medix and Wedge end up at the port but trip over a chain and are caught by Chase. Hot Shot spots that the other recruits have all been caught, and figures that means he's at least somewhat won by default. He lands, declaring the mystery unsolvable, however his assertion is undermined by Grimlock arriving with both Chuck and the missing bell. As Grimlock explains, he rescued Chuck from the barn, and found the bell at the port on the end of the chain the recruits had tripped over, then he sneaked into the square while everyone was distracted by Hot Shot. Hot Shot realizes he has completely underestimated Grimlock.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Humans	Others
Hot Shot (1) Chase (2) Wedge (3) Hoist (4) Whirl (5) Medix (6) Grimlock (8)	Sculptor (7)	Tough Luck Chuck (9)

Quotes

"MY MIDDLE NAME IS QUIET."

—Hot "Quiet" Shot

"So, we're the dream team, huh?"
"You got it!"
"I'm thinking we should get hats."
"Hats? That's your plan??"

—Grimlock and Hot Shot

"Is that a tornado?"
"Close. It's a Hot Shot."

—Whirl and Chase

Notes

Continuity notes

• The Settlers' Bell was an important plot item in "The Lost Bell", which concerned its recovery having been missing for several hundred years.

Transformers references

• Grimlock mentions picking up stealth techniques from Bumblebee.

Real-world references

• The title refers to the buddy cop film genre, for obvious reasons.
• The sculptor at the park appears to be creating a head based on the Easter Island Moai statues.

Animation and technical errors

• As Hot Shot sneaks in, the book he's holding has been mirrored — the text is backwards and it opens on the wrong side. The copies of the book held by the other recruits are correct.

Trivia

• The books the recruits are reading during the opening screen are titled "CYBERTRON" in Autobot script.
• So, they're just leaving the Settlers' Bell sitting around in the town square?

Foreign localization

• TBA