Bots and Robbers
| ||||||
| ||||||
| "Bots and Robbers" | ||||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | June 14, 2014 | |||||
| Writers | Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt | |||||
| Director | Kevin Altieri | |||||
| Animation studio | Vision Animation | |||||
After watching waaaaaaaaay too many pulp detective movies, Chase goes undercover to discover Evan and Myles's latest plan, making the rest of the team wonder if he's turned against them.
Synopsis
With Crawfish Week in full swing, Heatwave, Boulder and Blades are watching a crawfish race commentated by Huxley Prescott, unaware that a shadowy figure is creeping up on them. Chase grabs the figure, only to find it's Cody in disguise. Cody explains he's playing the villain in the school play, a concept that confuses Chase, so Cody suggests watching some detective movies. Their crawfish race viewing is interrupted by the news of a break-in at the museum. Evan and Myles are in the process of stealing a chunk of rock when the team arrives. The two thieves jump on their hoverboards, and when Heatwave activates the anti-theft system, Myles uses a remote to turn the robotic claws against the rescue team. As the pair escape, Chase cuts himself free and smashes the claw holding Heatwave, but the two Bots are kept busy by the security system. Boulder manages to pull out the pneumatic cabling, deactivating the claws, and the team begins to search for the two criminals. Graham identifies the material they took as mechanite.
Evan and Myles arrive at a remote abandoned building, where they plug the piece of mechanite into their Tech Wrecker. As Myles demonstrates with a calculator, it disables anything with circuits. That night, Heatwave finds Chase watching old detective movies and too busy for training maneuvers. In the morning, Cody looks for Chase, whom he thinks would benefit from practicing the play. Dani finds Chase sitting in a darkened room, narrating everything pulp detective style and wearing a hat. Cody alerts everyone to the fact that someone's interfering with Huxley's broadcast, as Evan and Myles are stealing the satellite dish from atop his van. The rescue team rolls out, with Chase continuing to narrate. Chief Burns doesn't think much of Blades's suggestion Evan and Myles just want to see the Pets on Ice marathon, and wonders aloud what they're up to. The Bots try to create a road block, but the getaway car is only stopped by a tire-bursting laser. Evan and Myles promptly pile into Chase, whom Chief has left unattended. The others are surprised when Chase compliantly allows the pair to drive him off. Chief is unable to raise Chase on the comm, and Cody reports that they've driven into an area with deactivated cameras.
The two criminals reach their hideout and take the satellite dish to add to their Tech Wrecker. While they do that, Chase checks out their base and finds a plan suggesting they're going to hit the laboratory next, however he finds his comm has been jammed fo he's unable to alert the rest of the team. He's interrupted from investigating further by Evan and Myles, but he manages to convince the pair that he is obliged to follow their orders by hopping up and down like a chicken and repeating "Evan and Myles rule. The Burnses just drool." The trio head to the lab, where Evan and Myles send Chase inside to steal Floatium. He's able to bypass Trex simply because the dinosaur knows him, but accidentally trips a silent alarm. When he emerges with the Floatium and they head back down the road, they're met with a road block of Rescue Bots. On the pair's instructions, Chase repeats the insult they taught him earlier and crashes the roadblock. The confused team wonder if Chase has turned against them, though Cody thinks he's emulating the detective movies.
At the abandoned warehouse, Evan and Myles turn on their Tech Wrecker and spray it with Floatium, causing it to rise into the air. They activate a shield to protect Chase and their other electronic equipment. As the light from the Tech Wrecker spreads across town, it knocks out anything electric, and the two criminals head out to do some petty theft. Chase grabs the shield generator and heads for home. At the fire station, emergency calls start coming in, and the team emerges to see the Tech Wrecker's beam coming closer. Chase arrives in time to shield the other Rescue Bots, though Kade's game of pinball is interrupted just as he's beating Graham's high score. The human portion of the team starts heading downtown on scooters to rescue people and stop the crime spree Evan and Myles have now embarked on, while the Rescue Bots, trapped in a bubble little bigger than they are, make their way awkwardly to the abandoned warehouse. Chief and Dani help Mr. Harrison out of a tree and Kade extracts people from a lift, while Graham and Cody are attending to a crashed car when they spot the two petty criminals. The pair quickly apprehended. The Rescue Bots reach the warehouse, and after a brief discussion about trying to think like criminals, hit on the idea of using the Floatium reach the Tech Wrecker. The device is soon deactivated.
As Evan and Myles are marched into the jail, Heatwave tells Chase to let the rest of them in on his plan next time, and Chase announces he's going to help Cody practice his play.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
"The air was heavy. Heavy with the fog of lawlessness. That's when she walked in... and asked me the one question I wasn't prepared to answer."
"Why is it so dark in here? Chase, is there a reason you're in here with the lights off?"
- —Chase, who has been overdosing on film noir, and Dani
"The sound of my squealing tires echoed across the landscape."
"Chase, are you... narrating?"
- —Chase and Chief Burns
"Chief, do something! Chase is the victim of Grand Theft Autobot!"
- —Blades
"And like a swimming pool in winter, the case was closed."
"Who are you talking to?"
- —Chase and Boulder
Notes
Continuity notes
- The abandoned cannery was previously seen in "Feed the Beast".
- According to Heatwave, it wouldn't be the first time a Cybertronian has changed sides.
Transformers references
- (tbd)
Real-world references
- Heatwave's question about the sharks being busy is likely a reference to the annual "Shark Week" television event presented by Discovery Communications (the co-owner of the Hub Network) on their various networks.
- The character model used for the detective in the film Chase watches is based on actor Kirk Douglas.[1]
- Blades mentions that Chase is a victim of "Grand Theft Autobot", referring to the game Grand Theft Auto.
Animation and technical errors
- (tbd)
Trivia
- We will now never know what to do when we find an unattended crawfish, thanks to Evan and Myles cutting off the interview with Mayor Luskey.
Foreign localization
Hungarian
- Title: "Botok és tolvajok" ("Bots and Robbers")
- Original airdate: 25 November 2014
Italian
Portuguese
