Return of the Dino Bot
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| "Return of the Dinobot" | ||||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | May 12, 2012 | |||||
| Writer | Luke McMullen | |||||
| Director | Patrick Archibald | |||||
| Animation studio | Atomic Cartoons | |||||
An intruder uses a robot Tyrannosaurus rex to plant a virus in Griffin Rock's central computer, causing havoc.
Synopsis
One exceedingly foggy day, the Rescue Bots marvel at this new weather, and Blades is particularly happy because it means he'll be grounded and can watch TV. Mr Bufkin calls the emergency line to report a dinosaur near the lab, and when Cody checks out the location on the ComTab, he spots Frankie being menaced by the robotic tyrannosaurus rex from the museum. The Rescue Bots transform, and Cody rides with Dani in Blades. They quickly reach the lab and surround the dinobot, only to find its off switch is missing. Frankie and Doc Greene put their fears at rest though—the dinosaur has been reprogrammed to be controlled by Doc Greene's gauntlet, and can now do the Macarena.
Redubbed Trex, the dinosaur has been pressed into service fetching coffee (Chinese tea, milk, no sugar, chocolate chip cookie dough, and cream) guarding the lab. Doc Greene explains that the lab has been broken into recently and left behind items such as the nanites. Cody recognizes the logo on the nanites from the shark submarine wreckage. Greene believes the intruder is trying to hack into the town's central computer. The Burns family leaves to investigate a report from the mayor.
While Trex stomps around in the fog, a shadowy figure uses Greene's stolen gauntlet to access his systems. When Frankie calls Trex in, she find the discarded gauntlet and when Greene plugs Trex into the computer, it detects an incursion through the firewall.
Cody and the bots get lost in the fog, but are soon reunited with the rest of the family. Their troubles aren't over as technology begins to malfunction. The hologram stoplight leaves its post, the park sprinklers go off, and a garbage truck begins dumping garbage on city hall. Mayor Luskey, now trapped inside, is drenched by the sprinkler system. As Cody is taking a call from Frankie who tells him the island's mainframe has been hacked, he's menaced by a robo-landscaper. Chase and Boulder make short work of the device, and the team splits up to take care of the many emergency calls they're getting.
At the lab, Greene starts running an anti-virus program from his PDA, only for them to realize that Trex is responsible for the virus. The dinosaur starts chasing them, and Greene's gauntlet is useless to control it.
While Heatwave and Kade work at rescuing the mayor for town hall, Chase helps prevent a texting driver from running into a truck. With Boulder's help, Heatwave extracts the mayor, who is furious to learn that Doc Greene is partly responsible. Dani and Cody spot a swarm of robo-landscapers moving through town.
Trex, stalking around the lab, knocks the PDA loose from the computer. Frankie temporarily leaves her hiding place to plug it back in, but manages to avoid being chomped by the dinosaur. As the virus removal resumes, Trex runs out of the lab.
The Rescue Bots fight with the landscapers. They're outnumbered, but luckily the antivirus works in time to shut down the landscapers. With that threat gone, they face another one—Trex has arrived. Doc Greene and Frankie haul up. After Trex knocks over their truck, the Rescue Bots pile on and manage to subdue the robotic beast. Cody has an idea to control Trex via verbal commands, and Greene commands Trex to bring his coffee. It works, and Greene gets a lift back to his lab in Blades so he can remove the virus from Trex. The rest of the team arrives to be told by Greene that it's too late! While they're gasping in horror, he clarifies that it's too late for them to watch the devirus process, and Trex is fine.
The next day, the team is contemplating the mess the town is in, when Doc Greene delivers devastating news—the mayor has relieved him of his post as lead scientist of Griffin Rock. Nearby, a shadowy figure scurries away, dropping a card with a familiar logo on it.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Humans | Others |
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Quotes
"A robotic dinosaur butler! Now all of my questions are answered. Except, maybe, why?"
- —Dani
Cody: Noble! Dad?
Charlie: You're not getting one.
Graham: What about—
Charlie: You either.
Blades: Um, I've changed my mind. I don't like this weather.
Chase: I concur. Fog conceals potholes, ditches, and regrettably the row of mailboxes formerly standing on Willow Street.
Heatwave: Hey, at least you didn't take out a street sweeper.
Boulder: I told you, I thought it was an elephant.
"Remember citizen, if your eye is not on the road, the rest of you soon will be."
- —Chase
Notes
Animation and technical errors
Continuity errors
Continuity notes
- Cody's adventure with the nanites took place in "Cody on Patrol", while the shark sub appeared in "Deep Trouble".
Real-world references
- The Macarena was a popular song. Twice.
- The ripple in the puddle when the group encounters Trex in the fog is most likely a nod to a famous sequence from the original Jurassic Park.
