Suspended
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 Whatcha doing? Watching reruns of Cops. | ||||||
| "Suspended" | ||||||
| Season | 2 | |||||
| No. in season | 4 | |||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | March 12, 2016 | |||||
| Writer | Mairghread Scott | |||||
| Director | Todd Waterman | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures, drop (2D) | |||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube
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After a mistake in the field, Strongarm takes herself out of action just when the team needs her most against fire-starting Decepticons Crazybolt and Slicedice.
Contents |
Synopsis
More powerful than a locomotive.
And dumb as a rock.
Bumblebee, Strongarm and Grimlock head to a nearby fire, one in a string of recent blazes, which they believe has been started by a Decepticon. Indeed, no sooner have they arrived than Crazybolt and Slicedice roar up. Strongarm heads off after the two Cons, and Grimlock insists on accompanying her, despite not being as fast, and Bumblebee is left to put out the fire. Strongarm's pursuit comes to a halt when she runs into a sticky trap left by Crazybolt. The two Decepticons explain they're destroying things which prevent them from speeding, before trying to attack her. She manages to avoid Slicedice's claws and free herself, but the pair again flee, forcing her to give chase. Crazybolt uses a smokescreen to send her onto a busy overpass, where she accidentally sends another car into the side of the bridge. Grimlock arrives in time to grab the car and steady it, giving Strongarm time to evacuate the overpass, however the car falls and only the timely arrival of Bumblebee prevents a catastrophe. The three Autobots manage to get the car back onto the bridge and make off without their covers being blown. As they drive, Strongarm blames herself for the accident.
Back at base, Grimlock retells his heroic exploits to Denny, while Bumblebee instructs Fixit to monitor the emergency channels for more fires. A demoralized Strongarm tries to turn in her Decepticon Hunter as she insists that, according to the rules, she needs to be placed on administrative leave for endangering bystanders during the chase. Bumblebee tries to refuse, but the Hunter accidentally goes off and destroys some of Denny's garden gnomes with a laser blast, which only reinforces Strongarm's feelings of being a hazard to innocents.
Elsewhere, Crazybolt and Slicedice's drive along a mountain road is halted when they reach a sign banning vehicles from a forest ahead. Insulted, they destroy the sign, and start on another flame-spewing destructive rampage.
With Strongarm off field duty, Fixit works on attaching Grimlock's trailer hitch to Bumblebee's tail end, much to the Autobot's discomfort. Denny advises Bumblebee that he needs to do something to give Strongarm a confidence-boosting "win" and get her back in the field, so they come up with the idea of rigging up a control panel so she can assist Fixit, a plan the fussy Mini-Con reluctantly agrees to. They soon have an external control panel rigged up and try to get Strongarm to use it to find a pattern to the fires. Unfortunately, the buttons are scaled to Mini-Con-sized digits, and she accidentally triggers the scrapyard's defense systems. Though they're quickly shut down again, Strongarm is further demoralized and goes to sit in a corner in truck mode. Fixit detects a fire in Crown City State Park, and Bumblebee has him pull up information on Crazybolt and Slicedice. Bumblebee not-so-subtly hints that they could really use Strongarm's help with this mission, but nothing doing.
Bumblebee and Grimlock eventually reach the park and locate the two Decepticons, and the battle that ensues results in another fire starting. Bumblebee realizes the blaze has quickly gotten too big to leave to the already-overtaxed human firefighters, and lets the Decepticons flee. Complicating matters, they find a small group of trapped bird watchers. Fixit and Denny divert tanker planes to help while Grimlock and Bumblebee create a fire break, however as it turns out, the planes are still too far away to arrive in time to save the humans. Grimlock is ready to break cover to save them, but Bumblebee realizes it's too late even for that, as the inferno has grown to the point where even the Autobots are starting to heat up, meaning carrying the humans through it would basically doom them. Bumblebee radios back to base and starts recording a message for Optimus Prime to apologize for his failure, but when Strongarm objects and tries to talk the lieutenant out of giving up after a mistake, he turns her own words right around on her. With help from Denny and Fixit, a reinvigorated Strongarm heads up the mountain with a load of water and is able to create a trail up to the trapped bird watchers. While Bumblebee and Grimlock continue fighting the fire, Strongarm takes the humans to safety.
Back in the scrapyard, the team watches a news broadcast about the fire, and Bumblebee returns Strongarm's Decepticon Hunter. Strongarm gives it an experimental swing in blade-mode, coming within inches of decapitating more of Denny's gnomes... and much to Denny's relief, not a one is harmed, because she's a professional.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
Quotes
Crazybolt: One Bot's arson is another Con's virtuous demolition of the impediments to forward progress at maximum velocity.
Autobots: Huh?!
Slicedice: Yeah, you said it, Crazybolt. He's a genius! A visionary!
Both Decepticons: Illumination through acceleration!
- —The Decepticons introduce themselves.
"I wish these Cons would come with a translator."
- —Strongarm
"I can't even type without endangering others. I'm just gonna go sit over here and rust. I can't hurt anyone that way."
- —Strongarm
"I'll get my hat, a bottle of liquid smoke, and a size double-sixteen, extra-hairy mustache!"
- —Denny Clay ponders a fireman disguise.
"Scrud. Uh... halt! This is Fire Marshal, um, Denruss. For your safety, stay in your shelter and cover your eyes and mouth because of the smoke. And stuff."
- —Bumblebee attempts to channel Denny Clay.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Arnold previously appeared in "As the Kospego Commands!", though with a different voice actor.
Prisoner manifest
- In stasis: Hammerstrike, Bisk, Chop Shop, Terrashock, Filch, Minitron, Springload, Ped, Quillfire, "that one with all the eyes", Malodor and the Skunkticons, Nightstrike, Vertebreak, Octopunch, Groundpounder, Headlock, Scowl, Scratch, Zizza, Pseudo, Fracture, Airazor, Divebomb, Thunderhoof, Underbite, Clampdown, Overload, Backtrack, Ransack, Polarclaw
- Known at large: Steeljaw, Kickback, Saberhorn, Glowstrike, Scorponok, several unnamed Glowstrike/Scorponok associates, Crazybolt, Slicedice
- Released: Grimlock
- Countless others all missing, presumed at large
Transformers references
- (tbd)
Real-world references
- (tbd)
Animation and technical errors
- Bumblebee says that there are six birdwatchers, but in at least some shots there are actually seven.
Trivia
- Scale is a little bit wonky in this episode. Crazybolt's car mode appears to be much smaller than his robot mode; Slicedice can barely fit on his roof in car mode, but can comfortably sit on his back in robot mode.
- Cathy was unnamed in her American appearance, but gained a name in the Japanese dub.
- Grimlock can hold up an entire suspension bridge by himself but hauling one small car back onto the overpass is too much for him?
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Tout feu, tout flamme" ("All Fire, All Flames")
- Original airdate: April 3, 2016
Hungarian
- Title: Szolgálaton kívül ("Off Duty")
- Original airdate: May 4, 2016
Italy
- Title: In congedo ("Suspended")
- Original airdate: March 21, 2016
Japanese
Home video releases
- DVD
2016 — Transformers Robots in Disguise — Overloaded (Beyond Home Entertainment)
