Shopping Brawl

« Transformers: BotBotsep 9b »
Skynethas finally met its match.
"Shopping Brawl"
Production company	Entertainment One
Airdate	March 25,2022
Writers	Kevin Burke&Chris Wyatt
Directors	Paul O'Flanagan
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio
Watch this episode on Netflix

Better the devil you know.

Contents 1Synopsis 2Featured characters 3Quotes 4Notes 4.1Continuity notes 4.2Transformers references 4.3Real-world references 4.4BotBots cypher translations 4.5Animation and technical errors 4.6Trivia 4.7Foreign localization

Synopsis

TheLost Botsare getting a start on their lamest attempt yet to get back in with the other squads: disguising themselves with clothes and props from the doll store and pretending they're not the Lost Bots. They hide asDavewalks by, talking to hismomover the phone about how he's lost his job... a job at the only place he's ever felt like he actually belonged. Feeling pangs of guilt, the Lost Bots follow Dave through themallas he continues to explain to his mom it's all over and maybe he'll move on to some other life goals, like being a living statue performer. He retreats to his office to clean out his locker, and even sings a dramatic, soul-rending song of sadness over the lemons life keeps throwing at him. And while the Lost Bots feel weirdly sad as Dave leaves the mall for the last time,Burgertronhas a sudden revelation... no Dave means no reason to hide at night.The mall belongs to the BotBots!

The BotBots waste no time going absolutely buck wild. TheHunger Hubsmake a mess of the food court, theCustodial Crewclog the toilets, and theJock Squadengage in churro-jousting. Even the Lost Bots are having a ball piling ice cream ontoClogstopperwhen something new arrives: a trio of treadedsecurity bots.Burgertron's initial excitement at the arrival of some fellow bots turns to blind panic as the security robots register the BotBots as "rodents" and fire deadly lasers to eliminate them! The security bots spread out, and BotBots everywhere flee for their lives. Fortunately for the BotBots, the security bots have bad aim... butunfortunately for the mall, the lasers do major damage to everything they actually hit.

Soon the mall is a blasted wasteland, with small pockets of BotBots hiding from the killer robots. The Lost Bots find themselves with a small group that includesSpud Muffin,who, even in mortal peril, can't resist getting a dig in at their expense.BurgertronSpud Muffin comes up with the idea that each squad needs to try and come up with a plan to stop the bots, and they all get to work. However, nothing seems to stop the security force. TheJock Squadknock them down but they get back up again, and theGamer Geekstry rewiring them but are zapped by internal security systems.Bonz-Eyefigures they must have a weakness to exploit, but what?

Burgertron takes them to Dave's office to show them a rare tome: an "instruction manual". Within its pages, they find that by plugging the mall's master security code into one of the security bots, all three units will shut down. But only flesh creatures know the code, and the BotBots only know one flesh creature, and he was just fired. To save the BotBots and the mall, they must get Dave back! The Lost Bots meet up withRing-A-Ling,the company phone Dave was forced to leave behind, who tells them the only number Dave ever added to her was his mom. After getting past Dave's mom, Burgertron poses as "Mr. Mallworker Fleshguy, Esquire" to tell Dave that he needs to come back to the malltonightto pick up his "donut of service", a reward for all his time working at the mall. Dave immediately hangs up.

Returning to the main hall, the Lost Bots spy Spud Muffin's attempt to stop the security bots: a massive battering ram made up of joined-together shopping carts suspended from the ceiling. As the killer bots arrive, the other Hunger Hubs untie one end, sending the carts smashing into the bots and knocking them into the (rebuilt) fountain, where they shut down. The other BotBots cheer, Spud Muffin starts a rather presumptive speech... and of course the security bots emerge from the water, now in even creepier, deadlier spider-like modes, and once again the BotBots make a mad dash for their lives. Nothing's worked, and they need a hero now more than ever...

...at which point Dave returns, the lure of a small piece of free fried dough more than enough to get him back. Enraged at the carnage the security bots are unleashing on his beloved mall, he charges at them only to hide when the lasers start. The bots scan the area, but despite him beingright next to them,they can't find him, as Dave's living statue practice and general inactivity has given him the ability to be completely motionless, confusing the security bots' motion detectors. He sneaks up on them until he's close enough to leap on one, where he's able to input the master security code and shut them down. And as he searches for Mr. Mallworker Fleshguy, Esquire, still wanting that donut, he doesn't notice that the entire scene has been caught on camera byFomo.

The next night, Dave is back in his office on his company phone, thankinghis bossfor re-hiring him. It seemssomeoneemailed the video of Dave's heroic rescue of the mall to corporate. As Dave settles in for another night, he spots a fresh(!) donut on his desk, alongside aCosta Pastacollector's cup... the last cup he needed for his collection of mall cups! And it's filled with lemonade! And spotting some sesame seeds by these prizes, Dave has a flash of realization:did that little burger-bot get him his job back?

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"No, mom, I can't just grow a moustache and re-apply for the job with a new name!"

—For once,Daveis smarter than Burgertron

"I really should get my own backing singers."

—IsClogstopperbreaking the laws ofdiegesisor merely being random? Who can tell, really?

"I always thought we needed personal boundaries to have fun! So! Foolish!"

—Batsby

Burgertron:Ishe our enemy? Maybe in his own fleshy and gross way he loves the mall as much as we do! And he should be as free to be here as we BotBots are! In fact, maybe freedom is the right ofallsentient beings!
Dimlit:What's "sentient"?
Kikmee:Like a snake.
Bonz-Eye:No, that's a serpent.
Clogstopper:Dave's aserpent?!

"Hello. Is this the Dave's Mom? Is Dave there?... I'm uh... human friends with Dave!... Why is that funny? Dave has friends!"

—Burgertron,akaMr. Mallworker Fleshguy, Esquiremakes an important call

"No, I wouldn't call me brave. I just learned that passion, and the promise of fried dough, can make a man do incredible things."

—Never change,Dave

Notes

Continuity notes

• Dave lost his job at the end of the prior episode, "Agent Smartlit",after destroying the main hall's fountain and a chunk of the food court.
• Batsby and Dinger use the same fake-horsie setup that Clogstopper rode in Burgertron'sThe RealI, Cheeseburger,from the episode "I, Cheeseburger".
• Speaking of, a flier forThe Real I, Cheeseburgerfloats through the ruined main hall.
• The mall's master security code of "111111" was the code Clogstopper tried to unlock Dave's phone in "Phoning It In".It wasn't the right code there, but here?Vindication!
• Burgertron obtained the rare Costa Pasta collector's cup way back in "The Lost Bots and the Claw Crusade".He was convinced it was useless, but Kikmee told him to keep it as it might be useful some day.
• The donut Burgertron left for Dave hasbluefrosting on it; definitely don't want a repeat of that "did Burgertron murderSprinkleberry D'uhnut?""misunderstanding "froma little while back.

Transformers references

• Yes, Burgertron spouts the catchphrase of many anOptimus Prime.Which, given the original toy's similarities to the standard Optimus in the head region, makes sense.

Real-world references

• The killer security bots are a deliberate homage to the 1986 horror filmChopping Mall(akaKillbots), in which a trio of black, treaded, laser-visor-having, malfunctioning experimental security robots hunt down a group of teenagers who've snuck into a mall after hours to have a party. They even share the "Have a nice day" phrase. And yes, even the episode title is a play on the movie title.
• One of the security bots exclaims "Exterminate!" as it fires, in reference to theDaleksfromDoctor Who.

BotBots cypher translations

• The soda fountain serves, from left to right, "Cget" (no we don't know either), "Fizzy", "Coke"and"Fanta",the last two being real soda brands.
• Dave's mom is actually listed as "Grandma" on his phone! Say whaaaaaaaa?

Animation and technical errors

• Despite having happened almost assuredly averyshort time ago, like possibly within hours, the fountain and food court have been rebuilt and are in perfect working order by the time Dave goes to clean out his locker. Of course, a similar situation happened in "Rage Against the Karaoke Machine",and also, it's funnier this way, so hey.
• In the map segment of the security bots' rampage, the Custodial Crew is represented not by their plunger-shaped insignia, but the toilet-shaped icon of their original incarnation, theToilet Troop.

Trivia

• The music playing over the credits is the second chorus from Dave's lemons song, because of course.

Foreign localization

French

• Title:"Chaos au centre commercial"(" Chaos at the mall ")

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title:"Caos no shopping"(" Chaos at the mall ")

European Portuguese

• Title:"Caos no centro comercial"(" Chaos at the shopping mall ")

Arabic

• Title:"فوضى التسوق"(" Shopping chaos ")