Rumble in the Jungle

Rumble in the Jungle is the ninth episode of Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

Premise
While Strongarm's first "solo" mission is marred by an over-protective Bumblebee, Denny and Fixit's rivalry comes to a head.

Synopsis
Strongarm drives down a desert road, some two thousand miles from the scrapyard on a solo mission. As she contemplates a possible promotion, Fixit contacts her for a status report. He's distracted partway through by Denny Clay passing by with some spark plugs, but Strongarm assures him she'll contact him if she runs into trouble, before spotting a dust plume in her rear view. It turns out to be Bumblebee, who to Strongarm's dismay has followed her. After she expresses concern that he doesn't trust her, he agrees to leave her to the mission.

Fixit repairs Sideswipe, who says it was Denny's idea to turbo-charge their spark plugs. Moments later Grimlock is fishing Denny out from under some stasis pods, and Fixit tries to explain that Cybertronian tech is too complicated for humans. Denny still thinks he can help, and Fixit suggests he fix the leak in the lavatory.

As Strongarm closes in on the Decepticon signal in a jungle, she again finds Bumblebee following her. He insists he's coming along as an observer.

At the scrapyard, Fixit interrupts Denny working on a Cybertronian blaster. An argument breaks out as Denny points out Fixit hasn't made any progress on getting the weapons working. As Fixit tries to take back the weapon, Denny tries to scrape some corrosion off, and the weapon explodes, leaving both of them blackened.

Strongarm and Bumblebee find their Decepticon talking to stone carvings and demanding to know the location of the lost city of Doradus. He spots the two Autobots and, believing them to be fellow treasure hunters, makes a run for it. The pair give chase, but the Decepticon jumps across a chasm and they lose him. As he drives off, Strongarm contacts Fixit to get an ID on the con. Fixit identifies him as Springload, a nutcase who's in search of the lost city of Doradus, and says he'll send the rest of the team. Strongarm disagrees with Bumblebee that this is the right move, and secretly contacts Fixit again to claim she's caught Springload.

Denny searches the scrapyard for the Decepticon Hunter, believing he can fix it too. Fixit inadvertently gives away the device's location thanks to his verbal tick and the pair end up in a tug of war over it. Fixit breaks the war by announcing he's going to rearrange the scrapyard using Cybertronian principals.

Bumblebee and Strongarm find Springload has gone into a temple, and Bumblebee reluctantly agrees to go inside and try to capture the Decepticon.

Russell finds Denny rewiring the command center while Grimlock and Sideswipe discover their stuff has been rearranged by either Fixit or Denny and can no longer be found. Russell scolds the pair, but it's not enough to stop them fighting, and they both go to undo whatever the other one has done. Russell has another idea.

Springload puzzles over the markings in the temple as the two Autobots move in. Strongarm tries to grab him, only to discover his armor is coated in acid. Her left hand is burned by the acid as Bumblebee examines her hand. The temple starts collapsing, and Springload swiftly makes an exit. Bumblebee and Strongarm pick up a pillar to prop up the ceiling, but it's not enough, and Strongarm has to blast a hole in the wall so they can escape. Once Bumblebee reprimands Strongarm, she admits she told Fixit not to send the rest of the team, and asks for one last chance to complete the mission herself.

Having rearranged Fixit's stuff, Denny sits down to watch TV, only to find Fixit has tampered with it and he can now only see the Alchemor prison manifest. As Fixit attempts to block him from rearranging the command console, Russell, Sideswipe and Grimlock appear with the Decepticon Hunter which is making an alarming noise. Denny and Fixit soon realize they have to work together to disarm it lest it explodes.

Back at the temple, Strongarm and Bumblebee catch up with Springload, who assumes they're ghosts and flees. They manage to box him in, but he splats Bumblebee with acid and manages to escape once again. Strongarm asks Bumblebee to stop being an observer and officially help.

Fixit and Denny manage to extract a kazoo from the Decepticon Hunter, and the others observe that they're working together. The pair spot a disconnected wire in the device and repair it, successfully as it happens. They head off to make more Decepticon Hunters, while Russell, Sideswipe and Grimlock declare victory with a fist-bump. Springload is still pleading with carvings to tell him where Doradus is when Bumblebee and Strongarm find him. Strongarm imitates a spirit and tells Springload he's unworthy, allowing Bumblebee to sneak up and knock him into a casket. With the Decepticon trapped, Bumblebee admits Strongarm did well on her first solo mission.

Autobots

 * Will Friedle as Bumblebee
 * Constance Zimmer as Strongarm
 * Darren Criss as Sideswipe
 * Khary Payton as Grimlock
 * Mitchell Whitfield as Fixit

Decepticons

 * John Steven Rocha as Springload

Humans

 * Ted McGinley as Denny Clay
 * Stuart Allen as Russell Clay

Quotes
"Personal journal: I have driven 2,000 miles from the scrapyard and my pistons are positively tingling. Successfully completing this mission might mean a promotion! Sergeant, Strongarm. Lieutenant Strongarm.  President Strongarm!
 * —Strongarm is dreaming big.

""Uh, look, this isn't how it looks, Strongarm. I just forgot to give you something before you left. It's... my good luck rock! Took it on my very first mission. Musta dropped it, right? Here."
 * —Bumblebee is unconvincing.

"I am well versed in human emotion based upon viewing of a certain doctor on your televisions. He would say you have an unhealthy need to prove yourself. He would also say that you should tune in every afternoon at three."
 * —Fixit thinks that Doc. Phil is J. Osteen

"Fixit, good news. Springload fell into my lap. I've made the arrest. No need to send backup."

"All this happened since we spoke sixty seconds ago?"

"Yes! Remember? We're in a different time zone."

"Oh! well, good. Uh, congratulations and see all three of you when you get back."
 * —Strongarm is getting used to the whole "breaking the rules" thing, and Fixit shows an even greater amount of gullibility

"You moved my snow sleds next to the microwaves? What kind of system is that?!"

"Alphabetical. Cybertronian Alphabet."
 * —Denny and Fixit discuss Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

"There's either fun coming, or a whole lot of damage. Or both."
 * —Grimlock to Sideswipe

Continuity notes

 * As per the end of the previous episode, Grimlock is now sporting an Autobot insignia.
 * The guards in the footage Fixit displays of Springload's rampage have identical body types to those seen in "Pilot (Part 1)".
 * Denny's TV displays the prison records for Underbite, Hammerstrike, Chop Shop, Terrashock, Thunderhoof, Filch, Minitron and Springload.

Prisoner manifest

 * In stasis: Hammerstrike, Bisk, 4/5ths of Chop Shop, Terrashock, Filch, Minitron, Springload
 * Known at large: Steeljaw, 1/5th of Chop Shop (possibly unknown to Bee), Thunderhoof, Underbite
 * Released: Grimlock
 * Countless others all missing, presumed at large

Real-world references

 * Fixit refers to TV personality Dr. Phil.
 * "Rome wasn't built in a day" gets a Cybertronian twist with "Pellechrome wasn't built in a millennium."
 * Doradus appears to be a reference to lost city El Dorado, while the fountain of energon it is meant to contain bears some resemblance to the legendary Fountain of Youth.
 * Springload's acidic coating is similar to the defense mechanism of the poison dart frog.
 * The episode's title is a reference to the 1974 Ali-Foreman boxing match.

Trivia

 * The first thirteen episodes of the series, this included, first premiered in Mandarin on Chinese streaming video site M1905.