Deep Trouble (RB)

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We're definitely going to need a bigger boat.
"Deep Trouble"
Season	1
No. in season	10
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	May 5, 2012
Writer	Christopher J. Gentile
Director	Nathan Chew
Animation studio	Atomic Cartoons
Watch this episode on YouTube

A shark targeting high-tech ocean equipment is spotted off the Griffin Rock shore.

Synopsis

"I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go."

Mayor Luskey and his wife are enjoying a trip in the Mayor's boat, the Floating Xanadu, when Luskey realizes they're near the coast but he can't see the lighthouse. Elsewhere, the Burnses and the Greenes are having a barbecue and basketball game. Luskey contacts Chief Burns to tell him to turn on the light. While Dani and Blades rescue the mayor, Doc Greene puzzles over why the automatic sensors didn't pick up the mayor's ship and turn the lighthouse on. Safely back on land, Luskey has it out with Greene, and explains that as tomorrow is the Miss Griffin Rock competition, he wants the lighthouse back in working order.

The next morning, Chief Burns arrives at the breakfast table with a fishing rod—it's time for their annual fishing trip. Dani, Kade and Graham all give excuses, but Cody is keen and suggests they bring the Rescue Bots along as well. The Darby Ava vessel proves capable of carrying the four bots without sinking, and Burns makes Blades first mate. Cody instructs the Bots on the finer points of fishing, as they approach Doc Greene's floating research lab, where Greene has discovered that the lighthouse's underwater electro-magnetic sensors have been destroyed. He gives Cody a hi-tech fishing line that uses electro-magnetic bait.

Back at the fire station, the others do dishes and briefly wonder if they did the right thing in dipping out on the fishing trip.

"Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women."

Cody, Charlie and the Bots start fishing, but after Heatwave loses his fishing rod, he tries using Greene's hi-tech version. He quickly gets a bite, which to their surprise turns out to be a gigantic shark. It rams the ship, knocking Heatwave overboard, and as he floats in the water, the mechanical shark attacks him. As he wrestles with it, it uses lasers to destroy the fishing rod. The other Rescue Bots jump into the water, but can't do much more than watch as the shark knocks Heatwave loose by bashing him against rocks. Burns heads back to Doc Greene's lab.

"A tiger shark's like a garbage can, it'll eat anything. Someone probably threw that in a river."

On the beach, the Miss Griffin Rock pageant is in full swing, but as the mayor's wife is about to announce the finalists, the robot shark appears offshore, sparking a panic. Surprised, Greene reports his sensors aren't picking up anything shark-sized, but soon gets a visit from the shark himself. The shark destroys the doc's underwater sensor, and he shows the Burnses the footage of the shark he's gathered. Cody and Greene realize the shark's attacking electro-magnetics.

The other three Burnses at the fire station reminisce about previous fishing trips, and decide to join the one currently in progress.

"That's a twenty footer." "Twenty-five. Three tons of him."

While Cody monitors things from the pier with the ComTab, Chief Burns and the bots go out with one of the doc's boosted sensors. Once the shark turns up, Burns starts leading it towards a secluded cove, but it suddenly changes course and goes after the Griffin Rock ferry instead. Burns warns the ferry captain Arthur Shaw and the ferry avoids the first strike, so Burns and Blades head over to help the people on board. Heatwave, Boulder and Chase jump into the sea and use their vehicle modes to reach the shark submarine. After damaging the sub to the point where it's non-operational, they float to the surface where Cody gets them to swim to shore with it. The rest of the Burns family reaches the pier in time to see the shark, but as Chief Burns and Blades crack it open, they hear a computer voice announcing self-destruct. Blades flies the sub out to sea where it explodes. As they leave the pier, Cody wonders who could have built such a thing and among the wreckage which landed on the pier, spots a fragment with a familiar logo on it.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"How do you like your burger?"
"On a plate, please!"

—Charlie Burns and Doc Greene

"Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again."

"Arrr, I do request permission to come aboard, me hearty!"

—Blades has been watching too many pirate movies.

"This shouldin't be called fishing, it should be called waiting."

—Heatwave has a low opinion of fishing.

"Now I understand why you humans love fishing!"

—Heatwave after wrestling a mechanical shark.

"Next movie night, can we rent a romatic comedy?"

—Heatwave has had enough with Blades's pirate movies.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Dither is introduced here as "Helper Bot", but will get properly named in the later episode "Countdown".
• The mysterious symbol Cody finds on the submarine wreckage was previously seen on the canister of nanites in "Cody on Patrol".
• Gadgets and powers:
  • The Rescue Bots can operate underwater. Heatwave can even use the water jets on his hands as propulsion.

Real-world references

• Mayor Luskey quotes Jaws when he declares that his wife's luggage requirements mean they're "going to need a bigger boat".
• Luskey's boat is presumably named after Charles Foster Kane's mansion from Citizen Kane.
• Blades quotes from Moby Dick.
• Captain Shaw's name is a reference to actor Robert Shaw who played Quint in Jaws. He even bears a passing resemblance to the character.
• The mechanical Shark acts like the sharks Jaws.

Animation and technical errors

• The "speed calculus" section of the Miss Griffin Rock pageant is actually algebra.
• Chase reacts to the shark sub turning away before it does so.
• The bots leap onto the pier while treading water.

Trivia

"You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July."

• Yes, the calculus algebra equation on the blackboard checks out!

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Les dents de fer" ("Iron Teeth")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Ärger auf hoher See" ("Trouble on the Open Sea")
• Original airdate: 1 March 2013

Hungarian

• Title: "Mély gond" ("Deep Trouble")
• Original airdate: 16 February 2013

Italian

• Title: "Un Guaio Sommerso" ("A Submerged Trouble")
• Original airdate: 11 June 2017

Portuguese

• Title: "Apuros à Vista" ("Trouble in Sight")
• Original airdate: 26 March 2013

Home video releases

2013 — Rescue Bots — "Energize" (Shout! Factory)
2013 — Rescue Bots — "Die Rückkehr des Dino Bots" (EDEL:kids) — German and English audio
2013 — Rescue Bots — "Cody on Patrol" (Beyond Home Entertainment)
2015 — Rescue Bots — "Complete Season 1" (Beyond Home Entertainment)