The Goldrush Games - Part the First

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(Trademark, all rights reserved)
"The Goldrush Games - Part the First"
Production company	Entertainment One
Airdate	March 25, 2022
Writer	Katie Kaniewski
Directors	Paul O'Flanagan
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio
Watch this episode on Netflix

Go gold or go away.

Synopsis

It's a bright new day in the mall, and Burgertron is confident that their recent victory over the killer security bots will surely mean the other BotBots will crawl all over each other in desperation to ask the Lost Bots to join them. They spy a huge gathering of BotBots on the floor below, which Burgertron is convinced is a "thank you" ceremony... but it's Spud Muffin instead making everything all about him. He's throwing the "funnest party ever", complete with a Fun-O-Meter devised by the Science Alliance to prove he's thrown the most kickin' party in all of BotBots history. With Snorg providing the tunes as DJ Brock O'Lonely is on vacation, the party gets into full swing. Burgertron is crushed that the Lost Bots are once again overshadowed, even moreso than normal as it looks like Spud is going to be scientifically proven to be the coolest BotBot ever.

As the Fun-O-Meter dings into maximum fun levels, there's a low rumble... and a piece of the wall splits open with a blinding light, revealing a golden trophy bot: The Gamesmaster! This bot of myth and alleged legend sensed their incredible fun levels and has come to decree the BotBots worthy of competing in the most glorious of mall competitions, The Goldrush Games, to prove which mall squad is the best! Bonz-Eye is immediately skeptical, but Burgertron insists there's no better way to prove the Lost Bots' worthiness. The Gamesmaster agrees that the Lost Bots can compete, but as they are not a "formal" recognized squad, this means they have to compete under "provisional status": failure to reach first place means they'll be banished to the Dark Side of the Mall! Much to the other Lost Bots' shock, Burgertron agrees readily.

Back at the Lost and Found, the other Lost Bots air their reservations about the whole setup; even ultra-competitive Kikmee is wary of the stakes, and notes that competition should be about fun. Bonz-Eye lightly grills Burgertron over his continued urge to re-join the Hunger Hubs, noting how awful they've been to him ever since he fell in with the Lost Bots. But the desire to get back in with the larger BotBot society still compels them all...

This is the weirdest inspirational kitten poster.

As the games begin, Gamesmaster reveals the squads' starting rankings: of the eight competing squads, the Hunger Hubs are in first, while the Lost Bots are (of course) in dead last. The first event is the Shopping Cart Launch, where the squads fling a BotBot off a speeding shopping cart, aiming to pop balloons of varying point values. Dimlit ends up bouncing off the 100-point star balloon (those Mylar ones are tough!) while the other three manage to pop lesser-value but easier-to-bust rubber balloons. Still in last place, Burgertron consoles his team: there's still plenty more events to win! And win events they do: Clogstopper finishes first in the Grip Strength Hanging Challenge without breaking a sweat, Bonz-Eye holds tight to win Guinea Pig Bronco Riding, and Kikmee sails to victory in the Escalator Ski Jump. By the time of the last challenge in the semi-finals, the Lost Bots have made it to fifth, just one win away from making it into the finals.

The final event is the Dumpster Dive Relay race, with the teams swimming through very gross trash-water in the mall's back storage area. Kikmee gets an early lead, but also gets her foot caught in an un-cut six-pack ring. Burgertron calls for a time-out, but the Gamesmaster refuses; the trash is part of the race! Kikmee manages to get free and tag in Burgertron, though the Lost Bots have a lot of "ground" to catch up. Burgertron consoles Kikmee with her own words: competition is about doing your very best when times are tough. He leaps onto a spray-can floating in the filth, and with a kick, the processed cheese-like product propels him at face-peeling speed to the finish, where he scores a photo-finish tie with Spud Muffin, putting them in fourth place and into the finals! Knotzel asks if Burgertron just cheated, but again he uses someone's previous words, recalling that the Gamesmaster said "help ye or hurt ye, the trash can affect your performance"... and the momentarily-flummoxed Gamesmaster agrees he did say that, so the spray-cheese move was legal and the shared win is legit. As the crowd cheers, Spud Muffin slinks off....

"Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Barth Plagueis the Wise?"
"DyyyaaaaIII heard that!"

The Lost Bots are celebrating their victory when Spud Muffin approaches Burgertron, wanting a word in private. He says that after his performance in The Goldrush Games, he's convinced that the burger-bot should be allowed back in the Hunger Hubs, and as the squad's leader again. Burgertron is both excited and confused, pointing out it seems like Spud's been actively sabotaging the him, resulting in a melodramatic denial from the fries. He's even able to explain away the grease and salt found at the scenes, since there's lots of places in the mall where grease and salt feature heavily. Burgertron can't quite argue with that, and Spud Muffin asks again... is he coming back, or what?

To be continued!!!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"What the good doctor means, is everyone knows the most fun the mall ever had before this, was that exploding bowl-a-rama, thrown by... oh..."
"Uh, by me. It took hours to rig each pin to explode in different-colored glitter! ...I thtill hath thome im my mouthh, acthually."
"Ah, who can remember, some nobody, am I right? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haa!"

—Spud Muffin disses Burgertron and his works

"'Til all have fun!"
"'Til all have fun!!!"

—Spud Muffin works the crowd and the audience

"Competitions shouldn't be just about getting first place! They're about doing your very best, especially when things get tough!"

—Kikmee has done a bit of growing up

"You bots have made me proud today! Now let's get out there and show 'em what we're made of!"
"Beef? Beef, trees, plastic, vegan leather, romantic passion, that's what we're made of!"
"O-okay, yes, but also, determination!"

—Burgertron won't let Clogstopper being mostly-right slow his roll

Notes

Continuity notes

• The mall was saved from security bots just last night/episode, "Shopping Brawl".
• The Dark Side of the Mall was established and visited in "Lone Bot and Carb".
• Clogstopper's distressingly powerful ability to stick to difficult surfaces was established as his hobby back in "Phoning It In". One more offhand joke pays off at season's end!
• Burgertron brings up some suspicious actions in the past where grease and salt were found that point to Spud Muffin trying to sabotage him: Dave being freed from the foam pit and ruining Bot Prom ("On the Bot Prom Dance Floor") and being framed for the "murder" of Sprinkleberry D'uhnut ("Crime and Bun-ishment").
• Ring-a-Ling is shown here to be one of the Gamer Geeks. Her previous appearances hadn't given any indication she was with any specific squad.

Transformers references

• "'Til all have fun" is, of course, a play on "'Til all are one", the Autobot rallying cry introduced in The Transformers: The Movie.

Real-world references

• You should always cut the rings on those six-pack holders, people.

BotBots cypher translations

• The spray cheese can reads "Spray" (in the circle) and "Cheese!" in the banner.

Trivia

A "pillbot" shot of the competing squads. The Backpack Bunch are the second group from the left.

• This episode has the highest number of named BotBot appearances in the season. That number can be tweaked a little higher if you consider the generic condiment-bottle-bots and pencil-bots with the appropriate colors as being appearances by the likes of Must Turd and Point Dexter.
• Speaking of Point Dexter, the Backpack Bunch are listed as one of the eight competing squads on the leaderboard, but the actual members of said squad are never directly seen in the show. It was confirmed that the second squad from the left in the pillbot group was intended to be them ^[1]. (The Hunger Hubs similarly do not get a group shot in this sequence.)
• Speaking of barely-there bots, this is only the second (cumulative) appearance of the Shed Heads: Cuddletooth, Drillit Yaself and Sandy Man appeared in a still shot in "Lone Bot and Carb", while Nail Byter appeared in barely-animated form last episode, "Shopping Brawl". They don't show up much here and the pattern is the same: Nail Byter gets a short bit of animation, while the others only show up in still images.

Foreign localization

Arabic

• Title: "ألعاب الذهب" ("The Gold Games")

French

• Title: "La ruée vers l'or" ("The Gold Rush")

Indonesian

• Title: "Goldrush Game"

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Jogos Goldrush - Primeira Parte" ("Goldrush Games - First Part")

European Portuguese

• Title: "Os jogos de ouro - primeira parte" ("The golden games - first part")

References