Masquerade
Title card via TFWiki, fan-archive fair use
The Stunticons disguise themselves as Autobots to commit a string of crimes and frame Optimus Prime's team.
Megatron sends the Stunticons on a mission to find components for an unrevealed purpose, including the world's largest, most perfect ruby. While searching for their components, the actions of the Stunticons catch the attention of the Autobots, who track their movements and their crimes. Breakdown and Wildrider get the first component: laser lenses from a scientist. Dead End and Drag Strip get the second component: an experimental generator from the Army. Motormaster gets the last one: a perfect ruby from a museum.
The Autobots split into teams and manage to be extremely effective at capturing the Stunticons in the middle of their capers. Grapple, Hoist, and Inferno take on Breakdown and Wildrider. Warpath and Tracks take on Dead End and Drag Strip. Finally, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Blaster, and Spike Witwicky go for Motormaster, who challenges the Autobot leader to a game of “chicken” and ends up in a head-on collision. Spike, Bumblebee, and Blaster peer through the dust to see who survived, and it turns out that Optimus is the clear victor with merely a minor headache, while Motormaster lies in a wreck.
Although all five Stunticons have been captured, the Autobots still don't know what their plans were for the components they stole for Megatron. Wheeljack guesses that the parts are going to be made into a weapon. (Nooo, really?) Optimus hatches a scheme to disguise Autobots using camouflage paint and penetrate the Decepticon camp disguised as Stunticons: Optimus Prime as Motormaster, Jazz as Dead End, Sideswipe as Breakdown, Mirage as Drag Strip, and Windcharger as Wildrider.
The disguised Autobots infiltrate the Decepticons, although their arrival causes some raised eyebrows because they are driving too "safely". They deliver the stolen components to Megatron without being detected.
Back at Autobot Headquarters, the Stunticons manage to shimmy and shake their way out of their cells, merge into Menasor and overcome their Autobot captors. They then head back to the Decepticon base.
The Constructicons complete Megatron's new weapon, and he reveals its power, but just then Menasor arrives and declares the Autobots as infiltrators. Using Windcharger's magnetic field ability and Mirage's illusion power, the Autobots merge into their own Menasor. The two giants battle it out, and the Autobots are overcome. Megatron trains the new weapon on the Autobots, but the device blows up in his face after a few scattered shots.
Autobot reinforcements arrive, and the Decepticons flee without their usual promises for revenge. It is revealed that Ironhide had made adjustments to the ruby back at Autobot HQ, which caused the device to explode. The Autobots head for home, victorious.
—Inferno before he douses the flames on the Stunticon Breakdown
—Motormaster taunting Optimus Prime into a game of chicken
—Motormaster complains about Dead End's SAT-level vocabulary
—Spike Witwicky's vocabulary causes Optimus Prime to wince.
—Breakdown after freeing himself and taking out Inferno, Grapple, and Hoist.
- In full sell-my-toy mode, Motormaster gives a quick introdump at the episode's start, naming off his troops, and then again a moment later as he hands out assignments.
- In case you missed it, the Autobots chosen to impersonate the Stunticons are based specifically on alternate modes. Given this attention to detail, it's not infeasible to think that the plot of this episode may have originally called for the Autobots to simply have their alternate modes painted, since they consistently refrain from transforming once in the Decepticon camp: Although the specific models don't line up, Prime and Motormaster both transform into semi trucks
- Jazz and Dead End are both Porsches
- Sideswipe and Breakdown are both Lamborghinis
- Mirage and Drag Strip are both Formula 1 race cars (albeit very different-looking ones)
- And.... weeeeell, Windcharger's a Pontiac Firebird and Wildrider's a Ferrari, but the plot demanded Windcharger for his magnetic abilities. This would also explain why a different device, a projector of some sort, is used to disguise him rather than the camouflage paint.
Screencaps via TFWiki (Teletraan I), used under fan-archive fair use.