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Cartoon Viewing Club: Zob's Thoughts on Beast Wars "Possession"
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Zobovor
Oct 15, 2016, 10:54:46 AM10/15/16
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"Possession" was the 21st episode of Beast Wars, coming late during the 26-episode first season. It first aired on February 3, 1997. It was written by Ian Weir, who also wrote "Dark Designs" and "Cutting Edge" and the fan favorite "Code of Hero." As a season one episode, it is largely a standalone story, contrasting with the episodic serial that was the second and third season of the series.
Oddly, the episode I have on DVD uses the truncated 30-second version of the theme song from the syndicated Power Block programming block rather than the full 60-second version.
Our episode begins with some disturbing, creepy music and a glowing something-or-other floating through space. We know from the visual language of the show, especially episodes like "The Spark," that this must be a Transformer life-force, called a "spark" on this show. If you've seen the episode before, you know it's good ol' Starscream from the G1 series, coming to pay the Maximals and Predacons a little visit. Naturally, the concept of a spark didn't exist during the G1 days, and was a concept created by story editors Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward for the Beast Wars series. After Starscream was destroyed in The Transformers: the Movie, he existed as a "ghost" in two post-movie G1 episodes, seen as a semi-translucent version of his former self. Whether you believe in ghosts or not (they appear in G.I. Joe so we know they exist in the shared Sunbow universe), the idea of a robotic ghost is even more preposterous. This episode, and a line of dialogue from "Bad Spark," retroactively makes Starscream's disembodied life-essence as a "mutant indestructible spark" that can survive his body's destruction (which sort of explains why there aren't tons of other Transformer ghosts running around).
Starscream, incidentally, had previously appeared in Beast Wars in the third episode, "The Web," showing up briefly in Cheetor's dream sequence, which takes place on Cybertron. (He appeared in his Earth vehicle form, not a Cybertronic design, but this is at least consistent with G1's "Fire in the Sky," which also showed him as an Earth jet on Cybertron.)
The Maximals are getting thrown around during a particularly vicious lightning storm, so Optimus Primal suggests that they temporarily stash their spare weaponry underneath the armored flooring in the Axalon hold for safety reasons. This will be an important plot point in a bit. The Predacon starship (not named in the series but called the Darksyde by many fans, due to a line of Terrorsaur's from "Equal Measures" and eventually made semi-canonical) is faring no better, and this is where Starscream's disembodied spark finds its way inside. They're dealing with electrical fires and power surges, one of which zaps Waspinator and flings him across the control room. Megatron asks for a damage report, making sure to point out that he's only interested in the status of the base and its computer systems, and certainly was not asking Waspinator if he was hurt.
When Waspinator can't get the computer to reboot, he pounds the computer in frustration. "Waspinator does not understand!" he grumbles. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes (accompanied by a pair of glowing red... eyebrows?) appears on the monitor. "I'll bet Waspinator seldom does!" quips Starscream. "But try not to let it depress you, Bug-Face!" It's Doug Parker providing Starscream's voice characterization here, the regular actor for Terrorsaur. It's the first official vocal depiction of Starscream since the death of Chris Latta (only three years before this episode was produced), and it's not terrible. Fans had noticed early on how Starscream-like Terrorsaur was, in both the way he sounded and the way he behaved, so this was a good replacement. I have every confidence that the story editors would have pushed to include Chris Latta in this episode, had he still been alive.
Waspinator is enveloped by a burst of energy as Starscream enters him and takes control of his body. Close examination of Waspinator's CGI model following this scene reveals that the Predacon symbols on either side of his helmet have been replaced by Decepticon symbols! (We know from "Double Jeopardy" that Rattrap's symbols change when he switches allegiances, and activation codes, from Maximal to Predacon. Dinobot's symbols were scripted to change during "Maximal No More," but his CGI model does not exhibit visible symbols. Decepticons didn't use activation codes during G1, but it's neat that they remembered to change this small detail.) Terrorsaur observes from nearby.
Man, you can sure tell this is 1990's television. They cut back and forth between the Maximal and Predacon base at such a frenetic pace. The pacing is so different in the G1 series. Scenes actually last a minute or two in the older show. Modern kids have such short attention spans.
Anyway, in the aftermath of the storm, Rattrap assesses that the Axalon's surveillance capability has been reduced considerably, and there is concern that they are vulnerable to a Predacon attack. Primal is hoping that they will be too busy dealing with storm damage of their own to worry about an ambush. The Predacons are indeed busy, but not for the reason Primal suspects. As Megatron responds to Scorponok's call about the electrical fire, he arrives to find the lower decks veiled in a cloud of black smoke. (Ah, clever. They can allude to a fire without actually having to animate it!) Megatron is not wearing his beast-mode tail on his left arm as he fans the smoke. I always wished that the toy was capable of this, but the tail was permanently attached to the toy's arm (indeed, the left arm didn't even have a proper fist to speak of).
Waspinator makes a dramatic appearance, and as the lightning flashes, we see the form of Starscream superimposed upon him. It always impressed me when they did stuff like this on the show, because it meant that they actually took the time to build a whole new CGI model just for this one scene. You know they didn't just reuse somebody else's computer model, because nobody else on Beast Wars is blocky enough to look like Starscream. It looks like somebody probably used the Marvel Comics TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE profile for reference, based on the way Starscream is colored (his helmet is silver and his face is blue; Marvel used blue frequently to represent the black colors on the toys). Ben Yee reached out to the story editors fairly early on, and was retained as a consultant for episodes like this to ensure that the connections to G1 were accurate and correct.
"So, there you are!" says Scorponok in an accusing tone. "Yes, here I am, at very long last!" replies Starscream from within Waspinator. Immediately, the Predacons notice something is strange about his voice. (A metallic flanging effect was applied to his voice, which in theory is consistent with G1 characters, but the actual settings used are really different from the vocal effects used during G1.) He introduces himself as "Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticon Battle Fleet." For some reason I think it's really cool to get a formal-sounding official name for the Decepticon army, and I use it in G1 fan fiction whenever possible. Starscream's function from his 1984 Hasbro toy biography was Air Commander, so this is accurate.
Starscream gathers with the other Predacons (including Blackarachnia, who was introduced about midway through this season) to explain his presence. Terrorsaur confirms that he saw an "entity" pop out of the computer; Blackarachnia balks at the idea of Starscream returning, believing him to be destroyed and referring to him as "ancient history." I'm not sure how she would know about such things given that she was only recently brought to life, but I guess it's possible that Maximal protoforms come pre-programmed with historical datatrax.
Starscream yells a lot. It's like they showed Doug Parker a Starscream clip from The Transformers: the Movie where he's chasing Springer and Arcee and going "PATHETIC FOOLS!! THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!!" and Parker went, "Mmmkay, got it." They really are taking the "scream" part very literally. Sue Blue was the voice director for this show, but I don't think she worked with Chris Latta performing Starscream with enough frequency to really have a strong feel for his delivery style.
Starscream's story (which is a complete fabrication, by the way) is that he was killed defending Decepticon leader Galvatron against "the giant Transformer, Unicron." I don't like that Unicron is referred to as a Transformer, because he's not of Cybertron origin, but that's a very minor point in the grand scheme of things. What's really cool is that we get another glimpse of Starscream during this contrived flashback, showing him facing off against a planet-mode Unicron. Naturally, this never actually happened, but the Predacons don't know this yet. (It's never stated outright in the show, but the generally accepted time frame is that about 300 years have passed since the end of G1. Most of the Maxmal and Predacon characters are very young compared to the Autobots or Decepticons who have lived for millions of years. The contention is that none of them were around to witness the Great War, so not very many of them are knowledgeable about "ancient" Cybertron history.)
Unicron will make a return appearance in the show when Optimus Primal deals with the Vok in the first season finale, when the aliens choose his form as a "figure of authority" culled from Primal's datatrax.
I'm struck by how simple the CGI models on this show actually are. There are so few moving parts. What really makes the characters look good, frankly, is the textures. Waspinator's segmented eyes are varying shades of blue and purple and silver. His armor is covered in scales and is varying shades of green and blue. Megatron has circuit-like details on the surface of his helmet. This show would be so visually boring if the models were flat and untextured, but the extra level of surface detail makes them look really good, even in close-ups.
Starscream pledges his services to Predacon leader Megatron, but Megatron is understandably skeptical. He hasn't built his career by granting implicit trust to every newcomer who struts up to him. However, Starscream offers Megatron some valuable information—he saw the Maximal base on his way in, and he knows their vulnerable spot. This may give Megatron the edge he needs to win the Beast Wars! Cut to commercial.
Every time I watch one of these early episodes now, I think about how Megatron already knows that he's on planet Earth (despite everybody else during the first season referring to it merely as an "unknown planet") and he already knows that the Ark, and the ancient Autobots and Decepticons, are laying dormant on the planet. (This also means that there are two Starscreams on Earth at the same time in this episode—the one on board the crashed Ark, sleeping, and the disembodied ghost version.) So, basically, Megatron already knows he's going to hit the Ark eventually and change the future, or try to. At this point, he's just dicking around, knowing that whatever the Maximals, or even the Predacons, do at this stage is of absolutely zero consequence.
So, Scorponok sends out a cyberbee to confirm Starscream's observations. Cheetor spots the cyberbee and blasts it, but not before it transmits visual images to the Predacons. (On the Kenner toy, the cyberbee is actually a piece of Scorponok's scorpion claw that detaches. In the show, he simply launches them from his claws.) So, while the Maximals are making repairs, the Predacons swoop in from the opposite side and attack. This is treated like a viciously clever military strategy, and somehow catches the Maximals completely unprepared.
"Hello, boys! Just happened to be in the neighborhood!" Starscream says in a quip highly reminiscent of the corny G1 dialogue. "So we thought we'd drop in!" chimes in Blackarachnia, who gets G1 humor. Weirdly, Megatron turns his T. rex head completely upside-down to blast Primal. It's the Beast Wars equivalent of holding your gun sideways, I guess.
Waspinator is flying around like crazy, dodging Cheetor's quasar blasts and generally confusing the heck out of the Maximals. Cheetor can't believe how maneuverable Waspinator has become, and Starscream boasts that it's only because his spark has commandeered Waspinator's body. "Starscream?! Impossible!" Dinobot says, who finally remembers that he's in this episode. In truth, Starscream wasn't treated as faster or more maneuverable than any other random Decepticon... indeed, he was less agile than Tracks in "Auto-Bop," and he wasn't even a jet... just a car that could sprout wings. Still, it's nice somehow that Starscream's abilities are treated as special, and something that none of the Maximals or Predacons can match.
With the ambush overwhelmingly successful and the Maximals taking heavy damage, Primal realizes the only way for them to survive is to abandon the base. Primal scoops up a wounded Dinobot (who is much bigger than Primal; this is consistent with the way he's always been portrayed on the show, but it still bugs me because it doesn't match the scale of the toys) and the Maximals flee. Megatron puts Starscream in charge of the Axalon, ostensibly as a thank-you for his services, but he tells Scorponok and Blackarachnia to watch him, just in case. (Terrorsaur is not happy that Starscream is already moving up in the ranks. Which is funny when you realize that the two are essentially the same character. Most of the actors on this series only perform a single character, but Doug Parker is modulating his Terrorsaur delivery here to distinguish it from Starscream... something that Chris Latta did regularly when, say, Sparkplug and Wheeljack were in the same scene.)
Outside, the Maximals have taken refuge—in beast mode, of course, which protects them from the energon radiation as well as giving Dinobot a chance to heal up a bit. Primal expresses frustration over his lack of Starscream knowledge, citing the Maximal elders having classified the files as the reason for this. Luckily, Dinobot is a student of military history and had full access to Starscream's datatrax, and describes Starscream as deceitful, scheming, and "the most notorious traitor of all." I'm not sure I agree with this. He was defiant towards Decepticon leader Megatron, certainly, but he wasn't a traitor to the Decepticon cause. Then again, history is written by the winners, and Starscream didn't survive to tell his version of the tale. It's actually kind of ironic that Dinobot derides Starscream for being a traitor, since Dinobot actually did renounce the Predacon alliance and ideals.
Airazor, who has been watching events from afar, reconnoiters with Tigatron. She informs him that "half the Preds just left the base... and guess who's in charge?" Without another word, she just flies off before Tigatron can respond. I guess she really did want to just leave him guessing. (They say that writers should start a scene late and end it early. It's great that we're not being hit over the head with redundant information, but sometimes you have to infer huge chunks of a conversation to really understand what's happening. It would be one thing if the scene abrubtly cut away and we were left to assume that Airazor and Tigatron talked about this for a while longer, but the fact that she flies away totally flies in the face of this idea.)
Blackarachnia confronts Starscream about his true motives, revealing that she's looked up his data files and learned that "you didn't get blasted to scrap metal by Unicron... you got blasted by Galvatron, after you betrayed him!" So, is she referring to events from The Transformers: the Movie, or is she describing the final G1 scene featuring Starscream's ghost from "Ghost in the Machine"? Starscream's response ("Galvatron was a fool! I deserved to lead!") suggests they're both talking about the coronation scene from the movie, but if that's the case, then the whole business with Starscream's ghost returning to cause more chaos during the G1 days is totally missing from the history trax. Despite Starscream's secret being uncovered, Blackarachnia (ever the schemer herself) is content to betray Predacon leader Megatron in favor of following Starscream. (There's an odd scene, when she says "I thought you might make me a better offer," when part of her gold face is actually phasing right through part of her black helmet.)
Computer animation has some advantages over cel animation, and it also has some major drawbacks. One of the visual problems with this show is that it never looks like objects are actually making contact with one another. When Starscream puts his hand on Blackarachnia and they walk away from the camera, his hand looks like it's hovering over her back without actually coming to rest upon it. Of course, this is because they're made up of two different models that aren't locked together, so his hand would just phase right through her if he got too close. They don't look like their feet are touching the floor as they walk away, either. Maybe it's the severe lack of shadows.
Scorponok reports that the Maximals have returned to the base. I think Starscream is supposed to be narrowing his eyes in disbelief, but the way the animators reduce the size of both his eyes and the borders around them, it just makes it look like his eyes are shrinking. The facial models for these characters just aren't particularly expressive. The Maximals announce that they're surrendering, and they all hang their heads in shame. Cue the commercial.
Optimus Primal explains that Dinobot is badly injured (he's really not that bad off) and they need to get him inside the creation/restoration chamber inside the Axalon. Starscream agrees, if only so he can take advantage of the situation and betray Primal. He's begun to instruct Blackarachnia, ostensibly his new protege, in little asides like, "Always show compassion--it's a useful cover for your true motives!" Somehow, they force Primal to transform (now that's a scene I would have liked to see animated—did they just manipulate him by hand, like he was a Kenner toy?) and chain him up in the ship's hold. You know, the hold where the Maximals stashed all their spare weapons earlier? How conveeeeeenient. Then, Starscream orders the remaining Maximals to attack the Predacon base.
Primal's escape seems too easy and a bit contrived. He just gives a good yank and the metal brackets holding his arms down just pop loose. When Primal shows up, Starscream is confident that he and Blackarachnia can overcome him. After Primal blasts the door to the C/R chamber and Dinobot springs into action, Starscream changes his strategy and escapes. Blackarachnia is not thrilled about being abandoned. She shoots her harpoon and escapes through the top hatch of the base. (Knowing what I do about the fate of Blackarachnia, it's never really made much sense to me that she eventually becomes a Maximal. She's such a deceitful and self-serving character.) Primal tries to contact the Maximals, can't get through the energon interference, and resolves to close the distance gap. Watch as his PrimeJets roar to life and the bottom of his helmet is illuminated, even though he's wearing a backpack that should block the light from the jets from reaching his head.
Cheetor and Rattrap try to crawl past the Darksyde sentry turrets and look like they're slipping on ice. Again, the lack of shadows really hurts the visuals. The Darksyde itself is casting a huge shadow on the ground, but Cheetor and Rattrap don't have one. Then, when the motion sensors are activated and the spotlights turn on, both Maximals are brightly illuminated but there's still no shadows beneath them. Rhinox is the first to realize trying to attack the Predacon base is a losing proposition. Starscream insists that they press on, until Primal intervenes. Now, it's an aerial showdown between the two flying aces. Primal dodges Starscream's missiles until he gets close enough to throw a punch, literally knocking him out of the sky. The wind-up for this punch has always looked really awkward to me. The animators spent so much time worrying about whether his joints are bending correctly and making sure nothing is phasing into anything else that it just makes him look slow and plodding. Maybe something more cartoonish would have worked better, like if they'd detached his forearm at the elbow joint and just let it spin freely. When Popeye wound up for a punch, it never looked anatomically accurate, but it was convincing.
Megatron realizes he's been doubly betrayed by both Starscream and Blackarachnia. People used to say that his constant utterances of "yesss" and "nooo" were programming quirks that he couldn't consciously control, but he clearly does choose to litter his speech with the words. "I'll have both their traitorous hides! Yesss! I'll melt them into aluminum siding! Oh, yes indeed!"
Starscream, desperate now (and sitting right in front of a volatile energon crystal), pleads with Optimus Primal. Notice how his entire backpack, including the wings and stripey wasp abdomen, have been removed so that he can actually sit down and back away on his keyster. When he spots Blackarachnia, high above, he tries to appeal to their former partership, demanding that she destroy Primal. "Are all your dreams in Technicolor?" she quips before taking aim and firing at him. This is a cute pop culture reference, but every Beast Wars episode that alludes to Earth culture tends to strain credibility due to the unlikelihood that the Maximals and Predacons would know anything about the planet or its minutae. It's not like G1 when the Autobots spent years on Earth and could justifiably have learned about baseball, King Kong, etc.
A big deal is made of the missile approaching Starscream, and finally at the last moment, Optimus Primal declares, "Hasta la vista, Starscream," and rockets away. Yes, he's making a reference to Terminator 2: Judgement Day (which was only six years old when this episode was made). A pair of sunglasses drops down over his eyes to complete the pop culture reference. (The glasses are semi-translucent, and it happens so quick that it's tough to spot without freeze-framing the scene in question.) We can infer that Starscream's spark is knocked right out of Waspinator in the explosion.
Back at the base, the Predacons are piecing Waspinator back together. "Waspinator has a headache in his whole body!" he groans. Blackarachnia professes loyalty to Megatron, claiming she had only played along with Starscream to find out what he was really planning. Back at the Maximal base, the group is putting the Axalon back together... all except Cheetor, who is ostensibly checking the constellations in the sky. "Twinkle, twinkle, little Starscream," he says. In outer space, Starscream's disembodied spark is drifting away, though it's not clear whether he's doing this on purpose or is being carried away by the force of the detonation. He promises all sorts of evil, horrible things when he comes back to terrorize the Maximals and Predacons at some future date. Aside from a non-speaking cameo in a couple of other episodes, though (like when his deactivated body is seen inside the Ark after Predacon leader Megatron infiltrates it), he does not return as promised (which in itself is kind of surprising, considering the insane amount of G1 references in both Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise).
Some folks suggested that the reason the Transmetal Waspinator toy has a jet mode was due to Starscream's influence. Indeed, Starscream appears as a hidden character in the Beast Wars: Transmetals video game for Nintendo 64, using Transmetal Waspinator's sprite model in alternate colors, and gets battle cries like "Decepticons attack!"
This isn't the best or most compelling episode of Beast Wars, but it was a loving tribute to G1 during a time when G1 was considered dead and buried. At the time, it was the episode that was most directly related to G1, though eventually "The Agenda" would come along and cement that relationship. This is an episode I've watched probably more frequently than most, because of the Starscream connection, and while it's got its flaws, I still manage to enjoy it.
Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already got the right square-shaped head for it)
Oddly, the episode I have on DVD uses the truncated 30-second version of the theme song from the syndicated Power Block programming block rather than the full 60-second version.
Our episode begins with some disturbing, creepy music and a glowing something-or-other floating through space. We know from the visual language of the show, especially episodes like "The Spark," that this must be a Transformer life-force, called a "spark" on this show. If you've seen the episode before, you know it's good ol' Starscream from the G1 series, coming to pay the Maximals and Predacons a little visit. Naturally, the concept of a spark didn't exist during the G1 days, and was a concept created by story editors Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward for the Beast Wars series. After Starscream was destroyed in The Transformers: the Movie, he existed as a "ghost" in two post-movie G1 episodes, seen as a semi-translucent version of his former self. Whether you believe in ghosts or not (they appear in G.I. Joe so we know they exist in the shared Sunbow universe), the idea of a robotic ghost is even more preposterous. This episode, and a line of dialogue from "Bad Spark," retroactively makes Starscream's disembodied life-essence as a "mutant indestructible spark" that can survive his body's destruction (which sort of explains why there aren't tons of other Transformer ghosts running around).
Starscream, incidentally, had previously appeared in Beast Wars in the third episode, "The Web," showing up briefly in Cheetor's dream sequence, which takes place on Cybertron. (He appeared in his Earth vehicle form, not a Cybertronic design, but this is at least consistent with G1's "Fire in the Sky," which also showed him as an Earth jet on Cybertron.)
The Maximals are getting thrown around during a particularly vicious lightning storm, so Optimus Primal suggests that they temporarily stash their spare weaponry underneath the armored flooring in the Axalon hold for safety reasons. This will be an important plot point in a bit. The Predacon starship (not named in the series but called the Darksyde by many fans, due to a line of Terrorsaur's from "Equal Measures" and eventually made semi-canonical) is faring no better, and this is where Starscream's disembodied spark finds its way inside. They're dealing with electrical fires and power surges, one of which zaps Waspinator and flings him across the control room. Megatron asks for a damage report, making sure to point out that he's only interested in the status of the base and its computer systems, and certainly was not asking Waspinator if he was hurt.
When Waspinator can't get the computer to reboot, he pounds the computer in frustration. "Waspinator does not understand!" he grumbles. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes (accompanied by a pair of glowing red... eyebrows?) appears on the monitor. "I'll bet Waspinator seldom does!" quips Starscream. "But try not to let it depress you, Bug-Face!" It's Doug Parker providing Starscream's voice characterization here, the regular actor for Terrorsaur. It's the first official vocal depiction of Starscream since the death of Chris Latta (only three years before this episode was produced), and it's not terrible. Fans had noticed early on how Starscream-like Terrorsaur was, in both the way he sounded and the way he behaved, so this was a good replacement. I have every confidence that the story editors would have pushed to include Chris Latta in this episode, had he still been alive.
Waspinator is enveloped by a burst of energy as Starscream enters him and takes control of his body. Close examination of Waspinator's CGI model following this scene reveals that the Predacon symbols on either side of his helmet have been replaced by Decepticon symbols! (We know from "Double Jeopardy" that Rattrap's symbols change when he switches allegiances, and activation codes, from Maximal to Predacon. Dinobot's symbols were scripted to change during "Maximal No More," but his CGI model does not exhibit visible symbols. Decepticons didn't use activation codes during G1, but it's neat that they remembered to change this small detail.) Terrorsaur observes from nearby.
Man, you can sure tell this is 1990's television. They cut back and forth between the Maximal and Predacon base at such a frenetic pace. The pacing is so different in the G1 series. Scenes actually last a minute or two in the older show. Modern kids have such short attention spans.
Anyway, in the aftermath of the storm, Rattrap assesses that the Axalon's surveillance capability has been reduced considerably, and there is concern that they are vulnerable to a Predacon attack. Primal is hoping that they will be too busy dealing with storm damage of their own to worry about an ambush. The Predacons are indeed busy, but not for the reason Primal suspects. As Megatron responds to Scorponok's call about the electrical fire, he arrives to find the lower decks veiled in a cloud of black smoke. (Ah, clever. They can allude to a fire without actually having to animate it!) Megatron is not wearing his beast-mode tail on his left arm as he fans the smoke. I always wished that the toy was capable of this, but the tail was permanently attached to the toy's arm (indeed, the left arm didn't even have a proper fist to speak of).
Waspinator makes a dramatic appearance, and as the lightning flashes, we see the form of Starscream superimposed upon him. It always impressed me when they did stuff like this on the show, because it meant that they actually took the time to build a whole new CGI model just for this one scene. You know they didn't just reuse somebody else's computer model, because nobody else on Beast Wars is blocky enough to look like Starscream. It looks like somebody probably used the Marvel Comics TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE profile for reference, based on the way Starscream is colored (his helmet is silver and his face is blue; Marvel used blue frequently to represent the black colors on the toys). Ben Yee reached out to the story editors fairly early on, and was retained as a consultant for episodes like this to ensure that the connections to G1 were accurate and correct.
"So, there you are!" says Scorponok in an accusing tone. "Yes, here I am, at very long last!" replies Starscream from within Waspinator. Immediately, the Predacons notice something is strange about his voice. (A metallic flanging effect was applied to his voice, which in theory is consistent with G1 characters, but the actual settings used are really different from the vocal effects used during G1.) He introduces himself as "Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticon Battle Fleet." For some reason I think it's really cool to get a formal-sounding official name for the Decepticon army, and I use it in G1 fan fiction whenever possible. Starscream's function from his 1984 Hasbro toy biography was Air Commander, so this is accurate.
Starscream gathers with the other Predacons (including Blackarachnia, who was introduced about midway through this season) to explain his presence. Terrorsaur confirms that he saw an "entity" pop out of the computer; Blackarachnia balks at the idea of Starscream returning, believing him to be destroyed and referring to him as "ancient history." I'm not sure how she would know about such things given that she was only recently brought to life, but I guess it's possible that Maximal protoforms come pre-programmed with historical datatrax.
Starscream yells a lot. It's like they showed Doug Parker a Starscream clip from The Transformers: the Movie where he's chasing Springer and Arcee and going "PATHETIC FOOLS!! THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!!" and Parker went, "Mmmkay, got it." They really are taking the "scream" part very literally. Sue Blue was the voice director for this show, but I don't think she worked with Chris Latta performing Starscream with enough frequency to really have a strong feel for his delivery style.
Starscream's story (which is a complete fabrication, by the way) is that he was killed defending Decepticon leader Galvatron against "the giant Transformer, Unicron." I don't like that Unicron is referred to as a Transformer, because he's not of Cybertron origin, but that's a very minor point in the grand scheme of things. What's really cool is that we get another glimpse of Starscream during this contrived flashback, showing him facing off against a planet-mode Unicron. Naturally, this never actually happened, but the Predacons don't know this yet. (It's never stated outright in the show, but the generally accepted time frame is that about 300 years have passed since the end of G1. Most of the Maxmal and Predacon characters are very young compared to the Autobots or Decepticons who have lived for millions of years. The contention is that none of them were around to witness the Great War, so not very many of them are knowledgeable about "ancient" Cybertron history.)
Unicron will make a return appearance in the show when Optimus Primal deals with the Vok in the first season finale, when the aliens choose his form as a "figure of authority" culled from Primal's datatrax.
I'm struck by how simple the CGI models on this show actually are. There are so few moving parts. What really makes the characters look good, frankly, is the textures. Waspinator's segmented eyes are varying shades of blue and purple and silver. His armor is covered in scales and is varying shades of green and blue. Megatron has circuit-like details on the surface of his helmet. This show would be so visually boring if the models were flat and untextured, but the extra level of surface detail makes them look really good, even in close-ups.
Starscream pledges his services to Predacon leader Megatron, but Megatron is understandably skeptical. He hasn't built his career by granting implicit trust to every newcomer who struts up to him. However, Starscream offers Megatron some valuable information—he saw the Maximal base on his way in, and he knows their vulnerable spot. This may give Megatron the edge he needs to win the Beast Wars! Cut to commercial.
Every time I watch one of these early episodes now, I think about how Megatron already knows that he's on planet Earth (despite everybody else during the first season referring to it merely as an "unknown planet") and he already knows that the Ark, and the ancient Autobots and Decepticons, are laying dormant on the planet. (This also means that there are two Starscreams on Earth at the same time in this episode—the one on board the crashed Ark, sleeping, and the disembodied ghost version.) So, basically, Megatron already knows he's going to hit the Ark eventually and change the future, or try to. At this point, he's just dicking around, knowing that whatever the Maximals, or even the Predacons, do at this stage is of absolutely zero consequence.
So, Scorponok sends out a cyberbee to confirm Starscream's observations. Cheetor spots the cyberbee and blasts it, but not before it transmits visual images to the Predacons. (On the Kenner toy, the cyberbee is actually a piece of Scorponok's scorpion claw that detaches. In the show, he simply launches them from his claws.) So, while the Maximals are making repairs, the Predacons swoop in from the opposite side and attack. This is treated like a viciously clever military strategy, and somehow catches the Maximals completely unprepared.
"Hello, boys! Just happened to be in the neighborhood!" Starscream says in a quip highly reminiscent of the corny G1 dialogue. "So we thought we'd drop in!" chimes in Blackarachnia, who gets G1 humor. Weirdly, Megatron turns his T. rex head completely upside-down to blast Primal. It's the Beast Wars equivalent of holding your gun sideways, I guess.
Waspinator is flying around like crazy, dodging Cheetor's quasar blasts and generally confusing the heck out of the Maximals. Cheetor can't believe how maneuverable Waspinator has become, and Starscream boasts that it's only because his spark has commandeered Waspinator's body. "Starscream?! Impossible!" Dinobot says, who finally remembers that he's in this episode. In truth, Starscream wasn't treated as faster or more maneuverable than any other random Decepticon... indeed, he was less agile than Tracks in "Auto-Bop," and he wasn't even a jet... just a car that could sprout wings. Still, it's nice somehow that Starscream's abilities are treated as special, and something that none of the Maximals or Predacons can match.
With the ambush overwhelmingly successful and the Maximals taking heavy damage, Primal realizes the only way for them to survive is to abandon the base. Primal scoops up a wounded Dinobot (who is much bigger than Primal; this is consistent with the way he's always been portrayed on the show, but it still bugs me because it doesn't match the scale of the toys) and the Maximals flee. Megatron puts Starscream in charge of the Axalon, ostensibly as a thank-you for his services, but he tells Scorponok and Blackarachnia to watch him, just in case. (Terrorsaur is not happy that Starscream is already moving up in the ranks. Which is funny when you realize that the two are essentially the same character. Most of the actors on this series only perform a single character, but Doug Parker is modulating his Terrorsaur delivery here to distinguish it from Starscream... something that Chris Latta did regularly when, say, Sparkplug and Wheeljack were in the same scene.)
Outside, the Maximals have taken refuge—in beast mode, of course, which protects them from the energon radiation as well as giving Dinobot a chance to heal up a bit. Primal expresses frustration over his lack of Starscream knowledge, citing the Maximal elders having classified the files as the reason for this. Luckily, Dinobot is a student of military history and had full access to Starscream's datatrax, and describes Starscream as deceitful, scheming, and "the most notorious traitor of all." I'm not sure I agree with this. He was defiant towards Decepticon leader Megatron, certainly, but he wasn't a traitor to the Decepticon cause. Then again, history is written by the winners, and Starscream didn't survive to tell his version of the tale. It's actually kind of ironic that Dinobot derides Starscream for being a traitor, since Dinobot actually did renounce the Predacon alliance and ideals.
Airazor, who has been watching events from afar, reconnoiters with Tigatron. She informs him that "half the Preds just left the base... and guess who's in charge?" Without another word, she just flies off before Tigatron can respond. I guess she really did want to just leave him guessing. (They say that writers should start a scene late and end it early. It's great that we're not being hit over the head with redundant information, but sometimes you have to infer huge chunks of a conversation to really understand what's happening. It would be one thing if the scene abrubtly cut away and we were left to assume that Airazor and Tigatron talked about this for a while longer, but the fact that she flies away totally flies in the face of this idea.)
Blackarachnia confronts Starscream about his true motives, revealing that she's looked up his data files and learned that "you didn't get blasted to scrap metal by Unicron... you got blasted by Galvatron, after you betrayed him!" So, is she referring to events from The Transformers: the Movie, or is she describing the final G1 scene featuring Starscream's ghost from "Ghost in the Machine"? Starscream's response ("Galvatron was a fool! I deserved to lead!") suggests they're both talking about the coronation scene from the movie, but if that's the case, then the whole business with Starscream's ghost returning to cause more chaos during the G1 days is totally missing from the history trax. Despite Starscream's secret being uncovered, Blackarachnia (ever the schemer herself) is content to betray Predacon leader Megatron in favor of following Starscream. (There's an odd scene, when she says "I thought you might make me a better offer," when part of her gold face is actually phasing right through part of her black helmet.)
Computer animation has some advantages over cel animation, and it also has some major drawbacks. One of the visual problems with this show is that it never looks like objects are actually making contact with one another. When Starscream puts his hand on Blackarachnia and they walk away from the camera, his hand looks like it's hovering over her back without actually coming to rest upon it. Of course, this is because they're made up of two different models that aren't locked together, so his hand would just phase right through her if he got too close. They don't look like their feet are touching the floor as they walk away, either. Maybe it's the severe lack of shadows.
Scorponok reports that the Maximals have returned to the base. I think Starscream is supposed to be narrowing his eyes in disbelief, but the way the animators reduce the size of both his eyes and the borders around them, it just makes it look like his eyes are shrinking. The facial models for these characters just aren't particularly expressive. The Maximals announce that they're surrendering, and they all hang their heads in shame. Cue the commercial.
Optimus Primal explains that Dinobot is badly injured (he's really not that bad off) and they need to get him inside the creation/restoration chamber inside the Axalon. Starscream agrees, if only so he can take advantage of the situation and betray Primal. He's begun to instruct Blackarachnia, ostensibly his new protege, in little asides like, "Always show compassion--it's a useful cover for your true motives!" Somehow, they force Primal to transform (now that's a scene I would have liked to see animated—did they just manipulate him by hand, like he was a Kenner toy?) and chain him up in the ship's hold. You know, the hold where the Maximals stashed all their spare weapons earlier? How conveeeeeenient. Then, Starscream orders the remaining Maximals to attack the Predacon base.
Primal's escape seems too easy and a bit contrived. He just gives a good yank and the metal brackets holding his arms down just pop loose. When Primal shows up, Starscream is confident that he and Blackarachnia can overcome him. After Primal blasts the door to the C/R chamber and Dinobot springs into action, Starscream changes his strategy and escapes. Blackarachnia is not thrilled about being abandoned. She shoots her harpoon and escapes through the top hatch of the base. (Knowing what I do about the fate of Blackarachnia, it's never really made much sense to me that she eventually becomes a Maximal. She's such a deceitful and self-serving character.) Primal tries to contact the Maximals, can't get through the energon interference, and resolves to close the distance gap. Watch as his PrimeJets roar to life and the bottom of his helmet is illuminated, even though he's wearing a backpack that should block the light from the jets from reaching his head.
Cheetor and Rattrap try to crawl past the Darksyde sentry turrets and look like they're slipping on ice. Again, the lack of shadows really hurts the visuals. The Darksyde itself is casting a huge shadow on the ground, but Cheetor and Rattrap don't have one. Then, when the motion sensors are activated and the spotlights turn on, both Maximals are brightly illuminated but there's still no shadows beneath them. Rhinox is the first to realize trying to attack the Predacon base is a losing proposition. Starscream insists that they press on, until Primal intervenes. Now, it's an aerial showdown between the two flying aces. Primal dodges Starscream's missiles until he gets close enough to throw a punch, literally knocking him out of the sky. The wind-up for this punch has always looked really awkward to me. The animators spent so much time worrying about whether his joints are bending correctly and making sure nothing is phasing into anything else that it just makes him look slow and plodding. Maybe something more cartoonish would have worked better, like if they'd detached his forearm at the elbow joint and just let it spin freely. When Popeye wound up for a punch, it never looked anatomically accurate, but it was convincing.
Megatron realizes he's been doubly betrayed by both Starscream and Blackarachnia. People used to say that his constant utterances of "yesss" and "nooo" were programming quirks that he couldn't consciously control, but he clearly does choose to litter his speech with the words. "I'll have both their traitorous hides! Yesss! I'll melt them into aluminum siding! Oh, yes indeed!"
Starscream, desperate now (and sitting right in front of a volatile energon crystal), pleads with Optimus Primal. Notice how his entire backpack, including the wings and stripey wasp abdomen, have been removed so that he can actually sit down and back away on his keyster. When he spots Blackarachnia, high above, he tries to appeal to their former partership, demanding that she destroy Primal. "Are all your dreams in Technicolor?" she quips before taking aim and firing at him. This is a cute pop culture reference, but every Beast Wars episode that alludes to Earth culture tends to strain credibility due to the unlikelihood that the Maximals and Predacons would know anything about the planet or its minutae. It's not like G1 when the Autobots spent years on Earth and could justifiably have learned about baseball, King Kong, etc.
A big deal is made of the missile approaching Starscream, and finally at the last moment, Optimus Primal declares, "Hasta la vista, Starscream," and rockets away. Yes, he's making a reference to Terminator 2: Judgement Day (which was only six years old when this episode was made). A pair of sunglasses drops down over his eyes to complete the pop culture reference. (The glasses are semi-translucent, and it happens so quick that it's tough to spot without freeze-framing the scene in question.) We can infer that Starscream's spark is knocked right out of Waspinator in the explosion.
Back at the base, the Predacons are piecing Waspinator back together. "Waspinator has a headache in his whole body!" he groans. Blackarachnia professes loyalty to Megatron, claiming she had only played along with Starscream to find out what he was really planning. Back at the Maximal base, the group is putting the Axalon back together... all except Cheetor, who is ostensibly checking the constellations in the sky. "Twinkle, twinkle, little Starscream," he says. In outer space, Starscream's disembodied spark is drifting away, though it's not clear whether he's doing this on purpose or is being carried away by the force of the detonation. He promises all sorts of evil, horrible things when he comes back to terrorize the Maximals and Predacons at some future date. Aside from a non-speaking cameo in a couple of other episodes, though (like when his deactivated body is seen inside the Ark after Predacon leader Megatron infiltrates it), he does not return as promised (which in itself is kind of surprising, considering the insane amount of G1 references in both Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise).
Some folks suggested that the reason the Transmetal Waspinator toy has a jet mode was due to Starscream's influence. Indeed, Starscream appears as a hidden character in the Beast Wars: Transmetals video game for Nintendo 64, using Transmetal Waspinator's sprite model in alternate colors, and gets battle cries like "Decepticons attack!"
This isn't the best or most compelling episode of Beast Wars, but it was a loving tribute to G1 during a time when G1 was considered dead and buried. At the time, it was the episode that was most directly related to G1, though eventually "The Agenda" would come along and cement that relationship. This is an episode I've watched probably more frequently than most, because of the Starscream connection, and while it's got its flaws, I still manage to enjoy it.
Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already got the right square-shaped head for it)
Gustavo Wombat
Oct 15, 2016, 12:10:41 PM10/15/16
to
Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
> "Possession" was the 21st episode of Beast Wars, coming late during the
> 26-episode first season. It first aired on February 3, 1997. It was
> written by Ian Weir, who also wrote "Dark Designs" and "Cutting Edge" and
> the fan favorite "Code of Hero." As a season one episode, it is largely
> a standalone story, contrasting with the episodic serial that was the
> second and third season of the series.
I never understood the love for "Code of Hero". It's important, but
> "Possession" was the 21st episode of Beast Wars, coming late during the
> 26-episode first season. It first aired on February 3, 1997. It was
> written by Ian Weir, who also wrote "Dark Designs" and "Cutting Edge" and
> the fan favorite "Code of Hero." As a season one episode, it is largely
> a standalone story, contrasting with the episodic serial that was the
> second and third season of the series.
terrible. There are two or three good scenes, and a lot of explosions.
> This episode, and a line of dialogue from "Bad Spark," retroactively
> makes Starscream's disembodied life-essence as a "mutant indestructible
> spark" that can survive his body's destruction (which sort of explains
> why there aren't tons of other Transformer ghosts running around).
shells. I want robots, wildly mechanical robots.
Granted, there were a few moments in G1 that suggested they weren't just
robots, specifically Starscream's ghost and Seaspray in "Sea Change", but
we also got enough different origins that you might say that not all
Transformers were more (Dinobots come from Wheeljack, Vector Sigma creates
personalities for some, Technobots were created from Unicrons
anti-electrons, Galvatron and his little buddies were remade by Quintessons
create Sharkticons and possibly Predacons and Terrorcons, Scorponok has a
little guy inside...)
> Starscream's story (which is a complete fabrication, by the way) is that
> he was killed defending Decepticon leader Galvatron against "the giant
> Transformer, Unicron." I don't like that Unicron is referred to as a
> Transformer, because he's not of Cybertron origin, but that's a very
> minor point in the grand scheme of things. What's really cool is that we
> get another glimpse of Starscream during this contrived flashback,
> showing him facing off against a planet-mode Unicron. Naturally, this
> never actually happened, but the Predacons don't know this yet. (It's
> never stated outright in the show, but the generally accepted time frame
> is that about 300 years have passed since the end of G1. Most of the
> Maxmal and Predacon characters are very young compared to the Autobots or
> Decepticons who have lived for millions of years. The contention is that
> none of them were around to witness the Great War, so not very many of
> them are knowledgeable about "ancient" Cybertron history.)
show that it was 300 years after the end of the Great War. I just think the
Great War continued long after the cartoon ended.
> Every time I watch one of these early episodes now, I think about how
> Megatron already knows that he's on planet Earth (despite everybody else
> during the first season referring to it merely as an "unknown planet")
> and he already knows that the Ark, and the ancient Autobots and
> Decepticons, are laying dormant on the planet. (This also means that
> there are two Starscreams on Earth at the same time in this episode—the
> one on board the crashed Ark, sleeping, and the disembodied ghost
> version.) So, basically, Megatron already knows he's going to hit the
> Ark eventually and change the future, or try to. At this point, he's
> just dicking around, knowing that whatever the Maximals, or even the
> Predacons, do at this stage is of absolutely zero consequence.
suggest sometime in Season one. Also, I don't think he wanted to follow his
namesake's plan unless there was no other choice. He landed on a planet
rich with energon, and decided that was a better opportunity. He discovers
it is earth, and probably hesitates, but continues with his own plans after
verifying.
> It's actually kind of ironic that Dinobot derides Starscream for being a
> traitor, since Dinobot actually did renounce the Predacon alliance and ideals.
Megatron's betrayal?
> pop culture reference, but every Beast Wars episode that alludes to Earth
> culture tends to strain credibility due to the unlikelihood that the
> Maximals and Predacons would know anything about the planet or its
> minutae. It's not like G1 when the Autobots spent years on Earth and
> could justifiably have learned about baseball, King Kong, etc.
Cybertronian pop culture reference. Look how much the Autobots absorbed
during their first two years on Earth, and how much the Junkeons absorbed.
> This isn't the best or most compelling episode of Beast Wars, but it was
> a loving tribute to G1 during a time when G1 was considered dead and
> buried. At the time, it was the episode that was most directly related
> to G1, though eventually "The Agenda" would come along and cement that
> relationship. This is an episode I've watched probably more frequently
> than most, because of the Starscream connection, and while it's got its
> flaws, I still manage to enjoy it.
make it a decent episode in my opinion. I'll have to rewatch the other two
Ian Weir episodes, and see if I dislike them too. CoH I know I dislike.
> Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already
> got the right square-shaped head for it)
>
I wish I was a mole in the ground.
David Connell
Oct 17, 2016, 10:37:24 AM10/17/16
to
On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 10:54:46 AM UTC-4, Zobovor wrote:
> Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already got the right square-shaped head for it)
With Waspy as his Titan Master? I could go for that. Or perhaps Dr. Archeville? I've sworn not to get any more Seeker sets but I do still pick up the occasional `Screamer and this would be an interesting take.
> Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already got the right square-shaped head for it)
Rodimus_2316
Oct 18, 2016, 6:31:56 PM10/18/16
to
On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 7:54:46 AM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> "Possession" was the 21st episode of Beast Wars, coming late during the 26-episode first season. It first aired on February 3, 1997. It was written by Ian Weir, who also wrote "Dark Designs" and "Cutting Edge" and the fan favorite "Code of Hero." As a season one episode, it is largely a standalone story, contrasting with the episodic serial that was the second and third season of the series.
>
> Oddly, the episode I have on DVD uses the truncated 30-second version of the theme song from the syndicated Power Block programming block rather than the full 60-second version.
I always liked the 60-second version of the BW S1 theme, making it as epic as the S2&3 ones were. The 30-second S1 theme always sounded rushed and put together weird.
> "Possession" was the 21st episode of Beast Wars, coming late during the 26-episode first season. It first aired on February 3, 1997. It was written by Ian Weir, who also wrote "Dark Designs" and "Cutting Edge" and the fan favorite "Code of Hero." As a season one episode, it is largely a standalone story, contrasting with the episodic serial that was the second and third season of the series.
>
> Oddly, the episode I have on DVD uses the truncated 30-second version of the theme song from the syndicated Power Block programming block rather than the full 60-second version.
> Our episode begins with some disturbing, creepy music and a glowing something-or-other floating through space. We know from the visual language of the show, especially episodes like "The Spark," that this must be a Transformer life-force, called a "spark" on this show. If you've seen the episode before, you know it's good ol' Starscream from the G1 series, coming to pay the Maximals and Predacons a little visit. Naturally, the concept of a spark didn't exist during the G1 days, and was a concept created by story editors Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward for the Beast Wars series. After Starscream was destroyed in The Transformers: the Movie, he existed as a "ghost" in two post-movie G1 episodes, seen as a semi-translucent version of his former self. Whether you believe in ghosts or not (they appear in G.I. Joe so we know they exist in the shared Sunbow universe), the idea of a robotic ghost is even more preposterous. This episode, and a line of dialogue from "Bad Spark," retroactively makes Starscream's disembodied life-essence as a "mutant indestructible spark" that can survive his body's destruction (which sort of explains why there aren't tons of other Transformer ghosts running around).
>
> Starscream, incidentally, had previously appeared in Beast Wars in the third episode, "The Web," showing up briefly in Cheetor's dream sequence, which takes place on Cybertron. (He appeared in his Earth vehicle form, not a Cybertronic design, but this is at least consistent with G1's "Fire in the Sky," which also showed him as an Earth jet on Cybertron.)
>
> The Maximals are getting thrown around during a particularly vicious lightning storm, so Optimus Primal suggests that they temporarily stash their spare weaponry underneath the armored flooring in the Axalon hold for safety reasons. This will be an important plot point in a bit. The Predacon starship (not named in the series but called the Darksyde by many fans, due to a line of Terrorsaur's from "Equal Measures" and eventually made semi-canonical) is faring no better, and this is where Starscream's disembodied spark finds its way inside. They're dealing with electrical fires and power surges, one of which zaps Waspinator and flings him across the control room. Megatron asks for a damage report, making sure to point out that he's only interested in the status of the base and its computer systems, and certainly was not asking Waspinator if he was hurt.
> When Waspinator can't get the computer to reboot, he pounds the computer in frustration. "Waspinator does not understand!" he grumbles. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes (accompanied by a pair of glowing red... eyebrows?) appears on the monitor. "I'll bet Waspinator seldom does!" quips Starscream. "But try not to let it depress you, Bug-Face!" It's Doug Parker providing Starscream's voice characterization here, the regular actor for Terrorsaur. It's the first official vocal depiction of Starscream since the death of Chris Latta (only three years before this episode was produced), and it's not terrible. Fans had noticed early on how Starscream-like Terrorsaur was, in both the way he sounded and the way he behaved, so this was a good replacement. I have every confidence that the story editors would have pushed to include Chris Latta in this episode, had he still been alive.
Also, I think Scott McNeil would have been a better voice for Starscream in this ep, instead of Doug Parker (unless Chris Latta hadn't died). Dinobot has a line in "Dark Voyage" where he yells, "WE CAN'T SEE!" and to me, that sounded almost EXACTLY as Latta's G1 cartoon Starscream.
> Waspinator is enveloped by a burst of energy as Starscream enters him and takes control of his body. Close examination of Waspinator's CGI model following this scene reveals that the Predacon symbols on either side of his helmet have been replaced by Decepticon symbols! (We know from "Double Jeopardy" that Rattrap's symbols change when he switches allegiances, and activation codes, from Maximal to Predacon. Dinobot's symbols were scripted to change during "Maximal No More," but his CGI model does not exhibit visible symbols. Decepticons didn't use activation codes during G1, but it's neat that they remembered to change this small detail.) Terrorsaur observes from nearby.
>
> Man, you can sure tell this is 1990's television. They cut back and forth between the Maximal and Predacon base at such a frenetic pace. The pacing is so different in the G1 series. Scenes actually last a minute or two in the older show. Modern kids have such short attention spans.
>
> Anyway, in the aftermath of the storm, Rattrap assesses that the Axalon's surveillance capability has been reduced considerably, and there is concern that they are vulnerable to a Predacon attack. Primal is hoping that they will be too busy dealing with storm damage of their own to worry about an ambush. The Predacons are indeed busy, but not for the reason Primal suspects. As Megatron responds to Scorponok's call about the electrical fire, he arrives to find the lower decks veiled in a cloud of black smoke. (Ah, clever. They can allude to a fire without actually having to animate it!) Megatron is not wearing his beast-mode tail on his left arm as he fans the smoke. I always wished that the toy was capable of this, but the tail was permanently attached to the toy's arm (indeed, the left arm didn't even have a proper fist to speak of).
> Waspinator makes a dramatic appearance, and as the lightning flashes, we see the form of Starscream superimposed upon him. It always impressed me when they did stuff like this on the show, because it meant that they actually took the time to build a whole new CGI model just for this one scene. You know they didn't just reuse somebody else's computer model, because nobody else on Beast Wars is blocky enough to look like Starscream. It looks like somebody probably used the Marvel Comics TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE profile for reference, based on the way Starscream is colored (his helmet is silver and his face is blue; Marvel used blue frequently to represent the black colors on the toys). Ben Yee reached out to the story editors fairly early on, and was retained as a consultant for episodes like this to ensure that the connections to G1 were accurate and correct.
> "So, there you are!" says Scorponok in an accusing tone. "Yes, here I am, at very long last!" replies Starscream from within Waspinator. Immediately, the Predacons notice something is strange about his voice. (A metallic flanging effect was applied to his voice, which in theory is consistent with G1 characters, but the actual settings used are really different from the vocal effects used during G1.) He introduces himself as "Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticon Battle Fleet." For some reason I think it's really cool to get a formal-sounding official name for the Decepticon army, and I use it in G1 fan fiction whenever possible. Starscream's function from his 1984 Hasbro toy biography was Air Commander, so this is accurate.
Also liked that he used "Air Commander" to describe himself, as his techspecs do.
> Starscream gathers with the other Predacons (including Blackarachnia, who was introduced about midway through this season) to explain his presence. Terrorsaur confirms that he saw an "entity" pop out of the computer; Blackarachnia balks at the idea of Starscream returning, believing him to be destroyed and referring to him as "ancient history." I'm not sure how she would know about such things given that she was only recently brought to life, but I guess it's possible that Maximal protoforms come pre-programmed with historical datatrax.
>
> Starscream yells a lot. It's like they showed Doug Parker a Starscream clip from The Transformers: the Movie where he's chasing Springer and Arcee and going "PATHETIC FOOLS!! THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!!" and Parker went, "Mmmkay, got it." They really are taking the "scream" part very literally. Sue Blue was the voice director for this show, but I don't think she worked with Chris Latta performing Starscream with enough frequency to really have a strong feel for his delivery style.
> Starscream's story (which is a complete fabrication, by the way) is that he was killed defending Decepticon leader Galvatron against "the giant Transformer, Unicron." I don't like that Unicron is referred to as a Transformer, because he's not of Cybertron origin, but that's a very minor point in the grand scheme of things. What's really cool is that we get another glimpse of Starscream during this contrived flashback, showing him facing off against a planet-mode Unicron. Naturally, this never actually happened, but the Predacons don't know this yet. (It's never stated outright in the show, but the generally accepted time frame is that about 300 years have passed since the end of G1. Most of the Maxmal and Predacon characters are very young compared to the Autobots or Decepticons who have lived for millions of years. The contention is that none of them were around to witness the Great War, so not very many of them are knowledgeable about "ancient" Cybertron history.)
> Unicron will make a return appearance in the show when Optimus Primal deals with the Vok in the first season finale, when the aliens choose his form as a "figure of authority" culled from Primal's datatrax.
> I'm struck by how simple the CGI models on this show actually are. There are so few moving parts. What really makes the characters look good, frankly, is the textures. Waspinator's segmented eyes are varying shades of blue and purple and silver. His armor is covered in scales and is varying shades of green and blue. Megatron has circuit-like details on the surface of his helmet. This show would be so visually boring if the models were flat and untextured, but the extra level of surface detail makes them look really good, even in close-ups.
>
> Starscream pledges his services to Predacon leader Megatron, but Megatron is understandably skeptical. He hasn't built his career by granting implicit trust to every newcomer who struts up to him. However, Starscream offers Megatron some valuable information—he saw the Maximal base on his way in, and he knows their vulnerable spot. This may give Megatron the edge he needs to win the Beast Wars! Cut to commercial.
>
> Every time I watch one of these early episodes now, I think about how Megatron already knows that he's on planet Earth (despite everybody else during the first season referring to it merely as an "unknown planet") and he already knows that the Ark, and the ancient Autobots and Decepticons, are laying dormant on the planet. (This also means that there are two Starscreams on Earth at the same time in this episode—the one on board the crashed Ark, sleeping, and the disembodied ghost version.) So, basically, Megatron already knows he's going to hit the Ark eventually and change the future, or try to. At this point, he's just dicking around, knowing that whatever the Maximals, or even the Predacons, do at this stage is of absolutely zero consequence.
> So, Scorponok sends out a cyberbee to confirm Starscream's observations. Cheetor spots the cyberbee and blasts it, but not before it transmits visual images to the Predacons. (On the Kenner toy, the cyberbee is actually a piece of Scorponok's scorpion claw that detaches. In the show, he simply launches them from his claws.) So, while the Maximals are making repairs, the Predacons swoop in from the opposite side and attack. This is treated like a viciously clever military strategy, and somehow catches the Maximals completely unprepared.
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> "Hello, boys! Just happened to be in the neighborhood!" Starscream says in a quip highly reminiscent of the corny G1 dialogue. "So we thought we'd drop in!" chimes in Blackarachnia, who gets G1 humor. Weirdly, Megatron turns his T. rex head completely upside-down to blast Primal. It's the Beast Wars equivalent of holding your gun sideways, I guess.
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> Waspinator is flying around like crazy, dodging Cheetor's quasar blasts and generally confusing the heck out of the Maximals. Cheetor can't believe how maneuverable Waspinator has become, and Starscream boasts that it's only because his spark has commandeered Waspinator's body. "Starscream?! Impossible!" Dinobot says, who finally remembers that he's in this episode. In truth, Starscream wasn't treated as faster or more maneuverable than any other random Decepticon... indeed, he was less agile than Tracks in "Auto-Bop," and he wasn't even a jet... just a car that could sprout wings. Still, it's nice somehow that Starscream's abilities are treated as special, and something that none of the Maximals or Predacons can match.
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> With the ambush overwhelmingly successful and the Maximals taking heavy damage, Primal realizes the only way for them to survive is to abandon the base. Primal scoops up a wounded Dinobot (who is much bigger than Primal; this is consistent with the way he's always been portrayed on the show, but it still bugs me because it doesn't match the scale of the toys) and the Maximals flee. Megatron puts Starscream in charge of the Axalon, ostensibly as a thank-you for his services, but he tells Scorponok and Blackarachnia to watch him, just in case. (Terrorsaur is not happy that Starscream is already moving up in the ranks. Which is funny when you realize that the two are essentially the same character. Most of the actors on this series only perform a single character, but Doug Parker is modulating his Terrorsaur delivery here to distinguish it from Starscream... something that Chris Latta did regularly when, say, Sparkplug and Wheeljack were in the same scene.)
> Outside, the Maximals have taken refuge—in beast mode, of course, which protects them from the energon radiation as well as giving Dinobot a chance to heal up a bit. Primal expresses frustration over his lack of Starscream knowledge, citing the Maximal elders having classified the files as the reason for this. Luckily, Dinobot is a student of military history and had full access to Starscream's datatrax, and describes Starscream as deceitful, scheming, and "the most notorious traitor of all." I'm not sure I agree with this. He was defiant towards Decepticon leader Megatron, certainly, but he wasn't a traitor to the Decepticon cause. Then again, history is written by the winners, and Starscream didn't survive to tell his version of the tale. It's actually kind of ironic that Dinobot derides Starscream for being a traitor, since Dinobot actually did renounce the Predacon alliance and ideals.
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> Blackarachnia confronts Starscream about his true motives, revealing that she's looked up his data files and learned that "you didn't get blasted to scrap metal by Unicron... you got blasted by Galvatron, after you betrayed him!" So, is she referring to events from The Transformers: the Movie, or is she describing the final G1 scene featuring Starscream's ghost from "Ghost in the Machine"? Starscream's response ("Galvatron was a fool! I deserved to lead!") suggests they're both talking about the coronation scene from the movie, but if that's the case, then the whole business with Starscream's ghost returning to cause more chaos during the G1 days is totally missing from the history trax. Despite Starscream's secret being uncovered, Blackarachnia (ever the schemer herself) is content to betray Predacon leader Megatron in favor of following Starscream. (There's an odd scene, when she says "I thought you might make me a better offer," when part of her gold face is actually phasing right through part of her black helmet.)
I always wondered about the TFTM or Ghost In The Machine thing too. Who knows what definitely became of Starscream at the end of GitM, though.
> Blackarachnia confronts Starscream about his true motives, revealing that she's looked up his data files and learned that "you didn't get blasted to scrap metal by Unicron... you got blasted by Galvatron, after you betrayed him!" So, is she referring to events from The Transformers: the Movie, or is she describing the final G1 scene featuring Starscream's ghost from "Ghost in the Machine"? Starscream's response ("Galvatron was a fool! I deserved to lead!") suggests they're both talking about the coronation scene from the movie, but if that's the case, then the whole business with Starscream's ghost returning to cause more chaos during the G1 days is totally missing from the history trax. Despite Starscream's secret being uncovered, Blackarachnia (ever the schemer herself) is content to betray Predacon leader Megatron in favor of following Starscream. (There's an odd scene, when she says "I thought you might make me a better offer," when part of her gold face is actually phasing right through part of her black helmet.)
> Computer animation has some advantages over cel animation, and it also has some major drawbacks. One of the visual problems with this show is that it never looks like objects are actually making contact with one another. When Starscream puts his hand on Blackarachnia and they walk away from the camera, his hand looks like it's hovering over her back without actually coming to rest upon it. Of course, this is because they're made up of two different models that aren't locked together, so his hand would just phase right through her if he got too close. They don't look like their feet are touching the floor as they walk away, either. Maybe it's the severe lack of shadows.
> Scorponok reports that the Maximals have returned to the base. I think Starscream is supposed to be narrowing his eyes in disbelief, but the way the animators reduce the size of both his eyes and the borders around them, it just makes it look like his eyes are shrinking. The facial models for these characters just aren't particularly expressive. The Maximals announce that they're surrendering, and they all hang their heads in shame. Cue the commercial.
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> Optimus Primal explains that Dinobot is badly injured (he's really not that bad off) and they need to get him inside the creation/restoration chamber inside the Axalon. Starscream agrees, if only so he can take advantage of the situation and betray Primal. He's begun to instruct Blackarachnia, ostensibly his new protege, in little asides like, "Always show compassion--it's a useful cover for your true motives!" Somehow, they force Primal to transform (now that's a scene I would have liked to see animated—did they just manipulate him by hand, like he was a Kenner toy?) and chain him up in the ship's hold. You know, the hold where the Maximals stashed all their spare weapons earlier? How conveeeeeenient. Then, Starscream orders the remaining Maximals to attack the Predacon base.
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> Primal's escape seems too easy and a bit contrived. He just gives a good yank and the metal brackets holding his arms down just pop loose. When Primal shows up, Starscream is confident that he and Blackarachnia can overcome him. After Primal blasts the door to the C/R chamber and Dinobot springs into action, Starscream changes his strategy and escapes. Blackarachnia is not thrilled about being abandoned. She shoots her harpoon and escapes through the top hatch of the base. (Knowing what I do about the fate of Blackarachnia, it's never really made much sense to me that she eventually becomes a Maximal. She's such a deceitful and self-serving character.) Primal tries to contact the Maximals, can't get through the energon interference, and resolves to close the distance gap. Watch as his PrimeJets roar to life and the bottom of his helmet is illuminated, even though he's wearing a backpack that should block the light from the jets from reaching his head.
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> Cheetor and Rattrap try to crawl past the Darksyde sentry turrets and look like they're slipping on ice. Again, the lack of shadows really hurts the visuals. The Darksyde itself is casting a huge shadow on the ground, but Cheetor and Rattrap don't have one. Then, when the motion sensors are activated and the spotlights turn on, both Maximals are brightly illuminated but there's still no shadows beneath them. Rhinox is the first to realize trying to attack the Predacon base is a losing proposition. Starscream insists that they press on, until Primal intervenes. Now, it's an aerial showdown between the two flying aces. Primal dodges Starscream's missiles until he gets close enough to throw a punch, literally knocking him out of the sky. The wind-up for this punch has always looked really awkward to me. The animators spent so much time worrying about whether his joints are bending correctly and making sure nothing is phasing into anything else that it just makes him look slow and plodding. Maybe something more cartoonish would have worked better, like if they'd detached his forearm at the elbow joint and just let it spin freely. When Popeye wound up for a punch, it never looked anatomically accurate, but it was convincing.
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> Megatron realizes he's been doubly betrayed by both Starscream and Blackarachnia. People used to say that his constant utterances of "yesss" and "nooo" were programming quirks that he couldn't consciously control, but he clearly does choose to litter his speech with the words. "I'll have both their traitorous hides! Yesss! I'll melt them into aluminum siding! Oh, yes indeed!"
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> Starscream, desperate now (and sitting right in front of a volatile energon crystal), pleads with Optimus Primal. Notice how his entire backpack, including the wings and stripey wasp abdomen, have been removed so that he can actually sit down and back away on his keyster. When he spots Blackarachnia, high above, he tries to appeal to their former partership, demanding that she destroy Primal. "Are all your dreams in Technicolor?" she quips before taking aim and firing at him. This is a cute pop culture reference, but every Beast Wars episode that alludes to Earth culture tends to strain credibility due to the unlikelihood that the Maximals and Predacons would know anything about the planet or its minutae. It's not like G1 when the Autobots spent years on Earth and could justifiably have learned about baseball, King Kong, etc.
> A big deal is made of the missile approaching Starscream, and finally at the last moment, Optimus Primal declares, "Hasta la vista, Starscream," and rockets away. Yes, he's making a reference to Terminator 2: Judgement Day (which was only six years old when this episode was made). A pair of sunglasses drops down over his eyes to complete the pop culture reference. (The glasses are semi-translucent, and it happens so quick that it's tough to spot without freeze-framing the scene in question.) We can infer that Starscream's spark is knocked right out of Waspinator in the explosion.
> Back at the base, the Predacons are piecing Waspinator back together. "Waspinator has a headache in his whole body!" he groans. Blackarachnia professes loyalty to Megatron, claiming she had only played along with Starscream to find out what he was really planning. Back at the Maximal base, the group is putting the Axalon back together... all except Cheetor, who is ostensibly checking the constellations in the sky. "Twinkle, twinkle, little Starscream," he says. In outer space, Starscream's disembodied spark is drifting away, though it's not clear whether he's doing this on purpose or is being carried away by the force of the detonation. He promises all sorts of evil, horrible things when he comes back to terrorize the Maximals and Predacons at some future date. Aside from a non-speaking cameo in a couple of other episodes, though (like when his deactivated body is seen inside the Ark after Predacon leader Megatron infiltrates it), he does not return as promised (which in itself is kind of surprising, considering the insane amount of G1 references in both Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise).
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> Some folks suggested that the reason the Transmetal Waspinator toy has a jet mode was due to Starscream's influence. Indeed, Starscream appears as a hidden character in the Beast Wars: Transmetals video game for Nintendo 64, using Transmetal Waspinator's sprite model in alternate colors, and gets battle cries like "Decepticons attack!"
> This isn't the best or most compelling episode of Beast Wars, but it was a loving tribute to G1 during a time when G1 was considered dead and buried. At the time, it was the episode that was most directly related to G1, though eventually "The Agenda" would come along and cement that relationship. This is an episode I've watched probably more frequently than most, because of the Starscream connection, and while it's got its flaws, I still manage to enjoy it.
> Zob (wants to see a Titan Masters version of Starscream... he's already got the right square-shaped head for it)
- Rodimus_2316
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