Don't know what the Hub did to their programmes but I had to reset my
DVR to record them, meaning I missed this episode on its first
airing. Since I enjoy Prime too much to watch the Youtube version, I
waited for the repeat... and I've just now got around to watching it,
along with Toxicity (posting to that thread next).
Gustavo Wombat and Ultra Magnotron wrote:
>
> > > Too many tentacles.
The suspenseful end of the episode where the tentacles are reaching
around Ratchet was completely ruined for me by the sudden thought that
somewhere, somebody was coming up with a horrible, horrible fanfic
involving Soundwave and Miko.
That aside, the tentacles don't really bother me per se, but they
don't do anything for me either. They make him quite a passive figure
as he just stands there letting the tentacles do the work, which is a
shame, because he's got an interesting build and can look great in
action. On the other hand, that kind of (im)passivity is appropriate
for the character.
> > Speaking of Wheeljack, I like how his Cyberverse toy says that his ship
> > is called the Star Hammer, and he's now called it the Jack Hammer twice
> > in the TV series. This kind of thing is not uncommon, but is it too much
> > to ask for some better communication between the toy people and cartoon
> > people?
Perhaps the Jack Hammer was copyrighted? Although I don't suppose it
makes a difference if there is no Jack Hammer toy.
> > > Ratchet is crotchety, but not in a fun way. Animated Ratchet was good,
> > > because he had a fairly rich personality, but Prime Ratchet is just a
> > > one not crotchety character. Animated Ratchet had the occasional bad
> > > episode ("Garbage In, Garbage Out"), but Prime Ratchet has the occasional
> > > good moment. It's sad.
>
> > I like this Ratchet. He's a different kind of amusing grump. Animated
> > Ratchet had a better personality, but Prime Ratchet comes across as
> > funny. Not on purpose, maybe, but I his grumpiness brings a smile to
> > my face.
>
> He's meant to be funny.
>
> I just wish he had some kind of characterization behind his character trait.
We see bits of it, in his remorse over war memories and in his wounded
pride that he has to be escorted for this mission. I also liked that
we saw him in honest to goodness terror when they looked like they
were going to crash into the cliff. I know it was a joke, but it's
nice to see Autobots terrified--and a sudden shock like that could
reasonably panic even a ground-down soldier.
However, I can't really defend Ratchet's personality, in that he
doesn't do anything for me either.
> > > Wheeljack remains a bit of an obnoxious frat-boy wannabe. Even when he's right
> > > (if they continued after Soundwave, Laserbeak would have knocked them out of
> > > the sky), he's annoying about it.
I like Wheeljack. He's nothing more than an archetype, but I like the
archetype. If he only cameos once or twice a season, I don't need
deep character development. That said, I wouldn't object to it
either! But I'd rather they focused on progressing the main cast.
> I really want a fem-bot that isn't hot. Females, even robotic females, shouldn't always be reduced to fan service.
Me too!
> > So, this bothered me. Not him getting more screen time, but that we're
> > supposed to believe Raf is somehow intimate familiar with Cybertronian
> > computer systems. The kid writes a virus so sophisticated that no only
> > does it go undetected, but it interfaces flawlessly with the Decepticon
> > databanks? Come on.
>
> There's something freaky odd about the kid. He's some kind of idiot savant or something. But he might have been studying Cybertronian systems during most of Season 2.
Yeah, I was watching this without my (IT guy) husband, but if he ever
watches it, he'll be fuming over this. This is why I can't quite
accept Raf's character... Really, a 12 year old is that precocious?
This would have been far-fetched if it had been one of Fowler's top
government IT people.
The alternative is that there is more to Raf than meets the eye, a la
Sari from Animated, which would also explain his ability to understand
Bumblebee. But that's almost even more annoying. Perhaps they could
find a way to write that well, but it's just.... grah. Sometimes I
wish we just had Jack, Fowler and June.
On the plus side, nice way of involving (and occupying) Raf without
bringing him directly into danger.
> > If I had written the script, this would have been where Soundwave
> > spoke for the very first time, and then the fans would have maybe
> > appreciated Wheeljack's pause.
>
> > No ideda what he would have said...
>
> > "Soundwave superior" as a the tentacle rises behind Wheeljack?
> > Nah! That would just be stupid fanservice. Unacceptable writing.
>
> "Spare me" seems like the right sentiment -- begging for mercy to delay while he prepares for the attack. But it should have been repeating someone else's words that he was repeating, since there's no reason for him to break character.
I'm with Gustavo. No actual speaking for Soundwave. If he could have
parroted back something Wheeljack had said at some point, that would
have been acceptable.
> I would like to see him speak to the stasis locked Airachnid -- and profess his love to her frozen form, and cursing her betrayal of Megatron that will always keep them apart, all said knowing that she will never hear him. But other than that, leave him as he is.
Err.... maybe not.
> Soundwave fires, Wheeljack stabs. Soundwave, leaking energon, escapes with his life and the relic. He stops, patches himself, detects Laserbeak, and continues.
>
> It's a better, tighter version of events that wouldn't involve Soundwave being needlessly stupid.
I like this too. It did bother me that he let Wheeljack live, wounded
though he was. Perhaps he was supposed to be leaving him for dead,
but as you say, he was poised to make the final blow, so why not just
follow through?
> > Team Prime is tiny. Too tiny. They need new
> > members... Fem-bots would be good.
>
> > Elita-1 anyone?
>
> Omega Supremette?
>
> Some kind of chick-bot with the same general shape as Bulkhead, but bigger and stronger, who Bulkhead can pine over and feel unworthy next to? Pity the name Knock Out is already taken.
Eh, the name Knock Out would still have a connotation of good looks,
even if it's a kind of reverse pun. I would definitely love to see a
female gentle giant character though. Anything not slender!
> This episode happens concurrently with the previous two and the
> following one. Knock Out returns from his mission in "Tunnel Vision",
> which was a failure, and Dreadwing has already returned after losing the
> Apex Armor to Starscream in "Triangulation". On the Autobot side of
> things, Bulkhead returns from his mission, which takes place in the
> following episode, diving through the GroundBridge with severe damage to
> his back.
The weirdness here is that we don't see Optimus Prime, Arcee or
Bumblebee return, and there appears to be no good reason for them to
be back so long after their Decepticon opponents.
Anyway... Some of my own thoughts:
I thought this was much a better episode than the previous two, and I
really appreciated the way they did a spin on the "Race for the
McGuffin!" storyline that I've been complaining about. The race was
abandoned fairly early on in favour of the larger gambit, and although
Wheeljack did make an attempt to get the relic, it was a small victory
for the Decepticons and a much larger one for the Autobots.
Of course, programming and uploading a virus doesn't make for great
viewing, and there's only so much you can do to make it at all
exciting, so they padded the episode with a lot of action, and an odd
couple subplot. As said above, Wheeljack and Ratchet didn't really
break any amazing ground with characterisation--their progress was
illustrated by how Wheeljack referred to Ratchet, which is simple,
effective enough, but not deep. Aside, don't half the cast call
Ratchet 'doc'? Is this the first time he's complained about it?
Having Wheeljack and, more importantly, the Jack Hammer did allow them
to do an aerial fight, which makes a nice change from the norm. Hell,
even the early shots of Wheeljack and Ratchet in a sunlit forest are a
break from the usual Prime environment (I'm pretty sure we've only
seen dark and gloomy forests up until this point). They do seem to
have made a conscious effort to get away from the normal backgrounds
(rocky wastelands) with these recent episodes. Subway tunnels, arctic
icescapes and clouds.... They're still limited by their budget, but
it's nice they're trying.
Ultimately, I'm not the best person to comment on action, but I do
feel that this set of episodes is improving in quality as we go
through them. Which is good, because getting through them is getting
to be a slog.
Velvet Glove (At least I genuinely enjoyed the next one!)