Aww man! I just saw the episode descriptions & saw Morocco kept popping up all through the show. Just figured Tim voiced him for the whole run. I know he’s only recently begun recovering from some severe strokes. It must’ve hit him while he was working on the show.

So... how’s his replacement?

 

Jonny Rees.

 

But how is he? Does he do a good job?

 

There is also an upcoming show called Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy. According to what information I have, it will be a direct sequel to Transformers: Rescue Bots and is set within the Aligned Continuity.

 

W.W.O.D.?​

I am a Taurus. For several years, the only cars I would buy were Ford Taurus'. Cows and bulls are some of my favorite animals. So it's needless to say that the Minotaur-esque Terrashock is one of my favorite Decepticons thus far.

I love the brutish personality in characters and when you combine it with low intelligence it just gets better. One way to better explain my feelings on characters like this is to say that Ogres, Orcs and other green-skin races from fantasy games, books, shows and movies always seem to be my absolute favorites. How can you hate a character whose initial reaction to something is always to smash it?

The scene where Terrashock is trying to have a conversation with an animatronic buffalo is hilarious and then having him run into the projection of the canyon and river while stating "I must have got outside somehow!" was just... just perfect.

I also really enjoyed the Indiana Jones reference with Russel and Denny and that their subplot helped focus on the importance of team work that team Bee seems to be struggling so much with recently.

The strangest part of the episode was having Bumblebee try to communicate with Optimus Prime by doing some weird bloody-mary shit with a plethora of hanging mirrors in the junk yard. It's also super cliche that Optimus gets cut off right at the end of his sentence leaving Bee to think that Optimus is suddenly just some scum bag whose like, "Yeah, you'll never be me dude, just give up".

Overall, this episode was a lot of fun and introduced what is likely to be one of my all-time favorite Decepticon characters. Even if he's just a one off, I'm a huge fan of him and am thankful for the way he was portrayed.

----------------------------------------------------​

As The Kospego Commands!​

Alright. This one was just... strange.

We've got cultists, a shape-shifting 'Decepticon Hunter', Sideswipe and Bumblebee getting down to k-pop, Grimlock standing in the exact same position for hours and Fix-It cleaning up something comparable to elephant dung that I personally believe is a Grimlock mess but... Cybertronians don't produce waste right? ...right?

I was actually pretty bored through the first half of this episode as the sub-plot of trying to get Sideswipe to fall in line is already feeling a little bit redundant. The cultists were a little entertaining but mostly I was just glancing at the clock above my TV and back down to the screen wondering how long it would be before we got to see the new Decepticon.

Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed on that end. Thunderhoof is a cool character whose voice is extremely familiar but I'm unable to put my finger on at the moment. He's the first con in the show to not display some form of alt mode which I thought was really odd until the end when Steeljaw showed back up to recruit him into his team.

Speaking of Steeljaw, the way his eyes glow is so creepy and cool. Imagine being out in the woods at night and seeing those bright yellow optics beaming in on you. Terrifying.

I'm assuming this is sort of a turning point where we will see Steeljaw begin to recruit a brotherhood of evil transformers or something and then we will get back to the familiar formula of Autobots VS Decepticons which honestly, I'm not sure I want.

I really like the Decepticon hunting theme and I'm loving that we get an interesting new character each episode. I'm not opposed to the age-old formula taking over as long as new characters are constantly introduced.

Which brings me to my next thought. I wonder if any Autobots were on the Decepticon jail ship? I know it doesn't seem likely based on name alone but with how the show depicts Cybertronians as being their own individuals, I think it'd be cool to have an Autobot as a villain kind of like Sentinel Prime from Dark of the Moon or something. Just a hopeful thought!

Overall, I don't think this episode was 'bad' per se but it just felt pretty boring through a lot of it. The animation of the space bridge was beautiful and it did serve a purpose of reaffirming Sideswipe cares about the team and that Steeljaw is still out there lurking.

Thanks for reading everyone! See you next time!​

 

Alright so starting off with What Would Optimus Do? (W.W.O.D.?)

- This episode had Bulkhead’s voice actor (Kevin Michael Richardson) from TFP come back to voice Terrashock, which was a treat.

- We get a little tease/hint as to what Optimus is up to when he says the line: “I’m permitted to make contact only when the Primes believe your need to be dire.” All I can say is that line speaks for itself and we’ll learn more about what Optimus is up to later on in the season.

Now onto As The Kospego Commands!

- You are correct that Steeljaw is indeed trying to make a brotherhood of Decepticons to counter the Bee Team. Who says he’ll succeed on his first try? Maybe the Decepticons won’t like Steeljaw? There aren’t many ways the story can go and I’m glad they chose the way they did.

- Also, not every villain (as I’m sure you guessed would eventually happen) won’t be from the Alchemor since eventually you do run out of criminals to catch.

- As in regards to the Autobot villain... anything’s possible!

- Just because a villain was captured doesn’t mean we won’t ever see them again...

 

Alright so I didn't really care or Terrashock, but I did like how big and dumb he was. It made some really funny scenes. The part with Optimus leaving was because the other Primes cut him off mid conversation. Sufficed to say the old Primes are a bunch of jerks. Once again we get an uncommon alt mode in the form of a garbage truck, and I'm a sucker for characters like that, so naturally Longhaul (especially the movie version) is one of my all time favorite characters.


But then there's this episode, and yeah the first half is pretty boring. Sideswipe having to learn a lesson? If you weren't a fan of it this time than prepare yourself for the millions of other times they do it in the future. As much as I love the show the redundant character learning a lesson they already learned before is definitely one of its biggest weak points.

Now Thunderhoof, this guy is everything I ever wanted. An italian mob boss who happens to have moose antlers? Sign me the heck up. He quickly became a fan favorite, and it's no surprise why. Every time he shouts out eyyyyy yoooooo it just never ceases to be funny. They gave him some interesting powers combining Rumble's ability to make earthquakes with an added electrical surge makes him one of the more dangerous cons we've met so far. As far as I know I think this is the first time we have a character that has a tractor for an alt mode.

You were right to wonder why he sounds so familiar because that's Sylvester Stallone's younger brother Frank Stallone. Perfect casting if I do say so myself.

So the episode ends with the wolf among us Steeljaw recruiting Thunderhoof to his cause, and this one of the greatest friendships/rivalries was born.

-checks to see what episode is next- Oh sweet Unicron's beard! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

He does a pretty good job. There are some lines where you almost wonder if Curry did it before his stroke, and some that you know for sure is the replacement.

Oh dear.

I'll be honest, about 95+% of the time, I felt that RID would've been a much better show without Sideswipe. Also, after season one, Fixit's stutter sticking around I felt became unwelcome.

 

It was interesting how the camera sometimes went out of focus with Terrashock, I think he´s claustrophobic.

I second that. My first low-point in the show.

 

So, I don't want to quote your reply where you mentioned how long Rescue Bots was due to the spoiler included but I will say that Rescue Bots is one of the only shows I've had no interest in blogging - along with Headmasters.

I think this is because I was told that the show has absolutely no Decepticon characters.

Could you find me a good clip of the show that has absolutely minimum spoilers so I can at least get a feel of what it's like?

I learned about two years ago to never say I'm 'done' blogging or that I won't blog a show... I remember saying I was done after Beast Wars and that I had no interest in doing Animated or Prime and well - here we are.

 

That's a pretty tall order. I also find your lack of faith in others saying it's a shockingly good show disturbing.

 

...Fuck. That was awesome.

 

Most people don't want to watch Rescue Bots because once they hear there's no war, no Decepticons, and it's for younger kids, they lose all interest. What they fail to realize (or refuse to listen to) is that the series relies on characterization and character development instead. It's about the connections between friends, family, and the community, so not only are there themes that develop over the course of the series, but so to does the cast. This is a show that adds depth at every turn, making everyone feel more real and creating emotional attachments because they develop the characters and give them depth. Even several of the background characters end up being more developed then the entire cast of Prime. I will even admit there's an episode or two that I even got a little teary eyed at.

What's more, is that the crew making the show knew that their audience would be families, not just kids, so there are a ton of pop culture references across the series. Some more in your face, others more subtle. For example, the Doc's personal car is the DeLorean from Back to the Future. It's never a big plot point, but it's there. Then you've got discussions like the aliens clips that I showed you about these outside bots exposure to our culture. Also, the animation not only allows for that kind of freedom, there are lots of little bits that show the heart of the series, I'd give some examples, but I think it would be best for you to see for yourself.

Finally, just because there aren't any Decepticons doesn't mean it's not about anything or lacking action, if anything the lack of Decepticons gives them more freedom to tell different kinds of stories and they are all told with care. I've described the series in the past as Eureka meets Transformers with a little bit of Doctor Who to spice it up. As an overall, I actually like it more than Beast Wars (though that's a complicated issue best left to another discussion).

 

Very well said. Couldn't have put it better myself.

And to CaptainSlayer, even if you don't do a blog about it, I would highly recommend watching the show for the reasons stated above. If you don't want to buy the DVDs, you can always get Netflix (assuming you don't already have it) and watch it that way since it would be cheaper.

 

PM me a link for the DVDs or Blu-Rays and then don't mention Rescue Bots again until this blog is finished.  

 

Rescue Bots doesn’t have any seasons DVDs or Blu-Rays, you have to watch it all online.

 

It does, they're just Australian releases. For once they get something nice.

For whatever reason, there's a belief that in most of the world, the DVD's won't sell, despite all the information to the contrary, so there's a bunch of releases with just a handful of episodes each (like 2 or four episodes on a disc). However, Amazon, Google Play, Itunes, YouTube, and last I saw, Netflix all have the series to watch for their assorted fees. And there's always less legit ways as well.

 

i would say netfllix is best and i think they have all the episodes up  

 

Can't be done.

In fact, you'll be minor spoiling yourself if you finish RID before going to Rescue Bots. RB started after Prime and then continued through RID, so there's some crossover appearances between Prime and RB (In fact, given the air dates, there's an absence in RB when they try to call Optimus but can't get a hold of him that lines up with when he was Orion Pax; there's also a minor absence of Optimus in one of the Prime episodes because he was on Griffin Rock at that time), then later, the series really mixes in with RID, both ways. So when the RB tie-in episodes happen in RID, well, there's characters and events you won't know about in the series suddenly.

Such is the nature of multiple series in the "same" universe airing at the same time.

 

Collect 'Em All​

Man, for the show to be called Robots in Disguise you'd think they'd take staying hidden a bit more seriously and not have a giant Dinobot T-Rex constantly sprinting down major highways but here we are.

This episode introduced Filch who, as an owner of a cockatiel, seems to be a very solid representation of a bird. Loud, greedy and mean. (Disclaimer: I love my bird, even with her tiny little bird brain!) She doesn't seem to be after much, just sparkling items which seems more inline with a Ferret Decepticon if one were to exist.

We were also introduced to the RiD variant of the statue of Liberty and some creepy dude whose apparently another hoarder who is interested in way to much junk.

There's also a really long set of scenes of Autobots holding up bridges and the introduction of Autobot hives so, uh, that's nice?

I... I don't... what else am I supposed to say about this one?

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True Colors​

I was able to call at the start of the episode that something was controlling Grimlock, as I'm sure most of you were but despite the cliche story behind this episode I still really liked it. It helped show that Grimlock is a dedicated member of Team Bee, revealed that his list of crimes is actually pretty tame (destruction of property got him on a prison ship!?), showed that Sideswipe really cares about him and that he really cares about Russell.

I am a bit confused about one specific detail. At the end of the episode, we see Minitron being frozen in a tiny, little bity, baby stasis pod yet in the beginning of the episode it's shown that his original pod was a normal size. Did the Autobots change his housing just for better labeling? Was he originally stuck to another Decepticon who is out in the wild? Did the prison staff only have big pods readily available and if so, where the hell did they get the baby pod?

We also get to see Fixit stand up to a Dinobot which was impressive within itself. The scene where Grimlock is walking up the ramp to the command center was legitimately intimidating and gave me flashbacks to the original Jurassic Park when the T-Rex is peering into the jeep just before having a shouting match with it.

Steeljaw shows back up and has his true motives revealed to the Autobots so I guess all that sweet talking won't work the next time around. We also find out that he is actively recruiting all Decepticons he comes across (and cutting the weak ones loose) and is interested in raiding Camp Bee in order to release the recaptured fugitives.

When Minitron infested Grimlock picked up Underbite I got excited. My hope that characters would be reused in the series and not be "one and done" is coming true and I'm imagining some giant battle with tons of Decepticons just piling on the Autobots!

I also had to google this episode and find it's wiki page to remember the name of the tiny Tickcon and found out another little interesting bit. In the episode, Fixit tells Russel "And while you're gone, I need you to keep your dad from touching my things." which serves as a wonderful foreshadow to the next episode!

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Rumble in the Jungle​

I would be lying if I said I didn't get really god damn excited from this episode's title thinking that G1 Rumble would be making a return. Yes, I understand that that's kind of hard to do without Soundwave and that Soundwave is stuck in the shadow realm dueling Pegasus for the legendary god cards but c'mon man, that's such a tease!

Springload is the only Decepticon to appear in this one and I don't feel like that was a poor choice by any means. He has officially replaced Bisk as my favorite Decepticon from the show this far with his acid defense and offense capabilities. Plus, he reminds me of Toad from the X-Men which is my favorite comic universe and my favorite Brotherhood of Evil Mutant's Mutant!

The story of Bee following Stongarm on her first solo mission is relatable to a parent who is too nervous to let their kid drive on their own for the first time. Though in the story, it's clearly a good thing that he wasn't ready to let go I do feel like he could have been a bit more trusting. I also totally expected him to be like, "Oh shit, this is where we had our original base in the last series! You should have seen it before it got nuked to high hell with Optimus still inside!" but unfortunately, the connection was never made.

One thing that I completely forgot to look for in this episode was if Grimlock was sporting a shiny new Autobot logo on his shoulders. I don't know why or how it passed my mind but I just completely forgot to look for it.

The Fixit and Denny story was annoying at best though I did really like the scene where Denny sat down to watch TV and instead found a guide to known Decepticons villains - which really put into perspective just how many have already been introduced this early in the show!

I adored this episode and my only complaint is that the dope weapon that can read your mind is still called a "Decepticon Hunter" and not something way, way cooler.


Thanks for reading! I look forward to seeing all of your thoughts and replying in the comments!  

See you next time!