"Collect 'Em All" as a episode is a weird one for me. It's not the worst episode that I've ever see from a TF show, but there's little to like about this episode either. Definitely one of this show's weakest episodes in its entire run.

On the contrary, I really like "True Colors". This episode also sums up why (As much as I'm indifferent about him) I prefer Sideswipe in this show more than the G1 cartoon Sideswipe. This episode shows that despite his constant "Aesop Amnesia" and questionable attitude, he really do care about his teammates enough to trying to convince Bumblebee and the rest to properly investigate what's up with Grimlock before jump to conclusion; That's kinda heartwarming if you ask me

 

Finally back on topic. My apologies for having to watch the first Strongarm centered episode, which had the worst Decepticon in the show. Her VA was Strongarm's so that's why it sounded so bad. She is the first animal to regular robot character, but we never really get to see what she looks like. It was just a bad episode all around, so moving on.

Minitron...yeah great name, but at least the episode as a whole helped wash away the last one. The highlights were Underbite being taken and Steeljaw returning. If it wasn't obvious already he's our main villain, and the perfect enemy for this kind of show. Next time we see him is when he starts earning the praise that many of us has given him. I think he might become one of your favorite characters ever by the time you watch the whole show.

Again the next episode is focused around Strongarm, and it isn't all that great overall, but Springload is the saving grace. At this point in the show he's the funniest character we've met, and every time he keep screaming about Doradus I couldn't help but laugh.

Thankfully most of the worst episodes are out of the way, so I got some theory questions for you. First, since most of the cons here are animals what kind of beasts are you hoping to see?

2: Grimlock was a prisoner but so far we don't know what he did to wind up there, and the same goes for Steeljaw. What do you think they did?

 

Can You Dig It?​

Jazz!

One of the very first Autobots I was ever introduced to in the 2007 live action film and one that grows a bigger place in my heart with each iteration of his character - particularly in Transformers Animated!

This episode started off right by bringing him into the fold and also let us know that the head honchos were aware that the Alchemor has gone missing and were interested in recovering it. That kind of gives you a humble reminder that all these adventures you're following on Earth with Team Bee are only a small part of the larger world at play - something I find very refreshing and fun.

Ped might be my least favorite Decepticon introduced so far. While watching the episode I thought for sure I was going to have to write an entry about not really digging the 'strong silent type' Decepticons after Filch and Ped but then Ped starts to speak with who else but freaking Mandark voicing him. That was NOT the actor I was expecting behind the character. Besides that, I can't really explain why he's been my least favorite - I guess I just didn't dig him that much!

The sub-plot of Sideswipe in this one resonates with me a lot actually. Growing up, I had a rough home life and ended up getting really big into Punk Rock, Metal and the Goth style of dress. Most of my teen years were spent wearing all this different make-up, nail polish, super 'crazy' clothes and more and as I was doing all of this I felt that it was some slap in the face to society and that I was really being unique and standing up for myself - as I got older, I realized that I was putting way too much into my appearance and that I wasn't being unique at all but instead, I was conforming to non-conformity. Trust me, it's a paradox argument.

So when he was walking away from watching some Sons of Anarchy spin-off and muttered to himself "Why are they all wearing the same jackets?" it hit really close to home. Almost all punks grow out of the uniform, it doesn't change who we are.  

That's why Jazz helping Sideswipe realize that he just needed to be himself and stop worrying about what other people think is probably one of my all time favorite stories in Transformers fiction this far. Because of this alone, I believe "Can You Dig It?" will stick with me for a very long time the same way "The Golden Lagoon" has from G1. It's got something I believe in and relate too!

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Adventures in Bumblebee-Sitting!​

By far the most annoying episode so far. Child Bumblebee is unbearable which I believe was the goal, so well done animators. I'm sure some kids watching this as it aired were all hyped and giddy and the parents with them just kind of put their face in their hands.

I did really like Quillfire as a Decepticon character though. His appearance is some odd porcupine critter that I'm not sure how I feel about but the idea that there's an anarchist running around just trying to free everything and undermine authority at every time is kind of the definition of what a common thug con should be in my opinion. It's also relatable to the 'Punk Rock' story I spoke about in the entry above this one where you grow up thinking it's an absolute but then kind of realize "OK, that's pretty stupid. Chaos sucks."

But for an animated villain, it's an excellent premise and I kind of hope Steeljaw tries to recruit Quillfire and instead Quill ends up releasing all of Steeljaw's prisoners or something. That's be wonderful.

Shout out to the first animal activist Transformer since Hippie (Beachcomber). #FreeTheElephants!

 

I don't mind Strongarm. She just seems like an overconfident rookie.

I'll agree on Steeljaw for now, I like the sort of slow burn they're using to introduce him and his greater plan.

I LOVED Springload.

As for your questions, first, Gorillas and other great apes are my favorite animals along with Rhinos and African based wildlife like Lions so any of those would be great. Second, Bumblebee already said the only crime Grimlock had commited was property damage? As for Steeljaw, er, started a pack of hungry wolves stealing scraps from Cybertronian Cafe's?

 

i liked this ep but i think the biggest missed opportunity was not getting a clear look at filches robot mode. we later did through artwork and a mini toy but not getting on screen was really a let down, here it is for you

 

Ur on a roll!

 

The next three episodes are some of my favourites from the first season for sure.

 

Wow, she looks great!

 

FWIW, Steeljaw is/was my fave con from this series, and almost fave Con of all time. He's bad, but not all bad, he can always be a little on the good side...as long as it suits him.  

Just loved his design and his voice. I do like the wolfies.  

 

Yeah, Steeljaw was a great idea. First main 'Con in an animated show to not be Megatron or Galvatron. I absolutely wouldn't mind seeing him adapted in some capacity in a later show.

 

Hunting Season​

Well, it's not Tigahawk but I guess I did technically get Airazor. Granted, this Airazor is a super creepy spider-tank looking minicon with bad teeth buuuuut I'm going to say he counts.

This is the first time we're introduced to Drift as well, who I was already pretty sure was in the show from seeing his toy in stores over the past few years. I was pretty excited to see him pop up but after actually seeing his character in action I have to say that I'm not the biggest fan.

Don't get me wrong, his character model looked awesome and his fighting style was really cool but his personality is just... strange to me. I don't really care for the idea of him being a bounty hunter either. With that being said, I absolutely loved Jetstorm and Slipstream.

The scene where Drift and Fracture are fighting to get to Bumblebee first is wonderful. When the camera pans to show Bumblebee staring at the six of them all going bananas with absolute confusion on his face is perfect.

Fracture is one of the most capable Decepticons we've seen on the show so far and he's very efficient in what he does. Since his ship crashed down in the scrapyard I imagine he'll be joining up with Steeljaw and we'll see more of him in the future.

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Out of Focus​

Micronus. I'm not going to pretend to understand what robo-buddah is trying to teach Optimus Prime while he's off in the digital spirit realm fighting bad guys and swinging swords around but I did enjoy watching it.

This entire episode revolves around Bumblebee continuing to learn and strengthen his will as an Autobot leader while Optimus Prime refreshes himself on the same course in cosmic space and Team Bee works on not being such trash team mates (still).

The Skunkticons, lead by Malador, are a bit silly but still fun to see. Their ability to disorientate opponents with green acid is really cool and I was impressed that the entire episode passed without one of the characters mentioning how bad it smelled - which would have been a pretty easy joke that would have been groan worthy.

My favorite part of this episode is that Optimus Prime's magic trailer makes it's triumphant return but with a twist, it actually shows his trailer being transformed into his arms. That's something I didn't expect to see but I'm 100% down with it.

This leaves me excited for the future of Optimus' now promised return and seeing the trials he takes in order to get there.

I just hope that when he comes back he doesn't replace Bumblebee as the leader of his team.

 

So now that you’ve seen these two episodes I can reveal a bit more.

- Drift and Fracture are two extremely popular characters in the show. The Mini-Cons as well! Drift can come off as annoying at first (similar to Ultra Magnus in TFP, but I’m sure you’ll warm up to him eventually).

- You’ll see more of them later down the line (not saying when because you know, spoilers).

- Optimus Prime is indeed training in the Realm of the Primes to face a threat on Earth.

- Micronus is a Prime, one of the 13 and he actually has a character model (unlike Alpha Trion from TFP).

- The Autobots have a GroundBridge now, which may or may not work right away.

- I feel like you may have missed this but it is worth mentioning that Drift stated that the High Council placed a bounty on the Bee Team to arrest them and take them back to Cybertron.

 

Probably the best episode at this point in the show. Finally you meet Fracture, the first non animal con and the closest to a real Decepticon so far, but Underbite might have actually been one as well. It's a nice change up from the past bountyhunters too. While both Lockdowns had some twisted sense of honor Fracture is just a complete dirtbag. He'll pull every dirty trick in the book to get his way, and he doesn't care who gets hurt. Once again the design team pulls off another hit. I'm usually not a fan of the color purple, but I can't imagine him without it. The mohawk does wonders for him too. He has one of my favorite alt modes from the show with that hovering motorcycle of his.

Airrazor, Slipstream, and Jetstorm.....and people say the movies were bad with nameslaps.

It was a weird way to introduce Drift, but it does have a payoff. Maybe if he shows up again you might change your tune.


As for the other episode it was nice to see Optimus again working with Micronus, who is the first Minicon in this universe. It was an interesting lesson for him to learn, but it goes against what Optimus stands for as a protector.

Malodore was alright a neat voice, but that's about it. The episode in itself was decent with nothing too great but nothing terrible either.

 

The first episode was good. I like all of the new ones.

As for the other one, in Australia 13 episodes aired till March then the rest of the season around June. The good thing was that they skipt this one and showed the next insted. I think this episode makes for a better opening to the second half and it would had made the wait alot harder if they had ended on this.

With the next episode, its probably just me, but I think I needed those months to decide if I wanted to watch an other episode.

 

Sideways​

Clampdown reminds me of a beautiful mash-up of the clamps robot from Futurama and the Bayverse Wheelie. His voice actor is (once again) extremely familiar but I can't quite put my finger down on where I know him from, though I'm certain the actor has a laundry list of titles he's worked on.

I got excited during the opening episode as I expected it to be a Knock Out reveal, which to be honest, I could be getting that similar scene mixed up with Animated and Prime in my head where they're all racing through the concrete jungle so don't quote me.

We finally get to see the Decepticon team well stacked and they meet up with Team Bee for our first team fight, if you want to call it that since Clampdown and Thunderhoof were fighting each other the whole time.

It's nice to have a weasel character back into the mix and I fully expect him to try and get on the Autobots good side through out the series.

The closing scene is actually something I've thought about in the past. I've been curious how Transformers would feel about car washes and the answer I got is the one I expected all along - it feels really, really good.

 !

 

Sideways is one of the most popular episodes in Season 1, for good reason.

- You got your wish, Fracture joined Steeljaw’s Pack.

- Steeljaw has got a good roster of Decepticons at this point.

- Clampdown is voiced by Jim Cummings.

 

At long last you have seen Clampdown, the crab god. He's voiced by the legendary Jim Cummings, and he's been in a lot of stuff. Do the names Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Dr. Robotnik, and Darkwing Duck ring any bells? Clampdown is in my top three favorite cons in this show behind Steeljaw and Thunderhoof. They're part of the reason why the show is as good as it is. Their interactions are always top notch. So Mr. Krabs here blackmailed the council, which landed him a one way ticket the the Alchemor. If he got that harsh a sentence it makes you wonder what kind of dirt he dug up.

This is the first big win for the cons because nobody got captured. Steeljaw freed himself and the others with a well placed distraction.

Fracture randomly joins team Steeljaw out of the blue with no buildup. He's just there and we have to accept it. If you noticed now he's an Earth motorcycle.

I didn't see your blog of the other two episodes but I don't really have much to add other than Quillfire is the creator's favorite character (he's a fave of mine too) and he turns into Bulkhead's vehicle.

 

I suspected something like that, its like a mini-final.

I coudn´t stand that episode on my first watch.

All of the Autobots seemed so unnessesairly rude. It also seemed strange how Sideswipe went form wanting Strongarm to not think hes a criminal (ep. 3) and suposingly learnig not to take adventage of others just to slack of (ep. 6) to blackmailing her becous the plot needed more conflict I gues.

That episode just made me dislike the entire maincast.

 

I did get my wish! I'm happy that he's going to be hanging around. I'm a fan.

Yes, the brotherhood of evil robots is filling out nicely!

Jesus Christ, looking at his Wikipedia page I was 100% right that I'd know him from hundreds of things. This guy acts.

I was actually curious as to how they were all going to break free as I had serious doubts the entire con team would be dealt with like that.

I actually didn't notice that he was an Earth motorcycle now, I guess I just didn't see the wheels. That's a little bit of a let down since I liked the hover bike mode a lot. That said, I don't mind him just joining up off screen - it's nice to leave things up to imagination once in a while!

Don't feel bad, I think a lot of people actually missed my other two posts because I quoted replies AFTER posting them, which I usually try not to do as it makes them an easy miss. I might include a disclaimer on any posts that directly follow an entry to help prevent that.  

Quillfire is a cool character!

Really? I liked it!

Yeah, the whole sibling holding a secret against the other to get them to do their chores is pretty old at this point. Pretty much every show ever (particularly kid shows) utilize it.

I'm sorry you feel that way, I still love the lot of them despite a few minor gripes with Strongarm and Sideswipe's dynamic.

 

It isn´t somuch that he does it, it´s the timing. If it had happend bevor he sarted to work on going along with the ohers or much later, I think it would have botherd me less.

I do like them, just not in this episode. One reason is Clampdown. He seems so scaered throug out the episode and harmless, that it made me angry at them for picking on him. I think another reason could be the realisation that this show isn´t as gray as I would have hoped. At that point I got the impresion that someone could come to them offer help and they would not even consider the option as long as that someone is a Decepticon.

Its still a fun show I just needed some time after this one.