I don't think that Optimus Prime referring to Trailbreaker as "Trailblazer" helped his case much, either.  

 

I love this episode, I remember I had to pause the episode until I stopped laughing when I heard "THEY DROPPED SPLICK!!!"

 

Now I'm hungry.  

 

The Core

Plot Summary: The episode opens with the Decepticons up to their fiendish schemes once again. The Constructicons have constructed a massive drill intended to drill all the way down to the earth's core, tapping it for geothermal energy. Starscream is concerned though, saying that the drill might have enough force to shatter the planet itself! Megatron seems unconcerned though, as he shows Starscream a space bridge he has built nearby in case the planet does explode.

Meanwhile several of the Autobots are just sort of driving around for no particular reason, when Sunstreaker notices that the riverbed they are driving through is completely dry. They follow the riverbed to investigate, and see that the river has been diverted in order to cool the massive drill, as well as Scavenger and Mixmaster! With the Autobots alerted to their presence, Megatron orders the Constructicons to form Devastator and destroy the Autobots before they can report back to HQ. Devastator knocks the Autobots off a cliff, but Mirage and Sunstreaker manage to pull the old "Empire Strikes Back wrap your legs up ploy" and knock Devastator over, allowing the Autobots to escape.

Back at Autobot HQ Teletraan 1 has come to the same conclusion as Starscream, that the drill will shatter the earth's core and destroy the planet. The Autobots seem stumped for once, as they have no hope of defeating the Decepticons with Devastator on their side (not that its stopped them before...). Chip and Wheeljack have a solution though, and present the Autobots with an array of Dominator Disks, which they will plant on the Constructicons and cause Devastator to come under their control! Forgetting his whole "freedom is the right of all sentient beings" schitck, Optimus orders a commando team to place the disks.

At the drill site Ironhide freezes the falls in order to keep the drill from being cooled. The Constructicons rush out to investigate, and as they rush out the Autobots plant the Dominator Disks. Megatron is wise to the plan though, and has already prepared a disruptor device to nullify the disks. The Decepticons ambush the Autobots as they flee the site, and Wheeljack activates the Disks to bring Devastator under their control and turn the tide. The Decepticons retreat back to the cave, which Devastator seals with a laser blast, trapping the Decepticons inside.

The Decepticons have still managed to save up enough water to continue drilling, causing earthquakes on the surface. The Autobots take notice of course, and return to the drill site to end Megatron's shenanigans once and for all. Megatron takes this opportunity to activate the disruptor device, causing Devastator to turn on the Autobots. Wheeljack tries to bring Devastator back under their control by boosting the power of the disks, only to fry his logic circuits and cause Devastator to go CRAZY!

The Drill meanwhile has also spun out of control, and is about to hit the earth's core. Megatron orders all the Decepticons to fall back to the space bridge, but Devastator destroys it. Wheeljack however has a plan, and offers a temporary truce in order to bring Devastator back under control. By synchronizing the wavelengths of the disruptor device and the Dominator Disks, he manages to stop Devastator's rampage, who leaps down the drill shaft and manages to stop the drill! Devastator then returns to the surface, and despite Chip's hopes that he might come over to the Autobot side for good, swears loyalty to Megatron, and flies off.

Comments

-What is it with the writers and the word "Oblivion"? Nothing is ever just "blown up". It always has to be blown "into oblivion"!

-Really? The Earth's core is the most "mighty energy source in the galaxy?". Um...has Megatron not noticed that the SUN is RIGHT THERE!?!? (amongst other things)

-AKOM really likes Devastator don't they?

-So Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Wheeljack apparently all have jet engines in their hands that allow them to fly...huh...

-"They have no water so they cannot drill?" Why not just melt some of the ice! And look at that, in the very next scene. What do they have? WATER.

-Finally, an explanation for the omnipresent cameras! The Decepticons are looking through Devastator's eyes!

-So what exactly was Megatron's plan again? He says that the Earth's core is a massive energy source, but seeing as how his plan is to BLOW UP the earth, how would he reap the benefits?

-And how exactly would one measly little drill hitting the Earth's core have any sort of effect?

-Whoa! Devastator jumps from the surface of the earth down to its CORE in only ten seconds! You know what time it is?
MATH TIME!!!!

So the Earth's radius varies between 6378 kilometers and 6356 kilometers (due to centrifugal force, the earth is slightly wider at the equator then at the poles). Let's give the Constructicons the benefit of the doubt here, and say that from where they were drilling it was about 6370 kilometers. Now that is 3958 miles.

Now in the episode it just shows Devastator falling down to the core, with no propulsion aids. Now the speed at which objects fall due to gravity is about 9.81 meters per second squared. So using the equation D=(1/2)gt^2 (where D is distance, g is 9.8, and t is time) we get a mere 490 meters, which is less then one Kilometer! Clearly Devastator was using propulsion. So how fast would he need to be going? Well there are 3600 seconds in an hour, and 10 divided by 3600 gives us .002. So 3958 miles, divided by .002 hours gives us....

*drumroll*
1979000 MILES PER HOUR! Thats one million, nine hundred and seventy nine thousand miles per hour!!!

Score: Welp, AKOM's offerings just keep getting worse and worse. I mean good god, I know Megatron had dumb plans before, but blowing up the earth for NO GODDAMN REASON? Nothing, and I mean NOTHING about this episode made any sort of logical sense. 2/10.

 

I anxiously await your review of the series finale, where the horrible science will probably make your head asplode.  

 

In "Day of the Machines", did you not find it weird that Megatron had a remote to control the oil tankers himself? If he could put circuit boards on them to make them controllable remotely, and he had a remote that could control them, why would he need TORQ in the first place?

Keep up the good reviews. I'm enjoying this thread immensely and you might actually get done before MetaRidley.

 

The Auto-scout was actually made by a fan company and works with Soundwave. (Help! I don't know the details, but I saw it on the front page once...)

As for Powerglide and Warpath, I'm assuming you're watching the Rhino releases, which had the shows in Production Order. The new releases by Shout Factory have them in Airing Order, so Dinobot Island aired before this ep, where they were "introduced" (more like, "Sup, I'm Powerglide" and "BOOM POW, I'm Warpath!!!").

 

The Insecticon Syndrome

Plot Summary: We begin in one of America's numerous and wondrous National Parks, where a park ranger has summoned Bumblebee, Beachcomber, Hound and Spike to investigate mysterious goings-on. Sure enough, they come upon a massive clearing in which the trees have been gnawed to jagged stumps. The Autobots put two and two together and realize that the only explanation could be a GIANT SWARM OF FLYING BEAVER-SNAKES!!!!

...And by "giant swarm of flying beaver-snakes", I of course mean the Insecticons. So anyways, the Insecticons are hiding out in their usual hive...warren...thingy, and complaining that they are still hungry, and decide to go chow down on some redwood trees. A park ranger spots the hungry Insecticons, and of course assumes he must be hallucinating. He calls the other park ranger to inform him of this (because when you know you are hallucinating the FIRST thing you want to do is tell everyone else...), only to be informed that he is not in fact hallucinating, and the giant robot insects are real. The Autobots roll out!

Meanwhile the Decepticons are searching for the Insecticons in order to take advantage of their unique abilities. The Decepticons decide to take an observers position and watch as the Insecticons go to town on the Autobots. The Insecticons push a massive log at the Autobots, apparently knocking them off a cliff into a river. (Auther's note: In this part, the good Autobots is not reely dead. It swa a trick!!) Indeed, the Autobots managed to leap down to a lower ledge and project a hologram to make them appear to be dead. Megatron and the other Decepticons swoop down and begin to explain their plan. They plan to attack the military base at Iron Mountain, in order to steal...something...the episode is never really clear. Anyways, they also offer the Insecticons the entirety of Nova Power Plant as an appetizer!

Overhearing the plan, Optimus sends a strike team out to the power plant, only to find the Decepticons already waiting for them! In the fracas the Insecticons burst into the core of the power plant in order to harness the power of the...uh...nova...and in gorging themselves, they begin to grow to enormous size because of all the Protons!

...

...No I don't have a joke about that. Nothing is funny about Protons. So anydangways, Soundwave overhears the Insecticons growing *snicker* turgid with power and moves to warn Megatron. Unfortunately the Insecticons also overhear Soundwave, and Bombshell implants a Cerebro shell deep within Soundwave's noggin. Back outside, the Autobots are getting their skidplates handed to them, and are forced to retreat. Back at base the Autobots do a bit of research on the Insecticons and discover that the buildup of um...nova energy from the core will cause the Insecticons to explode! (no, not with the force to blow up the earth/solar system/sun/galaxy/universe. Just normal garden variety asploding). The Autobots set off for Iron Mountain, while Wheeljack and Ratchet start whipping up an antidote.

The Decepticons attack Iron Mountain, quickly overwhelming it's defenses! Megatron and Soundwave head into the base in order to find the...plot devices...and Megatron announces his intention to dispose of the Insecticons to Soundwave. Whoops. Megatron emerges to find the Insecticons in control of all the Decepticons! The Autobots return with the antidote, and explain the whole "blowing up" situation to Megatron.

The Insecticons head into Iron Mountain to...do stuff...and begin to go critical! Megatron switches to gun mode for Optimus to use (cue the slashfic!) and Optimus blasts the Insecticons with the antidote. Shrapnel manages to avoid the Antidote and blows up anyway...only for the other Insecticons to reassemble them with their magical reassembly beam! The now freed Decepticons chase the traitorous Insecticons (again) leaving the world safe once more! Until next episode that is.

Comments:

-This episode features the two shortest scenes ever! Literally only one line is said in both of them before the faction symbol flip plays again!

-The Insecticons must have REALLY good senses of taste if they can taste INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTAL PARTICLES!

-The Insecticons still get my vote for coolest gimmicky powers. I want Shrapnels' cool lightning shooting thingy.

-Both Inferno and Beachcomber show up for their first time in this episode. But that's all they do. Show up. Hell, beachcomber isn't even NAMED until halfway through the episode. Yeah I know about production numbers vs air dates.

Score: This episode commits the cardinal scene of any bad cartoon. Boring you. A great episode entertains through its awesomeness, and even a crappy episode can hit so bad it's good territory (or at least so bad it's kind of fascinating). But literally nothing in this episode stands out as particularly memorable. 3/10.

 

This episode is actually one of my favourites. Seeing Megatron effortlessly catch Bombshell's cerebro-shell mid-air gave him back some respect. Also, the scene flip you made a note of I found hilarious when I first watched it, cause you expect the scenes to at least last a few lines.

"GIANT ROBOTIC INSECTS THAT EAT TREES?! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

 

It was also funny watching Optimus Prime transform "Masterpiece" Megatron with considerably less difficulty than your average Transformer fan.  

 

vector squidma, you didn't go to hunter high school in ny did you? hunter was the only place i had heard of "flying beavers." a couple of clowns in my class had this running joke of genetically splicing beavers and flying squirrels and the ensuing carnage such a creation would wreak. =)

loving the reviews and the pace

 

Um, nope! I'm from Ohio. I was just being weird and random there  

 

Dinobot Island, Part 1.

Plot Summary: We begin with Bumblebee and Powerglide flying over the ocean, having been sent to investigate strange energy readings. They come across a massive wall of weird energy, and when they emerge on the other side, they find an island! An island, FILLED WITH DINOSAURS!!! Their exploration is cut short when a Pteranodon attacks, forcing them to retreat.

Back at base the two Autobots share their findings. Spike is fascinated, but Cliffjumper is wary, saying they have enough problems with the Dinobots as it is. Wheeljack takes offense at this comment, and offers to demonstrate how he has been teaching the Dinobots. Turning to Blaster (who, like MANY other characters, just sort of shows up in this episode), he asks him to transform, and has Grimlock demonstrate his "finesse" by turning on Blaster with his fire breath. The other Dinobots emerge to investigate the noise, only to crash right into Grimlock, causing him to start spewing his fire breath everywhere.

The Dinobots start spazzing out, destroying much of Autobot HQ as they do so. Optimus orders Grimlock to get the Dinobots under control and he does so. Grimlock apologizes to Prime, who realizes that the Dinobots are too much of a hassle to be hanging around the base, and decides to have Powerglide move them to the mysterious island he found (which Spike, showing a massive degree of creativity, dubs Dinobot Island). However, Ravage was listening in to the entire conversation, and Soundwave dispatches Laserbeak to follow them.

The Dinobots arrive at the island, only for Spike to realize he doesn't fit in with the local wildlife, as he is attacked by a creature I can only describe as a "Wyvern" as well as a Plesiosaur. Powerglide leaves with Spike, and the Dinobots commence their training, which consists of Grimlock ordering them to do "flying stuff", "fire stuff", and "tail stuff". No really.

Laserbeak returns to Megatron and reports his findings. Megatron notices the rich sources of Geothermal energy and decides to plunder the island for resources.

Meanwhile Spike and Bumblebee have just left the library with a bunch of books about dinosaurs, when all of the sudden a giant time rift opens up right in front of them, and a Barbarian riding a Wooly Mammoth starts destroying the town!

No seriously, that really happens.

Back at Dinobot Island the Dinobots discover the Decepticons and attack, only for Megatron to cause a Dinosaur stampede which knocks the Dinobots into a tar pit!

to be continued...

Comments:

-There's like ten new characters that show up in this episode, but only two of which (Powerglide and Blaster) get anything I would call close to an "introduction". Maybe the second part will be better about this.

-You know, I was going to try and point out all the errors in this episode having to do with Dinosaurs, but there's so many that I'm not even going to bother. Lets just say this episode makes Paleontologists cry.

-So there's an island in the middle of the ocean that has Dinosaurs from all eras of the Mesozoic living on it. Care to explain HOW THE HELL IT GOT THERE?

-I was going to point out how Wheeljack probably should have taught the Dinobots something more useful, like how to read, but I realized that I would also love to have a pet dinosaur that could turn the lights on and off with it's fire breath.

-I love the Barbarian's "dialogue". As far as I can tell, this is what he's saying.

"HARUHRUHRUHRUH!! HARUH RU RUB RUBBA! RUB RUBBA HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Score: Holding off on the score until I see part two, but I have to say for all its weird random moments, this was quite a fun episode. I mean hell, who doesn't love dinosaurs?

 

yah the writers did not seem to care much the Dinosaurs used never actually existed in the same time period lol don't think too much about the bad science it will make your head asplode

 

I mean I would have dismissed it as just typical 80's cartoon ignorance, but the writer, Don Glut, is a Dinosaur expert!

 

True but Im sure he was writing to a deadline and his work may have been edited and i am sure for the Episodes in question he likely wasn't very concerned about accuracy its a kids show not a presentation in front of a group of esteemed Paleontologists.

 

There is another theory out there that questions the reliability of carbon dating and believes all dinosaurs walked the earth at around the same time. And humans were there too.

 

Ill try to get a review up when I get home tonight. Currently getting CLOBBERED by Life Drawing homework.

 

good job keep it up man

 

Dinobot Island, Part 2

Plot Summary: With the Dinobots seemingly defeated, the Decepticons resume Energon cube collection. Starscream however is concerned that the energy collection might destabilize the time stream, but Megatron once again blows him off.

The Autobots have just finished repairing their HQ, when Teletraan 1 warns them of a temporal anomaly in the city. The Autobots rush off to investigate, and come across the same barbarians that Spike and Bumblebee encountered. The Autobots dig Spike and Bumblebee out of the rubble and begin to round up the Barbarians and Mammoths. They shove them all back into Optimus's trailer and shove them back through the time warp just before it closes.

The Autobots return to base where Chip discovers that two more time warps have opened up close by, and the Autobots rush off to halt the chaos. Seaspray, Cliffjumper and Tracks head out to sea to stop a Pirate Ship from attacking a yacht and Inferno, Red Alert, Jazz and Inferno stop a gang of cowboys from attacking a biker gang. With the symptoms taken care of, the Autobots decide to take care of the problem at its source, and head to Dinobot Island!

Back on Dinobot Island the tarpit the Dinobots were trapped in just sort of...dries up (TFwiki says slag set the tar on fire but it sure looks like it just dried up) and decide to take the fight back to the Decepticons. The Autobots arrive at about the same time and engage the Decepticons in battle! The Autobots quickly find themselves on the losing end of the battle, but are saved by the Dinobots, as Grimlock inspires the Dinosaurs on the island to attack the Decepticons. Megatron concludes that the battle is lost, and the Decepticons retreat.

The Autobots destroy the energon cubes, thus releasing the temporal energy and resetting the temporal energy back to normal (...no...just no...). Optimus says that the Dinobots have proven their competence and invites them back to Autobot HQ.

Comments:

-Your homework for tonight. Explain how the hell Energon Cubes manage to suck up lava and turn it into Energon. Use science to back up your answer. It doesn't have to be accurate science, or make any sort of sense, just throw jargon at me until you start sounding smart.

-There's a shot where a mammoth backs into a newsstand and blood comes spurting out of its butt. WTF?

-HOLY CRAP! Sunstreaker has force lightning!

-Optimus wonders if the time warp was a "freak event". Oh sure, because time warps just randomly open up all over the planet ALL THE TIME.

-We get a couple new characters in this episode. Perceptor, Tracks, Warpath and Seaspray all make first appearances, and all deliver at least one line explaining themselves. Seriously, thats all I need, one line. It's just way better than having characters just SHOW UP.

-Tracks has by far the weirdest weapon I've seen on the show yet. Something I can only describe as a "shadow beam" which removes all light from an area.

-Why does everything on this show always explode? Drain the geothermal energy from an island? IT'S GONNA BLOW UP THE GALAXY!!! Insecticons eat some bad protons? THEIR GUTS ASPLODE DA WORLD! Antimatter McGuffin stolen? IT'S GONNA BLOW UP THE UNIVERSE!!!

Not that there's anything really wrong with that.  

-Beachcomber's weapon can only be described as "laser jazz hands"

-I really think Warpath needs a better Toy. His G1 toy looks like crap and the Universe one is TINY. He needs to get the Seaspray treatment.

Score: This whole two parter was good, silly fun. Sure it's full of really random moments, but they only add to the charm. Plus it had some great action scenes. 8/10.