Autobot Spike is where I'm leaning at the moment for worst episode, though I haven't rewatched much beyond season 1 in a long time.

 

I've always leaned towards Carnage. B.O.T. is a total mess, but it's just so absurd and strange that I don't really mind it. Carnage in C-Minor, though, has some of the worst animation errors I've seen, but the biggest problem is the Eurythmians (I have no idea how to spell it  ). Their voices are so grating and the characters are just so bad.

When the highlight of the episode is Blaster saving the day by handling Soundwave's crotch, there's a problem.

 

I personally disagree that it's the worst episode. Sure it's really stupid and has a lot to make fun of, but...I liked it fine as a kid. I still think it has a fun premise, it's just not executed very well. I feel like B.O.T. ages poorly for a lot of adult fans (mostly because of the technical flaws, which are harder to overlook for adults), and that causes people to perceive it as the worst. It's great to analyze things with adult eyes, but I also feel like it's important to view stuff like G1 Transformers through the eyes of a child at the same time. I could easily see a lot of adult non-fans thinking the whole G1 cartoon looks like B.O.T. (especially in comparison to something like Batman: The Animated Series).

I feel like there are way worse episodes. The one that always comes to mind is Sea Change. Even as a kid I was thinking "what the heck am I watching?" Usually watching G1 was an exciting experience where I was able to get immersed in the world of Transformers...I wasn't really thinking about animation errors or contrived story logic. But Sea Change took me out of the world because the premise just seemed so disconnected from Transformers. Mermaids? Magic pools? I think my experience with Sea Change was similar to a lot of people's experience with the Star Wars Special Editions or Phantom Menace. It made me realize that the thing I liked and was really invested in had the potential to be really bad.

 

Honestly any episode that involves basically a Protectobots origin story shouldn't be considered worst ever. As a kid TF always got better and better the combiner episodes were always fan favorites. B.O.T. not best ever episode but far from worst.

 

City of Steel is by far the worst episode ever made in G1..IMO, the animation and the errors of show are atrocious. As a show, it was poorly executed.

 

I'm watching episode now. Honestly I haven't seen anything yet to warrant "worst episode ever". Like I said it will never be ranked one of the best episodes ever but far from the worst idk why this episode has got such a bad rap over the years plus writer Earl Kress is now dead please people pay your respects to people who deserve it!!

 

B.O.T. is a "Carnage" for late season 2 - bad, inconsistent animation and a plot that makes no sense upon the slightest examination. It has some really fun ideas that could've worked well in a better story (Swindle selling off stuff the Decepticons need/his own teammates, Kids building a science project around Decepticon/Cybertronian tech which wreaks havoc) Pare an episode down to those basic concepts, with less "get back X so you can build Y so we can do Z which will cause Z2!" justification gymnastics, and you might have something.

 

I don't mind Bot myself. And I loved the episode when I was a kid. The protectobots were the first autobot combiner team I had as a kid. So it was great seeing them in action.

The only G1 episode that still doesn't do anything for me is the Quintesson Journal. It's just boring. For me a G1 episode fails when it doesn't have cool action scenes /makes the toys look cool. As long as that box is checked I can live with absurd plots that make no sense; its an 80s kid cartoon after all.

 

Right after criticizing tfwiki's writing!

As for the topic, I don't know if I'd consider B.O.T. the absolute low point of the Sunbow cartoon. As much as I like season 3, I think I might be another vote for Carnage.

 

Not really a cartoon fan -- I always preferred the Marvel Comics -- but I did watch it.

I agree with many others, B.O.T. isn't really the worst episode. There are worse ones. However, I do think the reputation is warranted, but only in context.

On it's own, it's not the worst episode. But because it was the last episode of season 2 and by extend the last episode prior to the big shake-up that was the movie, it also has to fullfill the role of a sort of end cap to that part of the series. And as such, it not only fails miserably. but it's also an abominable episode to be the last. Not that I would've wanted a big event episode: any episode could've been sufficient to end this part of the series. That is, any episode but B.O.T. Even the episode prior, Masquarade, would've been a better endcap.

B.O.T. already not being a good or even mediocre episode in this position...only further emphisises its problems.

 

I think the Protectobots deserved a better introduction. Why they didn't get one is beyond me. But this was it. Maybe it's just despised because people didn't like the ending to season 2. If it weren't placed at the end people probably wouldn't be so focused on it.

 

What are you talking about?

this episode , in no way, qualifies as a Protectabot Origin story......it’s not even the first episode the team appeared in

 

It's not an origin story but closest to it. They did a cameo in Revenge of Bruticus but never combined. Even the Technobots introduction was leaps and bounds better than it was for the Protectobots a year later. The Protectobots best episode most featured will always be The Ultimate Weapon. Up there with one of the best episodes ever.

 

how?
By what definition?
Sorry but you are way off in that one

they just show up like many of the season 2 characters that never got an origin story

It is in no way or even any way close to an origin story

 

It was one of the first times Swindle was able to stand out on his own so I can't completely hate it

Besides "Carnage In C Minor" is still worse

 

I'll always remember that one thread we had many years ago where a guy was defending B.O.T. as an episode and said that if you didn't think a bunch of high schoolers taking the dumbest combaticon and turning him into an science project genius robot was the stupidest thing ever, you were somehow being racist against women. What a thread that was.

 

Wait a minute... was there really a thread like that?

 

B.O.T. Is the worst episode for story alone, but Carnage sorta nudges ahead with bad animation and a dumb plot.

 

Carnage was awful and hilarious.

B.O.T. was awful and... unpleasant.

 

Carnage in C-Minor is a much better title than "BOT" though.