If that bit with Drift turning traitor was done back in 2008-2010 when the Drift-hate was real, it would have counted as a Take That, Scrappy moment. But it\'s a decade too late and long after the character was redeemed. Lame.
It was rushed and Hot Rod\'s death gets copped out BUT his soft surprised \'Oh\' when he gets cocky and stabbed followed by him DROWNING DRIFT TO FUCKING DEATH IN THE TOXIC SLUDGE WITH HIS BARE HANDS and going down with him was one of the most fucking hardcore things I\'ve ever seen in TF. just think about that being human soldiers, one a traitor, in a wet polluted jungle drowning together in the same way. No context required to rival Megatron\'s SS beating in early S2 for \'shockingly violent entertainment\' value.
Wow, did not see that coming but I didn\'t hate it. I\'m continually impressed by how far they\'ll actually go with this series and how violent it actually is despite appearances. Also, Wheeljack once again proving why he\'s awesome: I mean, a tire clamp gun? Freakin\' genious! I got a good chuckle out of that scene. With the rising body count I just hope they don\'t do my boy Jackie dirty... please don\'t die, please don\'t die, ESPECIALLY don\'t die saving Windblade. I\'ll be really salty if that\'s what happens next episode.
Optimus having a phobia of scraplets was neat touch. I have to give them credit for trying to develop the guy beyond “ideal heroic leader.”
Too bad the delivery is so bad that the idea and "hardcore" nature of it is completely lost and has no impact. I genuinely cannot comprehend how people enjoy and defend this show, and I don't say that to be mean, I am just genuinely confused. It takes all the flaws in the franchise like bad writing, terrible dialogue, poor humor, bad acting, and terribly written characters and runs with it. I had completely forgotten Drift was in this. The only good thing I can say is that I liked the Quintessons. That's about it.
While there are tons of lost potential/not so well written moments, Cyberverse is that cheap-low-budget-one-off-soon-to-be-forgotten-TV-show-for-kids that at least seems to have fun with incorporating the overall mythos and characters. After the boredom or lame "grittiness" of the last few shows, it's nice to have something that feels like the genuine spirit of the original G1 show. I guess it's similar to the original Robots in Disguise, or maybe I'm saying that because Sky-Byte is in both.
Hot Rod/Rodimus is my favorite character in Transformers, tied with Bumblebee. Windblade is third. I love this show! I have longed to see another good portrayal of Hot Rod in animation since G1, so basically over 30 years! Energon gave us a couple episodes before he was forgotten about and shoved into the background like so many characters on that show. Animated gave us that nice cameo, but it was still only a cameo. But Cyberverse finally, finally made him a main character again! I love everything from the way we see Hot Rod cartwheel out of his transformation the way he uses his arm flame guns (not just in this episode but throughout the whole series, he's had that weapon for years but rarely have we ever seen it utilized until this series). The episode where Hot Rod and Bumblebee go asteroid surfing is one of my favorite things in all of Transformers, such a great realization in animation of that wonderful IDW cover (done by Jaime Raiz I think). We see Hot Rod's growing maturity leading this mission. The betrayal of Drift was a surprise to me, a nice twist of using longtime fans expectations against them. I loved everything about that fight! It showcases why I love Hot Rod's character so much - putting his team and mission first, reassuring his team with that cocky smile, cutting off Drift with snarky comments "hail this!" his sweet moves that show his skill, even his cockiness that gets him killed, and finally because his trademark phrase of "not(dying) today" has been subverted he takes Drift down with him instead, so hardcore and badass in a way I probably haven't felt since Dinobot's death in Beast Wars. Normally I despise it when my favorite franchises kill my favorite characters. But not this, "not today." This was heroic sacrifice at it's best, and will go down as one of the all-time great Hot Rod moments!
