[6.7/10] This one felt like a series of odds and ends, without much of an organizing idea, but at least things are coalescing a bit.
We see Bumblebee receive a magic infusion of the “Alpha Tryon Protocols” that convinces him to (inevitably) side with the Autobots, and Jetfire is expelled from the Decepticons over his distaste for genocide and his devotion to honor, which likewise sends him to the Autobots doorstep.
The former is an interesting move at least, because it gives yo u one of those impressionsitic sequences in Transformers where a character communes with beings from the past and learns an important lesson about leadership or themselves. It’s a broad trope, but it works. The notion of Bumblebee preserving Cuybertron’s cultural heritage and history, and of dividing that knowledge from the “matrix of leadership” is an interesting one.
The latter makes sense as a move, given Jetfire’s reluctance up to this point. My only gripe is that it leaves us with a dearth of villains who have any characterization. You basically just have Megatron and Starscream on the bad guy side since Jetfire and Impacter have defected, with a minor exception for Shockwave. That leaves the show feeling pretty unbalanced unless one of the Autobots defects.
Speaking of which, I’m also not crazy about the business with Optimus Prime here. I swear, if we have to do one more retread of the same “You’re going too far/I’m doing what I must” conversation between him and Elita-1, my head might explode. We get it! If it ends with Elita siding with Megatron, that would be mildly interesting, but for now it’s tiresome. Elsewise with Optimus, there’s some cool imagery in him approaching “The Guardians” for help and being rejected, but not much else.
Otherwise we’re still just racing for the Allsparkk. Megatron’s killing of Ultra Magnus has some juice visually, but there’s something inherently silly about the show’s grimark, gravely serious tone through all these transforming robots who use words like “astro-cycle.” At times, it feels like self-parody.
Overall, this plays like a peace-moving episode, but at least includes some good beats for Bumblebee and Jetfire.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-12-28T18:46:57Z
[6.7/10] This one felt like a series of odds and ends, without much of an organizing idea, but at least things are coalescing a bit.
We see Bumblebee receive a magic infusion of the “Alpha Tryon Protocols” that convinces him to (inevitably) side with the Autobots, and Jetfire is expelled from the Decepticons over his distaste for genocide and his devotion to honor, which likewise sends him to the Autobots doorstep.
The former is an interesting move at least, because it gives yo u one of those impressionsitic sequences in Transformers where a character communes with beings from the past and learns an important lesson about leadership or themselves. It’s a broad trope, but it works. The notion of Bumblebee preserving Cuybertron’s cultural heritage and history, and of dividing that knowledge from the “matrix of leadership” is an interesting one.
The latter makes sense as a move, given Jetfire’s reluctance up to this point. My only gripe is that it leaves us with a dearth of villains who have any characterization. You basically just have Megatron and Starscream on the bad guy side since Jetfire and Impacter have defected, with a minor exception for Shockwave. That leaves the show feeling pretty unbalanced unless one of the Autobots defects.
Speaking of which, I’m also not crazy about the business with Optimus Prime here. I swear, if we have to do one more retread of the same “You’re going too far/I’m doing what I must” conversation between him and Elita-1, my head might explode. We get it! If it ends with Elita siding with Megatron, that would be mildly interesting, but for now it’s tiresome. Elsewise with Optimus, there’s some cool imagery in him approaching “The Guardians” for help and being rejected, but not much else.
Otherwise we’re still just racing for the Allsparkk. Megatron’s killing of Ultra Magnus has some juice visually, but there’s something inherently silly about the show’s grimark, gravely serious tone through all these transforming robots who use words like “astro-cycle.” At times, it feels like self-parody.
Overall, this plays like a peace-moving episode, but at least includes some good beats for Bumblebee and Jetfire.