[7.5/10] Maybe I’m just starved for good Beast Wars episodes this season, but I really liked this one! I could be crazy, but the little anthropoids seemed much cuter than in their last, Uncanny Valley-infused appearance. The setup of Rattrap having to rescue one of them from Megatron, with the little neanderthal tyke using what Cheetor’s been teaching them to help save the day, is surprisingly winsome and charming. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s creative and fun, which I will take every day of the week.
Granted, Una (the little female anthropoid) basically only remembers to “attack the joints” when facing a bot and to use a lever...repeatedly. Still, the show finds creative uses for her newly-attained skills, from disarming Waspinator (who’s become the punching bag on this show), to getting an immobilized Depth Charge to water, to flinging mud at their pursuers. In truth, it’s a little implausible that the young neanderthals would pick up English and tool usage so quickly, but it’s well within the usual willing suspension of disbelief.
It’s also surprisingly fun. The show constructs a good, vaguely Homeward Bound-esque scenario with Rattrap, Depth Charge, and Una needing to get home despite the Preds hunting them and Depth Charge being out of power. Megatron’s new power cannon adds some urgency to the situation, and its energon effects make for a good excuse for him to have to enlist some of the primitive humans to be able to get it up and running.
Honestly, that may have resulted in my favorite part of the episode. Just watching Megatron try to explain to the equivalent of a four-year-old how to put the finishing touches on a super weapon and get frustrated when, naturally, it doesn’t go terribly smoothly, may have been the funniest bit in the whole show. The reveal, that Una stole the stabilizing crystal rather than install it, leading Megatron’s destruction attempt to backfire, was predictable but satisfying.
Overall, this is pretty easily the best episode of the season, one that dispenses with some of the character introductions and design changes, and instead just gives us a dose of light entertainment. It’s a better mode than the show’s been able to offer lately, and it redeems the kiddos as a presence on the show.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-08-16T16:41:21Z
[7.5/10] Maybe I’m just starved for good Beast Wars episodes this season, but I really liked this one! I could be crazy, but the little anthropoids seemed much cuter than in their last, Uncanny Valley-infused appearance. The setup of Rattrap having to rescue one of them from Megatron, with the little neanderthal tyke using what Cheetor’s been teaching them to help save the day, is surprisingly winsome and charming. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s creative and fun, which I will take every day of the week.
Granted, Una (the little female anthropoid) basically only remembers to “attack the joints” when facing a bot and to use a lever...repeatedly. Still, the show finds creative uses for her newly-attained skills, from disarming Waspinator (who’s become the punching bag on this show), to getting an immobilized Depth Charge to water, to flinging mud at their pursuers. In truth, it’s a little implausible that the young neanderthals would pick up English and tool usage so quickly, but it’s well within the usual willing suspension of disbelief.
It’s also surprisingly fun. The show constructs a good, vaguely Homeward Bound-esque scenario with Rattrap, Depth Charge, and Una needing to get home despite the Preds hunting them and Depth Charge being out of power. Megatron’s new power cannon adds some urgency to the situation, and its energon effects make for a good excuse for him to have to enlist some of the primitive humans to be able to get it up and running.
Honestly, that may have resulted in my favorite part of the episode. Just watching Megatron try to explain to the equivalent of a four-year-old how to put the finishing touches on a super weapon and get frustrated when, naturally, it doesn’t go terribly smoothly, may have been the funniest bit in the whole show. The reveal, that Una stole the stabilizing crystal rather than install it, leading Megatron’s destruction attempt to backfire, was predictable but satisfying.
Overall, this is pretty easily the best episode of the season, one that dispenses with some of the character introductions and design changes, and instead just gives us a dose of light entertainment. It’s a better mode than the show’s been able to offer lately, and it redeems the kiddos as a presence on the show.